Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Two Weeks of Sermons

When our internet connection drops to 3G, I sometimes have difficulty uploading the sermons which is what happened last week. So, I finally got last week's uploaded as well as this week's so here they both are.

Last Trump
2-18-18 Sermon

Fear
2-25-18 Sermon



Friday, February 23, 2018

Sausage and Squash Soup

I have been trying to finish up using things in my freezers and on my canning shelves in creative new ways because the flour we use (garbanzo bean flour) has been difficult to get lately. I found a recipe for Spicy Sausage and Squash Soup on Pinterest, so I thought I would give it a try with a few adaptations to use what I have.

I had some frozen butternut squash, one package of frozen pumpkin and two jars of canned butternut squash that I used (yes, I have to make a lot to feed my family!). I also used frozen turkey stock and frozen diced onions. We used full raw cow's milk cream instead of the coconut milk. We used RealSalt  and cayenne pepper for our seasonings. I left out the bay leaf, apple cider vinegar, and water. We also make our own sausage with either ground turkey, ground chicken, or ground venison, but we had been given some actual pork sausage so we used that.

I have to say, it was a hit! Even my children who are picky eaters when it comes to squash had seconds and some even had thirds! My husband, who doesn't really care for soups, even commented about how good it was.

I am definitely keeping this recipe around to when the garden starts producing squash again.

If you try it (or your own variation of it), please let me know how your family reacted to it.


Monday, February 19, 2018

Love Can Do It Better

I receive the Focus on the Family magazine. I came across an article in the Feb/Mar 2018 magazine that I thought should be shared.

I have come to learn over the past year that there are a number of moms who see themselves as angry moms and wished they weren't. This is something that most moms won't talk about because they don't want others to know that they yell at their children; however, it is something that needs to be communicated.

For one reason, as the author of the article points out, Proverbs 28:13 tells us to confess to obtain mercy. For another, moms need to know they aren't alone in the struggle.

I highly suggest reading, Tripping over Triggers by Amber Lia.


Saturday, February 10, 2018

Make Known His Deeds

Yesterday during my time with God, He led me to 1 Chronicles 16 where I read David's psalm to the Lord.

1 Chronicles 16:8-12 KJV
8 Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. 9 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. 10 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. 11 Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. 12 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;

As I was reading it, I just kept thinking about how this must be one of the psalms in the book of Psalms, but my Bible didn't have a cross-reference (one of my issues with my Bible) and I didn't have time to get on the computer to look it up so I just figured I would do it when I had time.

Then, this morning, God led me to Psalm 105-the Psalm of 1 Chronicles 16! God is good in giving me the answer to my question!

Psalms 105:1-5 KJV
1 O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. 2 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works. 3 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. 4 Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore. 5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;

I have come to know that when God repeats something or brings something to my attention more than once, I need to pay attention.

I was once again reminded about how we need to make sure we never forget and forever thank God for His blessings. We need to share His good works with those around us. We need to be praising God for who He is and what He has done for us. We must continue to seek Him and ask for His strength.

I would love for you to share something that God has done for you. What an encouragement it is to others to see how God is working in the lives of His people. Please take a moment to share your experiences in either the comments below or on the Gracious Daughter of the King facebook page.

Let us give thanks to the Lord and make His deeds known among the people!




Thursday, February 1, 2018

The Eden Concept

I am privileged to be part of the book launch team for a new book-The Eden Concept: Marriage God's Way by Dana & Kimberly Williams!

I received an advance, digital copy of the book to read in order to write my review. I am so glad to have read this book!

The Eden Concept is a book that is much needed in our world. I received my copy at a time when many people were asking advice on marriage issues and this book addressed them all in a biblical way.

While most of the information in this book I have already read in the Bible and believe, it is nice having it all in one place and would be great for anyone thinking about marriage, already married but struggling, or even couples who have strong marriages, but still desire a better marriage.

Also, they did present some ideas I had never thought about before. For example, in the first chapter, they have us look at the book of Ruth "for examples of godly character traits." I while I believe Ruth to be a great love story, I never thought to look at Ruth and Boaz for traits for marriage partners. Why I never saw this before, I can't explain, but it was powerful looking at Ruth in this way.

I also loved how they relate the role of a wife (a helper) to God's character and nature as a helper.

All through the Bible, God is called Helper. God gave Eve a part of His character to define her role in marriage.

People often say that a woman is seen as "less" because she is "just" a helper, but being a helper is displaying a character of God. How can that be "less"?

They also share a story that Dave Ramsey shares in his book, EntreLeadership, that beautifully illustrates the strength of unity in a marriage. In short, a Belgian horse can pull 8,000 pounds by itself. We know that horses can pull more when joined with other horses, but here is where it gets interesting. If two horses that don't know each other are placed together, they can pull 20,000-24,000 pounds, but if you put two horses together who have been trained together, that strength increases even more to 30,000-32,000!

I truly believe this book will help any marriage become a better marriage. I also believe this would be good for any engaged couple to go through. There are questions in the back of the book (divided by chapters) so the book can be used as a study either with just an individual couple or as a small group.

Just think of how our world would be changed if couples got a hold of this book and strengthened their marriages?! Strong marriages create strong families. Strong families create strong churches. Strong churches create strong communities. Strong communities create strong states. Strong states create strong nations. Our nation could be changed by the simple act of couples working on their marriages!

I hope you take advantage of this great resource!