Choosing to be grateful

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I decided to bake up a batch of Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars to share with some friends we were going to be seeing the next day. I turned on the oven and pulled out all the ingredients to start putting this yumminess together. Once I had the bottom crust ready for the oven, I saw that the oven was only at 123 degrees.

There was no way this recipe was going to bake in an oven at that temperature!

So I sent a text to a neighbor, who thankfully was home and willing to let me use her oven. Meanwhile, my husband started checking into what could be the problem with the oven.

I was able to get my baking finished, but the conclusion was...the oven was not working!

Now you have to understand a couple of things...we are a 'if it can be fixed, fix it' type of family. We still have a dryer that is about 20 years old, because it works. We are probably the last family in the country who purchased a flat screen TV because our big, heavy one was still working until just a couple of months ago.

But the biggie right now for me...I love to bake!! And to not have an oven right before Thanksgiving...baking is how I survive the cold weather!!

{taking a deep breath}

However, I was not hosting Thanksgiving...

My neighbors were willing to let me borrow their ovens for the couple of items I was bringing to Thanksgiving at my sister's house...

I have other ways to prepare and cook food for my family...

Then I received a big surprise last week...I am one of about 400 people who have been selected to be part of the launch team for Kristen Welch's new book, Raising Grateful Kids. 

If I want my children to choose to be grateful, I need them to see me embrace being grateful, whatever the circumstances. 

Yes, it stinks that my oven is not working. But I have seen more joy on the faces of people who have much less than I do. And when I remember what I have been blessed to see and experience, I need to not give into my selfish tendencies and choose to live differently.

Now, I am not perfect. My ugly self rears itself more often than I would like.

But this life is a journey, and on this journey we have much to learn.

Moment by moment, we can choose to be grateful.

Build Hope this Christmas

Christmas is a time for celebration.

Many Christmas celebrations take place around our country.

A lot of money is spent on Christmas celebrations.

Food, decorations, presents, etc.

Now, there is nothing wrong with a Christmas celebration. Winter is not my favorite season, but I love Christmas. As much as I loathe the cold and dark days of the season, I love the twinkle of the lights, the smell of fresh baked goods, and the coziness of snuggling with a blanket and a good book.

But in order to simplify our Christmas celebration, I want to spend less on things that don't matter. I don't want to buy presents just for the sake of buying presents.

Compassion has given us an opportunity to build hope this Christmas.

Imagine living in an area where your daily wage is under one dollar. What kind of Christmas can you provide for your children on that kind of salary?

Imagine living in an area where children are dying from preventable diseases like malaria and cholera. What kind of Christmas can you provide for your children when you don't know if they will survive until the next Christmas?

In Tanzania, Compassion partners with more than 300 churches, serving over 72,000 children. These children are being provided for over and above what their parent's salary can provide. These children are receiving medical care to help them survive until their next birthday and beyond. These children are learning that their eternal hope is found in Jesus through the many caring volunteers at the local churches who love on these children.

So how does this fit in with your Christmas celebration this year?

I am looking for 50 friends...

50 friends who are willing to spend $10 less this Christmas...

50 friends who want to help build hope...

50 friends who want to help build a brighter future...

50 friends who will donate $10 to help build a carpentry workshop in Tanzania.

Will you help build hope this Christmas?

Practicing Photography

Many years ago, when I was in elementary school, I took a Kodak Brownie camera with me to camp and took some pictures. When my parents developed the film, they liked them so much that they mounted them on mat boards and hung them in our house.

That initial introduction to picture taking began my love of photography.

Fast forward many years and I have moved beyond a small film camera to using my iPhone and my Nikon for all of my photography.

As much as I love the convenience of using my iPhone (and it takes better pictures than my first digital camera!), I love the versatility of using my DSLR and learning how to take better pictures.

Two years ago, I participated in a 365 project and worked on using my DSLR to take a picture every single day for a whole year. Phew! That was quite a project.

What I loved about that project was it helped me to practice using my camera every day. Capturing different subjects, using different settings, and being creative.

Recently, I have been wanting to use my DSLR more, so I was happy to see a Practice Ebook available from Katrina Kennedy. I love that this book is self-paced and I can work through it when my schedule permits.

So far, I have worked through the first two exercises. Let me show you what I captured (these are all straight out of the camera):

ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/250 sec

ISO 100, f/2.5, 1/160 sec

ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/80 sec

ISO 100, f/5, 1/40 sec

ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/20 sec

ISO 100, f/10, 1/10 sec

ISO 100, f/14, 1/5 sec

It was fun to use my old Brownie camera as the subject for each of these photos. One thing I learned about this exercise is that there is a minimum focal length for each of my lenses (hmm, no wonder I can't focus when I try to get too close!)

Are you wanting to improve your DSLR photography? I encourage to take a peek at Katrina's Practice Ebook.  It is very reasonably priced and goes through a lot of fundamentals. I am looking forward to working through more exercises and hope to share more of what I am capturing along the way.

Stuck in a rut...

How many times have you made dinner over the last 25 years?

If you made dinner every night for the last 25 years that would be over 9,000 dinners!!

Now I know I have not made dinner every single night over the last 25 years, but I know I have made many, many meals...and to be honest...I am stuck in a rut.

What should we have for dinner?

As much as I love making homemade meals for my family, I am really tired of the same things I have been making for years.

So...I got really excited when I saw this cookbook at Costco recently...

Fifty-two weeks of menus! This is exactly what I was looking for to add a bit of variety to my weekly menu...and each menu has a recipe for a main dish, a side, AND a dessert, oh yum!

Our first adventure was Menu 48...because why should we start at the very beginning...

Chicken Parmesan Crescents, Honey Cashew Green Beans...

... and Chocolate Raspberry Brownie Parfaits

Not only were these recipes easy to prepare, but my family (and my neighbors that we fed that night) loved them! I loved that not only was a main dish recipe provided, but a side dish also! Each menu does come with a dessert recipe, but I am not sure if I will prepare dessert each week. But it is nice to have some options in case we have friends over for dinner.

So this week, we are going to give Menu 18 a try...Grilled-Chicken Alfredo Pizza and BLT Salad...my daughter is really looking forward to this one.

If you are stuck in a rut for what to make for dinner, you might want to find this recipe book to add to your collection, A Year with Six Sisters' Stuff.

Today...

Each and every day, we have a million choices to make...

What to eat? 

What to wear?

What to do?

Some of these choices are simple ones, others require a little more thought and planning.

But today, I want to offer you a choice that makes an eternal difference in the life of a child.

Sponsoring a child through Compassion International not only helps that child physically, socially, and emotionally...but it helps the child spiritually.

How does Compassion help a child spiritually?

Compassion works with over 6000 implementing church partners in 26 developing countries. These churches know which children are the neediest of the needy. And by working through the local church, each one of these child are taught about Jesus.

He is the eternal hope that will set these children free!

So today, I am giving you an opportunity to sponsor one of these four children: Alejandra, Nicolas, Eliab, and Diaile.

You can partner with their local church to teach these children about Jesus. You can tell them that Jesus loves them. You can encourage them to pursue their dreams.

Each of these children have been waiting over six months for a sponsor. Today, you can end their wait.

Comment below or e-mail me at kymk99@gmail.com to begin your sponsorship journey today!