family fun – Live the Crazy Life

COVID 19, family fun, Recipes, Uncategorized

Raiding the Pantry — Sweet Treat Recipe

April 25, 2020 No Comments

Like you, I am spending more time at home. Working from home, schooling kids at home, limiting grocery store trips. I am sure you know the drill by now.

I have decided to make this time fun, at least in a few ways. I have lightened up on my diet (mostly because I am a stress eater.) For the most part I have cut out eating fast food, and junk food, eating clean and whole foods but there is one small horrible thing I have yet to conquer! SUGAR! It’s still a part of my life. I try -(ish) to cut it out and it just keeps coming back. And so I decided that during a world wide pandemic I would not be tackling that monster. Judge me if you want, but it was just too big of a battle right now. I limit it, but cut it out altogether? Not now.

Ok, back to making this season fun. I play a game with myself. I cleaned my pantry and then decided I would try to make recipes using what we have with adding limited ingredients from the store thus lessening trips to Wal-Mart and the duration of time spent in Wal-Mart.

From that fun little game this wonderful gooey gluten free sweet treat was born. I had a box of Chex rice cereal that needed to used before it went stale. It had been opened at some point and less than a bowlful was taken. So mostly a full box. I also had a bag a mini marshmallows. Which is strange because I have no idea when I would have added mini marshmallows to my grocery list; yet there they were. Still soft, but needing to be eaten, too. At least before my kids discovered them and began to just eat marshmallows for dinner or something like that.

Without looking on Pinterest I began to think of what I could do with these. And I thought Rice Krispy treats. Why not Rice Chex treats. But that isn’t too big of a stretch on a recipe remake. Then I saw the peanut butter and chocolate chips, and voila… the outcome was amazing!!

Ingredients:

1 box (or a little less) Rice Chex Cereal

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup (ish) of peanut butter

1 big bag of mini marshmallows.

1/2 a bag of chocolate chips

Directions:

Melt butter in a big pot on medium heat. Add marshmallows and stir. Once the marshmallows are mostly melted add peanut butter and stir until well combined.

Add cereal and pour into greased 9×13 pan. Let cool but not completely. When the mixture is cool enough to touch but still playable add chocolate chips pressing them slightly into the cereal marshmallow goodness. Finish cooling and cut into squares and devour.

As you can see, they didn’t last long in my house. I barely got this picture taken before they were gone.

Advent, Bible, Christmas, family activities, family fun, Hanukkah, Holiday

The Hanukkah Experiment

December 21, 2019 No Comments

First of all, and right off the bat, I am NOT Jewish by birth. However, one could argue that I am Jewish by my faith in Jesus. (See Ephesians 2:19 and 3:6)

A few weeks before Christmas I was doing an Advent study. I love Advent. It makes Christmas less crazy for me and a little more fun. I have admitted in the past I am not crazy for Christmas as some of you out there are. I honestly most years could take it or leave it. It was probably best when my kids were little simply because of their enthusiasm and excitement. But alas, now they are older and I’m right back in the “what is all of this nonsense about?” mode. You have to agree – Christmas is a crazy time of year. Tons of people going nuts about buying the right gift; tons of food that isn’t good for anyone’s waist line (can you say cookies, fudge and cakes oh my?); and if you have allergies like me, well then it is temptation city on top of adding a few “Holiday pounds”. Ok, you get it. I am not in love with Christmas. But I am in love with Christ. Thus my battle with Christmas. Is it really supposed to celebrate the birth of my Savior? I have just never been able rationalize the whole thing. The two – Jesus and Christmas – just don’t go together in my head. No matter how many birthday cakes are made for Jesus on Christmas, it’s still plain weird to me. Before all of you who love Christmas stop reading, I will get to my point. In the Advent study, I read John 10:22-23 which says, “Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.” Feast of Tabernacles I know. The Passover Feast, yep, know that, too. But the Feast of Dedication, that one I didn’t know. So I looked into it. In researching I discovered that the Feast of Dedication is Hanukkah. It is also known as the Festival of Lights.

And so my search to understand Hanukkah began. All I knew is it’s about the Maccabees and candles and oil for the lamps that last 7 days longer than it should. I will spare you tons of details so this post won’t take you an hour to read. The main points I learned was that a bad guy named Antiochus who called himself Epiphanes which means “God Manifest” defeated the Jews, took control of the temple, and desecrated the temple. On the fifteenth day of Kislev (which would be our November/December), Epiphanes held the pagan Saturnalia ceremony where a pig was slaughtered on the altar in the Holy of Holies, and the blood was sprayed throughout the temple. This was the last straw, and a rebel group of Jews known as the Maccabees fought back against Epiphanes. After a 3 year battle, they finally won. The Maccabees took back control of the temple and began to clean up the horrible things done in the Temple to defame it. The Maccabees lit the candles in the temple and kept them lit for 8 days with only enough oil to burn one candle for one day. The number 8 in the Bible means Resurrection and Regeneration or new beginnings.

The original foundation of the temple was laid in Kislev. In Haggai 2:18 it says, “From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, (Kislev) give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought.”

I will put this altogether for you now. Jesus was at the temple during the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah). The temple was destroyed in the month of Kislev and re-dedicated 3 years later in the month of Kislev. Oh and the original temple foundation was laid on in the month of Kislev. Call me crazy, but things are adding up. And here is where this blog gets good.

With all of that and a few other things I learned while studying, I think celebrating Hanukkah is a way to honor God. So we are going to give it a whirl this year. We will start on December 22nd because that is the day that Hanukkah starts. We will light a candle each night and my husband will read the traditional prayer spoken when the candles are lit. Then we will deviate from Jewish tradition to Storey tradition. Each prayer spoken while lighting the candle has a key phrase in it – the reason you are thanking God. We will expand on those phrases and talk as a family how we can rededicate our temple (our lives, since the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, and 6:19-20 that our bodies are temples and the Holy Spirit lives in them.) We will thank God for His goodness and offer a new way to honor Him in our lives.

It will look something like this: Click Here for the outline of traditional prayers and the Storey’s way of dedicating our lives accordingly.

We still have our Christmas tree with gifts galore under it and our advent tree; but this year we have a menorah too. This year in the midst of the craziness we will settle down, light a candle, pray, and reflect on new ways to live for God. It’s my way of pushing back against the self-absorbed ways of Christmas to shout Glory to God in the Highest, and unto us a Savior has indeed been born! That Savior is Jesus who now lives in me and I will honor Him first!

Bible, Christmas, family activities, family fun, Holiday, Uncategorized

Advent-Make room for Jesus

November 26, 2018 No Comments

A week ago I taught at our church’s Women’s Event on Advent. I shared where and how Advent originated and how it changed over the years. I am not sure what the word Advent means to you. But to me it means making room for Jesus. We have been doing Advent “calendars” in my home for years. Well actually we have never done a traditional Advent calendar. I’ve always made my own. I guess it is more appropriate to say we have done Advent Christmas readings for years.

I have done them with my kids at Christmas for at least 8 years but I think probably longer. We started with the general Advent reading from the Book of Luke in the Bible and a few verses from Matthew. As my children grew we adapted our Advent readings to include the names of Jesus, the wonder of Jesus, and this year we will look into the gifts God gives us. I have included the scriptures we used in our boxes at the bottom of this post.

I figure since we give gifts to one another we should be familiar with the gifts that God gives us. So I began to compile a list of the gifts from God mentioned in the scriptures. And keeping with the gift theme I found little boxes on Amazon

and then embellished them with ribbons so we can hang one each night on our Advent Tree.

Our Advent Tree is just a little 3 foot tall tree I keep near our kitchen table where we usually do our Advent readings.

You could use any Advent calendar that you add your own verse to like the ones we made at our church this year!

Or you can do ornaments or whatever you like.

My kids have grown quite a bit over the years, but I still try to slow life down, sit together as a family at some point in the day, and reflect on the goodness of God. I cherish taking a small breather in a day that is filled with so much busyness; to reflect that God is the best gift giver and that God cherishes these moments of reflection and togetherness more than I do.

I want with all my heart for my kids to have a thriving, vibrant relationship with Jesus. And I want to honor Jesus in Christmas above all else. It’s funny how the time of year that is supposed to be about the birth of our Savior gets swallowed up in gifts, parties, trees, lights, cookies, and all the other Christmas festivities. But as I read in the Bible it wasn’t all that different when Jesus was born. I mean they weren’t decorating trees, and making cookies to share with the neighbors, but it was a busy time. The entire world at that time was being registered for the census ordered by Case Augustus. In those days when a Census was ordered you had to travel back to the town you were born in to be counted.

We read in Luke 2:4-6 the story of Joseph and his betrothed wife Mary traveling from Galilee to the town of Bethlehem. They traveled somewhere between 80-90 miles. For most of us traveling that far is nothing. It’s less then 2 hours in a car, no big deal. But to travel in those days was a challenge. You were on a donkey or maybe a camel or even a horse. You didn’t have room to take much with you. The road wasn’t a paved highway, but rather a dirt path to follow. After traveling for somewhere between 4-7 days, Mary goes into labor. The King Jesus is about to be born. But the world around them was buzzing with the people going to be counted. The world around Mary and Joseph hardly took notice that a king was coming to this world to redeem His people. Luke 2:7 says “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in the swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” Because there was no place for them……

I wonder how many times Jesus is pushed to the side in our lives because there was no place for Him.

While we certainly should have daily time with Jesus, Christmas seems to be the time that is hardest to accomplish. There is so much to do. And Advent has become my way of daily making space for Jesus in my life and the lives of my family. My Advent tree is a visual, daily reminder to make room for the King. It reminds me that all of the fun and festivities are second to Jesus.

God wants us to have fun, celebrate ones we love, enjoy life, but never at the expense of time with Him. I encourage you to find a way that works for you; but make space, make room in your life for Him this Christmas. Take time and experience God’s greatest gift to us – the gift of knowing and having a relationship with Jesus!

Gifts of God

family activities, family fun, Parenting, Raising Teens, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized

Creating an Atmosphere of Thankfulness

October 21, 2018 No Comments

I used to think my love language was not words of affirmation. But when I think of things I have done with my kids to let them know they are special, loved, and valued it seems to always come back to giving them words of affirmation. Maybe I am more of a words of affirmation person more than I thought.

One of my biggest goals in raising my 3 kids is that they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are loved, valued, special and have great purpose in this world. I want them to know that is what God thinks of them, but I also want them to know that is what their father and I think of them. I look for ways to tell them this outside of just my words.

Since it is almost the end of October, I am beginning to think of the Holiday Season (who am I kidding? I’ve been thinking about this since Hobby Lobby put up their Christmas decorations in August.) Anyway, I never am really sure how to approach the holiday season. On one hand it has all the family time and heartfelt meaning to it, and on the other it has all the craziness of making it perfect, special and memorable. I want my kids to look back on the holidays and think of the love and the joy that came from those times – not the stress.

So this year I have decided to express to them why I am thankful for them as three unique individuals. I have done things like this in the past by writing on hearts why I love them and hanging them around their rooms. One time I wrote on hearts why God loves them. We have done thankful leaves, too – writing down things we are thankful for. We have even done the 1000 gifts lists – writing down as many as we can think of that we are thankful for. And all of those are great and fun family activities to do. In fact, if you haven’t done things like that, I encourage you to try it this year.

For me I wanted to personalize the gratitude this fall. I wanted them to know specific reasons why I am thankful and grateful for them. So I went to Hobby Lobby and got fake fall colored leaves. Then everyday leading up to Thanksgiving I wrote down one thing I was thankful for about them on a leaf and taped that leaf to their doors. I did this for all 3 of them being specific to them. I have one child who makes me laugh all the time. So I told him I was thankful for the times he brings me great joy. I have one who has a servants heart so I told him I was thankful for the times he served me. I have one who likes to spend time with me, so I told her that I was thankful that she wanted to spend time with me. The list went on. Each day they would wake up and find a new leaf, and some days they would find it when they came home from school. The point wasn’t when it was place on their door; it was that for a few weeks they were reminded of why they were special and that someone was thankful for them.

It is one thing to be thankful for objects like houses, weather, food; but it is another to remind someone of the attributes in them that benefit others. It’s a wonderful feeling to know someone is thankful for you as a person.

So as the season of being grateful, thankful and blessed is almost upon us, I challenge you to not just look at the things around you but the people. Tell those you love why your are grateful for them. Tell them what character traits they posses that you are thankful for. And tell them why they are a blessing to you.

Letting others know they have qualities in them that are a blessing to others, and that others are thankful for those qualities, will go farther than you can imagine in creating an atmosphere of thankfulness.

Bible, Easter, family activities, family fun, Holiday, Uncategorized

Gearing up for Easter

February 26, 2018 1 Comment

Is there more to Easter than a church service, a bunny, egg hunts, and a family dinner? I know that theologically speaking, of course, there is. But when it came right down to it our celebration of Easter was not much more than that. A one-day celebration, if you could call it that, with a bunch of mixed traditions. As my kids grew older I wanted more from the Easter season. I wanted a rich understanding and deep connection with what Easter really means to us as Christ followers. I wanted it to be fun for my kids but not void of the gratitude and grace that Easter has.

As Pastors, church services are a given. I don’t think there was ever an Easter that my children were not in multiple church services, but something still was lacking. We read the Easter story. Watched cute movies about Easter. I even made a cake for the Easter dinner in the shape of a cross. Yet still, there was something in me that felt like we were missing the mark; maybe not all together, but we were not as close to the target as I hoped.

Then last year in a bible study I was involved in, the topic of prophecy came up – specifically the prophecies of Jesus. As I studied and read them, I began to realize I was not as familiar with them as I thought I would be. Sure I know the basics, but there were so many prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His life, many I didn’t remember. And then it hit me. What if we took the month leading up to Easter (it helped that that year Easter was at the end of a month rather than the beginning or the middle) to read the Old Testament prophecies of Jesus? I knew my kids knew the story of Easter, but I bet they didn’t know how many prophecies that Easter alone fulfilled – not to mention Jesus’ life.

I decided that each day for the 30 days prior to Easter we would read an Old Testament prophecy about the life of Jesus. I bought foam shaped crosses and wrote the scriptures on them with a marker.

I had my husband, who is great at building just about anything I ask, to build me a cross with a stand. I then hammered 30 nails all around to hang the crosses on after we read the verses. Lastly, I looked up the New Testament fulfilment of the prophecies and wrote those scripture references on more crosses. I put the 30 New Testament Bible verse in plastic eggs.

On Easter Sunday we read the last Old Testament scriptures and hung up the last little foam cross on the big wooden cross.

My husband and I hid all the stuffed plastic eggs outside. We told the kids to go find them. They were expecting them to be filled with candy like they have been in the past, but as they opened them they were shocked to find more crosses with Bible verses on them. We told them if they could match each Old Testament prophecy to the New Testament fulfilment they would each get 30 pieces of candy.

They pulled out their Bibles and worked together to match each one. We talked about how Jesus fulfilling those prophies brings validity to Jesus being who He said He was. We talked as a family about the importance of His death on the cross, and how He was raised from death to life.

I know there is still more that God wants from me as I head into Easter season this year! And I am working to accomplish those things. But I know that helping my kids understand the connection of the whole Bible to Jesus is a huge part of that. And helping them realize that Easter is more than a holiday with candy, church, and family dinner is a starting point. I want my kids to grasp that Easter is what our faith is about – a Savior who paid the highest price imaginable to be able to spend eternity with us in Heaven. As I keep praying for them and me to understand this revelation deeper, we will continue to have family fun with our cross matching game.

Click here for Scriptures references I used.

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.

Bible, Christmas, family activities, family fun, Holiday

That’s What Christmas is All About

December 7, 2017 No Comments

For years I have struggled to find that balance to make Christmas fun, memorable, exciting, and focused on Jesus. There is so much Christmas all around starting often months before December that I have a hard time not getting swept up in it. I love making crafts and baking which the Christmas season lends itself to perfectly. I love giving gifts and decorating my house. And if I am not careful I can have the best Christmas, one full of fun memories, family, great food but maybe not so much Jesus.

It’s hard to find that balance, isn’t it between celebrating Christmas and celebrating Jesus? I know there are a million ideas on how to keep Christ in Christmas but let’s face it, it is HARD. It is hard to focus on two things at once, at least for me.

I have swung the whole pendulum of Christmas over the years from no tree to a small tree to 3 trees. As well as giving a lot of gifts to giving a few gifts. Yet every year I have this mix of thoughts as Christmas approaches. How do I celebrate family, friends, fun, and a blessed life, all the while making Jesus my top focus of the celebration? I have yet to find the perfect way to do that. But I will not give up. I will keep trying.

This year I am trying a few new things and a couple that we have been doing for years.

To start I have a verse I am focusing on this season. The first one is Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a Child is born, to us a son, is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

God has been speaking to me to slow down and focus on the here and now. To stop being so rushed to move onto the next thing or get stressed about the future. This verse gives me so many ways to do that.

Christmas: the celebration of a child being born, a son is given to me, for me, to save me. But that’s not all. Christmas is a time of giving gifts. God gives gifts too. First He gave us His son and then the names or attributes. In Hebrew names were more than just a name. They were attributes possessed by that person. So we are given this son of God, to fill us with wonder, to guide us with His counsel, and to be a Mighty God when we feel so small and powerless. He is an everlasting Father and our Prince of Peace.

This verse frees me to celebrate Christmas, the wonder of Christmas, making wise choices with my time and my money because He will counsel me in how to do these things if I ask. He will be mighty when I am lacking strength this season and he will be a peace in the midst of craziness.

The second verse I am focusing on this season is Luke 2:10. “And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.”

Fear not! I can stop fearing that I am somehow missing the mark this season. That I am not doing a good enough job of making Christmas about Christ. I can just let it go. I can know that I am held by a God who loves me and I don’t have to earn that love. And I can have great joy in knowing God and His love for me. After all, it was because of His great love that Jesus came to earth (see John 3:16.) And the best part is this good news of God’s love and the gift of Jesus is for all people. “For all people” has an interesting meaning in this verse. It means every part that applies; the emphasis of the total picture while focusing on one piece at a time.

Isn’t it nice to know that God sees the whole picture of humanity while simultaneously seeing the individuals that make up the whole?

Along with those 2 verses, I try to keep my family focused on Jesus too. I started a new tradition this year. I made each of my 3 kids an ornament with their name on it and a bible verse. I asked each of them for a verse that speaks to them the most right now. Then I incorporated the verse into the ornament. The thought being, each year as we hang those ornaments on the tree we will talk about how God moved in my children with their verse. Just like we talk about how cute they were in that kindergarten picture that is glued to a paper cut out of a star.

Year by year we can see through ornaments how God has used His word to empower us, change us, and set us free.

We are also doing an advent reading this year. It’s a new one that focuses on the wonder of Christ. We read the devotional each night and hang a snowman on our advent tree. Why a snowman? Because I love snowmen and when I can get all the family to join me, well that’s magical.