“Let go. And Let God.”

Have you ever prayed for something so much… over and over… every day… until you didn’t even believe that prayer was helping???

I recently got to that point.  I realized, that again, my prayers were completely selfish and I didn’t feel right about begging God for two certain things I wanted to happen in my life.  I completely let these two requests take over my entire prayer life.  It was completely ridiculous.  My heart was full of doubt and fear, as I would be on my knees begging and pleading with God to answer these petitions, and at the same time in my head I was thinking they are never going to happen.

This is my story of letting go and letting God.

Last Monday, during my quiet time I was having a fight with myself about praying for things too much.  It turned into a complete melt down within myself and I decided…. “I can’t do it.  I can’t pray about these things anymore.”  I read this passage out of James chapter 4 that further proved my point:

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

"You wouldn't think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you'd be asking for what you have no right to. You're spoiled children, each wanting your own way…"

It was true… The Bible is always true, but this passage hit me between the eyes.  I was asking with doubt in my heart because I had prayed about the same two things for over a year.  I am a spoiled child of God and it was sobering to realize I simply just needed to LET GO! AND LET GOD!

I know this.  I have known this.  I just got to consumed with begging God for things I thought I had to have.  So I enacted a plan right away to not pray for myself about these things and call on three of my good friends to do it for me.  I got a true feeling of genuine community as I completely trusted that God would come through because I knew my friends would be praying.

Side Note:  If you don’t have close friends like this…. find some.  God doesn’t expect you to go through things alone and genuine friends that truly care are there “for such a time as this” to help lighten your load.

Anyway, that was on a Monday.  By Tuesday afternoon I felt an amazing since of peace and freedom.  By Thursday God had answered one of the prayer requests!  This had been like a ball-and-chain around my ankle for the last two and a half years, and God had finally answered!  It has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with the powerful prayers of wonderful friends and God’s providential wisdom, timing, and healing!

I have clung and will continue to cling to Psalm 55:22 until the second prayer is answered.

“Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you.  He will never let the righteous fall.”

In the mean time, let me encourage you with this… Let go. And let God.  He can handle it.  If you find yourself praying passionately for something for a long period of time, and it becomes too much… Let go.  And let God come through for you.

Pallet Bench

I am making some great progress with my “27 Things.”  Why is it so exciting to mark things off a list?  I don’t know, but it is.  Especially for a big planner like me.  I am also in a huge “get things done” mood so this list better watch out.

#13… Build a piece of furniture out of pallets. Check.

Monday night… after I cleaned the whole house and whipped up some pasta and chicken salad…Nate and I made this awesome pallet bench!

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Here's a little of the journey...

 Our materials.
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 The Carpenter.
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 The Bottom.

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 The Back.

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 Putting the two pieces together.

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Trying it out in the back yard.
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We plan on making one more and putting them under our pergula… on the corner of our cement slab in an L with a table in the middle.  We are also thinking about making some other pieces out of pallets and trying to sell them.  What do you think?  Pallets are kinda in right now, so I'm thinking why not?

27 Things Before 27

I've learned this about myself... I don't have very many goals. My whole life all I have ever wanted to be was a wife and mother. And, those are very respectable goals, but I want to work, this year of twenty twelve, to accomplish some small victories. Well, some small and some not so small.... actually some are really BIG deals. Regardless, here is my list of 27 things to do before I turn 27.

The Task: Check off all 27 things

The deadline: November 12, 2012

The Reason: Accountability/Why Not?

The Things:

1. Sell our house in Rogers, Arkansas (Been on the market since October 2009).
2.                     (Sorry cyber-world... This one is secret).
3. Go to Nicaragua.
4. Get to my goal weight.
5. Participate in a 5K. May even run a little..
6. Talk to my brother about his relationship with God.
7. Go to the dentist and become cavity free.
8. Build a pergula in our backyard.
9. Go get my kidneys checked out.
10. Paint the outside of our house.
11. See the Mall of America in Minneapolis.
12. Start reading a chronological Bible.
13. Build a piece of furniture our of pallets.
14. Sell something online.
15. Keep a prayer journal.
16. Visit my family once a month.
17. Read 2 Books.
18. Take a vacation just Nate and I.
19. Pay off my car.
20. Learn something new.
21. Try sushi - Hopefully with my good friend Cassie V!
22. Volunteer at a shelter.
23. Sew a piece of clothing.
24. Support Nate as he trains for a marathon. I'm gonna ride my bike!
25. Get my house decorated just right and totally organized.
26. Get a massage.
27. Make a menu for one whole month and go grocery shopping one time for everything.
 

Well, there ya go!  I'm excited to see what this list will look like later this year.  It will be a fun little experiement.  I have added it to my tabs at the top of the page so follow the progress... if you want.  Or make a list of your own and let me know about it!

 

 



Baked Spinach Dip Mini Bread Bowls

I made these little bites of heaven over Christmas and wanted to share the recipe.  They are very delish!  Enjoy…

 

Baked Spinach Dip Mini Bread Bowls

13.3 oz roll of refrigerated french bread loaf, I used Simply Pillsbury

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 Cups baby spinach, coarsely chopped

1 clove fresh garlic, minced

3 oz softened cream cheese

1/2 Cup light sour cream

2 Tablespoons fresh shredded parmesan cheese

1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Ancho Chile Pepper

1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Garlic Salt

1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Sicilian Sea Salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/3 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray muffin cups with non stick cooking spray.  Unroll package of french bread loaf and slice into equal size slices, about 1 inch thick.  Press each slice into about a 3 inch round, I did this by pressing in between my hands.  Press into the bottom and up sides of the muffin cup.  Set aside.

2.  Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat.  Cook and stir spinach until wilted, about 3 minutes then add garlic, cook and stir for another minute then turn heat off.

3.  Place cream cheese, sour cream, cooked spinach and garlic, Parmesan Cheese, Ancho Chili Powder, garlic salt, salt and pepper into a medium bowl.  Mix until well combined.  With a medium cookie scoop, scoop dip into each of the centers of bread bowls.  Top evenly with shredded cheese (I am rather generous with the cheese…. in everything I make. ha) and bake for 15-17 minutes until just turning brown on edges.  Remove and let cool for 3-5 minutes before removing from oven.

Christmas 2011 and Welcome Twenty Twelve!!!

Christmas came really fast this year… and it was over just as fast as it came.  It didn’t really even seem like the Christmas season until around Christmas Eve-ish.  Nate and I had to use a week of vacation time to get our house in Rogers ready to sell again, so we had to work through the holidays.  It was just the two of us at the church office for two weeks.  Nice, huh?

My family got together on the 23rd, because Brian and Kim always go to her parent’s on the 24th.  Our plan was to have breakfast and spend a lot of quality time together all day.  It didn’t work out because my brother ended up in the hospital with pancreatitis.  We all missed him a lot, but he wanted us to go ahead and have it for the boys.  So we just got together for dinner and presents.

Speaking of the boys… Are these not the cutest nephews you’ve ever seen?

They got a new Mario race track thing and we spent a few…. hours… putting it together.  It was worth it though.  Landry was really excited watching the cars go round and round.

On Christmas Eve we came back to our house.  It was good to have a little time to ourselves in between family gatherings.

We went to see the lights…

Christmas Day was on a Sunday this year so we went to church and then came back to our house for Nate’s family Christmas.  We were excited to host this year…

I borrowed Mom and Grandma’s dishes to make the table look extra festive.  I thought it was pretty pretty.

Next year we will have another family member and that will be great!  Nate’s sister will have baby Aubrey in the last part of May.

     

On the 30th we ventured back down to Mamaw and Papaw’s house for the big McConathy Christmas.  It was a shorter visit than we were used to, but it is always great to see everyone.  It is also always hard to leave these two… sweet Papaw…

and funny Mamaw.

We got back on New Year’s Eve and went to our friends house for a little par-tay.  And by par-tay, I mean we played stupid games to keep ourselves awake for the ball drop. haha

It was a great way to bring in the new year.  I couldn’t be more thankful for the wonderful friends we have been blessed with.  And, I wouldn’t have wanted to ring in the New Year with anyone else :) 

(I eventually made like 4 in the basket, okay)

(Nate put an oreo on his face and caught it in his mouth)

I am super glad to welcome TWENTY TWELVE!  I am already looking forward to the great things God has in store for us.

And because I don’t have a baby… Here is Claire Bear to say “Happy New Year” blog world.