Living Life Happy.

Happiness goes so much deeper then a smile on ones face.
Have you ever met someone who wasn't really smiling, but you could tell they were genuinely happy?
Or, have you ever met someone who was smiling, yet you could tell that the joy just wasn't there?

We all have battles. We all have our daily struggles. Some worse then others. But nonetheless real and strong.
The difference comes in how we handle our problems. Our we handing them over to God and renouncing the evil in our lives?
Are we praying over everything that we come into contact with? Or, are we just really hoping that tomorrow is better than today was?

Hope doesn't get us far without prayer and action. Being joyful is a choice. It doesn't come naturally.

Depression comes naturally.
Sadness comes naturally.
Passing blame comes naturally.

But "Joy"? That comes when we are purposeful about seeking God, finding the blessings in everything that happens. And sometimes hanging onto Jesus' garment by the hem, because that's all we can humanly muster at the moment.

I've been medicated for 8 years. Heavily medicated. Not just a pill here and there. But, 4-10 meds a day, depending on when my meds were changed and what they were changed to. I felt like an emotionless zombie most days. Other days I was so afraid of people that I couldn't even open my blinds. And a text message that said just the right thing threw me into a spinning web of terror.
I went from a Bipolar diagnoses, to mood disorder unknown. To "all we have left is PTSD".
I claimed each new diagnoses as it was given to me and a new med change soon followed. All leaving me in so much terror that I ruined every relationship in my wake.

Why do I mention all of that?
Because, I CLAIMED each diagnoses. I didn't want to be told that it may just be a matter of me seeking more for God. Or accepting His joy in my life.
The first time I read a book on spiritual oppression, I was skeptical. In fact, I was more angered that I was given that book in the first place.
I didn't go for counseling to get a book that talked about spiritual oppression. In fact, I was pretty sure that spiritual oppression was a hoax.
But the more I read. The more compelled I was to try. The first day in November when I went without meds I remember tentatively asking God to give me the victory and renouncing the Spirit of fear, depression and anxiety. I was so skeptical that it work. Yet, I made it a whole day without depression, fear or anxiety.
The first time I saw a car go by slow and almost stop is when the fear hit again. "Was it someone coming to take my babies?"  "Was it someone coming to carry out a threat?" As I watched that car, I decided not to run back and hide in my house, I CHOSE to stand there and almost Chant to myself "You have not given me the spirit of fear. You haven't given me the spirit of fear."Almost incessantly. I was amazed at how claiming victory and a sound mind took my mind off of that fear. And within a 10 mins, I was feeling "normal" I wasn't fearfully peeking through my blinds, hoping that the car didn't come back.
I wasn't rushing my children into the house so they could play there instead of outside.
Instead, I was calmly making dinner with music on and not at all worried.

You see, when I claim depression, fear or anxiety and claim it as my own, I invite and even strengthen the strong holds. Making you smile on the outside and hiding from terror on the inside. One of the worst ways to live is not being able to find Joy in what you are doing. Not being able to find the good in each day, because you have handed over your life to oppressed by a Spirit. And sometimes many different Spirits.

Joy is a choice. Claiming victory is a choice.  Claiming Gods promises is a choice.
Joy doesn't just come by wishing for it. I had to make a conscience choice to choose joy over depression. Peace over fear...….

I dare you to find what it is that is holding you back today and claim joy in your life.


Breanna

Shafer

Vote or Don't.

Taking part in politics is not something I do. And this may even be a controversial blog post. But, that's okay.

Twice I have voted. Once in a presidential race. And once in a race for local officials.  The first time when my candidate one back in 2012. I felt nothing. I didn't feel as if I had done anything wrong. But, I didn't feel I did anything right either. God still had a ways to work on me.
The second time was a different story. I didn't feel comfortable with what I was doing. But "proudly" went anyway.
I had let public perception and society shape my actions.  Again, my candidate of choice won. And each step of the way I have been so ashamed to even say I voted for her.  As I have watched her do things that she didn't even outline. But, shouldn't have been surprising.

You see, we live in a society where it is totally acceptable to exercise your freedom, as long as you do it by voting.
If you exercise that freedom by staying home from the polls, you are seen as ANTI-Bible. Or condoning the WRONG candidate. (Who is different in each voters eyes) But the fact remains.... If you don't vote, your reasoning does not matter.
We live where it's not okay to exercise your freedom if others fought for your "right" to vote.
Women fought for our rights as women. So "How dare you not take advantage of that in the polls." Or "Men and women are dying to protect our rights as American citizens. You must make it matter."
We live where it's okay for a man to be immoral, a cheater, and so many more horrible things, and a Christian will vote for that person as long as they don't advocate for abortion. (Or there may be other reasons.) But, a man/woman can be Anti everything that God stands for, and we will vote for him/her and call that person "blessed by God'

I try to run my actions through 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."

A man can claim to be a Christian. May even show up in good churches every once in awhile. But, this is where it becomes so important to judge the fruit.
Do any of these candidates meet Philippians 4:8 qualifications?

Why did God appoint Saul as king? It wasn't because it was what God wanted. The people forced Gods hand by continual begging.
They wanted a Strong king who would lead them.  God wasn't good enough for the Isrealites. They were already off worshipping other gods. Wood, stone and other graven images. (Isrealites seemed to like to do that when things didn't go their way. )
They decided that God wasn't good enough to lead them. It would have taken more faith than they wanted to put into their lives. They wanted everything visable right away.  The gods weren't even living or doing any good. But, they insisted on having those gods because it was something they could see. It would take faith to listen to a prophet and believe that he had spoken to God and wasn't leading them down the wrong path.
It took less faith to sit back and have to do nothing other than wait for a king to be appointed. They wanted someone who would be okay with their actions and they knew that God wasn't.

We aren't too far off from the Israelites. We demand, push and beg for an unrighteous man to be in office. Instead of praying that Gods will be done.
Instead of praying for Gods will, we decide to justify a mans actions and decide who is less evil. Figuring that if it is LESS EVIL than that person must be righteous enough to lead our country.
We forget that if we were to line everything up with Philippians 4:8 that not one of these candidates would be on a Christians radar and we certainly wouldn't be comfortable with voting and standing behind that person.
Just the opposite.

We need more people to sit back and beg God to save our country. God alone can save our country. God alone can lead us to where He wants us.
But, we need to give us our faith in a finite man. We need to get down on our knees and beg God for His guidance. Beg Him for forgiveness for the men and women we have stood behind who have been nothing by evil.

May I remind you that we are NOT citizens of this world. We are ambassadors for our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let that thought take you where it will. And follow Gods prompting. Just because someone died for your right to vote, does not mean that it's right.
Remember the one who died to give you life and run with that. Let that be your leading thought in all of life.

 ^"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
2 Corinthians 5:17-21




Bre Shafer

Purposeful Marriage

I'm back. It's been awhile with some things going on. But, here I am and praying God uses what I have to say to encourage someone else or even uplift them. 

To newly weds (when I was a newly wed) still in the honeymoon phase, this seems like such foolish advise. I mean as a newlywed, all you want to do is be with your spouse. And who would dream of going to bed without a kiss? I mean it’s new, you’re so “in love.” (Which is a feeling at this point.
Now, more then 8 years in, I understand that love is so much more then this uncontrollable “lust” for my husband. More then just wanting him close and never wishing to say goodbye or be out of his presence.
More then 8 yrs in, I realize how easy it is to crawl in bed next to one another at the end of the day and forget to kiss one another, or forget to say “I love you.” As the effects of the long day wash over you and you fall asleep.
Mad at one another? No! You just become so USED to one another that you take one another for granted!
Love becomes work! A purposeful choice to show love! Not just a “lustful” feeling of romance!

What are some ways that I can be purposeful in my "LOVE"?

#1- Meet your husband at the door with a kiss.

#2- Say "I love you" through out the day.

#3- Plan a weekly date night. (Even if it's just putting the kids to bed a bit early and enjoying some time in devotions, movie, or games.)

#4- Set aside a time to talk. Asking questions such as "what can I do to help you better?" "Is there anything I am or am not doing that you would like me to do?"

#5- Purposefully say "goodnight" And give a goodnight kiss each night. (Tomorrow is not promised. )

If you have more ideas, I'd love to hear them in the comments.



Bre Shafer

Vanilla Creamer Pancakes

We learned that Joshua does not like Meijer brand coffee creamer.  Well, I had a big container of it that I needed to use up.  And I was feeling a little but lazy, so instead of making my usual homemade pancake mix. I decided to throw a box of pancake mix in a bowl and mix it up with vanilla creamer in place of milk.
It turned out to look and smell like a cake mix. So, I decided to have fun with it. I threw some Christmas sprinkles in it and mixed it up. BOY was it pretty.

Since it looked so pretty and Christmassy, I pulled out my cookie cutters and thought I'd try putting them in a skillet and making Christmas shaped pancakes.

Again, They looked SO pretty.

But, I quickly ran into a little problem.  I started to smell something. When I went to flip them...... Anyone care to guess what I found?  If you guessed BLACK bottoms, you have guessed correctly.

Gone were my "pretty" Christmas pancakes. 

It was time to move to plan B.  Pull out the Mickey Mouse Cake pan. Of course I had no complaints from the littles.

FINALLY!!!!!!! Pancakes in cake form that turned out perfectly. 

Light and fluffy and delicious.

Vanilla Creamer Pancakes.

Ingredients

boxed pancake mix of your choice.

vanilla creamer

Mix up enough creamer to make a smooth batter.  Pour into a greased cake pan or cupcake tins.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 mins until tooth pick comes out clean.

Beef and Potato Hash

Today I tried my hand at hash using my leftover beef roast.  It was amazing. (Well, Amazing other than the amount of salt.) So, I am going to leave the salt out of this recipe.



Beef Roast Hash

Ingredients

3 potato's

1 onion

1 tsp garlic powder

3 cups of left over pot roast

2 cups of drippings from the meat

2 TBS flour

Olive oil

Dice potatoes and onions and pour olive oil (roughly 1-2 TBS) into a skillet.  Season the potatoes and onions with garlic powder.

Fry potatoes until almost just starting to soften.
Add in the roast, flour and drippings.

Cook the rest of the way through until roast in warm, drippings are gravy and potatoes are soft.

ENJOY.

Pumpkin Chip Oatmeal Cups

This one is a little bit more season themed. Although you can easily replace the pumpkin chips with anything you like.  I just wanted pumpkin. And YUMMY.


Ingredients

4 Cups old fashioned oats

1-1/2 tsp cinnamon

1tsp baking powder

1/4 Cup Coconut sugar (You can use brown sugar)

1/3 Cup Raw honey (You can use Maple Syrup)

2-1/3 C Almond milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup Pumpkin chips.

Preheat oven to 375

Mix all Ingredients together in a bowl.   Mixture will be watery.

Scoop into greased muffin tins (using an ice cream scoop)

Since it is watery, mix it between each scoop.

Bake for 20 minutes. 

These keep in the fridge up to 5 days and freezer up to 3 months.

One thing I did figure out. You CANNOT take these out of the tins while they are warm. They turn into a crumbly mess with no form. HAHA
Let them cool though and you have a lovely oatmeal cup.
This is delicious.

This recipe gets a 7-8 from me. I just think homemade granola no bake bars would be less hassle.
But, that's just me.



Bre Shafer

Homemade Potato Chips (Baked)

As promised, I'm gonna share with you a couple of recipes that I have tried today. And I'll share the good, bad and ugly. Take it or leave it.

I decided to try my hand at potato chips. Threw together my own recipe and gave it a whirl.  They turned out amazing.


Ingredients
2 potatoes
salt
garlic powder
chili powder
black pepper
onion powder
extra virgin olive oil

First fill a bowl with cold water and put 2 tsp of salt and roughly 1tsp of garlic powder in the cold water.

Wash and slice the potatoes into thin slices and place in water.  Allow to soak for 10-15 minutes.

After you have allowed them to soak. Remove them and pat dry the potatoes.

Coat the cake pan with Olive oil and layer potato chips in the pan.  sprinkle all of the seasoning on the potato's according to taste. You only want to use a little bit of chili powder. (You could use red pepper as well.)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bake for 30 mins on one side. After 30 minutes are up, flip the chips. And bake for another 30 minutes.  (Keep an eye on them. You don't want them getting to crunchy.)

The finished product should be slightly crunchy. Or more like a French fry texture depending on how long you leave them in the oven.

I have absolutely NO complaints with these. In fact, the kiddos and hubby have completely finished them off already. 
Clearly they were a hit. And I know all of the ingredients and feel completely fine with feeding my family these potato chips.

This recipe gets a 10 from our house.

Bre Shafer