I keep losing this recipe...

Kris' Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 375

Mix together:

2/3 cup shortening

2/3 cup softened margarine

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

Stir in:

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

12 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Bake 8-12 min. until golden brown

From Savvy Photog...

Stampin' Up.

For every set sold, $2 donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. If you are interested in this stamp set contact me. Available through the end of August.

Two at a time....

No, I'm not talking about the animals boarding the Noah's ark!! I'm reading two books at once. I have never been good at this but I am going to attempt. Of course you know I am reading One Thousand Gifts. NOW I am also reading Epic: The Story God is Telling by John Eldredge. I have just started the prologue and already I am intrigued, captured! How can I not be with a book that begins it's prologue like this...

"'I wonder what sort of take we've fallen into?' It's been quite a journey for Frodo and Sam when the little gardener wonders this. Ever since they left home they'e encountered more wonders and more dangers than they could have possibly imagined. the battle at Weathertop. The flight to the ford. The beauty of Rivendell. The dark mines of Moris, where they lost the beloved Gandalf. Their fellowship has fallen apart; their freinds are now far away on another part of the journey. Into the shadow of Mordor they've come, two little hobbits and their cooking gear on a journey to save the world. It's at this point Sam says, 'I wonder what sort of tale we've fallen into?' Sam could not have asked a better question."

Life... a story? Definitely. Are you deep into the climax of your story? Are you just at the beginning, still in the introduction? Are you a part of comedy, drama, romance story? Maybe action, tradgey? We all wonder where we are... We usually only look at part of the story and not the whole... We can't peak at the end to see what happens. Don't you sometimes wish you could?

Beauty

"Beauty is all that is glory and God is Beauty embodied, glory manifested."

"Beauty? Beauty requires no justification, no explanation; it simply is and transcends."

Still working towards 1000

42. Moments alone -- "me time"
43. When my favorite song comes on the radio
44. A brother who understands computers
45. A friend getting the teaching job she wanted and definitely deserved.
46. Imagination of a child.
47. Playing a really good word on Words with Friends (iphone scrabble)
48. A warm bed (electric blanket) on a cold night.
49. Sauce drenched cabbage in Yen Ching Beef.
50. Unpacking kitchen stuff you forgot you had (packed away for a few year while living with parents)
51. Not a fav of dentists but I love how clean my teeth feel when leaving.
52. Chirping of birds reminding me of new life (Spring).
53. Excitement of trying out a new recipe.
54. A friend's birth of first child or even their 4th! New life!
55. Quiet evening at home.
56. Unpacking another box! Or in other words seeing the bottom of a box!!
57. Watching a first time mom old her precious baby.
58. Peanut butter M&M's! YHumo!
59. SMell of fresh baked bread.

"God is always good and I am always loved..."

Everything is Eucharisteo. Jesus showed us transfiguration. "...take the pain that is given, give thanks for it, and transform it into a joy that fulfills all emptiness." Finding the good in the "not-so-good" happens when we let Jesus transform...

Cool

Cool site pioneer woman recommended. And there's a way to win a gift certificate! http://www.thevintagepearl.blogspot.com/

The little things God gives...

I'm working on finishing chapter 3. Yes, I started my list before I've finished the book. I was anxious! "I name gifts and go back to the Garden and God in the beginning who first speaks a name and lets what is come into existence. This naming is how the first emptiness of space fills' the naming of light and land and sky. The first man's first task is to name... I am seeing it too, in thee journal, in the face of the Farmer: naming offers the gift of recognition. When I name moments - string out laundry and name-pray, thank you Lord for bedsheets in billowing winds, for fluff of sparrow landing on line, sun winter swarm, and one last leaf still hanging in the orchard - I am Adam and I discover my meaning and God's, and to name is to learn the language of Paradise."

Thanking God for my gifts, that's a step I need to add. Not just to think of them but to thank Him for them. Voskamp quotes a book she is reading but can't figure out what book. "To name a thing is to manifest the meaning and value God gave it." To name it is to give it value. The simple things in daily life that bring joy and the attitude of gratefulness... naming it brings so much more meaning to it. It will take practice she says. Practice. God tells us in His word to give thanks in all things. Practice.

I remember taking piano lessons as a little girl. I had to practice. I hated practicing. I wanted to just be able to play beautifully without practice. I wanted to be able to sit down and just play. Practice. The old saying, practice makes perfect. Well, we may not be perfect but practice leads us in that direction.

I love the personal stories of this book. The little moment she lets you in on... As she finds joy in the small things, such as grated cheese... her husband, the hard-working Farmer, walks in. It melts my heart to read what he tells her... "I like finding you like this... Perfect like this. You being happy in all these little things that God gives. It makes me very happy." She's happy over grated cheese. Taking time to notice the little things, the beauty of freshly grated cheese. The little things God gives...

One Thousand Gifts...

21. Trips to B&N with Alyssa 22. Friends who truly "get" anxiety without explanation 23. Shopping in the kitchen dept 24. Traveling to new places 25. Inspiring photography and ideas from those inspirations 26. Reconnecting with old friends 27. Technology 28. Strum of a guitar 29. Snail Mail 30. Drawings from my little friends (i.e. Selah, Lincoln, Lauren, Gracie...) 31. Power of Prayer 32. The love and devotion of my parents 33. God's amazing provisions, in His timing 34. Watching my brothers interact 35. Booking a wedding 36. Tax returns 37. Watching Daniel as a daddy 38. Finding the perfect gift 39. Cadbury mini eggs 40. Finding a great sale item

One Thousand Gifts...

5. Random texts from "old" friends 6. Vanilla coke 7. Flip flops 8. Scarves and hats (during winter of course) 9. Smell of fresh mowed grass 10. A good book 11. Lazy afternoon in my hammock 12. Colors of Fall 13. Smell and Taste! of fresh strawberries 14. Fresh, Clean sheets 15. Warm chocolate chips cookies 16. Movie theater popcorn 17. A good laugh with a friend 18. Smell of coffee in the morning... And the warmth and flavor 19. Changing of seasons 20. First signs of Spring

One Thousand Gifts...

1. Welcoming home family after days apart
2. Precious newborns
3. Jude's Laughter
4. Coconut Shrimp and biscuits from Red Lobster :)

A dare to live fully... Right where you are...

A friend suggested a great read... one that inspires gratitude. I'm barely into chapter 3 and already "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp causes me to stop and think. What makes me smile and fills me with gratitude? Sometimes you don't even notice the attitude of gratefulness... Then you stop and think. I am inspire by my friend Blair and now by author Ann Voskamp to take a few moments throughout my day to pause and think about the things that I am grateful for.

Voskamp refers to Luke 22:19 "And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them..." The word EUCHARISTEO is "he gave thanks" in the original lanuage. "The root word of eucharisteo is charis, meaning 'grace.' Jesus took the bread and saw it as a grace and gave thanks... Eucharisteo, thanksgiving, envelopes the Greek word for grace, charis. But it also holds its derivative, the Greek work chara, meaning 'joy.'" So we have Charis, Grace. Eucharisteo, Thanksgiving. and Chara, Joy. The essence of gratitude.

Chapter 3 starts with a quote from Sarah Ben Breathnach, "Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter every day epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world." I had to read it several times for it to really sink it, and yet I still have to stop and think. I decided to break it down a bit more. Reverence, a feeling of profound respect for someone or something. Epiphany, a divine revelation. Transcendent, exceeding or surpassing usual limits. Breaking down the words really brings to light the depth of this statement. Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but I really wanted to understand why Voskamp chose this quote for this chapter. Chapter 3 begins to break down "the list." The list is a Gift List. "Not of gift I want but gifts I already have."

I'm inspired as I read the beginnings of her list (eventually to reach 1000)... simple. God's gifts to us aren't necessarily complicated, not really. I love her second item. "2. Jam piled high on toast." What could get more simple than that? She writes this list to draw her back to deep communion with God. The thought of that... *sigh* Oh how I long to be there...

All this to say... I'm starting my list. I'm writing until I reach 1000.