-A Diamond-

"When a diamond is placed against a dark background, the darkness makes it seem more brilliant. And, when the diamond is lifted toward a light, all of it's facets are revealed and allowed to sparkle. A diamond is pretty all by itself, but putting it against a black background and lifting it up to the light enhances its radiance and glory."

Oh, my friend! What a perfect picture of joy! True spiritual joy shines brightest against the darkness of trials, tragedy, and testing! And the blacker the background, the greater the brilliance. Similarly, life's dark struggles make Christian joy more intense and our heartfelt praise more glorious. As one writer has noted, God "setteth in pain the jewel of His joy."

-Elizabeth George, A Woman's Walk With God,Growing in the Fruit of the Spirit, pg. 49-

I'm Busy, Lord!

I'm Busy, Lord!

I'm busy, Lord. Surely You can see
The thousand things that wait for me!
The dishes still lie in the sink-
I cannot stop to pray and think.

Lord, I know You understand.
For You gave these children to my hand;
And now they cry and need me so,
Lord, You understand. I'd better go.

Now I've got them all to sleep,
I'd better dust and mop and sweep.
I must thaw out the meat for stew,
And the ironing is long overdue!

And kindly my Lord answered me,
"Why do you from my presence flee?
I have so much for you today.
My child, I want to hear you pray.

"I love you, child; I want you here
To rest and listen- to shed a tear.
What if Paul had stopped to say,
'Lord, I'm too busy to write letters today!'?

"No, my child, I'm what you need,
Through household duties you can speed,
Yet when you're through, there's emptiness
If this quiet time you miss."

Oh, thank You, Lord, for showing me
How much I need to wait on Thee.
For what's an undone dish or two
Compared with sharing time with You?!

-Nancy Stitzel

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit

The frost had disappeared by the time Elsie was dressed. As she did each morning, she settled into her little, rosewood rocking chair - so prized because it was a gift from her father - to read her Bible and talk to Jesus, her beloved Savior and Friend. She enjoyed this time with the Lord immensely. She began by asking the Lord to open her heart and mind to the Scriptures; then she read and reflected on a passage and memorized a verse from the passage she had read. Finally, she knelt to say her morning prayers and asked the Lord to grant her the "fruit of the Spirit" of which Paul spoke in the fifth chapter of the book of Galatians - "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

- Elsie's Impossible Choice, Pages 3-4

Book

Here is a book that I made from cardboard and some material that I had lying around. I had a wonderful time making this. I also made one for the girl that I babysit.

-Pizza Recipe-

You all might remember when I posted about making my homemade pizza and bread sticks? Well here is the recipe.


Pizza Crust

2 ½ to 3 cups all purpose or bread flour
1 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt.
1 package regular or quick active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 cup very warm water


In large bowl, mix 1 cup of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast. Add oil and warm water. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough remaining flour until dough is soft and leaves sides of bowl. Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead 5 to 8 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes. Continue as directed below for thin crusts or thick crusts.


For Thin Crusts: Heat oven to 425°. Grease 2 cookie sheets or 12-inch pizza pans with oil. Divide dough in half. Pat each half into 12-inch circle on cookie sheets. Partially bake 7 to 8 minutes or until crust just begins to brown. Add toppings and back as directed.

For Thick Crust: Grease two 8-inch square pans or 9-inch round pans with oil. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Divide dough in half. Pat each half in bottom of pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place 30 to 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size. Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 375°. Partially bake 20 to 22 minutes or until crust just begins to brown. Add toppings and bake as directed.

Bake thin-crust pizzas at 425° for 8 to 10 minutes, thick crust pizzas at 375° about 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.


On my pizza I like to spread a pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce on the crust. Then I put mozzarella cheese on top of that, then pepperonis or whatever I have handy. Green peppers are really good too. Then I sprinkle some cheese and pizza seasoning on the top.


P.S.
(I usually double the recipe so I can make 2 pizzas and bread sticks. And I also put half regular flour and half wheat flour. It makes it taste really yummy.)


For the bread sticks I just make a regular recipe of Pizza Crust and spread it out onto a 17x11x1 pan (A jelly roll pan). Then in a bowl I take a half a stick of softened butter, some oregano, a spoonful of minced garlic and garlic salt. I then mix it together and spread it onto my pizza crust and let it raise. Before I stick it in the oven at 425°, I sprinkle some mozzarella cheese on the top and bake for 10-12 minutes or until it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and the cheese looks melted.

-Day with Dad-

This morning/afternoon my dad and I went to a couple stores to buy school supplies and whatnot. It was soo much fun! I very much enjoy going places with my beloved dad.




<---School supplies. :)










<---Birthday presents for a really good friend.










<---New, way-neto pool towel.










<---Staining the little cards that I got with coffee.

-Friday Babysitting-

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<---Morning nap.




-Dinner-









































-The Great Chase-






<---He tried hitting her with a pillow. After that didn't work, he chased her.



















-Tug of War-








~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥

















-Afternoon Snack-


































♥A Girl After My Own Heart♥










































-Boys Will Be Boys-





























(P.S. Sorry the pictures are blurry. I didn't realize they were until I got home and looked at them on my computer.)

-Thursday Babysitting-

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(top) Blankie.

-Notebook Making-
















































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_-'*'-_-'*'-_-'*'-_-'*'-_



-Dinner-

-Wednesday Babysitting-

-Park/Library-
































<---Fort "King Cobra". *smiles* I ♥ it!


































<---Dinner.









-Pool-

























































<---Those are my boys. :)







<---That's my girl and her friend.