Operation Write Home

Hello everyone!

My sister, mother, and I found out about this great thing called Operation Write Home a few months back from Stephanie Ann over at WorldTurnedUpsideDown. We wanted to contribute to this great cause so we made some cards Tuesday. This organization has people send in homemade cards which are shipped to our heros overseas in the war. Then they can send cards to their families, as there are no Hallmark stores over there unfortunately. You can also send them letters of encouragement too.
Here are some photos of us making some Valentines for them to send to their friends and family. You can get in on the fun by going to their  website Operation Write Home.

I hope you are having a lovely day and please do make some cards if you have some supplies and send them their way! I know the soldiers would appreciate your support!

In Christ
Rebecca

A Belated Merry Christmas

Hello everyone!

Merry Christmas 3 days late! I hope your Christmas Spirit filled and once again you all realized as I did the need for the real meaning of Christmas to be preached, Jesus Christ was born to die for us!

My family and I had a quiet Christmas, just the four of us together. It was lovely! Here are a few photos of Christmas morning and Christmas day.

 As is tradition in our home, my mother and I made monkey bread for breakfast Christmas morning. She did most of work getting up real early to get it together and I just put sugar all over the dough and put it into the pan and she put it into the oven. She also made a breakfast casserole pictured below that morning. Its also traditon for us to eat this dish Christmas morning.

 " The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known."

(John 1:9-18 ESV)

 Then for lunch mother also made enchilladas and mexican rice and Beth and I put together a fruit plate. I love all the colors!

 Here are a few pictures of our home. I am not sure I have shared what it looks like really. But here is the kitchen and living room where we spend most of our days. Mom puts all the Christmas cards around the doors to decorate every year as is another Christmas tradition of ours.

 We decided to not go through all the trouble of having a huge tree this year and we got a nice small one. Mom put it atop the piano and we were all pleased. We decorated our tree 1860s style with period ornaments we had made at living history events. So this year we had a historical tree. :)

And lastly here is the rest of the kitchen where we made cookies and all the Christmas food this year as we do every year. I love how the sunlight always pours into the kitchen each day. Praise the Lord for another year almost done! I have been pondering as of late how time is so short and how God is still faithful no matter what. Praise God for Jesus His Son coming to earth that we might be saved. John chapter 1 is a favorite chapter of mine lately and I posted if above for you all.

Merry Christmas and God bless all of you!
In Christ,
Rebecca

Becca's Bakery Winter Flyer

A friend of mine named Lindsey W. designed this flyer for my bakery, I love it! I also am now shipping bread and fudge and caramel corn in the USA. So if you are out of state, just email me and I can tell you shipping prices if you can't come to my front door, but still would love to order.

In Christ,
Rebecca

Weekend Fun

Ready for the Dance and fancy italian dinner

 Hi friends! Its been quite busy recently with Christmas upon us! So many things going on! On Saturday two of my dear friends came up to celebrate a birthday, so we went out to eat at Macaroni Grille and then on to a Swing dance to celebrate. It was great fun and filled with much laughter and encouragement.

 Since my dear sister Bethany could not come to celebrate with us we brought her along anyway, we brought her stuffed owl instead. So every time we took a picture she would be in it too. :)

 We did not get any photos except for this one at the swing dance, it was so much fun! I love dancing and it was fun to hear christmas music swing style! From God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen to White Christmas and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas were played by the live band. They even had two singers who sang during each song as well and they were dressed up in 1940's attire as well. I wore my circle skirt my sister made me and had fun twirling on the dance floor.

On Sunday we had friends come after church for a christmas social at our house, it was great fun, but again bethany was not there so we had owl be there to remind us to take pictures and document all our fun with the video camera.

We sang christmas carols and played music to praise the Lord for the miracle of His Son coming to earth in form of a man to die for our sins and praised Him that he did not die permanently, but rose on the 3rd day releasing all who believe in Him from their sins.

 Here above is Bethany and me, its funny because my personality is definately a puppy and she is definately the owl. Aunt Ann you were so right when you sent us these and said they reminded you of us! :)

 Me with Owl while we chatted and talked about christmas and caught up with friends.

 Mom missed Beth too and here she is with little owl. :)

And after all those fun hours with friends even Oscor and Felix were a little tuckered out. ;) So that was the weekend! Oh and Bethany came home Sunday night in time to spend a little time with some of our friends before they went home. We were glad she came in time to see them! Its been busy every day and I could write a long book on all the adventurees, but for now I will end.

In Christ,
Rebecca

Christmas Season thoughts

"I reduce who I can be as a wonderful creation of God when I limit myself to what others think I should be."- Mark Brown
The quote above was posted on the WORD facebook page tonight, I thought it was so convicting! Yes I am reducing who I am when I change myself to be what others want me to be instead of who God wants me to be! I am His creation, I am supposed to be a child of God, not a child of this world. Thanks for the reminder Mark!
Hope you all are having marvelous month of December! Its flying by for my family and I! This is a photo from a Christmas gathering last December at dear friends house. I love the Christmas season, I have not been taking as many photos as I would like of all the festivities around here, but hey life goes on even if blogging does not. :) We had a christmas recital today, I played duets with my mother and 3 piano solos, my sister and mother played harp duets. I have a vocal lesson and am once again inspired to sing for the Lord and His glory alone. My teacher always inspires me to sing for the Lord every time I have a lesson. The Lord kept me safe as I drove in the rain without my eye glasses. I am getting a new perscription tomorrow Lord willing. We are driving to another state thurday to get our beef order from friends and visiting friends. Then saturday we have a ladies christmas tea at our church and a swing dance that evening and Sunday church and a Christmas social at our house. The Lord is good to us I am realizing even in the all the busyness. I praise Him that He speaks to me even in the crazy season of Christmas. Praise God He has helped me to realize that even in a busy world we still need to stop and ask for help from the God of the universe.
This verse range through my head today, " I lift my eyes to the hills, from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of Heaven and earth." Praise God that whenever we ask for His help he is there, the God of the universe, the creator is there! He says whoever crys out to Him He will answer, yes he answers prayer, he always does, even if its no or wait. These are my thoughts today even through all the hustle and bustle of the season. Praise God for our Savior who is gracious to us even if we may forget him for a few minutes, He does not forget us.

In Christ,
Rebecca

Homemade Crackers( Recipe now included!)

 It all started a few christmas's ago when a friend of ours made homemade crackers, yes you Jennifer dear. :) My mother said," I want to do that!" She dreamed of making crackers from scratch for years, but did not get around to trying it until yesterday. :) I helped her make the doe and roll out the crackers. We cut them out with christmas cookie cutters just because it was fun! :)

 We baked them and ta-da! We had gluten free crackers that my sister, mother, and I could all enjoy for our lunch. We ate them and said," That was too easy and these are so much better than crackers from the store!" My mother told us we should make these when we have friends over for christmas. We might just have to make a few hundred more crackers soon as we ate most of these yesterday. :)

Gluten-Free Herb Cracker Recipe
Ingredients- 1/2 cup arrowroot starch or cornstarch ( we used cornstarch)
1/4 cup almond meal ( we did not have any so we used fresh almonds ground up in our Vita Mix, you could also grind them up in a food processor)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons of herbs ( we used 1 tablespoon rosemary and 1 tablespoon thyme)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tarter
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt to sprinkle on crackers ( we omitted this)

 This recipe makes 5 dozen small crackers
What to do-
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Farenheit
2. Place dry ingredients in bowl. Blend. Add oil and water to form a dough ball. If dry, add more water to moisten.
3. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes or cut w/knife into even squares. Prink crackers with fork and sprinkle with kosher salt. Transfer crackers to non greased cookie sheet or stone.
 4. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn crackers over and bake 5-7 more minutes until golden brown.
5. Cool and store in air tight container.
Tip- If crumbly, add water to moisten. A 5" by 3" rectangular sheet of dough makes nice flat-bread crackers.

Enjoy your gluten free yummy christmas crackers!

So that was part of our day yesterday in between me sewing a bonnet to sell next monday as my family is going to be speaking in Washington D.C. about the history of the American Civil War, and in between my mom accompanying me on the piano as I sang my songs for my vocal exam and my dear father was my audience. Then that night I went and had my vocal exam and scored an A-! I am so happy! God is so so good to me and I am reminded as I might have said yesterday in yesterdays post, I am so not steadfast in love, but He always is! It boggles my mind at how amazing our God is.

In Christ,
Rebecca

Baking, baking and more baking

 As you can see I have been baking up a storm this past month. I got a few customers now that I have started my own home bakery. Lord willing I will get my parents consent to start selling at local farmers markets. I would appreciate the prayers about that decision! Its a lot of work, but I believe the Lord is leading me in the direction of starting my own business instead of college.

Tuesday I made a cherry pie for my dad as an experiment to see how it tastes and how easy it would be to sell. I believe its a winner! I love the way it looks and I can't say for the taste yet, but will be trying it with a cup of tea tomorrow. I had a vocal exam today, so I have not had a chance to sit down with a good book and read and eat a peice of pie. :) My mother told me how her mother always made a cherry pie for christmas, so this pie will be the special christmas pie for Becca's Bakery.

Hope you all are having a great first day of December! I must say the Lord is blessing me beyond measure, I am sitting here in a warm comfy bed with heat and am just in awe of his provision. He is from everlasting to everlasting a God who is faithful I have been reminded with all the little things that have come into place these past months. I got an A- on my vocal exam today! I sang well according to the deans of the college and my vocal teacher was pleased with my singing. All I had to say was praise God! He is faithful and so many people have been praying for me and of course God answered those prayers. :) He has also helped me to start getting my baking business going despite some road blocks and more doors as my dad says that will need to be pushed on to see if God will open those doors.

In Christ,
Rebecca