Strawberry - Yogurt Pie Recipe / Mrs Kayla Smith

Strawberry-Yogurt Pie

This is so easy anyone even a child could make it. It is also low calorie for those watching their weight. :-)

Ingredients:

1 15.5 oz tub of frozen sweetened strawberries (thawed)

1 8 oz tub light or regular whipped topping such as cool whip

1 32 oz tub of plain yogurt

2 Graham cracker pie crusts

Directions:

1. Gather all your ingredients

2. In a large mixing bowl blend ingredients well stirring until strawberries are well distributed throughout mixture

3. Pour ingredients into Graham cracker crusts

4. Place in freezer for 4 hours

5. Remove from freezer and enjoy

Notes: You may have enough for another pie, I usually place leftover portion into the cool whip dish and refreeze. My husband eats it right from the dish like frozen yogurt.

Mrs Kayla Smith

Fort Dodge, IA

ARE YOU A GLOOMY GUS? / Mrs Linda Vaprezsan

ARE YOU A GLOOMY GUS?

By Mrs. Linda Vaprezsan

Metro Baptist Church

Belleville, MI

Have you ever heard the phrase - Don't be a gloomy Gus?  I know you are scratching your head and saying who is Gus and why is he gloomy!

Winter is quickly approaching so we as Christian ladies are going to need to rev up our smiles and our attitudes.  Most of us do not like cold, snow, sleet, etc. but it is no reason for us to make everyone else miserable with our whining and complaining.  It is just weather, it will change.  Find fun things to do in the weather to make it more enjoyable for you and your family.

Your smile and your attitude will help so many people in your church.  After a long week at work or after a hard day and they come in on Wednesday night all beaten down, your smile, friendliness and upbeat attitude can change their disposition almost immediately.

Ephesians 4:29-32 says, ”Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.  And, grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

Have you been harsh on some people just because they are not doing things your way?  I am one who wants things done my way, but my way is not always perfect or the correct way.  I have had to learn to give in some areas so as not to be a constant complainer that people hate to see coming.

Are your words just noise?  Do people avoid you because of your talk?  Do they think of you as a complainer?  Do you excessively talk?  Psalms 55:2 - “Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise.”

Do you praise the Lord in everything?  I mean everything - flat tire, ten inches of snow, no power, etc.

Mrs. Ellis, an elderly saint who was in our church many years before she died, her life verse was I Thessalonians 5:18 “In everything give thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”  Even while she spent the last few years of her life in a nursing home she always gave thanks.

Be thankful for everything that comes your way whether good or bad.  God means it for your good.

My mother always told me, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” 

Ladies, let’s be upbeat, smiling and show that being a Christian is the best life going.  Don’t be a gloomy Gus!

I'm Not Going to Tell You Again! / Mrs Beth Spilger

“I’m Not Going to Tell You Again!”

“Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.” ~ Philippians 3:1

“How many times do I have to tell you to …!” we mothers yell at our kids, in our aggravated mother voice. Today it was their messy room. Tomorrow it will be over fighting with their sibling… or one of a myriad of other possible choices.

We get aggravated over the littlest things. A sock left on the floor, a toy misplaced, a mess in the bathroom, a bed unmade, work not finished, an unfinished school project, … and the list goes on…

We coax. We repeat instructions, in not a very nice voice, but in our “I am so tired of telling you” voice. We yell, or even scream, because we are “so tired of repeating our instructions”.

Are you that way? I am!

I learned something from this verse that helped me and it might help you, too.

Here, Paul is telling the Chruch at Philippi that he really doesn’t mind repeating instructions to them. He doesn’t mind? WOW!!! BUT to Paul it wasn’t irksome to give instructions over and over again but necessary. For those young Christians and even the older Christians, it was necessary for their walk with the Lord! Their future management of life rested on these instructions. It was necessary for the whole church to function successfully.

What if we put this to practice in our homes? What if we viewed our repeated instructions to our children as necessary for their safety in life? Necessary for their future development? Necessary for the whole family? 

What if we put this to practice in our ministries? What if we viewed our repeated instructions to young Christians as necessary for their safety in their Christian walk and life? Necessary for the church as a whole? Necessary for development? It is!

I would imagine that it would change our own attitudes and the “voice” we use in giving the instructions. It would relieve a lot of the inward pressure we feel as we repeat our instructions.  It would certainly change the “face” of our homes and churches!

We might even find ourselves carrying out the instruction found at the beginning of that verse! “Rejoice in the Lord!” Why? because we are choosing to humble ourselves to God and receive His grace. When we humble ourselves the Holy Spirit is free to work His grace in our lives and rejoicing is a result.

Where are you at today? Rejoicing? Or irked? It’s your choice…

Mrs Beth Spilger

Pastor's Wife

St Louis, MO

Magic Cookie Bar Recipe / Mrs Jennifer Vroman

                                                    

                                                            Magic Cookie Bars

1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs

1 can Sweetened condensed milk
1 pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 half pkg. butterscotch chips
1 cup  flaked coconut

1 c. chopped nuts

In 13 x 9 inch baking pan, melt butter. Remove from heat. Sprinkle crumbs over butter. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumbs. Top with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down gently. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.

Mrs Jennifer Vroman

Natchez, MS

Do You Feel Loved? / Mrs Tiffany Ingham

                        

                         Do You Feel Loved?

I John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God: for God is love.

  One day an older lady came into the Vacuum store where I work. She told me she was having some back problems and needed a lighter vacuum, we talked for a while. She decided to take a vacuum home and try it out. The next day, she came in with her daughter. They told me how much she liked the vacuum and would like to buy one like it. I was very busy that day but I did my best to take my time to talk to her and answer any questions they had. As I was taking her new vacuum to her car, she thanked me. I asked her how her back was feeling, she told me she had just had an appointment for her back that day. I told her I would pray for her and to please be careful. About a month later that same lady's daughter walked in the store, looked at me and started thanking me over and over with tears in her eyes for how kind I had been to her mom. She told me it meant so much to her and her mom. She then continued to tell me that her mom had passed away with cancer and the day she had came in the store she had just had a treatment. The daughter gave me a hug as we were both crying. What a precious lady! She never one time told me she had cancer. And never one time complained about what she was going through. That day was a reminder to me everyone wants to be loved. We should treat everyone with as much kindness as possible; because we have no idea what people are going through. Many customers have poured out their heart, that they have cancer, health issues, or family issues. They just wanted someone who would listen. The Lord has opened doors for me to witness and give out tracts just from listening to the hurting. I'm so thankful I know a God who can help the hurting.

Do you feel loved today?

1. Have you talked to the Father? Have you talked to the one who is waiting to listen to you, his child. The one whom you will spend eternity with. The one who gave his life for you. The one who is with you 24 hrs a day and hears and sees everything you do. He is waiting! If you love him, you will talk to him.

2. Have you read his word? This is how he reminds us of how much he loves us. He wrote this book just for us, so we can learn more about him. He loves you!

3. Have you shined your light? By listening to others, by a kind action, by accepting the not so easy to love. You will be surprised at how loved you will feel, if you will love others, by letting Christ shine through you. We live in a dark world, without our lights many will not receive Christ! We need to make sure our hearts are right with Christ, so we can shine brightly! Let's go make a difference in someone's life today! Show Christ how much you love him! 

You are loved!!!! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 

Tiffany Ingham

Pastors wife of Joe Ingham

Emmanuel Baptist Church

Newland, NC

G Rated / Mrs Amy Sapp

G RATED

Do YOU live a G RATED LIFE?

G for Godly, Godly is "Good content for all ages!"

Do YOU live a Godly life?

Has the Lord convicted you about something in your life?  If he has, you should follow through with whatever it is that He is convicting you about?

I know "Halloween" is tomorrow.  Has the Lord convicted you about not taking your kids "trick or treating"?  Your kids do not have to feel like they are being deprived just because they don't  go "trick or treating".  Do something special to make that day fun for them.

Has He convicted you on a certain way that you dress?
I have a friend that the Lord has convicted them about wearing sports team's apparel, for various reasons.  When they first expressed this conviction to me, it did not make me feel convicted.  However, I think they are super awesome for following the direction that the Lord is leading them.  And it gave me a great respect to see this person following through with their conviction.

Has the Lord convicted you about the type of music that you listen to?  Don't just throw the old music out, replace it with good God honoring music.

Has He convicted you on maybe something that you have said to someone else, or maybe a way you have acted?  If so, do your best to make that situation right.  THREE simple little words...  "I am sorry" or "Please forgive me"  will do wonders!!

Maybe the Lord has been convicting you on the type of movies / TV that you watch?  Or maybe the amount of time that you watch them?  Is what you are watching something that would please the Lord?  Is what you are watching something that you could watch with Jesus sitting next to you?  Do you have to "skip" parts or do a lot of "muting"?

Maybe you have something you are addicted to?  Maybe it isn't really a sin, but it takes up way too much of your life?  Are you addicted to sports?  Do you know more sports players stats than you do know the details of Noah's life?  Do you know who won the World Series the past ten years?  Do you know all the books of the Bible?  Do you spend as much time talking about the Lord as you do talking about a certain sport?

Maybe you are convicted about your time spent using the internet?  Whether it be on Facebook, Pinterest, Playing Games, or YouTube. 

Maybe you have something that you have been convicted of or have given up??  Have you given it up completely or have you just given it up in public?  Do you live the same way at church or in the grocery store, that you live at home, or when you are alone in the car?

***************NEWSFLASH**************

Jesus....  is ALWAYS with you!  Jesus is with you at church, He is with you while you are shopping, He is with you while you are driving alone in the car, He is in your thoughts, He is in your heart.

If the Lord has done a work in your heart in a certain area, work on that area in your life!  Do your best to live a G RATED life!  Do not push your convictions on anyone else, everyone is at a different place in their walk with God.

The Bible gives us a GREAT list of things to think on to live a G RATED life!!

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."

Mrs Amy Sapp
O'Fallon, MO
 

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Recipe / Ms Diana Stephens

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 25 min (plus chill time)

Cook Time: 10 min

Ingredients:

COOKIES:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup pure unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
ROLLING SUGAR:
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter until fluffy. Add sugars and pumpkin puree and beat well. Mix in egg and vanilla, scraping down sides of the bowl to incorporate all of the ingredients.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Beat flour mixture into liquid mixture a little at a time just until incorporated.
3. Cover dough with plastic and chill at least an hour, or until dough becomes slightly firm.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (or spray with nonstick spray). Mix rolling sugar ingredients in a small bowl.
5. Remove cookie dough from refrigerator. Use a medium cookie scoop (1 1/2 Tablespoons) or a large spoon to scoop out dough and roll into balls. Use your hands to roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar and make sure they're coated really well. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Use a glass with a nice, flat bottom to dip in sugar and flatten the balls.
6. Bake at 350°F. for 10 to 14 minutes, or until they are slightly firm to the touch. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes or so, then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tips:

*Store in an airtight container. These cookies freeze well too. Place them in freezer zip bag and remove from freezer when the craving hits.


***The only thing I did different, was I didn't use the ginger and allspice in the rolling sugar. Oh, and I went "cinnamon crazy" in the dough. I put more like 2-3 teaspoons in!!


Ms Diana Stephens
Spokane, WA