It's the most wonderful time of the year! 2013 greetings!

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Message from a shoebox

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I was so happy to hear our church reached our goal to send out 500 plus shoeboxes this last November through Operation Christmas Child  (OCC).  Even though I had participated in OCC for more than 15 years this was the first year OCC really made an impact in MY life.  Here are three lessons I learned, and am still learning: Lesson #1:  Yes, He can...and Yes, we can. I still remember when we first determined we'd set the 500 box goal - part of me did NOT think we'd ever reach that goal.  After all, we had a congregation of about 280 people.  But while I doubted, another part of me knew God was calling me to witness the way HE moves and does HIS work.   It was so exciting when we realized, one week before our deadline, that we had ran out of boxes (we had ordered 500 boxes initially) and had to rush more boxes in! As I involved my kids in the packing of shoeboxes I also became much more conscious of the abundance of resources we have here. ...
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Lemonade with purpose

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So my kids had this "Grand idea" .  They wanted me to help them do a lemonade sale with a lemonade stand.  I wasn't thrilled at first.  My first thoughts were simply that I would end up doing all the work.  I really didn't want to do it and had hoped this idea would leave the kids minds soon. But they kept on asking...and asking....and asking.  So eventually I gave in.  You can see the journey here . In the process, though, I have learned so much .  At first I was worried about me being the person who would end up doing all the work.  I also worried that I encouraged them to give the money for missions instead of just letting them do whatever with the money they earned. Was I a lazy mom?  Was I pushy?  Was I using them to push my own agenda?  Did everything HAVE to have a purpose?  Why couldn't I just let them have pure fun? But you see, I learned about what parenting is all about this week.  Of course it is goo...
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Recipe: Marshmallow Clouds

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  If you are up for something different, you are in the right place!  These Marshmallow Clouds are not your standard cookie.  They are so good you will not be able to put them down after one bite! They look outright UGLY but they taste heavenly! Trust me! The secret? Mini marshmallows! Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour 2/3 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (you can also do 1/3 of cocoa and 1/3 of coffee granules or Horlick) 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1 cup white sugar 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed 1 cup salted butter, softened 2 large eggs 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 2 cups (miniature) semisweet chocolate chips 8 oz miniature marshmallows, frozen Yields 3-3.5 dozen The key?  FREEZE the mini marshmallows.  The longer they are frozen the better.  If they are defrosted and soft when you bake them, they will make a gooey mess Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400F 2. Flour mixture:  Combine flour, cocoa and baking soda. Set aside. 3. Combine sugars in a la...
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