Lauren Laliberte – simplemamame

Sugar Cookies with Almond Drizzle

When our youngest turned 5 in July he asked for his favorite cookies instead of cake. These sugar cookies are gobbled up faster than you can sing “Happy Birthday” in our house.

Sugar Cookies:

3 cups flour (gluten free flour can be substituted)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 cup room temperature butter

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Using a pie crust cutter, mix together flour, soda, powder, salt and butter until combined. It will be crumbly and butter will be the size of peas.

In mixer, beat eggs, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly add flour mixture until combined. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Roll out dough and cut cookies into desired shapes (I used a biscuit cutter to get a circle shape). Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven on parchment lined baking sheets for 10-12 minutes. Do not let the cookies brown.

When your cookies have cooled, they’re ready for the almond drizzle.

Almond Drizzle:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp almond extract

1-3 Tbsp milk

In a small bowl, whisk ingredients into drizzling consistency. Drizzle across cookies with a spoon.

Leave a comment below if you tried this recipe. Happy Baking!

-Lauren

Building a Bible Resource Library

A Bible resource library? What’s that and why would anyone need that if they’re not teaching God’s Word or a pastor? Whether you’ve been reading the Bible your whole life or you’re just starting, having a resource to turn to when you have questions is incredibly helpful. You don’t need to have to spend hundreds of dollars or have an entire bookshelf filled with commentaries and dictionaries. In today’s post, I’ll be sharing two of my stand-by resources plus a few Study Bible options to help you on your journey to a deeper understanding of God’s Word.

In 2010 I started attending a formal Bible Study (BSF). I realized, a few years into this study, I wanted to know more about the passages we were reading each week. I found myself wondering about historical/cultural context and how that fit with the lessons I was learning. When I started teaching, I realized any kind of additional information helped clarify the main teaching and provided ideas for application into life today.

One book I found myself turning to time and time again (pictured above) has been the New Bible Dictionary. Its sides are worn and taped together, but it has been one of the best resources. It has historical background on people and places in Scripture. It also has timelines and detailed genealogies to help give perspective to the over 4,000 years of events that take place within the Bible’s 66 books.

This is the newest addition to my collection. It happens to be the companion book to the New Bible Dictionary. The New Bible Commentary is a solid choice if you’re looking for background information for each book of the Bible. I already have tabs for each book we’re covering this year in BSF (15 books!).

If you are looking for a place to start, these two are great. There are options to buy them used on Amazon making them affordable for anyone.

Study Bibles: Unfortunately, I don’t have any advice on how to pick a Study Bible that works best for everyone. However, I do recommend finding a version of the Bible that you enjoy best and looking for a Study Bible in that version. The New International Version (NIV) is the most widely read and understood (also known for its accuracy in translation), most churches will have this version available during their services. The NKJV or KJV (New King James Version or King James Version, both are known for their accuracy in translation) are more formal, the King James English might be harder to understand for anyone who is not a native english speaker. The ESV (English Standard Version) is also easy to understand and widely used. If you like journaling/writing notes in your Bible, this ESV is a great option. The Message version is also fairly common, although it’s more a paraphrase, so it’s recommended to have an NIV/KJV/NKJV along side while reading that one.

For 20 years I had a slim-line NIV and a NKJV MacArthur Study Bible. I realized this year I needed an updated NIV to teach from and the Life Application Study Bible has already proved a great addition to my resource library. It has a lot of the same informative tools as my New Bible Dictionary and Commentary, plus examples for applying lessons one could learn while studying Scripture.

Studying God’s Word is an amazing process and prioritizing understanding what He says will help you discern any teachings that twist, add to or detract from what’s in the Bible. Studying God’s Word will cultivate change within you and as you draw closer to God, He will draw closer to you. I hope you found this post helpful!

Blessings,
Lauren

Gluten Free, Raspberry Lime Muffins

I recently picked up Tieghan Gerard’s latest cookbook: Half Baked Harvest – Every Day and was inspired by her blueberry lemon poppyseed muffins. They’re so delicious, you can’t stop at one muffin. I wanted to try something similar to her recipe, but with a different flavor profile. Raspberry and lime! I was pleasantly surprised with how well they turned out that I couldn’t keep this recipe to myself. That first bite tastes like key lime pie with fresh raspberries on top. Absolutely delicious!

Recipe:

1/2 cup of honey

1/2 cup of coconut oil (melted)

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 single serve Greek yogurt (plain)

1 1/2 limes

1 3/4 cups of GF flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1 cup of fresh red raspberries

1/2 cup of fresh blackberries (optional)

3 Tbsp raspberry jam

Mix wet ingredients (minus the jam) in a bowl, add juice of 1 1/2 limes and zest of one lime. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. With mixer going, slowly add dry ingredients to wet. When dough forms, add jam and berries until just combined. Drop into parchment lined muffin tins and bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 25-35 minutes.

I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as our family does!

Happy Baking!

-Lauren

Study

Bible Study Method

A simple method anyone can use to study their Bible at home.

Do you want to study the Bible, but wonder where to start? Does the thought of studying the Bible, leave you feeling intimidated? Do the questions “What if I get it wrong?” or “What if I don’t understand the text?” keep you from digging deeper into scripture (I’ll give you my favorite go-to commentaries with links in a future post)?

In this post I will give you a super simple Bible studying method that will help you grow in your relationship with the Lord as well as your understanding of Scripture.

For this method, all you need are your Bible (it doesn’t matter which version you use, I prefer NIV, but you can use what you prefer), a notebook and a writing utensil. If you like to mark-up your Bible with highlighters and pens, those are great additions too!

Whenever I start studying my Bible for the day, I like to pray first. It helps me calm my mind and focus. Next, I read the passage I have selected. For beginners, I recommend starting in Genesis. Go a chapter or two at a time. The Bible has six types of literature within its 66 books. The first is the Law, the second is history, then poetry, prophecy, genealogy, and narrative. If you’re a fan of history and you’ve studied the Bible before, I recommend starting in Joshua or 1 Samuel. If you love narrative, go with the book of John.

After reading your selected passage (sometimes it helps to read it a couple times) you’ll want to ask yourself three questions and write your answers in your notebook:

What is happening in this passage?
What am I learning from this passage?
How does what I’ve learned apply to my life today?

That’s it! The most simple way to study the Bible on your own. I prefer using this method in the summer months when I’m not heavily involved with Bible Study Fellowship. This method might be something you’ve seen before, I’m not reinventing the wheel. There are several pastors/churches who recommend this method because of its simplicity and because it helps get passage from the head, to the heart, and then into action in daily life.

The Bible’s teachings stand the test of time. What was true for the original audience, stands true today. The important part is to understand how we live in light of what Scripture teaches, across time.

I hope you found this method helpful! Leave a comment below if you gave it a try! I’d love to hear from you.

Blessings,

Lauren

Little Bear

It’s been a while since I last posted. I thought I’d share our (now 4 year old) Bear’s birth story. Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday he came earth-side, other days it feels like a lifetime ago. I’ll never forget the day he made me a mommy.

I woke up two days before my Due Date, feeling like I could finally breathe. Hug Nugget (that was what we called him) had been up in my lungs for the better part of two trimesters, kicking the air right out of me. That night I’d slept 16 hours, the longest stretch of sleep, without waking up, in quite some time. I wondered, like I did every morning at that point, would today be the day? I cleaned up around the house, readied my birth center bag one more time, prepped a meal for the freezer and laid down on the sofa to rest. I fell asleep (when you’re pregnant, any amount of sleep is amazing) my body was definitely gearing up for something. John came home from work to me asleep on the sofa. We had dinner and watched the news. At around 7pm I started feeling light contractions. We timed them, they were every two to four minutes. We called the midwife and let her know I was possibly in early labor.

We continued to time the contractions, which felt like nothing more than my belly getting firm every few minutes, until about 8pm when we decided to go to bed. I figured, they’d wake me up once they were strong enough. It had started snowing right around the time we went to bed. We joked that our boy picked a great night to be ready. We put our bags right by the door for easy access if we needed to leave quickly and went to bed.

Sometime between midnight and 1am my contractions picked up. They woke me from a dead sleep. Not painful, but they felt like they were coming on every minute. We timed them and of course it was every one to two minutes. We called the midwife again and she suggested waiting a little longer, I was still not in any pain, so I decided to make the bed, vacuum one more time, do some dishes and bounce on my exercise ball. After an hour we called again, contractions were slightly stronger and still every one to two minutes. She suggested we come to the birth center, so that’s just what we did.

We drove through nearly blinding snow for what seemed like forever. The normal 20 minute drive took us almost an hour. We were so relieved to be at the birth center! I had nightmares about delivering the baby in the car while trying to get there. Thankfully, that nightmare was never a reality. We warmed ourselves up in the cozy birth suite and since I was only between 5 and 6cm, my midwife encouraged me to get more rest, “Things will be rocking and rolling when you wake up in the morning.”

I laid down on the soft bed and closed my eyes. Then it hit, the pressure of a hard contraction. I was completely caught off guard. Around 4am, I asked to get in the birthing tub. The water felt amazing, the pressure was cut in half. John sat on the ledge of the tub behind me and rubbed my neck and shoulders. I ate some food and drank coconut water. It was refreshing. Not long after I got in the tub, I felt the need to push. The midwife checked me again, and I was only at an 8. We waited, my midwife and the birth assistant continued to encourage me. They spoke softly and kindly. They helped me get to positions to ease the pressure and John would rub my lower back to ease discomfort.

I prayed. I prayed for strength through each contraction. I prayed for wisdom to know when the right time to push would happen. I prayed for my midwife. God answered my prayers. He reminded me, this life about to be born was in His hands. Billions of women had given birth since the dawn of time. Then my midwife whispered, “Let the wave fall over you, don’t fight the contraction, let it wash over you and relax every muscle in your body after it peeks.” That was honestly the best advice anyone could give a laboring woman. Within moments transition hit and I was ready to push. There was no control. I just had to push. The pain melted away with each push, and I was getting closer and closer to seeing our little Hug Nugget earth-side.

We hopped out of the birthing tub so I could plant my feet on the ground. It was a little after 7am. Light was coming in the windows from outside. The snow was coming to an end. At 7:48am on November 19th, 2014 (the day before his due date) our little Hug Nugget came into the world. He cried, John cried, “You’re here!” I exclaimed as I looked into his big brown eyes. I held our baby and kissed his pouty lips. We got off the floor and onto the big bed for snuggles and recovery. A few hours later, we were home in our own bed, snuggling the day away.

Now, 4 years later, he’s still a snuggle bug. He’s kind and loving. He loves cooking, baking and cleaning. He reads and enjoys all kinds of games. He loves animals and obstacle courses. He’s our Bear and he’s so, so loved. Thank you for making me a mommy 4 years ago buddy.

Photo credits: Megan

Spritz Cookies

As promised! Another cookie recipe! These are, by far, my all-time favorite cookies. Ginger bread cookies are my second favorite. The boys always prefer home made cookies over store bought. So I’m always baking. Which is completely fine, because I love baking. Here’s my favorite Spritz recipe:

I purchased this cookie press from Target about 8 years ago. You can find them online or in any cooking store.

Ingredients:

1 cup softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1tsp almond/vanilla extract

Optional: food coloring and/or sprinkles

Helpful hint: Make sure your butter and egg are the same temperature. It helps with the cookie press. If the butter has been microwaved to soften, the dough becomes too runny. If the egg and butter are too cold, the dough doesn’t go through the press. I pull my egg and butter out of the fridge and leave them on the counter for a few hours prior to starting the cookies.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400. Cream butter and sugar, add salt and extract. Slowly add flour until incorporated. Fill cookie press with 1/4 dough at a time and press cookies onto a clean, dry cookie sheet (I make this mistake every year, I try to press the cookies onto parchment, it doesn’t work). Bake 6-9 minutes, until cookies are set, but not brown.

Traditional Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2tsp ground ginger

1tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1tsp all spice

1 cup packed brown sugar (can substitute dark brown sugar)

1/2 cup soft butter

3/4 cup molasses

2 eggs

Preparation:

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, add butter, molasses and eggs. Mix until completely incorporated. Cover and refrigerate 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut into shapes and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes.

Note: wait until the cookies are completely cooled before decorating.

God’s Work

I’ve heard it said, “Your story is your story and the best way to glorify God is to share how He’s worked in your life.” There were times in my life when I was very clearly less than faithful, but God was always there. Even as a small child, whether I fully grasped the concept of faith or not, He was working in my life. I used to say, if asked, that the turning point in my life was when I started studying God’s word formally with Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), that’s when God called me to believe. I’m not sure that’s the case anymore.

I was around 18 months of age when I had a seizure that sent me to the hospital. My earliest memory is of the ambulance ride there. I remember how frightened my mother looked and how I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. I remember the electrodes stuck to my scalp for the EEG. I remember wanting to just go home and not understanding why I couldn’t go home. God was there that day, He started my memories here. Despite the chaos that was going on around me that day, I can still see His hand guiding the doctors and nurses who cared for me. The blessing, after everything that happened, was that I was going to be just fine. I’ve had no other seizure since.

I remember crawling into my sister’s crib once or twice before age 3 when she was crying during a storm and sleeping next to her so she wouldn’t be afraid.

We lost the first house I remember to bankruptcy, but God provided a new house in another part of town so that we wouldn’t be homeless. It was smaller, quite a bit smaller, two bedrooms and one bathroom vs 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a huge playroom for all the toys. It had everything we needed, no excess. We lived there for about 8 years. I think it was while we lived in that house, I started to realize God was more than someone I said my prayers to every night.

I went to a private Christian school from preschool to 8th grade. I was in first grade when I realized my sin grieves God. My first experience with this was during Lent, leading up to Easter. I remember asking my teacher why I felt so sad about sin, “I feel like I’m hurting Jesus when I do something naughty.” I think that would have been a great time for her to share the Gospel with me, but I also think this profound statement from a 6 year old caught her completely off guard. While I don’t remember her response, I’m pretty sure she gave my parents a phone call that evening. That’s right around the same time the “Holy Fear” set in; “Holy Fear” of God’s judgement and hell. While this was my first real experience with faith and God, I don’t remember a time when I didn’t know He was there. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t believe in God.

Around this time I started praying at night that God would give me wisdom like Solomon (it does say in the Bible that no one before or since has had the supernatural wisdom God gave Solomon, I was 6, I hadn’t gotten that far reading the Bible yet) because I wanted to be like the smart kids in class. I also started praying that God would miraculously make me an adult because I just didn’t like being a kid. Was I foolish to make these requests? Possibly, yes. Did I believe God could make me wise and instantaneously an adult? Definitely. I’m thankful He didn’t miraculously turn me into an adult at age 6, I’ve had a lifetime of learning that has given me the wisdom I kept praying for as a child. So, in the long-run, yes He did answer my prayers. In His time.

Fast forward to 8th grade confirmation class. I knew God was real, I had a firm grasp of theology, a firm grasp of faith, I believed and had faith that Jesus died for me and forgave me and that God’s grace was abundant. I understood communion and I understood that God had a plan for my life, as He does for everyone, but I had no idea what that plan was, when it would happen or if it was already in progress. I knew there was absolutely nothing I could do to get to heaven. God did all the work. God calls His people into a relationship with Himself. God provides salvation through Christ Jesus. God forgives my sin because of Christ. If you’d asked me then if I was a Christian, I’d say yes without a doubt.

High school and college were all about trying to fit in. I can honestly say the back-sliding probably began sophomore year of high school and lasted until I started studying the Bible through BSF in 2010. You could have asked me if I was a Christian at any point those years and I might have said sure or I think so, but I was absolutely not living a Christian life. Perhaps individuals looking at my life from the outside, would see that I was an avid volunteer in church youth programs, a member of the church choir, a regular church attendee, and a Bible camp employee. Impressive, right? The truth was, I was only doing so to keep up appearances. My heart was never in it. I look back on those years and I thank God for His forgiveness and His abundant grace, because I was so far from where I am now. I can honestly say, those were years of rebellion. God was still there though, protecting me from harm that could have come my way. I lived in a seedy apartment in my early adult years (it’s gotten much nicer since I lived there), robberies, shootings, rodents and drug deals were common. Much of what went on in or around the building never affected me directly.

In my late 20s, I developed some health issues. One being sudden on-set, severe vertigo attacks. They came on with no warning. They could last moments or days. They were debilitating. I can remember asking God why me? Then came the pituitary issues. Between the two diagnoses, I was in a funk. I was told having children was not an option because of the risk. I wasn’t sure I wanted to have children if I was going to be stuck having vertigo all the time. Yet God gave me peace beyond all understanding. I accepted that, despite the discomforts of vertigo, I was fine, not in any pain, just dizzy frequently. My life wasn’t threatened. I even had peace that I might never have children myself. I naturally assumed God would bless me in another way. Was I angry at myself? Yes, but that would fade. All this came about the same time I joined BSF. There was a group of women who just prayed over my health regularly. I can’t thank them enough for coming along side me to pray. In time my pituitary situation stabilized and I was given the clear to go ahead and try for children. John and I had already been married several years, and clearly God’s timing was perfect. After our first son was born, I struggled with vertigo a few more times, but quickly realized the problem was mostly gone. I’ve been left hearing loss, permanent tinnitus and pressure in my left ear. I have not had a vertigo attack in 3 years. Praise God!

God is truly so, so good. He gave us two beautiful, healthy boys, two unmedicated, low-risk, out of hospital births, a stable marriage, a lovely church home, and for me, specifically, He has restored my health and renewed my faith. He’s done all the work in me. For that, I owe Him my life and all the praise.

I may not have a dramatic or glamorous story, but it’s the story I’ve been given by God. He created me, gave me the family I have, and as long as there is breath in me, He’s going to have work for me to complete. When I look back, over the 37 years I’ve been given, I can see God guiding me step by step. Even in the years of rebellion, He never left me. I’ve come a long way. No longer full of anger and resentment over my past (that’s the beauty of repentance, it’s healing for the soul). I look toward a future with God and family. I live by faith, through grace, and it’s a gift from God. I am a Christian, a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter, and a friend.

10 Year Anniversary Recap

For those of you who follow us regularly, we’ve had an extremely busy last few weeks. So I took some time away from posting to focus on family and every day life around here. Between appointments for the boys, picking up a new evening routine, (we introduced library night and indoor playground night) my 37th birthday and our 10 year anniversary, it’s been really busy around here! Now that I’ve gotten caught up on life and my Bible Study lesson, I feel like I can write about our anniversary.

It’s been 10 years! Holy buckets that few by quickly! In these last ten years, we’ve purchased a home, sold cars, bought a car, changed churches, John graduated from college, we had two children and survived a house fire. One thing that has stayed the same through it all, we’ve kept God first. We both notice when we put ourselves/life/stuff before God things don’t go quite right. If God is first, things may not always go smoothly, but we’re better prepared to handle things when with God as our foundation.

If you were to ask me for marriage advice, I’m not going to tell you anything you haven’t already heard. When you get married, you’re no longer the only one you have to think about. There’s another person whose opinion and feelings you need to consider before making decisions. When you have children there are more feelings and more little people who come before your wants and desires because they have needs too. In short: marriage and family teaches you how to be selfless. Sometimes this part is easier for wives than husbands, but not always. Every couple is different.

So what do you do for a milestone anniversary? An overnight was out of the question as I’m still nursing our 15 month old over night. We opted for a date day. Which honestly was very welcomed because we haven’t been out of the house without kids in a very long time. We did what any normal couple would do without children: ran errands and ate copious am

John and I getting hitched, 10 years ago!

ounts of sushi. There’s something so satisfying about sitting down to a meal and not having to listen to bodily functions and whining about bodily functions at the table, mixed with complaints about having to eat something a 3 year old would prefer not to eat. It was glorious. Many thanks to my sweet friend Megan for watching the boys while we took time to just be us.

Am I looking forward to the next ten years? You bet! I get to do life with John and we get to watch the two boys we brought into this family grow. Here’s to the next 10 years!

Shortbread Crisp

It’s fall y’all! Everyone’s got some kind of pumpkin spice something in their home and baking season is just beginning! This season, I was blessed to be able to work on this project with the lovely Megan and Naomi over at Happily Dwell. Cooking/baking is my love language. I absolutely love sharing recipes and my kitchen know-how with anyone who asks.

Clearly, he was ready to try apple crisp.

We love baked goods in our house. Whether it’s cookies, bread, pie, or crisp; we just love everything there is about baking. The time we all spend in the kitchen as a family, putting our recipe together, baking it in a warm oven (heating the house at the same time), the aroma of vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg slowly creeping through the house, the joy and laughter we have sitting at the table enjoying the warm dessert fresh from the oven. Fall doesn’t get better than this!

This Shortbread Crisp recipe is so easy to make, and delicious, you’ll be wanting to make it every week.

I like to use the bottom of my measuring cup to level the crust prior to baking, giving the filling a flat surface to rest.

For the crust:

2 cups flour

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup (two sticks) chilled butter

For the filling:

6 cups sliced fruit (apple/peach/pear work great for this recipe)

1/2 cup sugar

2-3 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Topping:

1 1/2 cups oats

1 cup flour

1 1/4 sticks of softened butter

1 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine crust ingredients. Use a piecrust cutter until it resembles pea-sized crumbs. Press into uncreased 9×13 cake pan. Bake 15 minutes.

Prepare fruit, add spices, and
pour over baked crust. Reduce oven to 350 degrees.

Combine crumb topping ingredients and sprinkle evenly over fruit. Place back into oven for 35-45 minutes, until sides of topping brown and filling is soft.

There you have it. The easiest Shortbread Crisp recipe out there. Enjoy Lovelies!

A Christian in a Millennial World (Part 3)

Seeking Truth

In a society where everyone is encouraged to seek their own truth, we often lose sight of the definition of truth. Truth: The quality or state of being true, that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality, a fact or belief that is accepted as true. Not to be confused with Absolute Truth: something that is true at all times and in all places. It is something that is always true no matter what the circumstances. It is a fact that cannot be changed.

I really wanted to have some kind of flowery post about how to find truth, but the fact of the matter is that there is only Absolute Truth. If I were to give you, the reader, a lovely secular version of what truth is, I’d be denying my faith, denying God, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I’d be a liar. I had to dig deep into God’s word to see what He says about Truth.

The fact is, when truth is personal, what is true for one person may not be true for another. This is where we have issues with “societal truth.” None of it is absolute. It’s all based on feelings. Feelings change from day to day, situation to situation, person to person. Absolute Truth is consistent, it doesn’t change. Societally, we are expected to just accept everyone’s personal truth as Absolute Truth, because we are offending them if we do not. Christians are then accused of being closed minded or bigoted when they don’t adhere to society’s standards. The problem with this is that Christians aren’t supposed to adhere to society’s standards, we’re supposed to adhere to God’s standards. God’s standard outranks societal/cultural standards.

Please don’t confuse that last statement as a way for Christians to hate anyone “living in sin.” The Absolute Truth is, everyone “lives in sin.” Romans 3:10-12, “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless, there is no one who does good, not even one.’” Romans 3:23 states, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” By “all” Paul literally means every single person on earth. It doesn’t matter who you are or what type of sin you committed. All sin is the same in God’s eyes, whether you’ve told a lie, cheated on your taxes, committed sexual sin or committed murder. All sin is the same. Christians are not exempt from these facts. Because we are not exempt, we should have compassion on and pray for those who have not yet accepted Christ as their Savior.

We are called to judge other Christians, who should be adhering to God’s standards, but we are not called to judge unbelievers. However, we are called to bring the Gospel to all people. Matthew 28:18-20, “Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.’” Yep folks, you’re gonna get a Gospel message today.

Absolute Truth: We need a Savior. We all need a Savior. A Savior that has been provided to us by a loving God! John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This verse is the Gospel in a nutshell. When Jesus was on the cross, God unleashed the wrath He had planned for us, onto the person of His Son. Jesus, being both God and man, took that wrath and the sins of each and every single person who existed, exists now, and has yet to be born. Unless we admit we are sinful, we will never appreciate what Christ did for us. Needing a Savior is the great equalizer. Sin doesn’t discriminate and neither does our Savior.

Absolute Truth: God is our Almighty Redeemer. None of us would be here, were it not for Him. The earth and everything in it, would be a void. The Genesis story is well known, amongst believers and non-believers alike. Whether someone is trying to disprove creation to prove evolution or vice versa, most people know of the creation story. However after creation, the fall of man, when sin enters the world, how many people know God had already provided a way to save humanity? How many people know that’s when our relationship with God was ultimately separated until Jesus came? Since sin ultimately separates us from God, He had to provide a way to bring humanity back into a right relationship with Him. He had to redeem humanity. To redeem means to gain or regain possession of something in exchange for payment. It can also mean to compensate for the faults or bad aspects of something.

The Bible defines redemption in 1 Corinthians 6:20 and 7:23 as being bought at a price, “You were bought at a price,” are the exact words. God had to compensate for our faults and buy us back from eternal, spiritual death. God gives redemption in Isaiah 44:21-22, “Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” and in Luke 1:68, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and has redeemed His people.”

Redemption comes to us through Christ Jesus, Matthew 20:28, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” and Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us…” The whole of the Gospels are dedicated to the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.

Yes, this does sound like fire and brimstone, but in today’s society, where everyone is given a trophy for participation, told they are perfect, and elevated to god-like status, we all could use a reality check. We don’t all get to go to heaven, it’s not our participation trophy for being “good.” Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourself, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.” Could you imagine all the bragging that would be going on if getting to heaven was based on all the good we did rather than a Savior?

Now that I’ve thoroughly tortured anyone who is still reading, let’s get to the Good News! I want to repeat John 3:16 again, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” We have a sin problem, and sin doesn’t discriminate, how much better is it that we have a Savior who also does not discriminate. Paul writes in his second letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 1:8-10), “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me His prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life-not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Jesus Christ before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” It also says in Luke 19:10, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Acts 16:31, “…Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved…” Romans 10:9, “…If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Why am I quoting all these verses? Because I cannot do justice to what God has already provided us in the Bible. God gave us a Savior in the person of Christ Jesus; He also gave us the way to salvation, written for everyone. Jesus makes it possible for us to have a right relationship with God, having that right relationship, brings us to that road with the potholes, the zipper merge, and bumper to bumper traffic, leading to an eternity with God. God saved us, not because He needs us, He saved us because we need Him.

Hi I’m Lauren, I’m an imperfect christian. How can I pray for you?

Homemade Beef & Broccoli

2lbs Sirloin or chuck roast, sliced

12oz raw broccoli

1 cup beef broth

1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tsp minced garlic

4tbsp cornstarch

4tbsp water

In a crock pot, whisk together beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and garlic.

Place sliced beef into liquid and toss to coat. Cover and cook on low about 5 hours. *Can be cooked on high for 2 hours.

When meat is cooked, wish cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Pour into crockpot and mix well. Add to broccoli and optional veggies. Stir to combine. Cook and additional 30 minutes or until vegetables are cooked.

For this recipe, I love to add 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (if using sesame oil). I also add sliced shivaji mushrooms and 1 cup of shredded carrots. I’ve substituted the sesame oil for walnut oil. It works just as well. Instead of adding sesame seeds, add 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts (adding a lovely crunch).

A Christian in a Millennial World (Part Two)

Modern Spiritualism

*Disclaimer: If you’ve been following me or know me personally, I have not gone off the deep end (stay tuned for Part 3), I’m a Christian (for those who don’t know me), I’m exploring this topic from a secular perspective, working toward objectivity. I have not abandoned my faith, nor am I pointing fingers to shame, I’m just trying to explore a difficult topic.

In order to talk about Modern Spiritualism, let’s first define the word. Spiritualism is the practice of communicating with the dead through the use of a medium or channel. This should not be confused with Spiritism. For the sake of understanding, Spiritism is defined as the study of communication with entities. It was first introduced to the Western World by Allen Kardec in the 1800s. When we think about the term modern we can think of the whole of history; modern being the last 200 years. Modern Spiritualism overlaps the end of the Modern Industrial Movement.

Historically, until the introduction of the Ouija Board (Elijah Bond, July 1 1890), anyone who wanted to communicate with the dead (typically grieving family members) would hire a medium and have a seance with the hope of hearing from their dead loved ones. After the Ouija Board gained popularity, there was a slight decline in the popularity of psychics and mediums, as people could presumably talk to their dead loved ones in the comfort of their own living rooms. There was a span between the 1950s until about the early 1970s that this may have been all but forgotten, except for a few hushed conversations and closed circles. Until The Exorcist hit theaters and a renewed public interest in Ouija Boards and Spiritualism gained momentum again.

With the dawn of the Millennium, and advances in technology, Modern Spiritualism is all over cable television. With over 60 paranormal television shows, I was able to find a list of 10 that happen to be the most popular: Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters, The Dead Files, Paranormal Witness, A Haunting, Destination Truth, Paranormal Lockdown, Ghost Hunters International, Paranormal State, and Celebrity Ghost Stories (for the full list of paranormal shows visit www.ranker.com). One commonality between most of these shows is the use of psychic mediums during investigations. Along with the popularity of these shows came new technology for communicating to spirits. Much of this technology had already existed, but has now been altered specifically for ghost/spirit hunting. Some products include; Mel Meters, EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) Recorders, Spirit Boxes and many, many more (www.ghoststop.com). Let’s not forget smart phone apps. In the dawn of the smart phone, we now have the ability to communicate with the dead/spirits in our pockets.

In the last 10 years Spiritualism and the New Age movement have blurred lines and sort of melded together. With more and more people identifying as “Spiritual” rather than ascribing to one faith, they’re seeking their own truth. This also lends itself into the teaching of Theosophy: there is no religion higher than truth. Elements of Yoga, Buddhism, Shintoism, Hinduism, the use of crystals, energy healing, grounding with nature, some would even go as far to say light workers and white (those who only practice for the good of others) witches would fit with the New Age Movement…etc, are blending together as people pick and choose bits and pieces from each study/practice that fit with their truth.

In this quest for one’s own truth, it seems that Millennials are making their mark, changing the way these movements have previously been perceived. The New Age Movement of the 1960s and 70s is gone, it is now mainstream to find statues of Shiva next to Buddha on store shelves, offered as decor for the home. People aren’t necessarily going off to communes to practice “alternative religions.” They can walk down the street, walk into a Core Power Studio to practice Yoga and get a workout at the same time. Western religions are no longer talked about in hushed conversations, those who practice them are no longer “hippies,” but (predominantly) 21-30 year olds, our neighbors, coworkers, friends and family.

The problem with picking and choosing parts of Eastern religious philosophy while blending with bits and pieces of Modern Spiritualism that adhere to one’s own truth, it’s that it’s all self-gratifying. If we look at how Millennials are perceived: selfish, self-absorbed, and attention-seeking, there is no higher power to whom one submits other than themselves. If each individual believes themselves and their own truth as all important, then anything else, any other belief system (religious or secular) becomes an attack on their personal truth and in turn will then be attacked by the individual.

When living a life devoted to one’s personal truth, even acts of kindness become self-centered, seeking to look selfless in the eyes of other people. Volunteering becomes something to brag about rather than something one does without expecting any recognition what-so-ever.

I’m left with more questions than answers after exploring this topic. How do we, as a society, move past self-centeredness? How do people move beyond looking for personal truth to seek Truth? When do people stop fighting each other because their personal truths do not align (how can they, if each individual has their own truth)?

Stay tuned for Part 3, Seeking Truth.

A Christian in a Millennial World (Part One)

Don’t Call me a Millennial

In order to talk about what it’s like being a Christian in a Millennial’s world, we must first define Millennial. According to the Pew Research Center, a Millennial is someone born “between 1981 and 1996 and the first generation to come of age in the new millennium.” However, if one were to ask an “older Millennial” (myself included) if they felt like they were a Millennial, most of them would say no. There are a group of us, born between 1981 and 1985 who just don’t fit in with the Millennial group. We are the last generation of adults who were around before internet and email, before cell phones, before helicopter parenting. A great number of us have parents who are still married to each other. Most of us had required typing class (on a real typewriter) in high school rather than its replacement: computer science class. The last generation to be “free-range.” The last generation of kids who were able to go out and play in the morning, come home for family dinner, leave to play with friends again only to come home for the night when the street lights turned on. No one had a cell phone, we fought our siblings for the cordless phone when we wanted to talk with our friends. Most families did not have a home computer much less internet access. Our report papers were still hand-written, even in high school, unless specifically requested to be “word processed.” We passed notes in class. Teachers confiscated “beepers” or pagers when they were found on students because, “No one should be contacting you while you’re in school. School is where you come to learn, it’s not a social club.”

Then came Columbine and 9/11; nobody felt safe anymore. Shattered the perception that children were generally safe in their neighborhoods. I was a junior in high school when the Columbine Massacre happened. The following year we started lock-down drills for the first time. I was a sophomore in college when the nation was rocked by 9/11. We could see lines of cars waiting to gas up from our dorm room window. We had been living in a time of relative peace, since the Gulf War.

Most Millennials left the Church as they graduated high school and never returned. Citing that organized religion is a thing of the past, closed-minded, even bigoted. Yet there is this group of “older Millennials” who have returned. And still many, who never left.

Younger Millennials, many of whom, graduated college right as the Great Recession took hold of the job market (2008), making it extremely difficult to find a good paying job with benefits that would allow them to pay back all the student loans they took out to pay for the highly expensive college education they were told they needed. Older Millennials, many of them, were able to land jobs after college (2003-2006) before the job market took a nose-dive.

Millennials have shaped the faith-culture we see today. They have resurrected the “Spiritualist” movement (popular between 1840s-1920s), there are more ghost hunting and cryptozoological hunting reality shows on television now than there were less than 20 years ago. More people say they are “spiritual” rather than ascribe to any formal religious beliefs. Most people believe: “all roads lead to heaven” or that if one is “basically a good person they will get to heaven.” The newest theory is that when we die we “reach a higher vibration” if we lived a “good” life, then we get to come back as someone else.

Millennials have also been labeled disrespectful, lazy, know-it-alls, unable to do things for themselves, technology obsessed, entitled, God-less, and self-absorbed. They believe they have to be unique, expressive in some way. If they aren’t doing this, that makes them somehow “less.” Heaven for bid society frown upon them because they take time off to raise a family.

Those of us in our mid to late 30s care less about how many social media followers we have. If we have Facebook, it’s to share photos of our children so that family, who may not get to see them daily, can see what our little ones are doing. We still prefer talking on the phone with friends and family over texting. We also prefer to visit in person rather than see what everyone is up to on a computer screen.

That being said, I was taught to respect others. God comes first, above everything else. If you fail at something, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try again or try something new. I’ve failed at a lot of things in life, but I’ve never given up and expected anyone else to “take the reigns” for me. If something needs to be done, do it yourself, don’t expect others to do things for you. I gave up a career path in order to raise my children and I don’t regret it one bit. I’ve never expected anything less of myself, except to be who I was created to be.

Stay tuned for Part Two: Spiritualism

http://www.pewresearch.org/topics/millennials/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritualism

When the House is on Fire

March 5th, nap time, blizzard raging outside, I had just popped a load of laundry into the dryer and got it started. I came upstairs to sip some coffee and hang laundry to dry on racks. A loud BANG sounded from the laundry room like a brick had just turned over in the dryer. I ran down to check things out. I pulled everything out of the dryer to see what made the noise when I noticed a flame coming out from below the lint trap. I pulled the lint trap to see better. Bigger flames. I knew we’d just had the dryer exhaust vent cleaned, it’s not from the lint. 30 seconds had passed and I had to make a choice: Do I try toput this out myself or do I get my babiesand call the fire department? That voice in your head that screams at you to PROTECT YOUR BABIES kicked in. My inner MAMA BEAR roared to life. I ran up, grabbed both children out of their beds and ran out to the garage, all while on the phone with the 911 operator. The laundry room was certainly on fire, the rest of my house was fine, we were insured, it’s just stuff. Black smoke billowed from the open garage (probably saving the rest of my house from the worst damage). The fire department showed up moments later as did my husband (he was my second phone call) and a wonderful neighbor saw me

outside with the boys and brought us into her home.

The fire department put the fire out right away and after a short time the fire chief reaffirmed my thought that it was indeed not the lint that caused the fire. The motor of the dryer burned itself out, going up in a blaze of glory on the way. The most surprising thing to me, was that our gas line didn’t ignite when the motor started on fire. Most people in Minnesota have gas dryers. They’re energy efficient and run better for longer. Never in my whole life have I been more thankful to be alive! To think that the fire could have been much worse if the gas line had gone, my children and I would not be here today. Praise God for His protection!

Things we’ve learned through the insurance process:

After calling the fire department and spouse/roommate/mom call your insurance company with pen and paper in hand.
Be prepared to be on the phone for a time.
You’ll have to give a statement to the fire chief to account for what happened.
You’ll be saying, “Thank you!” more times than you did at your wedding to everyone who helps you that day.
You may or may not be recommended a restoration service for fire damage clean up, if not Google will be your BFF for the next few hours.
Everything after this will take time, be patient, remember that your insurance will pay to restore your home.
Ask all the questions! There will be questions on how things get paid, who gets paid, when things get paid, timeline for completion of projects…etc. The list goes on. Don’t be afraid to call your case handler to ask all the questions that come up. That’s what they’re there for.

The next 8 weeks we stayed with family. Insurance gave us the option to stay in a hotel, but with two little ones, that amount of time in a hotel with no toys is a nightmare. We were blessed to be able to stay where there was an over abundance of toys (I still think we didn’t even play with half the toys that were available after 8 weeks).

God was definitely watching over us! We had posted to family and friends on social media that we were safe and no one was hurt in the house fire that first night. Within hours a friend of John’s called him to see if he could be of service. He owned a restoration company! The weight of trying to find someone to help us was lifted off our shoulders immediately! John met him over at our house the following morning with our insurance case manager. That same morning the damage was assessed, and some of our belongings were taken to be cleaned at an emergency dry cleaning service and were then delivered to us where we were staying (so we would have clean clothes to wear for the duration).

Over the next few weeks all of our belongings were packed up and removed to be cleaned. Our house was cleaned top to bottom (my spring cleaning done for me for the first time ever!). All the wood work was cleaned and varnished, walls and ceilings were repainted, colors that I was able to choose myself and our house had all new wall-to-wall carpeting (I was able to choose that too). There were things that we were unable to keep as they cannot be cleaned: mattresses, some baby items, our sleeper sofa and all the food in our kitchen. Insurance pays to replace those, they also paid to replace the washer and dryer.

Be prepared to unpack for about a week! Call your recycling/garbage company to notify them of the extra boxes you’ll have out by the bins the next weeks.

Moving Home: When we were able to move home (it felt like we were away for an eternity), the same company comes back to clean and dust one more time before they delivered all our belongings. Everything was boxed up. Everything. They put our furniture back where it came from and all the boxeswere labeled and placed in the rooms where the items were originally. It felt like a combination of Christmas

and moving into a new home. Our house smelled new, it felt new, it looked new and I was inspired to decorate all over again.

Little Surprises: 10 years ago or so, when we got married and bought our house, we purchased a dining set so we would have somewhere to eat. On a night of hosting friends, we discovered one of our dining chairs was broken. Not knowing how it happened, we just placed it in the garage thinking we’d get around to fixing it, where it collected dust. The restoration company FIXED the chair. Yes, they fixed it, better than new! The clothes cleaning company owner, Curt, paid attention to detail. All our items were pressed perfectly and on hangers when we received them. He noticed I used a baby detergent on the boys’ clothes. He had all their items rinsed with that detergent before drying and delivering them. He personally delivered items to us when they were cleaned. We felt so cared for by everyone. We’re usually the ones taking care of everyone else, it felt good and different to be on this side of the situation.

New Dryer: We found out we were covered for both a new washer and dryer. The fire was so hot in the

New washer and dryer we were able to purchase.

dryer that it melted the side of our washer. For the first time in my life I actually enjoy doing laundry! I do so many loads of laundry a week, with a teething baby and potty training a toddler (post on potty training soon to come), and a husband who needs his workout clothes washed weekly, a new washer/dryer set was something this Mama needed. I didn’t even know I needed it! In the past I never would have left the door open to the laundry room for anyone to see. We called it “The Cave of Despair” it was just THAT icky in there. The whole room is brand new! We can’t even tell that there was a horrible fire in that room!

Since we were unable to keep our mattresses and sofa, insurance covered to replace them. We found that shopping at Ikea was the best solution. We were able to get more bang for our buck. What we were able to get was nicer than what we had before the fire!

My last task is to start baking bread and put a bunch of pans of lasagna together to bring to our sweet neighbor who took us in that day and bring 3 or 4 pans to the fire station just down the street. As an Italian, we love on people with food. We thank them with food, we celebrate with food…we just kind of do life with food.

My life lesson brings me back to Job; we went through a hard time. We had to persevere and trust that God had us in His hands and that He would take care of everything. When we did that, we were able to see His work and give Him the glory. We lost everything for a time, only to have it all returned better than new! Better than before. Rejoicing in the blessing, resting in His grace and appreciating everything we have been given all the more.

-Lauren

Companies mentioned:

Restoration Professional – http://www.restpro.com/

Emergency Restoration Clean’n’Press –http://www.cleannpress.com/services/emergency-restoration

Electronic Restoration Services – https://ers-us.com/