Boston Creme Cupcakes

I made these Boston Creme Cupcakes recently.

Start with a yellow cake mix and follow

the directions for cupcakes

 This ice cream scoop is perfect for each cupcake

 Bake according to the directions

 While the cupcakes bake, make two packages

of instant vanilla pudding and refrigerate

 When the cupcakes are cooled, slice them in half.

Place a spoonful of chilled pudding on the

bottom half

 Put the cupcake top on the pudding 

 Drizzle chocolate sauce over the cupcake...

I bet you can't eat just one

Amazingly.....delicious! 

A Night At Home

Last night I found myself at home

An early afternoon hockey game was done

My next college class hasn't started so I had no homework

Our laundry was all caught up

The house was clean

It felt foreign

It felt nice

There wasn't anything I had to do

So I watched a recorded Christmas Hallmark movie

and I crocheted

One dishcloth after another was created

Don't you love the bright colors!

It was an amazing night

What would you do if you had a free night?

Who They Are...

John 4:24 MSG

“It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”

Kidlet One and Baby C enjoy worshipping God together. 

Simply.  Honestly.  In their own way.

It is who they are.

I'm so thankful and So Amazed!

Which Bus?

City buses in a line

Notice which one is first

Every time I see the bus going to the Holy Spirit

I want to run, run, run to take that bus

Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Many people are comfortable knowing

God as a Father and Jesus as the Son

But what about the Holy Spirit

or as I was growing up we said Holy Ghost

The Ghost part makes the name sound spooky

The Holy Spirit was sent to us

to be an Advocate

(see John 14:26 in the Bible)

Not a spooky entity at all

I wish we could all hop on that bus

and learn more about the Holy Spirit

When my parents were here recently

my mom saw this bus and said 

Oh!  That is the bus I want to take!

I agree.

Having the Holy Spirit in my life is

what makes me So Amazed

Which bus would you want to take in

this lineup of buses?

Warmth

It is cold outside.
I believe the temperature is -11.
The wind chill brings that number down and I just cannot say it....
My toes and fingers are cold even in the house.

The backside of my house faces north.
As I pulled a spoon out of the silverware drawer (along the north-facing wall) even the SPOONS feel cold.

I'm not complaining.  Does it sound like I am?
Guess I just want to state a fact.

It is cold.

Which makes it the perfect time for me to dig through my photos for pictures from last summer.
The perky orange flowers at the top were from a pot on my deck last summer.
Don't they just make you smile?

The color makes me feel warmer....

Just off the deck we have a bird feeder on a gardening hook.

We feed the birds year round.

Last summer one of the feeds had sunflowers in them.

Lo and behold the birds dropped seeds and we had a sunflower bloom.

What an added bonus of color for us.

It was so fun to watch the birds peck the actual seeds from the flower.

Color brings warmth.

Today is the perfect day to dig through photos looking for color.

And warmth.

If it is cold where you live, I hope these pops of color bring you some warmth.

For those of you not living in The Frozen Tundra, enjoy the heat!

Warmth...it is So Amazing.

Choose It

Those who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 1 John 4:16

From the file entitled "It Ain't Gonna Happen," I...[suggest] a federal law that says everyone has to make God's love his or her home.  Let it herewith be stated and hereby declared:  No person may walk out into the world to begin the day until he or she has stood beneath the cross to receive God's love....

Don't you ache for the change we'd see?  Less honking and locking horns, more hugging and helping kids.  We'd pass fewer judgments and more compliments.  Forgiveness would skyrocket.  Wild idea?  I agree.  God's love can't be legislated, but it can be chosen....  For Christ's sake, and yours, choose it.

********

The above is from Max Lucado's daily devotional Grace For the Moment.

It is crazy that we can't force a free gift on those around us.  This free gift being unconditional, unending, life-changing love.  Such an easy thing yet such a hard gift to receive because we have to choose giving up ourselves.  

So what if we don't force this love on others but choose it for ourselves.  We can change the world.  Let God's love work and shine through you.  Choose it and live it.  Amazing love...how big the change!

Triple C's

Driving into work this morning I had the radio on in the car.  A one-minute "How to Parent Your Teen" meditation played with the commentator saying that Change - Conflict - Chaos can be a part of raising a teenager.  The facts in raising a teenager remain that they are changing and oftentimes that brings conflict with themselves and then with those around them.   The commentator encouraged us to work at resolving the conflicts so they didn't lead to chaos.

So many of you, my dear friends, have confided in me your change - conflict - chaos situations.  What I am calling The Triple C's are in my life as well.  None of us is immune.

However, with our risen Savior, Jesus Christ, do we not have hope?  Do we not have peace available?  How about the truth that He will never leave us nor forsake us?  He is a High Tower that we can run to.  He is the living water, the very air we breath.

Friends, don't let the Triple C's become a Fourth C:  consumption.  Don't let your problems consume you.

Keep.Your.Eyes.Focused.On.Him.

Change is going to happen.  In fact everything seems to be changing faster and faster.  As change brings conflict, work hard and diligently to resolve the issues.  Don't let your situation get to chaos.

My solution for the Triple C's is to change up what it stands for.  How about this:

Choose Christ Completely

With Christ, change, conflict and chaos can be controlled (am I overdoing the c-words in this paragraph)!!!

Seriously, may the Triple C's in your life bring hope, comfort, and joy as you Choose Christ Completely.