Cool Off and Fill Up With These Great Recipies

 Okay! With the heat as high as we have ever had, and the water as low as it has ever been, we need some summer fun in the form of food! Check out these great ideas from familyfun.go.com. They will make your lips smack and your family smile.

Berry Orange Sorbet

 

 

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Made with a food processor, this sweet and tangy sorbet is extra-smooth. You can make it in an ice-cream machine, too--just follow the manufacturer's directions.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or thawed raspberries or blackberries

• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup of the water and all of the sugar. Bring the liquid to a simmer and continue simmering it for about 3 minutes, stirring often, until the sugar dissolves. Remove the pan from the heat and let the syrup cool.
   
2. Put the berries and the remaining 1/4 cup of water into the bowl of a food processor and puree them for 30 seconds. Strain the puree to remove the seeds.
   
3. In a pitcher, stir together the cooked syrup, the orange and lemon juices, and the seedless berry puree. Pour the mixture into two ice-cube trays and freeze until firm (generally 6 or more hours). A pitcher or a mixing bowl with a spout will make filling the ice-cube trays easier and neater.
   
4. When you're ready to serve the sorbet, chill serving dishes in the freezer and briefly chill your food processor bowl and blade as well. Then transfer the fruit cubes to the food processor and pulse them, in short bursts, to make a smooth sorbet. Spoon the sorbet into the chilled dishes and serve immediately. Makes about 6 servings.
   
     Our town can not have 4th of July Fireworks because of the heat. However, this recipe will spice up the night! I will probably just place the red salsa and the sour cream in a bowl by the blue chips (no cheese unless I make them as nachos).
   

   Nation's B-day Nachos

   Put a South of the Border twist on a red, white and blue treat.
   by Sharon Cindrich and Judith Fertig, Photographs by David Roth 
    
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   Cook Time:

   5-7 minutes

   Give everyone's favorite Tex-Mex appetizer a patriotic makeover.

Ingredients

• 1 bag blue corn tortilla chips
• Cooking spray
• Aluminum foil

• Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
• Salsa
• Sour cream

Instructions

1. Place blue corn tortilla chips on a foil-covered baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
   
2. Sprinkle the chips with shredded Monterrey Jack, then bake at 350° for 5 to 7 minutes.
   
3. Top the nachos with salsa and sour cream.
   
   Have fun! familyfun.go.com has a lot of fun craft ideas and easy recipes!
   
   

Forgive and Keep Forgiving Till You Mean It

 

(Sign says: "My bike was stolen from my front lawn last week. It is a one speed bike with a skull flag and a lightening bolt on it. The lightening bolt and flag may have been removed. This bike was brand new from the store. NO REWARD. I Don't even want the bike back. I just made these fliers to tell you I hate you Bike Thief. I hope you ride my bike without a helmet and get hit by a monster truck. I hope my bike takes you straight to hell")

WOW! Obviously, this person felt wronged! He was so hurt he made up a sign to tell that person how much he thought they stink! This sign represents some nameless person exercising their right to express how they feel. I mean... come on... they stole his bike with the custom flag and the lightening bolt symbol!

Have you ever felt wronged? What would your sign say? What picture would you draw? How do you take your hurts to God? What would you say? What would God say? I think it would go something like this...

God, all sorts of Bible verses come to mind like Ephesians 6:24 "In your anger do not sin." Are you kidding me God!? Do you know what they did to me, and how little they must care, because if you did you would not have even put that verse in the Bible! 

WHAT'S THAT YOU SAY LORD... that verse isn't for them.... it's for me? You put that there so my choices don't make a bad situation worse... for me? So, drawing a picture with a nasty note and putting it on an electric pole is out of the question? Okay fine, but what do I do with all this hurt!?

PRAY FOR THEM? That is a great idea! You mean one of those Psalm prayers... "Lord smite my enemy"... uh no not that type of prayer.... then what? A Matthew 5:44 prayer!Pray for those who have hurt you! Just a minute Lord I'll be right back.... uh I checked and God there is not an out clause on that verse. Like, what if they have REALLY hurt you? ... pray for them any way huh? That might be a pretty tall order. 

You want me to pray for them? WHY SHOULD I?! Because why... I was never meant to carry that burden of hurt alone? Oh... but I am hurt God... pray anyway huh. Okay... here it goes... 

Dear God....(the prayer)......... AMEN.

Hey you know what? You're right. I feel better... I feel not alone in my sadness anymore... Here you go God... all my fears... all my hurt... all my anger about this... you handle it. It was really weighing me down. God, why doesn't it weigh you down? ...You are love and give love... you are all knowing... bigger than anything... I see.  Honestly God... I'm still scared and hurt... keep praying huh. Okay, you're the boss. :) Actually you're my dad. So here you go... take it all. I will not live in fear, but I will live in your righteousness just like you planned. No sign for me.

What do you need to give to God today? What hurt stops you from living who you are in Christ! Hey new creation, God knows. So live for him.

2 Corinthians 5:17

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Prayer

God, The Almighty loves us so much that he made a way, THROUGH HIS SON, for us to be with him. MMM, do you think God, who is mightier than we could ever know, would show that much love, and sacrifice that much; so he might "sometime" hear us, and maybe get around to helping us? NO WAY! Prayer is our time (our anytime and always time) to communicate with our God who loves us so much, he gave his only son.These are just a few of my favorite verses on prayer:

Matthew 7:7-11
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Mark 10:27
27Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

Luke 11:9-10
9"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

John 14:13
13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 

2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

1 John 5:14-15
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him


There are so many verses on prayer. Pray with confidence. Know that your loving God will answer.

Happy Father's Day

 A young college girl came up to me last Sunday. She said she was going out of town next week and couldn't work in the children's area. I said, "Going home for Father's Day?" She said yes, but I knew that look all to well. I had felt every facial expression when I was a young person that she was now giving. She flashed her kind eyes with a slight pause and a half turned smile, and I knew. I asked, "Are your parents still married?" She said no. We talked about our MIA dads. A bit later in the conversation I told her I thought it was wonderful that she was going home to be with her mom. I joked and told her when Father's Day rolled around I had to find cards for my dad the equivalent of "because you're breathing"... "because you didn't buy my prom dress"... She laughed, and said it was very similar to her circumstance.

Truth be told even though my dad was MIA at times,I had a great mom and amazing grandparents that lived in the same town. They loved the Lord and taught me many things. I think grandpa's greatest gift was love. He loved the Lord, he loved his wife, and loved his family. That love set a great example, and that love is what I sought to find in the man I would marry.

As amazing as grandpa was, there was another Father in my life. It was of course God our Father. At 8 years old I asked Christ to come into my heart. As I read the Bible I could see God's fatherly advice emerging. Proverbs with it's wise words. Galatians with a list of what folks will see when God is in your life (fruit of the spirit). So many things he has to tell us, and the greatest? Perhaps at that time, and still today, that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6).

My dad died of cancer nineteen and a half years ago. It was a half a year before I married. For the last three months of his life I drove 450 miles almost every weekend to visit my dad in the VA Hospital. I wanted to make sure he knew how much God loved him and that God had a place waiting for him. My dad did come to know Christ as his savior. My earthly dad's greatest gift to me was a look of peace I had never seen on his face until that day.

Father's Day can be tricky for some. Now, my children and I lavish Randy (my husband) with love on that day. We also send love to my mom for being one of those amazing parents who were both mom and dad. We show love to Randy's dad. The gift of love is realized more since Randy's brother passed away; also of cancer. One realizes the honor to be together and say, "I love you." And even though we may not be with everyone we love this Father's Day, we have an eternity of days to one day be with them again. Our Father made sure of that.


Joshua 1:9
...Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (NIV)

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies (Psalm 36:5).

Love In Action

Well ladies and gentleman. The earth shook, the stars rotated, and Randy and I celebrated another year as husband and wife. We now have 19 years under our belt! There is something about growing older as a couple. Like you have somehow arrived.

Arriving to those 19 years have been filled with every emotion you can think of, and then some. Those 19 years for better or worse have been mostly better and we are not any worse but stronger from the challenges. So below is my gift to you in honor of our anniversary! Through God's love and grace may you laugh today, love your family and grow stronger from what lies ahead. I thank God for my husband and family.