Free meal - hurry!

Through Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 9;59 p.m. CDT, you can go here and print a coupon for a free two-piece Grilled Chicken Meal from KFC. Hurry and print yours while these are available! Meal includes 2 pieces of Grilled Chicken, two sides, and a biscuit.
The great news is that right now, you can print up to four coupons with unique codes per computer--enough for your whole family to get a free meal! Yay!
Coupon is redeemable at participating KFC© locations in the United States from May 5, 2009 to May 19, 2009—excluding Mother's Day, May 10, 2009. Coupon is limit one offer per coupon, one coupon per person.

Giveaway

It's a giveaway! A cute one. I know I won't win, sometimes I enter one just for the fun of it! I actually think my mom took all of the great bargin finding genes in our family. The give away is at the diaperdiaries.net. It is a mother's day necklace. So, on the off chance I do win, should I keep it for myself or give it as a gift??

Update

Sarah's MRI has been moved to Monday due to the weather. It will be on Monday @ 2 p.m.
We'd appreciate your prayers!

Science

Homeschoolers! I just found this site and thought I'd share it. It has a big list of simple science experiments to use. I haven't looked at the entire site, but it looks like it might have lots of good things for teaching science principles. http://www.sciencefairadventure.com/Default.aspx

My apologies...

My apologies to anyone who finds this offensive....I thought it was funny.

Give-Me-More Barbecued Ribs

Becky gave me a "Fix-It and Forget-It" cookbook for Christmas. We've been taking turns choosing a recipe to make and tonight was Aaron's night. The results were a LOT better than I expected (I'd have never thought to cook ribs in a crock pot!). They were called Give-Me-More Barbecued Ribs, and since I found a package of ribs at 40% off, we tried them out. :-)

Makes: 6 servings

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 8-10 hours

Ideal slow cooker size: 6 quart

4 lbs. pork ribs

1/2 cup brown sugar

12-oz. jar chili sauce

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. hot sauce

1. Place ribs in slow cooker

2. Combine remaining ingredients. Pour half of sauce over ribs.

3. Cover. Cook on low 8 - 10 hours.

4. Serve with remaining sauce.

I used plain mustard because that's what I had, and I used more hot sauce. Also, our ribs were tender and meat literally falling off the bone after 6 hours, so 8 to 10 hours may be too long. This was good, but you could just as easily use a bottle of your favorite Barbecue sauce.

Can you believe...

...Scott is 18?!!? His birthday was the 13th, I'm just slow at posting this month. While I was in labor the nurses kept telling me that if I'd wait a couple of hours he'd be a Valentine baby. (easy for them to say!!)However, I knew that boys wouldn't want heart themed birthdays every year, so I spared him the pain of pink hearts and me the pain of waiting. Of course I didn't know he was a boy yet....but it all worked out-right?
He hates having his picture made, so I spared him that pain as well and used one from China. I still want to know what that shocked look was all about! His big plans for his birthday this year included a tattoo, but that hasn't happened yet and I'm waiting with bated breath to see what transpires.
Scott you are a son any parent would be proud of. You have a servant's heart, willing to help in almost any situation, you're giving and caring. You've carried the names of your grandfathers with an integrity that would make them proud! I love you and am praying for God's richest blessings in your life as you step into new experiences this year. I am excited to see what God has in store for you! I love you. Happy Birthday!

Prayer- part 3

The speaker, Mr. Richard Ross,(I finally looked up his name) told a true story last Sunday. He was recently visiting a college campus and discovered that a group of kids had pooled their money to rent a room off campus. What were they using that room for? Drug deals? Study groups? Parties? No, no, and no. They are meeting there for prayer. He was told that you will find college students in that room 24/7 on their knees in prayer. So, the big question is, what could all those students find so important that they willing give up their time and money to pray for? Their hearts are so broken for fellow students that they have this room open to simply pray for revival on their campus.

Ouch. Where is my heart? Am I more concerned about temporary, earthly needs than eternity? When was the last time we've asked God for revival in our homes, churches, and communities? I was reminded of the story in Matthew 9:1-7 when Christ first forgave THEN healed the paralytic. I think to some extent, Jesus was showing that His greatest job on earth was to save people from their sins, not to physically heal them. Since that is where His heart is, I should be striving to bring my focus into agreement with that!

So, there you have it. I think through typing this out, I've finally figured out why I've been so uncomfortable on Wednesdays. My focus is off - I've seen the physical problems as severe rather than temporary, and have spent more time talking to God than waiting and listening for Him. Maybe I'll actually be able to go back sometime....then again, that hour alone sure has been nice! ;-)

Prayer - part 2

This week I didn't go to our church's weekly prayer meeting. For several weeks I've avoided it - no, honestly, it has probably been months. Don't get me wrong, there is NOTHING wrong with the meeting or church! I've really been hesitant to share this on the blog just because I don't want to sound like I'm criticizing our church. I'm not! Our prayer list at church is a long one, as I am sure most are. People with cancer, dying, losing eyesight, severely sick children, mothers, fathers...and on and on. Let me say that our church has an awesome prayer ministry, has seen lots of answers from God, and has helped an innumerable amount of people with their prayers, including my own family. But I just haven't been able to go lately and I really wasn't sure why. I know that God is in control in each of the situations on our prayer lists, and honestly, I don't even know most of the people on it, yet it still feels overwhelming and even depressing at times. Maybe my trust in God is just too small.

One problem I see in that type of list is that people with problems that seem less severe are hesitant to mention them. It feels a little uncomfortable to ask for someone to pray for something seemingly insignificant (like unemployment) compared to cancer and death. However, those so-called insignificant things are actually pretty big when you're the one living them! So, what is the solution to getting people to share things that aren't quite as grave? I'm not sure there is one, at least not in a group that size. It's hard to build trust in such a large group. Prayer groups can too easily become gossip parties instead.

Something I've never shared with anyone other than my husband is the fact that I believe that God has given me the ministry (job?, duty? - I'm not sure what you'd call it!) of prayer. It's not something I've shared publicly because it feels so intimate and private to me. I've learned to be cautious in telling someone I'll pray for them just because it's not something I want to take lightly and because praying for them can become so personal. Maybe it is because I've thought that prayer was my job (task? what WOULD you call that?? LOL) that this struggle with not wanting to go on Wednesdays has really had me so perplexed.

When the speaker was here last Sunday he really got me to thinking about focusing on and praying for God's will. Do I spend most of my time asking for temporary THINGS- physical needs to be met, healing, etc. Or do I focus on the eternal? I've watched a dear friend of my mother's struggle with severe pain as she waits to die, yet she isn't focused on praying for healing or trying to stay alive. She's spent her time witnessing to her doctors and neighbors, and preparing them for heaven. It wouldn't be wrong for her to pray for healing (I'm sure she's done that!) or for me to pray for things, I believe God delights in giving to us! But where is my focus and my heart? As I was praying about my struggle, I looked down at the prayer list Mark brought home. What I finally noticed is what is missing from that list. Eternal needs. No one (INCLUDING ME!) has listed a lost family member or friend that needs to turn to God, no one has listed any type of spiritual needs at all. Am I over-analyzing here? Maybe I'm just lazy and enjoy the one hour I get alone all week by missing the prayer meeting! Ha! What do you think?

I really love what Sue put in the comments of the first post..."what's more important, me talking to God, or God talking to me?"

computer problems

The charger on my laptop isn't working and my battery is down to 47%. So, I may not be able to get on for awhile......I'll miss you!