A Bit From a Book

Lately I've been working my way through "Sacred Singleness" by Leslie Ludy. I came across this section written by Charles Spurgeon;

 "The {set apart young women} not only acknowledges Jesus to be her King, but her heart is full of loving devotion to Him as such. Nothing can make her heart leap like the mention of that august, that more than royal name. She remembers what Jesus did, how He loved her, and gave Himself for her; she looks to the Cross and remembers the streams of blood whereby she was redeemed, even when she was an enemy of God. She remembers Christ in heaven, enthroned at the right hand of the Father, and she loves Him there, and it ravishes her heart to think that God hath highly exalted the once-despised and rejected One, and given Him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth. She pants for the time when the Crucified shall came in His glory, and rule the nations as their liege Lord. She loves Jesus so that she feels she belongs to Him altogether, bought with His blood, redeemed by His power, and comforted by His presence; she delights to know that she is not her own, for she is bought with a price.... She loves her King, and loves Him with an ardor unquenchable, for many waters cannot drown His love, neither can the floods quench it."

Not much I can say after that. But I pray this may be true in my life and yours...

Sister

If you have a sister that...

makes you laugh. 

puts up with your craziness.

listens to all your fantastic ideas.

has the guts to pitch some of said 'fantastic' ideas.

makes the bed.

cooks ooper good food.

laughs at you.

AND

tells you when you sound bad.

cheers when you sound good.

makes you wonder how in the world you're related.

keeps you on track.

Yeah, that would pretty much define my sister. So if you have a similar one...go do a blog post, write a letter, give a hug, make a dessert...something. 

Because sister's are awesome. And it's high time they realize it! 

True Statement:

God is Good.

"Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name; 

make known among the nations what He has done, 

and proclaim that His name is exalted."

Isaiah 12:4

Countless times I've began or ended my journal entries with this;

"God, please give me a desire for You."

A true prayer. A prayer coming from my heart. Written over and over again through my old journals. But also written over and over again were stories of things that God had done. More of His character revealed through verses and circumstances in my life. Thoughts and prayers that came from my heart. Prayers that He Himself had answered. And it struck me;

I have been asking God to do something that He had already done.

He had given me a desire for Him. Lately the desire has grown more intense. I want to be more like Him. The desire is here. So... What now?

Start doing.

Keep writing.

Begin living.

Stop wandering around waiting for some burst of super-natural revelation. Find direction and love in the little bits He uncovers each day." Yep. that's it. This is my Tuesday inspiration.  

Live so that others around me catch a desire for God.

Live in a way that properly represents the God I serve and love.

"Sing to the LORD, 

for He has done glorious things; 

let this be known to all the world."

Isaiah 12:5

Homemade Pretzel Bites

{note: the preliminary steps are to be followed the exact same as in Cheesecake 101.}

-Throw the first 4 ingredients into the Bosch

-Knead for about 5 minutes 

{note: generally we use freshly-ground-super-good-for-you-and-actually-good-tasting whole wheat flour in as many things as possible. The first time we didn't. The third time I used mostly whole wheat. Bad idea--a slightly grainy texture was achieved. A half and half mixture of white and wheat makes for a wonderful compromise.}

-Let dough raise for about an hour

{note: if in any case you 'forget' about the dough and it rises up above the bowl and practically spills over everything, don't worry, it's still good. Not that I have personal experience or anything...*smile*}

-Form small "bite-able" balls

-boil water with baking soda

-drop formed balls into the water

-count to 10 and remove the small clumps of dough 

-place on baking sheet

-bake at 475˚ till slightly golden

-set timer for 8-10 min.

{note: expect a wonderful aroma to fill the kitchen--one the best things about baking}

-brush with butter

-sprinkle with salt

{note: pretzel salt is super yummy--who'd have guessed?}

-dip in cheese sauce or

-smlatther with cream cheese

{note: cream cheese is my personal favorite. Although I'm not a big fan of it normally it just melts over these salty pretzels just perfectly. amazing}

Things needed for above pictured yumminess;

• 1 1/8 cups water (70 to 80 degrees F)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 2 quarts water
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• coarse salt
• melted butter 

{note: I hope you enjoy these as much as my family and I did. Oh yeah, and all my friends...pretty much a win/win snack!}

"Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain."

1 Timothy 25:4

He put a ring...

...on the finger he's wrapped around!

If you can't see it on their faces let me tell you...love it in the air!

Yes, people, Joe asked this pretty girl to marry him and come this summer we'll have another Beasley girl! Rachel is her name and I'm so excited to officially have her as a sister!

God designed them so perfectly for each other and it has been exciting to watch His workings in their lives individually and as a couple. 

They both go to school at Grace University and graduate this May (YAY!). Joe with a degree in Business Management and Rachel in Elementary Education. 

Joe plays basketball for Grace and after a basketball game and dinner he popped the question...the story is so sweet I wish I had time to tell it!

So with that discombobulated collage of statements I'll leave you with a smile...

Three Little Pigs

I saw this video on a friend's facebook page. I thought "hmmm...this doesn't look super interesting, but this friend generally has funny stuff, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and watch it."

Good decision.

I laughed.

I watched it again.

So...what did you think? Funny?

I thought so too.

Oh for a vocabulary of 54,000 words...

Cheesecake 101

{note: there is always prep work to baking anything and it's the same with a cheesecake. These are not completely necessary, but will make the 'work' a whole lot more fun! So without any further comments let'sgo...}

1. Find a recipe. optional

2. Grab a sister. recommended

3.Turn on some music. essential

4. Get started. obvious

 {And to tell the complete truth about this recipe, or the lack thereof, we decided to try some different things and so in this case several recipes were used}

Now onto the real thing.

-Oreo/graham cracker crust--my absolute favorite!

-grind/shred/break up graham crackers and oreo's 

- mix together and combine melted butter

{note: the recipes always add sugar to the crust, but hey, oreo's are sweet enough for me}

-mix together with melted butter

-press onto 9" spring-form pan 

{yes, I'm lucky enough to have the Pampered Chef spring-form pan--LOVE. And yes, you should all be jealous}

Wahla!! Done with the crust!

-add ingredients to a brownie mix (yep, we were lazy)

-stir

-sample a bit of brownie batter

{note: this utensil was washed and dried before being used again}

- beat up that softened cream cheese w/sugar

- add other specified ingredients i.e. eggs, sour cream, vanilla, cocoa powder

{note: add the eggs last and mix till just combined}

-cut up cooled brownies into small squares

-add small squared brownies to cheesecake batter

-pour batter over crust

-place pan in the oven

{note: yes, the pan is in a water bath--LOVE. Wrap the bottom of the pan in two sheets of aluminum foil, place in a pan like so, fill with about an inch with water and bake.}

-do not get overwhelmed with the dishes

{note: more energizing music is recommended here...but that's just me...}

-remove cheesecake from oven

{note: I always double guess myself when it comes to cheesecakes being done. So when in doubt remove it even if it looks slightly undone--the middle should be barely set and dull looking. They will 'set' after you pull it our--a moist cheesecake is always better than a dry one}

-let cool for about an hour and then refrigerate overnight 

-garnish with whatever you so desire

{note: chocolate sauce is NEVER a bad choice}

-Enjoy

{note: this is the best part}

Phillip

Happy Birthday, Phillip!

age: 17

height: 5'11"

sports team: Nebraska football--HUSKERS

goal for 2012: run 2 miles under 10 minutes

favorite brand: adidas

something that makes you happy: coming 1st place--in anything

grateful for: weight room and basketball 

verse: "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Phil. 3:13-14

2012 Graduate

Bethany, Esther, Abby and I headed out for a photo shoot down in the Old Market. There is something about being together with ones sisters. There are four of us now and the number is bound to keep increasing:) My only regret is that we never stopped to snap a picture of us together...

Anyways, my sister graduates this year. For the past several months she's been surrounded by a substantial stack of books, diligently studying through each of them. But come May...she'll be d.o.n.e.

Bethany did a post, and Esther put a bunch on facebook, but here are some of my personal favorites! I hope you enjoy!

Uh, yeah. She's pretty!

::Sisters::

Bethany: Photographer

Esther: Model

Abby: Fashion/makeup/clothing extraordinaire

Me: tag-along...comic relief maybe? lol