Keepers Teaser

This past week, we had the opportunity to attend Keepers Coop again! We had lots of fun and learned many new things. Can anyone guess what we’re doing under the towels in this picture? Leave us a comment with your answer! And come back tomorrow to hear more about our time at Keepers!

In Control

 “After this latest adventure, Christy [my wife] and I have a different perspective on risk and safety. It is abundantly clear to us that God intervened to bring me back safely through miracles that are hard to ignore. If God went to these lengths to return me to my unfinished life, I was never truly in an “unsafe” situation. It wasn’t my time to go; therefore God kept me alive. Likewise, had it been God’s will for my life to end on January 12, staying home wouldn’t have prevented it.”

~Dan Woolley in “Unshaken” p. 222

“‘For I know the plans I have for you;’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jeremiah 29:11

(Posted by Bianca)

Recipe--Chicken Cacciatore

We love using slow-cooker recipes in our family. It’s so simple to throw a few ingredients into the crockpot after breakfast, and not worry about dinner until it’s time to serve! This is one of our favorite recipes, and we hope you all enjoy it as well.

Chicken Cacciatore

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 28-oz. jar spaghetti sauce

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, minced

2 Tablespoons minced garlic

Cooked spaghetti noodles

Place chicken in a slow cooker; top with remaining ingredients (except noodles). Cover; cook on high setting for 5 hours. Shred chicken with two forks and stir well. Serve over hot spaghetti noodles. Serves 6-8 people. Enjoy!

Favorite Pizza Toppings

One of our homemade pizzas earlier this fall.

For as long as most of us can remember, Friday has been pizza night at our house. Whether it’s freezer pizza, take-out or homemade, everyone in our family loves pizza! Below are some of our favorite toppings and styles of pizza:

Mark—My number one favorite (almost a must...) is Pepperoni. Most other meats are also acceptable, such as sausage or ham. I also sometimes enjoy a veggie pizza. In my travels, I have also seen pureed sweet potato, corn, shrimp, and other fish toppings.

Betsy—I enjoy the fresh taste of green peppers and onions on my pizza, but we rarely have that around here. I also like spinach pizza and any other kind of veggie pizza, with “different” cheeses like fresh parmesan or feta. Most of the time, though, we eat pepperoni pizza (to please the masses) J

Bianca—Pizza is one of my favorite foods because it is so versatile, and I like it many different ways. When I made homemade pizza during the spring and summer, I enjoyed tossing on nasturtium blooms, fresh herbs like basil, oregano, and parsley, and fresh jalapeno and bell peppers as well as tomato slices. My motto when it comes to food is “I’ll try anything once.” The same definitely applies for pizza!

Ben—My favorite pizza topping combination is pepperoni and sausage. I also enjoy pizza with peppers, ham, and bacon.

Rubia—I like pepperoni and sausage pizza. I also like spinach pizza. Sometimes I like vegetable pizzas, depending on what the vegetables are. J Mainly I enjoy pepperoni.

Roma—I enjoy meat pizza. I like cheese, pepperoni, sausage, ham, and bacon.

Josiah—I like cheese, pepperoni, sausage, and bacon. I’m a meat pizza guy! J

Have a suggestion for a Friday Favorites Topic? Leave us a comment and let us know! We would love new ideas!

"Unshaken" Book Review

This past week, I read a very gripping book called “Unshaken” by Dan Woolley. It took me exactly 1 week to read it, and that doesn’t happen very often with my schedule! Dan Woolley works with Compassion International and was in Haiti on January 12, 2010, the day when a 7.0 earthquake struck Port-au-Prince.

Just minutes before the quake, Woolley walked into the Hotel Montana lobby. Within the first 3 seconds of the quake, all 6 floors of the hotel collapsed on him. Buried beneath the rubble for almost 3 days with a broken leg and serious lacerations on his head and leg, this book shares his story of survival and trust in God.

Woolley shares in the book how he had let his relationship with God as well as his relationship with his wife suffer over several years. As he faced death in the pits of the Hotel Montana, he cried out to God and resolved to live his life fully (John 10:10) and to cherish the relationships God had given him.

I love reading books that cause me to ponder my own life and to ask myself questions. I’m sure if you’ve read some of my other book reviews you will notice this common theme. J After reading “Unshaken,” I came away with some of the following thoughts:

*Am I living my life in a way I would regret if I knew that my death would come about soon? Would it take an earthquake or other such tragedy to bring me to that realization? Shouldn’t I change that now while I have the chance?*

*Am I using the resources God has given me to help others who are in need, like the people of Haiti? Or am I selfishly holding back those resources even though all of my needs have been met?*

*Do I fully trust that God’s plans for me are perfect and pleasing to Him? Do I trust that whatever happens to me is part of His will and that He has a purpose for it?*

*Is my faith strong enough to withstand the “earthquakes” in my spiritual life?*

This book has challenged me in many ways to think about my spiritual growth and trust in God. I would definitely recommend this book, but to older readers. I would probably say high school aged and up. I say that because the book does deal with a terrible tragedy and the author does describe his story honestly, including his injuries, how he questioned God at times, and the tremendous disappointments experienced by the author during the quake and aftermath. I hope that if you read the book, it will challenge you to ask questions about the depth of your relationship with Christ. Is your faith strong enough to withstand tragedies and trials? Better yet, would those trials draw you closer to Him as they should?

Missions Conference Part 2

This past Sunday concluded our church’s annual missions conference. It turned out to be a very busy day for our family! During Sunday morning service, we heard from the missionaries, and Ben and I enjoyed hearing Mr. W teach the lesson in our Sunday school class. After church, Mom and all the kids except me went home to prepare things for our lunch with the missionary family. Daddy left to get the pizza, and I stayed to act as a GPS for the missionaries. J I enjoyed getting to talk with them more during the ride home, as we drive a ways to church.

We all enjoyed lunch together once we got to our house. We had pizza, carrots and celery sticks, hummus and chips, fruit salad, and soda pop.

This picture is a bit blurry, but I was trying to take the picture before they noticed I was there and started making silly faces. Too late! J We enjoyed laughing a lot over lunch and rehashing Friday-night’s re-narrated movie.

The cookies proved much easier to photograph. We enjoyed these oatmeal raisin cookies as well as caramel brownie bites for dessert.

*Note: This photo was staged!* After lunch we kids went outside to play in the warm weather. The boys were tossing the football around while the girls explored the woods.

Then it was time to leave for the evening service at church. We started the service by praying over the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes that we will be sending out this week. Here everyone is gathered around for prayer.

Then came the surprise! Our Pastor invited the missionaries onto the stage to say a final goodbye, but then the kids started walking in with gifts for the missionary kids! The youngest daughter A received many doll items, the younger boy J received lots of Lego and Star War toys, the oldest daughter K received gift cards and books, and the oldest boy C received gift cards and books as well as other gifts.

They were all so surprised and really appreciated the gifts.

All of us kids with the W kids. We’re sorry that our visit was so short, but we’re so excited to hear how the Lord will use them in Ethiopia! Maybe one day we’ll visit them in the field!

Missions Conference Part 1

This past week, our church hosted its annual missions conference! This is always a favorite week at our church, and this year was no exception at all! This year we had one family visit, and they are planning to leave for Ethiopia next year, Lord willing. We were excited to get to know them and hear about their upcoming ministry.

The conference started on Wednesday night. We went to church to meet with our missionaries, heard a message given by Mr. W (the missionary), and enjoyed an ice cream social afterward. He gave a great challenge on the importance of missions and obeying whatever plans God has called us to. One of my favorite quotes mentioned that evening was the following: “Do for one what you wish you could do for millions.” It has definitely given me food for thought!

After all of that, we enjoyed an ice cream social with our church family and chatted with the missionaries a bit. They have several kids around our ages, so we wanted to make them feel especially comfortable and welcome. We were unable to attend Thursday evening’s conference because of Dad’s arrival home. So instead of hearing about Africa that night, we heard all about Asia and saw plenty of pictures that Dad took on his trip!

On Friday we had a special dinner for the missionaries, the church staff, and the deacons and their families. It was a great time for fellowship in a more intimate setting.

Before the Thanksgiving-style dinner started, we enjoyed mingling with others, sipping hot apple cider and cranberry ginger ale, and snacking on chex mix, and bagels with dip.

After we prayed for the meal, we surprised our worship pastor (above) and our associate pastor with mini birthday cakes. They were both celebrating birthdays and so we sang to them! J

Filing through the food line. We had an amazing feast! There was turkey, cranberry relish and sauce, pickles, cheese, broccoli and cheese casserole, rolls with butter, fruit salad, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes with gravy, and stuffing. The dessert table was filled with pies including pecan, pumpkin, and derby; cinnamon rolls, and cookies of all sorts. Nobody went hungry, that’s for sure!

After dinner, my siblings and I were able to get to know the missionary kids a bit better. Someone had put in the American Girl movie “Felicity” for the little girls, and our friend K from church started his own narrative monologue to go along with the film since we couldn’t hear the words from where we were sitting. He kept us in stitches the whole evening! As if that wasn’t enough laughing, we watched a Tim Hawkins video after that and laughed some more!

We had a great evening fellowshipping with those from our church as well as making new friends with the missionaries. Come back tomorrow to hear about the rest of the missions conference!

An Explanation

Awhile back, we did a post called “Trials,” in which we quoted Psalm 23:5…Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me.

As many of you know, we were indeed living through a frightening trial at the time…but we are so very grateful that it is over, and all is well. In a nutshell, my beloved husband had been traveling in Asia on business, and had a harrowing experience his second night there. He had enjoyed dinner that evening with ex-pat friends of ours, and had a wonderful time of fellowship and catching up. Later that night, he visited the shopping district, and when preparing to return to the hotel, he hailed a taxi, as it was getting late.

Unfortunately, the taxi turned out to be a fraud, and to make a long story short, he was driven to a remote area of town, where several other conspirators joined the taxi driver, and he was robbed. Thankfully, they did not hurt him . They took what they wanted, in cash and credit, and then left him to find his own way back. By God’s grace, he was able to do so.

We know without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord was watching over him that night. The situation could have been much worse, but my husband was covered in prayer all along, and we have always known that prayer makes a difference. And afterward, he continued to be upheld in prayer, by many of you dear friends and family! Those prayers enabled him to carry on with his work…to climb back up on the proverbial taxi-horse as needed…and to trust in God’s goodness all the more.

As you can imagine, it was a thrilling reunion upon his return! Praise be to God for His watch-care over us, and His goodness to us!

…O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.” (Psalm 30:12b)

The eagle has landed!

My Beloved with his five arrows.

~ Posted by Betsy