Battling the List

We are reading through the book of Romans in our Thursday night Bible study at church. I am enjoying it so much. The Word truly is bread and I am filled when I leave on Thursday nights. I think book studies are great, in fact we just started Lord, I Want to Know You by Kay Arthur with our ladies. But I don't think there is enough deep, genuine study of God's Word alone. God's Word alone is sufficient. So, we're taking a portion of scripture, observing it, getting correct interpretation (There is only one interpretation and that is the correct one!), and then applying application.

Two weeks ago, we went through Romans 7:1-6. The verses are speaking about being bound to sin and the law and then being bound to Christ, which brought up a great discussion about legalism. Legalism. Such an ugly word. What is legalism? My favorite definition from those that I've read is this one: "the judging of conduct in terms of adherence to precise laws." So, how did this apply to me? I have personally struggled with legalism and admittedly, still do on occasion. In my past, in churches I have been to, it seemed that there were certain sins spoken of often in sermons or in teaching. It seemed that those sins were 'worse' than others. Some of them were what you would expect but some were not. Some weren't even really sins but more of opinions about what was right or wrong without biblical backing, which is scary, dangerous stuff. This lead to thoughts that if I was doing these things, God was not pleased with me. If I didn't do these things, God was pleased me. It also lead to thoughts of "if I do this, God is not happy with me, so He will punish me." What terrible, wrong thoughts about God! And it still plagues me to this day. I'll explain later more of how I fight those thoughts.

At the same time, there were also things that were spoken of often about what I should be doing. I needed to be at this, this and this. I also needed to be doing this and that at home. Oh and I needed to make sure I was doing this too. And if I wasn't, God was not pleased. If I was, God was happy with me. So mentally, in my mind, I had a check list. If I did all of these things, I was a good Christian. If I didn't do them, I was backsliding or a 'carnal Christian' (which is not even a true term).  So, my check list of what to do and what not to do decided whether or not God was happy with me. Essentially it decided whether or not God loved me. My list became my idol and my relationship with God was pretty much non-existent. My outward walk became more important than my heart for God, my worship of God, and my relationship with God. It took me a while to even realize what was going on! It was such a part of my life. I was living for others. Unfortunately, this can also cause us to become very judgemental of others and even begin to think highly of ourselves when we are doing more or seemingly doing better than someone else, on that 'list'. Oh, isn't it so horrible? It sounds a lot like the Pharisee in Luke 18!

Let us remember this, "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, the Lord looks on the heart.”

So, how do we stop this? For one, it's very dangerous to speak against specific sins from the pulpit. When preaching a text, of course, preach the text. But to pick and choose specific sins to harp on is just dangerous. Also making laws about what you should be participating in and such is the same. Personally though (since I'm doubting many pastors are reading my blog! Ha!), what can we do? My answer: Preach the gospel to ourselves. Remind ourselves of grace.

Grace. Christ came to cover our sins. Because of my trust in Christ's sacrifice for my sins, God sees me as His. He loves me because of the blood of Christ. It's His righteousness, not mine! Because I am in Christ, I am reconciled with God. My standing with God does not change! Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." No condemnation! What a glorious thing! So, I remind myself of grace. I remind myself of His love. I remind myself of what He did for me.

So now, let's ask the same question as Paul did...  "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1) and then his answer.. " By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" (verse 2). What a great question! Do we keep sinning because of grace? Of course not! We can never justify our sin because of grace! We have died to sin and come alive in Christ! Will we sin? Of course, we will battle our flesh until we are out of this earthly body! But grace, the gospel, compels us to love Him. J.C Ryle writes, "If we love a person, we like to please him. We are glad to consult his tastes and opinions, to act upon his advice and do the things which he approves... Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!" When we dig deep and know grace, our heart is overflowing with love and gratitude. And when we love Christ deep, the only way to love him, we desire to obey Him!

So, my friends, let go of those chains of legalism and live your life in the grace you're already covered in! Erase that mental check list and just spend time with your Father. Ask Him to help you break down those walls. It is still a fight for me. He is always faithful to remind me of His grace and I know He will do the same for you! He loves you abundantly!

 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Beef Tips and Gravy Over Rice

 

I try to always plan my menu's but on tight budget weeks sometimes it's just whatever I can come up with! This past week was one of those! I had some chopped stew meat in my freezer. Typically I make beef stew with this but I didn't have any potatoes. A quick search on the internet landed me at a crock pot beef tip recipe. Well, I didn't have time to use my crock pot at this point and was missing some ingredients but it gave me enough motivation to come up with something! The recipe turned out so good! Eli cleaned his plate and that rarely happens! It's easy and very frugal since stew meat is one of the cheapest meats you can buy!

Beef Tips and Gravy Over Rice, Serves 4

1-1.5 lb stew meat
1 onion, sliced thin
3-4 TBS soy sauce*
3-4 cups of water*
1/3 cup flour, plus 3/4 cup water
1 tsp parsley flakes
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Oil for cooking (I used refined coconut oil)
Salt and pepper
Cooked Rice (I used brown)

Heat oil in stock pot. Add beef stew meat with the sliced onions and brown (I peppered them lightly, be careful with the salt though, especially if you are using beef broth or full sodium soy sauce. I didn't salt mine at all until the end!). Once the tips are browned add 3 cups of water, plus 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, scraping any bits off the bottom of the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook on low for 1.5-2 hours or until tender. I added one more cup of water with soy sauce at about the 1.5 hour mark, so just watch your liquid. It wasn't absolutely necessary but it made more gravy, which we like! :) Mine took right around 2 hours. Once the beef tips are tender, add in your parsley and garlic powder and turn the heat up to a low boil. Make a slurry with the 1/3 cup of flour, plus 3/4 cup of water. What this means is to mix your flour and water together with a fork until the flour is incorporated. Once your beef mixture is at a low boil, add in your slurry stirring constantly. Continue stirring until you get the thickness you desire and to cook out the flour taste (about 5 minutes). You may have to add more slurry if you want a thicker gravy. Taste to season, add salt and pepper as needed. Serve over cooked rice.

The Hubs doesn't like rice so I made these whole wheat drop biscuits for him to have with his! They were really yummy, too! I'm sure the first part of this recipe could be made in the crock pot and then thickened right before dinner. I haven't tried it yet but will soon!

*Soy sauce sounds weird but I read a tip somewhere that if you don't have beef broth (and I rarely do!) you can use 1 cup of water and 1 TBS of soy sauce. It doesn't taste like soy sauce, but gives it that deep flavor. You can certainly use beef broth if you'd like. I use MSG free, low sodium soy sauce!

Let me know if you try it!

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So, do you celebrate Halloween?

It's fall! And I love it! I think I've mentioned it before but I really do love fall! I especially love October! October is my birthday month and the month the Hubs and I got married. I love the weather, football, food... all of it!

 

So, what about Halloween? Well, I've read a few articles online about it from various perspectives, did my research (you know I like to research!) and had many conversations with the Hubs about it. And yes, I've prayed about it! There is a lot of confusion on how Halloween and it's origin truly started. It has roots in paganism, yet it also seems the church (as it's known for doing) attempted to counter it with it's own holiday (All Saint's Day). In the past those days were separated (one on October 31, one on November 1 or 2). Anyway, you can do your own research! It really is a bit fuzzy (or at least that's how I felt after reading about the history). My thoughts are that it's kind of mashed up into this American holiday. I know there are many out there who choose not to celebrate it at all, like they don't even mention it and pretend it doesn't exist. Then there are those who do celebrate it in some forms, as in allowing their children to dress up and go to a fall festival or two. (If you allow your children to participate in the traditions -dressing up, getting treats, even if they are from a church- whether they are on October 31 or not, you're still somewhat participating in the holiday.) Then there are those who allow their kids to dress up and actually go trick-or-treating on Halloween Day. So, what category do we fall in?

We fall in the third. And before I go any further, I fully respect the choices of other families. These types of things fall in the "liberty" areas. I appreciate their viewpoint and hope to receive the same from them. I'm just sharing our decision. So, yes, my children dress up and they go trick-or-treating. I'm not a fan of skeletons, ghosts, and the other more gory aspects. We avoid those aisles at the store and we avoid those types of houses as well! So here is how our night looks:

The boys dress up (Star Wars is the pick this year!) early in the evening. By 5pm we're ready to leave the house. We make three or four stops visiting the Hub's family first and then we head to my mom's. My mom's neighborhood is a very busy trick or treating neighborhood. Most years they get close to 200 trick or treators! My mom always makes a big pot of chili along with hot dogs. Once we get to her house, about 6pm, we let the boys take a trip down the street to a few houses that we are familiar with. Several of their church members live in their neighborhood and we usually stop by those houses and then head back. We eat dinner and the boys enjoy giving away candy to other kids who come to their door (we always hand out million dollar bills too). Some friends of ours always stop by with their boys and they get to play for a bit and we always get their picture together. Around 8:30 pm we head back to the house and that's it!  Luke was curious why some people don't celebrate Halloween and I just told them it was a personal choice. We do take the time to talk about the evil aspects in basic terms that he can understand. That's unfortunately something we have to deal with every single day of our lives. Evil is everywhere and every day. But we also don't focus too much on that at this point and at his age. I told him that if anyone asked him if we celebrate Halloween to answer, "We dress up to have fun and spend time with friends and family!" And that's the truth! And I believe we do it in such a way that glorifies God!

My only issue with Halloween actually is the candy! We try to limit candy in our home as much as possible, although it's nearly impossible! So, we keep it as treats only. On Halloween night my kids get a few pieces and maybe the next few days they get a piece or two, then it magically disappears. We don't go to many houses, so we don't have a lot anyway.

One thing to mention and for us as believers to remember, is that no matter what you do and what your convictions are harping on or having a pious attitude on 'liberty' areas of scripture do nothing to soften the hearts of unbelievers and it also doesn't create unity within the body of Christ. So we must be careful in how we present our convictions and where our heart is on the matter!

*Just a side note. We do talk about Reformation Day during school and as a family. Some may be wondering whether or not we incorporate that and of course we do. Reformation Day is our history. Halloween is just like a fun little party we have. They don't even compare!

Have a safe and fun Halloween or day! ;)

In sickness and in health...

As a stay at home/homeschooling mom, I'm wishing today I had a sick day! :) No really, my boys are being great today and school only takes us at the most two hours to finish. But the thought of staying in bed all day does sound appealing! I've been fighting this cold since Saturday evening. My goal is to NOT go to the Dr. In the past my sinus infections have always turned really bad within 24 hours and I always ended up in the Dr's office. They have gotten better with dietary changes and also with some natural home remedies. I'm praying I can fight this one off! So, while I sit here stuffy (on my 8th wedding anniversary no less), I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite home remedies, all of which are completely pregnancy safe.

Garlic
I love garlic. It's really my goal to eat a raw clove a day but when I was so sick with this little guy, that was the thing I wanted least! Now that I'm better, I'm back to it but I have increased my raw cloves to 2-3 a day for the cold. Below are some good links on the benefits of garlic (not just for colds!) and also ways to use them. It's best to take raw garlic with food as it can be rough on the stomach. I usually have it on a piece of buttered toast or in a salad.

Garlic's uses (and benefits)
Garlic for Colds And Flu and here also
Cream of Garlic Soup - haven't tried it yet but it looks yummy to me!

Elderberry Syrup
Elderberry syrup is great for warding off illnesses. It's especially good for warding off and treating the flu. I take a tablespoon daily during flu season but up it to 4 tablespoons (or more) when I have a cold. I get my dried elderberries from Bulk Herb Store and use this recipe to make my syrup. Super easy! Here is an excerpt from Bulk Herb Store on elderberries: "Dried Elderberries are tasty flu fighters. They contain compounds that inhibit the enzyme flu viruses from penetrating our cell membranes and also prevent the virus from invading respiratory tract cells. Taken early enough, as a tea or tincture, you may be able to head off an upcoming illness before it becomes a full-blown flu. They are especially good for bronchitis, colds, coughing, and influenza. Also contains substances that ease inflammation and pain and soothe the intestines, thus making them useful in all inflammatory bowel diseases."

Vitamin C
We all know Vitamin C plays a huge role in our immunity. It simply boosts our immune system function. The research I've read doesn't say vitamin c will help prevent colds and there also isn't much research on how it effects a cold. But I have read that it does help with the duration of a cold and that's good enough for me! The boys and I are currently taking a daily extra dose of C a day (me 500 mg and the boys 250 mg each). I have upped my dose to 1000mg but am probably going to up it to 1500mg since I'm feeling a little worse today. I have heard of people going MUCH higher than that! Just remember to slowly slack off so you don't have any ill effects! Vitamin C has also been known to help scar tissue (I just recently found that out) turn into healthy collagen and heal connective tissue... so bonus for me considering I'm praying for a VBA2C!. We are taking these vitamin C chewables. It's important with any supplement to use a good source. Typically what you can buy in the grocery store is not going to cut it because most is made in China and comes from GMO corn. :/ As with all of these supplements and treatments, know your source!

Here is a good article on treating colds naturally, especially mentioning elderberry and vitamin c. It also mentions echinacea which I haven't done much research on.

And while I'm at it, there are lots of amazing articles on how vitamin c is fantastic for cancer prevention and cancer treatment!

Probiotics
Probiotics are fantastic for good gut health. And gut health greatly (which is an understatement) effects overall health. Because of our mainstream diet our guts are out of whack! We need lots of good bacteria to help. I would love to do milk kefir or kombucha but at this point in my life I'm settling for a pill form probiotic. I buy mine from Beeyoutiful, a company I trust. From Livestrong:

"Probiotics are beneficial to health since friendly bacteria are essential to proper development of the immune system. They aid in the digestion and absorption of nutrients, as well as protect against microorganisms that could cause disease and upset the balance of the microorganisms in the body. Probiotics are useful in treating many health conditions such as diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, speeding treatment of certain intestinal infections, reducing recurrence of bladder cancer, as well as preventing and treating certain conditions such as vaginal yeast infections, urinary tract infections, eczema in children, as well as colds or flu."

 

Cod Liver Oil
CLO is great for your overall health it is full of vitamin D and A and Omega 3 fatty acids. Here is a great article on cod liver oil and it's history, benefits and other great info! We do not currently take fermented cod liver oil (which is the best form) but we do take Beeyoutiful's cod liver oil. Well, we meaning the boys and I. I swallow mine and the boys take theirs in a shot of orange juice since they can't swallow a pill yet. The orange juice cuts the oil. Luke just pops the pill in his mouth and then chases it with OJ. Eli has me mix it in his oj and then takes it out of a medicine dropper! The Beeyoutiful brand are relatively inexpensive and are screened for mercury and other impurities. Maybe one day we can take the more expensive stuff! Here is another great article on the benefits (and there are many, much more than just for colds!):

CLO: Number One Superfood by WAPF

Homemade Bone BrothChicken soup is good for the soul... and for the cold. It's an age old remedy but there is a lot of truth to the history! It's highly nutritional! It's also a great and tasty way to get extra hydration and vitamins in you when you're not up to eating much! Here is a great article on bone broths. Here is another great article from WAPF (Weston A. Price Foundation) but admittedly I don't follow all of their rules (like using vinegar), though I want to try! Today, I heated up some of my homemade chicken stock with some onions, garlic and ginger!

Water
Stay hydrated!! Water helps your body rid itself of toxins. It's simple, staying hydrated will help your body heal best! Staying hydrated is especially needed when you have a fever, which causes your body to lose water quicker. Being well hydrated with a cold or the flu will also keep your secretions (lovely word!) thing and it will be easier for your body to clear them!

Saline Rinse
I love my SinuCleanse! I really should use it all the time because I am prone to sinus infections but I typically don't unless I feel one coming on. Here is a good article on how nasal rinsing helps clear colds and sinus infections. Saline rinse helps your nasal passages to stay moisturized which reduces inflammation. It also helps to thin mucus (another lovely word!) and keep the nasal cavity clear. Tips: ALWAYS use distilled water. Here's why. And make sure you use the right kind of saline mixture. You can make your own mix but I just buy the saline packages! It's a weird feeling when you start to use a saline rinse, but you get use to it!


I'm a weirdo and love all of this kind of stuff. It's amazing what God has so easily provided for us to help heal our bodies the most natural way. I've said it before and I'll say it again (and again), I'm not entirely against modern medicine. It's necessary in lots of ways but so often there are alternative ways to treat our bodies that do not harm it (like many Rx drugs do) in the long run. Not to mention being preventative by our diet. Oh, that is another post and a lesson I'm continuing to learn! Always praying for wisdom! :)

 "Be not wise in your own eyes;
  fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
 It will be healing to your flesh
  and refreshment to your bones."
Proverbs 3:7-8