Creative Counterpart

Some days I wonder if another person really lives in our house. Samuel (our exchange student in case you are still not up to date, hehe) is so busy with school, football, and homework that we hardly ever see him on weekdays. But when the house cleaning, cooking, and busy bustle of our little shut-in life (with 2 young kids it’s natural!) here at home get’s interrupted by a teenager calling for a ride home from school, or the weekend rolls around, we get to spend time with Samuel; Getting to know him more and spending time introducing him to new American things.

There has been a little bit of frustration on both sides over a few issues. One being that we’ve had to place limits on internet access and tv time, stressing the importance of getting homework done first. It feels kind of odd telling another person’s child (especially a teenager) what to do, but it’s getting easier as the boundaries are becoming clearer for him as well as us. The relationship is molding itself and the lines are being etched as to what we expect while also respecting HIS wishes. It’s kind of odd having a teenager. In many ways they test just like a toddler; But for the most part I don’t have to clean up after him or babysit him. He’s very independent and he’s learning very quickly how to ‘get by’ in America.

I have someone that I can ask for a bit of help when Adam is gone. Could you please take out the trash, feed the dog, or vacuum the carpet. He is always more than willing to help, and I try not to ask too much of him. He has a lot on his plate.

He loves to mow the grass. In fact, he loves to do anything that involves using our “machines”. It’s kind of neat. I’d love to have him around more often, but I am glad he is making lots of friends at school and learning about America. He is a very smart boy, and he’s doing well here.

He wants to be a surgeon and he wants to come back for college in America. I wish I knew away to make that happen for him. I guess, that’s what I’ll be praying about…

Only God knows the glorious surprises and plans he has for us in the coming year; But I can tell you one thing, we’re excited!

Since picking up our foreign exchange student last week, we have been learning so much about Nigerian culture. Things that you just can’t understand from a textbook.

Here is a glimpse of a few things we’ve learned form our foreign exchange student (new son) :

“Everything is Easy Here” -

People from other countries (and yes even Nigeria) comment on how hard working American’s are. But, I wouldn’t necessarily say that from what I’ve learned from our student.

We may have busier schedules in America; More places to go and more things to do. But, we have the priviledge of doing all of those things because of the ease of our modern machines and appliances.

In Nigeria they…

• Wash clothes by hand
• Cut grass by hand
• Don’t have electricity constantly (The government can turn it off whenever they like.)
• Sometimes must fetch water if their tap is not working.

But.. They don’t live in the stone age. They…

• Have disposable diapers
• Use computers & email, mp3 players, and cell phones (depending on income and resources)

Keep a lookout for more posts about what we’re learning from our new family member. We are learning so much I couldn’t possibly put it in one post.

First picture on google images under 'wisdom teeth enchiladas'

I love wordpress. It lets me see just what search terms people are typing in to land on my blog. But I was cracking up this evening when I saw how one unsuspecting individual came across my little place on the web.

‘Wisdom Teeth Enchiladas’ – kinda intriquing isn’t it? I wonder if this person is really contemplating eating some enchiladas after they just had their wisdom teeth extracted. If so, DON’T DO IT! PLEASE? It won’t be pleasant.

At any rate, I know why that search term brought them here. You see, I have one post about getting my wisdom teeth removed, and another completely unrelated post about making the BEST enchiladas. Google couldn’t find anything on that poor person’s search topic, and didn’t have the heart to tell them, so Google mashed my lovely posts together. Voila! We have Wisdom Teeth Enchiladas…

On second thought, I really hope there isn’t some strange recipes lying around….

~

Moms! Do You Want to Earn Money With Your Blog?

So, I wanted to share with you all what changes my family has been making in our diet to aid in our new whole foods approach to eating. I think that more than anyone in our household, I have felt the biggest difference physically and emotionally of our new way of eating.

Last week we had gotten sloppy and ate a lot of fast food. I felt yucky almost all week, and I knew it was because we had been eating heatlhy and slipped back into this habit of eating junk. I felt physically drained and couldn’t step off of the emotional roller coaster. I was just plain cranky.

This week I just sat down and wrote out a list of enough breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack ideas for 14 days that only included healthy options. No high fructose corn syrup, no highly processed junk. I shared before some of the changes we had made. For example, we eat as many whole grains as possible. We only use real butter now. But I wanted to share some specific meals we have been eating and some of the options that I have found to be an easy switch for our family.

Most things we eat only needed to be adapted in a healthier way. This includes what types of meats, oils, grains, etc we buy. We try to buy as natural of meats as we can afford, we only use peanut or olive oil for baking and frying, and we buy as many whole grains as possible.

Specifically, I wanted to share some of our new favorite products. For something quick and easy, Annie’s homegrown organic macaroni and cheese is great for the kids at lunchtime. It doesn’t inlclude junk colorings and preservatives, and it’s really good! It’s also highly affordable at my walmart. They also make a range of other products such as crackers and cereal.

We also love Nature’s Pride bread. I had been searching for a bread without high fructose corn syrup and tons of additives, and finally found this brand at Hyvee.

We’ve incorporated as much fresh fruits and vegetables into our diet as possible. I’ve also been making most of our baked goods at home, including cookies, muffins, brownies, etc. I can throw in all of the fresh fruits and vegetables I want into them, and I also mix in whole wheat flour and flax seed, making for a much more nutritious alternative to highly processed store-bought baked goods.

We’ve been making a lot of stir fry here lately with all of the fresh veggies. I found that Kikkoman soy sauce is a great choice because it is also free of all of the extra preservatives and  garbage in other brands.

And just to throw out some ideas to others on this journey, I’ll list some typical foods we’ve been eating daily.

Breakfast: Bananas, eggs and cheese, cheerios (plain) with milk, toast (nature’s pride bread).

Snacks: Fresh fruit (kiwi, peaches, bananas, etc), cheerios, raisins, popcorn (plain kernels popped on the stove in peanut or olive oil)

Lunch: Annie’s mac & chz, tortilla chips, sandwiches w/ butter

Supper: stir fry, nachos w/ homemade cheese sauce, runza casserole (with homemade biscuit crust), spaghetti, tacos, pizza, etc.

This year will be a very exciting and challenging year for us. Possibly the most exciting and challenging yet.

On the 15th of August we will make a small trek to Omaha to pick up our foreign exchange student. He’ll be with us for the entire school year. We’ve never had a high schooler living in our home before! He is from Kaduna, Nigeria and we are so excited to meet him. We think that this year will be a great year for him, our kids, and my husband and I. We will learn so much about his culture and have so much to teach him about ours.

This week has been pretty full of good news. My sister also informed us that they are expecting their 3rd child. My heart is filled with joyful gifts from the Lord!

We’ve been busier than ever around here. We have painting to get done, and lots of preperation. With his permission I will introduce you to him hopefully sometime in August!

Blessings,

Vanessa

Does the Bible teach that we can choose God? Or does the bible teach that God chooses us?

Not very long ago, I was the kind of person that despised the doctrine of unconditional election. In fact, I despised reformed doctrine (I only knew it as Calvinism back then.) I had this crazy illustration in my mind, painted by equally prideful Christians, that Calvinists were tyrants who didn’t believe in preaching the gospel because of these “unscriptural”  doctrines and creeds. What I didn’t know was that the picture that is often portrayed of reformed theology is that of hyper-Calvinists who sway and overcompensate largely in the opposite direction of the Armenian’s movement. Both are equally heretical.

Because I didn’t understand election, I used the common argument in evangelical churches today. Going beyond what the scriptures teach, I reasoned in my own mind that God predestined us to salvation because he foreknew that we would make that choice. Today, this seems to me a very silly and futile argument.

There is one main problem I have with this argument, and it’s a huge problem. The only verse used to support this argument is Romans 8:29

²⁹For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

According to the argument God only foresees what is ultimately our work, not his work. In other words, the point of this interpretation is that God does not cause our faith, he only foresees the faith which we cause. But the problem with this interpretation is that it is not consistent with the rest of scripture.

It assumes that the meaning of “foreknowing” is not the meaning it has in many Old and New Testament texts that would give a more coherent meaning to this passage. Listen to these uses of “know” and ask yourself what each means. In Genesis 18:19 God says of Abraham, “I have known him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord.” Virtually all the English versions translate this, “I have chosen him.” In Amos 3:2 God says to the people of Israel, “You only have I known among all the families of the earth.” He knew about all the families, but only chose Israel. In Matthew 7:23 Jesus said to the hypocrites at the judgment day, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.” Psalm 1:6 says, “The Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.” He knows about the way of the wicked too. But he knows the way of the righteous in the sense of approving and recognizing and loving. In Hosea 13:5 God says to Israel, “I knew you in the wilderness, In the land of drought,” meaning he took note of your plight and cared for you. And Genesis 4:1 says, “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain.” That is, he made her his, and knew her intimately and loved her.

Because of all those texts I think John Stott and John Murray are exactly right when both of them say, “”Know’ . . . is used in a sense practically synonymous with “love’ . . . “Whom he foreknow’ . . . is therefore virtually equivalent to “whom he foreloved.’” Foreknowledge, is “sovereign , distinguishing love” (John Stott, quoting Murray, Romans, p. 249). It’s virtually the same as set your affection on and choose for your own.

John Piper, Desiring God

Furthermore, it is not consistent with the teaching of salvation in the whole of scripture. The bible consistently teaches that God is the author of our faith, and that we do not choose anything. Those who come to Christ become His children by His will, not by theirs. “They were not God’s children by nature or because of any human desires. God himself was the one who made them his children”

who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.     John 1:13

God, before the foundation of the world, chose to make certain individuals the objects of His unmerited favor or special grace.

“Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.      Mark 13:20

Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,      Ephesians 1:4-5

All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.   Revelation 13:8

Individuals from every tribe, tongue and nation were chosen by God for adoption, not because of anything they would do but because of His sovereign will.

For though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad , so that God’s purpose in election would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.” Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”           Romans 9:11-13

So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.                    Romans 9:16

And Isaiah is very bold and says, “I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.”     Romans 10:20

who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works , but according to His own purpose, grace which was granted us and in Christ Jesus from all eternity,    2 Timothy 1:9

God could have chosen to save all men (He certainly has the power and authority to do so), and He could have chosen to save no one (He is under no obligation to save anyone). He instead chose to save some and leave others to the consequences of their sin.

And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”    Exodus 33:19

What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.                 Romans 9:14-24

When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed .       Acts 13:48

and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.            1 Peter 2:8

The theme of God’s election to salvation is constant throughout the old and new testament, not based on our own will or “choice”, but of God’s will and choice. Romans 8:28 teaches a far more important message, that all who are predestined will be saved.

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.      John 6:39

And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.     Romans 8:30

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.    John 6:37

For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.   John 17:2

They are Christ’s sheep (John 10:1-30) who hear His voice and for whom He died (John 10:15) in order to give them eternal life and make them secure forever in the hand of God (John 10:26-30).

but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”             John 10:26-30

Jesus’ words “it is finished” (John 19:30) are a sweet sound of the finished plan of salvation on the cross. Christ’s death on the cross was not to make salvation possible. Christ died on the cross to save. His work is finished in the salvation of God’s people, in those he chose from the foundations of the world.

Read my post:  What does John 3:16 mean?

also quoted, gotquestions.org Unconditional election, is it biblical?

I adapted a better for you brownies recipe to fit a whole foods lifestyle and wanted to share.

Better For You Brownies

1     cup butter
1      cup honey
1      cup sugar (or another 3/4 cup honey or other sweetener)
2     teaspoons vanilla
4     eggs
1/4   cup milk
3/4     cup cocoa
1     cup whole wheat flour
1/2     teaspoon baking powder
1/4     teaspoon sea salt
1     cup chopped nuts or sunflower kernels (optional)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease 13×9×2 inch baking pan.
3. Melt butter in microwave.
4. Stir in honey, sugar, vanilla, milk, & cocoa.
5. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
6. Add flour, baking powder and salt; beat until well blended.
7. Stir in nuts, if desired.
8. Pour batter into pan.
9. Bake 30-35 minutes.

Plenty of sermons have been preached about disciplining children, and why children should sit in the worship service with their parents from birth, but below is a sermon you’ve probably never heard before. Many well meaning parents, with their hearts in the right place (myself included), have headed this advice. Some level of guilt is planted in us that leaving our children in the presence of christian fellowship while we give our attention and respect to the Word of God is somehow passing off our parental responsibilities spoken of in scripture.

But is the purpose of the preaching of God’s word being ignored, while the purpose of the training of children exalted? What do the scriptures say about conduct during the preaching of God’s word?

If you are under the impression that having a nursery is only for selfish and irresponsible parents, I encourage you to open your heart for a moment and your mind to the scriptures. Jeff Noblit, who is Paul Washer’s pastor, gives some insight to this topic in his sermon Why We Encourage Using the Nursery Until Your Children Are Able to Listen With Understanding from Nehemiah 8:1-3, 8 which can be found here.

I think above all, we need to be careful in forcing guilt and blame on other believers for silly things with no scriptural basis. I have yet to find a bible verse that condemns a parent for leaving their child in the presence of another while they attend to other tasks. I think it quite a good idea to suggest that we treat the preaching of God’s word with reverence, so that when a child enters the age of understanding the scriptures, they might be as attentive and respective of the preaching of the word as we have been. How do we allow ourselves to become so distracted during the preaching  of the word, and yet expect our very young children to do exactly the opposite?

Need help understanding election? Paul washer answers one man searching for answers in the video below.

Colossians 2:13

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,”

(Us all: speaking to believers)

Ephesians 2:1-10

^“1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ²in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature^[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. ⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

So, I’ve been hearing a lot around the blog world about Swagbucks and people earning lots of Amazon gift cards with it. I’m going to give it a try for awhile. I’ll keep you all updated on how much it actually works.

In the meantime, you can sign up to and start earning swagbucks towards gift cards and such.