whistle while you work

Well friends, I have entered the workforce...at least temporarily.   I was offered a clerical job last week, working about 8 hours a week, but that will only last for two months.  Ben and I talked about it and looked at our schedules for the next couple of months, and it just seemed to fit right in there.  One of the hesitations I usually have about taking a  job, is not knowing how long we will actually still be in P'cola, but since this job is just temporary anyway, that qualm took care of itself.  

I am enjoying being a busy little worker bee, and Ben and I are adjusting well to both having jobs--he has been really supportive :)    I think it has made us really cherish our time together, which is always a good perspective to regain.  

I am praying that the Lord will use me and Ben both as a light for His glory in our respective jobs.  




If you would like to pray for us, I would ask that you would pray for our hearts and minds to be open to whatever the Lord has for us in the coming months, specifically in regard to Ben's job.  There are a lot of unknowns in our lives right now, that will probably be at least partially revealed in the coming months, and we just want to have open hearts to what it is that God has in store.  

From Every Tribe

For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" 

-Romans 10: 13-15

The unreached.  There are so many.  The Joshua Project states that out of the 16,349 people groups in the world, 6,644 are completely unreached with the gospel of Christ.  Thats a lot of the world population---somewhere around 40%.  I'll be honest, I didn't even realize how huge a percentage it was, until looking it up just now.  40% of the world has never heard the gospel, never held a Bible in their hands, has never heard the name of Jesus.  wow.  

Its almost unthinkable to those of us who live in the U.S. and hear the name of Jesus thrown around here and there, often so flippantly & even as a swear word.  But its true---there are almost 3 billion people out there who have never had the privilege of hearing the name of Jesus Christ.  

And yet in Revelation, it says that from EVERY tribe and language, people & nation, men were purchased for God by the blood of Jesus.  Ok, so we know that eventually people from every tribe, tongue & nation will know the Lord, but...

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

These are the questions that Ben & I have been presented with by our pastoral leadership.  We have been digging through the first several chapters of Revelation for a couple of months now, and have found ourselves in the middle of chapter 5 with some big questions.

Why, as a church and as individuals aren't we doing something to reach the unreached?  Why haven't we been praying for the unreached? Why do we worry so much about our comfortability and our lives here in the US, our job, our future, worldly possessions, and yet don't even think about the souls those that have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ?


And after coming out of the "slap" of conviction all I can ask is: 

What are we waiting for?

The only way the unreached will be reached is through the preaching of the Word by those who are sent ("and how are they to hear without someone preaching?") and through praying-- for His glory, for His kingdom to come, and His will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   This is not an "only if God calls you" sort of thing.  We are all called to make disciples, we are all called to pray for the glory of God to be made known, we are all to pray for His kingdom to come & His will to be done.  As Christians, we all have a part(s) to play in this.  

Ben and I realize that we can't go physically (yet)--but we can help send (how are they to preach unless they are sent?) people to go & we can pray, pray, pray.  

I found this neat little website badge on Holly Southerland's blog and am going to add it to mine.  It is a badge describing a different unreached people group every day.  This will be a good reminder to me to pray for the unreached daily, and by name.

Will you join me?  

Blueberry Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies

Yay for another recipe involving blueberries and dark chocolate!

Obviously, I don't like to branch out too much :)

But this time the recipe is my own, and I have to say, they are pretty scrumptious.  

The great thing about these cookies is that they can function as a healthful dessert option, but also in place of a breakfast muffin or a mid-day snack--very versatile.

 My in house taste tester (ben) has approved these as well, so without further adieu, 

Blueberry Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies

1/4 cup coconut oil*

1/4 cup raw honey

1 egg

2 TBSP. water

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350*F.  In a large bowl whisk together: coconut oil, honey, egg, water and vanilla until well blended.  In a separate, smaller bowl mix together the flour, oats and cinnamon (you can also add some flax or nuts here if you desire---I didn't have any on hand).  Slowly, add the flour mixture to the oil mixture stirring until well combined.  Add the dark chocolate and blueberries (if frozen, there is no need to thaw).

Drop dough, 2 TBSP at a time onto a non-stick or greased baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until  done & lightly browned on the bottom.  

*Coconut oil can be found at Walmart or at most grocery stores  or health food stores in the section with your other oils (canola, EVOO, etc...)  I buy my coconut oil at Walmart--so far it has been the most reasonably priced that I have found.  Coconut oil is a great substitute for butter, canola oil or lard as it is semi-solid (like butter or lard) in its natural form, but can also be melted to be used as canola oil (or other vegetable oils) would be used.  Coconut oil is rich in nutrients and research has shown that it has many health benefits.  To find out more about coconut oil, click here.

Weekend in New Orleans

Some pictures from our weekend in New Orleans.  

empty plate at cafe du monde

(couldn't get my camera out in time to take a picture of the beignets)

mom sipping on her cafe au lait with dad & ben at cafe du monde

benjamin under benjamin street in the garden district (a beautiful area)

strolling through

beautiful audobon park --actually, we are walking backwards (for the photo-op of course)

and lastly, two of my newest sewing creations--  i took the gray & white bag with me to new orleans & it was great!

NOLA

Ben & I are leaving today to spend the weekend in New Orleans with my parents!  My dad has a convention in New Orleans this coming week for work, but they are coming in a few days early to play with us!  We have to take every chance we can get to see family & friends, and it just so happened that we had enough rewards points in the bank to get our hotel for free.  Gotta love that.

We will probably spend most of our time eating.  I think thats what you do in New Orleans--eat and drink, and although we don't "drink" drink, we love our coffee, and will definitely be hitting up all the NOLA coffee shops.  :)

Dad wants to go to Emeril's.

We want to go to Cafe Du Monde for their Cafe Au Lait.

My mom & I want to go to Magazine Street and shop the antiques...hopefully we can get the guys to agree w/ us on that one.  I might have to bribe them with some beignets. :)

And we are getting to meet up with some good & recently married friends, Jonathan & Amanda Griffin--who go to this church, which we will be visiting on Sunday.   I love visiting churches when we are out of town, so that will be great too!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend----we are super excited for ours.

Resurrection Weekend

This weekend was jam-packed with lots of wonderful fellowship, fun and reminders of the cross of Christ.

Our church had a TGIGF (Thank God its Good Friday) Fish Fry out on the decks of our church on Friday evening.  It was a beautiful night out by the water filled with singing & lots of conversation & food with good friends.  I wish I had pictures to show of the event, but you know you've had a good time when you forget to take pictures, right?    Ben learned how to fry fish that night too, which was at least an accomplishment, even if he won't really ever use that skill much at home---he is still claiming that he smells like greasy fish :)

Since we spent Friday night (our usual date night) with friends at church, we took our "date" the next morning and went to a Pensacola favorite: Bagelheads, for breakfast.  Definitely the best bagels in Pensacola, and probably one of two places we have here in town to eat breakfast at, unless you count the hundreds of Waffle Houses we seem to have in the good ol' South----but, I am not going to count those as date worthy.

We had a leisurely Saturday afternoon, and then spent the evening with some friends from church who have a beautiful new baby girl!  We spent the evening eating yummy food & playing games---one of which included mine & Ben's first attempts at playing Rockband.   I tried my hand at drumming & the guitar a couple of times, and I think I will stick to singing, thank you very much.

On Sunday, we heard a great message at church on the Centrality of the Cross to the Gospel.  We have been going through the book of Revelation, and the letters to the seven churches and are learning a lot, a lot about the Church, worship & God's will for His bride.  It has been a really interesting series...and it just so happened, that in the next chapters of Revelation (chapters 4 & 5), we have been talking about the centrality of the Cross to well, just about everything!  So it fit right in with Sunday being Easter Sunday.  You can click on the links above to go to the messages if you are interested, or to browse our church's website.

After church, we went over to some sweet friends house to eat a wonderful Easter lunch---pretty much half of our church was there anyway, so it was basically just a continuation of the fellowship that we have been having w/ them all weekend long!   

We have loved watching our church grow in love for each other... our church has a great love for the Word of God, but I think as the Lord grows us in His Word He is teaching us soo much more about loving Him & loving His people.  We are enjoying this season of life at our church family, as we are not only watching amazing fellowship happen, but are getting to be right in the middle of it all!  

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins."

-Hebrews 10:24-26