Hanging Out with the Wrong God

When I was a young married girl, I had this great mental picture of what I believed my marriage was. 

I imagined a giant, swirling hurricane, and my husband and I were right in the center of it.  All the crazy stuff in life swirled around and around us, but we were safe inside, because we had each other.  No matter what went on in the world around us, we were untouchable as long as we held on to one another.

Then he betrayed me.

Suddenly, instead of being there in the safe center of the storm with me, he had become one of the messy things swirling around outside.  I felt like my whole world was falling apart.  I was sickened, scared, angry, hurt—alone.

Then I realized.

I was hanging out in the center of that hurricane with the wrong god.

I’d made my marriage an idol and my husband a god.  When that false god failed me, I thought I had nothing left.

Then it hit me.

The only way to repair the damage in my marriage was to bring Jesus into the center of that hurricane with me.  Truly, He is the only One who can protect me from, or see me through, the trouble that swirls around me.

For the number of years that I’ve been married, that was a long time ago.  God has done some super amazing things in our marriage and we are definitely not where we were before.  We are so much closer. We are so much better.

To have intimacy with your spouse, you have got to have intimacy with the Lord first.  When you are intimate with your spouse, in conversation, action, or otherwise, you are exposing your heart.  You cannot rely on your spouse to protect your heart at all times.  He or she is a sinful, fallible human.  The only One who can hold your heart safe in times of vulnerability is Jesus.

Linking with:

Teach Me Tuesday @ Growing Home

Character Corner

Women Helping Women @ Teaching What Is Good 

Domestically Divine @ Far Above Rubies

(Titus 2)s Days @ Time Warp Wife
Wisdom Wednesdays @Simply Helping Him
Winsome Wednesday @ My Daily Walk in His Grace
Whole-Hearted Home Wednesdays 
Encourage One Another @ Deep Roots at Home
A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Homemaking Link Up @ Raising Homemakers
Wednesday Link up at Adorned from Above
Home Link Up at Raising Arrows
Homemaking Party @ Hope In Every Season
Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner
Thriving Thursday @ Serving Joyfully
Homeacre Hop 
Desire to Inspire @ A Royal Daughter
Think Tank Thursday @ Saving4Six 
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home 
Motivate Me Monday 
Modest Monday @ The Modest Mom 
Living Proverbs 31
Inspire Me Monday @ Create With Joy 
Better Mom Mondays
Marriage Monday
Manic Monday @ Cupcake-n-Bake
Mommy Mondays
Making Your Home Sing Monday
Inspire Mondays

#ad Chicken Bacon Ranch Ciabatta with Tyson Grilled & Ready #ClipForSchool #cbias

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and their client. All opinions are honest and are my own.

Even though we homeschool, the end of summer always signals "back to school" for our family.  We begin wrapping up the summer and planning for an organized fall season. One way I keep my family in a routine is by making sure there's always something in the cupboards to make for meals---even quick ones.  My Chicken Bacon Ranch Ciabatta was easy to make using Tyson's Grilled & Ready Chicken Breast Strips.  

For this quick dinner idea, you'll need a bag of Grilled & Ready strips, a ciabatta roll, a couple slices of cooked bacon, some ranch dressing, and some extra fixings like lettuce, tomato, pepper jack cheese, and red onion.  Assemble it and enjoy!

I have used Tyson's Grilled & Ready Chicken Strips for awhile now as a solution when I don't have time for the extra step of preparing meat. There's often a bag in my fridge or freezer---and now I can also help my local schools out when I buy them!  Visit my Google+ Album for more about my trip to Safeway to shop for these.

Did you know that Tyson has a program to benefit your area's schools?  By participating in the Tyson's Back to School Project A+ Program, you can earn 24 cents per label for your school---that's a lot more than other school donation programs!

When shopping for Tyson products, look on the front, back, and sides of the packaging to see if the product you're buying is a participating product.  Here is a list of all participating Tyson products.

Signing up your school is easy!  First, go to the Project A+ website, find the "Get Started" button on the right side bar and see if your school is already signed up.

If not, you can sign them up quickly and easily. I was excited to see that homeschool associations are eligible to participate in this program. In fact, the Tyson Project A+ Program is open to all accredited schools in the US, including public, private, parochial, homeschool organizations, and military schools (both here and overseas).

Once your registration is processed, it's just a matter of getting the word out to your community to let them know to start collecting Tyson labels.  The coordinator will gather them up and send them in and Tyson will redeem 24 cents for each one.  This is a great way to earn some money for your school!

If you shop at Safeway, like I did, you can also add a donation to your local school by signing up for Safeway's Back to School 10% School Donation program.  When you use your Safeway card during check out, 10% goes back to schools! Visit their website and follow the easy directions to get your school registered and ready to earn some much needed cash back!

Just look for the special yellow Back to School tag on some of your favorite products at Safeway and, for a limited time, Safeway will donate to the school you've indicated during your registration process.

In our homeschool association, we like to provide scholarships to families in need, as well as purchase equipment for our many outdoor activities throughout the year.  The Tyson Project A+ Program is a great way to help earn the money we'll need to accomplish this.

 For more information on Tyson foods and programs visit:

Tyson's Project A+ Program website

Tyson on Facebook

Tyson on Twitter

Linking with:
Homemaking Party @ Hope In Every Season
Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner
Thriving Thursday @ Serving Joyfully
Homeacre Hop 
Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits @ Stone Gable  
Think Tank Thursday @ Saving4Six 
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home 
Create It Thursday
Open House @ Bernideen's Tea Time Blog 
Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Inspiration Friday @ Dear Creatives
Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm 
Family Fun Friday @ Happy and Blessed Home
Fit & Frugal Family Friday
Faithful Fridays
Ultimate Blog Linky Party
Show and Tell Saturday @ Be Different, Act Normal
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Finding the Pretty & Delicious @ Your Homebased Mom
30 Min. Linkup @ 30 Days
Sharing Creative Ideas @ Made By Joey  
Teach Me Tuesday @ Growing Home
Tutorial Tuesdays with Hope Studios
Character Corner
Women Helping Women @ Teaching What Is Good 
Domestically Divine @ Far Above Rubies
(Titus 2)s Days @ Time Warp Wife
Make Bake Create @ Hope In Every Season
Wisdom Wednesdays @Simply Helping Him
Winsome Wednesday @ My Daily Walk in His Grace
Whole-Hearted Home Wednesdays 
Encourage One Another @ Deep Roots at Home
A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Homemaking Link Up @ Raising Homemakers
Home @ Rose Chintz Cottage  
Inspire Me Wednesday @ MamaBuzz
Watcha Work-Up Wednesday 
What's It Wednesday @ Ivy and Elephants 
Wednesday Link up at Adorned from Above
Home Link Up at Raising Arrows

Easy Saucy Pasta for the Homemaking Party

Welcome to the Homemaking Party!  Tonight I want to share with you an easy way to prepare a quick pasta dish with leftovers from your fridge---plus a few things you probably already have on hand!

Easy Saucy Pasta

1 pkg. pasta
1 can chicken broth***
2-3 Tbs. corn starch***
salt & pepper
garlic (powder or fresh)
basil (dried or fresh)
1 Tb. oil
leftover cooked meat, cubed
chopped, uncooked vegetables

Cook the pasta.  In the meantime, mix cornstarch, spices, and any dried herbs together in a bowl. Whisk in broth and set bowl aside.  Heat oil in large skillet and stir fry meat and veggies for a few minutes.  Add cooked pasta, any fresh herbs or garlic, and broth mixture.  I always whisk the mixture again right before pouring in.  ***see note below*** Stir together well, and let the broth mixture come to a boil---stirring constantly.  When sauce has thickened, it's ready to eat!  We like to sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and serve with crusty bread.
***This recipe makes a large batch because we are a big family!  If you're making a small amount (like just half a pkg. of pasta) then I'd recommend only pouring some of this broth mixture into your skillet and stirring.  You will want to control how "saucy" it gets if you are making a smaller batch.

Now for the linkup.  Please remember to return the favor by adding my button or a text link to your post.  Have a great weekend!




<a href="http://www.bloggingwhilewaiting.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnl3MBC08OHdVfVNA2p4AbXHr0RahzOHBRCnosiG00ylKdhunwQJxc6PdOC0n5x99dzbkOheOOhZHAiKstxXgMRdgmbBh-NrDdCn2QxdvHbGldwZ7vlnZcu5_lwiBita04s5UmA5IexKfn/s240/bluebirdbutton1.png " border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a> Hope In Every Season is on Facebook!  If you like what you've read here, please follow me and keep up with the latest posts.

Linking with:
Homemaking Party @ Hope In Every Season
Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner
Thriving Thursday @ Serving Joyfully
Homeacre Hop 
Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits @ Stone Gable  
Think Tank Thursday @ Saving4Six 
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home 
Create It Thursday
Open House @ Bernideen's Tea Time Blog 
Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Thrifty Things Friday @ The Thrifty Groove
Inspiration Friday @ Dear Creatives
Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm 
Family Fun Friday @ Happy and Blessed Home
Fit & Frugal Family Friday
Faithful Fridays
Ultimate Blog Linky Party
Show and Tell Saturday @ Be Different, Act Normal
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Finding the Pretty & Delicious @ Your Homebased Mom
30 Min. Linkup @ 30 Days
Sharing Creative Ideas @ Made By Joey  
Teach Me Tuesday @ Growing Home
Tutorial Tuesdays with Hope Studios
Character Corner
Women Helping Women @ Teaching What Is Good 
Domestically Divine @ Far Above Rubies
(Titus 2)s Days @ Time Warp Wife
Make Bake Create @ Hope In Every Season
Wisdom Wednesdays @Simply Helping Him
Winsome Wednesday @ My Daily Walk in His Grace
Whole-Hearted Home Wednesdays 
Encourage One Another @ Deep Roots at Home
A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Homemaking Link Up @ Raising Homemakers
Home @ Rose Chintz Cottage  
Inspire Me Wednesday @ MamaBuzz
Watcha Work-Up Wednesday 
What's It Wednesday @ Ivy and Elephants 
Wednesday Link up at Adorned from Above
Home Link Up at Raising Arrows