Isaiah 43:16, 18-19

“This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

Let it snow

Joshua

Joshua is a servant like none other.

I have never met anyone to knows how to love quite like him. Recently he has served me in so many ways I don't think I could even list them all, so I will just share some of the things that have meant the most to me.

All of the cleaning- Seriously he has been cleaning non stop, always helping around the house and trying to do things for me so I wont have to do them.

Helping with the boys- He changes all of the diapers, he told me that his goal is for me to never have to change any diapers! I have probably changed Caleb only a handful of times. He watches them so I can have alone time, and is just always helping and looking for ways to serve me and our family

He is romantic! He has been buying me flowers, not just any kind either, but all the kinds that are my favorites. Often he buys lots of different flowers that he thinks I would like and then makes me a bouquet and arranges them himself! He goes to my favorite paper store and selects stationary and writes me a beautiful hand written love letter and brings it in with the mail!

He blesses my spirit, He encourages me, reads to me, prays for me, never too busy to listen, talk pray, or worship. He goes on fasts. He is hard core. He is an inspiration.


Joshua I love you, and after two kids ( and one more on the way!) you still melt my heart!


I love you darling!!!

We are going to have another baby!!

"Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate."

{Psalms 127 3-5}

Thank you LORD!!

I love this...

“Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.”

- Psalm 119:165

Drink your green drink!

Dark green leafy veggies are sooo good for you!! Especially when you eat them raw packed full of living enzymes and nutrients! Raw greens are also packed with calcium which is really important for vegan and those eating raw. Recently our family has been starting the day with a blender full (or two or three!) of green smoothie! It is actually very filling and sooo good for you. Even Elisha has been eating them!

I still can't believe that's what the our family has for breakfast every morning. It's a long way from bacon, eggs, scones, waffles, etc.

We have been using different kinds of organic kale, spinach, collard greens, chard greens and wheat grass for the "green" in our green smoothie's. I also add things like bananas, berries (especially blueberries- they are really high in anti oxidants!) orange (I hear that adding the oranges help you to absorb the iron) and I like to add cranberry juice. (It's REALLY important that you check the label to make sure that the cranberry juice you use doesn't have any corn syrup or sugar, it's best if it is 100 percent juice and organic only sweetened with other juices. It's also great if its not from concentrate. But you don't even have to use cranberry juice :) You can also add some ground flax seed. (To learn about how amazing flax seed is click here and check it out!)

Throw in some berries or orange, toss in some greens and add some healthy juice or water and blend. It takes some getting used to, but when you use bananas and berries and things it's not bitter and tastes better than you would think. Drinking it through a straw helps me too. We have been doing this every morning as a family and it's made such a difference!!

Thinking about thanksgiving

I know it will be a while until we have Thanksgiving, but this is our family's first vegan/raw thanksgiving and I am already practicing some recipe's so I can make some great food come holiday season. Tonight I used the recipe below as a guide and made some raw pumpkin pie only I changed it a lot (and used squash instead of pumpkin) it was sooooo delicious!

Autumn pumpkin pie
(From "Ani's raw food kitchen" cook book)

Crust:

1/4 C sunflower seeds
1 3/4 C pumpkin seeds
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 C pitted dates

(You can make a raw pie crust with dates and almost any nut/seed combination.
I used dates and cashews/Brazil nuts for my pie)

Syrup:

1 C pitted dates
1 1/4 C water

Filling:

4 Cups pumpkin peeled seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes ( about 1 1/4 whole before peeled)
2 t ground cinn.
1 T psyllium powder

To make crust, process sunflower seeds into a fine powder in your food processor. Use this to "flour" the bottom of your pie dish

Next process pumpkin seeds and salt into course meal. Slowly add 1 C dates to make dough. press in pie dish. Set aside.
To make syrup, blend 1 cup dates with water until smooth. Set aside.

To make filling, process small batches of cubed pumpkin and cinn into a puree. Slowly add in the syrup. Process until completely smooth. Place pumpkin filling in bowl and hand mix in psyllium powder really well. ( I placed mine in the freezer for a little while and it helped thicken it and it was really good!)

To serve, scoop filling into pie crust.

Will keep for 4 days in fridge.



Some things to remember:

*Organic food tastes better ( and is healthier) than non-organic. Some foods I thought I hated -I realized I actually enjoyed when I ate them organic.

*Organic food is more expensive. I used to believe that we just couldn't afford it. Then I started doing some research and I was horrified! Food has come along way when how it used to be and how God intended it to be. (I really recommend seeing the movie "King Corn" to learn a little more about conventionally grown food) We decided as a family being healthy is important and than it was something we wanted to invest in. A cost effective way to eat organic is to shop at farmers markets or grow some veggies yourself! I grow organic tomato's in a pot in my side yard and it was like $3-!

* Investing in the right equipment makes a big difference! Having a really good food processor, blender, and juicer make all the difference. Also having really good knives's that you can sharpen and a good space for chopping can make a HUGE difference. (especially with raw foods) Obviously you work with what you have. I have a nice food processor I got for a good price at Costco, an inexpensive blender ( although I am planning on getting a vita mix!) and a good juicer I am borrowing from my mom. When ever I make a green smoothie ( which I try to do everyday) my blender never really blends it all the way, because it's just not the best quality. I am mentioning this because some recipe's might not turn out right if you have really cheap equipment.

We went vegan!

Well its almost been a week now and our family has been eating vegan and mostly raw fruits vegetables nuts and seeds. Its been amazing. I am so thankful I have some good cook books ( or rather "uncook books") or I think I would just end up eating salad every meal!

We are taking a season to try to be as healthy as we can be as a family, a season of alignment, getting priorities back on track and and fasting and prayer. I feel more hungry for him than I have felt in a long time. My heart needs JESUS! Please keep me in prayer that I will encounter him in a new way this season. I really want to grow and know him more.

This is what I am meditating on today:: Psalm 42 (The Message)

" A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek; I want to drink God, deep draughts of God.
I'm thirsty for God-alive. I wonder, "Will I ever make it-arrive and drink in God's presence?" I'm on a diet of tears-tears for breakfast, tears for supper.
All day long people knock at my door, Pestering, "Where is this God of yours?"
These are the things I go over and over, emptying out the pockets of my life.

I was always at the head of the worshiping crowd, right out in front,
Leading them all, eager to arrive and worship,
Shouting praises, singing thanksgiving-celebrating, all of us, God's feast!
Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God— soon I'll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face. He's my God.
When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse everything I know of you,
From Jordan depths to Hermon heights, including Mount Mizar.

Chaos calls to chaos, to the tune of whitewater rapids.
Your breaking surf, your thundering breakers crash and crush me.
Then God promises to love me all day, sing songs all through the night!
My life is God's prayer.
Sometimes I ask God, my rock-solid God, "Why did you let me down?
Why am I walking around in tears, harassed by enemies?"
They're out for the kill, these tormentors with their obscenities,
Taunting day after day, "Where is this God of yours?"
Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God— soon I'll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face. He's my God. "

My verses for the day ::

"Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul), as [something done] for the Lord and not for men ..." Colossians 3:23

"Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord." Romans 12:11

"That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you ..." 2 Timothy 1:6

Lemon Bars

This is a really easy Lemon Bar recipe. It can be made in 45 min. or less and makes 24 bars. I made these for the Dr. and hospital staff when I had my firstborn son Elisha. It was a BIG hit :)


Ingredients::

4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar ( you could sub with Xylitol)
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
hot shortbread base
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a bowl whisk together eggs and granulated sugar until combined well and stir in lemon juice and flour. Pour lemon mixture over hot shortbread. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F. and bake confection in middle of oven until set, about 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan and cut into 24 bars. Bar cookies keep, covered and chilled, 3 days. Sift confectioners' sugar over bars before serving.

Shortbread base::

1 1/2 sticks
(3/4 cup) unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cut butter into 1/2-inch pieces. In a food processor process all ingredients until mixture begins to form small lumps. Sprinkle mixture into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan and with a metal spatula press evenly onto bottom. Bake shortbread in middle of oven until golden, about 20 minutes. While shortbread is baking, prepare topping.

* Recipe from Epicurious.com

Caleb Daniel Granick::

Caleb was born on March 16th (Palm Sunday) as the sun was comming up. It was beautiful. It was the most challenging thing I have ever done in my life. I had him at home in a birthing pool- in our living room. I had a really long labor with Caleb. In fact in my medical chart in the spot where it asks for length of labor- my midwife wrote forever and a day. It sure felt like it! Caleb was 9 lb's 12 oz and 23 inches long! Isnt he darling!

Open up the heavens

"The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. "
((Psalm 16:5-6 ))

Lord thank you the inheiritance that you have for our family.
Lord open up the heavens over our home
bring a new freshness and a deep pouring our of your spirit...


They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain.
(( Job 29:23))

When a king's face brightens, it means life;
his favor is like a rain cloud in spring.
((Proverbs 16:15))

"You heavens above, rain down righteousness;
let the clouds shower it down.

Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up,
let righteousness grow with it; I, the LORD, have created it.
((Isaiah 45:7-9))

"Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises, he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth."
((Hosea 6:3))

"Ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain,
from the LORD who makes the storm clouds,
and he will give them showers of rain,
to everyone the vegetation in the field."
((Zechariah 10:1 ))

"Be not afraid, O wild animals,
for the open pastures are becoming green.
The trees are bearing their fruit;
the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.

Be glad, O people of Zion,
rejoice in the LORD your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness.

He sends you abundant showers,
both autumn and spring rains, as before.

The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
the vats will overflow with new wine and oil."

((Joel 2:22-24 ))

Your words are written on my heart...

"Come, let us return to the LORD;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up...
...that we may live before him.

Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth."

Hosea 6: 1-3

--

"So that they should seek God,
in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him,
although He is not far from each one of us."

For in Him we live and move and have our being;
as even some of your [own] poets have said,
For we are also His offspring."

Acts 17: 27, 28

--

"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
I will be found by you, declares the LORD,
and I will restore your fortunes and gather you
from all the nations and all the places,
where I have driven you, declares the LORD,
and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile."

Jeremiah 29:12, 13

Choosing to enjoy life

"I call heaven and earth to wittness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore coose life, that you and your descendants may live." Deut. 30:19

The Hebrew word for "life" in that verse is "chay"
and means ( among other things)
:: Fresh, strong, lively, merry

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance ( to the full, till it overflows)." John 10:10

"I have told you these things, that my joy and delight may be in you and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing. " John 15:11

"Up to this time you have not asked a single thing in my name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will recieve, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete." John 16:24

"And now I am comming to you [Father]; I say these things while I am still in the world, so that My joy may be made full and complete and perfect in them [the diciples] [that they may expirence My delight fulfilled in them, that My enjoyment may be perfected in thier own souls, that they may have My gladness within them, filling thier hearts.] John 17:13

Proverbs 17:22 says that "A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up bones"

--

" Now faith is the assurance ( the confirmation, the title deed) of things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of thier reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]." Hebrews 11:1

"But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him..." Hebrews 11:6

--

"God has not given us a spirit of fear.." 2 Tim. 1:7

In Deuteronomy 1:29 & 30 it says:: "Then I say to you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. The lord your God who goes before you, he will fight for you just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes."

1 Chronicles 22:13 says:: "... Be strong and of good courage. Dread not and fear not; be not dismayed."

--

"May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the expirence of your faith] that the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing ( bubbling over) with hope." Romans 15:13

Ways he has said I love you lately...

4 dozen roses
Sinju sushi
Washed dishes
Homemade ciabatta
Snow and beach
Rose petals and bubble bath
a new purse
Hammers, nails and being handy
Oh my love, your music
Grand central station coffee and coffee cake
A birthday week
Creativity
Salads just the way I like them
Snuggling
Always listening
Running errands
Wisdom
Holding my hand
Encouragment
Always smiling
Juicing extra, and just because
Exotic lilies
Little pink cards, with beauty ahead
Great conversation
A happy anniversary
Beautify'n the beautiful house
Dancing with our son
Helping me breathe
living out C-O-U-P-L-E
Watching the waves
Diaper changes
Cleaning
Bearing the burden
Doing whats right even when it hurts
Reading me the word
Giving us your life

How can one woman be so blessed?

t h a n k y o u

for showing me his love.

Trust in His promise

Proverbs 3...

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.

This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.

Honor the LORD with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine. "

amen

Cranberry Banana Oat Bread

I just love this bread! It is really easy to make and really good!

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup quick oats
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups ripe mashed banana pulp (about 3 bananas)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted, cooled
1/2 cup granulated sugar ( you can also use honey )
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice


Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Lightly grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan with a small amount of oil or butter. Combine the flour, oats, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Mix together with a whisk and set aside. Whisk the bananas, eggs and butter together in a bowl. Add the sugar, cranberries, and lemon juice; mix until blended. Gently stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Do not over mix the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake until lightly browned, 45 to 50 minutes. Allow the bread to cool completely in the pan, about 1 hour. Turn the bread out onto a cutting board and, using a serrated bread knife slice the bread into 3/4-inch thick pieces. Arrange on a platter and serve.

( I found this recipe on wholefoodsmarket.com )

Designed to feed on God Himself

Recently, I have been reading "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. I read somthing today that really ministered to me and I thought I would share it.

"God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking god to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing."

I need to feed on Him. I have felt unsatisfied for a while now in my spirit. I just dont have the hours I used to have to pray and read and dig deep into the word. I have been so tired, with moving to a new house, being in my last trimester of pregnancy, taking care of Elisha... It seems there is always somthing. When I finally do have some time alone, I am so tired that I just want to rest, take a shower, or maybe make myself somthing to eat. But what the Lord has been showing me is that its all about my heart. I have felt so condemed that spiritually things arent the way that they used to be.

This week I have been trying to read the word, and just do little things here and there that feed my spirit. Maybe I cant read chapters and chapters and do alot of word studies. But maybe I can have my bible open while I feed the baby and read some. Maybe I can listen to woship music and worship while I cook, or clean and put things away.

It has been so freeing.

I have been noticing that as I make these efforts to seek the Lord and glorify Him even in the small and humble ways, he has been meeting with me. Yesterday someone shared with me this scripture:

"He tends his flock like a shepherd He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young..."

Isaiah 40:11

I am so thankful He is my shepherd. He has my little family gathered in his arms. He is carring me close to his heart and gently leading me... I want even more hunger for him. I want to feed on Him and burn for Him all day. Even if it doesnt seem to look like it has in the past. I want to burn and breathe in your glory Lord.