Hope for Today and Tomorrow...

The post below is a short video of John Piper, one of my favorite preachers, explaining the gospel.  He has more sermons, articles, and books at his website.

The gospel, is my hope for today, tomorrow, and forever.  So, of course, I want all of you to know of my hope, through Jesus Christ.


The Bible says that Jesus is the Bread of Life.  

In John 6:47, Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life." (NIV)

Romans 3:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  He came as a baby, lived a perfect life, then died to forgive our sins.  He rose again.  When we believe, through faith, God sees us as righteous and clean; therefore, we can stand before Him, now and in heaven, shameless and as His child.  


To learn more, here are some of my favorite resources:

The Bible starting in the book of John.  

Sermons by Tim Keller  I enjoy listening to these sermons when I am folding wash or cleaning. 

Sermons, Article, and Books by John Piper  These sermons are also very encouraging and clear.  See Video about the gospel.

The Jesus Film:  This is one of our favorite movies for watching when we are too sick to go to church.

The Gospel in 6 Minutes (John Piper)

Free Meal Plan with Grocery list and Recipes

Easy As 1 2 3 Meal Plan #1 
This meal plan focuses on eating real food, fast!  I do not like to spend too much time in the kitchen, but I also want to provide real unprocessed food that is tasty.  I vary my cooking, using the stove top, oven, and crock pot.  Listed below are the meals, grocery list, then the recipes.  Feel free to print.   If you want a PDF file, ask in a comment, and I will send it to you through email.
Classic Chili (Crock pot or Stove top), Side Brown Rice

Kale and Sausage Soup (Crock pot or Stove top) with Basic Quick Biscuits (optional side)

Spinach Lasagna, Side Salad with shredded carrots


Broccoli and Chicken or Tofu Stir-fry with Rice Noodles

Delicious Pizza

Chicken Noodle Soup (Crock pot or Stove top), side salad 

Click on the page at the top of this blog, 
called Easy As 1 2 3 Meal Plan #, in order to get the grocery list and expanded recipes.

And the Winner Is...

Thank you all for your support this past week!  You have been so kind sharing, following, and favoriting :)  

We have a winner for the pair of free earrings made by Elena of SimplyLifeDesign!
Sherri Snyder is the winner!  Congratulations!

Don't worry, Elena is making many new earring this week.  She has some special wood that Michael has saved from the spoons and cutting boards that he has been working on.  So, continue to watch our SimplyLifeDesign.Etsy.com shop for new items: wooden burl earrings, beaded earrings, black walnut earrings, beautiful cutting boards, spoons, tables.

Chicken Noodle Soup as Easy as 1 2 3

We have been sick for over a week now!  All of us, but not all at once.  About every two days, another person falls.  Michael has been the last one standing, and he is sick now.  It sure makes me thankful for health!  

So tonight we are having Chicken Noodle Soup.  I grew up in Lancaster County eating Chicken Corn Soup that was always made by simmering the leftover chicken parts, after eating a roasted chicken.  Then we added noodles, corn, and all the seasonings.  It is delicious, but lately I go for the easy version with carrots, chicken breasts, and chicken stock.

This is adapted from the crockpot meals by Lauren Greutman, from an earlier post.  I do not like to use bouillon cubes.  So, I use chicken broth.  

Time saving tip:  If you are feeling ambitious and want to freeze an extra meal to use on another day, just get out a freezer bag and add one set of ingredients into the crockpot and one set into the freezer bag.

Chicken Noodle Soup as Easy as 1 2 3

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
3/4 cup celery, chopped
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. black pepper
4 cups (32 oz.) chicken broth
1 cup water
2 cups uncooked egg noodles

Easy as 1 2 3 Crockpot steps:
1.  Add all ingredients except noodles to Crockpot
2.  Cook on high for 4 hours (medium for 6, low for 8)
3.  Shred or cut meat and add noodles for the last 1/2 hour

Enjoy!

Free Earring Give Away!

These are handcrafted black walnut earrings. We harvested the wood from a black walnut tree that had been struck by lightning in a storm.

The wooden part of the earrings is about 1 3/4" long. These are handcrafted and vary in size and wood grain. The earring hooks are 925 Sterling Silver.  They are one-of-a-kind, designed and made by Elena of SimplyLifeDesign.

Thank you for visiting our blog!  We just opened an Etsy shop!  Michael has been making furniture and hand carved spoons.  Elena has been making handcrafted wooden earrings and hand painted signs.  I told Michael, "If you make it, I'll sell it."  So I am the promoter.

I would also like to grow this blog, making it better with more followers.  I plan to add real food recipes, fun give-aways, and time-saving ideas.

Three ways to help grow our business and earn a raffle ticket to win free earrings: 
(You can earn 3 tickets)

1.  Follow this blog.  Click on Follow on the right side of the page.  

2.  Go to our SimplyLifeDesign.Etsy.com shop page, and click on Favorite Shop.

3.  Share my post about this on Facebook. 

Each way, I will enter your name in a hat, then draw a name on Friday, February 10.   I will tell the winner on Saturday, February 11.  If you already follow this blog, first of all, THANK YOU; and secondly, I will enter your name in the drawing (one time).  If you have questions, you may comment below.  
Thank you so much for following, favoriting, and sharing!!!