by Kimberly | Feb 10, 2014 | Arkansas, Bible, Books, Worship
I’m still reading through the OT and making lists of the God the people of the OT encountered, served, feared, and loved. I am loving seeing how God interacts with his people. I know that He is the same God today as he was 8000 years ago.
Currently, I’m in Leviticus, and its not very exciting reading – but still I see that God talks to his people and tells us how we can please him. I see him showing mercy. Here are seven things that I learned this past week.
1. God has a purpose for color. I saw this as I attended the Bloggers in Bloom event last week and as I await the Arkansas Flower and Garden Show. The reports in Exodus about color is that God intended certain aspects of the temple and of the worshiper’s attire to be a certain color. He is an exact and detailed God. But, how he uses color now for our benefits are different. He uses color to express warmth and invitation. He uses color to express that winter is over and spring is finally here. He uses color to brighten moods and take away frowns. All of these are great reasons to use color in your home, kitchen (in what you cook), and in your wardrobe.
2. God is a free-ing God. The If:Gathering was this weekend, and although I wasn’t able to attend in Texas, I was grateful for one of my friends, Sharon Miller, who posted some of her favorite quotes. I particularly loved this one by Christine Caine: “You came out of Egypt, but Egypt is still in you. But God wants to get Egypt out of you so we can walk into the Promised Land free.” This basically means that we desire so often to return to what God has freed us from. But, how much better life would be if we never turned back and desired the old ball-and-chain!
3. The Lord shows mercy to stiff-necked people. I’m not talking about chiropractic care (though I love mine in Raleigh), but I’m talking about the mercy that he shows us when we refuse to give up our sinful ways, when we balk at his correction, when we settle for every day ho hum when he has called us to live the extraordinary!
4. God gives gifts to people to use for his glory! Let’s take a look at the oil maker in Exodus 37. God gave him the talents and abilities to make oil so that a particular type of oil might be used in the worship of God! That is so cool to me. That God might give me a particular gift that I can use to bring God glory in our home, in the local church, and in the church around the country and world. That gets me excited!
5. The Lord requires sacrifice for sin. I often thought in reading all of the lists for sacrifices that I’m glad that Jesus paid my sacrifice once for all so that I don’t have to sacrifice daily or weekly or yearly or anything to recompense for my sin. The perfect Christ already did that! Oh what a blessing. And this is how we can use the Old Testament, even in Leviticus, to teach others about the beauty of the Gospel and that the whole Bible points us to Jesus!
6. The Lord tells us what is pleasing to Him. He has given us His Word. That Word, the Bible, is sufficient in us knowing what it means to please Him. In one way, we stand before God because the Son has pleased the Father in his death and resurrection. But, we still try to please God in our actions. Not for acceptance. No, but for his pleasure.
7. God shows his glory to his people. He did this many times for Moses, and He dwelt in the Tabernacle with his people. How we might long for that. Do you long for Heaven? Do you long to be worshiping and singing where God and Jesus and the Spirit are front and center? I was reading a Donald Miller article about why he doesn’t feel the need for church and the first paragraph – singing really isn’t my thing – I just don’t like it. It made me sad for him because Heaven will have singing in it. We will get to sing to the Lamb! Moses’ song will be sung there!
How are your devotions going? Do you find them dead and lifeless? Or do you long to meet with God every day? I’m not quite to the last one – but I am finding the more time I am in the Word the more I want to be in the Word.
by Kimberly | Feb 10, 2014 | food
A new month brings a new detox. These, in 2014, are going to be monthly challenges. When you’ve been cooking and baking as long as I have, you get in ruts. You need challenges in your kitchen. And when you are trying to lose weight (two babies back to back will do that to you), you also need something to spruce up those rice cakes (I’m really kidding – no rice cakes here).
So, what began yesterday, my husband and I will begin on a 4-day journey to experiment with new recipes and old ones – just nothing containing grains. Here are the reasons/challenges for this detox for me:
1. Grains have been my go-to the last few weeks. Since my raw detox back in the middle of January, I’ve indulged in muffins, cookies, pastas, sandwiches. This detox will get me out of the habit of instinctively reaching for bread.
2. I eat a lot of soups or salads in the winter – my main side for those is bread. I want to get out of that rut or realize I don’t have to have bread with soups and salads.
3. Breads really do create bloating in me. I can tell. Jeans fit tighter, they don’t like to zip the whole way. But, mostly a diet full of breads and carbs bloat my tummy more than anywhere else on my body. I want my jeans to fit better!
4. When you do a detox you practice self-control. I just can’t sneak a bite of my son’s granola bar or muffin at breakfast. I can’t eat a small handful of goldfish as I dish him some. I definitely won’t reach for those cookies at ministry events. Self-control, weight loss, less bloating, more vegetables and proteins. This is going to be a good detox. So what meals do we have planned? Broccoli Stir-fry Pork Sirloin with apples and sweet potatoes Pan sauteed fish with sugar snap peas Carrot-Ginger-Apple Juice for breakfast with some scrambled eggs. Spring Minestrone soup Tyson Chicken Tenderloins on salad. What else should we try?
by Kimberly | Feb 9, 2014 | What's Eatin?
This week will be different because of a Grain-Free 4-Day Detox (stay tuned for more on that) and a holiday and some ministry opportunities coming for the weekend. I really do love using my love of cooking for ministry opps – everyone loves food, right?
Monday: Making something similar to this pork roast and serving it with sweet potatoes and sautéed apples. Think cracker barrel.
Tuesday: Sautéed seafood with taco seasoning – think Taco Tuesday – with a salad (my husband will more than likely have it with a tortilla and cabbage).
Wednesday: Cabbage and Kielbasa. I’m trying to win my husband over with this meal. It is something I loved when growing up and now I’m just making it because I had the kielbasa on hand and needed a cheap meal.
Thursday: DATE DAY! Since our marriage retreat got cancelled a few wknds back, my hubs took the day off and we are doing us-stuff. That includes conversation, coffee shops, and lunch date!
Friday: Chocolate-covered strawberry pop tarts for Valentine’s Day breakfast, Crack Cookies to take to some widows for VDay – more on that later as well, stay tuned – and then my hubs cooks me a rather awesome steak each year on VDay and with it we are having roasted fingerling potatoes and asparagus. Don’t know about dessert yet. We shall see.
Saturday: Having some friends over for a brunch on Saturday morning. These rolls will grace the table. This sparkly beverage. And a delicious quiche. Keeping it simple. But, delicious. And about friends and conversation and a pretty tablescape.
by Kimberly | Feb 6, 2014 | Quotes
I sang in a traveling ensemble group in high school at the Christian school I attended. One year we sang a very cheesy (think early 90s) Christian song “When you can’t trace his hand, trust his heart.” Ok – the words are true, but I will admit very cheesy indeed.
But, how true! When you know where you want to be in life and what God has gifted you with and don’t see how you are ever going to get there?
When you see some others advancing and succeeding and you just feel like you are stumbling along?
When there is no yellow brick road to travel?
God. He started you. He will bring you to completion.
by Kimberly | Feb 5, 2014 | Arkansas, creatives, Events, Festivals, Uncategorized
(This post has a giveaway at the end! Please comment for a chance to win. The AFGS provided me with these tickets at no cost to me and all opinions are my own. Thankful for their generosity and I look forward to the event to see the beauty that will be displayed.)
All day the city of Little Rock looked like a frozen glass house. Ice was on every tree limb and wire. But, at a blogging and flower and foodie event: it was warm and colorful inside.
Last night I went to a wonderful event hosted at a lovely home here in Little Rock. It was all about flowers, food, spring, the Arkansas Flower and Garden Show (coming up in a few weeks), warm weather, friends, and wine & food pairings. What a night filled with beautiful color and helpful information and prime rib and salmon (oh the salmon)!
For me, the night was about color.
Yellow is such an inviting color. Have it in your guest room, your entry way, or anywhere in your home where you would like people to feel completely welcome.Art can make a statement.
The owners of the home we were invited in to love art. There was a piece on every wall. Gorgeous ways to bring in color to your home.
Strawberries and black pepper – new fave combination!
I had on a pink scarf and there was so much purple in the room – love it! All these different hues found everywhere at the event!
I’ve been reading in Exodus in my devotions about how God was detailing the colors for the tabernacle. I love God gave us colors and instructed us to use them in worshiping Him! He is a colorful, creative God!
The last thing I learned was later when I was talking with my husband about the event: make sure your home tells what is really the most important thing in life. When people come in your home – what will they remember? What will their takeaway be?
And I have a giveaway for you!!! Thankful for the free tickets to the Arkansas Flower and Garden Show. I have three pairs to giveaway to readers! So, if you are going to be able to attend the event at the Statehouse in a few weeks, leave a comment below (only blog comments will count) about your favorite flower and how you bring it into your home to brighten up the blah months of winter. I will pick three winners who will each get a pair of tickets to the event. Thank you AFGS!!! I can’t wait to attend the event on Friday morning with my family! And if you have Sunday afternoon available – it is going to be a great time for the youngest gardeners out there!
So thankful for the Arkansas Flower and Garden Show, the owners of Colonial Wine and Spirits, Chris Olson and his talents for making flowers come to life inside your home, and the Arkansas Women Bloggers, and all those who gave us such lovely SWAG for this wonderful event.
by Kimberly | Feb 5, 2014 | Link Love
There have been a lot of fun pictures and tasty recipes this week in the blogosphere. So, grab the keyboard and hold on – here we go!
If you do Lent (a spiritual season coming up) or don’t do Lent – or just want a new journal to pray through – here is what you need to get. I also would like just a smidge of talent like that.
Who doesn’t like DumDums? I mean bite size lollipops that instantly transport you to being a kid again. Here is a small craft you can do with them, here a big craft you can do. Go ahead – make someone’s day!
Her site is fun and creative and always makes me want to cook or bake or be artsy!
This was a great post by my friend Sharon. On dreaming and marriage and contentment and living the dream and doing big things for Christ.
You can bet this will be better than generic coc- and that I’ll be making it soon!
Coconut and cream in the same sentence – you are calling my fork! 🙂
These will keep you busy. Enjoy and happy blog-hunting!
by Kimberly | Feb 5, 2014 | Books, Women & Books Together
I love small, simple reminders and this week I have definitely found them in Chapter 5 of Found in Him. Life is at times completely overwhelming. I don’t mean the big picture life – I mean the every day, every moment, will my husband ever get home, when will nap time come, can I please go on a walk and not freeze life. Do you know the one I’m talking about?
Then I read this. Calm enters. Waters still. Life becomes unhazy (though I might still need a nap).
The reminder that Christ died for me. That’s all.
The Gospel is not about self. Much of this world is – but the gospel isn’t. If you start with self – you’ve started in the wrong place. Start with God. That’s the best place to start. If you need a Savior (which all of us do) – you can’t start with yourself. That road will lead you wrong every time you go down it. “Take off all your self-protection, self-righteousness, hollow pride, excuse making, self-pity, and crass unbelief. This gospel, the true gospel, is not about you. (pg 96)
Another book I’ve been reading is the Maximize Your Life 31-day Devotional (online) – by Brian Houston (Hillsong pastor). I’m loving it so far. There was a sweet little time that these two books married for me this week:
“Rise my friends. Rise from your sleepy dreams of grandeur and your troubled nightmares of loss. Rise from your unbelief and from your guilty knowledge of your continual failure. Rise out of your doomed lineage and exiled wandering and stand with me. I am the new man. I have won. I will stand.” (pg 100)
One way we can learn to be like Christ is walking in humble obedience. Oh, this is very difficult. I want to cry and complain, or sit on my bed all day, or not pick up the toys. But, that is not like Christ. And I need the reminder.
by Kimberly | Feb 5, 2014 | mothering
This is definitely coming out of a real place that I am right now and learning how to think through the life I’ve been given. It is also coming out of almost 3 weeks stuck in the house with two littles who love to be outside (the older one especially), but it’s been too cold to go outside and stay healthy (which is important)!
All three of my men are the joys of my life. I love them: cooking for them, reading them books, tickling them while changing their diapers (well, the youngest two). I love sitting on the couch at the end of a long day with my Mister. I love it when he walks in the door and gives me a kiss. I love listening to the littles sounds as they learn to communicate.
But, there are also little pleasures in my life as well – that don’t take away from my loves of my boys but helps me explore other avenues and gifts that God has given me. So, here are some things that I am learning.
1. Be content. The Mister and I were talking about the budget this morning. God has graciously provided everything we need for our health and enjoyment. Mister provides wonderfully for our family and we are being obedient with our finances. I must remember Philippians 4 and the verse that says do not grow weary in doing good.
2. Have fun in the every day. I love baking – so I need to bake more for my littles. I love Elijah’s face when he bites into a yummy cookie. Why not make some Walmart Crack Cookies and sit there with him on the floor with a sippy cup of nice warm milk right before his afternoon nap time or bedtime for that matter?
3. Don’t compare your life with others. I know moms of two or more who live in NYC or the PNW or the coastal cities (near a beach) who surf, sit down at sidewalk cafes, ride bikes through curvy mountain roads, play in creeks, etc. I can’t compare my life with theirs. I can’t compare my life with others who live here around me. I must live the life that God has given me.
4. Take delight in the ordinary. God is gracious to give us the every day. The every day that He has planned for us. We are to rejoice! He has given it to US!
5. Dream. I don’t think there is anything wrong with dreaming. Dreaming inspires me. Dreaming helps me to look forward to things. Not to take away from today, but to look forward to next year when our boys our older and we can do ore exciting things with them (like learn to ride a tricycle or buy a wagon they can both ride in)! Dream in color!
6. What works for me is to take great delight in my children, love on my husband, but also have other things that I love to do. Here are mine: writing (this blog and other articles and ebooks that are an encouragement to my soul and hopefully an encouragement to you who read them), take photography (so I have random photo sessions but I also take tons of photos of my boys, the food I cook on a daily basis, and our home. I love to send mail. Decorating little packages and thinking of others makes me happy. I can’t wait till the boys are old enough to write or color and we can add pictures to the care packages and they can write their own thank you notes. Cook. I love to cook and be creative with foods. I will be doing the Ladies Luncheon at our Missions Conference next month at church. It is a great way for me to use my creative food juices! I love to travel: so my husband sees to it that we get away occasionally so we can do that together. In April we will incorporate some of those together when we go to Louisville, hang out with friends, do some photo shoots, attend the CBMW National Conference (and photograph that), and play at new places with our littles. Finding ways to decorate our home is something I’m taking delight in and that is something new for me. It is fun. I love to read: so I read on my own time, and spend some time weekly to read to our boys and do a series of how to read to children with the gospel in mind.
So, find delight. Live your extraordinary life. Team with your husband to conquer the days that are never-ending and hard. Praise the Lord for the the joy of raising Littles. God delights in our delight.
by Kimberly | Feb 3, 2014 | food, What's Eatin?
Here we have a new month. That means a new grocery budget. But, I need to work hard this month still not to go over! So, here is what I am cooking this week at Rainwood
Monday: Tonight we are having friends over – a triple date here at the house with kids. Looking forward to it. Stuffed Shells and Chocolate Dump Cake. (Salad and bread are being supplied) I’m making a double batch of the shells and will have leftovers I can freeze for us later.
Tuesday: I’ve got an AWB event to go to but I’m making Chicken Street Tacos in honor of Taco Tuesday.
Wednesday is soup day around here. Since it is still going to be cold this week, I’m making Creamy Chicken and Kale Soup – a great way to get in those healthy greens full of vitamins.
Thursday: We are doing leftovers.
Friday: If all goes well we are spending Friday and Saturday with friends, but I have salted caramel sauce and smores pop tarts on the menu
What are you eating this week?
by Kimberly | Feb 3, 2014 | photo shoot
February is a month filled with LOVE. Well, here is your chance to get a session with just you and your sweetheart – for the walls in your house, the pocket in your billfold, for your website, or for a special treat for the one you love. I’ll be doing a photo session here in Little Rock on the afternoon of February 22nd and have room for one more couple. You can be married, dating, engaged…in whatever stage your relationship is in. Maybe you’ve been married for 50 years. Maybe you’ve been dating for 2 months.
So, let me know you are the one couple who wants to do the shoot!
Details:
When: February 22nd.
Where: Little Rock, AR
Cost: 50$
What that includes: 45 minute photo shoot, CD of 15-20 edited photos
I look forward to working with you: Contact me here at kimddavidson @ gmail dot com or via social media. First one who responds gets this spot. If you can’t do that date, but still want a sweetheart shoot, contact me and we’ll work around our schedules.
Love is a beautiful thing.
