Harvest Festival Report

Harvest festival last night was really great! We had 10 from our church. Last year we had a record with 6 and so with 10 this year that makes it a 40% increase. How many churches can say that? The testimony time was really encouraging. A man, T, from our church gave a testimony about the healing power of God and how he feels our church is a healing one. He had come that night with hiccups that he’d had for 5 days! And they stopped during the other testimonies! Praise God! We were very blessed by his testimony.

We were also very blessed by the groceries. I took some pictures of our pile. Have a look:

I’m buried in groceries. How wonderful!!!

Here is an artsy one that I took:

And last, but definitely not least, I have a funny one.

I’m sorry, but if you have to say on your packaging that it’s for people, there really is a problem with your packaging. Am I right? I think so!

When we got home, I was flying high on God’s love. Someone also told the hubby about a vision he had of our church breaking from the old and sailing into the new. That was really great news and it was confirmation of what we already felt was happening.

 

Harvest Festival

Tonight we have our section’s annual Harvest Festival. All the Assembly of God churches in our area get together for a potluck and a service. Each church collects groceries and brings those, too. The groceries are than divided between pre-decided pastors from our area that could use some help. My family happens to be one of those families. This is always such a blessing to us. Our canned goods last us through the whole year! It’s really amazing! This is one more way that God blesses us. There is also a love offering taken up that gets split. There is another family in our area that always gets blessed, too. They have 7 kids, I think. I’m sure it must help them enormously, too.

I’m looking forward to the service. The festival is a lot closer to us this year than it ever has been. Only about 30 minutes instead of 60 or 70 minutes. That means that we have a lot more people from our church attending! Yay! There is going to be a time of thanksgiving with each church given 5 minutes to tell about the great things we have to be thankful this year in our church. I really hope that we can get someone, other than the hubby and I, up there to talk. I would love to hear what our people think! I have plenty I could say, but I’d rather hear others.

So, today, I’ve been praying for courage for our people that come. None of them are used to getting up in front of other people. It’s getting better, but right now hubby and I do all the in front of people ministry. There is a LOT of stuff that gets done because of thier hard work, to make the church run smoothly and look nice, behind the scenes. But, like I said they aren’t used to being in front of people. So, I pray God will give them courage to get up there and say something that will bless them, us and everyone else there.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)

Maybe I should have read that verse yesterday morning…

 

Snicker Salad Recipe

Those of you who know me well, know that I don’t cook. However, I do enjoy the sweeter foods in life, so I don’t mind baking, mixing, etc… As long as I’m in the mood or it’s easy, I’ll make sweet stuff. Today the Friday 5 was about food. Great topic considering my new resolution. Anyways, Songbird asked for the recipe for Snicker Salad. It falls into the category of things I will whip up, so here is the recipe:

3 tart apples

3 regular size Snickers

1 small box of french vanilla pudding

1 cup milk

8 oz container of cool whip

Cut up the snickers and apples into small squares. If you cut the Snickers in half length-wise and then cut into squares, they are perfect. Cut the apples into squares the same size; a little bigger is okay. Then mix the other ingredients together. Throw in the apples and Snickers and mix. You need to make this at the last possible moment because it does go sour tasting rather quickly (the fresher the better because of the apples). It never keeps overnight. Enjoy! It is SO good!

 

Friday 5: Homage to the Top Chef

RevHRod writes on RevGalsBlogPals:

This Fall my family has been energetically watching Top Chef on the Bravo channel. My teenage daughter watches with the dream of some day being a chef. My husband watches because he loves reality shows and I mean, really loves them. Plus the whole competition thing really works for him. Me, I love cooking and good food. Every so often I get an idea from this group of talented young chefs who are competing for big money and honors galore.

The winner for this season was Hung. Not the fan favorite, but he won fair and square. In his bio, he says if he were a food “I would be spicy chili – it takes a while to get used to, but once you eat it you always come back for more!” With that in mind, here is this week’s Friday Five.

1. If you were a food, what would you be?
If I were a food, I think I would be a lemon. Definitely sour at times, but mixed with a little sugar, delicious. Also, I can be a little fruity at times!

2. What is one of the most memorable meals you ever had? And where?
My husband and I honeymooned at The Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island. They have great dinners. They have 5 courses (their breakfasts have more like ten). It’s amazing. Plus, you have to be in formal wear after 6 p.m. It was a lot of fun!

3. What is your favorite comfort food from childhood?
My favorite comfort food would be my dad’s cheese manicotti. It was so delicious, but he died about 6 & 1/2 years ago and no one makes it the same. So, my favorite that I can still get is probably tuna noodle casserole. I know that is probably strange.

4. When going to a church potluck, what one recipe from your kitchen is sure to be a hit?
My hubby’s family always took baked hashbrowns because everyone asked for them. We do the same now. My mother-in-law also makes an apple, cool-whip, pudding, Snicker salad that I sometimes take, too. It’s always a big hit, too.

5. What’s the strangest thing you ever willingly ate?
I’m a rather picky eater and I try to avoid all gross and strange things. I can’t really think of anything. Like I said, I avoid it at all costs. My hubby has eaten a cow tongue taco! Eww!

Update: SpiritMists‘ post reminded me of the Bloody Stump Cake I once ate. My sister-in-law and her brothers came up with and named the recipe. It sounds and even kinda looks gross. I think it’s pretty much just chocolate cake mix (maybe with red food coloring added) with cherry pie filling on top. I guess that’s what you get when you have three brothers. It was really was yummy, though!

Bonus question: What’s your favorite drink to order when looking forward to a great meal?
I don’t drink alcoholic beverages. My favorite drink with anything Mexican or with popcorn is Lemonade. I am a self-professed lemonade connoisseur.

That was a great Friday 5. I hope you enjoyed it, too!

Photo Credits: Lemon Harvest, Cheese Manicotti, Gyuu Tan (that’s Cow Tongue)

 

Sugar, How I Love Thee!

Yesterday I had to go to the doctor both for myself and Little Man. In the process, they checked my weight. It was not pretty! I don’t think anyone can tell yet, but I have gained back 20 pounds! I can definitely tell. I expected the extra 20 pounds, actually.

I have been having a hard time getting motivated to eat right. The problem is that I love sugar! I’m addicted! Really, really addicted. Besides that, my birthday is in a week, and I want to enjoy it. The day after that, I am going to Chicago with some family and a friend and I don’t want to worry about food then. I also want to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year’s.

So, here is my Pros and Cons of eating right list:

Pros:

• More Energy
• Get More Done In a Day
• Less Fat
• Fit into Clothes
• Sick Less Often
• Cranky Less Often
• Happier
• Less Chance of Dying Young
• More Fun to the Kids (because I have energy)

Cons:

• Can’t Eat Sweets Whenever I Want
• Will Feel Guilty For Indulging on My Birthday
• Will Feel Guilty Not Eating Right on Trip to Chicago

Well, I guess the pros outweigh the cons! And I already feel guilty, so that’s kind of null, too. So, tomorrow I start eating right (how I was taught in my very expensive, but worth it, classes)!