Ham & Cheese Rolls

Since I am not really feeling a tug from our Lord as to what to write about, I thought I would share another recipie that my family really enjoys.

Ham & Cheese Rolls (This could be made with Turkey or Turkey Ham as well)
2 pieces of American cheese per person
3-4 slices of ham per person
Green pepper (optional)
Onion (optional)
Mayo
Chili Sauce
Hot dog or hamburger buns

Cut the cheese and ham into blocks and mix together in a bowl. Add green peper and onion if wanted. Pour in equal portions of mayo and chili sauce and mix together. Put the mixture into hot dog or hamburger buns, making however many you want/need. Wrap the rolls in foil.

Bake at 350 F for approximately 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Chili sauce is located by the ketchup in my supermarket, so I would check around there if you are not sure where it is exactly.

Scripture for thought:
Matthew 10:24-33 (NKJV)
"24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub,[a] how much more will they call those of his household! 26 Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven."

Blessings in Christ,

The Learning NEVER Ends!!

Today was full of "firsts" for me and thus learning as well! I am trying to teach myself to crochet. Wow. That is harder than I thought it would be. I still can't get the hang of pulling the stitch through the loop. Mom said when she is done making the crisp for dessert that she will help me try to figure it out, so I hope she can. If I ever make anything, I will for sure post a few pictures :)

I also made hamburgers for supper. This may be like a whatever to some people, but I had never made hamburgers before! I personally hate the feel of raw meat so besides making the hamburgers, I had to touch raw meat :( Anyway, my parents said they were good so sounds like I did a good job for my first time! I don't eat hamburger if I have a choice so I just made myself a hot dog and have no clue how they actually turned out :D

Unfortunately, my Bible reading has slowed down very much so. But here is the scripture for the day:

Ephesians 3:20-21 (NKJV): "20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

Phillipians 4:6 (NKJV): "6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

May your prayer life be enriched by these wonderful verses.

Blessings in Christ,

Education - is it right?

So I was thinking today about education as I was working. I work as a substitute teacher in the public education system around me. Today I was teaching math and I overheard a student say "I am not going to college". In a mindset where the answer is almost always getting a college education after high school graduation, this came as a surprise to me. Of course, this student was in 6th grade so she has quite a ways to go before she gets to that point as well as considering what her parents think, but I was still surprised.

I, myself, have a Bachelor's degree and am currently going for a Master's degree as well. These degrees are both in the engineering field, not that this will help me much in the technical aspect with raising a family, but I do feel there are lots of good reasons to get an education. I am definitely not where I would like to be, but do I regret the choice to go into engineering? Nope. There are so many possibilities of what I can do with that degree (if I choose to work until I get married), but also a college education teaches a person wonderful communication skills that can be used during marriage and in raising children.

I know the main reason that most Anabaptists are against higher education is due to Romans 12:2 which tells us to be in the world, but not of the world. They also believe that a child will be pulled away from God if he or she attends college. I personally will not believe this since I know it is possible to stay near to God during college. I myself came closer to God during college, so it can be done. I also believe that if you fear your child will be torn away from God by going to school then they should not be allowed to leave the house, because there are plenty of other things in day-to-day life that can and will tear a soul away from God if the person allows themselves drift that way.

Other women are against college and higher education because of what the Bible says as a woman's role. Just because we are to be homekeepers, does this mean that we cannot take classes that either interest us or will help us do our job better? I don't think so. To my knowledge, there is nothing in the Bible that says an education is an awful thing. Think, Jesus educated people every time he talked to them. At that time, they did not know who exactly He was and yet they were willing to learn from Him - so why wouldn't we want to learn as much as we could from Him first and foremost but also other subjects that may help us to know about Him or how to do important day-to-day tasks better such as an accounting class, a cooking class, a communication class, etc. Now this may be a stretch, and most likely it is, but I do not feel bad about getting an education and nor do I believe anyone should feel bad about getting an education. Do I feel a woman (or a man) should be forced to get one? No. But I also do not feel that they should not be allowed to just because of their gender.

Here's another picture of flowers :) This is a Primrose that I got my mom last year and it lasted all last year and the winter to come back looking better than ever!!



Scripture for thought: John 16:33(NKJV) "33 'These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have covercome the world.'"

Blessings in Christ,

Church Shopping :)

So my boyfriend and I have been "Church shopping"! Lol. It's kind of like house shopping...truly it is :) We came from different religious backgrounds, both Christians, but he was raised much more conservatively than I. I was raised Lutheran - ELCA and he was raised Southern Baptist. Quite a difference :) So we have decided that before we go too much further (we've been together for 5 years) we ought to find a church that we could both agree on attending because we wouldn't want to raise a family in a split church home.

So far we have visted 5 churches, including each other's respective church. It seems that we are settling on a more conservative IFB church (Independent Fundamental Baptist). The church we visited today may very well be the one we will settle on. It is the first one that both of us agreed to try a second time!! AMAZING! Lol. This IFB church has a set dress code and requires modesty in dressing and highly encourages women to wear skirts or dresses to church. The only slightly embarassing thing was they announced to the entire church who the visitors were! And of course the pastor didn't see my boyfriend's name on the card so I got called while he did not. Oh well :) As my boyfriend said, "can't fault them for trying"! Lol.

I think we have a few other churches that we want to try as well, but if we still enjoy this church in a few weeks maybe we won't. Who knows.

Here's a little scripture for your pondering tonight :)

John 13: 34-35 (NKJV): "34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

I absolutely love that! Similar to "The Golden Rule", but not quite, because the Lord has treated us absolutely wonderfully!!

John 14: 5-7 (NKJV): "5 Thomas said to Him, 'Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?' 6 Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.'"

YAY!! The Lord IS THE truth!! He IS THE life!! Oh how absolutely wonderful!!

Blessings in Christ,

Some of the Lord's wonderful colors!

The first flowers are coming up and they make me so happy! I absolutely love tulips, here's a picture of some :) They are at school, the ones we had planted last fall to come up this spring rotted :(



I have been rather slow with my Bible reading, but I do have a thought to share with you. Goes along with the theme of spring :) It is the Beside the Still Waters daily devotionals for Saturday, April 10.

"It is not hard to understand how a straight row is easier to follow than a crooked row. But easier to follow doesn't always mean easer to maintain. More effort is required to stay straight than to go crooked both in planting nad in life. While planting a cornrow, you can drive perfectly by the marker right in front of the tractor, but unless you sight way out ahead, it is nearly impossible to maintain a straight row. We need to set our sights on something that is true, way up ahead -- something that doesn't move.

So it is in life. We might think we are on the right path because we are right on the mark left by the last generation. however, in a short time this will produce a mark that is difficult to follow. In reaction to this, we might decide that the mark from the last generation has little or no value, and we head for hte other end of the field, each on his own.

Whether we are first generation Christians making that first pass in the field or have four hundred years of rich heritage, we can leave a mark that is straighter and easier to follow than the mark that was left for us. The mark that we leave while looking way out ahead will be easy to follow when it lines up with all that the Bible teaches.

In our quest to plant a straight row, we will want to be identified as Christians. That mark right in front of us does matter. It is selfish of a generation that was given a good marker line to follow but fails to leave the same mark for the next generation. Without a good connection to God's guidance system, the Hold Spirit, we are planting in the dark."

This was submitted to Beside the Still Waters by Sam Miller from Haven, KS. I have been enjoying my daily devotionals from them, if anyone is interested let me know and I can give you the address to send a request for your own copy :) Everything from Still Waters Ministry is free.

I hope that I will be able to pick up my own Bible reading again soon. Until then, I pray this devotional has sparked something in you as it has done in me.

Blessings in Christ,

Feelin' Feminine Day 7

So I know you have been all waiting for the last outfit lol.

Here's a photo of my last outfit for this challenge :)

My skirt: a hand me up :)
Brown tank top: Kohls
Over shirt: Express, but was my sister's
Shoes: same as yesterday (from Macy's)
Hair: 2 braids into a bun with my solid chapel veil

I'll be back to my usual topics tomorrow or Wednesday :)

Blessings in Christ,

Feelin' Feminine Day 6/7

The last day for quite a few people on this challenge! I still have one more day and haven't decided if I will post tomorrow's outfit or not. If not, then I'll just show you Monday's outfit.

Today was the first day I had help taking my pictures so thank you to my boyfriend who was able to help :) Although I did get quite proficient with my timer option on my camera and then running into position lol.


Skirt: Brown courduroy skirt that I just finished today with mom's help :)
Shirt: Orange/red patterned shirt from Kohls
Shoes: Same as yesterday
Hair: Striaghtened and down with a white cecily veil

Well not much else that I have to share tonight. So it's a quick post. Have a wonderful Lord's Day tomorrow!

Blessings in Christ,

They'll know we are Christians by our love

Sound familiar? It might because it is a popular Church song (at least at the Church I grew up in)... "And they'll know we are Christians by our love by our love, yes they'll know we are Christians by our love". Well that's the chorus at least!

I certainly hope the people that I interact with will think that I am a Christian because I truly do my very best to be kind to everyone that I meet. Granted, no matter how hard I try, I may not be as kind as I should. Not only kind, but patient and loving.

Now, the other day I was listening to "What if I Stumble" by dc talk. Yes, it is more of a Rock Christian band, but I like some of their songs :) The beginning of the song is narrative saying "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable".

Am I supposed to be only kind to my unbeliving neighbors? No. I ought to be kind to my Christian neighbors as well. Which sometimes is actually more difficult because they should know what is wrong and what is right, but as we all know, that is not always the case. Anyway, one of my friends has a saying, "don't hate the sinner, hate the sin". I find myself repeating this saying often when I am trying to be friendly to my Christian neighbors, even the ones that do not realize they are sinning or I hate to even say it, but care that they are sinning.

How we approach our unbelieving neighbors will have a lot to do with how we can help them. If we do not be kind and cautious in our approach, we may overwhelm them with the wonderful news of our Lord. If we lead them to believe that we NEVER stumble or have our doubts, how could we gain them as a fellow brother or sister in Christ? I know I definitely have my stumbles and doubts occasionally. But as soon as I immerse myself in the word of our Lord, I am reminded of why I am here and why I will have eternal life, even if not on this world!

I think dc talk did a good job of highlighting the common frets and worries of someone who looks at Christianity. Either we honor our Lord on Sundays alone (or even worse, while we are just at Church) or we act like we are perfect and have no worries or problems.

You may be thinking "Chelsea, what on earth are you going for? You've gone all over the board in this post". Well hopefully I can tie it all up here for ya :) As Christians, our unbelieving neighbors should know we are Christians by the love and kindness we show to them. No matter what might of happened to cause us to not want to love and show kindness. In doing so, we shall teach them about our Lord, but also, we must not be afraid to share our stumbles with our neighbors! We can all learn from other's questions or mistakes :)

Remember in school..."there is no such thing as a silly question except for those left unasked"? That still applies {grins}.

A few questions each of us needs to answer and be truthful with ourselves on.
- How do my neighbors view me? Both believing and unbelieving.
- What kind of Christian AM I?
- What kind of Christian do I WANT to be?
- And finally, what do I need to do to get there?

Blessings in Christ,

Feelin' Feminine Day 5/6

Hello :)

It's almost the end of the week. I shall miss seeing all the other outfits put together by the women and young ladies in this challenge!

Today was my grandma's birthday so we took her out for lunch, hence I'm a little bit more dressed up than the rest of the days this week :) And the fact that it's only 40-some here today made me pull out a sweater :( I thought they were all put away until come fall, but nope. Oh well.

Anyway, here's a picture of my outfit

My skirt: Same denim jean skirt as Day 2/3 that I made
My tank top: Black with gold polka dots from Express (one of their clearance bins :)
My sweater: Gray with yellow polka dots from American Eagle (a gift from my mom for Christmas)
Jacket: Same as the past two days lol :)
Shoes: Gold flats from Macy's (mom bought them for her and thought they would work, but they didn't so I was the lucky one who got them :)
Hair: Partial crown braid with a black headband

My shoes :) I love them so much, so comfy!!


A picture of my hair today, since I wasn't able to wear my veil.


If I have a few, I have a post that I want to write up, so we will see how long you must wait to read it :) Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings in Christ,

Feelin' Feminine Day 4/5

So this week is almost over. I almost don't know what I'm going to do next week lol. Probably won't be that much different because I wore skirts all the time anyway, but this challenge has been fun. I absolutely LOVE looking at all the different outfits we can put together :)

So here's my outfit for today.


Skirt: Tiered skirt with beads sewn in along the different seams for the tiers from JCPennys
Green tank top: Target for $2 (clearance :)
Purple t-shirt: Target for $2 as well (clearance again :)
Jacket: Same as yesterday
Shoes: Purple flip flops from Old Navy for $2.50
Hair: A partial crown braid (see Courtney's blog for a tutorial) with my solid black chapel veil on. I ended my crown braid in a bun instead of tucking it under like Courtney does :)

Guess I really haven't said anything at all this week about the little jewelry I wear (and wear all the time). I have a "True Love Waits" ring from my boyfriend that I wear and small diamond earrings I got from my parents for my birthday last year.

I don't have a picture of my hair today because the top looks like the past two days and it's just in the back that looks different but that is covered by my veil.

How is your challenge going?

Blessings in Christ,

Feelin' Feminine Day 3/4

So we have another gloomy and rainy day here. But today, there was no break to take pictures outside like yesterday. So indoor pictures today.

My outfit:


Skirt: An A-line jean skirt, another one made by me
Shirt: Green 3/4 length sleeve henley from Kohls
Tank top: Pink tank top from Kohls
Jacket: Brown North Face from REI (but I got this one on a super sale!)
My shoes: Black SO flats from Kohls (I had them on earlier :)
My hair: Two braids into a bun again! Lol. No worries, I re-did it today again so it is not a 2-day old hairstyle lol. Earlier I had on my solid black chapel veil, but I am now at home so had to remove it.

Here's a picture of my hair:


Even if you haven't joined in as of yet, it's not too late! Share your pictures with me if you have joined this challenge. I love to see the pictures of all the different outfits we can put together :)

Blessings in Christ,

Modest Women

So this week might be the perfect week to talk about modesty and and Christian women.

1 Tim 2:9-15 (KJV) states:
9: In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.
10: But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
11: Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
12: But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
13: For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
14: And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
15: Not withstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

The only word we really need to look at in the Greek is in verse 9 for "apparel" which is katastolē. Katastolē means equipment, dress, properly a long garment or robe reaching down to the feet, according to greattreasures.org. Now my interpretation of "robe" would be the equivalent of today's dress or skirt. Yes it does say reaching down to the feet and I guess that I have yet to get there, but it is because of Isaiah 47:2-3 where it says "2 Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. 3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.".

What is modesty? Well as defined by Webster, modesty is "That lowly temper which accompanies a moderate estimate of one's own worth and importance. In females, modesty has the like character as in males; but the words is used also as synonymous with chastity, or purity of manners. In this sense, modesty results from purity ofmind, or from the fear of disgrace and ignominy fortified by education and principle. Unaffected modesty is the sweetest charm of female excellence, the firchest gem in the diadem of their honor."

What is Christian Modesty? As defined by Jeff Pollard, Christian modesty is "the inner self-government, rooted in a proper understanding of one's self before God, which outwardly displays itself in humility and purity from a genuine love for Jesus Christ, rather than in self-glorification or self-advertisement."

My skirts are all at minimum knee length, but most of them are mid-calf and I have 2 that are ankle length. However, I would like to wear them longer...right now this is a battle with my mom. She thinks I make myself look older than I am when I wear long skirts. But maybe this wouldn't be a bad thing since I recently got asked if I was with the 6th grade...as in a 6th grade student.

What is your thought about how Christian women ought to dress? Does the word katastolē have an influence on your opinion or no?

Blessings in Christ,

Feelin' Feminine Day 2/3

So we're calling today 2/3 :) Just in case I feel like getting back into my skirt from Sunday.



My outfit:
Skirt - Made by me
Shirt - Kohls for $5
Tank top (under shirt) - Kohls
Sweatshirt - Express
Shoes - Old Navy, but I got them free at a wedding I attended last summer.
Hair - Two braids into a bun with my solid black chapel veil on top



This is just a picture of my hair from a top-ish view.

How are you doing with this challenge?

Blessings in Christ,

Feelin' Feminine Challenge

So a blog owner that I found recently has challenged her readers to wear skirts for a whole week. This is not difficult since that's all I wear anyway, but I thought it would be fun and I want to challenge you, my readers, to take this challenge as well :)

So Day 2. Day 1 was yesterday, and I will probably put on my outfit from yesterday at some point and post the picture here. Or, I'll just go through next Sunday.



My outfit:
Skirt - Cotton skirt from Sports Authority
Shirt - Mossimo shirt from Target (it is a bit slouched in this picture, I had to rush to get in position before my camera timer went off :)
Hair - a simple pony tail with my black solid chapel veil from prayercoverings.com

Earlier I had a denim jacket on from Kohls. Even though I got all my clothes from regular stores, believe me, I am a sales shopper!! Lol. If something is not on sale, I do not buy it!!

Blessings in Christ,

Fruit Crisp

One of my all time favorite desserts is fruit crips that my mom makes. There are so many variations on the fruit you can use, but we typically use apples. We have used pears, blueberries, cherries, plums, nectarines, peaches, all depending on what we have and what we feel like.

So, here is the basic recipie :) It comes from a Betty Crocker cookbook so you may have seen it before!

4 cups of chopped up fruit (usually you want to remove the skin except for on the cherris or blueberries).
2/3 cup of packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup soft butter

Heat the oven to 375F.
Place the fruit in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish.
Blend the remaining ingredients until ingredients are combined
Sprinkle over fruit
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until the topping is golden brown
Let cool and serve with ice cream, cool whip or by itself!

If you find that your crisp has lots of unabsorbed liquid in the pan after baking, try adding a bit of dried fruit (ie. crasins or dried cherries or dried cranberries) or even a sprinkle of flour on the fruit before adding the dry ingredients mixture on top.

I hope you enjoy this simple treat :)

Blessings in Christ,

In Preparation for Easter and the Resurection

I know I am posting quite a bit lately, but the Lord has been talking so much to me lately!

Today is Maundy Thursday, or the Passover. Meaning tomorrow is Good Friday and of course Sunday is Easter!

Tonight is the anniversary of the Passover meal at which Jesus was betrayed by Judas. Can you imagine being betrayed to the authorities by one of your closest friends? Then to know that one of your other friends will deny knowing you three times before the evening was out? Just like Peter did.

Then tomorrow, to have to make the march in front of a jeering crowd to go to your death? And knowing this when you are arrested! Wow. Sometimes knowing what is going to happen is worse than not knowing. But, to know the reason why all of this was happening, would be wonderful! To be able to forgive a criminal's sins while he hung on the cross waiting to die, how wonderful! Not all of us get the chance to have our sins forgiven right before we die, although I hope that we don't wait that long to ask for forgiveness.

In addition to be able to rise from the dead and go to a better place, wonderful! Such a wonderful story we can tell the young children and non-believers that we know! We ought to be celebrating come Sunday, on the anniversary of the resurection and be telling everyone we know what a wonderful thing that our Lord did!

Now I may be bringing this down to human level a little bit too much, but Jesus was a human who walked amongst other humans. He was just special, he was also the Son of God and the choosen one to be sent to forgive all the believer's sins since we are not perfect and will always be sinning.

John 3:16-18 (NKJV): "16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God".

Blessings in Christ,