Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

The other day I bought a bag of Bugles, a chip I've not had in decades! Those are the ones shaped like a trumpet, obviously, and you either stick them on the tips of your fingers or bite the end off and hum through it like a musical instrument. That bag triggered some childhood memories that made me smile. These circus animal crackers cause the same reaction - I was never a fan of the plain cookies, but the coated ones were phenomenal! I always felt grown up eating Chicken in a Biskit. Other kids were eating Doritos or Lays, but these crackers were may favorites, along with Vegetable Thins, which I still get from time to time. One night when the ladies of our house were gone for the evening, my grandpa and I made macaroni and cheese for supper. We had watched them make it many times, but we'd never done it ourselves, so we mixed up the steps and put the cheese powder in before we drained the pasta. It was so incredibly bland, but we at it and then laughed about it for ages. Don...

Did you ever have a favorite food that you forgot was your favorite food? You don't have it for a while, you don't go to that recent anymore or you just have other recipes you're trying? When I found this 1954 cookbook last week, I had actually forgotten how much I love shrimp. It's always been one of my go-to proteins, but we just haven't had it for a very long time. So the Shrimps Beard recipe practically jumped off the page at me. It's a little labor intensive, so I don't recommend making it if you're in a time crunch. But it's so good that you definitely won't care how long it takes. Trust me. Ingredients: 2lbs frozen, shell-on and deveined jumbo shrimp, thawed 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 medium onion, finely chopped 1/4 cup chopped parsley 1 tsp dried basil 1 tsp dried mustard 1/2 olive oil 1. In a large plastic bag in a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Refrigerate for 6-8 hours. 2. Preheat broiler. 3. While broiler heats, thread five shr...

I have a few questions for you to start this Monday. Do you push aside your quiet time just so you can get stuff done? Have you been carrying around your Bible or study book with you but haven't even opened it? Do you ever start to read or study and suddenly remember there was something else you were supposed to do? Would you spend more time in prayer if you just had an extra few minutes here or there? I ask these questions as we begin a new week because I've found all three of them in my life recently. I don't want to continue down this slippery slope of not spending time in God's word, and if you're recognizing yourself in some of these statements, I don't want to you neglect your Bible time, either. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of ...

  I'm so excited to share my words of faith planner layout with you today! Not only do I think it turned out absolutely beautiful, I challenged myself to do something completely different and fun so I could get out of my creative block. The challenge, as I chose to accept it, was to use one sheet of planner stickers and one roll of washi tape to create an entire spread. I used this Happy Planner set and a washi from Illustrated Faith. They look so pretty together, don't they? I started by tearing off small pieces of washi tape and randomly scattering it around both pages.  Then I laid out the largest stickers first, then layered each piece of washi with the smaller ones. I needed a few more embellishments, so I went through the same sticker book and chose some of the small banners and gold dots that coordinate with the metallic writing on the large stickers. So this week I'll see many of my favorite words every day: faith, hope, love, grace, peace, glory, strong, amen and g...

So, I invested in another vintage cookbook. Yes, the graphics on the cover were irresistible. And yes, I think this one will merge perfectly into my collection. I'm excited to start turning some pages! Since this is a Jim Beard book on entertaining from 1954, it's a fascinating peek into what like was life in mid-century America. The third paragraph of this introduction particularly struck me. "Rich or poor, the good host or hostess always seems to have the same traits: a love of home, a delight in companionship and an appreciation of good food and drink." You can't tell me that these aren't the best illustrations ever. The scallops on the napkins seal the deal. Having a buffet party definitely isn't a new idea, as it was very popular when this book was written. It just shows us how trends circle back on a regular basis, making what was cool then cool again. I know we're a little past the holiday season now, but doesn't this eggnog party sounds lik...

I'm not a big fan of April Fool's Day just because some people take it to the extreme. Silly puns, on the other hand, are my favorite thing in the whole wide world. What kind of puns, you may ask? Out of all the inventions in the last 100 years, the dry erase board is probably the most remarkable. See what they did there? Why can't a nose be 12 inches long? Because then it would be a foot! Yep, I went there! I scraped my elbow digging for gold. Just a miner injury. A cashew and a pistachio threw a party. It was nuts. There is a fine line between numerator and denominator. Only a fraction of people will get that. What do dentists call their x-rays? Tooth pics. Tongue twister champion arrested. He was given a tough sentence. Two bed bugs fell in love. They're getting married in the spring. Milk is the fastest liquid on earth. It's pasteurize before you see it. I'm trying to make a good tree pun, but I'm stumped. Where do you learn how to make the best banana s...