Work Life - Day at Gleanings

Gleanings for the Hungry is an amazing place. Its a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base that is in Sultana, CA (just outside Dinuba). Their mission is to bring food to the hungry around the world in the name of Jesus Christ. The many ways they serve our world is too numerous for just one blog post, but it is an honor to be apart of their work. This last Monday was the 2nd day I have spent on their property serving and I loved it again.

This first photo is our group praying over a truck that was distributing food. We prayed over 3 trucks this particular day and saw over 2.5 million servings leave the premises. What an amazing impact! I was enamored by the variety of Christian organizations that help distribute food. I was particularly blessed by a man named Joe. Joe lives in Missouri and is retired. He spends his retirement volunteering for Convoy of Hope as a truck driver taking food all over the country. Convoy of Hope is an organization that stays on top of disaster relief aid. They are one of the first on the scene after a natural disaster. They are a huge asset to our country and world and are almost fully run by volunteers! That is amazing.
The majority of our group spent the day working in the soup plant. We took a few meal/snack breaks and too breaks to pray over trucks, but the bulk of our day was spent in this position, pouring soup mix into bags that were packed into barrels to be ready for distribution. Here we have to boys hard at work.


Here are 2 other girls pouring the mix.

Here is the instrument we used to help funnel the soup into the bag. Believe me with your head down you are covered in soup seasoning in a matter of minutes. I thought my dusty soup appearance was attractive, but I don't expect the look to make its ways to the runways anytime soon.

After we filled the bags, different members of our group had to push all the air out of the bags for better fit, and to ensure air tight packs.

Some members of the group rotated between these two jobs.



While the majority of the group worked on soup, these two men readied drying racks for the summer. While this time of year we make soup, the summer months are spent drying fruit to be sent out with the soup mix.

Here is our group of workers for the day. We managed to pack 222,000 servings of soup mix in that day!

After lunch I left my phone on the table while going to the bathroom. I returned to find I had been photo bombed to the tune of 240 times. Here are just 3 sampling photos of what I returned to.



It was a great day! A blessing for us to share in this Christ-centered ministry. We also ended our night after dinner by hearing about a trip to Haiti that some of the staff took. It was a wonderful story of missionaries going just to spend a little time only to stay longer after God calling them to build an orphanage for a woman housing 20something kids! God is doing great things and it is inspiring to hear all about what he is doing through the powerhouse of Gleanings for the Hungry in the Central Valley!

Spiritual Life - Talking to Myself

My mom sent my sister and I marriage series from Jimmy Evans to watch with our husbands. My husband and I are working through "Marriage on the Rock." First, let me say that it is a great series. I have been through a variety of relational and marriage seminars, but Jimmy expresses ideas in a way that connects with me. So even things I have heard before are finding deeper application in my life and marriage. With that said, this last week, the topic of our words was explored. I know as any good, God fearing woman, that our words have power, but the simple way Jimmy Evans explained it has me talking to my stomach and thighs. Yes, I am now talking to my body parts.

Okay, let me rewind. In the video Jimmy explains how God spoke the world into existence (read Genesis) and that science has proven in tests that plants do better when verbally encouraged. Our words have power. We can speak life or death into our lives, our friends and our bodies.

The truth is, I didn't just start talking to my body. I've been talking to it all my life. At times I've looked in the mirror with a disapproving look and word about my belly or back of my thighs. I'm guilty of bad mouthing the way I look in an outfit or how I feel about my body on a certain day. I'm guilty of putting down my body and if my words are powerful, I'm not making things better, but worse. So I've decided to change my words, encourage my body. I've begun telling my tummy that its doing good and can tighten up like it used to. I tell my body its looking good for 35 and doing well.

I'd like certain things to change in my life, and all of this makes me wonder what I am doing to change it. Are my words keeping me down in the areas where I am most dissatisfied? Is my complaining and venting enslaving me in the very state that I wish to escape? Its time to change my attitude and words. If God used words to create this world and, as his child, I have the power of him living in me, then I can use my words to allow him to create something new in my life and heart. So I'm starting with my body parts and hope to be expanding out to all areas of my life.

I talk a lot, but is what I am saying encouraging or discouraging? Now is the time to discover and be intentional with what I say because speaking is believing. Words have power! WORD!

Creative Life - DIY Apron Project

When I say, I sew, I mean I know how to use a sewing machine at the novice level. I can do some troubleshooting when my bobbin doesn't function properly but beyond that, I call for reinforcements. I can measure and cut out a simple pattern, but tend to fly by the seat of my pants and hope it turns out. As you will note from a previous post, some redo projects, like my attempt to turn a maxi dress into a maxi skirt can be a major fail and look like I drink heavily. So keep all that in mind as you read this post.

My son enjoys cooking with me and has started working on some painting projects as gifts for Christmas. He doesn't have a smock/apron of his own and generally uses his sisters' flower patterned apron. This can be a problem when she wants to use it. So I thought it high time he had his own.

I set out to Hobby Lobby in search of fabric (Note: While Joann's has a much greater selection of fabric, I find Hobby Lobby has much more trendy prints). I discovered some red fabric with Mickey Mouse heads in a darker shade of red and my friend, Amanda, discovered a Toy Story print with Buzz and Woody (two very big names in our house). I guessed (correctly, I might add) that I would need a yard of the Toy Story fabric and a half yard of the Mickey Mouse fabric. I used the floral apron of Katie's as a pattern for this one, though it is a little big for him. I guess I figure he can keep it longer if he will grow into it.

- Here's Katie's apron (I chose not to the do the bottom with the ruffle like this one)

I measured the strips and ironed them inside out so that I could easier sew them, then pull them threw right side out, then sewed them closed.

As you can see the bottom is a jagged mess, but I cut it and folded it straight when I sewed it.

I folded a piece for the pocket double the size I wanted and ironed it. I sewed the bottom of the pocket on, then cut the back piece of the fold, so it would have a nice seam length, then sewed both sides.

Voila! The finished project!

Mommy Life - C and C in the Kitchen

I love that at 2, my son loves to help Mommy in the kitchen.  This particular day he had the choice of watching tv or helping Mommy and he chose helping!!! So we made Banana Bread :).  I got the recipe online, it's easy and we love it. 

After putting the ingredients in our Kitchenaid Mixer, my little man got to lick the beater :).

Who doesn't love that?!

Sorry we ate it too fast for me to get a picture of it finished, but it was nice and brown and plopped right out of the stone!

Spirtual Life - Fear verses Faith

This past weekend, I was at Hartland Christian Camp doing a workshop for their women's conference. I was excited for a great conference and weekend but also a little anxious about being away from my son for 2 nights straight (that may sound silly, but I've never done it). Of course he and I were fine and I did have a great weekend. Because I've done a seminar for them for the past 6 years or so, I have come to know some of the women that regularly attend. So they are my Hartland friends and its nice to see them!

But the weekend presented me with a little more than I'd anticipated. The speaker, Rhea Briscoe, said some things that really puzzle pieced with stuff God has been using to speak to my heart. A few things she said really resonated with me and I had a few light bulb moments. She made reference to Matthew 28:18 which begins the Great Commission and tells us that God has all the power in heaven and earth. Then she asked, "So if God has all the power, how much power does Satan have?" The answer: an obvious zero! He has no real power. He controls me at times with no power, that's crazy right?!

So how does he control us without power? By lying! Yep, he tells us things that aren't true through our inner voice, other people in our lives, the internet, television, movies, music and a lot of other media formats. We in turn, believe the lies, begin to walk in them and in fear and boom (wow, just had a flashback to the movie Couples Retreat), we are in bondage.

In seeing this cycle I realized a few areas of my life where I am walking in fear. I had believed lies of the enemy and was walking that instead of faith and freedom in Christ. I need Jesus and need to bathe in his truth more than I do. I need to stop listening to the enemy and standing up because Matthew 28 goes on to tell us that as believers all his power has been given to us! Hallelujah and Amen!

Somewhere deep inside I feel I should shout, "I'm not Josie Grossie anymore," but I will refrain :). It makes since though right, because God is truth and in him who is also love, there is no fear. He sacrificed his life for us on the cross and we have live in freedom because of his great love. Fear comes from lies. So if you are walking in fear, you are believing lies.

I really have to hand it to Satan for being so crafty. I mean he's really taken us to a new level of fear and lies and has made his job easier by the invention of the internet and cable television. He no longer has to lie to individuals and hope those around them perpetuate it, but he lies in mass production. However, with that said, I am taking my power back and telling him, "no thank you." No more! I am standing on the promises of God and walking by faith. I am dedicating more consistent time to prayer and praise and Bible Study.

One of the things that God has impressed on me in the last month is the importance of praise (I will talk about this in another entry, but the result of all of this is a new step I am taking in my life. In the morning before the day starts and we begin to get going, we sit and use you tube videos with lyrics to sing praises to God. Our own musical worship moment to praise the Lord and invite him into our day. This has been awesome and I'm so glad I'm doing it.

So I leave you with a question: Are you walking in faith of the promises of scripture in God's word or are you living in fear from the lies you believe to be true? Cut the lies out of your life, replace them with the truth of the Bible, stop walking in fear and begin walking by faith! Don't let insults get you down, they are lies. You are beautiful, wonderful and made with purpose :).

Give God entry into all areas of your life! 2 Corinthians 3:17 tells us where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!

"I'm not Josie Grossie anymore!" (Never Been Kissed)

Family Life - The last of 3 Sisters to Wed

Two weekends ago I celebrated in the marital union of my 2nd of 3 sisters to get married in 2013! It was an exciting time, and while everyone was here, we put together a shower for my sister, Stephanie, who is the 3rd wedding of the year, tying the knot in North Carolina this October. She loves mustaches so I decided to do a lips and mustache theme. I of course went to Pinterest and started pinning like crazy. The catch to this shower was that the room we were using was not available for setup until Saturday, the day of the wedding for my sister, Alex. So I had to make sure I didn't commit to anything that would need a lot of last minute set up. The colors were black, red, pink and gray.
Here is what we got...

For part of the centerpieces I stamped some mustaches and circles in dark pink and gray, and because I couldn't find a lip stamp I just used paint and my own lips.
I added the above to white table clothes, this wrapping paper I found at Hobby Lobby, some circles cut from colored paper, glassware wrapped in ribbon also acquired from hobby lobby, black and red candy and the lips and mustaches I made for the "he said, she said" game from Alexandra's shower, and Voila!

I saw some great pins on Pinterest that used funny sayings tying in the mustache and lips so I used some of them and created designs to match the themes. This is what I came up with:

In case you can't read them, they say: Wet Your Whiskers, Smooch Juice (Fruit Punch) and Add to the "Stache"

It was a dessert evening shower, we had a chocolate fountain, cupcakes, candy etc.

For activities/games, I had a bunch of cookies in shapes of lips and mustaches and had a decorating contest that the bride to be could vote on for a top prize. Then based on some ideas I pinned, I created two games. The first was a Shower Libs - Mad Libs with a wedding twist, and Bridal Scattergories. That was the game that came with the most surprises. The shower was for all the church ladies and let me just say that we discovered some funny bones and humor that we had no idea this group possessed.

It was seriously a good time!

Originally I planned on making a photo puzzle for guests to write on the back of the pieces, but that didn't work out as planned. I didn't have time to make one and services that I did have time for were too costly. So I decided to have one DIY style, unfortunately either the Lowe's saleman didn't know what he was talking about or he took advantage of a woman, because when they didn't have the wood I needed, he sold me something else, claiming it would be the same, and it wasn't! I had it cut, drew out a puzzle template,printed the photo, painted the wood, mod podged the photo into place, but when I took it to my friend to have it cut, I discovered the wood was not what I needed and would only splinter when cut.

So I just gave the photo to the bride-to-be in case she wanted it and went to plan B. My husband works in metal and was able to have a 5'x2' mustache cut and painted black. I got some gold and silver pens and had people sign it.

As you can see the bride-to-be had fun with it.

We ended the evening with gifts and sent everyone home with an assortment of goodies.

We all had the best time and loved this theme!