In the Garden with Adam and Eve (Beat Poetry)

Fantastic Fashion Fridays!!!

Hello Everyone!!! I have been MIA!! Please forgive me!! I have had soooo many things going on and have not had time to post anything lately!! I'm back on track!! Here is my go to fashion gal, Krystal, and I am loving her outfit! This is something I would totally wear and it fits my personality so well!!! Check her out at http://thistimetomorrow-krystal.blogspot.com/

I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!! Much Love and God Bless!!

 

Fashion Fridays!!

Hey guys!! I hope everyone has enjoyed their week!! I sure have!! I am posting a cute little outfit today from Keiko at www.keikolynn.com She has great style to me and it is always different. She wears a lot of vintage and I LOVE VINTAGE clothing!! Check her out!! This is my pick for today!! I love it and will be recreating it!! :) Happy Friday!!

I No Longer Live



I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20



O Praise God!! O Hallelujah!! What a wonderful passage of scripture! It is one of the most important aspects of the Gospel!! I have to be honest, I did not always understand this scripture. I would often wonder what Paul meant by this, but thanks be to God that He has revealed this main truth to my heart! God is so magnificent and so awesome! How could we not praise and adore him? I often wonder what took me so long to come to the knowledge of the truth, and then I realize that I was in bondage just like everyone else.

When I came to Christ and received salvation, I honestly only knew that I was forgiven for my sins and that now I must "live right" While this is truth it is only partially the truth! Salvation is so much more than forgiveness of sins! I was in the dark a long time about what all Salvation entailed, I was steady "trying" to live right on my own, and trust me that is a hard thing to do. When we "try" we are actually still under the law and not under grace. By our trying, we are annulling the cross all together. Christ did not die for us to "try" and live right. Honestly, do we even know what righteousness is, aside from Christ? Our flesh cannot live right, it can only "try" and it will never be successful. I struggled and struggled and was weary! I felt like giving up. I begin to doubt my salvation and even doubt that God was real! I mean, honestly, what kind of God tells you to come to Him and find rest and then leave you with the burden of "trying" to be Holy on your own? This is something that I asked God. Many of you may be saying how dare I ask the Lord that, but I had to because I was tired of struggling and not having any real revelation or understanding of God. I knew deep in my heart that I was saved because my mindset was changed, my desires had changed and only the power of God can could have changed what was filthy into something pure! However, I was not having any real victory over sin! I was still sinning in thought, word, and deed. I was just tired of it! One day God had me read some writings of an older believer and in those writings was the answer to my prayers. Hallelujah!!! I was free!!

You see I no longer had to "try" and live right because I was crucified and it was Christ that was living in me and for me. Well after that sank into my heart, I asked the Lord how could I apply this practically. (I am a practical gal!:)  Practically applying this is usually the challenge for most believers. We read, we study, and we pray but somehow we don't get the application part right. I truly wanted to know how to apply this to my life and truly rest in the Lord. To apply this God told me to just say it and believe it. He told me to just say: "Lord I am helpless, I am unable to overcome, I cannot live the life you desire, Jesus you live, You overcome for me, you be patient for me, you be loving for me, you be all the things I need" You guys I am telling you that when I obeyed and spoke what God had me to speak and truly believed that Jesus was the one living in me and He was the one that was going to live for me, I could truly breathe!! It was as if something fell off my shoulders!! Jesus is real you guys, He really is and He really lives in us and for us! We will never overcome on our own, we will never have victory without Christ! He must live and we must stay crucified. We must remember that we have been crucified, WE ARE DEAD!! The task of daily living is to stay dead! Satan always comes and tries to tempt us to raise ourselves up and trust me it can easily happen if we don't guard our hearts and minds!! He constantly harasses and injects thoughts and wants us to take up and fight him on our own. Paul says that we are to put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, we may be able to stand our ground. Our daily requirement is to STAND on the word of God. Stand on the facts of the cross and benefits of our resurrection with Christ! We must reckon ourselves dead and continuously do so. We must realize that because Christ lives in us, He will live this life for us. No need for us to try and struggle in our own strength. Christ has paid it all and He will live out God's righteous requirements in and through us! Praise be to God!! We can have rest and we can stand on what Christ has accomplished!!

Much Love,

Stephanie

Tasty Tuesday!!

Hello everyone!! Sorry for missing Marriage Monday on yesterday. I have two sick little ones. One has a very bad ear infection and the other has a bad cold. So my day was spent running around to the doctor then getting prescriptions filled and keeping juice and movies available throughout the evening. I didn't even get to my cleaning yesterday like I wanted to. Today is a new day and the kiddos are much better, they did not go to school today so I am pressed for time on this post because I have to clean up today, no excuses!! LOL!! So the meal I am presenting today is actually what I cooked last night. I am EATING CLEAN from now on so my recipes and posts about food will be healthy and nutritious. I desire to lose some pounds and tone up so I must change the way I eat and it must be a permanent change. I am looking to live a healthier lifestyle and food is not really a problem, it's just the "sweets" I love cookies, cakes, breads, chocolate,etc... Anything with sugar! :( So I have to stop that! I am also going to join the gym this week, hopefully, and I plan to workout 5 to 6 times per week. It's just something that I have got to do! I can't keep making excuses. I took some pictures of my body yesterday and I was not happy with what I saw. So if I am not happy then I have to change it, because the way my body looks is totally in my control!

Anyway, I have went on long enough! Here is the recipe for today! I hope you try it and enjoy it. It was really good!!



Keep It Light Tilapia

Ingredients

• ¼ cup / 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 tsp / 5 ml paprika
• 1 tsp / 5 ml ginger
• 1 tsp / 5 ml fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tsp / 5 ml dried mustard
• 1 tsp / 5 ml oregano
• 1 tsp / 5 ml chili powder
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 4 tilapia filets, thawed

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF/ 205ºC. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium-sized bowl combine olive oil, garlic and seasonings.
3. Dip each filet into the seasoning and place it on the baking sheet.
4. Pour any remaining seasoning over the filets on the sheet and place the baking sheet in the oven.
5. Bake for 10 minutes

Tangy Pumpkin Seed Salad

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ tsp / 2.5 ml sea salt
• 2 Tbsp / 30 ml fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp / 5 ml Worcestershire sauce
• ½ cup / 120 ml extra virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 10 cups of the lettuce of your choice
• 1/3 cup / 90 ml toasted pumpkin seeds

Preparation

1. Rinse lettuce of your choice under cold water and set aside in a bowl.
2. In a small bowl, add minced garlic and salt.
3. Whisk lemon and Worcestershire sauce into the garlic.
4. Continue to whisk the dressing while slowly pouring the olive oil in a steady stream. Whisk until smooth.
5. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste.
6. Add pumpkin seeds to the lettuce then pour the dressing over top.
7. Toss the lettuce to coat with dressing and serve.

*These recipes came from http://www.eatcleandiet.com/.* Go check it out!

Fantastic Fashion Fridays!!

Hey Guys!! Happy Friday!! I am so in love with the bold colors in this outfit. I think this is a wonderful outfit for Valentine's Day. I may try and recreate this and post it on Valentine's Day. That would be a good project for me to work on! Head on over to see Krystal at http://thistimetomorrow-krystal.blogspot.com/ You will find some other great outfits on her blog!!! I love her style and the fact that she is comfortable in her own skin and wears what compliments her!! Happy Friday and go out and paint the town with your outfit today! I would love for you guys to post what you are wearing on a Friday or your weekend wear! :)

Thrifty Thursday

Being frugal is something that I am not good with naturally. I have always been a spendaholic and within the last few years there has been a definite change in the way I handle money. I am not perfect when it comes to handling money, but I am learning quite a few things. The most important thing that I have learned is that our money is not "ours" The money that God has blessed us with through hard work is His. He lends it to us to be stewards over. Having a clear understanding of this will help us in the money area. Money is simply a tool that is used in the affairs of everyday life. We should not worship money or the things that money can buy. Many people chase after money and stuff, and it ends up costing them their life, their family, their time, etc... God did not create money to be a driving force, He created it to be a tool we use for trade/barter. Instead of using cows/goats, etc... we use currency. :)

Understanding money God's way will begin to take away the desire to misuse this resource and you will learn to put it in its proper place. I have often heard people say they love money, but the fact is that they love what money can buy them, be it power, fame, trips, cars, houses, etc... Thankfully God is delivering me from the love of money and He is teaching me how to handle it properly, so that my family can use this tool as an opportunity to bless others. I pray that you will seek the Lord about money because this area is a major hang up for a lot of people, and sadly Christians. We all could use more education and teaching on being a good steward of this resource.

Thrifty Thursday Tip: Shop at your local Salvation Army or Goodwill! I love these stores because they always have sales and you can find some really nice things there. I have not paid over $20 for an outfit in close to a year now. I even purchase most of my shoes from Goodwill. In the past year I have bought some name brand shoes that had never been worn, still had tags on them, i.e. Jessica Simpson pumps, BCBG pumps, Nine West pumps, you get my drift. LOL!!

Remember to use money wisely and thank God for Him entrusting you with His resources. Make Him proud! :) Happy Thrifty Thursday!!