Easter Resurrection Cookies

I read this in a bolg  I follow, called Foster2Forever, and I thought it was a great activity to do with the kiddos in your life. Enjoy!

"These cookies are to be made the evening before Easter to demonstrate the story of Christ’s resurrection. Our family will be making these together for the first time this year.

You will need:

• 1c. whole pecans,
• 1 tsp. vinegar,
• 3 egg whites,
• pinch salt,
• 1c. sugar,
• zipper baggie,
• wooden spoon,
• tape,
• Bible

Preheat oven to 300 BEFORE BEGINNING.
Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces.Explain that after Jesus was arrested He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.
Read John 19:1-3.
Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl.Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink.
Read John 19:28-30.
Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life.Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life.
Read John 10:10-11.
Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl.Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.
Read Luke 23:27.
So far the ingredients are not very appetizing.
Add 1 c. sugar.Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know this and how to belong to Him.
Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.
Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.
Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.
Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet.Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid.
Read Matt. 27:57-60.
Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.
Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed.
Read Matt.27:65-66.
GO TO BED!Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.
Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie.
Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow!
On the first Easter, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty!
Read Matt. 28:1-9
Enjoy!
Have a great weekend celebrating the resurrection of Christ!"

Cupcake Fundraiser Results

We had a great time fundraising on Saturday. The weather was perfect and almost all our Youth Group showed up to help, along with eight special little kiddos. We set up behind our church office and worked our table for two hours, and we made $197.36! Praise the Lord! That's $197.36 more than we had that morning:) If you still don't know exactly where that money will go, I encourage you to visit SixtyFeet at www.sixtyfeet.org. Here is an excerpt from their website:

Bringing Hope and Restoration to the Imprisoned Children of Africa

Government facilities called “remand centers” exist throughout the continent of Africa. These facilities were created for children who have committed a crime. The homes are overcrowded and horribly underfunded. The living conditions are shocking.

The worst part is this – the vast majority of the children in these facilities have not committed any crime. Mostly, they are children who are simply unwanted. They are street beggars who have been rounded up by the police, unwanted children who have been dropped off by a stepparent, handicapped and mentally disabled orphans and orphaned refugees fleeing war torn countries in Africa.

SixtyFeet was created to bring hope and healing to these children through the love of Jesus Christ. We are improving the facilities by providing clean water, sanitation, bedding, clothing, medical care, nutritious food and schooling. We are also working to remove the most vulnerable children and placing them in a loving, safe environment.

That's a little bit about SixtyFeet. Thanks to everyone who donated cupcakes! We also want to thank you for your support and words of encouragement.

I want to leave you with a Bible verse I read this morning. It reminds me of my church back home in Jersey. We used to sing it there a lot, and I have always found it encouraging.

"But thou, O Lord, are a shield about me; my glory, and the lifter of my head." Psalm 3:3

10 Things Not Typical of My Home

1. My microwave is clean, inside and out. Sorry to say, not typical.

2. There are two desserts wrapped in plastic, sitting on my counter top. I usually don't have any desserts.

3. My bedroom looks staged to sell.

4. My baseboards are clean. Friend Krista cleaned them for me!

5. My floors have been sanitized. Friend Dennae steam cleaned them for me!

6. My vents are clean. Friend Krista did those too!!

7. All my kitchen cabinets are clean and decluttered.

8. My coat closet is now holding coats! and some of Sawyer's toys. Friend Krista did that too!!!

9. All bedroom closets were cleaned out. Anything not being used got boxed up and sent to the basement. Friends Krista and Dennae helped with that!!!!

10. You can eat off my bathroom floor, although I wouldn't recommend it. I bleach-cleaned them...with a toothbrush.

All in preparation for my Foster Care interview yesterday. Now let me tell you how it went:

She showed up right at 6:00pm. She came in, sat at the kitchen table, explained the 40+ page application, asked us about ourselves (this step took 5 minutes and included questions we asked about her), and left. I even offered her something to drink, and she said "No thanks." At 6:29pm she was leaving my house. THAT WAS IT?!?!?! When she asked if we had any questions, I almost asked if she wanted to come upstairs and see my bathroom floors! When we shut the door behind her, me and Jared looked at each other and in his sweetest voice he said, "Yeah, I thought you were over-doing it. But I didn't want to say anything." I gave him a kiss. He has learned so well how to deal with a "worrisome, over-doing it" wife.

Oh well, such is life. I have to say, I am thoroughly enjoying my wonderfully clean house, just as I enjoyed laughing with friends.

So now we are getting all our paperwork together and getting this snowball moving, woohoo! Thanks for all the prayers, comments, and support. She was very nice and we felt very comfortable with her, which is important since she would be the one giving the training classes and placing a child in our home. I will keep you posted on any new developments.

^"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" -Philippians 1:6

Two Events to Pray For

Today is the day.
I have been cleaning, organizing, de-cluttering like a mad woman for our Foster Care Interview this afternoon. She is coming over at 6:00pm, so if possible, pray with us.
I have to say that we have been blessed beyond compare. Some of our friends from church were sweet enough to give any extra babyproofing stuff they had to us. How sweet is that?!?! Today, I have a friend coming over to help me distribute all that stuff throughout the house. I have already placed the door knob covers on ALL the downstairs doors, and immediately my son went to "test" them out. Once he finally gave up trying he came to me and said, "Keys please." He cracks me up....everyday!
As soon as I can get on the computer tonight, I will let you know how our meeting went.

Our second event you can pray for:
Our cupcake fundraiser. It's this Saturday, at 10:00am. Again, we are so blessed to have so many friends baking cupcakes and participating. One family has even signed their kids up to be sign holders:) Too funny. Do pray that God would do a mighty work there.

That's all for now. Here's a verse a sweet friend shared with me.

"You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."
Isaiah 26:3

She's Coming Here?!?!?!

Quick Update on our Foster Care:

I called Bethany Christian Services (BCS) to request information on their Foster Care program, and they quickly emailed me a 14 page guide that I read through right away (twice). I told Jared about it, we continued to pray and knew we wanted to take the next step. I called their office and spoke with the person in charge of their Foster Care program. It went something like this:

Me: I want to take the next step! (I was so excited!)

BCS: Did you read our guide?

Me: Yes, I did. (still so excited!)

BCS: And you still want to go through with it?

Me: Umm…yes. (a wee bit less excited?!)

BCS: Great. So you are ready to take the next step?

Me: Ummmm….yes. (ready? I think so.)

BCS: Well, the next step is for me to come out to your house to meet you and Jared.

Me: Great. (WHAT?!?!?)

BCS: How’s next Tuesday?

Me: Next Tuesday works for us. (WHAAATT?!?!)

BCS: Wonderful. See ya then.

Me: Thanks again. See ya then. (WHAAAATTTT?!?!?)

What happened to that “orientation” meeting? Or the 30-40 hours worth of classes before the interview? I guess this is OUR next step. If you couldn’t tell from the dialogue, I was not expecting a meeting…this coming Tuesday! Please pray for me and Jared; I am the type of person that tends to panic, and Jared is the one who has to deal with it. I will be spring cleaning and baby proofing my house (I have my reasons for never having baby proofed my house, even though I have a two year old). So, I am on the look-out for baby gates, door knob covers, “keep the toilet seat shut” thingies, and other such stuff. I will be hitting some garage sales this weekend (so I am praying for good weather and God’s direction). I know this interview will help identify things I need to do around the house, but I don’t want to come across like a careless mom either! So pray, pray, pray!

In other news, I have been enjoying spring with my little Sawyer.

Here, let me show ya:

Early morning painting. (His hair is usually much worse in the mornings.)

At the zoo. I'll be honest, I have no idea what that is behind him.

 My son the flirt.

I guess the flirting worked.

"I'm not leaving the zoo, mom. Ever."

Sawyer, going down the blue "slide"!

So, we decided to take him to a real slide.

Not so sure about this.

All better, since our puppies were coming too.

I had no idea sidewalk chalk would be so messy!

I specifically remember tucking him in, shutting the light off, and closing the door at 8pm.

This is how we found him at 10pm.

There's a glimpse at life with a two year old. I love it!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

-Jeremiah 29:11