DIY Puzzle Frame

Do you have pieces of puzzles that you don't know what to do with? You don't know which puzzle they go with and you would just as soon throw them away. Well here is an adorable easy project.

What you need...

1. Old puzzle pieces

2. Spray Paint (whatever color you want to use)

3. A frame (preferably the cardboard ones you get at the craft store

4. Wax Paper

5. Glue Gun

What do you do?...

1. Take the puzzle pieces and spray paint them. (Make sure that you spread them out on the wax paper) If they are too close, they will stick to each other

2. Once the paint has totally dried, glue the puzzle pieces to the frame

 3. I used black and white (with 1 red piece) I used the red to emphasize our name.

A couple cute suggestions that you could write on the puzzle pieces are...

1. "Jesus fits all the pieces of the puzzle together" This would be a great Sunday School project.

2. "Glad we fit together"

3. You're the final piece to my puzzle

If you have other cute suggestions, please leave a comment. - Rejoicinginthepresent.

He Thinks Upon Me...

Psalms 40:16-17 "Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified.

Why? Well here is a good reason...
¹⁷ But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer..."

When I read this during my prayer and praise time this morning, tears filled my eyes and my heart filled with gratitude to think that the God of heaven, the Mighty One, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings thinks about me.
Who am I? A poor and needy sinner who needs help and deliverance. BUT YET, God thinketh on me. May this brighten your day and may you rejoice in your Creator and Savior as you think about his care for you.

Education Tips - Lego Stories

I absolutely LOVE this idea. In fact if  the Lego company got ahold of this idea they would make millions more. I was looking at different ideas when I came upon a blog where a mom used Legos to encourage her children to make Lego Stories.
As she writes in the blog, this takes time but is very useful in encouraging your child to read or spell. Check it out. I can't wait to use this with Avery when he gets older.


This is what you need...
1. Lego's
2. White Labels
3. A Pen

This is what you do...
1.Write words or letters (or sounds e.g. "ch","sh","ee") on the labels
2. Next apply the labels to the Legos
3. Now you can have fun with your children building words and sentences and even stories. 

DIY Tutu's

If you have a little girl, this is perfect for you!!!!

What you need...
1. Tulle - whatever color/s you want
2. Ribbon
3. Scissors

What you do...
1. Measure the ribbon around your child and double it.

2. Next figure out how long you want the tulle.

3. Take the length that you want the tulle and double it. For instance, if you want it 10 ins long then make each piece of tulle 20 ins long.

4. Cut the strips of tulle and tie them around the piece of ribbon. (see picture)

5. Once you have tied the ribbon on half the tulle, wrap it around the child and use the extra ribbon in the back to tie a bow. This technique is great because the tutu can grow with the child.

If you want to try a technique with an elastic band, click the following link, Ribbon Retreat. Also there is a really cute idea for making a tutu dress for baby girl on a blog name  Baby Making Machine. This project is SUPER easy. I also have even added a movie below to show you step by step on how to make one. ENJOY!

SPECIAL THANKS!!

I started this blog as a way to reach out and encourage others to rejoice in every day.  I wanted to share how short our time is. Through this blog, I wanted to give out my heart's song and lift people up with the message of God.  I ultimately wanted to praise and rejoice in my heavenly father and encourage others to do so, too, and I wanted to give out fun ideas and help others to save money. I wanted this blog to make people laugh, make them think, and even convict their souls.  I just wanted to bring people closer to God.

Well I started out right after the baby was born and, since then, I have had some amazing help for which I wanted to shout out a THANK YOU.

First and formost, I want to thank God, my father, for giving me any spiritual insight personally and for this blog. It's exciting to read or listen to sermons and know that I get to share some of what I learn with you all. I am very aware of God in my life and I hope you are as well. Sometime I feel like I'm overflowing with all that I get from Him. I hope that I can encourage you with his love and blessings. I would love for you to comment and share what the Lord is doing in your life as well. Thank you, Father, for being You! Thank you for your love!

I love to write but am not always great at the grammar end of it all. If you are an English major, some of my past blogs may have given you a headache. Well, my amazing and incredible former teacher, my mom, has offered to edit my posts. So I just want to shout out THANKS for all you have done over the years and continue to do in my life. Love you Mom!

Then I want to thank my craft-mastermind, Brandy, for all the amazing ideas she brings to this blog. You can talk to her for 1 minute and come up with a thousand different craft projects. She's been a big blessing to me and this blog.

Thank you, too, to all my other guest writers and idea-givers.
-rejoicinginthepresent

Raising the Next Generation

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my baby boy and I really want him to make the right choices, go down the narrow road, and, all in all, serve God with all his heart, soul and mind.
One thing that has really been convicting, while I have been studying the OT Kings, is that many times you come across an amazingly godly king, and, then, the very next king (who was his son) is evil.
For instance, you have heard me talk about King Hezekiah. Hezekiah was a great king. He repaired the temple, carried out an amazing Passover celebration, sent out letters to try to bring the people back to the Lord, saw God defeat the Assyrian army AND saw God work a miracle in his own life. You can read about his life in 2 Kings 18-20 and 2 Chronicles 29-32.
If you continue reading in 2 Chronicles, you read in chapter 33 verse 2 "(Manasseh) but did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord." Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, was said to be the MOST wicked king of all. He was involved in witchcraft and even sacrificed his children (by fire) to the gods.
Later in his life he did get his heart right, while in prison, but his own child was just as sinful as he was. This is such a sad story. His dad seemed to be such a good king. What happened?
We also see this in the sons of two great prophets. We see Samuel's sons in I Samuel 8 "And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. ² Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba.³ And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment".

Then we See Eli's Sons...²² Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

You also see another king who was pretty good, Jehosphaphat. His son however, married Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab, and began his reign by murdering his six brothers. His reign was filled with wickedness and murder. So what can we do?

WE CAN'T do anything...

... BUT GOD CAN!!  Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."  Realizing how weak and unwise I am is such a convicting thought. I am NOTHNG, it is God and God alone that makes anything of me and does anything through me.

So I must DAILY depend on God to lead me and guide me. I need his words and wisdom to help me know what to say and do to help raise Avery, to help raise this next generation. I am generally clueless about what to do, but I read His Word and I pray like crazy that God will show me what to do. If Avery loves God and follows Him, it will only be because God did it, not because of me.

Father you can, I can't...please help me with every "present"! Thank you! - rejoicing in the present.

Date Him AGAIN!!!

Hey Everyone! I found a really neat website called The Dating Divas. This website gives alot of ideas for married couples to take dates. Check out the different date-ideas below. These were some of my favorites.

Just the 2 of you

1. Get the Scoop 

2. Couple's Cafe - This doesn't really cost anything except the food you buy for dinner

3. Secret Love Note Date - this would be a great one for book lovers :-)

4. 15 Date Ideas

5. Cute Valentines Idea or Date Activity

Double Dating (Or More):

1. Around the World - Progressive Dinner

2. Cheese Night - I am such a mouse so OF COURSE I love this idea. :-)

3. The Clue Date - Real Live Clue

4. Our Love Is... I like this idea because you can really make it personal to you.

CHEAP DATES:

1. 10 Dates for $20

2. Frugal Date Ideas - this is not from the divas but it had some unique ideas

Do you have some ideas? Comment below - rejoicing in the present

FREE $10 CREDIT when you sign up for Rue LaLa

Hey Everyone!!

Rue La La is having a neat deal right now. When you sign up you get a $10 free credit. Also their shipping is a flat $9.95 and that covers the 30 days free.
So click Rue La La and get your free $10. Have fun shopping.

If you are looking for kids clothes, look in the "under $20" tab under kids. You can get this shoe below for only $9.90 after your credit.

Nail Art -1

WATER MARBLE NAIL ART

On Pinterest and other websites, I kept seeing all these cute ideas for nail art. So I decided to try marble nail art. I found this video and followed the directions.

It turned out really cute, BUT be forewarned. It takes a lot of nail supplies and A LOT of time for this idea.

You will need:

1. 3-5 nail polishes

2. Base coat and top coat

3. Vasoline

4. A dish of water

5. Nail polish remover

6. Cotton Balls or Paper Towels

I would give how-to details but these videos are great tutorials...

Hope you have fun...leave some comments and tell me how it went.

Brandy's Bow Holder

Thanks to my friend Brandy, who is going to be a guest writter coming up in the near future, (YAY!!!) I get to bring you another DIY project.

Brandy's Bow Holder:

What you will need:

1. A cute wooden board, cute picture or picture frame

2. 1-1/2 inch ribbon

3. A Glue Gun

4. Extra decor to decorate your board, picture or frame.

How to make make BBH:

1. Decorate the plaque, picture or wooden board to your style. In the above picture, Brandy painted and decorated hers with a princess theme.

2. Next you glue the ribbons to the back of the of the board you are using. Hang them down like shown in the above right picture. Then loop one on the top of the board so that you can hang it on the wall.

3. (Optional) Let the glue dry and then you can glue a piece of felt on the back of the board to hide the ribbons

4. Last, clip your bows to the ribbon and enjoy.

Thanks, Brandy - Rejoicing in the present!

  

Baby Avery's Dedication

 

In the first chapter of  I Samuel we learn about lady named Hannah. Hannah was one of two wives of her husband and she had a problem. The problem was that she had no children. In this day and time, that was big deal. Having children, especially males, was a HUGE deal. It was almost a status thing.
Well, Hannah's heart ached because she had no child. One day, Hannah poured out her heart to the Lord and this is what she said...

And she vowed a vow, and said, "O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head."

She begged the Lord for this baby and promised that if He gave her a baby, she would give him back to the Lord.

Eli the priest who was in the temple thought she was drunk...
¹² And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth.
¹³ Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.¹⁴ And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.

But it was her grief ...
¹⁵ And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. ¹⁶ Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.

Eli soon realized the truth and sent her away with a positive answer to her prayer...
 ¹⁷ Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.

Very soon after that Hannah had a baby boy...
 ¹⁹ And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the Lord remembered her.²⁰ Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.

Hannah raised her baby boy until he was weaned and then she gave him back
...So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him.²⁴ And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh: and the child was young.²⁵ And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli.²⁶ And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord.
 ²⁷ For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: ²⁸ Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.

The Lord gave her Samuel and then she turned around and gave him back. Before Avery was born I prayed for his life and prayed that God would give us the wisdom to raise Avery for Him.

Sunday, August 19th  we had the opportunity and blessing of dedicating him back to the Lord. This does not save him; that will be Avery's own choice. This was just us, as his parents, committing to do everything with strength from our God to raise him for the Lord. Committing to raise him in church, committing to love and correct him, committing to introduce him to Jesus, committing to not stand between God and him and committing really to give him completely over to God. I ask that you pray for us in this HUGE endeavor.  

DIY Earring Holder

Sunday morning, I opened my jewelry case to get out a pair of earrings AND THIS is what my eyes fell upon.So I needed a solution.
I had previously talked to my friend Brandy about a DIY solution and she suggested a picture frame holder. ...AND THIS IS WHAT CAME OF IT...







This is what you need:

1. A frame (you can use a picture frame that you can take apart and just use the wooden frame

2. A glue gun

3. Scissors

4. Ribbon

5. A knife or hole puncher to cut holes

6. Ribbon and extras (for decorating the frame)

This is how you do it:
1. Take about the picture frame so that the only piece left is the frame.

2. Next cut pieces of ribbon that stretch across the back of the frame.

3. Cut holes into the center of the ribbon to hang the earrings.

4. Glue the piece on to one side of the frame.

5. Wait and allow the glue to dry completely (it's imporant to let the glue dry)

6. Then stretch the ribbons tightly to the other side and hold and glue.

7.  Finally glue a piece of material on the back of the frame and decorate the front with exras.

This is my finished project!!! WOO HOO!

                   

Avery's First Haircut

This last week. Avery got his first haircut. YAH!!!

 I put him in his little bumpo chair, wrapped a kitchen towel around him and started cutting. I was worried that he would get fussy but he didn't. He likes his chair and I was gentle with him, so he didn't mind at all. You may think he is a little young to be getting a haircut, but his hair was so uneven and I had to do something. He had pieces that were 3 inches long and other that were barely 1/2in. So...the picture above to the right was the after picture and Avery is looking handsome!! XOXO
Anyway, haircuts can be anywhere from $10-30  (plus tip)so I wanted to give a few tips that can help you DIY.



Suggestions for distracting babies or toddlers:
1. Strap them into a comfortable safe chair, that they like and have someone stand in front of them to distract them.
2. Cut it in the tub when they are playing in the water with their toys
3. Make sure you don't cut until your baby can fully hold his head up
4. If they are old enough you can let them see the clippers and talk about how it makes a buzzing sound like a motorcycle or airplane. Boys especially really like this.




You will need:
1. Clippers ($10-$15)
2. Scissors
3. Towel or Sheet to wrap around him
4. Towel for floor (unless you do it outside on a deck)
5. Spray Bottle
6. Mirror
7. Fine Toothed Comb

Suggestions for buzzing the hair:
Thanks to wikihow.com

For short cuts on the top scalp hair, use electric haircutting clippers with the #3 cutting guide. For buzz cuts, use the #3 cutting guide. For very short cuts (you can seen skin), use the #1or #3 cutting guide.

1. Place the clippers at the temple.
2. Move the clippers along the scalp to the back of the head in a smooth motion.
3. Continue until all hair has been cut.
4. To blend in bottom & top cutting, place clippers at crown.
5. Move the clippers along the scalp to back of the head in a smooth motion
6. Trim hard-to-get stray hairs at the ear with scissors.
7. If the hair becomes dry, dampen hair with a spray mister & comb to moisten throughout hair.

To make it blended go in the opposite direction that the hair is growing. (It's like riding your bicycle go against the traffic.) If the hair is growing down, go up, if you hair is going left, go right. ..ect

Here are 2 videos (Part 1 and Part 2) of a step by step demonstration on scissor cutting a boys hair. This is long, but very thorough. If you don't want to buzz the hair, then take the time to watch these two clips. They are very useful.

Another neat but FASTvideo is at howcast: How-to-Cut-a-Boys-Hair Hope this all helps and that you are able to save some money. - Rejoicinginthepresent

FREE WALGREENS COLLAGE

UNTIL August 21st you can get a free 8x10 Collage.

Just choose a 8×10 Collage Prints on Walgreens.com, upload your photos, go to checkout and use coupon code GETONEFREE and your order should be free. Choose in-store pick-up and you shouldn’t have to pay any shipping.
Thanks moneysavingmom.

Here is a sample of what you can do...

Also another awesome deal that shutterfly is having $10 off of $10. Check it out!

Heal our Land

As I previously said, I am studying the lives of the Old Testament Kings. The King I am studying now is Hezekiah. He was a really godly king and thus we can learn alot from him.


Hezekiah realized that his country men were sinning against God and so he decided to clean up that sin. In II Chronicles 30, Hezy sends out a letter "that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel." - (This was an OT tradition)

In the letter he writes these words that are so appropriate for today.

And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see. ⁸ Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.⁹ For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

So we see this beautiful plea for the nation of Israel and, while reading, we consider that our country needs to do these same things:

1. Humble yourself
2. Yield yourself
3. Get back into his presence. (through a personal walk, going to church to worship...)
4. Serve the Lord

Then we see the awesome promise of God: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

Like today's crowd many scoffed at the Lord:
¹⁰ So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.

BUT YET...there is hope...
¹¹ Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem. ¹² Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the Lord. ¹³ And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.


This is the result of getting back into His presence...
¹⁴ And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.
These altars were not used to worship God but other idols in their life. Think to yourself, what altar do I need to get rid of?  What idol do I have in my life that comes before God?  Is it my friends?  Popularity?  The Media?  Having to have the newest thing? My time? Money?
Before you even get back into His presence, before you sacrifice and worship to Him, get rid of those other altars.
¹⁵ Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the Lord.¹⁶ And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites.

The END RESULT...
²⁰ And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people. - AMEN AND AMEN!!!

If we want God to heal our nation; do the above. First get it right in your life and then pray for the others who will not humble themselves...
¹⁸ For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon every one

                                                                                           -rejoicing in the present

Making Daddy the Hero

Yesterday afternoon, while I was feeding Avery, I noticed that he was staring at my computer screen so I said, "Is that Daddy?" Immediately he started jerking his head around trying to find his "daddy." I tried putting him back in front of the screen to show him "daddy" but he wanted none of it. He wanted his daddy. It was so sweet to see how much he wants and loves his daddy. Avery is only 2 1/2 months old but yet he knows his daddy. Why? It's because Jeremy has taken the time to love on and care for his baby.

Tonight after Jeremy got home, I relayed the story to him and I know it really encouraged him. This is very important for Jeremy and Avery's relationship. As a mother and wife I need to be doing everything to make my children's dad, their hero.

A while back I read an article about making your husband a hero to the kids. I tried to find the exact one again but I couldn't. I did find a few others that were all on the same line. A few suggestions are as following...

1. DO NOT criticize daddy to the children (EVER). If you have something you don't like, go to him privately. I never saw my parents disagree until I was WAY older. When my parents wanted to discuss something, they would go into the bathroom that was in their bedroom and discuss where we could not hear.

2. Encourage daddy to spend time with the children. Do not nag, just suggest. "Buddy, has a baseball game on Friday, he would love to eat afterwards and have some daddy and son time." "Sally has a recital, she would love it for you to take her to the store to pick out a dress. Sometimes daddy's are busy and forget how important this is. That is why suggestions are the best..

3. When daddy does make a mistake or is not able to make a special event...encourage the children to see the positive. "Daddy would have loved to been here, but he is working so that we can do fun things like this."

Here is some more ideas from Girl Meets Paper

How could you make your husband a hero this Father’s Day?

• Encourage him to take the kids the kids to the library and pick out some new bedtime stories to read together. Mom, stay home and get the popcorn ready.
• Invite him to participate in bedtime if he usually doesn’t, especially during prayer time.
• Plan a surprise for your kids and let dad announce it.
• Schedule some daddy-daughter or daddy-son dates for him and let him be the shining knight to his kids.
• Go out of your way to praise your children’s father in front of others…and do so often.
• Help your kids write gratitude letters to daddy this Father’s Day. Offer some prompts so they can better articulate how special their daddy is to each of them.

-rejoicing in the present

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE VOTE!!!!

This article was forwarded to me by a friend, please take the time to read this.

IF YOU DON'T LIKE MITT, HERE'S SOMETHING TO CONSIDER
Columnist Andrew McCarthy gives us what probably is the most important question regarding the upcoming presidential election. I will enthusiastically support Mitt's candidacy. For my friends who have hesitation on that score, I'd just ask you to keep four things in mind:

1.. Justice Scalia just turned 78
2.. Justice Kennedy will turn 78 later this year
3.. Justice Breyer will be 76 in August
4.. Justice Ginsburg turned 81 about a week ago

We wish them all well, of course, but the brutal fact is that whoever we elect as president in November is almost certainly going to choose at least one and maybe more new members of the Supreme Court - in addition to hundreds of other life-tenured federal judges, all of whom will be making momentous decisions about our lives for decades to come. If you don't think it matters whether the guy making those calls is Mitt Romney or Barack Obama, I think you're smokin' something funky. So for anybody who is thinking of not voting because your favorite didn't get nominated, or writing in a candidate who can't win... Imagine this: SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ERIC HOLDER...

I don't want our current president picking out the Supreme Court Judges. Did you know that once these judges are picked, that these position are lifetime. So what happens if you get 4 more liberal judges in there? Please take the time and vote. Every vote IS important. My baby is only 2 1/2 months old. He has a lifetime in this world. Please Vote!

Broken Crayons

Do you have leftover broken crayons? Here is a cute idea on how to reuse them. This would also be a cute idea for a little girl's birthday party as a party favor. Little cupcake crayons...

Also Crayon Art is becoming quite popular. If you have extra crayons, you can always melt them and make a crayon drawing. There are quite a few DIY videos on youtube if you need more instruction. Here are a few cute pictures...

                         

    What I love about reusing crayons is the process. They  have to be melted and refined to become a new and beautiful gift. Well that is also what the Lord has to do with us.  Sometimes to get us to where He can use us for His glory and honor, He has to put us through the Refiner's fire.

Zechariah 13:9 "And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God."

                                                             -Rejoicing in the present!

Don't mess with me, my Daddy is God

I think that if there is an overall message the Lord has been giving me lately, it would be that our GOD is great, and oh-so powerful, but yet that He is good and He takes care of us. He loves His children.
We often know these facts but yet we follow our own intuitions instead of trusting our Heavenly Father. This is what happened to King Hezekiah. Previously, the kingdom had been in bondage to Assyria and had to pay a tribute to them to leave Judah alone. When Hezekiah came into power, he stopped paying this tribute. Thus when Assyria came after him, he became very nervous.
He saw his terrible enemy, Sennacherib (King of Assyria) defeat foe after foe. Thus when King Sen. came up against King Hezy, He got very nervous. He didn't call out to God; His first reaction was a "I can do this myself" reaction. In fact this is what happened...

Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.¹⁴ And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.¹⁵ And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house.

He literally tried to pay King Sen off by giving  him all the gold and silver in the treasuries. However, King Sen was not satisfied very long, because the next verse shows us that he sent up a great host against King Hezekiah.

And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem.



We see Rabshakeh start trash-talking King Hezy and his God. Now this is where Rab went down hill.

And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? ²⁰ Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?.

 Rab proceeds to trash His God and the ability of him to protect Judah...

²⁹ Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand: ³⁰ Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria....(32)and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The Lord will deliver us

 Then Rab boasts of how no other "god" has been able to deliver their country out of the hands of Assyria.

Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? ³⁴ Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? ³⁵ Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand? 

Unfortunately for Rab, he never met the God of the universe who had made him and can do whatever He wants to.
So, King Hezy finally woke up and went and talked to the ONLY person who could do anything about the situation....My Heavenly Daddy.

And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. ² ....⁴ It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left. ⁵ So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.



Isaiah, the prophet at this time responded with some GREAT news...

⁶ And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.⁷ Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

And here is the end of that story...

³⁵ And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.³⁶ So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.³⁷ And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

Psalms 68 talks of God's greatness and goodness.  Vs. 35 ends the chapter with "O, God, thou are terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is He that giveth strength and power unto His people. BLESSED BE GOD!!!"
Don't mess with my "Daddy". He will protect His children. My God is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO powerful but yet He is good and if those Assyrians had humbled themselves, He would have loved and protected them as well. - Rejoicing in the present AND MY HEAVENLY DADDY!!!

Easy Breakfast Quiche

Good Morning! Here is an easy Breakfast Quiche, thanks to Janelle, from Comfy in the Kitchen and Courtney, from Woman Living Well

I wanted to make this for my "mommy's" breakfast but didn't have the ingredients. I'm going to the next time, though. It looks delicious!

If you want to see pictures of how to make it click on Recipe






Ham and Cheese Quiche
1 pre-made pie shell (I recommend Marie Callender’s in your grocer’s freezer)

6 eggs

1 ½ cups heavy cream

1 cup diced ham (I purchase this in a bag in the meat section)

¼ cup diced onion

1 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese

salt/pepper
Preheat oven to 375.
“Pam” a small pan and sauté onions with ham for approximately 5 minutes. Pour sauteed ham and onions and shredded cheese into pre-made pie shell. Beat eggs with heavy cream until well blended, add salt and pepper. Pour over top of ham mixture.  Bake 35-45 minutes until set. (When you take the quiche out of the oven, the middle of the pie should not jiggle)

ENJOY!

No "Lazy" Hair

When I used to work outside the home I would get up, get dressed, fix up my hair and look all "cutsey". Now that I'm a stay-at-home mom, I am seeing myself drift into the "jump out the shower, comb out the hair and leave it down" look. So, I decided to have an intervention on myself and look for some EASY but cute hair styles that would take me away from looking dumpy. You may not be drifting toward that "path" but may just like some new "dos".  Enjoy!

Three Twisted Buns via A Cup of Joe

Easy Twisted Buns via The Paper Mama

Braided Crown via A Cup of Joe
Side Chignon via This is Glamorous

The Boho Braid The Beauty Department

And this idea... thanks to babble.com