Blog Feed

You Have Supernatural Grace to Fulfill Your Calling!

FeaturedLeave a comment

Grace is the unmerited favor of God.

Anointing is the supernatural power of God on us through the Holy Spirit to fulfill our calling.

…I plead with you to walk holy, in a way that is suitable to your high rank, given to you in your divine calling. With tender humility and quiet patience, always demonstrate gentleness and generous love toward one another, especially toward those who may try your patience…. (1-2)

And He has generously given each one of us supernatural grace, according to the size of the gift of Christ…(7)

And He has appointed some with grace to be apostles,  and some with grace to be prophets, and some with grace to be evangelists, and some with grace to be pastors, and some with grace to be teachers. 

And their calling is to nurture and prepare all the holy believers to do their own works of ministry, and as they do this they will enlarge and build up the body of Christ. (11-12)

All our direction and ministries will flow from Christ and lead us deeper into Him…(15). 

See Ephesians 4

God has recently been prompting me to delve deeper into my understanding of the words grace and anointing. As a result, I’m more sensitive to noticing these two words when I encounter them in scripture. 

Today as I read the Bible, these above verses really struck me as passages to stop and reread as though the words were addressing me personally. 

When I contemplated verse 7, and he has generously given each of us supernatural grace…I was compelled to read those words again replacing the word “grace” with unmerited favor and “supernatural” with the power of God or divine power. 

Through that practice, God opened my understanding to realize more clearly and concretely that God has anointed me, Jody, with His divine power and favor to fulfill my calling. 

What am I called to do? What are my gifts? 

God has called me to share through video and writing what He shows me and teaches me. God has also called me to be a counselor and one who helps others find direction, clarity, and courage to discover their calling or move forward in their calling. And, most importantly, God has called me to partner with Him to share a message of hope and build an army of believers through the vehicle of this business. In fact, to do all I’ve mentioned here through this business vehicle. It’s what I was created to do, but not only that. Building this business is what I have been anointed (supernaturally empowered) to do, called to do, and given grace (unmerited favor) to do. 

When I read this passage of scripture I pictured myself out in the marketplace, obediently making myself available while God’s angels set up divine appointments for me to walk into. I literally saw favor like a sticky substance (like honey) on me, drawing people to me and God imparting the right words to say at just the right time. 

Wow! How this changes how I see my calling and how to carry it out! 

God has a mission to fulfill and He has commissioned me to fulfill it. I already have every single thing I need to do so. I am equipped with “ every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm” (See Ephesians 1:3) through my union with Jesus. There is nothing more I need, just simply to believe these things are true (faith) and receive this Word and walk in it with confident expectancy in Him. 

God is out there working on my and Tony’s behalf, bringing the people to us to fulfill what He has called us to do. God has orchestrated it all. He knows exactly how our organization will come together. We just need to be available and obedient. The only way can mess it up is not go! God will work out every detail. My part in my calling is actually rather small. My part is simply moving forward and taking action with expectancy, knowing that at just the right time, God will connect me with just the right person. I’ll even know what to say! It’s HIS plan for my life, not my plan…and He is going to see it through. 

Therefore, I simply need to do my part which is make myself available and practice and hone my craft or skill. 

God has blessed me with gifts of exhortation, hospitality, preaching, and prophecy to accomplish the callings of leadership and mentorship. He’s always given me the right words to share with others as encouragement or direction. I’ve never experienced an encounter where God didn’t show me a picture of how He is working in someone else’s life or words they needed to hear. Even before I knew Him. 

Simply stated, as I do my part, God WILL do His part which is the anointing and grace part that I saw in my spirit when I read these verses. I have a calling on my life to “nurture and prepare all the holy believers to do their own works of ministry…” (see verse 12). Therefore, I have the divine power, favor, help, and anointing of God to accomplish this, to fulfill my calling! 

So I ask you, what has God called you to do? What is the calling of God in your life? What are your gifts? What is your part and what is God’s part? What are you focusing on, worrying about, and trying to force that is actually God’s part? What happens if you make a shift to let Him work while you focus on honing your craft and practicing your skills? The pressure is off! Now go have fun and enjoy and embrace the adventure of the journey! 

The Last Leaves of Autumn

FeaturedLeave a comment

2020. It’s been a funny year. A record breaking year on every front.

Sounds a little bit like war, right?

I’m getting ahead of myself. This topic is autumn!

In fact, I just re-positioned my chair to take in the view of the last falling leaves of the season, the magnificent yellow leaves of the maple trees which guard my home from intense sunny days. It’s November 11, 2020, and it’s 72 degrees with 100% humidity here in central PA…unusual temperatures in an unprecedented year.

I’ve been sitting here pondering the application of my latest reading, As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen. Today’s topic is “Serenity”.

Surely, you’ve read the famous, Serenity Prayer, or at least this portion of it:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and the Wisdom to know the difference.

I was struck as I read this today how closely Wisdom and serenity are tied together. It is difficult to have peace without the wisdom to attain that condition of the heart and mind. It is also impossible to grow in wisdom without increasing in peace and soundness of heart and mind. See? Peace and Wisdom are so closely united.

As I read that passage I remembered an experience from my walk this morning.

There I was, walking through the hilly wooded trails of the park taking in the last of the bright colored trees when I felt a nudge to sidetrack through a tiny little patch of woods in the middle of the field, diverting me away from my planned route which would mark my three mile goal!

This side-trail opened suddenly into a brightly lit corridor of yellow leaves. Yellow everywhere: a thick yellow carpet of leaves underfoot, a yellow canopy stretching from overhead all the way to the ground, and loosed yellow leaves cascading through the air all around. The air was still and quiet except for the sound of the falling leaves. As I breathed in the sight, smell, and sound of that beautiful moment, waves of peace flooded my heart and mind. For an instant, every pressing or anxious thought was drowned by the timeless beauty of creation and the remembrance of a Creator whose love for me surpasses every trouble and circumstance.

The lesson of that moment was simply, Jody, what do you choose to look at? Which thoughts do you allow to fill the recesses of your mind? Where does your help come from? And what will worrying add to your life, anyway? The lesson is that peace has been given as a gift but to hold onto peace in the midst of everyday life is a choice. This choice is under girded by seeking daily doses of wisdom or promises in His Word.

Without consistently chewing on wisdom from above, there are no peace-filled, stable thoughts to rest upon when storms begin to brew or things don’t go as planned. In the place of Truth, we turn to feelings and opinions. We look for validation and information from others or even the news. The cliff notes forgery of the Real Deal. Peace comes from wisdom. Wisdom comes from knowledge of the Truth. A steady diet of the Truth keeps us digging deeper, “beneath the waves, beyond the tempests, in the Eternal Calm”.

My search for the last bright colors of Autumn 2020 led me on a path into the arms of my Father, the Creator of all, where He lovingly reminded me to simply say to the tempest, “Peace. Be still.”

5 Tips to Simple Meal Plans

Featured

One of the most common challenges to maintaining a healthful diet, is time. Grabbing food on-the-go is just so much more conducive to today’s fast-paced lifestyle. The key to sustaining a healthy food lifestyle is planning ahead. Creating a meal plan requires a little time up front to plan things out, but this practice will save you both time and money in the long run! The hardest part is making the decision to become a little more organized on the front end!

What are the main benefits of meal planning? Meal planning removes the stress of guesswork, reduces the shopping load, and even protects your food budget.

5 Simple Tips to Get You Started!

  1. Make a list of meals you like to make on a regular basis. Keep this list posted on the fridge, near your desk, or wherever you do your planning work. Perhaps separate your list into several categories like “Main Dishes”, “Lunches”, “Side Dishes” “Breakfast”, “Snacks”, etc.
  2. Choose the meals and snacks you plan to eat for the next week or two and then assign a day and meal for each one. Busier days are great days for simple meals or crock pot meals, so I always like to incorporate as many simple meals as possible.
  3. Extrapolate the list of ingredients from your meals.
  4. Have 1 or 2 food prep days. One way to reduce the time it takes to put meals together is to do much of the legwork ahead of time. Simply pick a “down day”, like Saturday or Sunday afternoon and pre-prep parts of your meals. Here are a few ideas:
    • Brown the ground meat you’re going to use throughout the week (taco meat for salads or tacos, sloppy joes, etc.)
    • Pre-mix meatloaf or meatball meat
    • Chop veggies for snacking or cooking…many can be stored in water, like potatoes, celery, or carrots
    • Make a few healthy sweets or snacks to have on hand for munchie-moments or cravings
  5. Keep a list on the fridge to keep track of things you run out of in between shopping trips. If I don’t write things down right away I’m likely to forget to add them into my main shopping list.

There are so many other items to incorporate into successful meal planning, but simple usually works best. The more complicated the process, the less likely you are to stick to it. That being said, use these tips as a guideline and personalize or tweek them however best suits your needs. Happy planning!

Best Ever Almond Flour Cake

Featured

This is my go-to recipe for cupcakes, birthdays, Easter, weddings, and anything else we need our favorite cake!

This recipe is super moist and has amazing flavor. For a cake, I double the recipe and use two 8-9 inch rounds. A single recipe makes 1 dozen fluffy, moist cupcakes.

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk (regular or dairy free)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon other flavor (lemon and some lemon zest is my favorite)

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 350. Flour your pans/muffin tin.
  2. ***This step is important. Do not cut it short. Cream butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy, 7-10 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, milk slowly, and extracts.
  3. While butter and sugar are creaming, mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Slowly add dry to wet and mix until creamy.
  4. Divide batter among tins and bake 20-25 mins or until toothpick comes out clean (cupcakes may cook a little faster) . Cool completely.

My Favorite Whipped Frosting Recipe (Creamy, Less Sweet)

8 oz cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

2 3/4 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon any flavor (I usually use Simply Organic Raspberry or Lemon)

Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar on medium until smooth. Turn mixer down to med-low and slowly allow super cold cream to pour into mixture. Stop a couple times to push down together with a spatula. Once the cream has all been added, turn mixer to med-high just until the frosting begins to form stiff peaks. Fold in flavoring and enjoy!

Paleo Cookie Dough Bars, No Bake!

FeaturedLeave a comment

Yummy treats that are nourishing and filling!

IMG_0921

This is one of my favorite snacks to have on hand in the freezer to pull out for afternoon tea or last minute company! This recipe is so easy to throw together, is high in healthy fats and protein, and lower in carbs. You could certainly use monkfruit instead of the others sweeteners to create an even lower carb version. (I even let my youngest indulge for breakfast sometimes!) .

 

Ingredients

  • 1 2/3 cup almond flour
  • 2 T coconut flour
  • 3 T maple syrup
  • 2 T coconut sugar
  • 3 T melted coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup Lillies chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup ghiradelli or otehr quality chocolate chip for melting
  • 2 t vanilla

Process

Add flours, sugars, vanilla, and oil into bowl and mix together. Add lillies chips, Gently mix together.

Press into 8 x 8 baking dish.

Melt chocolate chips in a teaspoon coconut oil and spread over top. Chill at least one hour.

These should remain refridgerated but can also be frozen for longer storage once cut into 1 1/2 inch squares or rectangles.

 

Family Pizza Night!

Featured

IMG_0741You can eat healthy and have your pizza, too! In fact, we’ve come to love homemade pizza best!

You can make any kind of pizza you want, add as many toppings as you want!

Sometimes we have a buffet with exotic pizzas like the one pictured above (black tomato, asparagus, onopn, and feta), BBQ chicken pizza, taco pizza, onion-bacon-tomato…whatever you like!

It may sound like a lot of work but actually, homemade pizza is pretty simple, especially if you make a big batch of dough and freeze it!

Ingredients (for two 8 slice pizzas)

4 cups flour (I use a combination of Einkorn, sprouted spelt, and Bob’s Organic unbleached white) — but any wheat flour will do

1 tablespoon sea salt

2 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons yeast

1 cup water, 110 degrees plus more to mix in

Whatever toppings you fancy!

 

Preparation

Proof the yeast: dissolve yeast and honey in the one cup of warm water. Allow to bubble and grow 5-7 minutes.

Add flour to the mixture and stir. Add salt, oil, and 1/2 cup of water. Mix together with your hands. Continue to add water a little at a time until a nice dough forms…soft but not sticky. Kneed soft dough until smooth and stretchy. If dough does become sticky, simply add more flour.

Once dough is kneaded, cover bowl with towel and set in warm place to rise until double (usually 1 hour).

IMG_0740Once doubled, remove dough from bowl and punch down, releasing all air bubbles. If freezing the dough, do so at this point by freezing fist size balls in quart size bags. Otherwise divide dough in two and roll out onto floured parchment paper. Puncture crusts with fok all over.

Bake crust at 400 degrees 7-8 minutes until light golden in color. Pull out and press down any bubbles that form for crispy, chewy crust.

Top pizzas however you wish, and bake until done.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Hearty Farm-to-Table French Toast

FeaturedLeave a comment

Homemade bread is the key to this easy, hearty, nutritious dish! The bread I used was made from Einkorn flour, sprouted spelt, and ground flax.

Ingredients

8 slices homemade bread (sliced about 1/2 inch thick)

10 eggs, beaten

1 cup milk, (I used almond milk plus 1/4 cup heavy cream)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preparations

In a large bowl, whisk 1 teaspoon cinnamon, eggs, and milk (and cream if you use that) until frothy. Lay out pieces of bread in greased casserole dish…it’s OK to layer slightly if necessary. Pour egg mixture over bread, being sure to coat all the bread. Sprinkle rest of cinnamon on top. If you have fresh blueberries or strawberries, sprinkle them on top. Cover with foil and set in fridge to soak 2 hours or overnight (I always just make this the night before).

Bake, covered at 350 30-40 minutes or until cooked through. Remove foil and bake 5- 10 minutes until slightly browned.

HOMEMADE BLUEBRRY SYRUP: add two cups of frozen blueberries into a saucepan with 2 tablespoons honey, xylitol, or coconut sugar, cover, and cook down on low 10-15 minutes. Spoon over top of french toast.

Serves 6

New Beginnings

FeaturedLeave a comment

Learn from the past, embrace the present, and work toward the future…

Author Unknown

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

Tony and I finally bought our very first home, right here on Oak Street, in Central PA. This has been a twenty year dream come to pass.

Nestled among the beautiful bungalows and giant trees that line Oak Street, our home rests on a wooded lot ajdacent to a corn field and park. At long last, a place that we can make our very own! And that’s just what we’ve been doing! No major remodels yet, but lots of cosmetic updates…fresh paint, light fixtures, that kind of thing. We’re no Chip and Joanna Gaines, but we’re having a blast and enjoying the process.

After years of moving from rental to rental like Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament, my precious family heirlooms finally have a place to call home, especially the treasures passed down from Grama and my mama’s kitchens. Grama’s cobalt glass canisters, Blue Onion porcelain pieces, and sterling silver are perfectly at home in my freshly painted 50’s style kitchen. Mom’s Swedish horse and porcelain chickens adorning the cubbies make her seem somehow closer and add just the right touches combined with my own kitchenware. I miss Mom and Grama so much, but I get to feel them around me everyday as I make meals for my own family. I had an extra special moment the other day when my son came into the kitchen after 3 weeks of traveling and declared, “Wow, this feels like Grama’s house”… not that I’m interested in living in the past, but I’m excited about incorporating the beauty and love from my youth into a richer future.

So good!

Join me back here for house updates, recipes, and healthy living tips and tricks! See you next time!

Jody

    Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie, Paleo Friendly

    Leave a comment

    Shepherd’s pie is a true family favorite but we’ve recently been working on cutting potatoes from our menu repertoire. So, we recreated our favorite meal with whipped sweet potatoes instead and we love it even more than the original! I wish I had words for how good this is!

    Ingredients:

    2-3 Tablespoons coconut oil

    5-6 medium sweet potatoes, cooked and peeled, still quite warm

    1.5 lbs ground beef

    1 medium onion, finely diced

    1 turnip, peeled and finely diced

    2 carrots, finely diced

    2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

    1 teaspoon thyme

    1/4 cup red wine

    3/4 cup beef broth

    1/4 cup butter

    1/2 cup cream

    sea salt

    black pepper

    Create:

    Preheat oven to 350.

    Put potatoes in food processor or blender, add cream and butter, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and blend until smooth. Set aside.

    Add oil to a large skillet and add onion, turnip, and carrots. Salt and pepper as you saute until onions are translucent.

    Add beef and continue to brown. Add a little more salt and pepper, Worcestershire and thyme, then saute until browned. Add broth and wine and simmer, covered, 10 minutes.

    Add beef mixture to 9×11 baking dish. Top with sweet potatoes.

    Bake 30 minutes.

    Easy Raspberry Almond Bars, Paleo Friendly

    Leave a comment

    Simple, light, and just the right amount of sweet. One of my favorite go-to brunch treats…and healthy enough for Jessie’s breakfast on the go!

    Ingredients

    Crust

    2 cups almond flour

    2 Tablespoons coconut flour

    1/4 cup coconut sugar

    2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup

    2 Tablespoons coconut oil

    1 teaspoon almond flavor

    1/2 teaspoon vanilla

    pinch sea salt

    Filling

    Organic raspberry jam

    Crumble Topping

    1 cup almond flour

    3 Tablespoons coconut sugar

    3 Tablespoons coconut oil

    1/2 teaspoon almond flavor

    1/2 teaspoon vanilla

    Prepare

    Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8 X 8 pan with parchment.

    Crust: Add all ingredients to food processor and pulse until it makes a nice crumble. Press into pan and bake 8 minutes. remove and cool 15 minutes.

    Filling: Spread raspberry jam across crust

    Topping: Add all ingredients and pulse together. Sprinkle loosely over the filling and bake 13 minutes.

    Let coll and cut into squares.

    Irish Soda Bread

    B477D002-7BE7-4763-85F7-BB5DBC25C9FC
    Irish soda bread is a long standing Irish staple that uses baking soda and buttermilk for leavening instead of yeast. A cross is cut in the middle to help it raise while baking. I make this bread often throughout the year, especially on days I’ve not allowed time for a regular yeast bread!

    Ingredients

    3 3/4 cups flour

    4 teaspoons baking powder

    1/4 cup sugar

    1 teaspoon salt

    1/2 teaspoon soda

    1/2 cup butter cut into small pieces

    1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

    Optional: 1 cup currants

     

    Preparation

    Preheat oven to 350. Grease a large baking sheet or line with parchment paper.

    Mix all dry ingredients in laarge mixing bowl. Next cut in butter with pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk and mix together until a slightly sticky dough forms. Transfer to to prepared baking sheet and shape into an 8 inch round.

    Make a cross in the middle and bake 50-60 minutes until golden brown and the crust is firm.

    Cool on baking sheet 10 minutes and then move to wire rack to finish cooling.

     

     

     

     

    Paleo Friendly Lemon Blueberry Scones

    Sooo yummy! The first batch were gone within an hour!

    These delicious treats are grain free and low in sugar. The almond flour provides an excellent texture and enhances the nutrition factor. This recipe is imple to make, too! What are you waiting for? Give this recipe a try!

    Ingredients

    2 3/4 cups almond flour

    2 tablespoons cold butter

    1/2 teaspoon baking soda

    1/4 teaspoon salt

    2 tablespoons heavy cream (or coconut cream)

    1 tablespoon honey

    3/4 cup fresh blueberries (I used frozen and it worked pretty good but I think fresh would keep though from getting sticky)

    1 tablespoon lemon zest

    2 teaspoons lemon juice

    2 eggs

     

    Preparation

    In food processor, pulse salt, soda, and flour together. Next, pulse butter and almond flour mixture together until a nice crumble forms. You can always use a pastry cutter instead.

    In a large bowl, whisk all wet ingredients together. Add dry ingredients into wet and mix together. Finally, add blueberries.

    Form into a ball, cover, and refridgerate 20-30 minutes, until firm.

    Preheat oven to 350. On parchment covered cookie sheet, press dough (with your hands) into a circle about an inch thick. Cut into 6-8 triangles.

    Brush tops with melted butter and bake 16-18 minutes until sides are golden brown. Cool on rack and enjoy!