Everyday, Thanksgiving Day

Last November I wrote about being thankful and followed up by writing one thing I was thankful for for the remainder of the month.  As I look to a year ago, I had to remind myself that as a Christian I need to treat everyday like Thanksgiving Day.  I must give thanks to the Lord during the great times and especially in the midsts of a problem for it is then when I find myself truly growing as a Christian.  So even though I find myself giving thanks to God throughout the day, I will finish the month with some of the things I am most thankful for.

#1: I am thankful for God who made the ultimate sacrifice to free us from our sinful nature.  For God loved us so much that He gave His only son so we may live.

Recipe: Turkey Meatloaf

I made this dish for the first time last night.  I couldn't think of anything good to make so I decided to jump out of the box and try something I've never made before.  According to Adam and our neighbor friend, it was a huge hit (and the kicker, it was super easy)!  I served it with potatoes and a fresh salad.

Turkey Meatloaf

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

1.25 lbs of lean ground turkey
1/3 cup of italian dressing
1/4 cup of barbecue sauce
1 egg
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl until well mixed.  Press into bread load.  Sprinkle a few extra bread crumbs on top and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until top is nice and brown.

HillsongNYC: Update

Here is the lastest update from our pastor, Carl Lentz.  He talks about how the church is going to continue to do monthly services until February so more relationships are built.  They are not in it to "win the battle" but to "win the war."  Watch out NYC :)

The Deal of the Century

People continuously ask me why I use coupons and buy Louis Vuitton bags.  Well I've said it once and I'll say it before, Louis Vuitton does not go on sale people!  I need to get my sale somewhere!

So here it goes; my deal of the century.

I went to JCPenny's on Saturday while the boys took a nap to get a pillow for Adam.  Well they didn't have the pillow I was looking for so I walked around to see of there was anything else worth buying.  I walked into the big boys section to see if there were any summer clothes on sale for next summer.  I ran into this one section that was 80% off the entire rack.  They had the cutest boy shirts, some shorts, etc.  I picked one up and it was mark $.97!  I couldn't believe it.  The shirts were originally $13.99 and they were on sale for $.97!  I kept looking and before I knew it I had 9 shirts and a pair of skinny jeans in my arms for Jayden.

I walked up to the register with my 9 shirts and a pair of jeans, along with my 15% off total purchase coupon and my free $10 off $10 coupon from the mail and ended up paying $1.60 for everything.  Yes, I said it correctly; I paid 1 dollar and 60 cents for 9 shirts and a pair of jeans.  Uh-amazing, ey?

Verse of the Day

Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.  -Peter 5:8-9

As Christians we must remember that the devil is for real.  The devil will try to pull you off course when you're weak and try to direct your focus off of Jesus.  Instead of focusing on trying to always do the right thing we must continue to keep our focus on Jesus.  By doing so, we will have no other temptations to look a different way.  Always remember who is in control; God.

One little, two little, three little stitches...

Four little, five little, six little stitches... Seven little...

Yes, it's true.  Our little man has 7 little stitches above his left eye.

It all started on Saturday night around 3:30 AM when I heard a thud and then a loud painful cry.  I went into Jayden's room to see that he had fallen out of his bed.  I comforted him and told him he was fine (I figure he was just scared) and then he continued to cry so I moved his hand which was covering his face and noticed his entire left side of his face was covered in blood.  From his hair line to dripping off his check onto his clothes.  Adam immediately jumped out of bed as I screamed his name and took Jayden into the bathroom to clean him up.  What I was hoping to see was just a little scratch that was going to stop bleeding once we put some pressure on it.  However, what we saw was a gash the length of his entire eyebrow that was thick and deep.

We hopped into the car and made our way to the emergency room.  Our very first trip to the emergency room due to injury (spent the night in the ER in France due to a stomach virus).  We arrived at the hospital at 3:45 AM and was immediately taken to a room and the nurse quickly got everything ready.  As soon as the doctor came in he knew he needed to get ready for some stitches and that's when I left the room.  Adam said Jayden did great, only cried when he saw the needle.  Believe it or not, we were home by 4:30 AM.  I hear all these horror stories about waiting in the emergency room for hours upon hours.  Thankfully that didn't happen to us!  As soon as we arrived back home, Jayden went right to bed and asked if next time he goes to the hospital if I could call the ambulance to pick him up instead of Daddy driving him.  I then told him I hope to never go back there again!

Videos of the Week

There are two videos I would like to share with ya'll this week.  The first one, my dear friend Erin shared on her blog under the title "Identity Crisis."  Please check it out.  Deanna Favre talks about how her faith is getting her through her current family troubles.

The next video is a glimpse of the first night of encounter for HillsongNYC.  The short video gives you an incredible feeling that God is really moving and the people of HillsongNYC are really starting to build a faithful church in His name.  To God be the Glory!

Please note: you can totally see Adam and I in the front row during the praise and worship part of the video.  Adam is a complete rockstar!