Twelve Extraordinary Women (Giveaway)...

The winner of the copy of Twelve Extraordinary Women is Mrs. U! Congratulation!

Thanks to all of you who entered, it was neat getting to read about your favorite women of the Bible.

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Over the last few months, I have had a little bit of reading time while I am nursing Judah. I have actually managed to read quite a few books over the last few months, some were noteworthy and others were not.
I just finished reading Twelve Extraordinary Women by John MacArthur. It was such a neat book and I learned so much from it. In so many ways I feel like I actually know some of the women that I read about. The book has a chapter on Eve, Sarah, Rahab, Ruth, Hannah, Mary, Anna, the Samaritan Woman, Mary and Martha, Mary Magdalene, and Lydia. In the case of each woman I learned something that I didn't know before. One thing that I really liked about the book was that it gave background and depth to the story, most of the time based on the Jewish custom of the time, and helped me better understand the significance of one thing or another. There are so many things that I learned that I want to share, but I want to encourage you to read it because I can't share all of the neat things.

The faith of Hannah to God is just amazing to me. She had to have so much faith in God to be able to leave her toddler/very young son at the tabernacle because she had promised God she would if she were blessed with a child. She was truly a woman of faith and a woman of her word. I pray that I can be a woman of such faith and so true to my word.

I came to realize the deep faith and areas that needed improvement that each of these women shared and saw some areas in my life that need improvement too.

Since I liked reading this book so much, I wanted to host a giveaway for a copy of it. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.

To enter, leave a comment on this post telling who your favorite woman in the Bible is and, if you would like, why she is your favorite. I will leave the post open for comments until Friday at 11:00 p.m. and will announce a winner on Saturday.

Collard Green Casserole...

Last weekend, my Gram forwarded a recipe that she had tried a couple of weeks ago. This week, I put it on the menu, even though I don't like greens. I really liked it though. I served it with BBQ catfish and coleslaw.

The recipe is from a little restaurant in Hattiesburg, Mississippi call Front Porch Barbecue & Seafood and it is apparently is their most popular side dish, Turnip Green Pot Pie. I would consider it more of a yummy greens mix with a thin cornbread layer on top, than what you might think of when you think pot pie.

Collard/Turnip Greens Pot Pie

1 cup diced ham or 1/2# bacon cut into 1/2 inch pcs.
2T oil, if using ham
2 stalks of celery, chopped fine
1 onion, diced fine
1 red bell pepper, diced small
1/4 cup flour
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
2 pounds frozen greens
1 16 ounce can blackeyed peas, drained
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Cook ham or bacon (use no oil for bacon) until lightly browned (bacon till crisp) Add onion, celery & red pepper, saute for about 5 minutes.

Add flour and cook 1 minute stirring constantly. Gradually add chicken broth, stirring constantly until thickened somewhat. Bring to boil and add greens. Reduce heat and simmer until greens are tender. Add peas and pepper flakes. Pour into lightly greased baking dish (9x13 inches). Mix cornbread and pour batter over top. Bake at 425 degrees F until cornbread is cooked (25-30 minutes).

Cornbread crust batter or use Jiffy if you want:
1-1/2 cups white self rising cornmeal mix
1/2 cup plain flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 lg. egg, lightly beaten
2 T oil
1 cup buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, use reg whole or 2%)

Combine first three ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and mix until just moistened. Add to the top of greens.


My DH prefers collard green so that is what I used and if you are bread people like my DH and I are you could double the cornbread. Also, you could cut down on the pepper flakes if you don't really like a little bite to your food.

Enjoy!

It's Snowing...

There had been talk yesterday that we might get some snow. There were some predictions of 4 to 7 inches. But, who knows, right??? This morning Judah and I were hanging out in the bed when I remembered said predictions and hopped out of bed to see if there was a small chance that it was snowing. Low and behold the ground was white and so were the trees.

Maybe it is the fact that I pretty much grew up in Florida, but I could barely contain my excitement. I mean honest to goodness SNOW!!! Not just falling but piling up all around (at least to my Floridian standard). Before long, I got a call from my DH saying that he would be heading home early because of the weather. I put a pot of soup on the stove to warm him up when he got home and then I started getting us bundled up to got play outside. There is not much point in having half of a snow day without playing in the snow, right???
It is probably the fact that we are from Florida and snow is so very, very rare that makes us/me excited about getting out in it. We walked around in the snow and took some pictures. My DH built us some snow men while Judah and I watched from indoors because Judah decided that he didn't really care for the cool wind that accompanied the snow.
It was a light snowfall most of the day and I am not sure how much snow we actually got. But, I do know that this Southern girl was happy and excited to look out the window and see little snowflakes falling.

Motherhood So Far...

What can I say about motherhood??? I LOVE it. God has blessed my DH and I with the blessing of being parents and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am living out the dream of my childhood. All I ever really wanted to be when I grew up was a wife and mother.

Judah is now four and a half months. He is growing and doing new things everyday. It is so neat to see his sense of wonder and excitement as he discovers the world around him.

(Judah with his Valentine's bear)

Judah and I have been filling the past four months with playtime, hanging out with "Daddy", snuggling, napping on the couch together, cleaning, snuggling, bath time, laundry, and some more snuggling. While these past few months have passed quickly, I treasure every moment and memory.