Every Day Life: Going Bananas

By Beth M

Growing up a pastor's kid I wasn't allowed out on Halloween night. I thought it was just my dad being mean, but seems he had other reasons which, as an adult, I can understand, even if I don't agree with them. My kids go trick-or-treating every year; it's just a fun night for them. Dressing up is always fun.

Last year on Halloween I thought how fun it would be to hide in the bushes by our front door and jump out at people when they come. We get mostly college kids, living right next to Philadelphia Biblical University. My mom works there as do several of our neighbors, and the kids like to visit the professors on Halloween. I debated what kind of costume to get for this year's Halloween, the Scream guy, Jason, werewolf, etc. but settled on a gorilla. It wasn't until a few weeks before Halloween this year that I finally got it though. Lara and I just happened to be in Target, I had dragged her back to the seasonal section where there were some Christmas decorations up. I love Christmas, started decorating early sometime about the year my brother and I decorated the whole house for Christmas, including tree, cookies and music, while my mom was at a faculty workshop in August. But that's another story. This story belongs to the gorilla suit.

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One Word At A Time: Gratutude

By Ginny (MAD21)

Fall is my favorite season. Not that I want to offend the other seasons, because there are a lot of things to be thankful for during all of them (like SNOW!). But there is just so much about fall that I love: the smell; the colors; swearshirt weather; playing in the leaves; hiking in dry, cool (but not cold) weather; Operation Christmas Child; homemade applesauce with apples straight from the tree; going letterboxing; hayrides at the farm with my kids; fall festivals... I could go on and on but I think you get the idea.

In preparation for this post I wanted to review my list of things I was thankful for last year. And honestly a year later all of the things on that list are still the things I'm most thankful for, only I'm a year more passionate about them. I'll pause here so you can go back to read it to review.... We good? Ok.

I may live in Maryland, but I am thankful that Idaho will always be my home.

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Listening For God

By Pat

Have you ever set out to perform a task, whether great or small, only to have it result in failure? I have, more times than I care to remember, and usually it was because I didn't seek God's guidance, or if I did, I didn't wait long enough to hear God's instructions. Sometimes I plowed ahead, knowing that even if I was not successful, God could fix what I had messed up or left incomplete.

Sometimes in setting about the task of serving God, I leave Him out of the equation too much. This is also true of important decisions that I have had to make. So many times I have trusted in my own limited knowledge, or acted on emotion too quickly, and have made decisions I have regretted. I lack the patience and discipline that I need, and I miss out on the blessing of knowing I have done exactly what God would have me do. I know that He knows best, and yet I plow ahead...and sometimes regret it.

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Praying for Honesty and Integrity

By Jason (Connecting to Impact)

"Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people." –Spencer Johnson

I doubt there are very many parents out there who would fight for their kids to become dishonest, immoral adults, but sometimes in our push to get them into high achievement we send the wrong messages.

"How about this scripture, “What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar." (Proverbs 19:22)

"Or what about this verse earlier in the chapter, “Better the poor whose walk is blameless than a fool whose lips are perverse." (Proverbs 19:1)

We might repeat the oft mentioned motto, “honesty is the best policy” while displaying a different, but nevertheless potent fact: sometimes compromise gets you gain quicker than honesty.

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Tasty Bites: Chicken Pot Pie in a Cast Iron Skillet

By Beth V

Chicken Pot Pie ranks pretty high on my list of ultimate comfort foods. It is chicken, carrots, onion, celery and peas in a creamy, dill-infused sauce nestled under a blanket of crisp, cracker-like crust. It is warm and cozy and full of flavor. This version is also a one-pot meal that takes advantage of some super-market hacks that help get the chicken pot pie on the table in a jiffy.

First, chop some carrots, celery and onion. Then melt two tablespoons of butter in the skillet, sprinkle with salt and pepper  and sauté until the onions are tender and the carrots are starting to soften. Add in chopped garlic and sauté until you can just start to smell its fragrance.

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