For I know the plans I have for you . . . Reaching out to Community

Kid's Last Backyard Splash!

Tonight was the second annual Kid's Water Fun Night at our church, Pine City Evangelical Free Church. We had a great turnout. I would say close to 100 kids .. not so bad for a little town like Pine City. The turnout was much to do with the Backyard Bible Clubs that have been taking place over the course of the week. The clubs got started from people going out into their communities and inviting children to their backyard club. The clubs consisted of Bible teaching, songs and snacks. This was an alternative to VBS. 

We have only been at our new church for two years, having been at a Baptist Church for the last 13 years. I was a little leary of getting rid of VBS as that has always been our Baptist tradition. But we moved to a new location and found a church that we love and I was willing to accept the 'unorthodox' summer outreach.

The Backyard Bible Club took off. By the end of the week, there were up to 45 kids in each of the two Bible clubs. This was exciting to hear. Before starting the Bible clubs, the youth group went into the community, distributing literature and inviting children to attend . . . and the kids came!

Before the start of the Kid's Water Fun Night, we also went into the community in the late afternoon, inviting any child we saw . . in the spirit of D.L. Moody. I brought two of my own children and another girl from youth group. We went out in pairs inviting kids who lived in the local trailer park across the road. The kids we encountered were very enthusiastic about the evening and ran back to their homes begging a parent to bring them and yelling out to nearby friends inviting them. Our youngest, saw a friend of his from school and was able to visit with him for a while. 

We looked for yards with toys or with pools or bikes in them. One particular place we stopped at had several children's toys scattered on the front lawn. There were two young men sitting on the deck. They looked a bit pale, sunken-eyed and shady, but I approached them anyway. I asked them if they had any children there. They responded by saying, "No." 

I gestured to the front lawn and said, "Are you sure you don't have any kids around?" 

They replied, "They are only here on weekends."

So we left and started toward another home. As we were walking back to our vehicle, after having covered most of the homes in the court, an older woman came out of the home where the two young men were, gesturing us and saying, "Are you looking for children?"

I replied, "Yes. We are having a Water Fun Night at the church across the street."

She said, " I have some grand kids coming soon and they would love to come." She seemed very excited about our being there. I gave her the information and told her we would love to have them come.

God is good

We left the trailer court and headed into town. We stopped at a couple houses where we saw children and the girls went out and invited them to the activities. We stopped at the school playground and the girls got out again and invited some more children to the night. This time the parents at the playground responded by saying they were already planning on bringing their children there. This was encouraging. I knew God had been moving.

The night began with Pastor Joel Preston gathering the kids to hear about the 3 H's of God . . head, hope and heart. He explained that this is what Jesus is to us and gave the gospel message to the children. He explained the rules of the evening and then prayed. 

I remembered back to when the kids and I were in the trailer court and how I met them half way through and told them that we forgot one thing. They looked at me blankly and I told them that we forgot to pray and ask for God's leading in what we do. We stopped there in the road and prayed, asking God to soften hearts of parents and children and to make the sun come out. It's hard to know how many of the kids actually came that we came in contact with, but we talked to about 10-20 enthusiastic kids before the evening started! 

As the night was underway, we saw many kids line up at the check-in table. The night had been planned so well thanks to our office manager, Jeannie and her husband, Lonnie, and the work of our Pastor Joel and Youth Pastor Joe. But I still wasn't sure if God was in it or not. As the children filed in I noticed a woman pushing a walker with two young children in tote. I recognized her as the grandmother we met in the trailer court who came out wondering what we had going on that night. The woman had brought her two young grandchildren. This was also encouraging to me. I greeted her and brought her grandchildren into the bubble pit where they hesitantly, but eventually, engaged in play with those around them.

I stepped back a bit and took in all that God seemed to be doing and met a friend in the church parking lot. She commented on the good weather. I told her that was one thing we were all praying for . . for the sun to come out as it had been a downcast, cloudy day and we were all concerned the weather would hold out. She stated that she had just checked the radar and there had been clouds all around Pine City and that the only clear spot had been directly over the city. This was encouraging to me.

I believe God showed up tonight. 

I don't know what will happen with these kids that came tonight. But I do know we have a church of faithful, prayerful believers that will continue to invite kids to our AWANA program and pray for those who do not know God!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV)

Bling Hot Pink Zebra Print Cake!

Bling Hot Pink Zebra Print Cake

This cake was done with fondant and buttercream. You can find my fondant recipe on this blog. The 'accessories' are made of candy pearls, pearled sixlets (you can find at most craft & hobby stores) and white, crystal sprinkles for some added bling!

Yo Gabba Gabba Cake!

Foofa from Yo Gabba Gabba

Had the privilege to make a friend's daughter a "Yo Gabba Gabba Foofa" cake!

Super moon in Minnesota

Super moon in Minnesota

June 23, 2013

On Sunday, June 23 was full moon. This full moon is considered to be the closest (perigee) a distance of 221,824 miles from Earth, and largest full moon for all of 2013. The moon will not be this close again until August, 2014. This is why it is called a "supermoon".

According to Fox News Science, during Sunday's supermoon, the moon appeared about 12.2 percent larger than it will look on January 16, 2014, when it will be farthest from Earth during its apogee.

A night with Hillsong United at Target Center

Tonight was a powerful evening spent with good friends. The evening consisted of Hillsong United of Australia leading 15,000 people in worship of God Almighty. I suppose the word 'powerful' would be an understatement.

Putting aside all the bells and whistles of the laser beam lights and the booming bass, God truly showed up tonight. It wasn't the crescendo and decrescendo between the verses and chorus or the culmination of all the instruments during a chorus line. But what spoke to me were the lyrics that were posted for us on the large screens so we could sing along, praising God in unison.

The songs were primarily from Hillsong's new album titled 'Zion'. The mission for this album, according to Hillsong Zion's website, is to create music that reveals the truth of who Jesus is. Their mission was accomplished in me tonight. The lyrics pointed me to a Jesus that I knew was there but haven't thought about in a while. The following lyrics in the song 'Oceans' spoke to me tonight.

Oceans (Where my feet may fail)

Spirit lead me where my trust is without border

Let me walk upon the waters

Wherever you may lead me

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith would be made stronger

In the presence of my Savior

I felt God calling me to put aside things that keep me from 'walking on the waters that are deeper than my feet could ever wander.' A sort of fasting of the thing(s) that take the place of God in my life. I want to be in the place where affection can grow deeper than I would allow if those sort of idols are there. I am excited to see what God can do when I put those things aside in a sort of sacrificial manner. I know, however, that it will not be a sacrifice because God has so much more for us than those things can offer because I have been in that place before. I may not be really doing anything in life that can be compared to 'walking on water' but if I can have the fruits of the Spirit of Love, Joy, Peace, etc . . I will have far more than most.

God wants what is best for us. Not to use Joel Osteen's expression, but He truly does want our 'Best Life'. He wants us to have unsurpassed joy that is not explainable by anything other than coming directly from a heart relationship with Him. He wants us to 'walk on water' and to accomplish what He has set out for us. He wants us to have the kind of peace through troubles that only He can offer.

Now I know that just by stating those things, opposition will come. So I will need to be on guard and in prayer against such attacks to derail from God intends for me. 

On the way home, I asked the girls what they felt or took home from the concert. I was excited to hear Gracie's response. Besides just saying, "It was really good," she added, "It was good to know that we are not alone."

You can't go wrong in bringing your daughter to a place where 15,000 voices are praising God in one place at one time.

Ruffle Cakes

Ruffle Cakes

Directions to make a ruffle cake

Making the Cake

Prepare your cakes. I used 2 - 6" round Wilton cake pans. I cut them in half and used a filling in the middle of each cake. It took me several months to find a good 'store quality' white cake recipe, but this is the one and everyone loves it! The white cake recipe I used is as follows:

• 1 box white cake mix (I prefer Duncan Hines)
• 1 cup Swan cake flour (or use regular flour for a hearvier texture)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp oil

Mix the dry ingredients first and then add in other ingredients. Do not over mix. Spray pans with flour-cooking oil spray and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Put cakes directly into freezer as this will help hold in moisture and maintain form when decorating. Make the fondant next and wrap with plastic wrap or freeze and put aside.

Fondant Recipe

  Making the Fondant

  Fondant recipe:

• 1 tbsp. unflavored gelatin
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 lbs. of powdered sugar

  Sprinkle gelatin over water in a microwavable bowl. Let sit for 2 minutes. Put in microwave for 30
  second. Mix in almond and corn syrup until it is a clear mixture. Put in microwave for a few more
  seconds if it is not a clear or nearly clear mixture. Pour 3/4 of the 2 lb bag of powdered sugar into a
  bowl with a hole in middle. Pour mixture into hole in the middle of the sugar and mix together with
  a wooden spoon. After mixture becomes more solid, you can knead on a powdered surface and
  knead the rest of the 2 lb. bag into mixture, until it is a pliable, non-sticky mass. Use shortening on
  hands if necessary. To color, knead food coloring into fondant mixture . . you may need to add
  more powdered sugar to keep from being too sticky. Set aside in a covered bowl.

                                           Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Making the Frosting

Buttercream frosting recipe:

• 4 Sticks salted sweetcream butter (softened)
• 2 lbs of C&H powdered sugar ( I only use C&H brand as I have found other brands such as Crystal and generic brands are grainy)
• 1-2 tsp. pure vanilla or almond (measure to your liking)
• 1/2 - 1 cup heavy whipping cream

   Beat butter and flavorings together, then add powdered sugar and heavy whipping cream. Frosting
   will thicken upon adding more powdered sugar. Make sure to add more flavoring if you add more 
   sugar. Set aside in a covered bowl.

Directions to put cake together

1. Take cakes out of freezer and cut in half.

2. Stack cakes and place filling between cakes . . can use buttercream frosting filling, pudding or ganache

3. Put buttercream frosting on cakes

4. Color the fondant: Decide what colors you are going to work with and color your white fondant accordingly. I use the Wilton color gels that you can find at Wal-Mart or Michaels. Wrap your fondant in plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out.

4. Use wax paper and spray surface of paper with cooking spray so fondant doesn't stick. Roll out fondant and use pizza cutter to cut strips of fondant.

5. Start with darkest color first and start in middle of top cake. Place fondant in middle in a circular pattern and work out from there, with 3 - 4 rows of each color. .  darkest to lightest.

6. Tie ribbon around base or just use white fondant at base.

Love is the greatest!

Here I go again using a picture of our little dog, Butters, as an illustration to a message. We bought this tiny dog life-jacket to put on him. I know you're thinking, 'He's a dog for crying out loud.' But he's kind of a stupid little dog in that he will he will jump ship the first chance he gets. Hence the life jacket. 

Today my reading included the chapter on love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Paul tells us prior to chapter 13, that there is still a more excellent way to live, than just assembling as one body with many members . . . living by love.

He begins the chapter by stating you can have all the gifts God has to offer: being an apostle, healing, prophesy, teaching, miracles, speaking in tongues. But he clarifies at the end of each of his statements on these gifts that if you have these gifts without love, they are meaningless.

He concludes the chapter by saying we need to abide in these three things "faith, hope and love." His final statement is commanding in style. In writing and journalism, this concluding statement is often the most powerful message and can come in a form of a call to action. He tells the reader that the greatest of these three things (faith, hope and love) is LOVE. I believe it is the most powerful message in the chapter and also a call to action because Paul begins the next chapter with  .  . "Pursue love, yet desire . ."

I try to talk to my kids as often as possible about the things of God. As my children are getting older, we have been having to address a broader worldview of Christianity and how God fits into the world. Unless you have lived off the grid in a strict Christian community, you are being bombarded with the world's standards, which are not of God.

I told them today that I am thankful that I believe in a God or religion that teaches things such as faith, hope and love. I challenged them to find another religion that teaches all the goodness that is found in the Bible. I would expect that if you looked to all the religions, theories and philosophies in the world, you wouldn't find the teaching on love that we see offered from the God of the Bible. Good luck finding hope and peace and love in the theory of evolution .. it hasn't worked out for the science teachers I have know who embrace the things that are non-God and who reject the true 'Origin of Species'. It's been the opposite as a matter of fact . . offering no peace and much turmoil in their relationships and in life.

God gave the Bible to us as a road map for our lives, a pattern to guide us away from things that are harmful. He created us and knows us inside and out, knowing what is best for us and also knowing what is not good for us. If He says the greatest of these things is love, that we ought to have for Him and one another, don't you think that He created the Bible for us out of love? His love for us?

We want what is best for our children and that comes from our love for them. Sometimes it is not always what they want, but we are the parent and know what's best for them (usually anyway, as we are humans and fallible). But so it is for God and us as His creation.

He is our parent and knows what is best for us out of love.

"We love because God first loved us." 1 John 4:19
                       
The world is doing everything it can to strip society of God. In the last 25 years or so, it has been very successful. It wants to strip society of God because they will then have a license to live how they want to live. No God, no standards, type of thinking.

The world wants the blessing that has come along with having a God-fearing nation but not the standards God has for us. The world wants love and peace and hope but not the Author of love and peace and hope.

So once again, it brings me back the fact that the Bible is a road map for our lives, a pattern carefully designed for our lives, designed by the Creator of our very lives. This Creator intricately wove us together and in doing so, knows what is best for us.

Here's the reality of it:

No God = No standards to live by

No God = No love, hope or peace

The world wants to throw out the 'baby with the bathwater' and we can't let this happen.  First, we need to pray. Second, we need to ask God what our role in this is. Third, we need to act on that calling.

So that brings me back to Butters and the life jacket we purchased for him. We bought it for him because we love him, and similarly, God gives us his teachings in the Bible because He loves us . . not because He wants to restrict us from everything . . but wants what is best for us!