My Ebenezer

Lest this video scare you: remember that the creek behind our house was only about a foot deep (and going down) when this was taken. And Noah was wearing a life jacket. And Josh or I could have waded in to help, should he have needed it. That's all. :)

On Saturday, some ladies from Truth Baptist Church got together for a ladies' meeting over at Laura's house. Only this wasn't some ordinary meeting, the was a Ladies' Luncheon. And it was at Laura's. Meaning: it was going to be beautiful. I run the risk of embarrassing Laura, but I think you need to know that she has a real gift for making things special and nice and, well, beautiful. I can't think of another word to describe it. She knows that ladies crave beauty, and that it feeds our souls in a way, and she works to create beauty for us all. I admire this in her, because I tend to be the opposite: get it done as practically as possible. Functional. Perfunctory. It's not something I'm proud of, but I notice when I'm hosting a party I'm the one drawn to using paper plates. Tablecloth? It'll just get spilled on; don't use it. Get out the Sharpie so everyone can write their names on their red plastic cups. That sort of thing. Which makes i...

I am so thankful that Jesus came to die in my place, but also that He rose up from the grave! "Lives again, our glorious King, Alleluia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia! Dying once He all doth save, Alleluia! Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!"-- Charles Wesley We had a good Resurrection Sunday this past weekend. I decided to forego all the egg-dyeing, egg-hunting, and baskets full of candy (ie: distraction) this year in favor of a quiet, reflective time. Since Noah doesn't know any differently, I'm glad we did that. Instead, we enjoyed dinner after the church services with Matt and Jen's family, along with some others from church.

I experimented with another cookie recipe tonight; tweaking it until I could feel good about all the ingredients... These are DELECTABLE!! Disclaimer: Both Josh and Noah sampled them and turned their noses up, saying they weren't good. Mind you, these are the same people who had just consumed a miniature Twix bar apiece. I'm sure if I had just tasted a Twix, these cookies wouldn't be sweet enough for me either. BUT I want to remind you that: "A sated man loathes honey, but to a famished man every bitter thing is sweet." Prov 27:7. It's all about perspective, you see! Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Cookies 1 C mashed pumpkin 1/4 C molasses 1/4 C vegetable oil 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 C oat flour 1/2 C rolled oats 1 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 C dark (or semi-sweet) chocolate chips 1/4 C walnuts (optional) Combine first 5 ingredients. In separate bowl combine next 5 ingredients, and then add to first mixture. Fold in chips and nuts. Drop by rounde...

I've experienced a crazy turn of events here in the last few days. This is a long story, which I don't have time to write about in detail (maybe someday!), but here are just the highlights: I was praying about a way to take Noah and go visit my mom in Pennsylvania. The Lord seemed to clearly answer my prayer in the form of an idea that would cost far less than the $650 plane tickets, which we could not afford right now anyway. The idea was to ride along with a lady I knew who was going to be driving to PA in May. I could pay for half the gas, and help her with the driving, and Noah and I would get to PA affordably. Every detail seemed to be falling into place. I shared this answer to prayer during testimony time on Wednesday night. Then on Thursday, the woman whom "my ride" was going to visit took a turn for the worse healthwise, requiring my ride to leave for PA almost immediately and stay indefinitely. Could I go with her? I could leave immediately, but I couldn...

We should have finished our alphabet study weeks ago, but we just finished yesterday. I lost motivation around Christmas time, and then once I realized that Noah already knew the entire alphabet, including the sounds the letters made, and how to write the letters, I lost even more motivation to keep going. But finish we did! Yesterday we made our last alphabet baking project, which was Zebra Stripe Cookies. We made only one cookie in the shape of a zebra (*cough* horse), because it was clear that making them all into zebras would prove frustrating, to put it mildly. The zebra (*cough* horse) cookie cutter had the tiniest, skinniest tail, and such skinny little legs, that one was enough. We would still be there, cutting out zebras, if I had not swiftly decided to make them into squares instead. :) Josh wasn't in love with these cookies, and neither was Noah, but of course they were right up my alley (I've never met a cookie I didn't like!), so I had to promptly package them ...

I have been listening to sermons while I clean the house or fold laundry lately, and I heard a real gem the other day. If you've ever had a dry spell in your Bible reading, or wanted some pointers for how to make it better, this message is for YOU! I promise. It'll take you 50 minutes and it will be well worth your time. Or do what I do and grab an overflowing laundry basket or a broom and a mop, and play the message. You'll be so glad you did! http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=413111352340 P.S. The sound quality is not the best on this message, but bear with it and listen anyway. :)

The 13 signing members Many of our church family. (I realize these pics are small. Try clicking on them to enlarge.) By God's grace, Truth Baptist Church of Jacksonville held her Charter Service on Sunday, April 17, 2011. We have been going as a church now for almost two years (will be two years in July), and so it was a blessing to see 13 people sign the Charter as members! (God brings in an average of 35-45 attenders each Sunday morning, and 13 of those signed as members.) We are all so blessed to be a part of this ministry, and look forward to the Lord adding to our number as He so chooses. To God be the glory as His church seeks to serve Him in Jacksonville!

Tried a new recipe on Friday night--Maple Glazed Salmon. I LOVED it! Josh liked it. Noah hated it. Oh well, you can't please everybody! (I had the sense to prepare a side of Mac & Cheese so that there was at least something that didn't make Noah gag.) If you like salmon even a little bit, this recipe is a keeper! :) Maple Glazed Salmon 1/4 C maple syrup 2 T Soy sauce 1 clove garlic, minced 1 lb salmon, cut into 4 pieces In a small bowl, mix syrup, soy sauce, and garlic. In baking dish, marinate salmon in mixture for 30 mins. Bake in 375 degree oven for 20-25 mins or until fish flakes easily with fork. I served mine on a bed of Quinoa, but rice would do just fine. That's it!

(adj) effusely and almost uninhibitedly enthusiastic; abounding in vitality; extremely joyful and vigorous; Noah Samuel Rowley. Okay, so I added the last one. :) I wish I had half his energy!!

Jen, the kids, and I went to the zoo today, along with about 1/3 of Jacksonville. Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but it felt true. The weather was perfect, and so I think everyone else had the same idea we did. When we pulled into the parking lot, we had to wait in line behind several cars and buses (!) before we could even park. Once in the parking lot, I counted 12 school buses and 1 tour bus! On days like that, my Zoo Strategy is to start at the end. In other words, the natural flow and mentality of people is to start to the right (did you know that?), so I just head off to the left and walk around the zoo the other way. It doesn't completely cut out the crowds, but it makes them a lot more manageable. It was a tight squeeze getting them all in! This didn't last long. Titus livin' large by himself in the wagon Noah and Brianne on an alligator. Fake of course. Side by side on the carousel My vain attempt to get all 3 of us in the photo. Jen and Titus sat that one out...

I made another batch of those carrot cookies yesterday (Disclaimer: Each time I have only made a 1/2 batch. Meaning, NO I have not consumed 24 cookies since the last time I made them. 12? Perhaps.). This time I substituted molasses instead of the honey, and added a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg. Oh, my. These were GOOD!! They just about make up for the fact the Oreos are pretty much a thing of my past.

Surprise! Josh's brother Joel and his wife Hannah had a baby yesterday! This had been a matter of much prayer and concern in our family over the past few days, since Hannah was only 32 weeks pregnant, and was suffering from preeclampsia. Praise the Lord, baby Lauren Grace was delivered safely April 8, at 10:30am. She's a little peanut of a thing, only 3lb 10oz, and I'm in love with her already. She is SO cute! In looking at the pictures of this little sweetheart, I am reminded of God's magnificent power in creating new life. I was just reading the other day the words from Psalm 139:13 "For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb." We will be sure to keep praying for Joel, Hannah, and Lauren. It seems as though Lauren may have several weeks in the NICU ahead of her until she is developed enough to go home. We all are so thankful for the advances of medicine and for the grace of God in sustaining the life of such a little person. Congrat...

you'll make them out of just about anything, even carrots. After over a week of being on my Tons O' Veggies diet, I was craving a cookie big time. I figured it was time to branch out a little and figure out some way to make a cookie that I could eat. After scouring my "Basics and More" cookbook, I found a recipe for Carrot Cookies. I tweaked the recipe a bit and then made some the other night, and I have to say they're not too bad; at least if you haven't had a cookie in a while. They're not very sweet, but the texture is great, and I found them to be very satisfying! Here's my doctored recipe: Carrot Cookies 1 C Oat flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/8 tsp sea salt 1 C rolled oats 1/4 C pumpkin seeds 1/4 C walnuts, chopped 1/4 C raisins 1 C shredded carrots 1/4 C dark chocolate chips 1/2 C honey 1/4 C canola oil 1/2 tsp vanilla Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and oats. Stir in seeds, nuts, raisins, carrots, and choc chips. Beat together honey, oil, and ...

Have you ever noticed the tendency of young children to hand over any and all trash to their mothers? I used to do this when I was a child, and now Noah is doing it to me All The Time. Lollipop sticks, gum wrappers, a receipt, a flier, an art project, it doesn't matter. If he's done with it, it gets handed to Mom. I could be trying to locate my keys while carrying my weight in grocery bags, one dangling tourniquet-like from each finger, and Noah just finished a lollipop. "Here, Mommy. HERE! Take my stick," without a second thought as to my utter inability to take it, to say nothing of my total disinclination to hold his limp, soggy lollipop stick. As of today, he's learning to hold onto his own trash. I'm still trying to find my keys. Could someone take one of these grocery bags? :)

We need this verse badly over at our house lately!

Thanks to the Bob and Susan Clark for the cowboy hat, and this past weekend's yard sale trip for the horse-on-a-stick. Cost of all this fun? $1. Having Noah safely occupied for a while? Priceless. :)

A conversation between Noah and me while he was washing his hands before lunch today: Noah: "No, Mommy, don't turn the water to 'hot'; I like it on 'cold'." Me: "Noah, the water needs to be hot to wash all the germs off." Noah: "Right. Because if you wash your hands in cold water, the germs just get wet." Love it!

Since visiting the ND last week, I have been trying to implement the changes to my diet and lifestyle that she recommended, along with much prayer for God's wisdom and blessing. Basically, my ND believes that a person's blood type has a great deal to do with what that person should or should not be eating, and that the way to better health is to eat foods compatible with your blood type. Can you guess what blood type I am? Type A. Bet you didn't see that one coming! HA!! (There's also a theory that blood type has a lot to do with personality, and that blood type A's tend also to be personality type A's. Uptight, time-concious, controlling, ambitious....no comments from the peanut gallery please.) It also turns out that blood type A's tend to thrive on a vegetarian diet. I don't like to put "vegetarian" and "diet" in the same sentence, but I just did. Vegetarian, I am not. Meat-dairy-bread-chocolate-atarian, yes. Vegetarian, no. So you...