Cookie Baking Night 03/17/14

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night: In attendance this evening: Ethan, Carissa, and Alli. Tonight we made sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting. 

We thought as long as it was St. Patrick's Day, we would make green frosting for our cookies. 

As long as they're already green, might as well add a few "Spring-like" sprinkles.

Mmm. Tasty.

Tonight we read chapter 10 in our book Sammy and His Shepherd. Chapter 10 is titled "Surely Goodness and Mercy Shall Follow Me All the Days of My Life". This chapter talked about and beautifully illustrated the concepts of mercy and grace, a well-timed lesson for our group this evening. 

We ended the evening with a lively game of Zingo. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all!

Niece and Nephew Musings 03/12/14

Nope. It's not Cookie Baking Night tonight. It just looks a little like it. Tonight we babysat three nieces and nephews (Alli and her two brothers, Rylar and Enzo) on Greg's side of the family and it happened to be on the same night Emily (niece on my side of the family) was scheduled to spend the evening with us, so she joined in the fun. It was a little younger of a crowd than we're used to (Alli is 3, Rylar is 2, and Enzo is 7 months), but it was a good time all the same. Emily is 13 years old now and eager to hone her babysitting skills. She was a big help. We even did a little cookie baking project (more like a sorting and melting project, but close enough). We thank God for the opportunity to serve Him this way and spend some time with the nieces and nephews this evening.

It's okay, you can say it, he's adorable. (Not quite crawling yet but poised for action at any moment). 

A little coloring 

A little handwashing

A little baby holding 

A little sorting 

(sorting out all the yellow M&Ms--excellent project for the little ones I might add)

A little eating 

(Rylar will be joining us at Cookie Baking Nights in December--this was a good trial run for us all)

Cookie Baking Night 03/03/14

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Ethan, Carissa, and Alli.

Tonight, Carissa helped me prepare part of our supper. She made the fruit smoothies.

She cut up the fruit.

She added the fruit and some fruit juice to the blender. 

She blended. (And the fruit smoothies were delicious, I might add). 

Continuing with our fruit theme: For our "cookie" this evening we turned these very ripe bananas (that have been hanging out in my freezer for quite some time) into tasty banana bread (the kids were a little skeptical that those bananas could turn into anything tasty, but I think they came around in the end). Click here to view my favorite banana bread recipe. 

Tonight we also read chapter 9 from Sammy and His Shepherd by Susan Hunt. Chapter 9 is titled "You Anoint My Head With Oil; My Cup Overflows". 

My favorite line from this chapter was this: "Precious pondered all that Sammy had told her about their shepherd. After a while, she turned to Sammy and said: "Since our shepherd bought me, I have been living as if there was only a drop of his love in my cup. And I think I was afraid that the last drop would be gone any minute. I think I'm beginning to understand that my cup will never be empty. It is always overflowing with his love." This statement led to a conversation about Jesus, our Good Shepherd, and his abundant love. 

Again, I recommend checking out this book as it leads to many thoughtful conversations about Jesus. 

Supper (complete with fruit smoothies), banana bread, and a Bible lesson is all we had time for tonight. It was a full evening, and the time went quickly. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Katrina's Musings (Biblical Counseling Conference)

A couple weeks ago, my friend Kim and I spent the week in Lafayette, Indiana at the Biblical Counseling Conference sponsored by Faith Church.

Kim and I are in the process of certification as biblical counselors. We have (1) taken the basic training course for biblical counselors ("Track 1"), (2) read 1,000 pages from required theology texts (3) viewed at least 10 hours of biblical counseling with an ACBC (Association of Certified Biblical Counselors) certified counselor either via live sessions or via video, and now we are in the process of (4) writing our exam papers, which involves answering 24 theology questions (such as: "What does it mean that the Bible is inspired?", "Who and What is man?", "Why did Christ die?" "What is the church?", etc.) and 28 biblical counseling questions (such as "What are the goals of biblical counseling?", "What is data gathering and why is it important?", "Develop a biblical view of emotions. Use both Old and New Testament in your answer", etc.). Each question is to be answered in an essay style and should be 1 to 1-1/2 pages in length (it is an open book exam, which is much appreciated). Needless to say this is a big task. Kim and I enrolled in "Track 5" at the Biblical Counseling Conference to help us prepare for the papers (literally prepare for the papers). The class involved a week of teaching on every question on the exam with 1 hour blocks to work on the papers interspersed between sessions). Kim and I found the time very profitable (it's good to think on and wrestle with the big questions about God for one's self). We completed several papers and are working toward completing the rest for submission by mid-March.

This is the third Biblical Counseling Conference that Kim and I have attended in Lafayette. Each time we've stayed with our friend Mildred. It is a joy visiting with her and benefiting from her generous hospitality during the week. Another joy for us this week, was meeting new friends (of which we made many). Pictured above from left to right is our new friend Krysten, Kim, Mildred, and myself. This picture was taken at a local restaurant one evening after sessions.

We had a great time and are so grateful to God for the opportunity to attend the conference!

P.S. After we complete our exam papers, submit them for grading, and once they come back approved (allowing of any possible rewrites or further clarification requests), our last step in the certification process is to complete 50 hours biblical counseling supervised by an ACBC certified fellow. I'll keep you posted as to our progress. 

P.S. again: Prayer would be appreciated as we work our way through this process. 

  

Cookie Baking Night (02/17/14)

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, Carissa, and Alli. Tonight we made chocolate mint cookies.

This was our first attempt at sifting dry ingredients. They took to it quite nicely. 

In the above photo, I was attempting to take a picture of the cookie sheet, but slowly three heads emerged into the shot (life just hasn't been the same since the idea of "photo bombing" came on the scene). 

The finished product (quite tasty). 

In our living room, we have four very comfortable chairs and then it's folding chairs. Carissa has figured out how to make the "leftover seating" as comfortable as the choice seating (and she has trained Alli in on the procedure). It started out with one chair, then one chair to sit in and one chair for her feet. Now it is a chair to sit in, one for her feet, and a blanket for warmth (what's next, I ask, a mini refrigerator and foot massages?)

Tonight we continued reading from Sammy and His Shepherd by Susan Hunt. We read chapter 8 titled "You Prepare a Table for Me in the Presence of My Enemies". We also read through Psalm 23 in the Bible, as that is the Psalm that this book is illustrating. We're learning a lot about shepherds and a lot about our Good Shepherd (Jesus) as we read through this book. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night 01/27/14

 Tonight was Cookie Baking Night, and it was a full house. In attendance this evening: Ethan, Carissa, Alli, Emily and Julia (Julia is Emily's friend from school, and she has visited us a few times). In light of the subzero temperatures outside (-13 degrees F on my drive home this evening), we made one of my old standby cookie recipes:  Cinnamon Polar Bears (a recipe cut from a little Pillsbury pamphlet cookbook years ago). I love this recipe because every child can participate no matter the skill level, and the end product is always a cute little cookie (no cookie cutters involved, just rolling dough into ball shapes of varying sizes and placing a few small pieces of candy in the right spots, we used cinnamon candies for the nose and mini M&Ms for the eyes). 

Our evening also involved reading from Sammy and His Shepherd by Susan Hunt, subtitled "Seeing Jesus in Psalm 23". Before we started the lesson, Julia read Psalm 23 from the Bible for us. Tonight, we read chapter 7 titled "Your Rod and Your Staff, They Comfort Me". When answering one of the discussion questions at the end, one of the children mentioned The 10 Commandments, so we used that time to review them (they're hanging on the wall in our living room). I make it a practice to always share the gospel message with the children whenever we review The 10 Commandments. We talk about how Jesus fulfilled the whole law (commandments) while He lived here on earth because He did not sin (one of the children marveled at this realization). And because He did not sin, He was able to take the punishment for our sins on the cross in our place. This was followed by a lively discussion about repentance (confessing and turning from sin) and trust in Christ for forgiveness of sins and hope of eternal life. 

Having our nieces and nephews (and sometimes friends) in our home on a regular basis and establishing relationships with them as they grow is a joy and a privilege BUT no greater privilege exists than sharing the gospel with them, and I'm grateful God allows those opportunities. May He provide many more.

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night 01/13/14

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. After a 4-week winter break, tonight we returned to our regularly scheduled Cookie Baking Nights. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, Carissa, and Alli. We started the new year off with Ethan's birthday choice (Ethan turns 11 years old in just a few days). For supper, Ethan chose cheese pizza, french fries, and peaches. For his cookie he went with a classic, the chocolate chip cookie.

When we sat in the living room together, Carissa asked Alli, "Do you want a chair to put your feet up?" (I found that amusing). 

Tonight we continued reading from Sammy and His Shepherd by Susan Hunt. Emily read chapter six for us titled "Even Though I Walk Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I Will Fear No Evil For You Are With Me." The discussion questions at the end allowed us some thoughtful conversation about what we think about when we first wake up in the morning and what we think about when we fall asleep at night. Hearts are often revealed during these discussion times at the end of our lessons. I'm grateful that God makes available to us material that provides us with those opportunities. 

We ended our evening with a lively game of Pit (card game) per the request of the birthday boy. It was an interesting venture with a 3-year-old in our midst, but with she and I working together as a team, we managed to come up with a version of the game that was enjoyable to all of us. 

As, usual a fun time was had by all.