Sojourner Sister

Irish Oatmeal (and other varieties – not necessarily green, but all healthy!)

asojournerssong — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:50:00 +0000

A healthy breakfast to start the day

Green Oatmeal ( pictured above) instructions not included…

don’t try this at home kids ;p

(Oatmeal 12 ways!)

Oatmeal is a whole grain complex carbohydrate that is high in fiber and has staying power to get you off to a great start in the morning. It’s also very quick, versatile and inexpensive. Below are 12 takes on oatmeal that will have you loving this healthy hot breakfast. A different way for every day!

For all these recipes, start with a cup of hot cooked oatmeal, then add other ingredients as desired.

Try these, and think of combos of your own!

1. Tropical – Add chopped, fresh pineapple, coconut flakes, chopped mango and ¼ cup orange juice.

2. Apple cinnamon – Add unsweetened applesauce, raisins, and sprinkle with cinnamon. You could substitute ½ cup diced apple for applesauce.

3. Maple nut – Add pecans and maple syrup, and a dash of cinnamon (optional).

4. Cranberry orange – Add dried cranberries and some o.j.

5. Banana walnut – Add sliced bananas and chopped walnuts.

6.High-Five Fiber – Add 2 T. ground flaxseeds and 2 T. raisins. (I suggest adding 2 T. ground flaxseeds to every one of these, as flaxseeds are such a healing aid to our diets!)

7. High-Five Protein – Mix together ¼ cup milk and a ½ cup whey protein to cooked oatmeal, add chopped walnuts, and chopped, fresh apple. (Or bananas…or raisins…)

8. Eye-Opener – Add ¼ cup fresh grated carrot, 1 T. chopped parsley, ¼ cup tomato juice, and a dash of celery salt, and Tabasco sauce if you wish. (YIKES!)

9. Brain-Power – Add 1-2 T. flaxseed oil; mix well. Add 1-2 T. sliced almonds.

10. Speedy Seeds – Take 1 T. each of raw pumpkin seed, raw sunflower seeds, 2 t. almonds, and cover with boiling water for at least 15 minutes before the oatmeal is done. Let sit, then drain, and rinse again in boiling water. Add to cooked oatmeal – the seeds will have plumped up and will be more chewy than crunchy.

11. Good and Sweet – Add 1 T. Tahini and 2 T. molasses. Stir well.

12. Good Child – Place excellent quality (55% or more cocoa) broken up chocolate at bottom of bowl. About 1-2 oz. or ¼ bar, cover with hot oatmeal, and watch your child’s smile as they discover the melty chocolate!

Do not Trudge Through Days…

asojournerssong — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:29:00 +0000

I saw this on my fridge
It was placed there by a friend of the family, as he and my dd, Noelle were fooling around making sentences with our magnetic words… we kept it there when we moved… I snapped a picture of it to remember it by

He IS Alive..

I am ever so thankful for this and even more, that He is alive in my heart. However, There are times, when I am weighed down by baggage/or should I say – bondage that defined my life before I knew the Lord and my before my spirit was alive in Him. It is those times that I have to cry out to Him to have mercy on me and to lift my burdened heart out of the blue. I have so many regrets and I know He doesn’t want us to live in the shadows of yesterday… yet we must assess our pasts when they keep hindering our here and now, despite our position as heirs of His life-giving and life-sustaining power.

At times , He will allow us to see into our pasts, and there-by offer the opportunity for us to choose to embrace the reality of what was, then surrender it to His care (and disposal). otherwise we will, as I find myself doing much too often… begin to peer into the shadows of my past and re-identifying myself with that dark rendition of what was.

I don’t want to do that. It is so terribly destructive and grievous to our Lord. It hinders our walk– skews our vision, and steals our purpose and hope… even if only for a while.

The danger, I have found is letting this happen too often. It can covertly become commonplace by our not taking dominion over these negative thoughts and letting them fester and become a pattern or a mind set. Some call it a strong hold. Whatever you call it, It is not His will … and it can , so easily, put us in bondage to negativity, there-by, opening us up to believing other satanic lies that come at us , vying for attention. “Ugh.” I need to remember.. and I encourage anyone who can relate… to remember who we are (In Him) …

“Redeemed”,

Titus 2:12-14

and “overcomers by His blood shed for us”.

1 John 5:4

where “we stand” (In Him)

1 peter 5:9

“In the heavenly places with Jesus”, as “co-heirs and Victors with Him”…

and who are enemy is… what he is …( thief, a liar and defeated!)

and we need to.. like the saying goes… “act like we know!” walking within this Truth, continually … renewing our minds in His Word and Truth… till we are walking, once again in the total freedom meant for us as His children, Holy and dearly loved…

What a freedom and a sweet place to be.

There is no other way to be free to be used of Him… no pouring out.. no infilling, no real life.. without being connected and drawing our life from the Vine…empty of selves and all of the lies that like to come and stick to us!

Lord, thank You for Your gracious mercy and deliverence from myself… and help me to keep my eyes on You and continue to walk in Your Truth…

…and to “not trudge through days, for You are Alive!

so I will soar and sing”!

I have more visitors! (big smile)

asojournerssong — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:15:00 +0000

…One more thing for today… I am so excited ! I installed this new software/gidget thing … that dispalys where my blog visitors are from… and I see that there are some of you from out of the country! I am so excited, as I had no idea this happened so often, as even this. I am on the edge of my seat here waiting & hoping for comments, from my sisters (and brothers in this country and now from those of you from outside the US!
I would like to be able to visit your blogs too! so please, all of you/ any of you? leave me comments with your link so I can drop in and say hey!
Blessings to you all!
Suz in the Northwoods

The Neclace /a ‘kind of allegorical’ short story

asojournerssong — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:57:00 +0000

The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box. “Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?” Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl’s upturned face. “A dollar ninety-five. That’s almost $2.00. If you really want them, I’ll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday’s only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma.” As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace. Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green. Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny, “Do you love me?” “Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you.” “Then give me your pearls.”
“Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail. Remember, daddy? The one you gave me. She’s my very favorite.” “That’s okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night.” And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.
About a week later, after the story time, Jenny’s daddy asked again, “Do you love me?” “Daddy, you know I love you.” “Then give me your pearls.”
“Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper.” “That’s okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you.” And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss. A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek. “What is it, Jenny? What’s the matter?” Jenny didn’t say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, “Here, daddy; this is for you.” With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny’s daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny. He had them all the time; he was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure. So it is, with our Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures. God will never take away something without giving you something better in its place.

Note from me: Even if that ‘something better’ is just a peace in your heart from knowing that you did the right thing by giving your all for Jesus!

Are You An Aspiring Songbird? :)

asojournerssong — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:34:00 +0000

Click on the link below to take advantage of free voice training from a talented female vocalist.

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/3015_female-voice-training-warming-up.htm

Part of the Series:
Female Voice Training Exercises

Summary: Learn how to warm up your voice for singing vocals in these free how-to videos lesson on female voice training exercises.

“About the Expert”

Erica Lane is a recording artist and music teacher. She graduated, Cum Laude, from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX, with a Bachelor of Music degree.

**********************************************************

hope you enjoy! My dd, Noelle has liked and benefited from them
so I thought I’d pass them along

~just a thought…

asojournerssong — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:11:00 +0000

There is so much good in the worst of us; and so much bad in the best of us,

~ that it ill behooves any of one us; to find fault with the rest of us.

author unknown

a new blog twist…and a poem to share

asojournerssong — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:43:00 +0000

Hi friends

Suz here with an update. My daughter Noelle wanted an opportunity to do her own blogging for a bit. So we decided that I will keep this one as is.. and I link up to her’s… and she to mine.
Hopefully as I get rolling and into the swing of this all… I will have some more frequent and interesting content.
As it is now, I am just beginning to get my blogger boots wet. and they feel a bit stiff yet. I did however have a poem/lyric to share… I would love any feedback on any posts… so pease feel free ;D

the poem goes like this….

***********************************

Hurt People

Dear Jesus, please don’t stop working in my life;

It’s been a long hard row to hoe,

And through such cold, dark strife.

I need You Lord~ help me let You, keep on working in my life.

Forgive me Lord, for my weak will, and reveling, amidst my pain;

Broken spirits are strewn around me,

That masquerade as hidden bounty,

and covert lies drive some insane.

Guard my heart and gird my loins;

Fill my life & heart with joy…

Your promise I hold fast and cling to;

all your precepts I employ.

I’ve hurt so many on the way… Lord,

pretense keeps us blind to need;

and keeps us cloistered in confusion:

far from God, His light, His Creed.

Hurt people, they hurt people

Born of sorrow; born afraid.

Hurt people — they hurt people,

Born of sorrow; born of shame.

Parading pretense, self-protection;

Where we try to cope in vain,

When we’re hurt and sorrow’s leading,

tears in torrents, veil of rain.

Dear Savior Jesus,

Holy Spirit; help and keep…

…my spirit tuned,

To Your soft answer ‘n steely will;

the strength and meekness you exude.

Create in me a heart like Yours,

In exchange for my old worn-out one;

–Hurt people, Lord, they hurt people.

But You came so that Joy we’d see:

Hurt people, they hurt people –Lord, You came to set us free.

suz 08, photo of Elizabeth and Katrina Phoenix 2006

Two young maidens in romantic era hat

asojournerssong — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:22:00 +0000

~Two of my favorite pictures of this past summer. They were from a practice photo shoot … with dd, Noelle (once known as Dustynne and our neighbor , a sweet young lady named Pandora… aka, Panny Joy … they seemed so old fashioned and feminine…

and fun

~and below is….

asojournerssong — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:14:00 +0000

Noelle

Dear Deer

asojournerssong — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0000

I thought I was gonna try and keep the deer out of my yard this summer… (to guard my garden of course:) I had googled many natural deterrents.. but alas, never used any of them… so far they have left our garden alone… as there is sooo much folliage everywhere.. they really don’t need to venture so close to the house… though even they did, I just adore them’n don’t think I could scare these babies away These two were about 15 feet from Tom and I they other evening… in our side yard. You’ll frequently find the deer walking down the sidewalk in the middle of town, any time of the day -so, not big news .. but I just love when they visit us at home…