January 2018 – Live the Crazy Life

Bible, family activities, family fun, Holiday, Parenting, Raising Teens, Valentine's Day

Remind them how much Jesus loves them this Valentine’s Day

January 29, 2018 No Comments

I have three teenagers and more than anything I want them to have a great relationship with Jesus; filled with the knowledge of His great love for them. With that in mind, I am always looking for ways to remind them of just how much Jesus really does love them. And with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I decided to use this holiday of love to focus on God’s love for us.

In the past leading up to Valentine’s Day, I have given them hearts where I have written why I love them. But this year I wanted them to know God’s love for them. I start on February 1st and every day for the next 14 days I hang one random heart in their room with a personalized Bible verse about God’s love. For example, I might write “For God so loved Aaron that He gave His only Son so that Aaron should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

A few days ahead of time, I started cutting out my hearts. I used scrapbooking paper that I already had, but you can buy heart themed paper, or red or pink whatever you want. I cut out various size hearts using different sized cookie cutters and tracing them on the paper – one for each kid for 14 days. For me, this was a total of 42 hearts. I also looked up all my verses ahead of time. I have a list of several scriptures you can use Valentine’s Day Activity –God’s love Bible verses. Just remember to personalize them! Then every morning for the first 14 days in February I would hang a heart with a verse on it somewhere in their room. If my children hadn’t mentioned anything about the hearts to me by dinner I would ask them if they found the one for that day.

Last year I even added my husband in this. I wrote why I loved him on 14 different hearts and hung them around our room. Most of which are still hanging in the same place a year later.

It’s a small thing but I pray the impact of these hearts will be huge. That they will remind my kids, on days when they feel like no one loves them, that even then God loves them like crazy.

If you have ways you have tried to help your kids recognize God’s love for them I’d love to hear about it. Leave your ideas in the comment section below!

Happy Valentine’s Day, and remember God loves you more than you can even comprehend.

Recipes

Gluten Free Easy Mini Quiche

January 22, 2018 No Comments

These mini quiches are so yummy and so easy. They are my go-to for any brunch or breakfast I host or I have to take a dish too. Once you try them they will be your go-to recipe too!

You can add basically anything to the base to make just about any flavor you can think of. My favorite is bacon cheddar, but I have made veggie herb, bacon cheddar salsa, parmesan cheddar, and mushroom.

The best part is these little guys are gluten-free, making them something almost anyone can eat (as long as they aren’t dairy free). You can make the base the night before and bake them off quickly the morning of your breakfast or brunch, you can make them a day ahead and reheat in the oven or microwave, and they freeze well too! These really are the most versatile quiche I have ever made! You can even make multiple types at once. I have two mini muffin pans so I will do one bacon and cheddar, and the other 1/2 parmesan veggie, and 1/2 cheddar herb. Again you can do just about anything with these!

Here is the recipe for the bacon cheddar, but keep in mind you can use any meat, just about any cheese, and any veggies you want.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup cornstarch or tapioca flour

1 1/4 whole milk (I use 2% but you can use whatever you would like)

1 cup heavy cream (or make them lighter by using 1/2 & 1/2)

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

4 strips bacon cooked and chopped

Shredded cheddar cheese (or any cheese shredded)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. I know it’s high! In a bowl that has a pour spout (I literally use a plastic water pitcher and double the recipe) pour your cornstarch or tapioca flour. Mix in 1 cup of milk and stir until all the cornstarch or tapioca is dissolved. Then add all the ingredients except the bacon, cheese, and any veggies or other add-ins like salsa, or herbs.

Take a mini muffin pan, and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle the cheese of your choice in the muffin spot and push down slightly. If you are using veggies, salsa, herbs, add them now. Pour the egg and milk base over the cheese until 3/4 of the muffin spot is full. Sprinkle with bacon.

Bake 15-17 mins. (the wetter your add-ins the longer you need to cook them. I wouldn’t cook them longer than 18-20 mins)

This recipe will make between 48-55 depending on how full your muffin tin is.

Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 mins.

Remove from pan and plate. Serve warm or room temperature.

Bible, Memorizing scripture, Prayer

Wielding The Sword

January 6, 2018 No Comments

Happy New Year!!

Every January it seems people make New Year’s resolutions – things they wish they could do better, or adding a new activity to their life routine. Well, I have two resolutions this year that I believe are attainable. The first one is to improve my prayer life. And the second, memorize more Bible verses.

As it is with most things, I do better if there is something or someone to help hold me accountable to my goals. So I have asked a friend to hold me accountable in prayer. Then I thought I would use my blog and whoever is reading this to help with my second goal of memorizing more Bible verses.

I have decided that every month I would post a new verse to memorize and some reasons why I have chosen that particular verse. I am hoping that everyone reading this will join me in these monthly challenges and post in the comment sections how they are memorizing the verse and let us all know when they have the verse memorized.

This month I have chosen a verse from the book of Daniel. As the year goes you will see a theme emerging from the verses each month. They will all be about the steadfast love of God. Steadfast love has been a word between me and God for a couple of months now. It’s a theme I hope to one day write my own bible study on! (Maybe you will see that in future posts!!)

Daniel 9:4 Says “I prayed to the Lord my God and made confessions, saying “O Lord the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments.”

I love this verse! One, it ties into my desire to up my prayer life; and two, it speaks of God’s steadfast love. First, what would your year or my year look like if we approached prayer with a heart to confess how awesome God is, how He is a covenant keeper, and how He loves me with a steadfast love? Think about that for a moment. If in prayer, before we dive into our needs, fears, concerns, or whatever, we start with telling God how awesome He is and reflecting on His love for us, how would that change our hearts and attitudes? In the midst of struggles if I just cause myself to take a breathe and think about God and how good He is, how He loves me and will never leave me, how He will cause all things to work out for good, then I am filled with faith and a confidence to face whatever challenge lay ahead. I want to bring that into my prayer life this year. How about you?

I want God’s steadfast love to be the lens through which I do life this year! And what better place to start that than in my prayer life. So will you join me in this challenge? Would you take the time to memorize this verse and then apply it to your own life the way God leads? If you do, would you leave me a comment about your journey?

Let’s commit to making 2018 the year God reigns in every area of our lives. Let’s also commit to this being the year that we gain ground spiritually by memorizing more of the Word so when we have battles we can pull out the sword of the spirit which is the word of God and wield it triumphantly in battle!

Will you join me?

Click Here for January Memory Verse 2018