Just because it's delayed...

A few weeks ago, I saw a John Hagee quote that has stuck with me. "Just because it's delayed, doesn't mean it's denied."It brought peace to my heart because in that day, I'd spent time sulking over a request I've been making of God for a few years now. It also got me thinking about the other 'long term' requests I keep tucked inside my heart and mind. Requests that involve the salvation of family members to personal goals I'd like to accomplish to every day obstacles that I feel hold us back.

A few weeks back I blogged about worrying. Many of you shared with me that it's a constant struggle you face every day and with that, I can empathize. I'm a worrier by nature, but God has not held back lately in reminding me how deeply He cares for the worries of my heart. Whether they be small or large.

An example of that happened this last week. This time last year we received a letter in the mail about home insurance that brought a lot of frustration and tears. A stupid something that was out of our control. A something that would would nearly make it impossible to ever sell this house and would cost us  financially in the meantime.

 I wish I would have known then what I'm about to tell you.  

Anyway, the good news was that there could be resolution to this problem, but we didn't really know what it could be or how to go about it.  We had no answers and no guidance.

Over the last year, I've been praying over it casually and hoping for something to show us what the next step needed to be. I've done different research, talked to people who've experienced the same and have just had to sit and wait. Not my best quality.

On Friday, I received another letter that at face value, looked to be another horrible, 'we want more money or else' type letter. I started to go into a panic attack when God sweetly reminded me my favorite verse. 

           Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Philippians 4:6-7 
In that moment, that moment of fear,  I had a choice to make. I could continue worrying and going through my typical 'worse care scenario' cycle, or stop and do what He has asked of me and give him prayer and praise. That's exactly what I chose to do and oh what peace filled my soul. I held that letter in my hand and I claimed victory over it. I praised God for an awesome work in the situation, even though I had no clue what that could even mean. Didn't matter, I was giving it straight to him, thanking Him for loving me and knowing my worries and praising him for it to be taken care of.  

Today, 3 days later and many phone calls later, I write to tell you that not only did that letter bring good news masked in ugly, but it looks like very soon, this entire situation will be put to rest and in a bigger, better way that we could ever have planned for ourselves. That my friends, is my God at work. I wish I could remember every time I have a concern  that the way God will choose to meet the need will always be in a much bigger, better and more awesome way than I could ever dream up. Just because the answer to this prayer was a year delayed...didn't mean it was denied.

Just because my request to see a promotion in my business has been delayed, doesn't mean it's been denied. 

Just because my request for healing in the concerns I have in my health have been delayed, doesn't mean it's denied.

Just because the sweet salvation of my family and friend's hearts and souls has been delayed, doesn't mean it's denied.

It doesn't matter what the length of time is. I want these met in God's way and not mine. In His timing, not mine. It's then I can rest well knowing that those way's will be something tremendous! You can probably ask just about any Believer and they could share a story with you about waiting on God's perfect timing in a situation and how it far exceeded their expectation once the answer arrived. It's how God rolls. :)

I fully stand on the promises of my God today. He has promised in Jeremiah that He knows the plans He has for me. Plans for me to prosper and not fail. Plans to take care of me and not abandon me. Plans to give me the future I hope for and I want YOU to know that He has those very same plans for you.

So this is my message to you today my sweet friends. It doesn't matter how long it's been. Years, months, weeks or days. Just because it's been delayed...doesn't mean it is denied. Wait for His precious timing, pray and praise while you wait and know full well that YOUR God is preparing something amazing for you.

-Amanda

From the Word:

Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,

    or, whine, Israel, saying,

“God has lost track of me.

    He doesn’t care what happens to me”?

Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?

God doesn’t come and go. God lasts.

    He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine.

He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath.

    And he knows everything, inside and out.

He energizes those who get tired,

    gives fresh strength to dropouts.

For even young people tire and drop out,

    young folk in their prime stumble and fall.

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.

    They spread their wings and soar like eagles,

They run and don’t get tired,

    they walk and don’t lag behind.

Isaiah 40:29-31

All things yummy!

Time to take a break from all the deep stuff and talk FOOD! :)
Some of my very sweet friends have asked that I start sharing some of my recipes with you. I am kind of addicted to taking those super annoying food pictures. You know the ones. They make you hungry, make you want to eat it and then you don't have a recipe to go with so it makes you all cranky. Yeah, those. :) I especially love taking them when we're on vacation when we're experiencing new restaurants and dishes.

So today, I'm going to share the recipes for the dinner we had tonight. It was a chilly, start of Fall, rainy day and so I thought that stew with beer bread and some peach crumble would be the perfect Friday night meal. I'm all about simplicity in the kitchen, so you'll see nothing but that in these recipes. I hope you enjoy them around the table with your family as much as I did with mine.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew (you may also choose to use Venison- a favorite around here!)

1 lb. of cubed stew meat
1 bag of baby carrots
5 red potatoes, quartered
4 cups of beef stock
1 large onion, sliced and in rings (optional- my kids don't like onions so I left it out tonight)
1 cup of red wine (really...trust me on this)
1 package of McCormick stew seasoning

Set up your slow cooker and turn on.
Pour a small amount of vegetable oil in a pan and set to medium-high heat.
Toss stew meat pieces in flour. Shake excess and brown in pan. Do not cook all the way through. You're just looking for a sear on the outside.

While browning, pour rest of ingredients into your slow cooker. Once meat has browned, pour it into the slow cooker and mix well. Place lid on and let cook for 6 hours on low or 4 on high. Low and slow will give you tender, fall apart meat, but high get's it done when you forgot to put it all together until 2 in the afternoon. :) You may choose to use a little cornstarch to your liquids if you like a thicker stew.

Beer Bread

1 bottle or can of beer (yes, you can buy them singly at a convenience store. Ignore the stares and tell them you're baking!)
1/2 cup of melted butter
1 teas. of salt
3 cups of flour
3 teas. of baking powder

Preheat your oven to 350.
Mix dry ingredients well. Pour in beer of choice and stir well. For a crunchy crusted bread, pour batter into a loaf pan and pour butter over the top. If you like a moister, denser bread, mix butter into your batter. Bake for 40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean from the center.

Peach Crumble

1 lg. can of peaches in light syrup (not pie filling)
1 box of yellow cake mix
1/2 cup of butter melted
1/4 cup of brown sugar
Cinnamon
1 tub of frozen light cool whip

Preheat oven to 350. Pour peaches into the bottom of a 9x9 pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix (straight from the box) over the top of the peaches. Next, sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over the top of the cake mix layer. Pour butter evenly over the entire dish and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with a spoonful of frozen cool whip for a delicious ice cream like treat!

Happy eating!

"I am not a glutton - I am an explorer of food" - Erma Bombeck

The difference a year can make

              You know how there are years that you can look at and say not much happened? Nothing remarkable or nothing life changing? They become the years tucked in between those of baby's being morning, wedding being had and the other events that make their marks in our memory.
At a glance, I thought this last year was one of those years for me. On the surface, it seems as if the year has come and gone without anything of significance taking place, but then I started to really look at it. Boy, was I wrong!

              This last year hasn't brought us, what would look like to others, as major life changes, but goodness how life has changed.
              This time last year, I was still in awe that I had been able to get on a plane to go to our annual Scentsy convention in Las Vegas. It had been a total fear of mine for so many fears and the ONLY things that got me on it and there were my husband, God and knowing my bestie would be on the other side. On the way home, it was my girls I was coming for. I was beyond terrified. They say once you do it, the fear goes away. That's a lie. :)
              Two months later, our family would unexpectedly be inviting a sweet German exchange student to come into our home. You can read more about that experience here. We had not planned on taking a student, although we'd been asked. We didn't think the time was right for our family, but God thought different. Our family of 4 was now a family of 5 and I had to learn how to 'parent' a teenager who's mom was the same age as my own. :) God had preparing my heart all summer to be His hands and I kept looking everywhere else for what it was He was preparing it for. This was it all along.
            Two months after that, in an effort to push myself as a leader in my business, I auditioned to be a speaker at a regional meeting we call them Spring Sprints. I really only auditioned just for the sake of trying. In my heart, I really didn't want to be chosen. But I was. When I received the email, I completely freaked out. These people must be nuts. Why on earth would they choose me? Self doubt crept in, but I'm thankful for my friends, team and husband who encouraged me to just move forward and give it my best try. In February, I stood in front of over 1,000 and did just that. Now, I can barely give a testimony in church without shaking and bawling, so this was a HUGE deal people! :)
           In March, my marriage was healed. No need to go into great detail here as you can read about it in this post.
           In April, Josh and I traveled to Charleston, SC. on an incentive trip we'd earned. It was amazing! It was the first time we'd left out girls for that long and I was so nervous. While we were there, we went sailing (I know they say it can't tip over, but I'm still not convinced), kayaking with dolphins (they're not super great with the ores), drove over this bridge (vomit), and even went on a dinner cruise in Charleston harbor (I've seen Titanic too many times. I spent most of our trip hovering somewhere between elated and a nervous wreck. :)
         In May, Maja went back to Germany and we had 2 very sad little girls. It wasn't much long after, that I received an phone call that in the most literal sense, made my jaw drop. I remember the words and my reply was 'now do what?'. My sweet friend Sara who works for training at Scentsy corporate was calling to ask if I would be interested in speaking at the annual convention. Again...do what??? I honestly could not believe that of their choice of thousands and thousands of consultants, my name was even an option. I most humbly agreed and then almost threw up. What did I get myself into?
       I spent most of June with my stomach in knots and in early July, walked onto a stage in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to share my heart with almost 10,000 of my Scentsy family and friends. I think what I spoke on sums up well who I was and where I am now.
        And here we are, back to September again. A couple of weeks ago, I received notice that I had earned an all expense paid trip for my husband and I to our leadership conference in Cancun at the Moon Palace Resort in January. Let me remind you that only a little over a year ago I had taken my first flight as an adult and hated every second of it. Here we are now with the opportunity of a lifetime. To be in Mexico in January learning and networking from the cream of the crop in my business and the only thing in our way is a 2.5 hour plan ride across the Gulf of Mexico. The day I actually had to register, I had a near panic attack. I'm talking  heart racing, dry heaving, pacing the floor attack. But you know what? I worked hard and my husband deserves for me to drug myself up, get on that plane and take him to Mexico in 4 months, but can I do it?

So let's recap... In the last year, I...

Challenged (not overcame) my fear of flying
Lost almost 50 lbs (watch the videos for more on that)
Took in an exchange student and learned what it was to become His hands
Gave my first speech in front of over 1,000 people (never gave one in high school or college)
Had my marriage saved
Traveled across the country
Shared my heart at the Scentsy Reunion
and will soon, take a flight to Mexico

I wanted to share all of this with you not to brag on what all I've done. Really, it's the complete opposite. I wanted to share this with you to show YOU what YOU can do.
I am a person who constantly fights fears. Fears of not being enough, of not giving enough. Rational fears and some irrational. I like my comfort zones and don't like the feeling that rises up in my tummy when I'm being challenged to get out of them. But look at that list. Look at what I've been able to do because I CHOSE to get uncomfortable.
It is amazing what challenging our fears brings. It doesn't always bring resolution to those fears, but in creates something in us that makes us so much more. After each one of those events, I was changed. Some part of me was different. I felt more powerful,  more open, more willing, and more vulnerable.
Today, I sit here writing a completely different person than I was a year ago. My life changed. A remarkable year. Not at first sight, but deep in the heart of the matter. This was a year of significance.

I think it is said best here....

What are you afraid of?

-Amanda

From the Word: