Victorious Valley Home For Girls

Several years ago some friends of ours gave us a copy of the Victorious Valley Home Girls Chior CD. Soon it became one of my favorite and most listened to CD in my collection of Christian music. Little by little I found out more about them and discovered that more people then I thought knew of them.

This Christmas my brother Ryan gave me two more of their CD's. From the very first song I felt the spirit of God through their singing and testimonies. These girls have been through pain, came from broken homes, and have a history of living life for the devil. When these girls sing "Jesus paid a dept He did not owe and I owe I dept I could not pay . . . " they realize that they never could repay Christ for giving them a new life. To them Christ really is a "Father to the Fatherless." It gives me joy to listen to them sing with their new found joy and desire to show others the way to Christ. You wont find much better singing then theirs.

December in Pictures

Hello, my dear readers! I hope everyone had a great Christmas as mine was! I enjoyed the Christmas season but I believe now I am ready to go forward and prepare for what ever God has in store for me in the next steps I will take. I hope that now I'll have more time to focus on other things I need to get done (articles to write, college work to finish, organizing that is desperately over due, . . .) but I suppose that isn't too much for my schedule. I have been busier!

During the Christmas season I was awarded the Lemonade Award by my sister Bethany, and the Uber Amazing Blog Award by Under Southern Skies. Thank you both!

I turned 18 this month.

Amy's Birthday was this month.

. . . and mama's

. . . as well as Ryan's!

Ryan and Daddy bought two more cows for our farm. The middle two black ones are Roxanne and Rocket.

Christmas morning @ 6 A. M.

Right now I am going to work on some more posts and articles. : ) I hope everyone has a great weekend!

2008

Add This to Your Christmas Reading!

Over at Simply Sanctifed, Sara posted a Christmas poem that is definately worth reading. When I read the first line I thougth I had read it before, but this poem was new to me and it may be to you also. I believe the poem sums up this Christmas very well. How sad it is that Christmas in the 21 centry is so differant then it use to be. Everyone's focus and desire has been driven to everything opposite of where it should be. After reading this poem I decided that I am going to try even harder to remember the true meaning of Christmas and not let the world distract me with everything they have to offer.

Merry CHRISTMAS!

I Did It!

Before I tell you what I did I think I should give you some background information about myself so you will better understand how amazing this story is.

When I was learning to bake cakes I would eagerly mix up the recipe to the best of my knowledge, pour it into a pan, and place it in the oven. Sounds normal right? Then I would grab a book, head to my room, and wouldn't come out till I heard the smoke detector or mama calling me . . . whichever came first. Yes, I burnt many cakes! That is, if they even got to the point of being baked! This wouldn't sound so bad if I could say that it doesn't happen anymore . . . but it sometimes does. Only now I usually go to my room and get on the Internet instead of reading a book. I have learned that I do best when I am able to set a timer and tie it around my neck!

I am a little absent minded. The worst time ever was when I burnt the popcorn in the microwave while I played the piano only a few feet away. The smell of the over cooked popcorn, the smoke, nor the fact that there was no more "popping" couldn't make me realize that THE POPCORN IS DONE!

But tonight there was no absentmindedness about me. I had been planning on baking some Taco Pick-Up Sticks for my co-workers but wasn't planning on baking them while mama was gone. Of course I had no worries. Why should I? I mixed the potato sticks together with the peanuts and french onions and then poured some butter and taco mix over them. I will have you know that I did not burn them! I even remembered to stir them every 15 minutes exactly! To top it off, I didn't even use a timer! I relied solely on my memory and for once I was not disappointed.

But enough of that. (I am not the best at making humor, but everything I said did not include any exageration. That's my life!) Here is the recipe that made my day! It is great around the holidays when everyone is baking something sweet. Something salty is always welcome!

Taco Pick-Up Sticks

21 0z potato sticks (about 12 cups)

12 oz French fried onions
12 oz peanuts

1/3 cup butter

1 pack taco mix

Dump first three ingredients in bowl. Melt butter and add taco mix. Toss together. Back at 250 for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Note: The 1/3 cup of butter and taco mix isn't going to look like it will be enough but it will spread.

Nothing Can Compare!

It's that time of year again! The time when everyone gets in a festive spirit (or at least tries), decorates for Christmas, and buys the special people in thier life gifts. At work we decorated our department right after Thanksgiving rolled around. With our little Christmas tree, stockings, and snowflakes . . . it really does look cheeful! To add to the Christmas spirit some of my co-workers brought in some Christmas music. (Our department truely is the happiest place in the entire hospital!)

For the first two days I was loving it! Even though all the songs weren't exactly Christ related, hearing those fast pace, jolly songs about winter and Christmas day put me in a good mood and made work a lot easier! But after a few days the excitement started to ware of real quick! I found myself putting in those good old gospel CDs in my CD player while I was on my way home from work. The songs of Jesus and the love He gives us filled me with warmth and refreshed my soul from top to bottom! It's those kind of songs that gives me strength and the help to go about my day even when everything is going wrong. It's those old hymns that keep ringing in my mind that encourages me to be a wittness to my co-workers and the people who waits on me at the gas station. It's the songs like Amazing Grace that puts joy in my soul and a smile on my face. Those songs give me good food for thought. I suppose that is why I don't think I could ever listen to country music, rock, the old classics, or even generic Christmas music. They have no substance. They are not satisfying. Only my God can give me that kind of music!