New Recipe

Here's a recipe that I tried recently that utilized leftovers and we loved it.

Crockpot Fried Rice

2 cups leftover rice
3 T butter
2 T soy sauce
2 t worcestershire sauce
1/2 t black pepper
1/4 t salt
1/2 diced yellow onion
1 cup of whatever frozen or fresh vegetables you have on hand (I used some lima beans, green beans, and corn)
leftover meat (I used 3 leftover pieces of boneless, skinless chicken breast; the person I got this from used leftover chicken and 3/4 of a cheeseburger patty)
1 egg

Plop everything in crockpot together. Mix it around and then cook on high for 2-3 hours, or on low for 3-4 hours. You are only cooking the egg and heating everything else up.

I promise this was really good!

Missing my brother again...

I hate to be repetitive but I'd like to say that....I have really missed my brother this week. Forever is going to be a long time...or at least it could be. I want to talk to him so much. People tell me that I can...but I don't get that. I can't see him and he can't talk back to me. Maybe he can hear me but I suspect that he is busy embracing God and PEACE which he had longed for for so long. I love my brother and I miss him so much. Last night I couldn't sleep...the only person I really wanted to talk to was him. (for one, if you know him, you'd know that he would have been up!) Then I just couldn't stop thinking about how there is no one else on earth that I could talk to like I could talk to him. Yes, there are other people that I can talk to...just not the way that he and I talked. I really wish I wouldn't have taken our conversations for granted before. I really wish that I could just talk to him once more. I really wish that I could say goodbye. (Dad - this is probably making you cry...I'm sorry.) Recently I found a letter that he sent me while he was in prison, here's something that he said to me in it:

"Kathy, I do not take you, Brent, and all the rest of the family for granted. I get lost in reality. I love you, I always thank God, and think about my supporting family amidst my continuous struggles. I place no fault on anyone other than myself and Satan. God is bigger and I know it. I don't know how this letter will find you, but be at peace. God is in control, even in control of me..."

He could have written this to me right before he died, but he didn't; instead it wrote it about a year and a half earlier. I read it though and try to remember that right now he would want me to be at peace. It's not easy.

Happy Birthday Christy!

Today is my college roommate's 30th birthday. Christy and I were such great friends in college but of course as time has gone by and our lives have gotten busier with our families we do not get to see each other as often. Christy still blesses me though whether she knows it or not. I still remember things that she said that bless me. She still emails me and blesses me. She is one of the most sincere, kind, caring, loving people that I know and I have always wished that I could be more like her.

Happy Birthday Christy! I love you and I'm thinking of you on this day!

I will not be moved by Natalie Grant

Another song that I am loving lately -

2 things I've been wanting to write about...

It seems like I just don't have time to add to my blog often anymore. It's not that I don't want to and it's not that I'm not thinking about things that I'd like to post, but I just haven't had as much time lately to do so.

First - I've been doing a study using the book "Experiencing God" by Henry Blackaby. If you feel that God leads you to do this, it is an awesome study. It is about thinking about "what is God doing around me and how can I join His work?" instead of "God, I want to do this...will you bless it and help me with it?" It is changing the way that I pray. It is changing the way I look around and experience each day. It is helping me to understand that there is more to what God wants me to experience in life than "me". It is also teaching me to be QUIET and WAIT for God to speak to me through his Word, prayer, the Holy Spirit, and other christians. I am only in chapter 3 but it has really been a blessing to me.

Second - This is related to number 1. I've really been trying to be patient and not worry and not be so anxious about things going on in my life lately. Man, is this
HARD for me. Last night, I was thinking to myself that I could relate to the line in the song "I am tired and so weary but I must go along...'till the Lord comes to call me away." You may not know that song and so it may not make sense to you but fighting our earthly nature is TOUGH. It is making me understand the verse "Take up your cross and follow me." - Mark 8:34. There are a lot of things that I am trying to be patient about...life in general, for one, but there is also one specific thing that I am trying to be patient about at this time and I am attempting for God to show me the way that He wants me to go. I know that He will. It is still difficult for me to be patient, not worry, and not be anxious. The Bible says "do not be anxious in anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:6-7
Say a prayer for me that I will not be anxious and instead rely on God and know that he will guard my heart and mind. Maybe in a little while I will be able to tell you what I am being patient about...

Love Is Not a Fight

This song is featured in Fireproof. I love it. It brings tears to my eyes everytime I hear it.

Fireproof

Go see this movie. It will move you. It may change your life. It may change your marriage. I am so proud of this congregation that produced this movie for doing such an awesome thing for His kingdom. I pray that it will reach millions of people and effect just as many hearts.