# 101

So this is my post # 101....guess the apple pie making took the whopping #100 place and I didn't even realize it.

But that's ok, because I want to dedicate this one to "Submission 101"

I know, you're probably thinking, "Geeze, here we go again on crazy wives having to submit to their husbands!" And YES that's right, but I just wanted to share what was revealed to me this morning in 1 verse that I've read many many times before!!

1 Peter 3:1

" Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives" (the sentence continues in v 2)

The phrase "In the same way" is what jumped out at me this morning. I've always referred back to Ch 2 verse 18 for that where it talks about slaves submitting to your masters.

That may be what Peter was talking about, however God revealed it in a totally new way!

Yesterday, I studied and meditated a little bit on the previous paragraph. (2L23-25)

1 Peter 2:23 says

"When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he make no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."

And this is what I thought maybe Peter could be talking about that "in the same way" we as a wife should submit to our husbands.

Aren't we always supposed to be like Jesus anyways as his child, so why not mimic his behaviors in our marriage as well!?!?

When we feel like making threats to our husbands- DON'T.....leave it up to God!

When we feel like retaliating or griping at their behaviors- DON'T....leave it up to God!

Just some thoughts- you read it and see for yourself what you think. The main thing here is that as wives we should always always always RESPECT, ENCOURAGE, and SUBMIT to the man God placed in our lives! Even when we don't feel like it!

Oh goodness, may I be a doer of His Word and not just a hearer!

Fun in the kitchen!

I have wanted to make a homemade apple pie (crust and all) since the holidays last year.

I finally got around to actually doing it!

So I bought some fresh apples (the only thing I needed) and went for it!

I used a recipe found online, but I can't find it at the moment. Oops...

Apples all cut up (and yes I had lots left over) Mistake #1 :)

I worked on the crust, and batch #1 went in the trash.....mistake #2!

Finally got batch #2 of crust to roll out and stay somewhat together.

Apples added. Mistake #3 was not putting enough apples in the pie.

Next time I'm piling it up high so it'll be all full and yummy!

So here it is- all ready to go in the oven!

Not too bad looking for a first-timer!

Sneak peak!

And the finished product!

Here are some pics of the disaster that my kitchen was in.....

My lovely apron had a tad-bit of flour on it!

In case you were wondering- it says "Mrs. Hicks -Kiss the Cook"

The flour/ crust-rolling station

Mixing/ apple area.

Note the left over apples......

They ended up ruining bc I didn't feel like fixing anything else with them. :(

Oh, and you gotta love the Kitchen Aid Mixer!

Thehubs inherited it from his dad

Now let's finish by discussing what is necessary to change for the next time around...

1. When mixing the dough, use COLD Crisco and Ice water. (I discovered this with batch #2)

2. DON'T use your hands to mix the dough. I did this both time, and that's why it was dry and didn't roll out very well. There's something about the Crisco not needing to be heated up so it won't mix into the flour completely)

3. Use wax paper when rolling out the dough.

4. MORE APPLES in the pie!

5. More people to eat it besides me! (Michael doesn't really like apple pie)

We will serve the Lord!

Joshua 24:14-24

"So now: Fear God. Worship him in total commitment. Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshiped on the far side of The River (the Euphrates) and in Egypt. You, worship God.

"If you decide that it's a bad thing to worship God, then choose a god you'd rather serve—and do it today. Choose one of the gods your ancestors worshiped from the country beyond The River, or one of the gods of the Amorites, on whose land you're now living. As for me and my family, we'll worship God."

The people answered, "We'd never forsake God! Never! We'd never leave God to worship other gods.

"God is our God! He brought up our ancestors from Egypt and from slave conditions. He did all those great signs while we watched. He has kept his eye on us all along the roads we've traveled and among the nations we've passed through. Just for us he drove out all the nations, Amorites and all, who lived in the land.

"Count us in: We too are going to worship God. He's our God."

Then Joshua told the people: "You can't do it; you're not able to worship God. He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He won't put up with your fooling around and sinning. When you leave God and take up the worship of foreign gods, he'll turn right around and come down on you hard. He'll put an end to you—and after all the good he has done for you!"

But the people told Joshua: "No! No! We worship God!"

And so Joshua addressed the people: "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen God for yourselves—to worship him."

And they said, "We are witnesses."

Joshua said, "Now get rid of all the foreign gods you have with you. Say an unqualified Yes to God, the God of Israel."

The people answered Joshua, "We will worship God. What he says, we'll do."

Will you worship God? Will you serve ONLY Him??

I think it's time we get serious!

Savage

Continuation of my Savannah, GA journal.....

"Savage"

This is the name of one of the older girls that caused quite a bit of trouble earlier in the week. Tonight Billy (one of the women leaders in the youth group) told me about when this young lady came down and said she wanted to ask Christ into her life. Billy said that she couldn't remember her name, and asked her to tell her again. Shen she told her a name different from what BIlly remembered earlier this week, she asked her why she did that. The young lady replied with saying that she told her that her name was Savage because that's what she was. Billy then took time to explain to her that she was a princess in God's eyes and showed her the love of Christ.

I remember that girl like it was yesterday...her real name is Libby. I remember all of us being so broken hearted about how she considered herself "savage". But I also remember seeing the light in her eyes after accepting the love of Jesus! Throughout the rest of the summer, this girl was totally different! While she was running away, cussing, and just being flat-out difficult to deal with before she accepted Christ....she was loving, joyful, and much more cooperative after He cleansed her of her sins! Did she have bad days? Of course, but we worked with her, and helped teach her about the Bible!

Amazing representation of what our Lord still does today!

Hope I'm not boring you guys with these Savannah posts.....haven't got any comments. :(

Feel free to comment and share awesome stories of how God has worked in your lives or how you have seen him work in others' lives!

Next post will be about another story of God turning a precious life around.....stay tuned!

Precious little girl

Savannah (3 y/o girl that stole my heart while in Savannah, GA)

June 27, 2010

Savannah is one of the most precious little girls I've ever met! She's been in VBS this week and she has taken up with me a little bit. It broke my heart Monday when we were in class and she was ready for lunch. Then at lunch, she ate so much more than the other kids, probably because she didn't know if she would get another meal that day!! Today, she did the same thing about eating a lot. She also gets sleepy a lot, because she said that she doesn't sleep much at night time. I wonder what her home life is like?

Tonight, she came to the concert that the choir from KY put on at church. After it was over, during the extended invitation we had- she was sitting beside me and I asked her what she knew about Jesus. She began to tell me what all she knew, as I would fill in the gaps. She said "God died, so we can live." This just blessed my heart so much, because I knew even though she is only 3, she gets it....she understands, at least to some extent!

During the closing prayer, she really blessed me and I think I will never forget this moment. She just bowed her head, and started talking to God as if he were standing right in front of her. She was telling him, "Thank you for this house, and thank you for these girls." After she prayed some more, she then said "God, please let my mommy and daddy stop fighting- and help them to love. I just want them to love each other forever." Wow! A 3 year old grasped what we should be like while praying! I think I finally got the whole concept that we should come to God as little children-just like Savannah! She knew how to talk to God, and she taught me so much about prayer!

Update on Ms. Savannah. I was looking at the Savannah Baptist Center's Facebook page yesterday, and found some videos that churches have posted of their trips there. I'm almost certain that I saw her in one of the videos several times. My heart leaped for joy, because you really don't know many times I've wondered about that angel! I hope to email the director to make sure it was her and maybe get an update on her.

Next is about a teenage girl who called herself "Savage"....before meeting our Savior!!

Filipino church

Here's an entry from my Savannah journal as I promised. First I feel like background info is needed.

I, along with 2 other girls my age, stayed at a Filipino church's parsonage located right behind the church. They sorta helped in taking care of us throughout our 6 weeks of serving at The Savannah Baptist Center. Various churches came throughout the summer to do VBS, sports camps and other activities with the children. We helped the teams with whatever was needed.

Ok, so here goes....

June 27, 10007

"About Church at the International Bible Christian Fellowship"

Sunday morning (6/24) we went to IBCF for the 1st time. The service started at 10:45am and lasted until 1:00pm!! I loved it! They had contemporary worship, which was just cd's and some women singing along at the front. After some worship, they had prayer time. First, they sat all the children down at the front and prayed over them before they went to children's church. Then, they spent a while doing prayer requests and then Brother Jesse (the preacher) did a guided prayer. Nobody was worried about the time-they just were happy to be in the house of the Lord! The rest of the service was pretty much normal. We sng a few moer songs, then Bro. Jesse preached. I think the only other different thing was that they did a devotion before they took up the offering and they all read the scripture verses aloud and together.

After church, they always have a lunch and EVERYBODY stays!

This Sunday, the ladies from the church came over for a baby shower. This kind of baby shower is what I want not only for my baby, but also for my wedding! After doing an introduction get-to-know-you game and a baby game, we prayed for her and some people just gave her an encouraging word. We then gathered around her and laid hands and prayed for her and her baby boy. I just thought that was amazing how even during something like that, they were still putting God 1st! WOW!

More to come later on a precious little girl that touched my life!

Savannah

For those who don't know....I spent 6 weeks in Savannah, GA doing inner-city missions in 2007. That is probably one of the most important times of my life, that shaped and molded me into who I am today!

"Why do you mention this?" you may ask. Well, tonight, I was unpacking a box of my stuff from college that has been sitting behind our couch since we moved (And under the stairs at the town house since I moved in w/Thehubs) and found my journal that I kept while in Savannah.

I actually found about 7 or 8 of my prayer journals too, which was awesome! But my Savannah journal is I think the only one that I've kept strictly to record events and not prayers to God.

I think over the next several weeks I want to share with you guys (whoever you are) about some of the things God did while in Savannah. The things that still affect my life today.

On a different note- Thehubs hasn't bought the game for me to start playing, and really hasn't mentioned it. Hopefully, he weighed his risks and decided that going to the pool all the time wasn't worth it. lol But I'll keep you updated if/when I become a "gamer".

For now- we'll focus on Savannah....hope to begin sharing soon!

30-day trial

So Thehubs and I have a deal. I'll save you all the unnecessary details and just cut to the chase...

Beginning sometime this week I will be playing Age of Conan online with an OPEN MIND. His hopes are for me to fall in love with the game, and be a regular player. Now it's a 30 day trial, because that's what you get for free when you buy the game and sign up.

If I like just absolutely love the game, then I guess we'll pay the $14.99 per month for the subscription.

Now his end of the deal is to go to the pool with me anytime I want (and not complain).

If you know us at all- you know that he is a big-time-gamer, and I'm somewhat of a girly-girl.

Therefore- the 30 days of me playing the game is going to be interesting...and the 30 days of him going to the pool with me will be even more interesting!!

After talking with some friends about our little 30-day trial tonight, I decided to blog about it.

Hopefully, you'll be hearing from me.

He showed me a few things about AOC (Age of Conan) tonight, and I must admit, that it's a little more interesting than I was expecting.

I'll try and post about the things I learned, my thoughts about it all, and our fun times at the pool!!

It's looking like a fun 30 days are ahead of us! :)

Mom

Let me just tell you- my mom and I are so much alike, it's seriously scary! Throughout my teenage years, we discovered this while shopping. We would be in the same store, but looking on different racks or something, and both say "Ohh, this is cute!" and hold up the same shirt or whatever! This still happens often!

Now, let me jump to more recently- as in TODAY!

Mom and Dad came out today to hang out with me since my hubs works ever stinkin' Saturday. So we started out and went to a very teeny- tiny flee market in Bessemer. We then went to play Disc Golf off of Green Springs Ave.

The entire time we played, every time I would throw the disc, mom would throw it within 15 feet of mine! And let's just say that we threw it A LOT because we weren't exactly pros.

So that went on for a few hours..... I'm talking, I throw it in the woods-she throws it in the woods! lol

Then we went back to my place. At this point, it's Thehubs, Mom and Dad hanging out and just talking. I get on the computer and hop on Facebook of course and start stalking people showing her different stuff. She then tells me that she wants to show me this game that she always plays at home on Yahoo. We go to yahoo, and she says oh, well it's called "bouncing balls"...find it and I'll show you. OMG.....THAT is the game I play on facebook all the time!

So we once again had a good laugh, and are still laughing about it!

Just had to write about it, because we are seriously all the time doing something just alike!

I told Michael tonight that I hope he likes my mom because that will be EXACTLY what I'm going to be like in 25 years!!