Works for Me Wednesday

This is a ‘Works for me Wednesdays’ post, on Thursday… In the blog world, you will find a LOT of people who posts their “Works for me Wednesdays’ and they have loads of great ideas.

How many of you have ever shopped for an entire month’s worth of groceries in one trip?

I normally would go to the grocery store every week – well, more like two or three times a week. I would go get a lot of groceries on one of those trips. Then throughout the week, I would run to the grocery store for this or that. I lived about seven minutes from the nearest grocery store and about ten minutes away from WalMart. Can you imagine?

Quite a few years ago, a friend shared with me her shopping habits. She shopped by the month. Then, once a week would go pick up bread and milk. I tried it out and needless to say, I did not prepare well and wound up going back to the grocery store several more times during that month.

About three months before we sold out home, I decided to try it again. This time a little more prepared. I wrote out a menu of our favorite things to eat. I don’t know about your family, but we eat a lot of the same things every week. So, I made a menu for two weeks worth and then just doubled all the items on my grocery list to last me a month. It was a complete success. I saved a TON of money from staying out of the grocery store too.

I post the menu up in my kitchen. Here are few reasons why: It keeps my family from asking the never ending question of, “What are we eating for breakfast/lunch/supper/snacks?” It reminds me of when I need to thaw out meat for tonight’s supper. It reminds me if I need to soak the beans the night before so I can cook them in the crock pot the next day. It also keeps me from wandering around the kitchen wondering what we are going to eat for the next meal. And then order pizza or something else that costs more money and was unhealthy.

Since we eat a lot of fruit and salads, I have a couple more things on my ‘weekly’ list. I buy my milk and eggs from a neighbor every week. And, I have to get bread, bananas and lettuce every week. It costs more at the local grocery store, but it saves all that gas I would be burning up.

Can you already see where this story is going? The Lord has so many ways that He prepares us. Who would have ever thought that I would live so far away from WalMart????!!!! We now live around ten miles away from the nearest and most expensive grocery store. And, the nearest WalMart is around 45 minutes on a good day. Can you even imagine how long it will take when it snows? I have heard they keep the roads scraped, salted, and sanded. But, I am sure it will still be slower driving.

So, shopping by the month ‘works for me’. Please leave me a comment and share something that works for you.

Growing Up 2006-2009

Women's Conference

This weekend was amazing. Not only did I attend the Word of Life Women’s Conference, I attended it with my sister-in-law and my cousin! What a blessing!

They arrived at my house on Thursday evening. The girls were glued to the front door scoping out every single car that passed our cabin. We all were very happy to see them.

We spent Friday just visiting and spending precious time together before we attended the conference that evening. When you are away from your family (for the first time) for an extended period of time, it is so nice to be able to just sit and chit-chat and hang out together.

The Lord is so good. He knows exactly what I need, when I need it. The Women’s Conference was titled ‘A New Chapter’. That is exactly what I am living! The scripture we focused on was Isaiah 43:19 - “Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.”

The music from Allison Durham Speer was brilliant. She is by far the most funny and talented person I have ever seen. She was a riot. The Lord has blessed her with a wonderful ministry. Her voice is mind blowing.

The speaker was Carol Kent. What a testimony. She shared with us her ‘New Chapter’. She was teaching on spiritual authenticity, turning your fear into faith, and becoming a woman of influence. I wrote as fast as I could write taking notes. She was phenomenal. I would like to share with you a few things I wrote down.

On Spiritual Authenticity:

A question for us all – Do I defend God’s absolute truth, or have I given in to the popular trend toward relative truth?

The funny, but true – Don’t worry about today, it already tomorrow in Australia.

On Turning Your Fear Into Faith:

Fear is the opposite of faith.
Memorize this: Psalm 56:3 – When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.

A question for us all – What do you believe about who God is?

Have you heard Him say to you, “Come do the impossible by trusting Me.”?

On Becoming a Woman of Influence:

Godly influence is powerful. The #1 principle is to spend time alone with God.
Then ask God, “Who do you want me to influence?” Cast a vision on that person and tell that person something he or she is good at.

Ask questions. What makes you weep and pound the table? How can I pray for you?

So, I am asking all of you, what makes you weep and pound the table? How can I pray for you?

Surprise!!!

Do you know how nice it is just to lay your eyes on someone you know?

This past Thursday evening, Michael and I had just laid the girls down to sleep. They were still getting up in their attempts to stay up just one more minute. They always have to use the bathroom, get a drink of water, or get one last huggie and kissie. Michael’s phone rang and one of our dearest friends was on the other line and asked if we had enough oatmeal for two more in the morning. Michael was still on the phone and kind of in disbelief himself. He looked at me and said, “Melody is here.” I said, “Melody?” I am thinking, “Melody who? I don’t think I have met anyone up here named Melody. Who could it be?” When Michael opened up the door, my eyeballs just about popped out of my head; here comes my beloved friends, Jerry and Melody!!! I was in tears.

They had come up for a conference. And they came by to see us. We knew they came up to see us and to drop by the conference!

We had so much fun. They came over Friday morning and had oatmeal with me. Michael had said the night before to me that I better tell them what was in it first. Jerry said, “I know what’s in it. I saw it on the blog.” Haha… Jerry wanted to go to class with Michael and Melody stayed and hung out with me and the girls. She was in desperate need of some strong coffee, so we rode over to Crossroads. Crossroads is a dangerous place for us women. Do you see that lovely toboggan?

On Saturday, we had plans already to go to a farm with our Sunday school class. So, Jerry and Melody came with us. The picture you see above is them crossing over a swinging bridge finding their way through a corn maze.

We had so much fun with them here. I am so very blessed to know them. Thank you both for spending your time to come to see us. It was such a blessing.

Jerry and Melody, you can stop reading this now. I know you…..

To everyone else, let me just explain a little of our relationship to Jerry and Melody. They are related to us; our brother and sister in Christ. Jerry is our Sunday school teacher and a wonderful friend also. The Lord has used him in a very special way in mine and Michael’s life. The Lord has taught us so much through Jerry. I got to know Melody soon after I started in Jerry’s class. She invited me to come to her house for two Kay Arthur Bible studies and the rest is history. The Lord has used her in a mighty way to change my life. Thank you, Lord for bringing them into our lives.

Steel Cut Oats - Crock Pot Style

Here is a picture of all the things I use to make oatmeal in the mornings (except for the bananas). I took this picture so that you could get an idea of how big my Crock Pot is. It is a 1.5 qt. size. You can find one at Target or online at Amazon. It works great.

I read this tip the other day. If you have a large Crock Pot, you can make this recipe (or any recipe for a small Crock Pot) and put it into a small oven safe bowl and sit it inside of your big crock pot and it will work.
Here is the recipe for all of you. This is one serving.

At night I put these things into my Crock Pot:
1 shake of salt
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 Tablespoons of dried cranberries
1/4 c. of Steel Cut Oats (not pre-soaked)
1 c. of water

I put the lid on and leave it until morning.

It takes about two hours to cook - so plug it up two hours before you plan on eating breakfast (or lunch or supper - just in case you happen to get addicted to it.)

I stir it. I have forgotten to stir it and it didn't make a difference.

After I dip out the oatmeal, I add these things to my bowl:
1 teaspoon of honey
1 Tablespoon of walnuts
1/2 of a banana sliced up (Then I eat the rest. Or if Michael is eating oatmeal, we share.)

I only really measure the oats and water. The rest of the ingredients are approximate measurements.

Enjoy.