Faith in God

"Every saint who comes to God with a true heart, and sends his honest petitions to Him in faith, will have his prayers answered.  Your faith must not let go of the promises of God, if you do not see or feel the immediate answer to your prayers.  Be not afraid to trust God.  Rely upon His sure promise:  'Ask, and ye shall receive.'  God is too wise to err, and too good to withhold any good thing from His saints that walk uprightly.  Man is erring, and although his petitions are sent up from an honest heart, he does not always ask for the things that are good for himself, or that will glorify God.  When this is so, our wise and good Father hears our prayers, and will answer, sometimes immediately; but He gives us the things that are for our best good and His own glory.  God gives us blessings; if we could look into His plan, we would clearly see that He knows what is best for us and that our prayers are answered.  Nothing hurtful is given, but the blessing we need, in the place of something we asked for that would not be good for us, but to our hurt."

E.G.White, Vol. 1 Testimonies, p. 120,121

I am a Happy Herbivore!--Part 1

Hi Everyone!

I wanted to share something with you today that is one of my favorite new discoveries--Lindsay Nixon, otherwise known as the "Happy Herbivore" herself!  You see, it all started this way.  This summer I ended up quite by accident doing a bit of adult education in the area of health.  I didn't set out to do this--but as I look back, I do believe God was helping to direct me to things that would help me improve my health.

The very beginning happened over Spring Break.  I found myself in a thrift store in Florida where I was visiting my parents.  Staring me in the face in that thrift store was the book "The China Study," by T. Colin Campbell.  My girlfriend had recommended this book to me, and I had seen it in my local book store, but well--you know how it is.  I was pretty sure that if I bought that book and read it I would only discover things I shouldn't be doing.  So I dragged my feet and told myself that it was too expensive to purchase.  Then I find it staring at me in the thrift store.  One dollar and seventy five cents.  My excuse of "too expensive" was creamed!  So I bought the book, and started reading it while on vacation.  I couldn't hardly believe all the new things I was learning!  I mean, I have considered myself as eating really pretty healthy, so what else would there be for me to learn?  Plenty!  I read most of the book over that Spring Break, and then read my way from Florida back to Tennessee while my hubby drove us home.  I read many parts of the book out loud to him, and we were both amazed at what we were learning.

Next, I found out a school in my area was going to be showing the film "Forks over Knives," and would have food samples afterwards.  It was free to go, so I dragged my girlfriend with me (She had already seen it, but was sweet enough to go and give me courage!) and I went to watch the film.  VERY good film--again, I was amazed at how clear things were beginning to be.  I was convinced by this point that I DID need to make some changes in our family's diet, but the big word in my mind now was "HOW?"

Around this point, I learned about Dr. McDougall's new book "The Starch Solution."  I was already familiar with Dr. McDougall's work, and had a lot of confidence in him, so I ordered his new book.  It is around half information, and half recipes.  That helped in the "How" department, but I still felt the need for more help--specifically in how in the world I was going to learn to cook without using any oil.  I have been a vegetarian for years, so giving up meat was not an issue.  Later, I even moved to being a vegan--though I wasn't always super strict on this.  But being convinced that I now needed to do away completely with all oil, butter, margarine, etc. just felt like it was too much.  I was willing in spirit, but had absolutely no idea HOW in the world to actually DO it and still eat!

Which leads me to Lindsay Nixon.  I am not even positive how I learned about her--I "think" I read about her in something Dr. McDougall wrote, but I can't remember!  All I DO know is that one day I stumbled across her web site (www.happyherbivore.com) and I could hardly believe my eyes!  Here was a person who was cooking fat-free and low-fat vegan recipes using whole grains and NO OIL.  I kept blinking, because I was sure my mind was playing tricks on me--but it was true!  There were TONS of recipes for free on her blog, and when I looked up her (then) two cook books on Amazon--"The Happy Herbivore" and "Everyday Happy Herbivore"--the reviews were astounding!  I immediately ordered both her cookbooks, and then started making recipes off her blog while I waited for the books to arrive.

Every--single--recipe that I made, we LOVED!!!!  The cook books arrived, and I paged through them--drooling all the while.  My eight year old daughter paged through them, marking with post-it's all the pages that she thought the recipe looked good.  Needless to say, both books were peppered with post-it's, and THIS is my "picky eating" child!  I started making recipes from the books, and the problem we had was that we were enjoying the handful of recipes that I started with so much that I just kept making those over and over--and haven't moved on much to make any of the many other recipes in the books!  But this is a problem that I plan to remedy, as I really think I need to just start at the front covers and cook my way through them!

Shortly after my purchase of Lindsay's two books, I learned that she had just finished her THIRD cook book--this one called "Happy Herbivore Abroad."  It is filled with yummy recipes from around the world.  At this point, I argued with myself--I didn't NEED it.  I already had two wonderful cookbooks.  There were tons of recipes on her blog.  My arguments lasted about one day, and then I preordered "Happy Herbivore Abroad" through Amazon.  I waited anxiously, and it finally arrived on Black Friday--YES!  This book is drooled through already, and it has hardly been in my house but a day or two!  Up at the start of this post you can see a picture of what this third cook book looks like. . .

And--believe it or not--I was actually given the opportunity to send Lindsay some interview questions to share with you on my blog.  Since this is long already, I will share my interview with Lindsay in Part 2 next week, and in Part 3 a yummy recipe out of her new book for Blueberry Bundt Cake!  Picture below--doesn't it look wonderful?!

Part 2 coming soon--you won't want to miss it!  Interview with Lindsay, Part 3 the recipe for this luscious cake in the below photo!

By the way--if reading about how much I LOVE the Happy Herbivore cook books makes you think about purchasing them for yourself (or anything else from Amazon), please consider ordering  from Amazon using the below link.  It will not cost you a dime more, but Amazon will make a contribution to Children's Hemiplegia & Stroke Association (CHASA), which is a non-profit organization that supports disabled children.  One of the many things CHASA does is help provide grants for leg braces, so a child who needs one can get it--even if their family cannot afford the bill themselves.  Our family has personally benefited from CHASA's work, so I can definitely vouch for them! :)  Here's the link:

http://www.chasa.org/you-can-help/amazon-fundraiser/

~Susan

A Walk in the Woods

Hi Everyone!

Our family is blessed to live close to the school campus where my hubby works, and they have lots of wonderful trails that we are able to hike on. . . 

as busy as we are, we do not go often enough.  But when we do, I love to bring my camera.

A couple of weeks ago, we got a chance to go out hiking.  Being Fall, there were not a lot of wild flowers, but I found a fascinating selection of fungi! 

I loved the red cap on this one!

Sweet little shape.  Just needs a little frog sitting underneath it in a gentle rain!

I love the woods!  The trails just invite you on and on. . . 

These looked almost like golf balls, all sitting on the same log.  So funny!

And the color arches here I thought were beautiful.  Just like the log was growing little rainbows.

The view at the top was worth the hike up!

So delicate looking ferns. . . 

Smiles for being at the top!

My sweet heart!  

Hope you enjoyed this little hike in the woods!

52 Weeks, 52 Verses--Week 48

Happy Sabbath Everyone!

Our weather turned chilly today, so it definitely feels like winter!  Suppose that is all right, when it IS the last weekend in November--but it's still hard to believe this Fall is flying by so fast!

Speaking of fast, I have just finished my reading through the Bible in 90 Days last week.  This was my fourth time reading through with this plan, and my first time doing it using the Chronological Bible.  It was incredible, like always.  I wondered after I finished my reading the first time through, if it would still be as meaningful when I read through again--it is.  I wondered if I would still feel like I am learning so many new things--I am.  I wondered if I would still cry over how much God loves us and how He sent Jesus to die in our place--I did.

Which brings me to the verse I chose for this week:

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!"  Romans 11:33

Limitless.

Abounding.

Unsearchable.

There are no words good enough to describe our God.

When I finish reading the Bible--the WHOLE Bible, every single word--I close the cover and I am quiet.  There are no words to say.  I am speechless.

God loves me so much that I cannot say anything back.

Because nothing I could possibly say, is good enough.

~Susan

52 Weeks, 52 Verses--Week 46 & 47

Good Morning Everyone!

Well, I am a bit late for week 46 posting--so decided to combine week 46 and week 47 together.  The verses I have chosen go together anyway--there are just SO many wonderful promises in this particular Bible chapter!  It's hard not to just chose the entire chapter!

The chapter I am talking about is Romans 8.  Take a look at it yourself, and I'm sure you will agree with me.  :)  It was hard to narrow things down and chose just one verse for each week, but I did the best that I could:

Week 46
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."  Romans 8:28

Week 47
"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall He not with HIm also freely give us all things?"  Romans 8:32

Aren't those beautiful promises?  The first one--all things working together--it's beautiful.  And easy to say.  But not so easy to always accept.  How can the death of a loved one ever possibly be for good?  I have a friend whose daughter was murdered by my friend's granddaughter. How horrible and unspeakable.  How can it EVER be for good?  I cannot say.  I cannot explain.  I cannot even see.  But I know God is trustworthy.

The second verse--the Son of God was given up to dying for our sins--how could the death of the beautiful Jesus be good?  Yet without it, we would be lost.  Forever.  With no hope.

I think there are many things that we will never see the good in them here on earth.  And yes, I am sure there are MANY things that happen here that are NOT God's will.  Afterall, He created a world without sin.  Without pain.  Without death.  That world is where He put us to live--it was us who messed things up.

And it was God who gave up His own Son to make them right again.

Someday.

Sin will be no more.

And we will live with our Savior and God.

Forever.

~Susan

Herbed Chickpea & Sesame Crackers

Hi Everyone!

Thought I would share today a recipe that I discovered recently while following those bunny trails on the web.  I was actually searching for an oil-free cracker recipe, and while I did not find one this recipe is pretty close--AND yummy!  So that at least counts for something!

Oh, and it IS gluten free, since it uses chickpea flour instead of wheat flour, so for those who are needing to cook gluten free for loved ones, this recipe is for you! :D

I will tell you, though, there IS "something" wrong with this recipe--it never sticks around long!  I have no idea how long it would take for them to spoil.  In our house, it's lucky if a few stray crackers have made it through one night.  They certainally won't be around a second night!

Herbed Chickpea & Sesame Crackers

1 c. chickpea flour

1/2 tsp. salt

3 T. sesame seeds

2 T. fresh thyme, chopped fine

1 tsp. olive oil

1/4 c. water

Preheat oven 375 degrees.  Mix dry ingredients together, then add wet.  Knead a bit--it will be sticky.  Form into a disk and roll between 2 sheets of parchment paper to 1/8" thickness.  Remove top sheet.

Score with knife.  Poke each cracker with fork to prevent air bubbles.  Transfer crackers WITH bottom parchment paper sheet to a baking sheet (Crackers will bake on top of the parchment paper).

Bake 15-18 minutes, or until edges are brown.  Remove and let cool.  Serve immediately or keep in open container--these crackers will uncrisp if they are stored in an airtight container.

Hope your families like these crackers as much as we do! :)

Enjoy!

~Susan

52 Weeks, 52 Verses--Week 45

Happy Sabbath Everyone!

I came across a really neat verse in my Bible reading this week, and just had to write it down so I could share it with all of you.  Did you know that Jesus prayed for YOU?  He prayed specifically thinking about YOU?  Or in my case, ME?  Before I was even "on the way" to being born, Jesus knew all about me, and He prayed for me.  It says so right here:

"I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message."  John 17:20

Isn't that beautiful?  Just to think of Jesus praying for me leaves me speechless.

So many sad things in this world.  This week, so many have struggled with hurricane damage--some even losing their lives.  I just found out today that a dear friend of ours is on hospice care now, and not expected to live past another week or two.  Not the kind of news I wanted to hear.

I am so glad that Jesus knows all about it.  He knows what our needs are.  He knows when we lose a loved one.  He knows what it's like to live in this sinful world.

And He loves us too much to leave us here.

He prayed for Me.

I am written on His hands.

He is coming back for Me.

And I will live with Him forever and ever.  The only REAL "Happily Ever After" story.

Jesus and Me.

Jesus and You.

Have a wonderful next week--walking with your Savior who prayed for you.

~Susan