Tuesday, January 29, 2013

He's Still Working on Me

I don't know about you other Daniel fasters, but God has been alive & well & working hard in my life since the fast.

During the fast, the Bible Study was great & I really enjoyed it, but since the completion of the fast, I've been showered with blessings, Biblical revelations, barriers (that I didn't know I had) have been demolished, & LOTS more. Many others I've spoken to had similar results.

Since the beginning of the fast, through now, God has been going through my life & "cleaning it out" so to speak. Since the fast, God has convicted me to give up watching the two TV shows I actually watched & loved, as well as my BELOVED morning radio show. I wrestled with God over what seemed like such trivial things, but decided that I wanted to be obedient. Since giving them up, I've learned a little more about why. While these things on their own are not bad things, & pretty trivial, God has blessed my obedience & I'm seeing that He wanted me to take advantage of any moment I have & to fill it with Him. An awesome quote I heard on the radio was, "The more God you put into yourself, the more like God you will be." That's exactly what it's about! As a "Baby Mama" (& toddler Mama), time (especially time to myself) is pretty much non-existent, so I must make strides to fill any time I do have with Him. (More cool Mom-Revelation in a post to come!)

Another thing God's doing: This year I wanted to be more giving & to seek out opportunities to give. All I can say is...God took me seriously on that one!! An amazing (& extremely good-looking) preacher I know said in a sermon recently, "God doesn't usually ask you to give in times of plenty." That's so true, in order for Him to stretch me & grow, He wants me to rely on faith, or sacrifice. He's been revealing needs that I can help meet (to the point of telling me how much to give, as well as what to give up so that I can give it) & so far, it's been by me sacrificing.

Lots more changes are happening in my spiritual life & I am so thankful for a Creator who continues to work on me each day.

"He's still working on me.
To make me what I ought to be.
It took Him just a week to make the moon & the stars, the sun & the earth & Jupiter & Mars.
How loving & patient He must be.
Cause He's still working on me."

S'more fun & John's 1/2 Birthday

We got Chris & Lauren (my bro & s-i-l) a fire pit for Christmas, so they invited us over for a s'more party last weekend!

I took advantage of the family being together, to finally do John's little 1/2 birthday celebration. His actual 1/2 birthday was on Christmas, but I figure, better late than never right?!

It was a good night. The Dunns had fun!

















Monday, January 28, 2013

Partayyyy!

Hey Momma friends!! I'm having a Kelly's Kids catalog/website party from now until Feb. 5th!!

They have their Spring/Summer line out now & it's ADORABLE!! (Spring outfits, Easter outfits, Summer playdate outfits, bathing suits with coordinating towels, etc.) It's the perfect place to get coordinating kid outfits (not that I like those or anything)!

If you want to see everything go to:
kellyskids.com/andreatharpe

If you want to order, put in my party number: 11901

I also have a few catalogs. Just let me know if you want to see one.

Here are a few pics of my boys wearing Kelly's Kids :)





Sunday, January 20, 2013

Delicious Daniel Dinner #5

The Hubs made a yummy pasta dinner tonight. It was so good! It will be one of the many meals we will continue to have after Daniel.

Whole Wheat Penne
Sautéed mushrooms, bell peppers, & squash
(I'll probably add chicken after the fast.)
& we just sprinkled some Greek Seasoning on top (a combo of salt, pepper, onion powder, oregano, & some other seasonings)

Delish!!



Friday, January 18, 2013

Delicious Daniel Dinner #4

More like Delicious Daniel Feast!

We love our church family who love to cook for us! This dinner included portobello mushrooms grilled like steaks, a bean/rice mixture, cabbage-wrapped veggies & brown rice, stir-fry veggies, guacamole, & whole wheat pasta & tortillas to eat with it. Dessert was baked apples & grilled pineapple.

Awesome! This was the kind of meal that keeps us going on this fast.







Monday, January 14, 2013

The Daniel Diaries

Today has been HARD! I've been stuck at home with a sick baby, not many Daniel-friendly foods in the house, & it's too cold to get said sick baby out.

My favorite Hubs took Jax to work with him for half a day this morning, then took him to get his flu vaccination. (A little late to the party, I know.) That helped me a ton since John is either screaming or sleeping today.

I skipped breakfast (baaad...I know. I've found that it's not as hard if I keep myself satisfied & not starving. When I get to that point, I'm at my weakest.) I had lukewarm leftover spaghetti for lunch. The only thing that's gotten me through today is prayer & constantly reminding myself that I made a commitment to God. (Did I mention that all of Jax's yummy lunch goodies are calling my name???!!)

Anyways, the Hubs is picking up some Daniel groceries for us & that will make the night easier.

Just keepin it real folks! Hope you all are having a good day!

Friday, January 11, 2013

God is GREAT; God is GOOD

God is great; God is good.

A little over a year ago I read a book by Steven Furtick that talked about how rich in truth that prayer is. (Sun Stand Still, I think. I read a couple of his during that reading binge, so I'm not positive.)

God is GREAT! He is mighty, all powerful God! There is NOTHING that He can't do.

God is GOOD! He is the giver of all things, including mercy & grace. He is love.

I was reminded of this prayer this week as I did the devotional for our 21 days of prayer & fasting. Day 1 reminded me of how Great God is. "...recognize that I am God! I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!" Ps 46:10 Day 5 reminded me of how Good Good is. "...fear The Lord & serve Him with all your heart. Just look at the great things He has done for you." 1 Sam. 12:24

I'm loving these little devotions! It's been an awesome day to just take time to recall all the great things God has done for me. What a faith-builder! What a spiritual boost to remember the muck & mire that God has brought me through & see that every good thing I have today is from Him.

My mind has been going non-stop this week & all of these thoughts probably warrant their own blog posts, but I'm just gonna spill it all out here! How are you guys doing on your devotions & fasting? The Dunns have had a really good week. I have a couple of dinner pics I might post, but we've tried to mostly have fruits & vegetables & used the other goodies to keep us fueled & on track.

After doing a little reading about the fast & speaking to a few other "fasters," a few thoughts really resonated with me:
#1-This is not a diet to lose weight. The food plan is meant to rid your body of chemicals & toxins, but overall, it's a fast. So "cheating" on it, or having "just a bite" of something isn't about it not affecting the diet. To me, this fast is about the commitment I made to God to do this for 21+ days. When I think about it in those terms, it means so much more to me.

#2-Don't forget that this is a fast. That's something that's easy to forget when we have so many great resources out there with recipes. I don't want it to become like I'm trying to find a way to work or manipulate the fast so that I don't feel like I'm doing without. I think the whole point of the fast is for me to do without. It's me lessening myself (just let me make up my own words :)) so that I can show God that it's important for me to put Him first. It's taking away the physical food that nourishes me & replacing it with spiritual food to nourish my soul. For me, it is also about nourishing my relationship with the Lord by showing Him that food is not an idol.

I pretty much always feel God's presence in my life most of the time (guess all my imaginary friendships paid-off). But, since we've started the fast, God's presence is even stronger. Have y'all noticed? God has been even quicker to convict me & His "voice" has been much louder. What differences have y'all seen since starting the fast? What has God revealed to you?

Monday, January 7, 2013

Daniel Snackage!!

D went to Sunshine Health Food store today & found some chips & salsa we can have!! Delish! The Nut Chips (made w/ brown rice & almonds) are our faves.

Tonight we had a rerun of spaghetti & will probably do a Mexican night tomorrow b/c I realized we can have guacamole!! (Veggie fajitas, chips, salsa, & guacamole.)

D requested a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies, so I have some in the oven now.
*This time, I made a regular batch of the dough & we're keeping it sealed in the refrigerator so that we can bake just a few at a time. They're much better warm. They aren't as good after they dry out. (If you're like D, you're happier with the dough anyway.)



Sunday, January 6, 2013

Delicious Daniel Dinner #3

I'm sure my Daniel Dinner posts won't be every day, it's just been easy over the weekend (& while I'm feeding John). We will be having reruns of some of these meals just to make life easy (& we really liked the spaghetti: delicious & filling).

I will definitely post when it's convenient & when we find a recipe we love.

Tonight was another adventurous afternoon/night with a teething baby, so we threw together a yummy meal when D got home from church.

We baked a sweet potato for all of us to share, boiled some okra (which is a fave of mine anyway), & D roasted some potatoes for us (He quartered red potatoes w/ a little olive oil, salt, pepper, & garlic. Your favorite seasonings will taste great on it.) Jax & D also had a bunch of cherry tomatoes.

Afterward, we had a yummy strawberry banana smoothie (strawberries, bananas, ice, water just to get it to mix, & a little bit of honey for more sweetness).

John skipped dessert & clean-up & decided to take a nap instead. (finally!!!)







Saturday, January 5, 2013

Hubs to the Rescue!! & Delicious Daniel Dinner #2

I was in a little bit of a funk today. [Actually, it's been since we got back from vacation. I don't know if it's after Christmas let-down, after vacay let-down, seasonal depression (I need some sunshine!!!), my lack of iced mochas :),or a mixture of it all. I'm guessing a mixture.]
Dustie went hunting this morning, & I had fantasies of the boys sleeping in, me getting a LOT of housework done that I'm behind on, & lots of fun quality time with the boys. HA! John was up a lot last night because he's teething & the only comfort he gets is with me. Then, both boys knew it was Saturday, so they woke up super early. All John wanted to do was nurse, so that's pretty much what my day consisted of! Feeding/pacifying a baby while feeding, wiping, playing a movie, helping find a specific toy for Jax. :)

This is pretty much what my week looked like. My housework didn't get done, my Christmas tree is still up, there's something sticky on the floor by the couch (I did finally get to clean that. Don't wanna know...), & it's almost 8 pm & I just took my bath for the day.

I don't say all this to complain (ok, maybe a little). Feel sorry for me? Haha, I'm kidding. I say it so that you may understand how happy I was when D got home from hunting & changed John for me, played with Jax for me, & put a movie on & got us all to take a nap!! (Miracle!!)

When we woke up, John wanted some baby food, so D fed him & cooked dinner while I took a hot bath. Can I just say, THANKFUL?! The LAST thing I wanted to think about was a dinner that would work with our Daniel fast. (I barely fed Jax & myself today! We shared leftover spaghetti, a banana, an apple, & a handful of grapes.)

D made us a very yummy supper of fajitas & broccoli. The fajitas were on whole wheat tortillas, beans, onions, bell peppers, & mushrooms. He rocked it!

I do love my life & I'm even thankful for days like this. I know it's only for a season that my babies will be like this & in the long-run, nobody will care when I took my Christmas tree down! Oh, & if this is what happens when the Hubs hunting, he should go more often!



Friday, January 4, 2013

Delicious Daniel Dinner :)

[If you have no idea what I'm talking about, see the previous blog post.]

Tonight we had spaghetti!! This is a big thing because we haven't made spaghetti since Dustie started the Dukan diet a year-and-a-half ago. (We used to have it at least once a week!) Some Daniel-Faster friends (David & Donna) told us about it. We made it with whole wheat noodles, a tomato sauce that had no sugar added, & we added sautéed squash, onions, & mushrooms. So yummy!

Then, we tried the oatmeal raisin cookie recipe from: http://www.ultimatedanielfast.com

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup almond flour or oat flour
1 cup creamy cashew butter, almond butter, or peanut butter
1/2 cup applesauce
1/3 cup Date Honey
1/2 cup raisins
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix oats, almond flour, cashew butter, applesauce, and Date Honey in a large bowl until well combined. Add raisins, walnuts, and cinnamon. Stir well. Drop by spoonfuls, two inches apart, on an 11 by 17-inch baking sheet. Flatten and shape into circles. Bake 10-12 minutes.

Yield: 18-20 servings (serving size: 1 cookie)
Recipe Notes:
You can substitute whole wheat flour for almond flour
Increase applesauce to 1 cup if you don't use Date Honey. (I couldn't find this anywhere!)


They are surprisingly delicious! They remind us of the chocolate, peanut butter, oatmeal no-bake cookies. (& we LOVE those!)

Later, while we were cleaning up, John dirtied a diaper baaaaad. (Forget number 2, I'm talking a NUMBER THREE y'all!!) So he got an early bath. I included some pics b/c he looked to me like he was hot tubbin! LOL

Anyways, after a filling meal & a yummy dessert, we decided that we might survive this fast!







Hungry?

Most of the time I love change. I love each season change. I love fresh starts. I'm so thankful for the Lord's mercies each new morning.

I'm excited for this new year & all the fun it will bring. I really feel like I ended 2012 in a good way, which means I'm already in a good place starting 2013.

Starting this Sunday, our church will be challenged to participate in 21 days of prayer & fasting. We will be going through a prayer book along with many churches in our association, as well as doing the Daniel fast. Dustie & I (as well as our Youth Pastor & his wife, Blake & Lori) started the fast this week. Just for future reference, & for any church friends who participate, this website is an awesome resource: http://www.ultimatedanielfast.com/  There are a BUNCH of yummy looking recipes. I'll let y'all know which ones the Dunns try.

Some of my goals for this new year:

-To live by the verse John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease."
-Bible Study: The past 3 years I have done a "read through the Bible in a year" plan, but towards the end of last year, I felt convicted to do more in-depth Bible study, so that is my plan for this year. I plan to study a book of the Bible at a time (in any order, until I get through the whole Bible-& yes, I know this will take way more than a year to do).
-To work on being my best in all areas of my life: wife, mom, daughter, sister, minister, teacher, etc. I've already started working on this a bit w/ the wives of D's accountability partners (I guess that makes them my accountability partners!). We are currently working through the Resolution for Women Bible Study & I love it!
-To be a good home manager: cook more, be wise at planning our calendar, manage our money well, etc.
-To be more active! & include my kids in an active lifestyle.
-To be more giving of my time, resources, offerings & to look for opportunities to give.

What are your goals? I'd love to hear!