Why I Haven't Given Up Church

I started following Jesus when I was 18 years old so I'm going on 13 years of being involved with the local church and about 10 years of that has been in leadership. The church gets a lot of flack these days (really it always has) and I can tell you I have personally experienced the ugliest of the uglies within the church. I've been abused, accused, beaten down, called names, ignored, and taken advantage of by "God's People". It's a disheartening feeling when people you hold in such high regard do things like that to you and people around you. Even if you've never been a part of a church you have probably seen news stories about corrupt finances, pastors caught with prostitutes, and of course people holding those lovely protest signs that...

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30 days of (mostly) clean eating- Week 2

This has been a slow week of learning. We did pretty good with staying on track. I pretty much kept to the same foods as last week but this week I discovered hummus. Never in my life did I imagine I'd eat hummus but I did! I even made my own pita bread to dip in it! Sorry I don't have much more to report but hopefully next week I'll have more time to try some more different stuff...

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Yummy Yummy White Chocolate Granola Bars!

I love love LOVE granola bars! So, it was only natural that this was the first thing I attempted to make for our 30 days of clean eating. These are great to have around for a sweet treat :) What you'll need: 1/3 cup honey 2 teaspoon vanilla extract  1/2 cup butter1/4 cup brown sugar  1/4 cup turbinado sugar 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 3 1/2 cups quick cooking oats 1 cup of organic crispy rice 1 cup organic pastry flour 1/2 cup white chocolate chips melted for drizzling (ghiradelli is the best brand I've found so far) Step 1 Melt the butter and then pour it into a mixing bowl and mix in the honey and vanilla Step 2 Add in your brown sugar, turbinado, and salt. Mix it well. Step 3 Add in the...

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When Facebook Lies to You......

There are so many differing views on social media these days. Some people think it's great and some people think it's detrimental to society. I've always been on the side of those who think it's great- the more, the better. Now I'm not so sure. This week I was having a conversation with my 8 and 6 year old daughters and they were sharing with me how they no longer enjoy spending as much time with a person who they used to love being around. I asked them why and their response surprised me. they said" [this person] doesn't play with us. [this person] only cares about [this person's] phone and facebook." One of the beautiful things about children is their ability to call it like it is. Kids don't make excuses for people's behavior or ignore...

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30 days of (mostly) clean Eating- week 1

My counter full of groceries from our shopping trip this week Well this week was a great week of learning for our family. We learned about what real food is and how to make it. The week started with me walking cluelessly around the grocery store trying to find food that I thought my family might actually try. It was mostly a success! We discovered that while actual food is different from the processed, over sugared food we are used to its not so bad. Here's a few things that we really liked this week: Homemade granola bars! These became my snacks through the week. They blew store bought granola out of the water and I could control what went into them so it was easy to keep them natural. Tostadas! Mine came out a bit spicy but with a little...

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My honest feelings about reading the Bible

I have to confess that sometimes the Bible bores me to pieces. I don't even know if I'm allowed to say that. I feel like it's one of those things that as Christians we just aren't allowed to say but in the interest of transparency I'm going to say it anyway. It's not like God isn't already aware of this. I try to read God's word daily but there are just some days when I finish reading and shrug my shoulders because there was nothing that moved me in what I read. So, why do I do it? Why do I keep reading after that? Well, there are a few answers. The first is obedience. Obedience isn't always the most fun thing but it is essential to living a life that honors God. It's almost a naughty word these days because we are not taught to be obedient....

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30 days of (mostly) clean eating

all the "junk" in our cabinets Like most moms I'm always concerned about my family's health. Being that I make most of the meals in our house I feel responsible for what my family eats. Since I had a baby earlier this year my food standards have really become lax. In all the busyness of newborn life I reached for quick, easy meals; mostly prepackaged or microwaveable. Soon I noticed us eating more and feeling worse. It's not like we were eating cookies and ice cream all day but most of our meals had chemicals, preservatives, and artificial add-ons like dyes, sweeteners, etc. One day I decided to look at all the food around our house and I was shocked by how much was chemical ridden and over processed. So I decided that I'd had enough of...

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