52 Weeks, 52 Verses--Week 39

Happy Sabbath Everyone!

It is a BEAUTIFUL Fall day around our neck of the woods.  Pleasant breeze blowing.  Occasional leaves drifting down from the trees that will soon be turning a multitude of different shades.  It was such a lovely day, I just had to go outside and swing for a bit on our lawn swing and just sit.

I have been continuing through my Bible in 90 Days reading.  Have finally made it most of the way through the book of Psalms.  I LOVE Psalms!  Kind of hate to see it end, though I do love to see that book marker march it's way through the pages of my Bible.

As I mentioned last week, this is my first time reading the New Living Translation, and I am really enjoying it.  Found another treasure in my reading this week--well, honestly, I found MANY treasures, but can only choose one for this week's verse.  O.K., so I cheated a bit and chose two consecutive verses.  Love, love, love what these verses communicate to me about God's love for me.

"The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand."

Psalm 37:23,24

How do you like those verses?  God is directing MY steps.  He delights--yes, DELIGHTS in every detail of my life.  He does not roll His eyes when a prayer from me comes into the heavenly prayerbox.  He does not ask "Again???"  No.  He delights!  His eyes light up, and he is more excited than a child at Christmas time.  All because He was about to hear from me, about what was going on in MY life.  (Not that He didn't already know, but He likes to hear it from me!)  I may stumble sometimes, but I will NEVER fall, because God is holding MY hand.  If you are a parent, you know how you can be walking with your child and they all of a sudden trip.  If you were holding their hand, you can save them from a skinned knee.  But if not, well, it's tears and scratches.  With our son, because of his cerebral palsy, he stumbled a lot.  As he was growing too "old" to hold Mom and Dad's hand all the time, he was blessed with a service dog and he moved to holding the handle on her vest and his dog saved him from many falls.  I so love this word picture--God holding my hand.  Saving me from falling.

Are you holding God's hand today?  Or have you moved your hand away, with a feeling of being able to do it "all myself?"

God is waiting to hold your hand.  And by the way, He delights to hear from you.

Have a wonderful week!

Susan

Family Favorites--Butter Bean Cookies

Hi Everyone!

Yes, that title says "Butter Bean Cookies."  I KNOW some of you are in disbelief right now, wondering if I mean REAL beans--as in the kind that the farmer grows in his garden. . . Yes!  That's exactly what is in these cookies.  And I also KNOW that some of you are right now saying "YUCK!" and closing your mind off from trying this recipe.

Well, all I can say is all the more for me!  :D  These cookies are YUMMY.  Even my husband eats them, and trust me, he does not normally eat things just to avoid hurting my feelings!  

Since I discovered that I cannot tolerate oils or high fats, it has made me look long and hard for dessert recipes that wouldn't make me sick.  Because I like dessert!  In fact, it happens to be my favorite part of the meal!  Oh I love whole grains and veggies and especially fruits, but sometimes you just want that something sweet. . .   Which has led me to try some pretty interesting recipes.  Some of them ended up in the garbage can.  But this is NOT one of those.  I could eat the whole batch myself.  Really!

These cookies are all whole grain, being made with whole wheat flour and oats, and the only thing that is not so healthy in them is the non-dairy chocolate chips.  Which, by the way, I'm sure could be replaced with raisins for a 100% fat free cookie.  Next time I make these, I'm going to try it.  On top of the whole grain, they also get a NICE fiber boost from the butter beans.  Really.  You are never going to know the beans are in there.  Trust me!  Make the cookies, and feed them to your family.  And just don't TELL them the beans are in there.  Even my daughter eats them, and let's just say she takes after my husband in her food preferences!

Butter Bean Cookies

1 c. rolled oats, divided

1 c. whole wheat pastry flour (I did not have pastry flour, but used white whole wheat flour instead)

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp. coriander 

1 15 oz. can butter beans (or any white bean) drained and unrinsed but all liquids reserved

1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. vegan chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray

2.  Transfer 3/4 c. of the oats to a food processor or blender, and pulse until crumbly but nt powdery or flour like.

3.  Transfer to a mixing bowl and combine with flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and coriander.  Whisk to mix everything and set aside.

4.  Transfer 1/2 c. of beans to a food processor or blender and add applesauce, sugar, vanilla and 1 T. of the reserved bean liquid.  Blend until smooth.  Pour wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir about 10 times.

5.  Add chocolate chips, remaining 1/4 c. of the oats, and the rest of the reserved bean liquid, stirring until well combined.  If the mixture is too wet, add more oats.  If it's too dry, add a little water.

6.  Drop tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet, leaving an inch of room between them, and flatten them slightly so they look more like cookies than balls.

7.  Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges are just turning light brown and middles are firm (bottoms should also be golden brown).  The cookies will firm a bit more as they cool.

Enjoy!  

Susan

52 Weeks, 52 Verses--Week 38

Happy Sabbath Everyone!

I woke up with a cold today, so feel kind of blaaaah.  My daughter had a cold last week, so I suppose I caught the germs from her.  Fortunately, she was only really down with it for around one day--and the very next day she was bouncing back to her usual self!  So I'm hoping. . . maybe I will feel better tomorrow.  I hope so.  My daughter DOES have an amazing immune system, though.  She rarely gets sick, and when she does she is often over it quickly.  The rest of the family is not usually so blessed.  So we will see!

I love this weeks verse.  I ran across it this past week while doing my Bible in 90 Days reading.  I am not REALLY all the way to Psalms, though, but since I am doing the Chronological order Bible reading, we are kind of flipping back and forth amoung Bible books.  So when we were reading about David, we would have readings in Psalms of songs that David wrote.  It has been really neat--one minute I am reading about David hiding from King Saul in a cave, and the next minute I am reading a song that David wrote as he is pleading with God to help him.  I have never read the Bible in chronological order, so this is a new experience for me!  Anyway, I found this verse while doing this past week's reading, and it really jumped out at me.

So here it is--this weeks verse.  And it HAS to be in the New Living Translation, or the words just do not say the same thing (usually I prefer the NIV version, but have this time been reading through the NLT version).

"When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. . . "  Ps. 142:3 NLT first part

Isn't that a neat verse?  This week, I dedicate this verse to my son--a college student facing his first two tests in two very hard classes, and of course they are scheduled both for the same day!  I know he feels overwhelmed.  "I" feel overwhelmed for him!  But nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Are you feeling overwhelmed this week?  David was too.

But God knows the answer.

52 Weeks, 52 Verses--Week 37

Hi Everyone!

Well, here we go--diving into another week!  Things have been SO busy around here lately!  And to top off the busyness that comes with the school year, I have also started into reading the Bible through (again) in 90 days.  This will be my fourth time through using this method, and I just have to say that nothing else has ever worked for me as well as the 90 Day program has.  I finally decided that I could figure out "why."  I have tried the Bible in a year reading plan before--many times.  And just as many times I have ended up dropping out after a month or so.  Don't know why, just life happens kind of stuff.  But why is it then that I am more successful with a much shorter, more difficult program of reading through in 90 days?  I think the key for me is in the first thing I said.  It is a much shorter program.  More difficult--because you are reading for much longer each day, and if you miss a day it snowballs and is almost impossible to catch up again.  Knowing that, I rarely let myself miss a day!  I have dragged my Bible with me EVERYWHERE when need be, when I was unable for some reason to finish my Bible reading in the morning at home.  I have even sat at the swimming pool while waiting for my daughter's swimming lessons to end--reading my Bible and trying to avoid water drops being splashed on it from all the enthusastic little kids!  Anyway, so for me, having a shorter time period that I am committed to has just somehow made it much easier for me.  If I am reading in a Bible section that I do not particularly like, I am not in that section forever.  Instead, one or two days--three at the most--and you have read your way through and are onto a different section that you may find more interesting.  So that's my conclusion--I must have a short attention span, therefore the shorter time commitment works better for me!

ANYWAY, back to the verse I picked for this week.  Last night I was reading some of today's reading assignment.  I do that in the evening--try and read just a tiny bit into the next day's reading, and it helps me in the morning if things get crazy.  As I was reading last night, I ran across a text that I just loved.

"Not one of all the Lord's good pomises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled."  Joshua 21:45

Isn't that beautiful?  Just read that verse again, and put your own name in. . .

Not ONE of all the Lord's good promises to Susan failed; every one was fulfilled.

Do you realize how many promises for good there are given to us in the Bible?

Not.  One.  Will.  Fail.

It leaves me speechless.

Beautiful, wonderful Jesus.

Homeschool Review: Crypto Mind Benders!

Hi Everyone!

Recently I had the pleasure of reviewing the book "Crypto Mind Benders" by The Critical Thinking Company.  As I had never seen even their "Mind Benders" series, I really had no idea what to expect before I received the book.

In the "Crypto Mind Benders" books, the students are asked to break a secret code to identify either a hidden joke or a famous quote.  To break the code, logic and mathematical reasoning must be used in solving three sets of clues.  Then these clues will be used to solve the secret code.

I received the classic jokes version--and was very pleasantly surprised.  I personally do not enjoy a lot of jokes, and did not want my daughter exposed to jokes that might be not in good taste.  But I should not have worried!  The jokes in "Crypto Mind Benders" are written by children ages 9-15, and are just clean, funny jokes.  One of the jokes in the book asks:  Why did the cat go to the computer lab every day?  To play with the mouse!

The book is marked as appropriate for grades 3-12, a broad range indeed!  But after looking through the book, I have to say that I agree 100%!  It definitely is challenging enough for the upper grade students, yet by carefully reading the sample instructions given in the beginning of the book my daughter and I were able to figure out how to use the clues and figure out the problems.  My daughter is 8 years old, so I wondered if it would be too difficult for her.  At first glance through the book I thought it would be for sure, but now that she has some understanding of how you use the clues to rule out or in possibilities, she is doing quite well.  It IS challenging, and I don't think she will be outgrowing this book for a long time, but I love how it is really making her think--and all in a very fun way!

The original purchaser of this book has permission to make copies for personal use within one home, or even within one classroom up to 35 students.   I made a copy for her to first try it, as I wasn't sure if it would be too difficult for her and we might be putting it back on the shelf for a while.  But since I am only home schooling one child at this point, it is easier just to let her do her work right in the book.  A detailed answer key can be found in the back of the book--perfect for those days that I look at the page and get this big question mark in my mind!  Let's just say that while "Mind Benders" is a great name for this product, my daughter and I think "Mind Stretchers" would also be a good name--and some days my mind definitely has growing pains!

So if you are looking for something to REALLY REALLY REALLY make your students think, I highly recommend this book!  And for us, personally, this may be our first "Mind Benders" book, but there is no way it will be our last!

This product can be found at www.CriticalThinking.com, Phone 1-800-458-4849.

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Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion and review.  All thoughts expressed are my own, and I truly am impressed with this product! :)

52 Weeks, 52 Verses--Week 36

Happy Sabbath!

Here we are--another week into our year.  Somehow I feel like 2012 is still the "New" year, yet with school starting up I have to admit that I will soon have to be reminding myself to write 2013 as I write checks to pay bills!!!!

On the memory verse ring--still missing in action.  I still have no idea if I lost it out and about, or if it is buried somewhere in the house--a very likely possibility.  I could have take  it anywhere--but where ever I DID take it, evidentally I am not going back to that same spot!  I suppose I should just start a new one.  You know that would almost guarentee that the original would turn up! ;)

But I can still pick a new verse for this upcoming week.  This is the one that stood out to me and spoke to my heart with it's simplicity:

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."  Mark 13:31

A beautiful promise, isn't it?

My heart is heavy because our church lost one of our beautiful grandmas this week.  A very sweet, lovely lady.  She always sat just across the isle from us, and her spot was empty this morning.  I could almost not hold back the tears.   At 95 years young, Bea spent every Sabbath afternoon taking her little dog to visit in the nursing home.  You know--to cheer up the "old folks" who lived there!  Her greatest joy was in bringing joy to others.

Heaven and earth will pass away.

Our loved ones will pass away.

But God's words never will.  And some of those never-passing-away-words promise me that I will see Bea again.

I'm glad.  Because I never did learn properly her secret with growing African Violets.

Have a wonderful week--with our beautiful Savior!