Brenna Turned 11! The Homemaking Party

Hey friends! Welcome to The Homemaking Party! Last week we celebrated Brenna's 11th birthday. How can that be?

She and I had a fun day out shopping and visiting bookstores --- but somehow I only got pictures of the food. Haha! Here are four of our daughters on an early morning donut run. Daughter number 5 stayed snug at home in bed!!

 

While we were in Walmart, Brenna saw this and said:

"Mom! Look at this! They've got this Barbie cake and it's BANANA!!! And it's like a old fashioned Barbie!"

Hahaha! Well, it's not a Barbie, but it is a Dolly!

We wrapped up our day out with Mexican dinner with Daddy. Brenna is our youngest so each of these times together are so special. I'm thankful for happy Brenna and a happy day!

Thanks for stopping by The Homemaking Party! I'm excited to see what you've got to share! 

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Cranberry Orange Scones for The Homemaking Party

 

Lately I've been in this kind of a mood. Warm baked things, atmospheric classic reads, contemplating my existence... Late autumn into winter is my favorite time of year. I like to live life slowly; and this time of year, things tend to slow down with me.

I made these Cranberry Orange Scones a couple days ago for the kids' breakfast. It had been awhile since I'd baked them something. I like making scones for the same reason that I sometimes don't like making scones: they take time.

You can find the recipe for these on one of my older posts here: Cranberry Orange Scones.

Thanks for stopping by The Homemaking Party!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

She's Baaaaack!!!

Hello friends! Last night I had a dream in which someone said, "No one reads blogs anymore. Blogging is dead." I woke up and wondered, could this be true? It's been quite a few years since I've devoted attention to this once very thriving blog. Life has always happened... but life started happening super fast for me and I needed a break. I don't think blogging is "dead" --- but I do see a lot of my old friends' blogs have gone missing.

So let me reintroduce myself. I'm Sarah Coller, a 44 year old mom of 9 and now grandmother of 2 living in NW Arkansas. (When I started this blog, I was a 30 year old mother of 6 children under 10 years old living in Eastern Oregon!) This blog has seen most of the children above go from super little kid status to grown adult. 

Jamie and I have celebrated 14 anniversaries since I began this blog! So why did I quit? Honestly, it's because this blog just got too successful! In 2012, I started working with national brands doing sponsored posts and social media influencing. I did that for quite a few years --- and those were good years. But somewhere in there, this blog began to lose its personality. No longer did I put up pretty pink vintage things for Beverly's Pink Saturday or Vintage Thingie Thursday. I stopped visiting my friends who would link up for The Homemaking Party. I just got busy and a bit overwhelmed and lost the joy.

So I put it away for awhile. I spent a few years adjusting to older teens, graduating teens, moving out teens. I grieved the loss of my father in 2022 and rejoiced in the marriage of my oldest son, Michael. I'm now navigating the ropes of grandmotherhood with Emerson and soon-to-be born Daxton. I started a YouTube ministry. When that got stressful, I started a literature channel, too. Haha!

A lot has changed since I began blogging back in 2009. I'm realizing that many of my blogging friends' blogs are closed because they have passed on. This makes me sad that I missed that time with them --- it's kind of like coming back to your hometown after being gone for years. But I'm hoping to reunite with old friends and rekindle my joy for simple, fun, blogging about homemaking. Maybe I'll even restart the homemaking party?

I'd love to hear from my old friends so please feel free to check in in the comments and let me know what you've been up to lately! Enjoy this cozy season!

Sarah

More Than Words

 Deuteronomy 27:26 reads, "Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them." It's one thing to say you are following God --- but how do you show that? What is the outward sign of this inward heart change? Our actions. How can we say we obey the "Word of God" when we won't observe those words? We can't. We must "put our money where our mouth is" and actually obey the instructions of the God we claim to serve.

It's Not a Competition! Knowing Your Place in Ministry

When we ask the Father to grow us into what He wants us to be, we must be willing to go through His steps, in order, and in His timing. I'm learning that His processes and His timing are good for me.

Fresh Whole Wheat Bread Recipe from Ground Wheat Berries

A couple years ago, I started grinding my own wheat berries for flour and boy are we loving it! I'm so glad I invested in a grain mill. The freshly milled taste is like nothing else and the health benefits are enormous! If you haven't already, check out this video from Sue Becker that explains all the benefits of consuming freshly ground grains.

Several friends have asked me for my bread recipe lately, so today I took the time to photograph the process so I could write it up. 

I think one of the most important things to know about baking fantastic bread is to get the dough ball right. Is it too wet? Too dry? The best way I can tell that my dough ball is just right is when it doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl and it feels like chewed bubblegum. It should feel kind of tacky but not sticky.

Another way to tell is if you can form it into a log that will hold its shape. 

So, if your dough is too dry and crumbly to do this, add a little warm water. If it's too wet, knead in some more flour. If you take the time to get your dough ball right, the rest should be a breeze!

Fresh Whole Wheat Bread (2 loaves)

2 1/4 c. warm water

1 1/2 TB yeast

1/2 c. oil

1/2 c. honey

1 TB salt

9 1/2 - 10 c. freshly ground whole wheat flour

Begin by grinding your wheat berries. When you're about 10 minutes from finishing, mix the yeast and warm water together and let it sit the rest of the grinding time. I use a stand mixer with a dough hook. If you will be kneading by hand, just put this in your mixing bowl. Remember that if your bowl is cold, you'll need to warm it up under warm water. The water and yeast mixture needs to stay warm.

Once your berries are finished, add the oil, honey, and salt to your mixing bowl. Then add a few cups of flour and begin mixing. Add the rest, a cup at a time, making sure everything is incorporated well by scraping the sides of the bowl from time to time. I usually stop at about 9 cups and really mix/knead it well, then I check the dough ball. If it is tacky like gum but not sticky, it is ready. I usually need 9 1/2 cups of flour to get it perfect.

Continue kneading with a dough hook or by hand for about 5 minutes. Then let the dough ball rest in the bowl for 30 minutes. After that, oil your bread pans and then form the dough into two logs the length of your bread pans minus about an inch. Place the logs in the bread pans with the seam side down and let them rise in a warm place for awhile---usually an hour or two. You can cover them if you'd like but I never do---I use shallow pans and I don't want to mess up the tops!

Lastly, bake them at 325º for about 30 minutes. You'll need to watch them to see when they're at the stage of browning you prefer as every oven is a little different. Make sure they're at least a light golden brown so you can ensure the middle is cooked through. Then slide a knife around to remove them immediately from the pans and cool on a rack. If you leave them to cool in the pans, they'll sweat and your bread will become soggy. I've found this to be true, even for stoneware pans.

I hope you enjoy this delicious fresh whole wheat bread! Let me know if you try it out!

The Necessary Thing is Just Enough | He is Our Portion

"Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Yeshua's feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Messiah, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Yeshua answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42

Recently during a Bible study, a friend shared some good thoughts on this section of scripture and it got me thinking about the idea of the portion.

What did Yeshua say was the necessary thing, the good part? It was the time Mary was spending at His feet, hearing His word.

There are lots of good things to do. But are they the best things? I like to say, "just because it's good to do, doesn't mean it's good for YOU to do."

Martha was busy with preparations and trying to make everything nice for everyone---I can definitely relate to that! While there are lots of other preparations we could be making for whatever is coming our way, the main preparation is to be equipped by what we find in His word.

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:1-2

When we choose to be in His word over doing the other things, we are offering our bodies as living sacrifices. We can't renew our minds without something new to put in them. We put in the word of God. 

It should make us think in new ways. 

See life in new ways. See ourselves in new ways…. 

especially see people, even difficult people, in new ways.

When we choose time with Him, we are choosing the necessary thing, the good part, the good portion.

But what is this word, "portion"? I used to think of it as one of those "bible-y" words that sort of weirded me out when I first started attending church and Bible studies in my late teens. I would think of Oliver Twist holding out his soup bowl for his portion of the meal for the day. "How does this relate?" I would wonder.

Numbers 18 tells us all about the duties of the priest and the Levites, and in reference to the fact that the other tribes were receiving land and they were not, He says:

"Then the Lord said to Aaron: 'You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.'" Numbers 18:20

Their portion was YHWH! They inherited Him---communion and closeness to Him that the others couldn't have. The other tribes weren't given these rights to the holy places and honored duties.

Our portion is the inheritance of God --- all that He wants us to be --- all the callings and blessings and responsibilities He wants to trust us with.

When we think of a "portion", we think of an amount that is less than the whole --- but when YHWH is our portion, we are inheriting everything there is!

That's an amazing concept … but it does have its limits.

Imagine that it's you and God, alone in a room, and He hands you a beautifully wrapped gift. You open it and it's so incredible. You are in awe that He would give you something so amazing. Your heart is overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness at all that He has given you. You hang out with God in that room for awhile and just enjoy all that this gift entails.

Then one day, you pick up your gift and decide to leave the room. You walk out the door with your precious gift and start to look around at everyone else outside that room. You start to notice their gift that seems shinier and newer and more unique and in so many ways different than your own.

Suddenly your gift doesn't seem as special anymore. You even begin to resent your gift because it's not what someone else has.

Our portion is only limited when we are looking around at the portions of others. When we are comparing and resenting and coveting the life, gifts, and portions of another, we are degrading the fulness of what the Father has given us uniquely.

We must learn to be content and even awestruck at the portion He has given to us.

We see lots of examples of the Father giving just enough for what is needed at the time. Think of the Israelites in the desert. They had just enough for the day and what was left over got wormy and smelly. He gave them their daily portion and there was nothing they could do to make it bigger or smaller.

I also think of Yeshua's prayer in Matthew 6 where He references this daily manna when He says, "give us this day our daily bread". He's teaching us to be content with the portion we are given.

Our portion might not look as big and wonderful and important and public as someone else's, but we ALL receive ALL of Him as our portion!

What He can do with the portion He gives us is incalculable. Do you see? We each receive it all!

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

    his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness.

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

    “therefore I will hope in him.”

Lamentations 3:22-24

Thou Shalt Not Overspiritualize

Overspiritualize.

That's a "caution" word I remember being tossed around in the church a lot: "Don't overspiritualize things". It usually meant, "You don't have to take that part so literally," and it usually had to do with some kind of supposedly rigid and outdated command the Father gave like only eating certain things or keeping Saturday as a holy day.

The more I seek to take the Father at His word, and find that His commands aren't actually rigid and outdated, the more I realize that the more we try to make the Bible abstract and figurative, the more we overspiritualize it. 

When I was a little girl, I had a gold bracelet with charms hanging off it in the shape of Charlton Heston's 10 Commandment stones. Each one had a commandment written on it. The fourth charm said, "Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy." If you ask most Sunday Christians, "What is the Sabbath day commandment?" That's what they'll say: "Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy."

But, if you ask most Sunday Christians, "What does the Sabbath command mean?" They'll have all kinds of overspiritualized answers:

"The Sabbath is all the time. Jesus is my rest."

"Jesus changed the Sabbath by resurrecting on a Sunday."

"This is the church's tradition. It trumps God's word."

"Besides, that's just for the Jews."

None of that is true and none of it can be found in the Bible. Try and find it. I dare you. I triple dog dare you with a hundred million dollars to back me up. 

Here's what can be found in the Bible, on multiple occasions even, but I'll quote it from the Big 10 just so we're all in agreement that this matters:

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work; you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates." Exodus 20:8-11

In Leviticus 23:3, the Father gives a little more clarification on the point of keeping the Sabbath:

"Six days shall work be done but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings."

Rest. Do no work. Don't require others to serve you, either directly or indirectly. Read the word. Fellowship. Practice holiness.

These are simple, easy, straightforward, and literal commands. 

Anything that would change these words to make them "more modern", "more applicable", "more Christian", would be overspiritualization. Do you see? It's not the literal and exact keeping of the simple commands that are overspiritualizing things---it's the making them out to be figurative, outdated, and Jew-centric. (You do know that "the Jews" are just one tiny part of Israel, right? But that's another post…)

Don't be guilty of adding or taking away from the Father's instructions. Do you truly believe He is unchanging? If you do, then don't overspiritualize things. Just take Him at His word. Yeshua said His yoke is easy and His burden is light. No need to make things bigger than they are. Just do the things in the simple way He clearly laid out, word for word.