The Climb

I haven't written in forever! What can I say... alot has been going on!

A friend and I went and watched the Hannah Montana movie- I know Im 23 years old but I love that show and The Suite Life of Zach and Cody! I think I need to grow up- ahh! Something tells me that we'll never grow out of the Disney channel-hah! Anyway, I recommend spending the money to watch the movie- the music's great! Yes, we cried! (Funny thing is: we weren't the only ones!) The movie so opened our hearts to dreams the Lord's put in us that make us who we are in Him.

Other than that- school needs to hurry up and get out!

Im so ready for Romania... I cannot wait to see what He has in store for us on the trip!
www.watchmanscall.org - check it out!

Love you guys!
B

Betty Baker

Do you ever just feel like baking?
Yesterday I was stuck inside because of the rain and needed something to do... I played with the wii fit for a while but I was still wanting to do something so I wandered into the kitchen looking for food, which is what I do when I'm bored- eat! Then I decided to cook! First I made some red beans and rice with sausage... wasn't exactly an adventure but they were yummy! It was then that I noticed we had three boxes of cake... ideas, ideas....
I pulled out the dark chocolate cake and wondered what I would use for icing so I googled recipes, an idea I got from some very dear friends of mine. I found a recipe for chocolate-amaretto icing... I LOVE AMARETTO! I figured we had it because we make amaretto ice cream in the summer so I started to make it! Lo and behold we had no amaretto... so I substituted it with Baileys! The reciped was a mixture of powdered sugar, butter, amaretto (in my case Baileys), cocoa, and coffee! I spiced it up a bit by adding a package of chocolate pudding and a little milk- wow the cake was INCREDIBLE! Very rich due to the Baileys but oh so good! (even better on vanilla ice cream!)
Call me chef B!

Our Heart's Longings

I haven't written in forever so...



I just finished a book in 24 hours! I highly recommend it! It's by Mike Bickle, from IHOP- Kansas City and its called The Seven Longings of the Human Heart. The book opened my eyes as to how we were created (in God's image) and how we reflect His desires. It brought me to my knees in repentance several times and deepened my love for Him, on so many levels!



The 7 longings are:

1. The longing to be fascinated

2. The longing to be enjoyed

3. The longing to be beautiful

4. The longing for greatness

5. The longing for intimacy without shame

6. The longing to be whole-hearted

7. The longing to make a lasting impact



It explains so much, right? We all in some way or another long for all seven of these things and Bickle proves this through God's word. On so many occasions we repent for the desire for these things but they aren't sinful in any way! He made us people of promise- why would we need to repent of these things? There is however one thing, all of us do, that must be repented of and that is trying to fulfill these desires through other things, whether in relationships, possessions, self-promotion, etc. God is the only One that can truly make our hearts glad in fulfilling these desires! He put them there so that we may draw near to Him! WE ARE HIS BELOVED AND HIS DESIRE IS FOR US! Wow!



God is so good! I praise you Father! You are my Hero Jesus! I worship and adore you! ha ha- woo!



Yes, I'm sure we've heard these things before in a pastor's sermon or from other books and things, but has it really hit your heart? I guess its all about the Lord's timing because Ive known these things for quite some time now. When I read Bickle's book my heart was enlightened and my eyes were opened! So, with that, I will close singing a song by Kelanie Gloeckler....



I am my beloved's and He is mine.

I am my beloved's and He is mine,

His banner over me is love!

How high,

How wide,

Is this love that's holding me.

My soul is free.

To know the one who gave Himself for me.

To deeply drink from the well of life and never thirst again.

To be perfectly loved,

To abandon myself to Him!

Saturday Gourmet

So I went to lunch with my mom and we wanted something special... something new! We named off our favorites: Panera, Taziki's, and so on so forth! Nothing sounded good. Surely, you've been in a similar situation before... Well someone suggested we try The Saturday Gourmet Cafe... we were on Hwy 280 and only two minutes from Hwy 41! So we decided to try it out and what an experience!!! It was this small, quaint cafe in "the town" of Mt. Laurel. You're greeted once you walk in the door and are overwhelmed by the aroma of the food. The menu, in and of itself, is astonishing! You're thinking "cafe"; sandwiches, salads, etc. No, don't get me wrong, they have all that, as well as pork loin, steak, chicken, meatloaf, lasagna, and more! (And we're not talking about ordinary recipes either...) My mom ordered the special for that day, pork loin with a pumpkin sauce, and I ordered the Fried Green Tomato Club with Gouda mac. As we waited we sampled the cranberry white chocolate cookie and the triple chocolate peanut butter brownie.... INCREDIBLE! (that's coming from two sweet tooths!) When the food arrived, it took a while to decided whether or not we wanted to eat it or just stare... it was so pretty. The smell won out- we ate! Words truly cannot describe the feelings you feel as food that savory touches your tongue! WOW! Words cannot express...Go and see for yourself! By the way all their food is fresh and not to mention organic! YUM!!

here's a link... check it out:
http://www.thesaturdaygourmet.com/index2.php

I Love My Ladies!

For Amber's 25th... been meaning to post these for some time now- Im a week behind, or two! I love you Amber!

Economics What?

I just took my first economics test for this semester, which btw I'm having to retake bc I've failed once before! I don't know what it is about this subject but you're girl does not get it. All this supply and demand, market eqilibrium, blah blah... I haven't decided if its the concepts I don't understand, the graphs throw me off, or that theres just too much information to retain and apply. I will admit my professors really good but its my brain I'm a little worried about! (I wonder if I'm starting to see some side effects of past decisions Ive made- Im pretty sure the Lord has restored what the enemy stole!)

Anyway I took the test and now my brain feels as if its dying- I wander if Im just not able to take that much challenge at one time?!? I need a nap now but still have one more class to go- ahh sometimes I wonder why Im back at school... that makes me want to sing the song Billy Madison sang on his first day back at school... "back to school, back to school, hope my dad thinks Im not a fool...." I think thats how it goes...

Anyway schools a good thing... I think (at least Im trying to think it is!) Wow... the Lord's moving!

buh valentines

I just wanted you guys to know that I really don't like Valentine's day but I must inform you that I am doing one of my favorite things ever all weekend- Babysitting!!! So, therefore, I do have a valentine... His is Jesus- and He gave me the best present! I get to watch my little ones all weekend... ya hooo!