30 Acts of Thanksgiving (Day 7)

Posted on November 7, 2013 by fromthecommittedheart

Day 7: Our Home/House

Whether you live in a one bedroom shack or a 15 bedroom mansion, it’s important to be thankful for what you have. My husband and I started with a 1200 square foot house. We loved this house and it was perfect for us, it was just what we needed when we got married. Fast forward ten years later and we have just closed on a house that has a bedroom for each of our kids, a large enough family room for our family plus large enough for our guests and my favorite, a school room!

It is important to teach your kids to be thankful for what they have and by doing that, you show them how to take care of the things they are blessed with. Today we are going through each of the bedrooms, from top to bottom, straightening and cleaning everything! It’s easy to take your blessings for granite, which shows God your lack of gratitude.

I know as a parent, my heart would be hurt and upset if the kids took a brand new toy we gave them for Christmas and left it outside in the dirt. Why would we want to bless them with another one when they couldn’t take care of the first toy we gave them! When we are thankful we see the value in our blessings, we cherish them, and take care of them. Today we are very thankful for our home (house).

“..always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~Ephesians 5:20

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much;” ~Luke 16:10

30 Acts of Thanksgiving (Day 6)

Posted on November 6, 2013 by fromthecommittedheart

Day 6: Our Wednesday Night Club Teachers

Every Wednesday night women volunteer for our Mpact Girls Club. The Girls Ministries is about intentional outreach and Christian discipleship for girls. They teach girls biblical truths that will help them learn to make God-pleasing decisions. Most of these women go straight to church from working all day. These volunteers don’t get paid but do it because they see the big picture of investing in our youth.

Tonight we gave the girls’ teachers individual roses and thanked them for their commitment and dedication to the children’s program.

Thanks again ladies for all you do!

30 Acts of Thanksgiving (Day 5)

Posted on November 5, 2013 by fromthecommittedheart

Day 5: Our Christian Radio Station z88.3

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

In a world that displays so many negative messages about life on tv, billboards and the radio…where can you find noble things to think on? Here in Central Florida, we have a Christian radio station, Z88.3! I can play this station at any time and know it’s safe for my children. When running our errands around Orlando, I tune in and songs of praise come from the back seats.

To show our thanks to a radio station that plays encouraging, uplifting, and inspiring music 24/7, we donated to the Z’s Fall Fundraiser. Alayna and Victoria each gave $5 dollars and I matched it times two…which equals a total of $30 dollars for this month…$30 dollars representing our 30 Acts of Thanksgiving!

Thank you z88.3 for making a difference in so many lives. We pray God continues to bless this station and uses it to encourage others around Central Florida as you have encouraged us!

If you are a Z listener and would like to donate, click here.

“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;” ~Ephesians 5:19

30 Acts of Thanksgiving (Day 4)

Posted on November 4, 2013 by fromthecommittedheart

Day 4: We are thankful for the Military Men and Women that serve our country! We talked about the sacrifice these individuals make and the blessing they are to our country.

To show our thanks each of the girls made three to four Christmas cards to send overseas to the troops. On the back of every card, the girls wrote this scripture, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalms 46:1

Tonight we will say an extra prayer for these men and women that lay down their lives for our freedom. God Bless our Troops and God Bless America!

Want to send a thank you card to our military troops, click here.

30 Acts of Thanksgiving (Day3)

Posted on November 3, 2013 by fromthecommittedheart

Today we are thankful for Daddy! We decided to make one of his favorite dishes, Chicken Marsala and for dessert Tres Leche! Each of the girls also made a card describing why they are so thankful for their Dad!

Chicken Marsala Recipe:
Ingreditents
1/4 cup all-purpose flour for coating
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – pounded 1/4 inch thick or cut for desired thickness
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp olive oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms (if desired)
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1/4 cup Cream of Sherry wine
*add some heavy whipping cream for thickness

Directions

In a shallow bowl, mix together the flour, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano. Coat chicken pieces in flour mixture.
In a large skillet, melt butter in oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the pan, and lightly brown. Turn over chicken pieces, and add mushrooms (if desired). Cook until lightly brown then pour in Marsala and Sherry wine. Cover skillet; simmer chicken 10 minutes, turning once, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

30 Acts of Thanksgiving

Posted on November 1, 2013 by fromthecommittedheart

What does it mean to be thankful? My favorite definition comes from a free online dictionary…thankful is to be aware and appreciative of a benefit, expressive of gratitude.

As Thanksgiving Day approaches I think on how I could teach our kids to be thankful. In years past, we made a thankful bucket. Last year we made a thankful chain. Each day we wrote down something we were thankful for. This year I want our kids to dig a little deeper…to go beyond just writing down what they are thankful for.

For each day in November we are going to express our thankfulness in a tangible way.

Below are some tangible examples of thanksgiving:
1. I’m thankful for food.
-give food to a food bank

2. I’m thankful for my house.
-go volunteer at a homeless shelter

3. I’m thankful for my sister.
-make a craft for your sister
-give her a card telling her why you are thankful for her

4. I’m thankful for our car.
-help vacuum or wash the car

5. I’m thankful for our neighbor.
-bake your neighbor some cookies or invite them over for dinner

I’ll be updating this list as we go through each day in November, so stop by again to see creative ways the kids came up with to show their thanks.

November 1st
Alayna: My Mom! She sat back and thought how she could show her thankfulness…then she leaned forward and gave me a big hug and a nice kiss on the cheek. (Yes, my heart melted! There was no greater way for her to show me that she was thankful for me like that hug and kiss!)
Victoria: Josiah…she also chose to give a kiss to show how thankful she is for him.
Kayla: My Sisters! Kayla has decided to let her sisters pick the games they want to play and she will do whatever they want to do for the day, to show how thankful she is for them.
November 2nd: Friends…we made homemade cookies for them.
November 3rd: Daddy…we made Chicken Marsala and special cards expressing how thankful we are for him.
November 4th: Made Christmas thank you cards for our military men and women.
November 5th: Donated to our local christian radio station.
November 6th:
November 7th:
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November 9th:
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November 22nd:
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November 30th:

Pumpkin Carving (Mickey Mouse)

Posted on October 31, 2013 by fromthecommittedheart

Last year was our first time carving a pumpkin as a family…to be exact, it was each of our first time carving a pumpkin ever! We had so much fun we decided to make it a fall family tradition.

Last year we went simple with a Christian cross and fish. There wasn’t much detail to the picture, which made it easy to carve. This year we took it up a notch with Mickey Mouse! The ears were quick, but the eyes took a little bit of time and precision.

My job is to outline the picture with tiny holes from a push pin…I’m in deep concentration if you can’t tell 🙂

This has to be my favorite pic…Javi had just finished carving a part of the pumpkin when they all just sat back and looked…hmmmm….

Wasn’t too sure about the slime…

Finish Product What’s your family’s fall tradition?

Our NEW CLASS ROOM

Posted on October 30, 2013 by fromthecommittedheart

Let’s get organized…

IKEA:
(1) Expedit Wall Shelf
(4) Alex Drawer Units
(2) Linnmon Table Top
(4) Jules Jr. Chairs
(1) Document Magazine File, Set of 2, pink (on SALE)

Target
(8) Storage Cubes (bought these when they were on SALE)
(1) White Board

Wayfair.com
(3) Wall Posters (Trend Enterprises, Inc.)

“Mom’s Hub” (still working on this)
(1) Malm Dressing table
(1) Teal Trash Can (Bed, Bath & Beyond on SALE)

Joss & Main Wall Art

We are very thankful for our school room. Some home-schoolers laugh at the idea of having desks and rooms set up like a class! But you have to do what works for YOU….and for me, I like to be organized! I’m still working on the details of the room but at least it’s functional!
Thanks for stopping by today and checking out our class room hub!

Are You Annoying?

Posted on October 28, 2013 by fromthecommittedheart

“And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?” Luke 18:7

In the Parable of the Persistent Widow, you find a woman desperate…day after day she pleas her case to the unjust judge. Day after day, she returns stating her petition, until finally the judge says, “I will see that you get justice, so that you won’t eventually wear me out with your coming!” Ha, can you imagine being so persistent with your appeal that a person waves a white flag and basically says, “okay, okay, just leave me alone, you’re annoying me!”

The judge doesn’t grant her justice because he was a christian. The Bible tells us, he did not fear God. The judge also didn’t grant her justice because he felt sorry for her, in Luke it states he did not care about men. No, the judge granted her justice because she was persistent in her prayers.

Jesus gives this parable to his disciples to show them that they should always pray and not give up. In verse 8 of Luke chapter 18, it says, the only time we should stop praying for something is Christ’s return…“When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” The demonstration of that faith is persistent prayer. When you stop believing a prayer will be answered, you stop praying. You have given up hope.

What if I were to tell you that your answer is only a prayer away? What if I were to say your healing is around the corner? What if I were to say peace is just a breath away? Let me encourage you friend to not give up! Be persistent and faithful in your prayers.

Persistent prayer is the demonstration of faith in God who, while at times may delay His answers, will always act decisively and justly with respect to His people.

Like a father or mother wants their children to come to them, even more so does our Heavenly Father.

Corn Maze Fun

Posted on October 21, 2013 by fromthecommittedheart

Last weekend we took a trip to Mount Dora, to participate in our first ever corn maze! I started planning the trip about a month a go, when I received a Livingsocial.com email advertising a Long and Scott Farms special admission to their corn maze. Normally, they charge between $11 and $9 dollars for an adult and youth but Livingsocial.com had them for $5…I jumped on it and I’m so glad I did!

Worried about getting lost…have no fear, as you enter the course you are handed a flag to hold up when you have had enough and can’t find your way out. Thankfully we didn’t give in and I’m proud to say we found our way out!