Tuesday, May 15, 2012

OAMC

Once A Month Cooking.

It has been luring me for years now. If I could just set aside a day to cook huge batches of healthy, unprocessed foods in advance, I could have...

*DUN DUN DUN*

...healthy, unprocessed convenience foods on the cheap.

Pinterest has re-ignited my desire, and I am going to step out on a limb and say...this is the summer. This is the summer I will get ahead of myself and have food available for my kids that doesn't make me cringe when they eat it [no more Little Caesar's after Life Group!].

So wish me luck. And send me tips if you've done this. And if you're still not on Pinterest, send me your e-mail address and I'll invite you! It is amazing.

Monday, May 7, 2012

The Little Mermaid

My Sugarbean is really into The Little Mermaid right now. As I type this, she is watching it intensely. Again.

Ah, well. At least it's not Sponge Bob.

Watching this with her recently, one scene struck me very deeply.
I can't find a clip of it on youtube, or I'd have it up here. It's pretty powerful.

At the final climax, King Triton comes in and tries to save his daughter. He attempts to destroy the contract she signed with Ursula, but He can't. He has to live by the law, it's part of being a respectable king. And Ariel agreed to this contract, knowing what it would cost her. She deserved the consequences. But he is a loving Father, as well as a king. So knowing he can't break the law, but wanting to save his daughter, he does what any loving father would.

He reaches out and signs his name over hers. He takes the consequences onto himself.

It's a quick moment that I missed as a child. But watching this with my daughters, I immediately got choked up and heard a whisper - this is what I did for you.


It's the gospel. We make the choice to sin. We make the choice to turn away. We make the choice to ignore guidelines given to us by a loving Father. And when it's time to face consequences, we deserve them. We deserve it all.

But then our Father steps in, and says "No. I love you. The consequences must stand - but let Me take them instead. "

Then He signs His name - His spotless, respectable, kingly name - over ours. And He saves us from the very consequences he tried to warn us about.

It's beautiful! I'll never watch that movie the same way again. I'd encourage you to find it and watch at least that scene.

:) That's all for now.

*** Want to see what I've been up to lately? Then check it out and let me know what you think! ***

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Free Organic Beauty Products!

So I don't wear make-up for my own reasons. BUT, a lot of people I love wear make up, and I like getting them presents! So here's the deal:

Go to The Pampered Chef's facebook page an say why you like your mom. Easy, right? If you're in the first 4,000 you will get a $20 code to Bloom.com.

Go there and order away! I got three organic lip balms and 3 sample sized free gifts, and I only paid $3.95 shipping. The code applies to shipping too, so if you stay $5.95 under $20, it should cost you nothing!

Blessings Unlimited Spring Sale!

I recently became a consultant with Blessings Unlimited - it is an amazing company. Very Christ-centered and community-building. I'm pretty excited to be a part of it!

 Anyway, I got a flyer today for the big spring sale and it is incredible!! The link goes to my girl Rachel's page, so if you order online it will go to her [which is fine with me - she's awesome!]. If you'd like for me to get the credit for it, e-mail me at shepard.lilley@gmail.com and we'll work out payment and whatnot. I've got an order form open just in case.

Hope you're all doing well!