Talk to Yourself

I've been listening to random sermons about the power of our minds lately. One thought that has stuck out to me is:

"Don't listen to Yourself - Talk to Yourself!"

There is so much talk these days about listening to the inner voices inside of us and following our instincts and women's intuition and such. These all may lead us in the right direction at times, but if we are not in the center of God's will and allowing the Holy Spirit to convict us at all times, then it is not the voice of God within us giving us this direction.

A sermon I recently heard by Beth Moore was discussing the devil's main method of attack....that being the mind. If he can convince us of things and get us to agree with him, then this affects our beliefs which in turn affects our actions. He fills our minds with lies as his most powerful weapon is his mouth.

I think that we need to speak truth back to him and to ourselves. This is "talking to yourself". Reciting scripture is a great way to do this. Fill your minds with what is true and right and pure and noble and admirable. Dwell on such things. Tell yourself that God has always proven faithful. Tell yourself that God is believable. Tell yourself that God loves you the way you are. Tell yourself that God is bigger than the problem you are facing. Find scriptures to back up what you believe to be true and meditate on it. But remember the devil cannot read our thoughts. We must speak out loud to him.

I truly believe that the difference between listening to ourselves and talking to ourselves will be the difference between a defeated life or a victorious one.

Home Again, Home Again Jiggity Jig!

To Grandmas
To Grandma
to get some hugs....BIG
Home Again
Home Again

Jiggity jig!

Well......we had a little unexpected 6 day visit at Grandma Berube's house this week! Last Thursday night we heard a very loud beeping. Matt asked me if it was my cell phone but we quickly realized it was our carbon monoxide detector - the one we forgot we even owned - beeping on top of our fridge. We quickly called the emergency folks and they determined our CO levels were much too high and made us sign a paper agreeing that we would not sleep in the house until it was fixed.

So.....off to Grandmas we went.....with many bags and a VERRRRRRRRRY excited Abbigail!

When you live in the same town as family, it's so rare that you pack up and stay at eachother's houses for this long of a time. So it was an unexpected little blessing......for the first few days at least :)

Grandma was so happy to cook for us, play with us (we had quite the sledding adventure) and do our laundry. It was a nice break from my day to day chores around here.

Matt got the part for our furnace ordered Friday but Monday was a holiday, Tuesday the part never arrived and so we didn't get back home till Wednesday evening.

We are so thankful to be home in our cozy house but glad to have had the time with Grandma. So glad she's in town and willing to be flexible!

Thanks MOM!!

Berube Bites

***This is my dad after he got the news his first Grandbaby had been born - Abbigail Joy on April 15, 06 - he figured he deserved a very large chocolate bunny! Good thing my mom was with us......she may not have allowed him as many bites as he desired!!!

Crazy Cake

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups water
3/4 cup oil (I often use applesauce for 1/2 of it)
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together but DO NOT BEAT!
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or so

******This is called "crazy" cause it uses no eggs - apparently the baking soda and the vinegar react to make an "egg" !! It is a no-fail chocolate cake.....even the non-bakers out there cannot mess this one up :) I have made it into cupcakes, sheet cakes and even stacked cakes. It works every time!

For the frosting - I love to make a butter cream one and add mint flavoring. Or a peanut butter frosting is great too. Or you can just stick with a regular old chocolate frosting. All are delicious.

ENJOY!

Wordless Wednesday

Remember

I don't know about you.....but there are days that the sparks of romance are NOT flying in my relationship with Matt - or more affectionately - HUB :) Do we love eachother? For sure! Are we committed to eachother? You betcha! Are we riding the love train every minute, hour, day, week? Not always........

I was listening the other day to a program on Focus on the Family. Scott Stanley was speaking on marriage and had some new thoughts on rekindling the love we once knew.

He uses the verses in Revelation 2 where John is writing to the church and encouraging them for persevering in their hard work for God. But when he comes to verse 4, he says he holds one thing against them.

"You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you've fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first."

Stanley relates this to the marriage relationship - which I had never heard done. As I thought more about it though - we are the bride of Christ as Christians. Our physical marriages are a reflection of the relationship Jesus has with each one of us. What a huge task we have to properly reflect this to unbelievers around us!!

From this verse, Stanley points out three directions if we have lost our "first love" - being our spouse in this case.

1. Remember
2. Repent
3. Do the things you first did

When we were first married I used to bend over backwards to make sure my Hub was comfy and had all of my attention. I would move mountains to spend time together. I wrote many love letters and spent endless hours thinking up just the right gifts. When we would fight, I was crushed to the core. We would work out every last hurtful word/thought till there was nothing between us.

Then......somehow......over time..........we begin to take eachother for granted. Now it's more important to spend time with my girls.......or friends......or facebook......or the phone. Now I don't always know what he's doing and he only gets my leftover time. The love letters are just a quick email and the gift is quickly picked out at the last minute with whatever funds are left after the kids' gifts. When we fight it's not nearly as big of a deal and I quickly dismiss it without any urgency for resolution. It doesn't seem to crush me as it used to.

While these things are not all true of me today, right now.......I have struggled with each of these things in my relationship to my dear Hub. I thought Stanley gave some great tips, from this verse, in coming back to the way it once was......

First in remembering "the good 'ol days"!!! I love reading my old journals from when we were dating. Or just sitting around and talking about our honeymoon or our years without kids.

Second in repenting....telling eachother sorry for not placing a higher importance on eachother and making a change - setting priorities.

Third in doing what you used to!!! Write the love letters......make a brag list (more on that to come in another entry).....go for walks ......spend time alone.......fight with passion :) Do things that drew you together in the first place.

These three things will bring us back to our first love - Jesus.....and our first love - our spouse.

LOVE YOU HUB!

Spend YOURSELF

I was deeply moved tonight catching up on a Beth Moore video I missed this week at church. I attend a Ladies Bible Study every Tuesday morning (when the family is healthy and I have gotten to bed on time the night before!) and we are studying The Fruit of the Spirit.

This video was focussed on Goodness.....can't really say I've specifically studied this quality of God.....found I have much to learn. I am going to try and paraphrase this video and give you some of the highlights and things that have given me much food for thought.

"GOODNESS DOES"

Although our Salvation is not based on what we do, we were saved for good works. God has given us a to-do list! Goodness, in the Scriptures, is always linked to an action. We express how good our God is by benefiting those around us through our good works.

The problem is that we live in a self-absorbed world.

Everything is about ME - what is best for ME - what will satisfy ME - what will make ME happy.

If we take a look around us we will see that there is an increase in depression and suicide in our world. People are so inward focussed instead of doing as God intended and giving out in good works to others. Now I am not suggesting that simply doing good will solve all depression......but I do believe that as we are forced to look beyond ourselves and our own finite world, we will see a world who needs us. By meeting those needs, our own need to be needed will be met. This will result in healing for us.

God put a deep desire in each of us to have the need to benefit or contribute to others.

Isaiah 58:6-11 says that if we SPEND OURSELVES:

1. Our light will rise in the darkness
2. The Lord will guide us always
3. Our needs will be satisfied
4. Our frame will be strengthened
5. We will be like well-watered gardens

We need to pray for specific ways that we can reach beyond ourselves - even in the midst of pain and trials. God will bless us when we do.

The Christian life stands in direct contrast to the world's thinking.......in laying down our lives we are raised up. "In spending our lives, we are made rich."

***If you have never done a Beth Moore Study, I highly encourage you to try one. She's an amazing teacher and has many very in-depth Bible Studies that have increased my knowledge about God and deepened my relationship with Him.

Ella's First Year

cozy and warm for 9 months

January 8, 2009

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

One Year!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Princesses - Daughters of the King

And the prayer went like this:

"Dear God, thank you for making me so beautiful in my dress at church today. Amen."

That's when her mama decided (lest she become vain) we best discuss being beautiful both on the outside AND the inside!!!!

Of course these discussions always get me thinking about the way I view my own self. Every day I become acutely aware that my little girls are watching me as I put on my clothes, do my hair, apply my makeup and evaluate myself in the mirror. While we all need to do these things to be presentable, I want to model to my girls that these things are not what really matter to God.

When we have Jesus living inside us, we are by position - PRINCESSES because He is our King! It doesn't matter how we look on the outside, we will always be a princess to Him.

But you have heard - "God loves you just the way you are but loves you too much to leave you that way."

Hence my discussion with Abbigail. God only cares about our heart. I asked her - "Do you think that a very pretty little girl who was mean to her friends would be beautiful to Jesus?" Of course not! It's what's on the inside that counts. And a beautiful heart does not come naturally.....making good choices in character goes against our sinful nature.

But the reality is.....we as moms have to believe it in order to teach it! Oh we know it in our heads but are we portraying it visibly in our lives? This is the question I ask of myself daily.

I want my girls to see that inner character needs to come before outward appearance.

Berube Bites

I don't know about you but I am always looking for new recipes......so my new addition of:

Berube Bites

is to inspire the rest of you bloggers to try something new and perhaps post some recipes on your own blogs for me.....so my poor family doesn't go insane with food boredom!

Parmesan Chicken

1/2 cup butter or marg
2 tsp mustard
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

In pie plate or shallow bowl, combine butter, mustard, worcestershire sauce and salt. In plastic bag, combine crumbs and parmesan cheese. Dip chicken in butter mixture, then shake in crumb mixture. Place in a 9x13 pan. Drizzle with any remaining butter mixture. Bake at 350 for 40-45 min or until juices run clear.

**I try to cut my chicken very thin - even in strips if you like. That way it soaks up more of the flavor.

ENJOY!

Grandma with Abbigail Joy on her 1st Birthday - April 15/06

Grandma with Gabriella Hope on her first birthday - January 8/09

Happy Birthday Ella!

Laura and Eric bought her this fun party hat! Went well with our polka dotted theme! She didn't mind it till the rubber band under her chin snapped her......poor baby....I so remember that happening to me as a kid!

We went to Planet Pizza to celebrate on Friday. Daddy met us there and he's always greeted with HUGE smiles and hugs!

Abbigail convinced me that I needed a ride down the slide.....I wasn't so sure and prayed the entire time that I wouldn't get stuck! Now that I've done it once, I'm sure this will be a repeated event....oh boy! But if Grandma Berube can do it I suppose I can too :)

Grandma Berube also met us and brought a GIANT cookie cake for Miss Ella! Ella always gives Grandma toothy grins and big hugs with a pat on the back as well - quite sweet!

Nothin' like a little pizza crust for lunch.....or let's make that A LOTTA pizza crust!

On Sunday night we had a party with a few family friends at our place.

We were soooo lucky to have Eric (old friend) in town! He got stranded here with the military and nothin' better to do than come celebrate with us!

Ella was slightly overwhelmed by all the people and chaos in our tiny house and so wasn't overly excited about the cake we let her have all to herself.......oh well.....chocolate, frosting and 1 year olds are likely not a great mix anyhow.....can't say we denied her the privelege though!

Publish Post

I am pretty sure that I need to stop blinking.....SERIOUSLY....where has this year gone? I love my Miss Ella Bella and can't imagine my life without her. How truly blessed I am to have the privelege to be her Mama.

Plan B

I'm sure you've all heard that life is how we handle Plan B. Being the type A person that I am, it has been a life-long struggle to accept the fact that as organized as I might be......there are just some things I can't plan for! And I think I'm finally learning to say "That's okay!" Spontaneity.....surprises.....they can be fun!

This "change of plans" brings me to Christmas '09. Mid December Ella came down with her third ear infection in 6 weeks and was put on another dose of antibiotics. Then Matt came down with wicked sinus congestion. In the middle of that I had a 24 hour stomach flu bug along with Abbigail. December 24th.....Minot was graced with a massive blizzard. We received 24 inches of snow in 2 days! We even got a call from the police department advising NO TRAVEL in the city and informing us that all snow plows had been removed from the streets and were parked at the fire station in case of emergency! Skidoos were flying down our streets and there was a hum of snow blowers in the air. On Christmas night, Matt came down with the stomach flu as we had all had. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO US!!!

SO much for getting out of town on the 26th......couldn't even get out of our driveway, never mind Matt was too sick to snow blow! So.....we waited.....I tried to think on.... you know....."lovely things" while knowing I was missing out on time with my family.

Then the 27th......still sick and borders were closed.....so again.....we wait. Now Plan B doesn't seem that fun!

The 28th - finally ready to go. Had great roads the entire way - praise God.

We arrived at Karen and Andrews and set up "shop" - oh the stuff you have to drag along having little ones!!!

The next day (and the next 3 following) the ENTIRE extended family came down with the stomach flu bug! It made it's rounds through the house, some having it worse than others. That was "bonding"!!!

So.....not as many days together as we'd hoped......no going out to eat as a family......no big turkey Christmas dinner......

But.....

We were all together. That's more than a lot of families can say.

We will take life as it comes.

Happy Birthday Baby Jesus

I have found the Christmas season to be such a chaotic busy time in my life. Above all I want my kids to know and understand the true meaning of Christmas. When I heard about the idea of making a birthday cake for Jesus, I knew Abbigail would definately be "down" with that idea! Chocolate cake, frosting and sprinkles - what 3 year old wouldn't? Birthdays are such a big deal to her now and this gave her a tangible way to see and understand that Christmas is really Jesus' birthday and therefore it's a day that is supposed to be about Him and not us.

So.....we invited Ashlyn Vix over and together they decorated - creatively I must say - a beautiful cake in His honor.....red and green sprinkles abounded and we all enjoyed a taste as well :) I know Jesus was blessed by this act of love.

Jesus - my Friend

I believe the most meaningful connection you will ever have is the one you can have with your Creator.

He is longing for a deep intimate relationship with you and I. Imagine! The God of the whole universe, desiring a friendship with us!

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

While we were sinners, Jesus gave His life on the cross for you and I. But He did not stay dead......NO! He's alive! If we admit our sin and believe he shed His blood for us, we can enter into a friendship with the living God.

I wish I could tell you that His connection is the one I long for the most, but I must say that my hubby, family and friends usually come first. Oh I long for it......but do I act upon it? This is a daily battle......one I intend to conquer with His help.

All other connections are extensions of the one we have with Jesus -

we can love because He first loved us

we can serve because He first served us

we can care because He first cared for us

Let's connect with Jesus!

Connections

For a few years now I've been reading friend's blogs and have thoroughly enjoyed getting a glimpse into your lives.

Life is passing by at an incredible rate and I believe that it is only as meaningful as the connections we make along the way.

For me, those connections are not as easily made over dinner, dessert, shopping or even playdates. The more kids we each add to our lives, the more scheduling becomes an issue and.....in the case of a playdate.....the noise definately affects our depth of connection!

I by no means believe, or even want to give up, physically connecting in person with you my friends, but am slowly coming to grips that this is not as possible as it once was. Of course I love having MANY friends - perhaps this is the source of my problem.....but how does one eliminate? Oh no - I could never!

So......this leads me to my point - blogging is a way for me to share my life with you.....for you to see my heart on various matters.....to hear what my week has looked like.....to display pictures of my family.......to hopefully provide some encouragement in this thing called LIFE. Because......

It's only as meaninful as the connections we make.