Several readers have asked about our church. Our church is Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale. When we lived in Kansas, we joked around that we were the Andover, KS branch because we watched it home with mom and my brother and his family and some other friends.

We’ve decided to post a teaching from Pastor Bob here each Sunday for those of you would like to enjoy it also.

If you don’t have a church home and can’t attend then you can watch their services live here.

Eastern Standard Time:

Saturdays – 6pm

Sundays – 8am, 10:15am, 12:30pm

Wednesdays – 6:30pm

If you can’t watch it live, here is a message you might like:

From Pastor Doug Sauder

“When God Gives Vision”

For Orphan Sunday, Pastor Doug Sauder presents the vision that birthed 4KIDS of South Florida, and the great need that still exists to aid orphaned children. Paralleling the story of Nehemiah, whose vision was to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, Pastor Doug shares how vision always begins with a problem, but pushes through to a solution. He challenges listeners to get involved personally in solving the foster care crisis in our communities.

      Enjoy!

      -Jill, Tawra and Mike

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My grandson came to visit me today. I saw once again how often we get the wrong ideas about things, especially when it comes to the needs and wants of our children.

When my first grandchild was born my first thought was to go buy every toy known to man to give him. (I’m allowed to do that because it is in the job description of a grandma.) Then my common sense kicked in and reality hit. I knew I couldn’t afford to buy all those toys.

I felt like the little drummer boy in the Christmas song who only had his music to give to the Christ child. I couldn’t afford to give the grandkids much. I only had my love and my time to give them, unlike the their other grandparents and family members who could afford to give them all the “cool” toys.

I now know how foolish I was those many years ago to think and feel that way and I was reminded of it once again today. I opened my kitchen utensil drawer and David’s eyes about popped out with excitement. He didn’t know where to start. There were all kinds of great toys like the funnel, the sieve, or that weird plastic spinny thing! We ended up playing with the turkey baster. I filled a plastic bowl with water and, to make it more interesting, I added red food coloring to the water. We spent 30 minutes squeezing water in and out of the baster.

Then we got out the Chinese Checkers game and even though we don’t know how to play it yet we had more fun putting all the marbles in different designs on the board. Then, to top it all off, we went to “Nan’s” bank, got a free bag of popcorn (our favorite), a balloon and a red sucker. Could any little man have had a better day then that? I don’t think so.

As parents and grandparents, we worry about not being able to give our children or grandchildren “everything”. At times we get so busy and so focused on trying to give the children everything that we don’t have the strength left to give them the things they want and need the most: our time and love. These are very simple things but they’re also very meaningful.

To a child, everything is new and exciting. We need to remember that it doesn’t take much to make them happy– just you and them and a turkey baster!

      -Jill

Photo By: Katie

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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia (FM) Humor

I know that this is off the subject of frugal living, but since I have CFS and Fibromyalgia, I thought it might give others who are in the same boat a good laugh.

When you have an illness like CFS it always helps to have a little humor in your life. For those of you who have CFS or Fibromyalgia I hope you enjoy these. If you don’t have CFS or Fibromyalgia, not all of these will makes sense to you! Tawra (T.J.)

If you wonder what CFS and Fibromyalgia are, you might want to read our post About Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia.

CFS/FM Serenity Prayer
Author Unknown

Lord, grant me the serenity to accept
The things I cannot change,
The courage to change
The things I can,
And the wisdom to hide
The bodies of Doctors I shot
When they said,
“You’re perfectly healthy,
It’s All In Your Head.”

This lady has one of the funniest CFS stories… she finished shopping, and went out to find her car! She said she walked up and down the parked cars, row by row, but could not find her station wagon. After 15 minutes, she got into such a panic, she began checking cars at random, to see if she could find an open door. Just before she was about to call 911, she saw a van, which looked familiar… It WAS her van, and the station wagon had been traded in months ago! Author Unknown

On my gravestone, I want to say “I told you I was sick.” – Tom Waits

You May Have Fibromyalgia If…
Author Unknown

1. you forget spending the whole New Year’s Evening with your husband!
2. you are in your own jeep, and stop for gas, however, you can’t remember where the gas tank is located until another customer shows you!
3. you complete your whole grocery shopping excursion while wearing a soft-blue-gel ice pack on top of your head, while your husband follows 3 steps behind you!
4. you are constantly doing ‘head’ counts of your own children, and pets! (Ha! I do this ALL the time (and I only have two kids)!! T.J.
5. you leave every day for work using the front door, but must climb back into your home using a window after your work day is over!
6. you rub a whole tube of Ben Gay all through your scalp to help your migraine! (Bad, Bad idea!!!)
7. you tell the same story more than 3 times to the same person!
8. you make your two monthly mortgage payments to the wrong bank EVERY month, having to go back out the next day to switch them!
9. you go to the movie store with your fiance to choose a movie, and after picking the one of your choice, he politely tells you the two of you saw it the previous weekend!
10. you drive 60 miles for your monthly support meeting… only to find out, you are a week early! (HA! This actually happened to me once! T.J.)

You Know You Have CFS When…
Author Unknown

…when you are cautioned to slow down by your doctor instead of by the police.

…you have a choice of two temptations and you choose the one that will get you home earlier.

…you realize that caution is the only thing you care to exercise.

…you don’t worry about avoiding temptation. With CFS, it will avoid you.

…getting lucky means you found your car in the parking lot.

…you’re sitting in a rocker and you can’t get it started.

…you don’t care where your wife goes, just so you don’t have to go along.

…you wake up with that morning-after feeling, and you didn’t do anything the night before.

…the doctor says “I have good news and bad news — the good news is that you are not a hypochondriac…”

…you go to make toast and nothing happens. You’ve plugged in the can opener.

…you say to your wife, “Good morning, Mary”…and her name is Sharon.

…you have to sit down to brush your teeth in the morning.

…you become exhausted trying to blow out the candles on your birthday cake.

…you forget your twin sister’s birthday.

…you realize that you just sprayed spot remover under your arms instead of deodorant.

…you put both contact lenses in the same eye.

…there is a big basket at the bottom of the stairs full of stuff waiting to go upstairs. — David White

…it takes you longer to get up the energy to go to the store than the completed task takes you. — sassyj

…you feed your pets, then sit down and try to decide if it is really worthwhile to get up again just to feed yourself. — Sandy Flake

…you cut off all your hair because you’re too tired to wash/style it anymore. — Shyrell Melara

…you go to the store to get some cosmetics and write your check out to “Wallpaper” instead of “Walmart.” — Sheri (HA! I do this ALL the time! T.J.)

… to unlock your car, you pull out a garage door opener from your purse, aim it at the key slot on your car door, click away, and then stand there in a stupor, wondering why the door wont open. — Sheri

… you decide that tap water is ok, because the new gallon jug of bottled water is on the floor and it’s still full. — Elsie

… you go upstairs to have a bath, only to realize the bath plug is downstairs…so you decide to have a bath tomorrow instead. — gossamer

… you continue watching Martha Stewart reinvent the brick because the remote is out of the hand grope area. — Christa (How true, How true! T.J.)

Why there is no Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Day
Author Unknown

Nobody could remember when CFS / Fibromyalgia Day was.

Nobody could remember the color of the ribbons.

We couldn’t find a ribbon color that wasn’t already used that coordinated with all colors of sweats.

The ribbon’s pin pushed on a trigger point.

Patients with Fibromyalgia couldn’t fold the ribbon into the proper shape.

How could there be an awareness day for something that doesn’t exist?

Patients with Fibromyalgia are too depressed to get out of bed and attend a rally.

Social Security would use the ability to rally as proof of our ability to work.

Everyone kept getting paper cuts trying to fold all the flyers.

The bags carrying our meds were too heavy to carry.

No one wanted to leave home overnight because they couldn’t pack their beds.

Someone had to hold the planning meeting, and nobody’s house was clean enough.

Someone set up a massage booth, and it got so crowded it collapsed. Since everyone was in the booth at that time, there was no one left to rally.

Everyone wanted the same bumper stickers *See, I Told You I Was Sick!* and the printer ran out!

There weren’t enough porta-potties in the state for the folks with Irritable Bowel Syndrome!

The politicians suddenly realized the size of our voting block, and their media trucks filled all the parking spots.

Some doctor said it’s all in your head but they never found the body.

The booth offering *Chocolate Diet Pills* ran out in ten minutes.

The people using TENS units shorted out the Pacific power grid.

10 percent of the crowd went into flare at the same time, and the resulting glow melted the ice caps at both poles!

CFS And Shopping

You come out of the grocery store and look for your Suburban. As you are looking, you notice your husband’s car in the parking lot. After wondering why your husband came to the grocery store too, you remember that you drove his car to the store.

Submitted by Tina J. – Thanks, Tina!

Reader e-mail about CFS and Fibromyalgia Humor:

Thanks so much for the FM/CFS humor page. I’ve sent it to friends family and posted in my medicine closet. It helps other understand what we with CFS/FM deal with in a lighthearted way.

When I was 15, it was growing pains.

At 25 I was a lazy over-achiever.. or was it drugs…

Age 35 I was told to have a baby, stop working so hard and get counseling for hypochondria.

45 years old… premenopausal, overweight, unmotivated – actually the doctor called me old, fat and lazy.

50 – In the last ten years I have: gotten my masters in health science, seen the last of my seven foster children become productive adults, learned to do sport massage from a wheelchair/paddle a kayak/jump a mountain bike, renovated two houses, married the bestest fella in the world, and TRIED to explain to the world why I have two speeds – “get out’ de way she’s a commin’ thru” and “no, no.. I’m quite all right, just allow me to lay here on the grass/floor/stairs for a couple minutes and I’ll creep up with you in a bit”.

So my new doctor tells me “memory loss is just a normal part of aging, build up your stamina, lift weights, jog, take a more active interest in life”.

And through it all… it’s not that hot- well you were fine yesterday? – come on! just a little more – why don’t you take a break, but first… – you’re too sensitive – how long are you going to just sit there? – WELL! if you don’t WANT to be with us… – if you’d just pay attention you’d remember these things…. And the kicker…

What did you do all day?!?!?

Ya’ gotta laugh. Thanks again!

–SFalcon

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Glitter Grapes Recipe

Here is a light, easy and pretty recipe for a Spring or Summer dish. The kids love these glitter grapes, too. I haven’t tried it yet but I don’t know why you couldn’t use different flavored Jello. It might not look the same but you could get some fun and different flavors and looks.

Glitter Grapes

1 pound of green seedless grapes, pulled from the stems and rinsed
1 3-oz. package of Melon Fusion Jell-O (NOT prepared)
Water

Rinse the grapes under water until they are all clean and wet. Spread the gelatin mix on a plate, about 1/3 at a time. Place a handful of grapes on the plate and gently roll each grape in the gelatin powder until it is covered (spoon works best for this). Place the coated grapes into a bowl and repeat the process with the remaining ingredients until all of the grapes are covered. Place the bowl and let set in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, until the gelatin is set. The colder these are, the better they taste!

Photo By: Peter Hellberg

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10 Ways To Serve Hamburgers And Hot Dogs

Tips:

• Since we are talking about “dogs” today, here is something special you can make for that very special dog in your life. Take 3 old socks, tie or sew the ends together and then braid them for a dog chew toy. It’s especially good to have a lot of these on hand for those new puppies who are always chewing on everything.
• You don’t have to make something different for that toddler or baby just starting to eat solid food. They can have hot dogs too. Just slice the hot dogs lengthwise in fourths for them to eat. This way you don’t have to worry about them choking.

Recipes:

Whether you’re a hot dog lover or not, here are some ideas to spruce up those hot “dogs” and hamburgers that you will be grilling this summer.

Have a hot dog and hamburger buffet. Instead of just having the usual ketchup, mustard and onions, teach your “dogs” some new tricks with these different toppings:

Mexican dogs: guacamole and tomatoes or jalapeño peppers, salsa, and cheese

Italian dogs: fresh basil, garlic, tomato and mozzarella cheese

Greek dogs: sun dried tomatoes (check our recipe in Dining on a Dime to make your own sun dried tomatoes), crumbled feta cheese and chopped black olives.

American dogs: Barbecue sauce, fried onion rings or corn relish with crumbled bacon.

You can use all these same ideas for hamburgers. Just place bowls of everything out so that people can help themselves and make their own special “dogs”. Don’t forget to include the usual toppings like lettuce, tomato, pickle, cheese and onion, too.

Leftovers:

Use those leftover hot dogs and hamburgers by adding them to:

• macaroni and cheese
• scrambled eggs
• baked beans
• chili
• spaghetti sauce
• pasta salad

Cheesy Mac and Dogs

1 pkg (8 oz.) elbow macaroni, cooked
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground mustard
2 1/2 cups milk
3/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
12 oz. Velveeta cheese, cubed
7 hot dogs, cooked and diced
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Saute onion in butter till tender. Stir in flour, salt and mustard. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add Worcestershire sauce and cheese and stir until melted. Add macaroni and hot dogs. Place in a 2 1/2 quart baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

Mexican Corn Dogs

8 corn tortillas, (6 inch)
8 hot dogs
Oil for frying

Slightly warm tortillas by placing between 2 damp paper towels and microwave them for 10-20 seconds. Wrap one tortilla around each hot dog and secure with a toothpick. Deep fry in one inch of oil or fry in an electric skillet until golden brown, turning once. Drain and remove toothpicks. Serve with ketchup and mustard.

Jill

Photo By: Mr. T in DC

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The kids have been out of school for weeks now. You’re lying in your hammock with a gentle summer breeze softly cooling you and the sweet smell of summer flowers fills the air. Yeah, Right! Reality check! You have probably heard “I’m bored. I have nothing to do” a hundred times today!

Don’t run down the street panicking, wildly flinging your arms and screaming like a mad woman. I say this not because of what the neighbors might think. Most of the other moms would probably be hard on your heels. I just don’t believe in using any more energy than necessary.

Instead, peel Tarzan off the chandelier and catch Superman in the midst of his fifth flight from the top bunk bed, trying carefully not to tear his cape made from your favorite red silk blouse. With your free hand grab child #3 who is painting a great copy of the Mona Lisa on your bedroom wall. March the kids to the kitchen (there may be some resistance but you will prevail) and try these recipes. Who knows? Between these and a small miracle you might just get to swing in the hammock yet. (But then again, probably not!)

Try these easy craft recipes including a homemade play dough recipe, a homemade slime recipe and other stuff your kids will love!- Jill

Homemade Slime Recipe

1/2 cup white glue
6 Tbsp. water food coloring
1-4 tsp. Borax
1-4 Tbsp. water

Mix the glue, 6 tablespoons water and food coloring until it is dissolved. In a separate bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon borax into 1 tablespoon water. Add to the glue solution. You will get a very thick clump of slime when the two mix. Pull the clump of slime out of the glue mixture and put it in a separate bowl. Mix another batch of the borax solution and add it to the remaining glue mixture. Repeat until all the glue mixture is used (about 3-4 times).

With clean hands, knead the slime to mix. This will take about 10 minutes and is not very difficult as the slime easily separates between your fingers. If a looser, more slimy texture is desired, knead in a bit more water. The more water you add, the slimier it gets. The slime doesn’t leave a residue and doesn’t get stuck on anything. This is great for Halloween entertaining. Store in an airtight container. This can easily be doubled, tripled or quadrupled.

Edible Play Dough Recipe

1/3 cup margarine
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract or flavorings
1 lb. powdered sugar
food coloring (optional)

Mix first 4 ingredients together. Add powdered sugar. Knead it. Divide and add food coloring. Keep the homemade play dough refrigerated to keep from spoiling when not in use. You can replace vanilla with flavored extracts to give flavor other than just plain sweetness.

Homemade Bubbles Recipe

1/4 cup liquid dishwashing detergent
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp. sugar

Put the dishwashing detergent in the water. Carefully stir in sugar trying to avoid suds. Take a regular drinking straw and cut into 4 pieces. Then dip into the solution and blow your bubbles. Tie a rope loop up to a foot in diameter on the end of a stick and make a gallon of bubbles. Dip the rope in the bubbles and run with them. This will give you giant bubbles.

For more fun homemade kids recipes like these, check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbook!

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Budget Advice For Married Couples

One question that our readers ask most frequently is, “How do I get my husband/wife to spend less?” Money is often one of the main causes of fights between spouses, especially when one spends too much or when one refuses to spend anything. Money isn’t really the problem. It’s a symptom of a deeper problem. The problem can be rooted in a variety of issues including being raised differently, being taught differently about money, issues of control or lack of control, varying amounts of self confidence, anger and so on.

Here are some examples of just one of these issues – being raised differently and taught differently about money.

One new wife thought she was being so frugal and careful when buying her family’s groceries. Even though they weren’t in financial trouble she was naturally very careful. After a few weeks, her husband started getting more quiet with each meal and she didn’t know what was upsetting him.

One night her husband got angry and said, “Are we in serious trouble with our finances?” Not knowing what was wrong, his wife said, “No, we are doing fine. Why?” Then her husband said, “Well we haven’t had steak for weeks!” After much talking, she discovered that in his home growing up if they had steak once in a while it meant all was well and if not then things were really bad. He assumed they were having a rough time financially but she thought she was doing so well by saving money. The solution? She just started serving steak once in a while and the problem was solved.

One family member of mine who had very little money growing up swore when she left home she was going to have lots of money and buy whatever she wanted. She did, too. She became a shopaholic. I had no more money growing up than she did but I turned out completely different from her. She came from a very bad home life so her outlook was completely different. Lack of money in her home really wasn’t the problem. It was lack of love. When she got older she tried to fill her void with the wrong things, which constantly failed to satisfy her. In my family we had plenty of love and, even though we had little money, we had enough of what we really needed.

When a person spends recklessly or becomes obsessive about money, it is a symptom of deeper problems that go beyond the money. It takes a lot of thought and talking things through in a loving manner to identify the real problem.

Usually one spouse or the other is better at handling money and the bills but a couple should sit down together and go through bills and finances so they both understand their financial condition. Then they both can see, in writing, what money is coming in and where it is going out. This way no one feels like one spouse or the other has more control and it eliminates many unpleasant emotions.

The question people ask is really not so much, “How can I get my husband or wife not to spend?” but, “How do I change them?” You don’t. Part of the wedding vows is “for better or worse” and that doesn’t just mean better or worse circumstances. It also includes disagreements between spouses. I remember one night my husband and I had a really bad fight about money. He was out of work, we had no food left and I wanted him to sell some of our antique furniture to get some money. He said no, we couldn’t just start selling the furniture. It was one of the rare times we went to bed mad. I lay for hours fuming, clinging to my side of the bed (you how we do, ladies) and praying God would show my husband that we needed to sell our stuff.

After several hours dwelling on my anger, I heard a soft voice say, “Instead of praying for me to make your husband do it your way, how about praying that your husband will have the wisdom to see what I want him to do to solve the problem.” Whoa. Did I deserve that! I asked forgiveness and changed my prayers really fast. The next morning my husband woke up, turned to me and said, “You know, I thought of a couple of ideas in the night that I think might help us get some money.” He had three ideas that we had not even thought about before and they were really good ideas.

This may not be the way God intends to solve everyone’s problem but it is a solution that we often forget to consider– Men praying for God’s help and wisdom or women praying that their husbands will see God’s wisdom in tough situations.

No one can really change another person. You can only change yourself so your battle is learning to relax and understand that fact and learning to work with your spouse.

It never ceases to amaze me how often serious problems and fights occur because spouses just don’t understand each other. Here are some things to talk about and to ask each other. Before I share them, you need to know that if your spouse is the kind of person that refuses to talk, listen or be willing to work with you to improve your relationship, you have more serious problems than how to spend your money. If that is the case, you really need to get help for your marriage in general.

If your marriage is generally healthy (not perfect), here are a few ideas to help you get started:

1. Work on the finances and bills together. You can agree that one of you will pay bills or balance the checkbook but regardless who handles the details, both of you need to look at what is going on together. It’s part of a healthy relationship, but also if something should ever happen to either one of you – death, divorce, or serious illness – you won’t have the added burden of trying to figure out what’s going on with the bills or how to handle them.

2. Take time to do this. Sitting together and paying bills is one of those things that’s easy to put off but don’t. You’ll find that after a while it will take less time to deal with things and, if you prefer, you can take turns at it. The important thing is that you are both in the loop.

3. Before you do anything, sit down and air out feelings and issues. Choose a time when stomachs are full. (Men seem so much more mellow when they have just eaten a good home cooked meal and have full tummies. I don’t know why but that’s one thing that hasn’t changed in centuries.) Choose a time when everyone is relaxed and rested and you will not have many interruptions.

4. Questions to ask. Here are some things to ask each other and to consider together. Get some paper and pencils. It may be easier for some people to write down the answers. Couples who are planning to get married need to to ask each other these questions before they get married to reduce friction in the marriage.

   No matter what they say, don’t ever laugh or make fun of your spouse or dismiss your spouse’s answers or what they or their parents believed. There are no right or wrong answers. These are just questions to help you learn to understand and to get an idea why the other person does things and acts the way they do.

   • What is your family history? What are some things you remember your family taught and believed about money growing up that has stuck in your mind and that you remember?

     Did your family have savings?

     Was mom or dad a spender? Did mom shop and hide things from your dad or visa versa?

     Was money used in place of love and being there for the family?

     Was money not considered that important compared to relationships?

   • What are your money fears?

     Did dad have a hard time keeping a job and your parents were always afraid they wouldn’t have enough?

     Did mom worry because you couldn’t keep up with the Joneses?

     Did your parents not ever allow you to have anything because they were afraid of spoiling you, not having enough or were just plain tight and selfish with their money and you are afraid you might be like them, so you spend?

     Are you always afraid you won’t have enough money because of illness, death or natural causes?

   • What did your family spend their money on?

     Big houses, education, “things”, savings, eating out, fun stuff

   • What did your parents fight about?

   • Did you feel rich or poor when you were growing up?

   • What fun things did you spend money on?

     Did your family buy a boat so they could spend time on the lake camping or did they like nice hotels in a city where they could go sightseeing? Did they like eating out all the time or did they spend their money on a new kitchen so they could all cook together? Maybe you weren’t allowed to spend any money on fun things.

   • What do you personally like to spend money on?

     If you had $10,000 to spend any way you wanted, what would you spend it on?

5. Define Your Values

   What things are important to you? Insurance, new car, nice house, tithing, charity, paying off debt.

6. Set Goals and Budgets

   Does one of you think it is important to have a high paying job, working long hours and making good money where the other thinks living in the country with a little money and spending time together is most important?

Now you need to take all your information and do a lot of compromising. Maybe a new car is very important to one of you and children’s education is important to the other. Try to come up with a plan that will work for both of you. Maybe the husband would be willing to get a car that is only 1-2 years old instead of brand new and take the money you saved and put it towards the children’s education. Look at your options and be willing to give and take.

The main thing is to be loving and to open mindedly talk and talk some more with each other. Instead of demanding your rights and wants, put the other person first. It is amazing what can happen in all areas of marriage if both parties are always trying to fulfill their spouses needs and wants. Remember, it’s not about what you think they want or need but what they really want or need. You are a team and you should always work together going in the same direction, trying to do what is best and what helps the whole team the most rather than each person focusing only on his own wants. If you can get to that point, it will really strengthen your marriage.

If you often wonder where all of your money goes or if you need a more frugal mindset, check out Dig out Of Debt and learn more about how to keep more of your money.

Photo By: 401K

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After having a particularly discouraging week my brother forwarded me this. I just had to share! You never think about it this way!
Tawra

The next time you feel like GOD can’t use you, just remember….

Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer..AND
Lazarus was dead!

And Don’t forget
Jesus Helped them all!!!!

photo by: Radio Nederland Wereldomroep

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Several readers have asked about our church. Our church is Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale. When we lived in Kansas, we joked around that we were the Andover, KS branch because we watched it home with mom and my brother and his family and some other friends.

We’ve decided to post a teaching from Pastor Bob here each Sunday for those of you would like to enjoy it also.

If you don’t have a church home and can’t attend then you can watch their services live here.

Eastern Standard Time:

Saturdays – 6pm

Sundays – 8am, 10:15am, 12:30pm

Wednesdays – 6:30pm

If you can’t watch it live, here is a message you might like:

From Pastor Bob

“Daniel, The Book: You’re On!”

“All the world’s a stage” is the famous phrase from William Shakespeare’s, As You Like It. Similarly, on God’s great stage, He has a part for every person. But how will we play that part? Not everyone will follow their lines, and even as Christians we can detour from the script. However, Pastor Bob provides some practical points from Daniel chapter 11 exhorting us to aspire to nothing more or less than God’s perfect will for our lives.

      Enjoy!

      -Jill, Tawra and Mike

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S’mores Tips

S’mores are amazing things. They can be eaten all year round as snacks or desserts and lots of people, young and old alike, love them. These tips are especially good to keep on hand when the kids want some s’mores and you don’t have a piece of chocolate in the house.

Here are some modern day twists on an old time favorite snack.

• Use chocolate chips or leftover Easter bunnies in place of the candy bar.
• Forget the chocolate altogether. Spread a graham cracker with strawberry or raspberry jam, add a roasted marshmallow and a slice or two of strawberry (or even a slice of banana).
• Spread cinnamon graham crackers with softened cream cheese and fruit.

• This isn’t a s’more idea but I love to spread butter on a cinnamon graham cracker, top it with a second one and dunk it in my coffee for breakfast.
• Chocolate graham crackers are also great spread with peanut butter and slices of banana.
• Cook the marshmallow over the stove. I just put knife in the middle of the marshmallow and then toast it over my electric stovetop.

Here is a good summer S’more dessert you can make and keep handy in the freezer:

Ice Cream S’mores

9 graham crackers, broken crosswise in half to make 18 squares
1 cup hot fudge sauce
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 pint (2 cups) chocolate ice cream, softened

Place 9 graham crackers in a foil lined 9 inch square pan. Spread with half the fudge sauce, sprinkle with marshmallows, spread with ice cream and the rest of fudge sauce. Then cover with the rest of the graham crackers. Freeze overnight or for several hours. Take out of the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Then cut into squares.

photo by: hlkljgk

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