Living Life To The Fullest
Servings: 4 small handprints or 6 small ornaments.
What You Need:
1 cup of salt
1 cup of Flour
1/2 cup of water
Steps:
1. Combine all ingredients and knead dough for just a couple of minutes.
2. Roll out and do hand prints or use cookie cutters to make ornaments.
3. Bake at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 hours.
Note: use parchments paper, NO FOIL when baking. See picture below.
Have fun!
This Alfredo sauce is so yummy! Enjoy!
What You Need:
2 cups of Parmesan Cheese
1 (8 tablespoons) stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of heavy cream (8oz)
A few dashes of salt and pepper
1 teaspoon of fresh parsley finely chopped and a little extra chopped for garnish
Steps:
1. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan on medium heat, once butter is melted add heavy cream. Allow to simmer while mixing for 2 minutes seasoning with salt and pepper.
2. Add Parmesan cheese and parsley. Add a few dashes of milk or pasta water to thin sauce out a little. Allow to cook and very low heat until ready to serve.
Enjoy!
“As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”
Proverbs: 27:17
I had a really great, thought provoking conversation with a friend of mine that I have only known now for a few months. Our daughters are in class together and we met at one of their classmates birthday parties. Neither one of us knowing a beautiful friendship was about to be born. How grateful we must be for the small moments that lead to something priceless, like an amazing friendship.
We had a conversation on the phone not too long ago, and we had a deep conversation as we normally do. Unfortunately it came to an end due to my children needing my attention, but once we got off the phone I was provoked to find a scripture related to friendship because I felt so grateful to have a friend who I can share my inner thoughts with. We each challenge each other with what we believe in, in a very respectful way.
No offensive is taken, only respect and listening to each other sharing why we feel, believe, or think the way that we do. I believe we humble each other in our discussions and help one another to see more beyond the horizon. We sharpen each other.
How important, and what a gift, friendships are. A friend that is pushing, challenging you, and encouraging you, is going to improve you. Sharpen means improve or cause to improve. Improve means make or become better. Countenance means to admit what is acceptable or possible.
In relation to the scripture above, we strengthen each other’s tolerance and endurance to the sufferings that are experienced in this world. We alleviate burdens and give the gift of perseverance to one another.
To live is to experience suffering, we know this is true, and this scripture tells us how you and I can give strength to one another and endure what to some would be unbearable. This scripture reminds us that we are not alone in our sufferings and how important relationships are with one another.
We are here to uplift one another not to bring down. We must sharpen each other to the best of our capabilities. Because everyone at one time or another will seek or is seeking right now alleviation in what they do not know. We must share our light. We only shine because of those that taught us.
Reach out to your best friends today and remind them how much you cherish their friendship. Explain to them why you choose to have them in your life. Give them love and gratitude. How special to have such friends who develop us and push us to grow.
Love to you all.
This recipe only requires a few ingredients and it’s delicious. I’ve only ever used this dry rub on chicken thighs, hence the title.
I prepare the dry rub, then rub it all over the chicken really good. Afterwards I allow the chicken to sit in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Then, we grill it. This dry rub with the smokey flavor from the grill really provides a great flavor.
What You Need:
1 tablespoon of chili powder
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
2 teaspoons of salt
(Dry Rub Recipe good for 1.5 to 2 lbs of chicken)
Steps:
Mix all seasoning together in a bowl and then rub all over the chicken thighs. Be sure to open the thighs and really make sure it’s rubbed all inside as well.
Suggested Ways To Serve:
We enjoy making chicken tacos or nachos with this recipe. You can also enjoy with rice or potatoes on the side.
Enjoy!
“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content”
Philippians 4:11
If we define the word worry, it reads; “give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.” Think about that for just a moment. When we can’t control something, it causes us stress and anxiety. It leads us down the path of worrying where we end up in a field filled with fear.
How often do you worry? Many times I’m sure. About all sorts of things, right? We worry about the future, we worry about our children, we worry about bills being paid, we worry about our health, we worry about our family, we worry about many, many things.
We all worry. What you should know though is worrying is natural human survival instinct. Ultimately we worry to protect us from harm. Maybe you’re thinking, “how is worrying about my family protecting me? I’m worry about them.” Yes, that is true, however you worry to protect yourself from feeling pain. If something happens to someone in your family, you know you would suffer too. And who wants to suffer? Again, we worry to protect us. *Humans are pretty selfish, we think about ourselves a lot.*
Now worrying and living in fear is giving in to a very powerful force. Too many times we allow these emotions to completely control us and prevent us from truly living and feeling joy in our hearts. This also prevents our relationship with God from growing. Why? Because we aren’t trusting God. We aren’t trusting the creator of the entire universe. You’re not alone my friend, and you’re not on your own.
We have to lean in, we have to surrender, and we have to trust our Heavenly Father. He knows way more than we do. But, like a three year old, we are stubborn children. We want to do things on our own. Like children, we don’t want help. We don’t want to believe our Heavenly Father knows more than we do. Maybe we aren’t children, we kinda sound more like teenagers.
The spirit within us is like a muscle. As we strengthen our spirit muscle, it becomes stronger. The seed of love that God planted in all of us becomes stronger. God is love my friends. But we gotta water that seed! And we have to water others! As we continue to work on your relationship with God we become stronger than the flesh, we become stronger than those feelings and emotions that act like a wall preventing us from living in peace and harmony.
When we continue to seek God, the walls of fear and worry begin to crumble and dissolve like a soaked cookie in milk. We begin to feel peace within ourselves.
No matter what state we are in we aren’t worried or in fear because we know God loves us. We know no matter what, it’s going to be okay. We begin to understand God is in us, he surrounds us, he is reaching out and rescuing us.
But to be in that state, we have to reach our hand out. Gods hand is already present, we are the ones holding back. And once we grab ahold of the hand of God no matter what happens you’ll know in your heart God has got this. No matter what you know in the end Gods going to make everything right. God loves you. He loves you, He loves you, He loves you.
God bless
Salsa made at home along with homemade tortilla chips just taste better! It’s all so easy and doesn’t take a lot of time at all!
What You Need:
3 decent sized Roma tomatoes
2-3 Serrano peppers (1 for a mild flavor. And make sure it’s Serrano. Jalapeño will give a different flavor.)
5-8 garlic cloves (not jarred minced garlic)
1/4 of a large white onion
Salt for seasoning
A generous handful of fresh cilantro
Steps:
1. In a small medium pot bring the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and peppers to a boil. Simmer until very soft. The skins will begin to peel.
2. Once the veggies are soft place them in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add about 1/4 cup of the water the veggies were boiling in.
3. Sprinkle with salt and add handful of fresh cilantro. Mix with a blender. Taste and add more salt or cilantro if needed. A squeeze of lime can be added, that’s optional.
What you need:
Vegetable oil
Sea salt
Corn tortillas
Steps:
1. Stack 7 Corn tortilla on top of each other. Cut the stacked tortillas vertically and then horizontally. Giving you 28 corn tortilla triangles.
2. Heat your skillet to a medium heat with 1/2 inch of vegetable oil.
3. Once oil is heated (it will begin to sizzle and bubble a little) begin adding the tortillas into the oil. Fry until golden brown on both sides. (Use to tongs to flip)
4. Place finished tortilla chips on a plate with paper towels to soak the excess oil. Sprinkle with sea salt right away. Allow to cool.
Enjoy!
“I go to prepare a place for you.”
John: 14:2
How often do we scramble chaotically to present a clean and tidy home before someone arrives? Pretty often I would say, especially when we are hosting something like a birthday party. It’s a race against time. Can any of you relate?
Now, we don’t begin scrubbing or wiping everything down for ourselves, no, our mess or way of living doesn’t bother us that much. We clean with passion for our guests or friends or family! We do this because we care! We do this because we want to create a space of comfort, safety, well-being, and ultimately good vibes. We want our place to be a place where they enjoy coming to. We want to create a place where they don’t want to leave and anticipate coming back to again!
God has invited us to join him in a huge celebration and He is “preparing the party”. Are we going to accept the invitation? Of course we are! Jesus doesn’t need to prepare anything for anyone, but He prepares a place because He loves us. It’s all for us. He is ready to welcome each and every one of us. He knows this earthly life is troubling which is why this is so important that the place He prepares is ready for us.
We will walk through those doors and the weight of the world that we lived in will be lifted. We will instantly feel that comfort and safety in which we try ourselves to provide for our guests. Imagine that, how loved we are. It will most definitely be a place we never want to leave, and we will be reminded of all the love that was always there, just waiting for us to arrive.
God Bless.
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
It is undeniable that humanity does evil things. We are most definitely witnesses to that. Evil lurks around like a fragrance that has yet to fade away.
Jesus though gave us some serious truth bombs. We know this from reading the scriptures. And the effects of these “truth bombs” are still lingering today. Rather than a bomb being filled with gas or smoke, Jesus planted bombs filled with love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
The fragments from these bombs are still piercing souls as we speak. The dust has not yet settled from what Jesus has done for us or taught us. Which is why we don’t understand everything fully yet. We’re all still in this giant cloud of smoke from this gift that God gave us because he loves us. Most people wouldn’t think of a bomb as a gift, however this bomb of love and truth from God is the greatest thing that could ever happen to us.
Here’s the thing though, Jesus came so that through him we may have peace. The key word is *may*. It is completely our choice to take this peace that God has offered to us.
Rather than being in the cloud of smoke afraid because we can’t see anything, and groaning because our ears are ringing from the noise, or hiding because we’re scared. We can be anxiously excited to see that all our fears have been conquered because of the truth bombs that were planted for us. If we keep our eyes open while the dust is settling we can actually witness the changes. We get to see evil transformed to love. How amazing!
Jesus says, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. What a comforting thing to know. Soon enough we all will get to rejoice in this beautiful new world. Praise God, Praise the Lord.
Love to you all
I came across Janes story on Instagram just a few years ago. It’s amazing how fast time flies. I was on Instagram and she popped up in my “similar accounts you follow” I happened to watch her Instagram story and on her story that day she was sharing this loss that she experienced a few years ago. It was so raw and I could feel the emotions. I had no idea who this woman was but I could feel her pain and sorrow. Her story completely pulled at my heart strings. I was instantly pushed into the present. Her strength is admirable and she gives hope to so many who have or will face something difficult in their life. Her story is a reminder on how precious and fragile this life is. And when storms come, the rainbows will guide us.
This story has been shared by given permission.
It was September 21, 2013, we were headed to my sisters house to celebrate my son Jaylen, second birthday. He was turning 2 on September 25.
My sister had a swimming pool and we loved to swim, especially living in Texas with the heat, so we planned a pool party. It was just my family (husband and two kids) and my sisters family (husband and three kids) who were there. An intimate party with just family. Everyone was having so much fun, the kids played in the pool for a few hours. It was getting time for dinner so we started getting cleaned up, got the kids out of the pool and headed inside for dinner.
Shortly after dinner, my sister and I started cleaning up so we could sing to Jaylen and have birthday cake. I watched Jaylen walk outside and sit on his dad’s lap. A few moments later I looked outside and saw that Jaylen was not on his dads lap anymore so I immediately walked outside and asked Mike where Jaylen had gone. He mentioned that he had followed his brother Ian, who had just walked by, to the garage.
Our lives changed forever that night because Jaylen had not followed his brother to the garage, instead he found his way to the pool (steps from my husband) and lost his life that night. It was a matter of seconds that he was out of our sight. No splashing or screaming. No crazy loud night with distracted parents. An extremely peaceful, calm, enjoyable night that turned tragic.
Since that day life has never been the same. Trying to navigate life after losing a child is absolutely the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Many nights I would sob, wondering how I would make it to the next day. I distinctly remember nights pleading to God to help me through to the next day because I didn’t know how I could go on. Miraculously, little by little, day by day, slowly putting one foot in front of the other, life became manageable again, although never the same.
Days after losing Jaylen, a family member had the idea to “Spread Sunshine” on Jaylen’s behalf. It’s started out as family and friends spreading sunshine to our family, which warmed our hearts during such a tragic time. Since then, our family has continued “Spreading Sunshine for Jaylen”. Each September, we do random acts of kindness in honor of our son, sharing a card with his story on it, hoping others will pass the kindness along to others. In a time that can be extremely hard, it has brightened our month by continuing this beautiful act of kindness in honor of Jaylen.
We are now about to enter our eighth year without our son. It’s hard to believe we have made it this far, but on our journey, we have been blessed to find so much beauty along the road. When you experience something so tragic, you can’t help but see life through a different lens, and what a gift each and every day is. Live life to the fullest, love harder, cherish the moments because we don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
Jane GarnerRodan+Fields Consultant
If you have a story that you would like to share please contact ‘The Wild Gems’ . You can always remain anonymous as well. I believe sharing our stories has the power to not only heal ourselves but others as well. We need to always be reminded and to remind others that we are never alone and that love continues and will continue to push through even the darkest of moments.
God bless.
I asked my two 5 year olds D and E what it means to be a good friend and these were their responses.
So cute. I think we could all be a better friend.
1. When someone falls down, you help them up.
2. Don’t push each other.
3. Say sorry if you hurt someone.
4. Don’t fight.
5. Love each other.
6. Take pictures of each other.
7. Be kind.
8. Play together.
9. Love.
10. Eat lunch together.
11. Eat Breakfast Together
12. Have play dates and sleepovers together.
13. When they get hurt run to them, and if they are bleeding, get them a bandaid.
(Note: 1-6 are D, and 7-13 are E)
The Wild Gems 