Odwalla Game Day Challenge Shopping Adventure #Cbias

Yesterday, our family went on a shopping adventure to bless a very special group of kids in our community.   This month, Champions For Kids is partnering with Odwalla juice in a SIMPLE Service Project to round up some new or gently-used sports/outdoor equipment and donate it to a children's organization.  Our family was blessed to be able to participate!

I was recently made aware of a sweet girl in our community who has opened a daycare in her home and was in need of some fun things for the kids to enjoy playing with outside.  I contacted Haley and she gave me a few ideas for things her daycare kids would have fun with!

My husband and I loaded up the crew and we all headed to Walmart for some Odwalla juice and outside items to give to Haley's daycare.  We usually participate in some sort of service project at Christmas time, as well as when the opportunity arrives throughout the year.  It just occurred to me, however, that we did not do anything in this way this last Christmas so I'm glad we have the chance to do this now!

One of the things Haley mentioned was sidewalk chalk so we got them two big boxes!

She also specified butterfly nets.  Cainan and Elisha found some high up on this display.

I had never purchased Odwalla before; and the kids, knowing that this time we were shopping for others, asked me to please buy them some next time I go grocery shopping!  It looked so good!  

(Pay no attention to the crying baby in the background!  He was upset because he didn't get to hold a juice so Daddy was trying to play "high five" with him... Even though it looks like he's actually about to get whacked!)

If you'd like to see more  pictures of our shopping trip and the fun things we saw, you can check out my Google+ album featuring the #OdwallaCFK project.

For more information on how you can be involved with Champions For Kids, visit CFK at the following places:

Champions For Kids website

Twitter

Champions For Kids Facebook page

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  #CBias  All opinions are true and are my own.

The Invitation

This morning, I was looking up some past posts to help a new friend and found this one that I wrote in 2008. This was written about nine months after we lost our sixth baby in November 2007. It blessed me so much to read this and know that I have been healed of the heartache and anger that came after that horrible experience---the very worst day of my life. I thought I'd make a couple of tweaks and republish it. I know it will be a blessing to many. If you'd like, you can also read Hope, a beautiful picture that God gave me to give me peace about the life our baby is now living. Even though you may not have gone through the exact same situation as me, I know that God can use the words I wrote below to heal the hurts from any type of loss. Be blessed today!

Today I received an invitation from the Lord.

Lately, I've really been struggling with the loss of our baby 7 months ago. I've been desperately running after many different distractions as I've been trying to find a way to bury this pain and disappointment. Today, as I visited with God's angel in the form of a special friend, I came to realize that I've been running from the very thing that would heal me. The grace of Jesus.

I have so many questions for God. I want him to explain this to me. I want to know why he would give us a baby if he knew he was going to take it away. For years I've believed that he was the giver of good things. So, if he is the author of life, it would seem that this miscarriage was completely under God's control. It would seem that he knew about it before it ever happened. You'd think maybe he'd know how much it would hurt me and how much I'd grieve and how it would turn my entire world upside down.

For years I've believed that God loved me. That he wanted the very best for me. That he only wanted good for me. And now this...

But, the truth I've realized tonight is that losing that baby was not the defining moment in my relationship with God. It was not a punishment from him...he did not intentionally allow my baby to die so he could speak something to me. However, he is intentionally using this heartbreaking situation to speak to me.

There's a song that goes, "sometimes he calms the storm and other times he calms his child". Just because God allowed my baby to die doesn't mean he willed it to die. He is taking a devastating circumstance and using it for the good in my life. Or, at least, he's trying to.

So, here comes my choice. I have the opportunity here to be vulnerable, to give myself wholy to the Holy One. I can surrender this hurt and confusion and disappointment and desperateness and allow God to make something strong and beautiful and workable with it. Is it worth the risk?

What would happen if I said no? What if I decided it wasn't worth the risk...that I wanted to make sure I was never hurt again? I could take control over this situation, couldn't I? If I just harden my heart and stuff the pain back down, won't it eventually go away? That's what I've been thinking for 7 months now...it's still not working.

After I got off the phone with my sweet sister today, I drove in to town to pick up my husband. On the way I turned on the CD he already had out. It was Steven Curtis Chapman's Speechless. How ironic, I thought. Chapman's family recently lost their young child in a horrible accident. I began to wonder how his faith had been shaken over this terrible death. I thought that surely he must have all kinds of questions for the God that he'd devoted his life, family and career to. Then, his song, Great Expectations came on and I knew the answer.

He's grieving, just like me. He's broken and confused and disappointed and feeling like his entire world has been turned upside down. Just like me. He has all kinds of questions for this holy God who holds us in his hands. I bet he wonders now and then if God might be punishing him for something...

But he and I have something else in common. We both serve and love and are devoted to a God who turns ashes into beauty. A God who gives strength to the weary and grace to the humble (read: vulnerable). And deep down, we both know that God allowed this but he did not will it.

Me and Chapman, we've received an invitation. We've been invited to believe the unbelievable...to receive the inconceivable...to see beyond our wildest imaginations.

So, to Chapman, and all the rest of you out there who are grieving and confused and heartbroken: let's lift our eyes up...let's turn our faces to the Lord. Let's allow his grace and love and mercy and peace to wash over us. He will restore our soul and heal our brokeness.

Come Lord Jesus, we invite you....I invite you, once again, to be the lover of my soul.



Great Expectations by Steven Curtis Chapman

The morning finds me here at heaven's door
A place I've been so many times before
Familiar thoughts and phrases start to flow
And carry me to places that I know so well
But dare I go where I don't understand
And do I dare remember where I am
I stand before the great eternal throne
The one that God Himself is seated on
And I, I've been invited as a son
Oh I, I've been invited to come and ...
Believe the unbelievable
Receive the inconceivable
And see beyond my wildest imagination
Lord, I come with great expectations
So wake the hope that slumbers in my soul
Stir the fire inside and make it glow
I'm trusting in a love that has no end
The Savior of this world has called me friend
And I, I've been invited with the Son
Oh I, I've been invited to come and ...
We've been invited with the Son
And we've been invited to come and ...
Believe the unbelievable
Receive the inconceivable
And see beyond our wildest imagination
Lord, we come with great expectations


This post was featured in The Christian Home magazine, Issue #57.

Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

I came up with this awesomely flavorful Chicken Alfredo Lasagna tonight and thought I'd be sweet and share!  The best part about preparing it is that you don't have to cook the noodles first. The best part about eating it is...everything!

Chicken Alfredo Lasagna
10-15 uncooked lasagna noodles
16 oz. white Alfredo pasta sauce
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1 tsp. dried basil leaves (or fresh is good too)
3 c. cooked, cubed chicken
14 oz. canned artichoke hearts
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
12 oz. mozzarella cheese
8 oz. crumbled feta cheese
2 c. spinach leaves

Preheat oven to 375º.  In one bowl, combine Alfredo sauce and herbs.  Pour milk into empty sauce jar and fill the rest of the way with water.  Put the lid on tight and shake well; add to mixture and set aside.  Chop chicken and vegetables (except spinach) and put in a separate bowl.  Add garlic and cheeses; mix well.  Spread 1/3 of sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 pan.  

Layer noodles across bottom and push into sauce.  Top lightly with 1/2 of spinach. Top with 1/2 of chicken mixture.  Repeat layers, starting with 1/2 of the remaining sauce and ending with sauce.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake about 1 hour or until noodles are soft.  

When you remove it from the oven, it will look like a casserole:Let it sit for about 15 minutes while it thickens and becomes easier to serve.  This is great with Ciabatta bread and salad.  Yum!