So Good

God is so good

God is so good

God is so good hes so good to me

He answers prayers

He answers prayers

He answers prayers hes so good to me

 

Did you sing that song when you were little? It popped into my head a little bit ago when I hung up after talking to one of my children's ministry volunteers.

 See God is so cool. I took on this children's ministry thing and it is so very cool. Not in a "man I love this job I get paid awesomely (no I don't) and I get to be with children (no I don't) and perks this and perks that". Nope, Its so very cool because I get to see God work and give Him all the glory.

 

 "Somebody's gotta do it so it might as well be us" is my husbands view on the job. He does the weekly grunt work of set up and tear down each Sunday with some of the team from church. I recruit and organize volunteers, keep them on track with curriculum, buy snacks, see that we have all the supplies we need and generally facilitate during the week.

 

Its not a big job, until something comes up that is so very far outside of my comfort zone, or outside of my perceived abilities. That is when my flesh says "why are you doing this job, tell them someone else should do it, you were not made to create lessons for 10 year olds, you are not a biblical scholar or a teacher. You are a mom of 3 under 4, you should be focusing all of your attention on your home, you know you cant multitask, you can't parent and put into it the work that it really needs, etc, etc, etc..." That, if you don't recognize it, is the voice of the devil. It sound very much like the voice of reason. But I know it as Satan because when I pray "Jesus, show me what I should do about ______ because I feel so inadequate" He blows me away every time. Not only with big details but with small blessings as well. Ones that only I can truly appreciate.

 

Example this week: Trying to figure out an Easter lesson, the children have already heard both the crucifixion and resurrection stories and so this week would be a review. I don't want visiting children to be left out so it needs to be clear & concise, not fluffy but understandable for children. I wanted it to be deep, meaningful, and fun. No big deal, right?

 

 I also need extra workers, on the one day of the year that everyone in America wants to be in a church service I want people to come let babies drool on their Easter frock. Oh and I have a very small group of substitute teachers to choose from because they have all been subbing for me the past few weeks and they are not (by my rules) allowed to miss multiple Sunday's in a row to serve in the Children's Ministry.. I have two people to choose from and one is going to be out of town. So I have millions of children coming Sunday and no extra help...

 

But God.

 

God gave me good research to find fun, clear, concise Easter lesson for the children. Before I put all the leg work into finding fun stuff for the Elementary kids to do (that age group is my biggest challenge when it comes to my natural gifts of planning) Pastor Peter called me to check in and ask if I thought it was a good idea to keep the elementary kids in the service with the adults!! How cool! I really, really, really, wanted these kids to get a reeeeally good Easter message. I wanted to challenge their thinking and not just make an empty tomb out of paper plates. We are going to have a lot of singing and a message as well as a children's message time!

 

Now as much as I would love for my Elementary workers to have the day off and attend Easter service I have the four of them to work with the anticipated millions of nursery kids! So in talking to one of the volunteers just now she informed me that she and her husband decided to attend Easter service at Florence early service with their grown children and so they would be available to do whatever I needed and they wouldn't even be missing service!!! If that isn't God smiling on me and saying "Ive got this" I don't know what is!!!

 

And if I listened to the voice in my head I would not be able to see God work, I would not need to be as disciplined with my time in order to work on CM stuff. I would not be able to put my portion of that little paycheck into savings each month and see what cool things God is going to do with it like possibly providing a way to send the girls to private school!

Good Job God! Keep up the good work!

Quinoa with Sweet Potatoes

I have been making Quinoa (Keen-wah) for about a year now. I made it with stir fry for the first time when I was in labor with Carly and was soo looking forward to the leftovers when I got home from the hospital. Of course my husband made fun of me and he wont eat it but I don't care! It is some good stuff. I tried a Mexican type dish next with black beans and corn but I truly did not care for it. I think I ended up throwing the leftovers out.
This one however takes the cake! It is a recipe I adapted from here which I just realized she adapted from another recipe and I changed it to my own liking and what I had in the house. The nutty flavor of the roasted pecans is just what quinoa needs to bring out its nutty taste and the raisins with the sweet potatoes YUM! Its the PERFECT fall dish, but since no one is quite sure what season we are in right now its perfect for right now too!

I'm going to call it

Quinoa with Sweet Potatoes (creative I know!)

• 1/2 cup original quinoa [white]
• 3 medium sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and diced
• 1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans, toasted
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• salt + pepper to taste

Directions
Cook Quinoa according to package directions.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cover baking sheet with foil, spray with non-stick, add sweet potatoes, onions and garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, toss to coat. Roast for 20-25 minutes, until soft.
Combine sweet potatoes and onions with cooked quinoa. Drizzle with olive oil [optional]. Stir in cumin, raisins, toasted pecans and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
Enjoy!

Serves 4

(please excuse my thumb)

 

This would be AMAZING served alongside pork if you are of the carnivore family. I would also like to try adding diced apples to the pan with the sweet potatoes some time.