Wife Life As A Christian

Starbucks Deal

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 03:08:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

I want to start posting some couponing deals or just deals I find on the internet so I can help save some money for you!

Here is a good one, for those who LOVE Starbucks and I know many many of you out there love your Starbucks.

Bring your morning receipt from Starbucks to the same or another participating Starbucks after 2pm the same day and get a Grande cold drink for just $2! Offer is valid 7/22/14 to 8/17/14 so you have about a week and a half to grab your Starbucks for cheap! You can find more info here

Canning - Homemade Strawberry Jam Made Easy!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 19:31:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

I wanted to share with you something I learned to do this summer, something I never thought I would do at home myself and that is canning my own strawberry jam! Making homemade strawberry jam is so satisfying to me, you know exactly what's in it and it's cost efficient especially when the fruit is in season, I suggest you jam anything that's in season and cheap. You can make a big batch and store it long term or even give them out to your friends as gifts! Who wouldn't like fresh jam as a present?

Before I started I did my research, found a pressure canner/cooker on Walmart's website which I can double up as a regular water bath canner. I got it for around $75-$80 + free shipping which is relatively cheap considering the versatility of it. Strawberries were on sale during the early summer months so I bought boxes and crates full of strawberries to jam.

Many of you may know that I'm a non-recipe cook. I don't like following specific recipes and never really do, I like to taste as I go and add things and take away things that I find suites my liking. Except for baking.. well even baking, sometimes I tend to venture on my own journey to see what I can make without a recipe and some turn out delish, some may turn out like a weird alien cake.. But that's another story.

This is my version of strawberry jam. I've tried different ways of hulling, mixing and canning and came up with this very simple and easy to make "non-recipe recipe" so let's get started!

Wash your strawberries, pick the ugly ducklings out then hull them. I had about 6 of the 1lb boxes you can get from Walmart. There are different ways to hull a strawberry, I like to cut my strawberry tops right off since I was making a lot of jam and it saved me tonnes of time. (If you compost, don't waste those precious hulled tops!) If you wanted to can your jam, you would start your water bath boiling at this point in your canner.

Put them in a blender and pulse it until it gets to the consistency you like. I like a mixture in mine so I had some chunks and some pureed. You can even use a potato masher and mash them by hand in a big bowl, do it in batches so you get a good result.

Add them to a big pot, I used my nonstick wok because it's a multipurpose pot I use for everything and I suggest a nonstick pot because sugar likes to stick. Make sure your pot has high sides because the mixture will bubble when you stir.

Add about 3-4 cups of sugar (white/brown or demerara) depending on how sweet you want, lemon juice from 2 lemons, and give it a good stir to combine. I added 2 "cups" of brown sugar because that's what I had. (I know liquid measuring cups shouldn't be used to measure nothing but liquid but like I said, I like cooking my way :))

Bring mixture to a boil. Let it simmer for about 30-35 minutes until the jam reaches the right texture stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom or burning. It should thickly coat your wooden spoon without it running off. I like mine thick so I simmer mine for 35-40 minutes. The mixture will reduce a lot as it cooks more and more. If you wanted a syrupy consistency don't cook it as long and you will have made strawberry syrup, great for ice creams!

During the wait, prepare your canning jars by boiling jars and lids in a pot of boiling water. You can run them through a rinse cycle in your dishwasher if you prefer.

Once the jam reaches the right consistency, skim off the foam on top to get that silky smooth red jam. Then spoon them into the jars and cool completely. I find that cooling helps it to slightly thicken a bit more. Also, you wouldn't want to burn your tongue on hot sugary jam.

If you wish to store it long term then follow the instructions on your canner and continue to can your jars.

I hope this encourages you to go out of your normal routine of buying store bought jam that costs $4 and make your very own homemade, "healthier" version of strawberry jam! Please share this post if you like it or if you think it would benefit someone who wants to give it a go! God bless!

Daily Bread - Are you in your word daily?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:49:00 +0000

I must confess... I don't like reading. I was never a big reader when I was growing up, instead I liked pictures and videos! It kept me more engaged in the content whenever there is illustration or a photograph to show me what I am reading about. So you guessed it, reading the bible was a challenge for me especially reading the bible daily.

I struggled and struggled with this for a long time since I came back to the Lord and I still do to this day. Whenever we read together as a family, it was hard for me to understand a lot of what is written in the bible and I always wondered why wasn't God speaking to me or revealing things so I may understand it. I prayed and I asked Him to give me the push to read, to convict me everyday, to give me the desire for His word and asked Him to help me understand what everything meant and how I could apply some of the topics we read about.

I can't count how many times I asked my husband why I'm missing it, what is the significance of reading the bible when it doesn't make any sense or it doesn't apply to my life. My husband kept reminding me of how important it is to pick up your bible daily and read it. Just read it. Pick a starting point and read, even if you don't feel like it.When you keep reading the Lord will speak to you and soon you will be able to make sense of it all, you're not going to get it right away.

So I tried. Now I'm not sure if this has happened to you but when you choose a book you want to start in and you read it, but not one word makes sense to you. It makes sense in a form of language but it didn't truly make sense in your heart, it didn't mean anything to you. This happened to me and still does!

Recently I decided to start from the beginning in the book of Genesis. I started to read a chapter or two at a time, taking it very slowly. I started a few days ago actually and I'm starting to get it! I remember reading these chapters but revisiting the chapters are reminding me of the beginning.

I encourage all of us to keep in the word daily. I wanted to write about this topic because I know it's a hard struggle for many of us but God calls us all to follow and read His word everyday. He wants to communicate and fellowship with us through His word and reveal things to us to help us in our walk.

I wanted to conclude with a little "commercial" my husband had written to give me encouragement as well! I hope you all enjoy it and just keep at it, don't give up because it's hard or you don't feel like it. Kill your flesh and eat your daily bread!

"We know a place where feeling fatigued, depressed, sick of life, tired of the ups and downs, emptiness inside, feeling unwanted, hurt, sad, defeated, pressured, stressed out, left out and bummed out have given way to sleepless nights. You may be Scripturally Malnourished and Daily Bread can help you!

When taking Daily Bread abnormal behaviors may be fuzzy feelings, tongues, visions, and miraculous miracles. Side effects will be salvation, boldness, courage, happiness, new outlook on life, strength, wisdom, knowledge, meekness, love, gentleness, longsuffering, a new heart. Do NOT ask your primary care provider if Daily Bread is ok for you to take. JUST TAKE IT!" - The husband.

My couponing channel on Youtube!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 01:03:00 +0000

Hi guys, I'm back! I hope everyone is having a great new year of 2013!

I'm sure most of you know that I am a couponer, I try to save money where I can and get as much free items I can during the process (Free is always exciting!). Well today I wanted to introduce you to my couponing channel on youtube at www.youtube.com/user/Beginnercouponer :)You can view the most recent videos on my side bar to the right ---->

I started making videos to show everyone what I do and wanted to share my couponing hauls and experiences. I believe everyone could and should coupon, you save so much money short term and long term and the bible speaks of being wise with your money for a reason!

Proverbs 24:3-4
Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge the rooms shall be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Please visit my channel! Join me in finding coupons and getting great deals at stores I shop at. I will share videos on interesting coupons I find, deals I will do and my shopping hauls.

Thank you so much for your support last year reading my blog and hope you enjoy spending time with me again this year!

God bless and continue to walk in His word. :)

Cloth Diapering

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 17:02:00 +0000

I wanted to talk to you today about Cloth Diapering! I'm sure you're a little surprised I cloth diaper. Well I decided to dive into the world of cloth diapering when we were thinking of how to utilize our smaller budget wisely. At first I thought they would be a nightmare to use so I prepared my heart for what was to come. I pictured poops exploding everywhere when they were sleeping, I would need to hand wash them to get stains out and so many more nightmares!

I started researching cloth diapering and boy was I surprised, please check out these videos on Youtube, they really helped me learn about cloth diapering:

ObbsAndLala - Kayla who is so informational
Kdhoney1 - Great diaper reviews and blog

There are so many different types of cloth diapers out there now that there are communities of cloth diapering moms and parents who love cloth diapering. I tell you it's not like the pieces of cloth you pin to your baby anymore, some are sheets of fabric with an additional waterproof cover you put outside of it to keep it from leaking, some are regular disposable "looking" diapers but made out of cloth!

I decided to order the most economical choice I could find from Amazon with gift cards my friend had given us to lower our out of pocket even more just to try them out. I think in the end I spent about $60. I got two packs of each size (one for toddler, one for baby) of unbleached 100% cotton prefolds and two waterproof covers, one for my toddler and one for my new born. I planned to use these as long as they would last, hopefully till the next baby or whenever!

I made a video on them when I received them here so you can get a better look at them.

From the month and a half of using cloth diapers I really like them. They aren't as horrible as I pictured them, although I did have to deal with some baaaad messes here and there... But yes, I still like them. They are better for the environment and way easier on your wallet. Here are pictures of my two boys in their matching diapers: Immanuel my 2 year old and then Israel my 2 month old.

Honestly, what we have right now can easily last us more than a year. It's when big explosions happen and it leaks on the cover that's the problem, I only have one for each kid, I would need to put the soiled one in the wash, hope my toddler goes potty in the potty and constantly change my newborn because there is no outer waterproof cover to keep everything from getting wet. Because of that I do need to get a couple extra diaper covers for accidents like those.

I am learning so much more about cloth diapers and will definitely post more as I discover more about them! I'm looking into purchasing some all in ones which are the "cloth disposables" which you don't throw away but they look and function exactly the way you would a disposable.

I will educate you all on cloth diapering more for those who are interested because it really is a better system and should really be tried in all families. I hope you all are having a wonderful week and please comment and let me know what you think!

Being Wise Stewards of God's Money

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 22:46:00 +0000

He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored. Prov. 13:18

Being frugal with God's money is not at all being cheap, it is a smart thing. God calls us to be wise with what He has blessed us with. For some it's a breeze, for others it takes a process to learn to be frugal. We were so blessed the last few years, we had two incomes and we didn't have to pay childcare or rent. We made some bad financial decisions in our lives but God has helped us learn from our mistakes.

As a lot of you may already know and from my previous posts I no longer work but am a full time stay at home mom. Obviously without an extra income budgeting would be a part of our daily lives. We had to cut down many things like our grocery budget, eating out/entertainment and cable, which my husband already thought about before because he didn't want us spending 24 hours in front of a dead TV.

When working out our finances I was stressed out and worried, I thought I needed to go back to work or find a night job so we didn't have to spend on childcare, how are we going to manage? So many worries went on in my brain. But soon we realized "wow, God gave us just enough.". Enough that I didn't have to work, enough to pay bills and spend on groceries! That's all we need, we just need to spend wisely with our Father's help and everything will be ok. God wanted me to stay at home with the children, He didn't want me to find another job and He was basically shouting at us to wake up and not worry because He will always provide!

He blessed us with so much little extra's here and there, from the grocery blessing (post here) to extra cash here and there. It's so amazing our Father knows exactly what we need. He was there to teach us that our foolish spending ways needed to stop and learn to live frugally and be appreciative of everything He's given us. We need to be wise stewards of His money.

Do you live frugally? How is God providing for your family needs?

A little homesick for food

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:02:00 +0000

Some of you may already know I'm a huge foodie. I love to eat food, make food, watch food (on Youtube or Food Network), look at food, and again.. EAT FOOD. Sometimes I wonder if God gave me this passion because He wants me to do something in life with it? Only God knows and He will make it happen if it's in His will. But today I just wanted to share with you some childhood memories of my family with food.

I'm not sure how my passion for food grew this big, perhaps I was raised in a family that loves good food and as we traveled we lived alongside many different types of cuisines. My "Gong Gong" (grandpa) on my mom's side cooked authentic Cantonese food. I remember as he grew older he had to give whoever cooking being my mom or aunty or his maid the exact instructions to make dishes as he wasn't able to cook himself. If the food was not up to his taste standards, he would not eat it. Yes, he was rather picky and had the power to be picky in his house. So as a result, my mom and aunty knows how to make Chinese food.

My "Ah Ma" (grandma) on my dad's side made authentic Nonya Malaysian food. I remember a childhood memory looking into the kitchen, seeing my Ah Ma and my mom, including whoever she had over for dinner (just the ladies) gather around a table with their beautiful Sarongs (Malaysian skirts for both men and women) dangling down to the floor as they sit and pick the ends off long green beans, preparing it for dinner that night. My dad would be alongside my Ah Ma watching her as she cooks and thus, my dad cooked Nonya food.

I spent most of my young years in Singapore, because South East Asian countries were so close we would travel to Malaysia very often. We would have dishes like Rendang beef (thicker curry-like dish), Chow Kuay Teow (friend noodles) and Rojak (a tofu, squid and sweet sauce salad) and so much more. I grew up in Thailand for 7 years too so Thai food will always be one of my favourites. Neither of my parents know how to cook Thai food but love to eat it! So now when I do get the chance we go to a local Thai restaurant in Vegas called Komos to bring back tasty memories of my childhood. I also lived in Taiwan for several years and I miss Taiwanese food as well, from roadside spring onion pancakes to beef noodle soups to pork and vegetable dumplings. Chinese food is so simple and yet so heart warming.

I wish I paid more attention to my parents cooking when I was younger, I get so homesick for Cantonese food and Malaysian food sometimes. I can only look for recipes online to try and mimic the taste but it will never be the same. Enough said about food, it's making me homesick for home cooking, I can just smell the aromas in my head! May I just end with pictures of our rather easy yet scrumptious cucumber sandwich my son and I had for lunch today? :)

What are some of your favourite foods or childhood memories with your family?

Groceries! Blessings from our Father

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 19:28:00 +0000

I am so excited to write this post today because an amazing blessing happened to our family last night and I give all credit to our loving Father. Words cannot describe what this means to our family and it was truly an act of pure love, love which overflowed from our Father Himself, working through others.

My family and I have had to watch our budget very closely as my husband is the only source of income currently, I mentioned this in the previous post. We were able to stretch our groceries for 5 whole weeks. I will talk more about cooking ahead and grocery budgeting if any of you are interested if it will help, just let me know!

At the end of our 5 weeks our fridge was bare, I saw we had some milk left and a tupperware of mashed sweet potatoes. My husband got paid on Friday and we were so excited to go grocery shopping again for the month and that was the plan this weekend.

My husband called me after getting off of work last night and said "Guess what?", I anxiously asked "What??" as I started running through the possible good news scenarios it could be. He said two friends (who shall me left anonymous) of ours decided to go grocery shopping for us, that we have a whole trunk full of groceries, FOR US. "Are you serious?" I exclaimed with my jaw half way down my face. I was in shock and awe, neither of us had ever witnessed something like this before.

He went on to saying the Lord will always provide, He showers us with blessings we don't ever deserve. He is so merciful and so giving all the time and we should always trust in Him. I was in tears at that point. I was just so touched by the blessings He has given our family.

Here are the pictures of the groceries and the inventory just to show you all the magnitude of this.. lol. I'm still in shock!! So overwhelming!

2 boxes of cereal (not included in pictures as I forgot I put them away)
2 loaves of bread
A whole cake! (It was someone's birthday at work and decided to give us the rest of the cake :) )
3 packages of beef sirloin tips
Nutella snacks
Hot dogs
Fruit which included: Kiwi, apples, oranges, bananas, avocados, tomatoes
Veggies: Lettuce, onions, garlic, peppers, carrots, cucumbers, celery
2 whole chickens
Cookie dough
Eggs
4 packages of rice
2 silk milks
2 packages of fish
1 package of chicken legs
Ground turkey
A sack of potatoes
Cran-apple juice
2 Apple juice (Do you know how long it's been since we had juice in our fridge? We have been living off of water lol!)

Oh boy what a blessing. I love my God :)

Stay at home mom

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 23:32:00 +0000

Being a mom is a challenge, being a stay at home mom is a never ending challenge, being a stay at home mom with a new born and a toddler (and a new puppy! Post about her will be coming soon) is like doing the Tough Mudder, most of the time! (If you don't know what a tough mudder is go here).

When I had Immanuel, my toddler (picture on the left), I worked a full time job and had my mother and brother in law watch him. I missed a few of his "firsts" if you know what I mean and wish I would've been the one to witness all his "firsts", although having an extra line of income was very useful.

Unfortunately I had to stop working due to having my newest baby as childcare would be way too expensive for both of the kids, so I am now a stay at home mom.

Switching from being a full time working mom to being a stay at home mom was a lot to adjust to. I had all the time in the world with my kids and house work was my job. I had to get in the groove of taking care of a new born and a toddler at the same time, getting used to doing chores everyday to make sure the house was at least in decent shape when my husband came home. Do you know what it's like to have the house clean one second and your toddler has his letters and blocks out all over the house the next? That's my life!

This is where practice makes perfect comes in. You do it over and over, improving each day and you will start to adapt to it. Getting used to staying at home all the time was also part of being a stay at home mom, at least for me. We only have one car and my husband uses it to go to and from work so when we do go to church on Wednesdays or even just the weekends really makes me feel good, it's like I get to see the world again!

After doing it for a about 2 months I realized it was a great job, getting to set my own schedule was the best part! I try to make a schedule for us three at home. Don't get me wrong I still have my lazy moments and have days where I don't want to do a thing, but that's the beauty of it! I CAN have lazy days and just make up for it later at night or the next day. I thank our Lord so much for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to be a stay at home mom. Stay at home moms deserve all the respect in the world and quite frankly I think we are meant to stay home and watch the children. If you reflect on the Proverbs 31's Virtuous Woman, you see she takes care of all her duties and works from home, she is a Christian wife. Proverbs 31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

Are you a work at home mom, stay at home mom, working mom? Do you like what you are doing? What would you like to do? Let me know what you think!

The Birth - God's way

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 01:15:00 +0000

The birth... What an amazing experience doing it God's way. I uploaded a video of my birth on my channel: Wifelifeasachristian for those who are interested in watching :)

On "THE" day I truly felt God holding me and giving me a sense of calmness and peace as I went into labor. My water broke in the morning at around 8 am and contractions started to kick in. My husband, mother in law, daughter, son and I went for a walk around the block a few times to help contractions progress.

I had timed them as we walked and they seemed to get more and more intense and closer together rather quickly. I was still talking and enjoying the laboring process (I know it sounds weird but I really did enjoy it!).

After a few times around our community we went back in the house and called my midwife Kathya to let her know how I was feeling, she had told us this period can take a few hours as I was still talking in between my contractions and didn't sound like I was progressing as fast as I thought.

I took her word and just kept doing what I was doing, relaxing and letting each contraction pass. I felt an ease using the birth ball to sway back and forth or just to lean on as my family was watching, awaiting and husband was comforting me whenever he could as he timed each contraction for me. I remember somewhere in between the contractions my midwife called her Assistant to come over because she lived closer to me.

My midwife's Assistant Margo arrived at about 11 am. She monitored me and watched me as my contractions were so close apart yet I was still talking in between them. I could tell she wasn't sure herself whether I was really progressing that fast or something else because I was smiling, joking and one time telling my husband "I'm tired.." (lol). Margo decided I should be checked to see how dilated I was.

We went up to our bedroom where my tub was set up and got checked, I was 6 cm. So, Margo told me I could get into the tub if I wanted to and called my midwife. I got into the tub with whatever sports bra I had on and honestly didn't care what I had on at that point, I just wanted to get into my warm tub.

After getting in I immediately felt relaxed. Margo told us I might have to go onto the toilet as being too relaxed in the water can slow down the progression and the position when sitting on the toilet can really help descend the baby. But she was wrong. About 20 minutes or less later I began to really feel the need to push, I positioned myself subconsciously (my body just knew) and started pushing myself. My mother in law and Margo asked if I was pushing, I nodded. I felt a huge descent of the baby and grabbed Margo's hand.

Margo wanted to get ready for the birth but I couldn't let her hand go but she managed to switch out her hand for my husband's hand to hold. She got ready and told me I could give her a push and so I did. In a total of two pushes baby Israel was born at 11.59am!

Later my midwife Kathya arrived and while she settled to help Margo she commented "from 6 (cm) to having a baby in less than an hour!". Yes it was that fast! If it wasn't for the Father being there, I doubt the labor would've been so quick, fast enough for me to handle. He was able to make the labor process so fast and I am so grateful for His presence.

Many many thank yous to my loving husband Travon who was there throughout the pregnancy and birth, such a loving support he was for my pregnancy making sure I was taking all the vitamins I needed and so much more! I thank the Lord for providing me with the birth team to help with the birth, you can check out my midwife's website at www.midwifelasvegas.com. Most of all I thank my wonderful family (mother in law, daughter, son, brother in law and brother). I hope this brings God as much glory as He deserves. I know without Him I could not have done it this way. I can now say I did it! Birth - God's way.

Supernatural Childbirth

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 20:11:00 +0000

Being pregnant is a wonderful thing God has blessed women with, the feeling of growing a seed into a baby, an actual human being is so incredible! But when it comes to the birthing process most women have the same reactions to the idea, they think of words like "scared", "lots and lots of pain", and because of pain - "lots of pain medication". With this second baby my husband and I (ultimately me) made the decision to go all natural, medicine free and a birth at home experience having faith that God will be with us all the way.

I started looking into Christian births and to my surprise there aren't many resources out there educating or talking about a Christian birth. During my venture I was watching many videos on Youtube on natural births and home births and I found a video of a Christian woman who had her baby naturally at home. She recommended a book called Supernatural Childbirth by Jackie Mize and without delay I ordered the book.

In the book Jackie talks about her birth experiences, having faith in Christ and believing God will bless her with a pain-free supernatual birth with all her children. Her testimony stated she did have pain-free and fast births with her children and I thought to myself I too wanted a pain-free supernatural birth!

Almost all my colleagues were shocked when I told them from the beginning that I was going to do a home birth. Their reactions included them telling me I should take the epidural, why have a natural birth? Why be in pain when you can have a pain-free birth with meds? What if something goes wrong, there won't be a doctor there... and the list goes on. But I had this calmness in me every moment like God was telling me not to even consider what they were telling me, that He will be there and He will make everything ok.

It's truly amazing that so many people think having home birth is dangerous, it's not the normal thing to do but it SO is! God has handcrafted women bodies to go through what it needs to to give birth to a human being, people need to start realizing that and trust Him, our creator.

What do you think about home births or natural births (medicine free)? How did you have your children or how do you want to have your children? Let me know!

Introduction to my Christian Pregnancy Journey series

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 23:21:00 +0000

It's been a while since a post was written, I apologize, a lot has happened during this period including the great news that I am pregnant with my second! So I figured this would be a great opportunity to start a Christian Pregnancy Series!

Finding out I was pregnant again made me nervous, I honestly didn't know how to deal with the news and was more shocked with the fact I was pregnant so soon (little over a year). I knew I wanted a completely different pregnancy and birth for this baby. I wanted an all natural, no drugs, comfortable and safe home birth, so we hired a midwife. As much as we tried to find a Christian midwife, mine is not a Christian but felt she was a good fit for us plus financially, she was more affordable. She is very health oriented, everything has a fix with herbs or a good diet, which made my husband a happy man.

During my pregnancy, which currently I am at 23 weeks, I felt the morning sickness everyone talked about which I did not experience with my first (that was definitely a change of pace) I actually thought I was physically sick until I took a test at home and realized "Hey, no wonder I was feeling sick!".

I was also constantly thinking about the birth. For my first, I opted for an epidural to help me rest as I went into labor at 3am and was so tired, not to mention the hospital made it so readily available I gave in when I should've tried harder to go without. I also had a painful IV in my hand and monitors on my belly that made it impossible to move into different positions. Because I took the epidural, it supposedly caused my baby to have jaundice and (this is just between you and I...) my husband made me feel so horrible that I had failed terribly. They had turned off the epidural once I was fully dilated so I could feel the urge to push and gave birth to my first son Immanuel.

Thinking back at the whole process, I realized the reason why I "failed" was because I wasn't fully walking in the word and as a result, my faith was not as strong as my faith is now and could not make the right decisions and put everything in God's hands.

This pregnancy I am a growing Christian and have the faith to trust in the Lord to help me through and am going to have this baby God's way.

New Year Resolutions - JOY

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 03:20:00 +0000

New Year Resolutions

I know it is quite late for a new year resolution however it is never too late to set new goals to better yourself.

I'm going to set goals for myself that include JOY:

JOY – Jesus, others, you.

1. To communicate with our Father through prayer on a regular basis and to be a dedicated servant of our Lord. Have Him direct my life just as a master to a servant.

2. To be a better wife and mother as far as being more responsible and completing house duties and not slacking off. Put family first then myself.

3. Be healthier and more active as far as spending time with family, camping, snowboarding. Just try new things.

I hope your new year brings you peace and joy and be joyful always!

What are your new year resolutions?

Christmas time!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Do you know exactly what you are celebrating? Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of Christ’s birth however many Christian articles I have read goes against the idea of celebrating Christmas. You can find a complete article here at http://bible.org/article/should-christians-celebrate-christmas

Here is a little bit of a knowledge base which I found on Christmas I wanted to share with you:

Christmas means “Christ’s Mass” which refers to a Roman Catholic’s Lord’s Supper or a festival involving religious activities.

No one knows exactly when the date of Jesus’ birth really is so who was given authority to decide Christ’s birth date was on December 25^thand that the whole world should celebrate it on that day?

Santa Claus is fictional, this idea distracts us from focusing on believing we are receiving God’s blessings all the time to receiving gifts because you have been good and receiving a tonne of gifts on Christmas.

We are told to remember Jesus’ death when taking bread and drinking the cup however it does not state for us to remember His birth.

Christmas traditions such as the Yule log and the mistletoe actually came from pagan practices.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of Christmas and love to exchange gifts, have family around a big table of food and doing special events together with your loved ones.

I do agree that it can be materialistic and just another day to spend lots of money buying gifts and decorations, but I have been enlightened by the information I have discovered.

Ultimately it’s your decision whether to celebrate Christmas or not but it would be a great idea for you to educate your family and friends about something most people don’t know about Christmas.

My main objective here is just to share with you a little something I learnt and hope to bring awareness of what we really are celebrating on Christmas.

My husband and I planned on taking our family to the mountains this Christmas and we weren’t going to buy gifts for the kids so we can educate them on some of the topics mentioned, however my husband gave in and got a little something for everyone…

So let me know what you think, will you and your family celebrate Christmas traditionally? Do you think Christmas is ok to celebrate?

Love God

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Do you know of God but don't love Him? Do you just accept the idea of there is a God up in heaven but you don't truely know Him or have a relationship with Him?

If you know and believe there is a God watching down on us, why won't you accept Him into your heart? God wants nothing more than to have an intimate relationship with you and I can't stress that more. He is your friend and your father only if you allow Him to be.

Open your heart and just open up to His loving kindness so He can fill you with more joy than you can even think of, He is all you need and all you want. He can offer you so much more than this world can, items in this world don't stand a chance in matching up what He has in store for you in heaven.

He is LOVE, how much more can He show He loves you than to die for you? He laid His son down for you.

Let Him love you and love people through you.

Have you met anyone who know of God but does not love or accept Him?

Women are made to love!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:16:00 +0000

An interesting sermon I heard on my lunch break today made my head nod with agreement from beginning to the end of my lunch break.

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.

Have you noticed how the bible commands men to love their wives unconditionally but it does not say anything about women loving their husbands unconditionally? The reason is women were created to love!

It is natural for our body, heart, mind and soul to love with true passion. We aren’t emotional we just have a lot of in depth feelings about everything because God made us this way and He is using us to spread love around!

So go spread God's word and give everyone great big hugs, shower love on everyone you know and don't know because that's what women of God do!

Are you living a true Christian life?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 21:36:00 +0000

Carrying the name of a Christian does not make you a true Christian. Attending Sunday services with your family along with a bible and putting a couple of dollar bills in the offering box doesn’t make you a Christian.

Being a Christian is much more than acting like one and hence the word ‘acting’; you have to live it. The term Christian is to be Christ like. Christ doesn't go clubbing and get drunk, He does not swear or cuss, He doesn't hate nor discriminate. Christ is the definition of love and He was here to show the people in the world how a person should be.

Devote your life to having a relationship with God, worship Him and honor Him whenever you can. Spread His word to people around you and show them what He has done to bless your life. Show Him off!

You’re not drawing yourself closer but rather further away from God when you are being fake, it actually harms your soul! God knows all and He reads everyone’s hearts and knows when you are real or pretending and playing the part just to look right and just

Be honest to God and to yourself and make it right with Him. If you are struggling with this then pray, cry out to Him to bring you closer to Him. He is always listening to your prayers even if you think no one is listening, He is listening.

Last days

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 04:40:00 +0000

We covered The Book of Revelations Chapter 8 and 9 in our Saturday evening service with Senior Pastor John Knapp and the subject was on the judgement that will pass on those unsaved. It was very graphic and quite frankly it was crazy, hearing about some of the things that will happen on this earth after the rapture has taken the church.

Pastor John closed the sermon mentioning we are all living in the end times witnessing Israel as our prophetic timeline. He ended with an interesting comment, he said, "How will YOU spend the rest of your time here on earth? Will you live it idolizing celebrities you see on television? Will you be trying to enjoy as much worldy things as you can, such as going to the club, drinking and gambling? Or will you spend it loving one and another as much as you can, spreading the word and trying to save souls?

Ask yourself that question. Maybe this will wake you up and help you see the truth.

Stick together as a family and put God in the middle. He should be the center of our lives and we need to focus on getting right with Him and spread His love. Be about our Father's business.

How will you spend the rest of your time here on earth?

That's MY KING

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:17:00 +0000

AND THE KING LOVES YOU!

How amazing is this sermon recording, it's an eye opener that someone like this loves you and has died for you. He's your friend, your father and your King.

That's MY King! Is He yours too?

Help me decide God!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 18:17:00 +0000

Recently, I was presented with the opportunity to transfer from my receptionist position to the call center. Cynthia, the manager in the call center wanted me in her department because she knew I spoke chinese. She thought it would benefit the call center as they were starting to take Canadian calls and was told many Canadians spoke chinese.

My manager Frannie and Cynthia had been communicating with each other about my transfer. Frannie had brought the topic up casually and asked me if I had any interest in working in the call center. I initially hesitated because I recently started working at the front desk, I had just settled into my receptionist position and I was scared not knowing if my chinese was up to par to use in a professional environment.

My husband and I talked about it over lunch one afternoon and I told him "I really don't know what to do!". I was confused, I didn't want to let Frannie down and didn't want her to think I disliked working as a receptionist. So many thoughts went through my head as I battled to make a decision for myself.

We went back and forth and finally decided I should let God choose. If He wanted me to take this position, he will light the path and I put my trust in Him and left everything in His hands.

My husband prayed for Him to guide me and make it obvious enough for me to know His decision. I strive to hear God's word but at times it's difficult.

A few days later, I felt He nudged me into taking on the new position as he lined everything perfectly. Frannie presented me with the news that the decision was final, I will be transferring to the call center BUT will still cover the front desk for lunches and after 5pm for an hour.

God couldn't have made this any more obvious, He wanted me to take on a new challenge and opened up doors for me to learn and grow. This way I had the best of both worlds and didn't have to leave one position behind for the other!

This was the result of putting faith in Him and had the mind set of "whatever you want me to do, I'll do it."

My lesson learnt here is when you're in doubt of making a big decision in your life and have no clue which path to take, remember that God has a plan for you. He wants you to rely on Him and just ask Him to lead you. Ask Him to make it obvious for you, just like me!

Have you faced a crossroads in your life where you had to leave it to God?

I feel special!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0000

I feel very special today. Very, very special and do you know why? Because today I realized my Father, The Lord of Lords and King of Kings has chosen me.

He chose me to be a Christian wife to a faithful Christian man. God has chosen me to be my husband's helper and backbone, in his leadership role as head of the house. The father has enlisted me as a Christian mother in this battle, raising the next generation of strong Christ-like individuals.

He chose me to be one of His sheep making Him my shepard and my master, leading me down the right path and guiding me. He's there to protect me from the thieves that come to steal, kill and destroy me. He is my shield in my war against the world. Being chosen He is the rock which I am building my foundation on and rely on for all things.

He chose me to proclaim His glory, to shout His name, to be a carrier of His wonderful message and to be a witness to His magnificent work.

He chose me when I was an enemy and still sacrificed His son for MY sins.

The creator of the heavens and the earth chose me to be His child, to be His friend and to have an intimate relationship with Him.

I am Chosen.

Has He chosen you? Will you let Him choose you?

Going to Heaven

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:40:00 +0000

On the subject of Halloween, zombies, ghouls, and of course, death… I had heard something interesting while listening to a sermon this morning on the radio by Skip Heitzig where he was talking about death. It’s not a very uplifting subject to ponder upon but it is something that will open up your eyes and help you realize what is going on around you in the world today.

Skip had mentioned when people have near death experiences, they come back telling their story of seeing a bright light at the end of a tunnel thinking that’s seeing God. The entertainment industry also helps push the idea with portraying the image of family members who had passed welcoming them into heaven and going into a bright white light as if going toward heaven and seeing God with movies such as Ghost or The Sixth Sense.

Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” What better way to bring false hope to people thinking they are all going to heaven than to pretend to be the light of Jesus!

My husband turned on a light bulb in my head saying “that’s why everyone thinks they will go to heaven even though they aren’t Christians.” But the truth is only a few people will.

Romans 10:9 says, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” –And only then are you saved.

You might be going to see Jesus but you will be judged and you won’t be allowed into the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven because you have not accepted Jesus as your savior.

So educate your family and friends about this message and pray for them to accept Jesus and His Truth. Don’t let them assume all is good at the end of their journey here on earth but truly and lovingly accept Christ as Lord and savior.

Did you think everyone was going to heaven after they passed? What are your thoughts?

Guest Post on 5 Minutes for Mom!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:41:00 +0000

Recently I was contacted by Barbie Swihart the Managing Editor of the Faith Lifts site on 5 minutes for mom and wanted to feature my "Are You A Godly Friend?" post as a guest post on Thursday, November 9th!

When I got this news I was so happy I was in shock! I could not believe such a blessing was happening to me!

I realized God had a plan for me all along and He is using me to exalt His name. We are made to praise Him, to worship Him and to love Him with all our heart, our soul and our strength.

I want to thank Barbie for allowing me to post on 5 minutes for faith, and to Lolli Franklin the Managing Editor over at 5 minutes for mom for acknowledging my effort to write a guest post on their site. I am so honored and words cannot describe how thrilled I am. I am overwhelmed by the excitement and joy and can't wait to write more.

Please go visit 5 minutes for mom and continue to support them through out their ministries especially their Faith Lifts site 5 minutes for faith.

Thank you so much!

Love,

Rosalind

Happy Halloween?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:02:00 +0000

Does anyone know how Trick or Treating began? Some of you might know and some won't but here is a little bit of history for those who are interested.

Many present-day Halloween customs are directly descended from the Celtic peoples of the British Isles and France from 200 B.C. to 200 A.D.

October 31st, a joint feast honoring Sanheim and the Sun God, was the most important religious event of the Celtic year.

The Druid priests believed that sins of the evildead could be expiated through gifts and sacrifices to Sanheim and would continue as animals or humans and so many sacrifices of animals and humans took place.

Tables of food were prepared for the spirits, in hopes that they would be pleased and help with the magical spells and curses invoked during the feast.

Afterwards, villagers wearing masks and costumes led the ghosts away from town.

Researcher Richard Cavendish writes, "The singers and dancers went from house to house in blood-curdling masks and costumes which
may have been meant to protect them against evil and which were probably also tangible representations of what lurked unseen in the night.

"It is these masks and disguises which have descended to children, who visit the neighbors for
the offerings which once belonged to the dead and play small malicious tricks on those who
refuse them".

We as christian families should rethink and be careful of what we bring into our children's lives, whether it be celebrating halloween going trick or treating as it still counts as participating in a Celtic ritual in my opinion. We don't have to do what everyone else does just to fit in, there are plenty of different ideas we can have fun with!

This halloween, our kids aren't going trick or treating however our church is hosting a Harvest Festival where we have jump houses, candy, rides and lots more and the kids will still be able to dress up. Instead of dressing up as skeletons, dead zombies or anything worshiping the dead, another idea which I got from listening to a sermon on the radio the other day would be to have them dress up as a biblical character! I had the idea of dressing up as Mary and my 10 month old baby as baby Jesus :)

What will you be doing on your halloween? What do you think should be done on Halloween?

Godly friendships

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 07:24:00 +0000

Are you a Godly friend? What are Godly friendships?

I grew up having many “friends”, but I’ve grown to realize that they are not necessarily GODLY friends. There are 3 people that I call my “best friends”, and even though they aren’t all Christians, I can say that they are my truest friends. We’ve been friends since we were in junior high and still talk to this very day. Gradually, as I went to university and started working, I became shy and it was hard to make new friends. I didn’t have people around me that I could call upon for help. But God had a plan for me. He wanted me to learn to have Godly friendships. I am so thankful that He led me to the Calvary Chapel Women’s Retreat in Murrietta Hot Springs earlier this year.

During the retreat I met these wonderful young ladies who helped open my heart to more of God. We talked about getting together after the retreat ended and I can honestly say that I had my doubts. I remember when I was in school my “friends” and I talked about hanging out but it never happened. And then I ended up hurt because that was not what friends do. So it was only natural for me to have these negative thoughts about my new “friends”. But this time I was proven so very wrong. My new friends initiated a get together the following week! I was so thrilled and excited and told my husband, “They really are different!”.

As someone who is new in their walk with Christ, I learned a few valuable lessons on Godly Friendships at the retreat:

A Godly friend cries when you cry, they support you when you are weak, they fellowship with you, they lend a hand whenever you need that extra help and they draw you closer to Jesus.

Most importantly, they remind you of how important it is to have God in your life and to turn to Him first before others. They constantly share with you the good things God has done in their own lives and encourage you to seek Him and to rely on Him.

Are you a Godly Friend? What qualities do you look for in a Godly friend?