Houseguests

Our church has one of the most amazing events I've ever been privileged to attend or be a part of. It's called Missionary Christmas.

Last year we had just recently moved here and started attending the church so it was the first time we had the experience. A few people tried to explain it, but it's really difficult even though it should be simple, so I know I'm going to have trouble putting it into words that even come close to illustrating it for you. This year was obviously our second one, and it's always held around the beginning of November.

Our church independently supports a multitude of missionaries locally and around the world, as well as local missionary agencies (I'm roughly guessing 20 to 25 without having any numbers in front of me but having just recently seen the budget). During Missionary Christmas this year, 28 missionary families (including a few retired missionaries) attended the weekend-long activities.

We have a dinner and service on Friday night, a brunch on Saturday morning where we hear a small word from each missionary about what they are doing, a service on Saturday night followed by a dessert fellowship, and then special Sunday school times followed by the service on Sunday morning. At the end of the morning service all of the missionaries are presented with Christmas gifts, some of them rather significant for specific things they've mentioned they are in need of over the weekend. It's humbling to see God's work.

Well, as it turns out, our kids wanted us to keep a missionary family with children at our home for the weekend, and the family that used to keep the Baptist Children's Home is no longer at our church, so guess what we did?! We had an absolute, crazy blast!

And here are the two sets of parents who made it through the weekend with smiles still on their faces.

You know what we'll be doing the first part of every November from now on.

Menu Plan Monday — November 9

The only thing I didn't make from last week's menu plan was the Crispy Chicken Tenders, and you know, I never even bought them. I don't know if you call that bad planning or good planning, but they aren't even in my freezer to bring forward.

I tried a roast in my crock pot on Monday without my favorite Homemade Gourmet seasoning that I've been out of for probably two years. That's how long it's been since we've had just a plain old roast. I wasn't really sure how to make one that my family would think was close to as tasty as that, but I actually succeeded.

I started out by looking at the Pioneer Woman's recipe for Roast, but I did mine all day in the crock pot on low heat instead of on the stovetop. I also didn't use a lot of the ingredients. I know, big surprise. I purchased a rump roast (since that's what was on sale) and browned it in the olive oil. Then I transferred it to my large crock pot. I put some salt and pepper on it and pressed it in a little with a spoon. Then I poured the beef stock over it. A couple of hours before it was time to eat I put in some baby carrots and cut up potatoes. It was moist and yummy. I think the beef stock added a lot to it.

I also made a homemade Chai Tea mix last week that tastes just like the one I get at Starbuck's. I'm so addicted to it that it's absolutely ridiculous. If you'd like the recipe for yourself or to make some as Christmas gifts in cute little jars you can check out the recipe here.

Monday — Leftover Sloppy Joes. A couple of my kids probably won't be happy about it, but I have enough left over that I can't just throw it out. It's hard to estimate how much you'll need for 18 people, especially when only two of them are under 10 years old. I had extra, but that's better than not enough. When I made this last week it originally took me 12 pounds of ground beef and 9 cups of ketchup.

Tuesday — Breakfast Casserole a.k.a. Cheesy Potato Pie (Breakfast for Dinner). This is probably my favorite casserole, and I just love breakfast at dinnertime.

Wednesday — Hubby is off for Veteran's Day, so we might do something special on the grill, so this one is TBD.

Thursday — Crispy Chicken Tenders. I will carry them forward even if I still have to buy the ingredients.

Friday — Leftovers and clean out the fridge and pantry, and if we're desperate we'll get Sam's Pizza, although I hope we can hold that off for a day.

Saturday — Chatty and I will be quilting at church all day so hopefully we don't have to get desperate and do the pizza on Friday. That way we can do it on Saturday. This week looks like it's going to be a little bit of planning as I go!

Sunday — Eat out since we ate in all week!

Go visit Laura, The Organizing Junkie, for lots of great recipes and menu plan ideas.

Winners!

photo courtesy of Flickr (Ashley Virginia)

I'm sorry I'm just now announcing the winners for the Target gift cards. We've been busy at our house.

Just look. None of these shoes are ours, and this isn't even all of them.

The first winner from the 'got the picture right' group was Mama Bear. I was secretly glad because she not only got it, she got it right down to the details — "I'm going to say this is part of the rainbow cake you made. Maybe the part that you cut off to level the layers."

We are talking dead on here. I just had to take the picture before I ate so much that there wasn't enough for a picture.

The second winner pulled from all entries, right or not, was Betsy.

Congratulations, girls! Email me with your mailing addresses and I'll get these off to you.

Thanks to everyone who played along.

Americana Santa

I fibbed. I'm not doing another Williamsburg installment until next week. But I am sticking with an Americana theme.

Meet my Americana Snowman.

He was given to me as a gift by my next-door neighbor at Fort Dix, New Jersey, in 1998. She was getting ready to move and gave me a going away gift!

When I first moved to Fort Dix I had the two girls who were still three years old and Buddy who had just had his first birthday. Hubby was in school in Ohio and was only coming back on the weekends for the first four weeks we lived there.

The kids and I lived in the military housing for the first week with no furniture (except Buddy's crib) and slept on air mattresses. I had to accept the furniture and household goods delivery by myself since Hubby was in Ohio. I had gotten to know my next-door neighbor a little, and she offered to keep the kids while I took delivery. Little did we know it would be from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m., and it was October so it got dark early. She was my new BFF!

About a year later my neighbor welcomed her third child, and she didn't have any baby things anymore. Since I'd had twins and didn't need a second crib or changing table anymore, I sold her mine. She was so appreciative that when she moved not long after that she got me the going away gift of the Americana Santa.

It was the perfect gift for my Americana house. I love him and it always makes me think of her.

This post is linked to Show and Tell Friday hosted by Cindy at My Romantic Home. Go visit her — her blog is darling.

A Taste-a-Like Recipe for Starbuck's Chai Tea

I've had recipes before to make drink mixes and I've never run into one that completely tastes like the one it is substituting. I've only recently started drinking Chai Tea (like I've had three total and one was free) but I got hooked quickly. I remembered a blog friend posting a recipe mix months ago for Chai Tea, so I went back and found it. I made it last night and to me it tastes exactly like the ones I buy at the store. I do need to give a shout out to my friend Bobbi over at Blogging Along where I got the recipe in the first place. Thanks, Bobbi!

Instant Chai Tea Latte Mix
from my friend, Bobbi

1 cup dry milk
1 cup dry creamer
1 cup dry French vanilla creamer
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups plain instant tea
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice

Blend all ingredients in food processor into a fine powder. Use 3 heaping spoons per mug of boiling water.

I don't have a food processor so I just used my blender. It worked just fine. I was a little worried as I added in all my ingredients that it would be too full, but it wasn't.

I ended up with one full Ball jar and a second one up to the 2 1/2 cup line of mix. I use 3 heaping spoons in my large mugs. I think it would be too much if you have smaller cups and would cut it down to only 2 spoons. Get your water good and hot so it dissolves everything.

By the way, if you don't have any cardamom and haven't ever bought any (which I hadn't), it isn't cheap. The McCormick's glass jar was ten dollars and something.

This is that time of year for gift mixes, so maybe you have someone on your list who would love some Chai Tea. Or maybe you'll just make it for yourself to enjoy.

WFMW — Holiday Planner

Years ago when I was still getting a subscription to Family Fun magazine (which I still love by the way), there was an article about "Ann's Amazing Holiday Planner." Or it might have been a blurb. I'm not really sure.

I just know that my organizing side kicked right in and had to know all about it. There was a link to access it on the Family Fun website, which is what I did within less than one minute.

I was hooked. Here's a picture from the website which shows absolutely nothing, but it looked cute and gives you a visual. Plus mine is not together enough to show you right now.

Holiday Gift List:
I love the printable holiday gift list and print it off on different colored sheets of paper for each of my kids (simplicity for me) and then one other color for all other gifts.

Holiday Card List:
I actually keep my card list on the computer since I print out labels, but keep a copy in my folder. I might tweak it now that we don't ever plan to move again.

Holiday Memories:
Shamefully, I have nothing in the holiday memories section. I really need to focus on this.

Crafts & Decorations:
I have an entire folder of Christmas crafts and decorations. I just recently weeded them out and kept the ones I wanted in page protectors. Now I'll add that to my holiday binder rather than storing it somewhere else. Makes sense to me.

Holiday Recipes, Menus & Party Plans:
I do have some holiday recipes (that of course haven't made it in here yet), but we've never really done holiday parties, so I don't have any party plans. But if I did, this is where they would be!

If you are in need of a holiday planner with printables, here is the link to Ann's Amazing Holiday Planner.

Best of all, it's free!

This post is linked to Works-for-me-Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

Blog Tour — Set Apart by Jennifer Kennedy Dean

These blog tours are a great way to introduce you to authors and books you might not otherwise be aware of. I hope they will be of benefit to you.

New Hope Publishers
ISBN: 10-1596692634
ISBN: 13-978-1596692633
Release Date: 9/1/09
Retail: $14.99

About the Book:

(Marion, Kentucky) - In a world of self-love and materialism it's reassuring to know that God's Word has a better plan for living. Renowned author and speaker, Jennifer Kennedy Dean, provides insight to the life of Christ, specifically the Sermon on the Mount, in her new book, Set Apart: A 6 Week Study of the Beatitudes.

Through careful study of the Hebrew traditions of biblical times, Dean leads participants into a deeper awareness of this early ministry sermon series by Christ.

Jennifer guides readers to a heightened understanding of each beatitude, correlating the Ten Commandments with the Sermon on the Mount to tie these Old and New Testament principles together. Dean shares how living the Set Apart Life is an exciting and life-changing spiritual journey. Participants surrendered to Christ will see a total transformation: outward actions of holiness as well as inward attitudes of joy. Believers following along in this workbook will experience the life God intends. This blessedness comes from seeking and knowing God. Anything outside the realm of Jesus Christ results in emptiness--the ultimate opposite of blessing.

Each chapter includes interactive questions for readers to answer, emphasizing God's desire to reproduce the character and attitudes of Jesus in each Christian's life. Along with the Bible study book, there is a Leader Kit that includes six DVD sessions and a CD with bonus material for small-group leaders. Jennifer's website, www.prayinglife.org, provides opportunities for previewing the Set Apart materials and extra resources for pastors and leaders.

Adapted from Set Apart by Jennifer Kennedy Dean:

"I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor 12:9-10).

My weakness is my greatest asset in the Kingdom. My weakness is where God meets me. My weakness is where Christ's power is most clearly displayed in me. Only when I am confronted with my own helplessness can I experience the power of Christ in me.

"Your helplessness is your best prayer. It calls from your heart to the heart of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas. He hears it from the very moment that you are seized with helplessness, and He becomes actively engaged at once in hearing and answering the prayer of your helplessness." (O. Hallesby, Prayer)

I recently had the tiniest glimpse of how powerfully helplessness speaks. A few years ago, I lost my husband to brain cancer. During the final months of his illness, he became utterly helpless. The man I had leaned on for 26 years, whose strength I counted on, was now dependent upon me for his every need. During those weeks, my ear was tuned to his every sigh, his every restless movement, every change in his breathing pattern. If I had to be out of his room for even a few minutes, I had a monitor with me so I could hear him if he needed me. When he was strong, I was not so attentive. His needs did not fill my waking moments, when he could meet them himself. His helplessness spoke louder than any word he might have spoken. Because of his helplessness--because I knew he could do nothing on his own--I was on watch day and night.

My experience is but a pale shadow of the reality of the Kingdom, but still it helps me understand how my weakness is the opening for His strength. The fact of my helplessness is the only prayer I need. It speaks louder than eloquence.

Let your helplessness and your weakness be the offering you bring to Him. He is not waiting for you to be strong. He is waiting for you to recognize that you are weak.

GRAND PRIZE DRAWING:

Please leave a comment by November 16th to be entered in a drawing to win the following items from Jennifer. If you are a leader (small groups, book club, Bible Study, Women's Ministry), please note that you are in the comments — you will automatically be entered in the contest. If you are a member of one of these groups at your church or community, mention that you are a group member.

You will be entered to win:

A Set Apart Leader's Kit (video and leader resources and a student book) retail $79.99

A copy of Fueled by Faith (retail $19.99)

Jennifer will have a live web event just for your group

THIS BLOG TOUR COORDINATED BY KATHY CARLTON WILLIS COMMUNICATIONS. A COMPLIMENTARY COPY OF THE BOOK, SET APART, WAS GIFTED TO ME IN EXCHANGE FOR RUNNING THIS TOUR ON MY BLOG.