"Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:33 NIV.

I have been reading Mark and today this caught my eye. I am so grateful for the friends God has cultivated into my life. I realize that the reason I have such a fondness in my heart for some people is because God established our relationship, that it is based on truth and grace. It is different when Christians bond, I think. There is a foreverness about the relationship. There is true acceptance--truly recognizing the person, knowing their flaws, but not allowing the bad to overcome good by setting up appropriate limits. Being able to set a boundary with a person, Saying "I don't want to." "No." "Not so much." "Nah." "Maybe Later." "I can't." is met with appreciation (though disappointment), but not disgust or anger, hatred or angry outbursts. Sure it hurts to be told no, but the good times are made even better when there are good boundaries.

I feel loved by the people who tell me no and those whom I can say no to. I feel a grudge against those whom I feel compelled to say yes to. That's my problem, though and I really am working on it. It's not their fault, it's mine for not saying no when I needed to. I'm learning to forgive myself for that and accept that about myself, to recognize when it is happening again and try really hard to stop. One thing I've done is delay giving an answer or delay a response for a while.

Firsts

My first time giving a public testimony for the Lord was fantastic. The Lord has been teaching me about Love and healing for a while now. So, when I spoke to a group of prisoners, I just delivered a brief message about what I felt God wanted me to share about Love. We had several speakers who spoke of overcoming tragedies, hurts, and experiencing miracles. There were singers, interpretive sign to song, and prayer. It was so neat to see how each person delivered a message and it was recieved by someone who attended. It was also neat to be blessed so much in return. I "knew" I was in for a blessing. I have heard many teachings on blessing the giver recieves is often better than giving the gift. I don't know how much is appropriate to say about the trip itself online, so that's all I'm going to say. I will write down a summary of what I said, though! Everyone is familiar with the Ten Commandments, but Jesus gave* us two: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ...[and]... ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" (Matt 22:37-39) There are three things here: Love God, Love your neighbor, (the same way you) Love yourself. 1. God Loves us so much... John 3:16. It is hard to imagine love like that when you have felt so unloved. God IS Love. He fills you up with love and teaches you how to love. 2. Love Yourself. You really need to learn how to love yourself. Give yourself a break. You are not perfect. God made you and he loves you. You do not need to be perfect so you should give your self a break when you fall short of how you wish you could be.* Jesus paid for our sin. 3. Love your Neighbor. You get God's love and learn how to love and accept yourself, you can understand how to love your neigbor as you love yourself. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Footnootes (Afterthoughts) ---------- *I should have said "summed them up with two" b/c he gave us the "go" commandment. *In context of what I said, I do not think anyone took what I said as permission to sin, so I hope the reader won't impose that view on this summary.

Thomas' First Hair Cut

I cut Thomas' hair today for the first time. He was really happy and unconcerned. He didn't fuss at all! I used the no. 5 guide on my clippers and went for it. My little boy is growing up!

Before:

After:

Christmas Morning

 
 
 
 

Meatball ItailanoAmericanoKiddo Recipe

My very own meatball recipe:

1 lb ground chuck 80/20
1 egg
1/4 to 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1.5 tsp oregano
1.5 tsp basil
1.5 tsp garlic
0.5 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 small can tomato paste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
Mix and squish the ingredients with your hands until well blended.
Measure out 3 Tbsp of the mixture and form a ball, making about 12 meatballs.
Arrange the meatballs in 3 rows almost touching each other in a ceramic baking dish or in a foil lined pan.
Bake for 40 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 160 degrees F.
Remove the meatballs from the baking dish into a clean dish. (Do not allow meatballs to sit in the drippings.)

Serve alongside spaghetti with meat sauce or marinara sauce and Parmesan cheese.
Serve with sauted green peppers and onions and rice. Cover with a gravy made with some of the meatball drippings.

Biggie's Chili

I love making chili. It reminds me of my Biggie. My mom made this same recipe, too. It's a family tradition. I remember the time I called my mom to ask her all the stuff to put in the recipe. She gave me the ingredients and I've been making it ever since. I've even modifed the recipe slightly, like I use ground cloves instead of whole cloves, but that's about it! Also, Lucks quit making the chili hot beans, or the store quit carring them, so I've started using Bush's chili beans, or even my own leftover beans. Making chili is fun.

Thomas and his Tooth

A couple of days ago, Thursday evening, Thomas had his tooth knocked loose! I just knew it was going go fall out! I'm so thankful to God that it didn't fall out. He's walking so well and so fast that he's almost running now, at least he joins in with the "get me" running around the loop in the house now! Also, Joanna has taken to running Thomas down and jumping on him. They both laugh histerically and get up and do it again. I've been discouraging this game as it's seems a little too mean for my liking. (Even though they are laughing, the fact is Joanna is pushing him down.) Well, Thursday evening, I think both games got combined...Joanna and Thomas were going around the loop. I think Thomas was going after Joanna for a while, then he waddled out of the "loop" into the dining room by the office and Joanna followed him...then there was a thump and a wail. Joanna had pushed him down, both of them laughing all the way down. I am reminded of the saying "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt." He was almost inconsoable. I was shocked to see blood on his mouth! I asked Joanna to get a tissue and pointed out what she had done had hurt Thomas. She started crying too! Thomas was o.k. After about two or three minutes, he'd forgotten all about it and was on to playing again. I just made sure not to give him any hard foods the next day just in case his tooth was still loose! As I write this I think that Joanna has not pushed him down again since. But it has only been two days!
Joanna does like to play with Thomas. She's been the "bigger one" for  a while, but that is starting to change. Here's a story about how Thomas got Joanna rustled up recently. I have always kept the bathroom cabinet empty and Joanna  has always loved climbing in there. With Thomas added to our family, she still gets in there but now but it's like a big game of peek-a-boo. Thomas follows her and stands outside the cabinet while she opens the door and screams, and he screams and pushes the door closed, this is repeated ad nauseum. I have found this activity wildly amusing and I just love that they are delighted together. Well, earlier this week, they were playing cabinet peek-a-boo and Joanna just started sreaming, "Thomas" then, "Mommy" with panic in her voice. So, I jumped in there and pulled her out.  I think Thomas held the door shut instead of just closing it and Joanna couldn't open the door with her own force. That'd set me into a panic wouldn't it you? Having fun, then suddenly, you are trapped. Poor girl. Now, I'm sure Thomas hasn't ever had a bad thought in his life, and loves Joanna more than one could imagine. But, this was a game-changing moment of Thomas becoming stronger.