Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Our Family Service Trip Journal: Day 1 – SEVENS Ministry

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After eight days on the road, we are now home. Bags are unpacked (mostly). Pictures are uploaded. Now I can finally find the time to tell you all the details of our family service trip to Colorado!

First I wanted to tell you a little bit about how this trip came to be. With the idea in mind that we, as a family of six, would take a mission trip somewhere, sometime – we began to pray together about a year and a half ago about where and when God would send us. While we waited for answers and direction, each time Matt had the opportunity to do an extra job for someone (painting, repairing, building, etc.) he and the boys would head out to work on the project together. The money they earned from each of these jobs went into a special account, reserved especially for our Family Mission Fund.  (Avon and Margaret, you’ll be happy to know that your projects were among those that helped make this trip possible. Thank you!!)

About six months ago, Matt and I sat down to look at the calendar and to narrow down some options based on where we felt God was leading us. Because of holidays, family events, summer camps, basketball season, and two soccer seasons (spring and fall), we had exactly one open week during the entire year of 2013. That very week, we had a wedding to attend in the Denver area. What if, we decided, our family service trip took us to Denver?

Long story short, God just took it from there. He orchestrated every single detail, put in place service opportunities on just the right days we needed them, and absolutely knocked our socks off with His goodness and plans for us. In addition, He helped prepare our hearts and gave us guidance as we prepared our kids to take a trip like this. Learning to be selfless? Remembering that what we were heading out to do was meant to be an encouragement to others – and that blessing others would be a blessing for us as well? This is what we talked often to our boys about in the weeks leading up to the trip.

For the next few posts, I’ll detail each day of our trip (with some other posts sprinkled in). Everytime I share the details about our trip with a friend, I find myself spilling out excited words faster than my mouth can say them. To say that this trip was amazing is an understatement. God made this experience incredible for our family, and we pray that those we were in contact with were blessed by our family even more.

We arrived in the Denver area last Wednesday. (We were able to stay with friends every night but one, which was wonderful.)  Thursday, we got up and headed to Boulder to meet our college friends Benny and Niki. (Like how I didn’t say, “Old college friends?” C’mon. We are all totally young.)

Benny and Niki operate the SEVENS ministry – sharing God’s love with street people in Boulder. They feed them, talk to them, listen to them, and pray with them. They give them new socks, bottles of water, and daily do whatever they feel God leading them to do for these people. 

We began our day with them by taking everything out of one of their SEVENS storage closests so that it could be reorganized. 

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Items in boxes were sorted and put away for easier access: hand warmers, socks, backpacks, food items, sleeping bags, and much more. 

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Because he was the lightest among us, Malachi was given the job of climbing on top of the fridge to place a bag of socks for storage on a high shelf. Now that’s not something a kid gets to do everyday. :)

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Our kids, along with two of Benny and Niki’s kids, filled backpacks with socks so that they can take them downtown to hand out at a later date.

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Once the closet was finished, we made an assembly line to fill gallon-sized zipper bags with items like water, socks, granola bars, applesauce, and other snacks. They will keep these on hand for later needs.

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All jobs finished and cleaned up, we all headed out for a late lunch on the Pearl Street Mall. This is the area where Benny spends most of his street ministry time. After lunch, we were able to meet some of the street people who have become friends with the Nowells, listen to street performers, and walk the area to learn more about the ministry. 

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It was a tremendous blessing to our family to spend the day working with and learning from the Nowells. I didn’t see how any of our other service days could be as rich as this one. As it turns out, God had much more in store for us…

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Pineapple Mango Smoothies (No Sugar Added – Dairy Free Option)

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This Pineapple Mango Smoothie is more refreshing that you can imagine. Mmmm!

High Five Recipes 2

We were on our way home from Kansas City after a weekend event our boys had participated in. The event had been awesome, our boys had done great, and we were all flying high. Except for Asa (our 15 year old) and me. It appeared that the two of us were coming down with the flu. Our throats hurt, our chests burned, and we both began to get feverish. Our eyes were red and achy. Our heads pounded.

(Great story so far, eh?)

We were both a little bit hungry, although nothing really sounded good to eat. We had packed food, but all of it seemed too difficult to eat. Funny how the normally simple act of chewing takes so much energy when you’re sick. All I could think of was, “I just want a smoothie.” (Well, and “I just want my bed.” But out on the interstate, a few hours from home, that was not an option.)

Matt, bless his heart, was determined to find his feverish bride a smoothie. We finally managed to find a place that had some decent options (without too many funky, sugary ingredients). I chose a pineapple mango variety and aside from the fact that it was cold and made my chills just a little bit more miserable – I had never enjoyed a smoothie more. It was so refreshing. It was just what Asa and I needed. We slept the rest of the way home.

Asa and I are all better now. In fact, this all happened a couple of months ago. But ever since, I’ve been craving a Pineapple Mango Smoothie. I typically make my smoothies with berries – which we love. But the refreshment that comes from pineapple, mango, and orange juice all blended up in a glass? I knew I needed to recreate this treasure.

It’s not hard to make – you just need five simple ingredients. Add a little maple syrup or stevia if it’s not sweet enough for you. We think it’s sweet enough as is. Coconut milk makes it taste great and offers a dairy free option if you need it. We like it with plain, whole milk yogurt. I think I may make these every single day this summer.

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Pineapple Mango SmoothieYum

Pineapple Mango Smoothies (No Sugar Added - Dairy Free Option)
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups frozen mango chunks
  • 1½ cups frozen pineapple chunks
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 2 cups plain yogurt or coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor together.
  2. Blend until smooth.

Pineapple Mango Smoothie

What’s your favorite fruit smoothie combination?  For the record, I don’t recommend getting the flu before trying this. It’s much more fun to eat when you can hold your head up off the pillow.

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How to Teach Kids to Save

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The following is a guest post from Sara.

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In Proverbs 22:6, the Bible tells us very specifically to: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” The Bible wants parents to teach their children the ways of the world – including how to make smart money choices. Teaching children to save and spend wisely is essential to raising healthy kids, as it leads to smarter financial choices when they’re older.

Responsibility Leads to Reward

Children can be earning what they receive. In the adult world, in order to collect money, you have to work hard for it. This reality is sometimes overlooked by parents, who simply want to provide their children with what they need and want. In order to prepare children for the future, make sure they understand they’ll also need to work hard for new items and money.

Set up a weekly allowance for your kids. Designate some chores to your child and let them know they’ll receive their allowance at the end of the week. Much like a job, your child will be required to do well, in order to receive their paycheck on payday.

Make Saving Fun

Children may want to run right to the candy store to spend their money, so it’s your job to remind them that saving their funds will result in more expensive items. The first step in creating a smart saver is to make saving a fun and creative experience. You may want to paint a piggy bank or old jar with your child. They can store their money here and watch as it fills to the top.

When children are saving for something specific, the process becomes a lot more fun. Ask your child what they really want, like a new computer or tablet. These items aren’t cheap and will require that your child saves for a long time. When their jar does become full, take them to purchase the item or to the bank to make a deposit into their account.

The bank is a fun place for children to learn about money. Bank tellers often keep small candies and suckers to give to children, making the trip rewarding. If this is your child’s first visit to the bank, don’t be afraid to ask the teller to introduce themselves and explain what they do. This is also a great time to explain how interest works and how money grows slowly in the bank, so it’s worth it to save for a long time.

The Big Payoff

Shopping is the big payoff, because it’s the time kids finally get to spend some of the cash they’ve been saving. Your child has worked hard, saved enough, and is finally ready to make a purchase. At this point, you can teach good shopping habits. Introduce children to the world of coupons. They’ll begin to see how a single coupon can result in hundreds of dollars in savings.

Finally, when your child has scrimped and saved for an item, they’re more likely to take better care of it. This is your big payoff. You’ve been a really great parent by teaching your kids the value of a dollar. Now they’re being more respectful to their possessions. Plus, they’ll be ready to start saving for something else right away!

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Gratituesday: Better Than a Cruise

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We could have saved up for a cruise. We could have taken our kids to a theme park. And shucks, maybe we will do one or both someday. But after the week we have experienced, I’m not sure anything could compare to the fun we’ve had, the memories we’ve made, and the blessings we’ve received.

Since last Wednesday, we have been hitting various places in the Denver area and in Colorado Springs, serving in various ministries as God opened doors for us. We’re still not home, and therefore I’m not able to sit down and write out all of the details yet.

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Yes, Malachi is wearing a vanilla wafer box (helmet?) on his head. Who says serving isn’t tons of fun?!

We have learned so much, have met so many wonderful people, and have reacquainted with many that we haven’t seen in years. We have had experiences we never could have had in our small town, seen sites and people that have made our hearts hurt, and been able to serve in ways that have brought us so much joy.

Beyond ministry opportunities, we were blessed to attend the wedding of one of the ladies on our YC soccer team. On the walk from the ceremony to the reception, we turned around and saw two young ladies that we haven’t seen for way too long. I admit it. I cried. We LOVE these girls. By the way:  The one in the purple dress? I was her first grade teacher. Yep, taught that girl to read, I did. A few billion years later, she’s all grown up and I have four big kids. Great times.

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Okay, that’s all I have time to share right now! I have loads of pictures, and thousands of words to share with you about this trip. Details are coming in a few days. I can’t thank God enough for this trip. His goodness constantly amazes me. How good it is to be a part of His family!

Share how God is working in your life on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for! Please read through the Gratituesday Guidelines so that you understand what kinds of posts you can link up to share here. Posts that are linked but do not fit our Gratituesday theme will be deleted.

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What I Served at Bunco Last Week

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It just so happened that I was scheduled to host my 11 Bunco friends last week the day before leaving for our trip. With lots to do before taking off, I decided I’d better keep refreshments super simple. You know, because otherwise I would have done something really fancy and elaborate. (Yeah, right.)

As I was putting out the spread, I thought all the colors looked so pretty. And so, out came the camera.

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Here’s what I made:

It was easy, fun, and yummy. What are your favorite snack foods to serve at a get-together?

 

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Menu Plan for the Week – And My Whole Foods Market Jealousy Issues

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Just like last week, I don’t have much of a menu plan to share with you this week. Our family is having the most amazing time in Colorado – finding service opportunities, holding Meet and Greets, and catching up with friends we rarely get to see. We’ve been taking lots of pictures, which I’ll be sure to share as soon as I can!

We’ve been blessed to cook many of our meals in our friends’ home where we are staying. They eat a gluten free diet, so for the meals we’ve shared, I’ve done my best to make them GF.

Here are some of the meals we’ve enjoyed so far:

  • Scrambled egg and cheese sandwiches with apple slices on our way to help with a food bank
  • Lamb kabobs on the grill, stir fried veggies (carrots, broccoli, and asparagus), and fresh strawberries
  • Brats on the grill with strawberry/pineapple/orange/mango smoothies
  • Italian Pasta Bake made with Tinkyada rice pasta, tossed salad, green beans, watermelon
  • Cereal (hey, we’re on vacation!)

What do we plan to eat this week?

We’re not entirely sure yet, as we plan to continue to be on the road for a few more days. During each of the days we’re spending time serving with organizations, we’ve just done whatever has been easiest and best for the people we’re working with. Plus, we’re doing all we can to make home-cooked meals as simple as possible for our host family. The more we can cook with or for them, the better! They are, after all, housing six additional people for over a week. :)

What has been really nice is the availability of awesome grocery stores in these parts! Really, I try not to be jealous. But how cool (read: unfair, boo, wah) is it that when we punched “Whole Foods” into our GPS to grab some food for the grill, something like TEN stores came up within just a few miles of our friends’ house! But really, we’re just so very happy for those of you who can drive five minutes and have access to such great stores. Really. I’m happy for you. Totally. :)

Later in the week, once we get home, our menu will likely consist of lots of salads, grilled meats, steamed veggies, Chicken Patty Sandwiches, and Calzones that are already made and in the freezer…and I’m really hungry for Whole Wheat Waffles with strawberries.

belgiun_waffles

Here are my menu plan archives if you need more healthy menu inspiration. Meanwhile, I will be munching on fresh organic blueberries and cherries from Whole Foods. With each yummy bite, I will continue to be happy for my friends here and for all of you that you have such great stores in your backyard. ;)

How close is the closest Whole Foods store to your house?  Me? I have to drive two hours. Oh, but we’re getting one in Lincoln later this year, so that will make it only about an hour away – yay!

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Cranberry White Chocolate Breakfast Cookies

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Yum

Just in case you’ve never tried this before. Just in case you hadn’t thought of this idea. Just in case you want a breakfast or snack that will make you pass out cold on the floor because it is so delicious.

I thought you should know that the Giant Breakfast Cookie recipe made with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips are really, really wonderful. I used about a half cup of each (instead of raisins or chocolate chips) when mixing up the dough. I almost sort of felt guilty eating these and serving them for breakfast. But then I got over it and helped myself to a second one.

Yum.

Where do I get white chocolate chips? I found some at Vitacost that aren’t necessarily as good for you as green beans, but aren’t as horrible as those that have hydrogenated oils. We won’t eat these every day for breakfast, but when we do, I will enjoy myself very much.

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What other tasty combinations have you figured out to add to the Giant Breakfast Cookie recipe?

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Homemade Sweet Potato Fries

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sweet_potato_fries

It really pays to listen to your friends. (Not all of them though, because if they’re encouraging you to do things that aren’t good for you, maybe you should consider getting new friends.) Well where did that piece of parenting advice come from?

Anyway, I happen to have good friends, so I feel that it is okay to listen to them. It just so happens that I had two friends in one week tell me that I was missing out by not adding sweet potatoes to my menus more often. When the first friend said it, I kind of nodded and smiled. But when a second friend mentioned it a few days later, I sort of wondered if God was trying to tell me something. Okay, I’m pretty sure He is working in bigger ways in my life than sweet potato consumption encouragement. But still. I figured there might be something to this sweet potato thing since it came up twice in one week with two different people at two separate times. (Am I making too much of this? I mean, should I just get around to sharing the recipe already?) Why have I not been eating or feeding my family sweet potatoes very often, as in, pretty much never?

It’s very simple really. As a child, the only way I had been served sweet potatoes was in a casserole with brown sugar and marshmallows at Thanksgiving and I didn’t like it one bit. If I’m going to eat something sweet, I want it to be a dessert – not as a side dish with my turkey. But that’s just me. I’m the one who needs chocolate with my sugar. What can I say? But, per my friends’ suggestions, I decided to try making sweet potato fries. They looked and smelled great. I ate one. Hmmm, it was okay, I guess. But I kept thinking about marshmallows, and couldn’t get past it. By the way, I don’t like marshmallows. But I’m a big girl, and all grown up, so I made myself eat a second sweet potato fry. And then a third. Oh wait. They suddenly began to taste good to me. Then, before I knew it, I had to tell myself to stop eating the sweet potato fries and save some for my family. (I didn’t feel bad though, because usually it’s the other way around and I’m the one asking my family to save me some food before they inhale all of it.)

So it turns out that while I think my friends may have helped me become an addict in this regard, it does pay to give in to sweet potato peer pressure.

How to Make Sweet Potato Fries

Scrub and cut sweet potatoes into wedges or fries – as thin as you like. Toss them in olive oil or coconut oil (about 1 Tablespoon per sweet potato). Place them in a single layer on a baking pan. Sprinkle on sea salt and bake in a 400° oven for 30-40 minutes. or Deep fry the cut sweet potatoes in a fryer (we have this one, which works great) filled with Refined Coconut Oil or Palm Shortening for 3-4 minutes, remove, salt, and eat. These Homemade Sweet Potato Fries are AMAZING! They are so easy to make, and incredibly delicious. #sweetpotatofries #homemadefries #sweetpotatofryrecipe What is your relationship with sweet potatoes? How do you like them cooked? And while it’s completely irrelevant, I am curious. Do you like marshmallows?

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How Many 9×13 Inch Dishes Do You Have? (In other words: Laura, are you as addicted to Pyrex as you appear to be?)

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Okay, it’s time for true confessions.

What? Like I typically tell a bunch of lies on my blog?

Side note:  I always kind of laugh inside when people use the phrase, “To be completely honest…” or “To tell you the truth…” Why do people say this? Because usually they are not being completely honest or not telling me the truth? Oh, we are funny people are we not?

But seriously. I’m  not gonna lie. It’s time for true confessions. I am not even kidding.

(Somebody stop me.)

I am often asked, “How many 9×13 casserole dishes do you have?” I can’t be sure, but I am guessing that they ask this when they read about how much freezer cooking I do, how many people I feed at one time, or how many lasagnas I make in one afternoon. It makes sense. A person can’t make eight lasagnas without eight 9×13 pans to put them in, right?

I counted, because while I had a guess, I wasn’t completely sure how many I actually have. It turns out that I have nine glass 9×13 pans (with lids), two stone 9×13 pans, one 10×15 glass dish, plus a nice variety of smaller glass dishes that I won’t even take the time to document. I also have two metal 9×13 pans, but I rarely use them because they aren’t stainless steel and are kind of junky.

Seem excessive? Maybe kinda. But I believe it would only be ridiculous to have this many casserole dishes if I didn’t actually use them all. If you can believe it (and you should, because I am, after all, being completely honest here), I use all of these so often that sometimes I don’t have any in my cabinet when I need them. They are all in use, in the freezer, or at a friend’s house because I delivered meatballs there last week.

How do I store this many casserole dishes? I find it easy because they stack and/or nest together in my cabinet. I slide the lids toward the back of the cabinet and just reach behind to find the right size.

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Yeah, I got lazy the other day and just put my stone casserole dish on top of the stack instead of nesting it. To tell you the truth, I do it that way quite frequently. Just wanted to be completely honest.

And now it’s your turn to share. Tell the truth:  How many 9×13 casserole dishes do you have? Do you feel that you have enough? Do you love Pyrex like I do?

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Gratituesday: Our Family Service Trip

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I’ve talked here recently about how important it is to serve together with your family. We’ll be talking about that more – and I’ll be sharing some specific ideas of ways to serve with your family, specifically a ministry we can all be a part of together here at Heavenly Homemakers!

But today, I want to share what my family is up to this week and part of next. We’ve been praying about, saving for, and working out details for this ministry opportunity for quite some time.

Originally, we had planned on all six of us going together on a foreign mission trip. That is still something we’d like to do within the next two years before our oldest, Asa, graduates from high school. 

But for now, while we continue to put funds aside for a bigger trip that will take us to a far away country, and while we give our younger boys a little more time to grow (we’re not quite ready to take our eight year-old overseas for a mission like this), Matt and I decided to plan a “state-side” mission trip instead. There are needs all over the world, and certainly needs right here in the United States. What a great stepping stone and training ground for our family!

God led our destination choice to be in Colorado. It just worked. The more we put together the details of our trip, the more we are seeing just how God has orchestrated this for us.

Supplies are ready. Bags are being packed. We take off Wednesday morning, will be staying with some friends in the Denver area, and will be serving in different forms of ministry the rest of this week and into the beginning of next. We’ll be taking pictures along the way so that I can share it all with you after we get back. In the meantime, I’ve got some fun posts and recipes lined up for you to read while we’re gone!

We are all so excited about this trip! It will be great family time together, a great learning experience, and most of all, a great time to grow closer to God as we serve Him as a family.

(And don’t forget the Denver and Colorado Springs Meet & Greet  events too! If you  live in the area, please make plans to come. We would love to meet you!!)

Share how God is working in your life on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for! Please read through the Gratituesday Guidelines so that you understand what kinds of posts you can link up to share here. Posts that are linked but do not fit our Gratituesday theme will be deleted.

If you are linking up a blog post for Gratituesday, please copy and paste the following sentence into your post! Thanks!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

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