Mexican Chopped Salad

This is recipe number three for our Cinco de Mayo celebration and it is a very easy Mexican Chopped Salad.  I love looking at Pinterest for recipe and party ideas.  I have lots of cookbooks and magazines, but I tend to turn to Pinterest more often then not.  I found the inspiration for this recipe for Mexican Chopped Salad at The Cafe Sucre Farine.  I used their salad dressing recipe and made up the rest of the salad and it was truly amazing.  It is a great light salad, especially when you are eating  a heavier meal.  I know you are going to love it as much as we did.  The flavors are so light and bright and Yum!

Print Recipe

Mexican Chopped Salad

Ingredients:

Salad Dressing:

1/2 cup lime juice

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp oregano

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup olive oil

black pepper to taste

Salad Vegetables:

2 red bell peppers, chopped into small bite size pieces

1/2 red onion, chopped

6 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

8 Persian cucumbers, quartered

4 ears of corn, cooked and sliced off of the cob

Directions:

Mix the salad dressing ingredients together with a whisk.

Cook 2 ears of corn at a time in the microwave for 4 minutes.  Cool and then slice off of the cob.

Combine all of the vegetable ingredients in a bowl and then toss with the salad dressing.

Serves 8 to 10.

This Chopped Mexican Salad was surprisingly delicious and so easy to make.

I always love hearing from you .

Have a wonderful Cinco de Mayo.

Debi

Cinco de Mayo Menu

Appetizers:

Guacamole

Pico de Gallo

Mango Salsa

Chips

Dinner:

Mexican Chicken and Rice

Mexican Chopped Vegetable Salad

Fruit Skewers

Dessert:

Mexican Fried Ice Cream Cake

Cocktails:

Peach Sangria

Mexican Chicken and Rice

Are you ready for day number two of our Cinco de Mayo recipes? Today I am sharing my version of a recipe that I found on Pinterest for Mexican Chicken and Rice.  It came from Recipe Tin Eats.  It was absolutely delicious and a great meal for a lot of people.  I doubled the recipe, and as usual made some changes.  I know you are going to love it as much as we did.  It does have a lot of ingredients, but it is not a difficult recipe to make.  It is definitely worth the effort.

Print Recipe

Mexican Chicken and Rice

Ingredients:

Mexican Spice Mix:

3 Tb garlic powder

3 Tb onion powder
3 TB chili powder

3 Tb paprika

3 Tb cumin

1 Tb oregano

2 1/2 tsp salt

dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

1/4 tsp black pepper

Chicken:

8 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless

3 boneless skinless breasts (sliced in half, to make 2 thin pieces) 6 pieces total

3 Tb lime juice

6 Tb Mexican Seasoning

1/3 cup olive oil

Rice:

1 onion, peeled and diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 red peppers, sliced

4 cups short grain rice

4 cups chicken stock

1 28 oz can tomato puree

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 12 oz bag frozen corn

1 16 oz can black beans

1 5.5 oz container sliced black olives

4 Tb Mexican Seasoning

Garnish:

2 limes sliced

cilantro

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray 2 9 x 13 inch casserole dishes with non stick cooking spray.

Mix all of the spice ingredients together.

Next, mix 6 Tb spice seasoning with 3 Tb lime juice and rub all over each chicken piece.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and brown the chicken about 4 to 5 minutes on each side.  Set the chicken to the side.

Then add the onion, garlic, and red pepper to the olive oil and browned bits in the skillet and cook until lightly browned, then add the rice and stir it until it is coated with the onion mixture.

Next add the chicken stock, tomato puree, tomato paste and stir well.  Next add the Mexican seasoning mixture and stir again. Bring to a boil.

Then add the corn, black beans, and olives.

Separate this mixture into the two casserole dishes and place the chicken on top of the rice mixture in each casserole dish.  I put the thighs in one dish and the breasts in the other dish.

Place foil over each casserole dish and bake for 35 minutes and then remove the foil.  Bake for an additional 15 to 25 minutes.  Taste to make sure the rice is cooked and serve.

Serves 8 to 10 people

I hope that you enjoy this recipe.  I always love hearing from you.

Have a great week and a wonderful Cinco de Mayo.

Debi

Cinco de Mayo Menu

Appetizers:

Guacamole

Pico de Gallo

Mango Salsa

Chips

Dinner:

Mexican Chicken and Rice

Mexican Chopped Vegetable Salad

Fruit Skewers

Dessert:

Mexican Fried Ice Cream Cake

Cocktails:
Peach Sangria

Mexican Fried Ice Cream Cake

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo early this year and had friends over for dinner. I love desserts and so we are going to have this Mexican Fried Ice Cream Cake for dessert first, and then I'll share the other recipes over the next few days.  All of the recipes were pretty easy, and as I publish them I will link all of the recipes together.

Charly has made Fried Ice Cream balls before, and she used Frosted Flakes rather then Corn Flakes for her recipe, so I decided that I was going to use them in this recipe also.  My inspiration for this dessert came from Life in the Lofthouse.  This Fried Ice Cream Cake was so good that people were asking for seconds.  You are going to love it!!!

I do want to share my menu with all of you, so that you can look for the additional recipes as I post them.

Appetizers:

Guacamole

Pico de Gallo

Mango Salsa

Chips

Dinner:

Mexican Chicken and Rice

Mexican Chopped Vegetable Salad

Fruit Skewers

Dessert:

Mexican Fried Ice Cream Cake

Cocktails:
Peach Sangria

Print Recipe

Mexican Fried Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups frosted flakes (ground in a food processor)

1/2 cup butter

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 quart vanilla bean ice cream

1 8oz container cool whip

3/4 tsp cinnamon

honey

chocolate syrup

caramel syrup

whipped cream

Take your ice cream and cool whip out of the freezer and let them soften, so that you can mix them together easily.

Melt the butter in a skillet and then add the frosted flake crumbs and cinnamon.

Cook until golden.  Watch it carefully, because the frosted flakes can burn easily.

Let your frosted flake mixture cool down a little bit.  Then spread 1 1/2 cups of the frosted flake mixture in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.

Next mix the ice cream, cool whip, and cinnamon together very well and spread this over the top of the frosted flake crumbs.

You will then put the rest of the frosted flake crumbs on top of the ice cream mixture, making sure that you have covered the entire top of the ice cream with the frosted flake crumbs.

Next drizzle honey over the top of the corn flake crumbs.

Freeze for 4 to 5 hours before serving.

Cut into 12 pieces to serve and drizzle caramel sauce and chocolate sauce over each piece and then top with whipped cream.

I always love hearing from you.
Have a great week.
Debi

87 Thanksgiving Recipes from Pinterest and Adorned From Above

I love Thanksgiving.  I love the food, the friends and family, and this year a walk on the beach will also be part of my Thanksgiving Day.  I wanted to share some recipes from my Thanksgiving board on Pinterest and also some oldies from Adorned From Above.  We will not be with our family this year, but we will be with some wonderful friends in Florida.  

I pin recipes all of the time, so, this would be my dream Thanksgiving Dinner.   The bacon wrapped turkey looks especially yummy.  Charly made the Impossible Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes for our son's graduation party a few weeks ago and they were delicious.  I know you are going to love them.  I loved all of these side dish ideas, and what would Thanksgiving be like without a pie.  I saw one on the Food Network Baking Challenge the other day and it looked amazing.  I am going to try to come up with a recipe for that.  It will be a Cranberry Apple Pie topped with whipped cream.  I will take pictures and if it comes out as delicious as I think it will, I will share it with all of you next week.

I hope all of you ave a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Debi

A Little Bit of Amazing from Thistlewood Farms

Bacon Blanketed Herb Roasted Turkey from The Runaway Spoon

Homemade Cranberry Sauce from Adorned from Above

Baked Sweet Potato Fritters from The Farm Girl Gabs

Butternut Squash Casserole from Adorned From Above

60 Thanksgiving Sides from Lil' Luna

Vince's Loaded Mashed Potatoes from Adorned From Above

20 Thanksgiving Pie Recipes from Lil' Luna

Fresh Whipped Cream from Adorned From Above for all of your Holiday Desserts

Impossible Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes from Cakescottage.com

Dear God Note 17

Hi Everyone, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

  It's been a little while since I have shared anything with all of you. Today I wanted to share what I am grateful for in my Dear God Note 17.

I read the book Eve, by Wm Paul Young.  He is the author of the book The Shack, and this is his new book about creation.  I will write a review in the next week, but one of the wonderful ideas in this book was Adam being face to face with God.  I love the thought of being face to face with God.  As long as Adam was face to face with God he never felt alone.  When Adam started turning away, looking to other things for companionship rather then God, is when he started to feel alone.  Even though he was never alone, he was human and could not see that.

So this week, I just want to share the idea of meeting God face to face everyday.  We are never alone, but sometimes we turn away and are not aware of it.  That is when we start to feel alone.  So may I suggest that everyday you join God FACE TO FACE.  Don't turn away, because what an amazing relationship you can have with Him, FACE TO FACE.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and God bless all of you.

Debi

Miracle at the Higher Grounds Cafe Book Review

Today I am reviewing the book  Miracle at the Higher Grounds Cafe   by Max Lucado.    I recently finished this  very fun book, and I enjoyed it so much I wanted to share it with all of you.

This is such a fun story.    It took me a little while to get into it, but once I did, I couldn't put the book down.    The story revolves around Chelsea Chambers,  her children,  Manny  (her very clumsy, cheerful, and interesting employee), and her husband.    It takes place in the cafe that she inherited from her mom.    It is a story filled with faith, redemption, prayer, and so much more.    This is the first  fiction story that I have read by Max Lucado, and this  was just so fun.    For all of you bloggers out there, the cafe has a blog called the God Blog. 

The story starts with Chelsea  making her cupcakes and other pastries, and serving coffee to her  customers.   She then hires Manny as to help here and all kinds of miracles start happening.   The cafe needs some serious revamping if it is going to make it, and that is what they set out to do. While reading this book, I felt like I was there with them going through everything that they were going through.   

It is a fun, fast paced book, that I think that you will enjoy.   I hope that  you will get it and read it soon.   Let me know what you think.  I always love hearing from you.

Have a great week.

Debi

Here is a synopsis of the book from the publisher:

   What if you could ask God anything? What would you ask? And how would He answer?

Chelsea Chambers is on her own. After a public split from her NFL superstar husband, Chelsea takes a bold step out of the limelight and behind the counter of the Higher Grounds Café, an old-fashioned coffee shop in dire need of reinvention. But when her courage, expert planning, and out-of-this-world cupcakes fail to pay the bills, this newly single mom finds herself desperate for help. Better yet, a miracle.

Then a curious stranger lands at Chelsea’s door, and with him, an even more curious string of events. Soon, customers are flocking to the Higher Grounds Café, and not just for the cupcakes and cappuccino. They’ve come for the internet connection to the divine. Now the café has become the go-to place for people in search of answers to life’s biggest questions.

When a catastrophe strikes and her ex comes calling, Chelsea begins to wonder if the whole universe is conspiring against her quest to make it on her own. After a shocking discovery opens her eyes to the unseen world around her, Chelsea finds the courage to ask God a question of her own. Heaven answers in a most unexpected way.

Captive Movie Review

Well, as I promised,  I am reviewing the movie Captive.  

I explained yesterday that this movie was directed by our  friend Jerry Jameson.  He has been directing since  1971.  He started working in the studios in the early 60's and literally worked his way up to director.   

He was a close friend of my parents and one of my dad's best friends.   He spent an afternoon helping us out with my dad the week before my dad passed away, and his wife Sally stayed with my dad the day he died until they took him from the house.   He has been a consistent figure in my life since I was a kid.   His children were the same age as me and we were very good friends, staying at each others houses all of the time.  So I not only knew him as a friend of my parents, but also as my friends'  dad.   

As a grown woman I became friends  with Jerry and his wife Sally, also.   I truly love them both.  We have been rooting for him with this movie for years, and I am so  very happy for him that this movie came to fruition.  

I don't tell you about movies unless I think they are important and relevant, and the  movie Captive is just that.    It is a true story that takes place in Atlanta, Georgia in 2005.   As I told you yesterday the lead characters are  Brian Nichols  played by David Oyelowo and  Ashley Smith played by  Kate Mara.   

The movie is based on Ashley Smith's book An Unlikely Angel.   It is the story of a young woman, Ashley Smith,  being taken hostage by an escape rapist Brian Nichols.   Brian Nichols is accused of rape, and he escapes jail, killing 4 people, and then taking Ashley Smith hostage.   He holds her hostage for about 7 hours, and then lets her go after she reads  The Purpose Driven Life   by Rick Warren to him.   Ashley was a meth addict and received the book from someone in her Celebrate Recovery program.   The book changed both of their lives that night .    

This movie is truly a story of redemption.   The cast is amazingly talented.   It has been described as a faith based film, but it is much more then that.    This movie  really speaks to a part of all of us, that hopes to be forgiven for the mistakes that we have made.    It is a  movie that shows the  gritty, dirty side of life, and how even that can be survived.    How we can come out even better  on the other side.

Please go and see this wonderful movie, you will not be disappointed.    Also,  stay after to watch the Gail King's interview  with the cast and real life  Ashley Smith.

Have a great week.

Debi

Captive Movie Review to Come

I have not seen the movie Captive yet, I am going to see it tonight before it leaves the theaters.  I am asking all of you to do the same.

This movie was directed by a very close family friend Jerry Jameson.  It  is a true story  based on the  a book called The  Unlikely Angel written by Ashley Smith, a young woman who was kidnapped and held hostage by her captor, Brian Nichols.  Ashley Smith is played by  Kate Mara and Brian Nichols is played by David Oyelowo (he won the academy award for best actor this year for playing Dr. Martin Luther King in Selma.

This movie has a great message, and I am hoping that we can support it before it  is gone from the theaters.

Here are some links to the reviews for the  movie, and  I will write a review about it tomorrow.  Please take the time to go and see this movie.  There are too few of these movies made today that make it to  theaters, so we need to support them when  they come out.  I will also be seeing War Room tomorrow , and will review that movie later this week.

Thank you so much for being here today.

Debi

TOP STORIES

LA TIMES | 16 SEPTEMBER 2015

‘Captive’ reflects faith-bases films shift to grittier, non-preachy plots

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-captive-production-20150915-story.html

NY Daily News | 13 SEPTEMBER 2015

David Oyelowo was very sensitive about glamorizing violence in his newest film, ‘Captive’

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/david-oyelowo-mindful-violence-captive-article-1.2355706

Getty Images | 14 SEPTEMBER 2015

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/director-jerry-jameson-attends-the-captive-new-york-news-photo/488234386

Star News Online | 16 SEPTEMBER 2015

Pint-size actress makes mark on silver screen

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20150916/ent/150919766?p=1&tc=pg

CBSNEWS | 14 SEPTEMBER 2015

David Oyelowo on new movie “Captive” and Emmy bid

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/david-oyelowo-on-new-movie-captive-and-emmy-bid/

USA TODAY | 15 SEPTEMBER 2015

‘Captive turns David Oyelowo into a killer

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2015/09/14/david-oyelowo-brings-captive-big-screen/72032096/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-lifetopstories

Variety | 15 SEPTEMBER 2015

David Oyelowo, Kate Mara and Ashley Smith Talk ‘Captive’ and Seeing Others ‘Through the Eyes of Christ’

http://variety.com/2015/scene/vpage/david-oyelowo-kate-mara-and-ashley-smith-talk-captive-and-seeing-others-through-the-eyes-of-christ-1201594054/

The View | 15 SEPTEMBER 2015

David Oyelowo on the ‘The View’: Talks about New Film ‘Captive’

http://abc.go.com/shows/the-view/video/pl5554876/vdka0_123vo6ot

Katie Couric | 14 SEPTEMBER 2015

Ashley Smith: The true story behind “Captive”

https://www.yahoo.com/katiecouric/ashley-smith-brian-nichols-story-in-the-movie-129124808228.html

Dear God Note 16

Dear God / Daddy,

As I travel across this beautiful county that I live in, I am constantly reminded of you.   Everything that I see is a miracle created by you.

Genesis 1:11 says, "Then God said,  "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, in the earth"; and so it was."

Genesis 1:24 says,  "Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beat of the earth, each according to its kind"; and so it was."

I have seen the beautiful mountains of Colorado, the plains of Kansas, the Mississippi River, fields full of corn and and wheat, oceans, beaches, deer outside the bedroom window of my trailer, and even reindeer and the rv park we stayed at this morning.  I feel so blessed and I am so grateful for every gift you have given us.

Thank you so much.

Your loving daughter.
Debi

Happy to Be Back July 28th, 2015

It has been a long time since I have posted anything, and I really appreciated all of your questions about whether I was ok, and how things were going.  Life has been crazy for months, and I have also had to reevaluate blogging again.  I will probably post once a week and possibly start the party again at some point in the future.

We sold our house in Denver this month and closed about two weeks ago.   It took six weeks to get it ready, and we lived in that mess the whole time, but when it was done it was worth it. You'll find a few pictures of the house below, and I'll share some more next week.   It was great that it sold in 2 days, but bittersweet.  We raised our kids in that house, it's where I have lived for a big part of my adult life.  I am feeling sad that I wont be living in Colorado, which is where all of our kids and grand kids live, but I know that my sweet hubby's semi retirement is going to be fun.

So now on the the good parts of what has been happening.  As you know we moved to south Florida last December, and we live a block from the beach and on a canal.  It was wonderful having a warm winter this last year.  

Then, for the most exciting thing, three weeks ago today, our middle son and his wife had a little girl, so they now have three little girls.  She is beautiful, and mom and dad are doing great, but very sleep deprived.  I have been back in Denver since she was about 15 hours old.  It has been an amazing journey.  

Tonight, we get to have our two older granddaughters spend the night with us in our new trailer (a whole other story to come later in this post).  We are going to have Turkey Carnitas Soft Tacos (I purchased the turkey carnitas at Sprouts) for dinner with rice and beans. We will be making S'Mores for desert, and this grandma gives you lots of choices.  Our older granddaughter loves KitKat's, so she gets KitKat S'mores.  The 5 year old loves Reese's, so she will get Reese's S'Mores.  She is a lot like her daddy, he loves Reese's also.  We are going to make Pillsbury Minion Cookies and we will have french toast for breakfast tomorrow morning before I take them home.  

One of the things that I have wanted to do in retirement is to travel around the country.  The best way to do that with a dog and a cat is with a trailer.  So we bought a trailer at the end of May, and that has been quite the experience.  We left Denver on May 31st to head back to Florida for a few weeks, but about 40 miles west of Hayes, Kansas, near the little town of Wakeeney, we were in an accident with our brand new trailer.  To be specific, I was driving, a pickup truck passed me, it was towing a utility trailer, a spare tire flew off of the back of the utility trailer and was headed toward our windshield.  God was watching out for us that day.  I swerved to miss the tire, but in the meantime the trailer ended up tipping and when everything came to a stop, I was facing the oncoming traffic on I 70 and taking up both lanes.  All of the cars were pulled over to the side, and everyone was coming to us to make sure we were OK.  We were fine, just shaken up, but our cute little trailer was totaled.  God is so good and faithful.  I looked at SH (Sweet Hubby) afterward and said "God just saved us today!"  I am so grateful.  Anyway, we ended up getting me a new car (bigger) and a new trailer (bigger) and we are having a blast.  We have stayed at several nice camping places and since the house sold we have stayed at both Chatfield State Park and Cherry Creek State Park in Colorado.  We have had our granddaughters, ages 6 and 5 spend the night with us and the kids and grand kids over for a bbq.  We take the dog for walks and life is good.  The trailer is a cozy 22 ft Lance trailer with a bathroom, bedroom, fireplace, kitchen, and dinette.  It is a lovely place to call home.  (I'll share pictures next week.)   When I wake up in the morning, I look out the door at the beautiful reservoir and have my coffee.  The other morning I saw a balloon taking off.  I think we are ready for semi retirement (that means he will probably work 20 hours a week and from wherever we are rather then 60 to 80 hours a week in an office.  I can blog a little since most campgrounds have WiFi, which is great, and I can take my crafts with me.  Also, we have to eat, so new recipes will be coming your way.  

To kick off his slowing down, we also went on a 17 day transatlantic cruise in April and then spent 2 nights in Rome before flying home. It was a blast.  Our cousins went with us and we all enjoyed ourselves so much that we are planning another cruise with them next June to Northern Europe.  On this last one we went to the Canary Islands, Cartegena, Spain, Malaga, Spain, Barcelona, Nice, Florence, Pisa, and Rome. I have so many beautiful pictures to share with all of you.  I can't wait.

I took the picture of the peacock below in Cartegena, Spain.  It was mating season, so he was showing off his feathers for the females.

Here is a picture from last nights sunset.  It was truly spectacular.

Have a great week and I'll see you again next week.

Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party Postponed

Hi Everyone,

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

I'm sorry but I am going to have to postpone Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party for two weeks.  I will have it back up with the featured bloggers from this weeks party on Tuesday, March 31st at 6:00 PM Mountain Time.

Thank you for stopping by and I will see you in two weeks.

Debi

GroopDealz is now Eleventh Avenue

This is a sponsored post from which I may receive income from your purchases.

GroopDealz is now Eleventh Avenue – A Handpicked Boutique Marketplace with so much to love! I am so excited to share Eleventh Avenue with you because not only can you save up to 70% off on trend-setting fashions, fabulous home décor and adorable children’s items but you can also connect with those around you as you shop, love and save.  I have bought so many cute little dresses for my granddaughters and super cute accessories and makeup for gift for my kids and nieces.  Their new features include saving items that you love for later, creating collections of your favorite products and you can now easily share products with your friends. Below are some of my favorite products that are currently available. As an added bonus you can also receive free shipping on any order over $75! Hurry, because these items are already selling fast.

I thought the stuff in this picture are so cute.  They would make great beach or 4th of July decorations.

Their jewelry and other accessories are always adorable and very reasonably priced.

I was just look for Easter dresses in kids clothing section at Eleventh Avenue yesterday.  My granddaughters love anything with tulle.

I think this Kids Multifunctional Learning Smartphone would be great also.

Anyway, I hope you'll give them a try.   All of this is available now at Eleventh Avenue.  Have fun shopping.

Have a great weekend.

Debi

Heartfelt Posts from Adorned From Above Link Party 104

There were a couple of posts that I did not feature at this weeks Adorned From Above's Link Party, but I wanted to share these Heartfelt Posts with all of you.  They have so spoken to my heart this week and I hope they speak to you also.

Our Heart's Desire from Dr. Michelle Bengtson

This Free Range Parenting Thing from A Mother's Life

I hope that you will read these posts.  They are really good.

Have a great weekend.

Debi

Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party 105

I want to thank everyone who shared with Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party 104.  I loved seeing all of your posts.

Welcome to Adorned From Above Link Party 105.

I loved seeing everyone's links from last week's party.  Thank you all so very much for participating and making the party such a success. They were all wonderful.  As always, it is so difficult try to pick what posts to feature since they are all fantastic.  Below you will find the four featured bloggers.  Please head over to visit these posts and then head to the party and share what you have been doing.

Featured Bloggers from Adorned From Above Party 104

 

Homemade Kale Chips from Vintage Zest

Shamrock Ring Tutorial by Hoops by Hand

A Blog Anniversary and the Cuddlies Set Off in a New Direction

Batman Cake from Sarah Lynn's Sweets

I really hope you enjoy this weeks features.  Again, head over and take a look at their blogs.

We are happy to have you at this week's party.  We always love hearing from you, so leave your comments.  

Have a great week.
Debi

An InLinkz Link-up

Dear God Note 15

This week my Dear God Note 15 is a prayer to God.  It applies in my life and I hope it will help some of you also.  I love God so much and I know that he is here for all of us.  Let's make our relationship with him PERSONAL.  He's not just some guy out there in the sky ruling over us, he is our Father, leader, helper, Savior, and he is there for every person on this earth.  If you ask him, he will be there for you also.  That is what he does.  That is who he is.

I have been studying 1 Samuel in my Bible Study over this last week, and it struck me that the Jews turned away from God so many times.  He had done so much for them, and they would seem to loose sight of that and turn away from God.  (a common theme starting all the way back in Genesis)  Each time when they turned back to God he was always there for them and gave them what they needed.  He still does that today.  The thing is that we no longer need a prophet, judge, or king to talk to God to ask him for our needs.  When Jesus died on the cross, we no longer had to go through someone else to talk to God.  What an amazing gift.

And all the people said to Samuel, Pray for your servants to Jehovah your God, so that we will not die. For we have added evil to all our sins, to ask a king for us.
1 Samuel 12:19

When these people asked Samuel for a King, Samuel was upset, because he felt that they rejected him.  God explained to Samuel, that it wasn't Samuel being rejected, but God himself again.  He gave them what they wanted.  Definitely not a wise request.  I would rather have God leading me, whether in peace or war.  I am just so grateful that I can talk to God directly and that is solely because of what Jesus did on the cross for us.

I also wanted to share a song with all of you today.  It is one that I really love.  It's called Lead Me by Sanctus Real

Have a blessed week.
Debi

Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party 104

I want to thank everyone who shared with Wednesday's Adorned From Above Link Party in the past.  I loved seeing all of your posts.  I am really trying to give this a shot.  Our internet is down today, so this party and post have been done by tethering to my phone.  This is a first for me, but it did get the job done.

Welcome to Adorned From Above Link Party 104.

I am so blown away from all of the links from last week's party.  Thank you all so very much for participating and making the party such a success.  I stopped by each of your posts and read them all.  I am so excited that I was able to do that.  They were all wonderful.  It was really hard to decide what posts to feature.  I am featuring four of your wonderful blog posts this week.  Please head over to visit these posts and then head to the party and share what you have been doing.

Featured Bloggers from Adorned From Above Party 103

    

Tea Cups and Roses from The Porcelain Rose

Coconut Almond Chia Seed Pudding from Joy Love Food

Fabric Bottle Wrap from Fine Craft Guild

Fun Dollar Store Crafts - Part 1 from The Messy Roost

I really hope you enjoy this weeks features.  Again, head over and take a look at their blogs.

We are happy to have you at this week's party.  We always love hearing from you, so leave your comments.  

Have a great week.
Debi

An InLinkz Link-up