My dd's sermonette at church

I thought I'd post a copy of the sermonette my dd gave as part of the youth program at church last week.

"Agnes was born in Albania in 1910. At the age of 12 she knew God wanted her to help the poor. At age 17 she went to India to teach school. At age 35 she took medical training and began work in Calcutta. In 1979 she won the Nobel Peace Prize. Agnes, now known as Mother Teresa, gave up home and possessions, but not her heart in order to do what God wanted her to do. She gave food and shelter to dying people who had been rejected. She did it lovingly and cheerfully.

This reminds me of Jesus.

Jesus never rejected anyone or hurt anyone. Here are some things Jesus did do: He did a lot of miracles.
He healed the blind, He healed cripples and lepers, and He raised the dead.
He taught by reading Scripture and telling what it meant. And He prayed.
He loved us and died for us. This was unselfish.

Michael Weiskoph is a TIME news reporter. He was in a Humvee in Irag when a grenade landed in the truck. He instantly picked it up, and in the process it blew up and he lost his right hand. Even though he lost his hand, he saved 4 lives.

This reminds me of the text John 15:13—“Greater love has no one than, this that he lay down his life for his friends”.

Does this remind you of how Jesus showed us that God loves us?

Romans 8:39--Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 12:10--Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Romans 13:9--The commandments, do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet, and whatever commandments there may be, are summed up in this one rule: love your neighbor as yourself.

Loving our neighbor means treating everyone like you would like to be treated.

Love is to be like a child saying “I love you” to someone special
--to surprise someone by doing something they’re not expecting
--getting busy with what you are supposed to do
--obeying God or others you trust
--voluntarily babysitting your brother
--when you make a new friend
--being unselfish: thinking of others first
--and accepting anyone who God loves

1 Corinthians chapter 13 describes love. Verse 11 tells me that while I am a child, I will talk like a child, I will think like a child, I will reason like a child. I am learning as I grow. When I am grown I will put childish ways behind me."

Click to fund mammograms

Please visit The Breast Cancer Site. A minute of your time, and a daily click, will help fund mammograms for women in need...women who most likely otherwise wouldn't have their disease detected early. Bookmark it so you can come back...every click helps!

Keeping our environment healthy

The birds and other animals that are affected by oil in the wild are rarely affected alone. They live and travel in flocks, kind of like an extended family. There are many ways you can make a difference. One of those ways is by joining my flock to aid wildlife.

Start by choosing a virtual animal and placing it in an environment. You can even choose if it’s standing, swimming or flying. Add a message for your friends to read that will go along with your animal. Then send it on to your friends and invite them to join. Each person who joins your flock is one more person making a difference for these animals.

Moment of Pride

Some days it's good to be the mom of well-behaved children. I had a short appointment at work today, to enroll for health insurance benefits under the new program they've started. I dropped dd9 off at choir, but had ds4 with me. He was sooooo good and quiet during the appointment, just snuggled on my lap. The benefit enroller kept asking him questions and talking to him, and of course if you know ds4, he doesn't need any prompting when it comes to conversation, LOL. He told the guy all about Poppa's porch and office, and a host of other things, very cute and sweet. Ds got thirsty so I told him to go out in the crew room and ask someone to get him a drink, and while he was gone, the enroller asked me if ds is always that good! It's a good thing the appointment was short, or I think the guy would have tried to sneak him in his computer case and take him home to Atlanta, LOL.

Ranch Rice & Bean Salad

Ranch Rice & Bean Salad

I invented this recipe Friday for a church potluck

1 cup rice
1 can black beans
1 tomato, diced
1 zucchini (or cucumber if you prefer), diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1 pkg ranch dip mix
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar

Cook rice in your rice cooker or on the stove. Drain and rinse the canned beans. Whent he rice is cooked, place the rice and beans in a mixing bowl. Add the chopped vegies and stir to combine. Place the packet of ranch dip mix in a 1 cup liquid measuring cup. Add red wine vinegar according to how tart you want your dressing to be, then pour in enough olive oil to the 1/2 cup line in your measuring cup. Mix well. Pour dressing over the salad and stir. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight to let the flavors blend.

A Lesson for Grandma

Grandmas are wise beings. They have learned a lot in their lives. And they should know that you are setting yourself up if you ask your 4 y/o grandson a question in public, because what GRANDMA thinks is a perfectly logical answer will most certainly NOT be the one that said 4 y/o grandson gives!

My parents lead a vegan cooking class and outreach at our church. Tonight's topic was on sugars and carbohydrates, and the menu featured healthy ice cream with toppings as the main dish, along with salads. One of the toppings was freshly made lowfat healthy granola. Grandma was going to introduce talking about the granola to the class, so she asked ds4 "What is your favorite food that Grandma makes you for breakfast?" He very quickly replied "Pizza!" Now this is funny, because Grandma doesn't make pizza...and certainly not for breakfast!

DS4 also found himself a job at the class. One he liked very much. His job was to lick the spatulas that had been used for stirring things like carob sauce and ice cream mixes. He told me that he really really likes jobs that involve licking things. ROFL, silly boy ;-)