My Guy

Ben was out of town most of last week. I don't like when he is gone, but it gave me the chance to make his homemade Father's Day gift without the risk of him seeing it. He loved it!

I am so thankful that Ben is the father of my children. Knowing that I never have to worry about what examples he is setting for them is such a comfort & blessing. May I take a moment to brag? I could list a million things that Ben does for our children that I know will have a positive eternal impact, but here are a few of my favorites:

He prays with them and for them, and now Rush is starting to pray too.
He sings Bible songs with them. Rush knows the books of the Bible because they enjoy singing together so much!
He gives them hugs and kisses freely.
He loves me in front of them so that Rush will know his role and Lottie will know what to look for.

In case you can't tell, I am so proud of my husband. We celebrated our 7th anniversary on Sunday. Without going into too much detail, I will simply say this has been the hardest year, but the BEST year! God has changed our view of what life is really about and it has altered our relationship with Him and with each other. Every day we are learning how to better love each other; how to encourage each other, how to lovingly suggest changes, how to talk about our thoughts, feelings & weaknesses. Our marriage had always been "good," and we thought we were living the "right" way, but here's what Oswald Chambers says about settling for "good and right" in life:

"Whenever our right becomes the guiding factor of our lives, it dulls our spiritual insight. The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best."

Here's a picture from our wedding:

I want to live my BEST for the Lord and for my husband! I can't do it in my own strength. But if I am sensitive to the Holy Spirit (achieved through study, prayer, repentance, etc.) and my husband is too, then together, we will strengthen each other as individuals and become stronger as a couple, as we strive to do our BEST for His glory.

This leads me to share the verse that I am memorizing this week:

"The end of all things is near.  Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.  Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:7-8 

On a much less serious note:
We had our first PEP Moms steering committee meeting last week. Well, it was our first with our new committee and me as the director (yikes!).  I prayed a lot before the meeting that things would go well; that our committee would be completed (we had a couple of vacancies), that the conversation would go smoothly, and that we could leave feeling like we got something accomplished. The meeting went very well; it was basically a brainstorming session on speakers and topics for our upcoming year (September-April) and ideas for summer activities and outings.


Some of the summer activities include playdates at our church playground, free movie day at the theater, Safety City in Knoxville, and a few other possibilities. We try to do things that are free/low-cost and group-friendly. Do you have any ideas for us?

June Freezer Recipes

Cheesy Chicken Bites with mushrooms
adapted from Bless Your Heart's "Water Tower Chicken"


approx. 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or breasts and thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces (Can use only one pound- makes one layer instead of two.)
2 large eggs, well beaten
1 cup milk
 1 1/2 cups dry seasoned Italian bread crumbs
1 8 oz. package sliced white mushrooms
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded cheddar (we like sharp)
1-2 cups chicken broth

Combine eggs and milk in a large bowl. Soak chicken pieces in the egg mixture in the refrigerator, covered, for 15-30 minutes. Drain egg mixture off chicken. Toss chicken in the bread crumbs. In a casserole dish, layer chicken mozzarella, cheddar & mushrooms; make another layer in the same order.
Freeze.
Thaw for 24 hours in refrigerator.
Slowly pour chicken broth into the casserole until the chicken is about 3/4 covered.
Bake at 375* for 45 minutes- 1 hour.


Burritos Verde
adapted from Rachael Ray's Turkey Tomatillo & Bean Burritos

6 flour tortillas (We like Chi-Chi's whole wheat)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1- 1 1/3  lb. ground turkey breast

1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped or garlic powder to taste

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped

salt

fresh ground black pepper

1 cup chicken broth

1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 (16 ounce) jar tomatillo (green) salsa

1 tsp. dried cilantro or 2 TBsp. fresh, chopped

1-2 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped

2  cups shredded monterey jack cheese

Preheat a large nonstick skillet with the vegetable oil.

Add in the ground turkey and break it up with the back of a spoon as it cooks and browns, about 4 minutes.

Add in the onions, garlic, bell pepper, salt, and pepper; cook for 3 minutes.

Add in the chicken stock, pinto beans, and 1 ½ cup tomatillo salsa; increase the heat to high; continue cooking 5-6 minutes or until the mixture is thickened.

Remove pan from heat and add in the spinach & cilantro; stir to mix.

Freeze burrito filling if desired.

Thaw for 24 hours in refrigerator.
Set broiler to LOW.
Heat the filling in microwave.
Warm the tortillas in the microwave.
Fill each tortilla with about 1/4 cup shredded cheese and desired amount of hot filling.
Place the filled burritos in a broiler-safe dish, seamside down.
Top all the burritos with remaining salsa verde & shredded cheese.
Place under broiler (about 6 inches away) for approxiamtely 5 minutes, watching closely.
Yummy!

A Tangled Mess

It was a busy weekend here in the Mills house. Freezer group swap was Friday (here 's what I made). Also, on Friday morning, we had our first PEP Moms play date at our church playground. We had a wedding rehearsal on Friday evening (Ben was a groomsman and I sang) & the wedding Saturday, in addition to a birthday party. Sunday I  sang at both morning services at church. We attended the evening service too (which we don't normally get to since the kids are super-tired and cranky by 7:30), so that we could participate in The Lord's Supper. It was a special and spirit-filled service, and I got to be a part of it by reading some passages of scripture and singing with the praise team. WHEW!

Last week's memory verse is one of my favorites: Philippians 4:6-7 says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." We have already memorized verses 4-5 and 8. Here 's the whole passage:

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

It was one of those weeks in which I found it hard to rejoice, or be gentle, or pray, or meditate on only good things. All I could think about was what I needed to get done and when was I going to do it. In reflecting back over my week, I thought about an experience that I had a couple of weeks ago that make a good illustration of how too much "clutter," whether tangible or intangible,  can distract us from our priority task:


On a typical Sunday morning while we were doing our usual "scramble," Rush, our 2 1/2 year old, decided to help me pick out a necklace (I wasn't even planning on wearing one; it was just one of those toddler moments where he was being ignored while we were getting ready for church, so he made his own fun!). I keep most of my necklaces on a hook in my bathroom, so it easily becomes a tangled mess when one necklace gets carelessly pulled off. I caught him in the act, but it was too late! All (about 15) long necklaces were tangled up like spaghetti! I started to try pulling them apart and got most of the necklaces undone. But there were four that did not come apart so easily. We were running out of time if we were going to make it to church, so I left them.

Over the next couple of days I tinkered with the tangled necklaces here and there, but only for a few seconds at a time. I would get flustered just looking at them. Their final resting place was on my bathroom vanity. But they weren't the only eye-sore on the bathroom counter. A new, un-opened box of toothpaste, a nail file, some polish, and bathroom cleaner had been on display for a few days as well. Random hairs that came off of my head lay like confetti streamers all around. I knew the necklaces were still there and that I was letting a mess start to pile up, but the frustration that I felt for "failing" to get the necklaces untangled made it easy to clutter up the rest of the bathroom too.

It was Tuesday of the following week (9 days!) when I acknowledged that I had let the bathroom go too  far. I walked in and saw the necklaces laying there on the counter, and suddenly felt motivated to I started putting away all of the "stuff" that was cluttering my vanity. The toothpaste in the box went to the basket of extras; the file & polish went to the mani/pedi basket; the hairs were wiped away and went to the trash; and then the cleaner got put to use.

I started studying the tangles. I decided which necklace to work on first and then found each end; that helped me navigate through the other necklaces. I continued that method until I finally got all of them untangled! It only took me about 15 minutes!


Have you ever done that in your spiritual life? I know I have and did last week. I was not spending the time that I needed to in studying God's word and in praying. I knew all week that I was "failing"- misprioritizing. I was digging a hole too; because it seemed as though the more disconnected with God that I felt, I fell into even more distractions. My spirit was a tangled mess! Of course it's obvious to me now that I was relying on my own strength at this point. I was not allowing Christ's power to rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I go through this kind of "cycle" every so often. Until I can openly acknowledge the sin (seeing the necklaces on the counter and determining to do something about it instead of ignoring them), I can't confess it to God. But once I acknowledge and confess it, I can more clearly focus on the priority task: my relationship with God. (I realize that this isn't a perfect illustration, but thinking & reflecting in this way helps me personally.)

This-  staying on the "priority task"- is certainly a daily struggle for me on some level or another. This passage is worth reading again because, I will admit, my mind is SO WEAK. As soon as I "fail," those negative thoughts come rushing in. But keeping out the clutter- whether it's negative thinking, or obsessive thoughts or actions, or just too much stuff on your to-do list- will guard your heart from becoming a "tangled mess."

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Philippians 4:4-8

Exercise with Baby!

It's hard to find time to get out your hand weights when you are a stay-at-home-mommy. Here a few SIMPLE ideas for getting in some toning without the gym. All you need is your baby (with semi-head-control)!

While holding your baby, lie on your back with your knees pulled in to your chest. Place baby on the front of your legs so that you are facing each other. This alone makes my little ones squeal with delight! Start simple: try just lifting your upper body off the floor (like a crunch). Each time you come up close to baby's face, say something: boo!, hi!, their name, you can count. While you're raising up and down, keep one hand on your baby's back and the other hand behind your head.
Make it a little bit harder by lifting your rear a little each time you "crunch" up. This works your lower abs more.

In the same position, keep one or both hands on baby's back and raising & lowering baby on your legs (like you're straightening & bending at your knee). You may not feel it working right away, but your hamstrings will definitely get tired after a few sets. Of course, you can keep your upper body raised up for extra abdominal work too!

Holding your baby, lie on your back and raise baby straight overhead. Try raising baby past your face toward the top of your head with your arms straight. Slowly bring baby back to the starting position. This is a good shoulder & triceps toner.

To work your biceps, while standing, simply hold your baby high on the waist or under her arms; bending at your elbow, raise and lower baby with a slow & controlled pace. Do a few sets of a least 12.

Hold half sit-up position while holding baby. Try twisting side to side.

Will ad more later!
Do you have any ideas/suggestions?