Faith Christian Church & International Outreach Center

Just wanted to share a little about the church I attend. I've been so blessed in this place. The presence of God is awesome there. The music is anointed and Pastor Decker Tapscott always delivers fresh meaty words of wisdom from God's Word.

www.gotfaithnow.com

SoloChristo Saves

This guy, Joey Aria, from my church just started an awesome scooter ministry with a couple of friends of his. This guys is on fire and on a mission. I've seen skateboarders and BMX bikers but I've never seen someone work a scooter like this guy does...while keeping Jesus first and giving Him all the glory!

Check him out at http://www.solochristosaves.com

Simply Pure Products - All Natural!

Looking for some great all-natural products? Don't think all-natural is important? Think it's too expensive? 
Well, if you're looking, you've found them. Commercial products are damaging our bodies from our skin to our internal organs as chemicals soak in. So, YES, all natural- is important. It's vital in fact. Unless you buy Suave, then you're probably already spending equal to or above the cost of Simply Pure Products. If you're going to spend the money why not have the best while being good for your body?

So I invite you to check out www.simplypureproducts.com. It's family owned, made fresh and local.

Is Your Cell Phone An Extension of your arm?

Take a stroll in the mall or worse yet, drive down the road and it seems everyone has got their face in a cell phone! Is it just me, or am I the only one without one of the new fancy-fangled phones? I've got a TracPhone with no camera, 120 minutes that last me THREE WHOLE MONTHS, and no keyboard!

My three year old daughter just complained that she "doesn't want one of those ugly phones with a string." A regular ol' greeting card isn't enough any more either. I just saw a commercial the other day for a greeting card for a kid that they can take to their computer and somehow some hologram picture appears within the card but viewable on the pc screen. Well, I guess you have to have a video cam. That I don't have either. Dude, I just got cable internet over the summer! Yeah, I might seem behind the times but I can tell you this. My life is pretty simple and very tech free and guess what? It's nice! Really, I don't know what I'm missing and I'm not wasting money on gadgets that are out of date in six months.

I'm not getting one of those high-fa-looting phones until it can make me dinner!

Sunflowers in Watercolor

I attempted some sunflowers in watercolor. Still trying to learn different techniques. It really is like science on paper. And it actually quite trick to figure out how the paint interacts with the wet paper. It's not really finished but you can get the idea. So for you non winter-lovers! This one is for you. Take a quick look, close your eyes and fast forward a bit to warmer temperatures. It will be here before you know it! What's up with time flying so fast these days? Treasure those little sunflowers (kids)!

fried pie crust donuts

I found this awesome recipe from www.cakespy.com

1. First, choose your favorite pie crust recipe (we used this one). We made the equivalent of a single pie crust, and the yield was about 15 mini Donut Pies.
2. Next, decide what your filling would be. For our filling, we mixed one ripe banana, a small amount (1/4 cup, adding more to desired thickness) of heavy whipping cream, and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and two pinches of cinnamon. We mashed it until it was incorporated, but still a little bit lumpy. You can fill them with just about anything you'd use in a pie though. Let your filling sit to the side.
3. Roll out your pie crust, and then score into strips. The strips should be about 2.5 inches wide, but as long or as short as you'd like. The length will determine how large the donut's circumfrence will be, so if you like mini donuts, keep them shorter.

4. Lengthwise, spoon a small amount of filling in each strip. Be sure to leave a small gap of space at the top and bottom of the strip.

5. Fold the crust over the filling lengthwise, so that you have a long, narrow, filled "log" of pie crust with filling inside.

6. Form into a circle.

7. Since we don't have a deep fryer, we then filled a frying pan on  with about 2 cups of canola oil, set to high heat, and once hot gently placed the donuts several at a time into the fryer, frying each side about 3-4 minutes or until golden.

8. Gently remove from frying pan and place on paper towels to blot excess oil.

9. Garnish as desired: with additional fruit topping (as above), whipped cream, ice cream, or for a more donutty look, chocolate icing (as seen on the chocolate topped ones) and sprinkles or swirls. Yum.

Beth Moore Bible Study

Well, it seems strange being a Christian for most of my life and all but I've NEVER done a Bible study. Does anyone lack determination and will power? Yeah, me too! But it's so much each easier to do anything when you have good friends to go along with you. The Bible Study is a study on the book of Daniel. It's starting out to teach us about living in a "Babylon" world and how Daniel had so much resolved to resist its temptations but what it hasn't tapped into is the power of friends! Daniel wasn't alone. He had Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. They were young; living in a very enticing world but they had each other to rely on and to strengthen one another. That's what we need today. You just can't do it alone. Yes, we always have the Lord no matter where we are but we need journeyers to go the road with us. Even Moses needed his friends to help hold his hands up so the Israelites could win the battle.

I'm thankful today. I'm thankful that God has supplied with a "few good women". Yes, just like the Army. No battle is won with just one soldier. I encourage you to connect. Don't stay in your cocoon. Don't think church is enough. Reach out. Make use of the six days in between Sunday and connect with other warriors. Lift one another up; encourage each other in the Word; that's where the power is! There you will find your determination and resolve - just like Daniel (who wasn't alone!)