Thankfulness

Thankfulness. It’s not just something we celebrate once every November. It’s not just listing all of our blessings and saying thank you for them in our daily prayers. It’s so much more than that! Paul tells us in Colossians to be “overflowing with thankfulness”. Wow! What does that look like? I think it’s more of an attitude – a way of living. It’s so encouraging to see a brother or sister who has a genuinely thankful heart! It’s something we all should be striving for. In our culture, it’s so easy to be ungrateful, even though we live in the wealthiest nation on the planet. How ironic! We have to battle against our flesh, and “be transformed by the renewing of our minds”. One of my favorite quotes is “Thankfulness is how you think; joy is the abundance it produces”. So, I’ll leave you with this one question: are you overflowing?

~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 

Noah Andrew

Tuesday, my newest little nephew, Noah Andrew Nevers was born! He was 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 19 inches long. What joy to see him and hold him for the first time! I’m so excited to watch him grow and develop his own little personality! As I held him and studied his tiny features, I was truly amazed at the gift of life. What a gift it is, children are such a blessing! It really is incredible how He knits us together in the womb.

I look forward to holding my own little ones in my arms someday, Lord willing! Until then, being an auntie is pretty awesome J

Preparation for marriage: Encouragement for single ladies.

Preparing for marriage

To have any type of college degree, it requires a great deal of preparation. If you decide to become a doctor, you can’t just jump into the emergency room and start diagnosing people and handing out prescriptions. That would be preposterous! It requires years of intense study and training. I wonder, then, why is there not nearly enough emphasis on preparing for marriage? It is, after all, a lifelong commitment. I certainly do not claim to know everything about marriage. Not even close! But I do know that it’s hard, and a lot of work! Why, then, wouldn’t we be learning everything we possibly could while single? Studying Gods word to see what it says about marriage, reading books about marriage, and child rearing, sharpening homemaking skills such as cooking, frugality, cleaning, and budgeting. It’s never too early to start learning these things! I was so encouraged recently when I learned that a mother in our church had taught her young daughter how to sew! How precious.

  Another thing that is SO important in preparation, ladies, is prayer! Pray for your future husband! If you’d like, make a list of qualities and character traits that you’d like to have in a husband. Pray fervently that God will develop those qualities in him. Of course, they don’t all have to be spiritual. I have some pretty silly ones myself ;)

More importantly, though, do you have those qualities and character traits? Are you growing in humility and striving to be Christ-like? Preparing yourself spiritually is just as important, if not more!

 So, be encouraged, ladies! Let us prepare and learn together as we wait for our knights in shining armor!

Breakfast for dinner

I love breakfast. I can eat breakfast any time of the day. So, I though I would make breakfast for dinner tonight! I’m making a dish called Hobo Hash. It’s my all-time favorite breakfast dish! I’ve never made it before, but my dad has made it on several occasions (because he’s awesome like that!). He made it a few weeks ago for my sister-in-law Christins baby shower, and it was a huge hit! With only 4 ingredients, it's pretty simple, but a little time consuming. 

• 8-10 medium potatoes
• 12 strips of bacon
• 4-6 cups broccoli florets
• 10 slices of your favorite cheese (I use American)

1. Peel and cut potatoes and boil for 15 minutes.
2. Grill potatoes on stove with butter, oil, or cooking spray until slightly crispy.
3. Cook or steam broccoli and spread into a 13x9 pan when tender.
4. Mix potatoes in with broccoli, and crumple bacon into pieces on top. 
5. Spread cheese over top, and cook for 15-20 minutes at 325F.

Serve it with some eggs and toast, and voila! Breakfast for dinner :)

Thrift Store Adventures

In the past few years, I have developed a passion for shopping at thrift stores. In the past when I heard the phrase “thrift store”, I would think of smelly stores, old, outdated clothing, and unorganized racks of clothing that I certainly did not want to spend the time and energy going through. While some of these things may be true – thrift stores can have a certain musty smell, and sure, you’ll find outdated clothing and have to sort through a lot of it! I’ve found, though, that it’s totally worth the time and effort, especially with how expensive quality clothing is these days. You can get find really great deals on the clearance rack at department stores, but thrift stores are guaranteed to give you low prices on everything!

Goodwill is my personal favorite thrift store, although Salvation Army is pretty awesome, too. Both have different pros and cons. Generally, almost all clothing at Goodwill is $5 (a few designer pieces of clothing may be a bit higher). Every piece of clothing has a colored tag, and each week a certain color is 50% off. For Salvation Army, I’m pretty sure they have 50% off on select items Wednesday-Sunday. Goodwill organizes their clothing by size, and Salvation Army by color. Salvation Army does not have a return policy, but Goodwill has a 7 day return policy.

So, if you’re thinking about joining me in my thrift store adventures, here are a few tips!

1. Go when you have a decent amount of time. If you’re looking for something specific, like a sweater in a certain size, look through all of them! If you just sort of skim through a few here and there, you may miss a great piece of clothing! I know this can be time consuming, but if you’re like me, you’ll be able to fly through a whole rack of sweaters in no time J
2. Bring a friend. Bringing a girlfriend along who knows your size and taste in clothing can be helpful because you can look for clothing for yourselves, as well as for each other!
3. Don’t give up! If you don’t find anything the first few times you go, don’t get discouraged. I remember feeling that way the first few times I went, until one day I got a DVD player, a cute pair of heels, and several pieces of clothing all for around $20!
4. If shopping at Goodwill, try going at the beginning of the week. The 50% off color starts every Sunday, so the earlier you go, the more great deals you’ll find!
5. The return policies aren’t the greatest, so only buy an item if you really like it! I’ve done this so many times. I’ve bought a piece of clothing that I liked but didn’t love, but I bought it because it was so cheap. I wear it a few times, and then it ends up at the bottom of my clothing pile. Don’t do this!
6. If you try thrift store shopping, and decide that you like it and think you’ll go on a regular basis, take advantage of the Goodwill savings card. It costs $10, but saves you 10% on every purchase for 1 year. You also get 25% off on your birthday!

So, while thrift store shopping may take a bit of effort, it’s well worth it! You really can have a large, stylish wardrobe without breaking the bank!