Blueberry Cheesecake Oatmeal

Blueberry Cheesecake Oatmeal

Ingredients

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup water, unsweetened almond milk, or skim milk

1/2 mashed medium banana

Splash of vanilla

2 tablespoons cream cheese (softened for 5 second in microwave)

1 teaspoon powdered sugar (more or less to taste)

Squeeze of lemon juice (optional)

1 tablespoon blueberries

Pinch of sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine oats, water or milk, banana, and vanilla and pour into nonstick sprayed baking dish.

2. Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and lemon juice. Fold in blueberries. Place mixture in the middle of the oatmeal.

3. Drag knife up and down through lines to create a swirl. Bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Homemade Dishwasher Tabs

1 cup washing powder 

1 cup borax

1/2 cup Kosher Salt

3/4 cup Lime juice

Mix the dry

Then add the liquid

Put in ice cube trays and let dry approximately 3 hours.

Once dry....

dump them and store them. 

I add vinegar to my rinse compartment in my dishwasher.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

Here is a twist to your plain oatmeal. This was my first time making it and it was pretty good. My substitutes to the recipe are listed at the bottom. I hope you enjoy.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

Ingredients

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats 

1/2 cup skim milk 

1 ripe banana (sliced)

 1/4 cup pureed canned pumpkin 

1 dash ground cloves

2 dashes cinnamon

1 dash ground nutmeg 

Handful frozen blueberries (optional)

Directions

1. Put the oats, milk, sliced banana, and cinnamon into a small pot on the stove.

2. Stir continuously over medium high heat for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture gets thick and creamy (and starts bubbling). Stir in the frozen blueberries now, if you like. 

3. Turn down heat to medium low and add the canned pumpkin and a dash each of ground cloves and ground nutmeg.

4. Serve hot and enjoy!

I used coconut/almond milk instead of skim and add a touch of brown sugar to the end. I also used about a 1/4 of skim milk on top to make it like cereal. 

I don't want to miss a blessing....

The other day I was riding down the road and the traffic was heavy. As I inched forward I came to an entrance to a fast food restaurant where this lady was trying to pull out. I stopped and motioned for her to go ahead but I realized she was not looking at me. She was looking at her phone so I sat there and I sat there and I sat there and she never looked up so the traffic moved and I went on because I didn't hold everybody else up.

At that moment I thought I wonder if that is what we are like with God's blessings.

Those everyday graces he sends our way but we miss them for some reason or another. 

That woman was either distracted or just didn't believe she was going to ever get out so she had kinda of given up for a while.

That happens to me a lot. I pray and ask God for help but then I get busy or distracted. He sends the answer and I miss it. Or I get frustrated by his timing and the answers come and my head is down in defeat.

No matter what the reasons are.........I still miss things just like that lady missed her chance to pull out in traffic.

I don't want to miss any of God's blessings.

I pray.....

Lord,

Keep my mind focused on you. Keep me diligent in moving in your will and always aware that you are working for my good. Strengthen my faith so when I ask something of you I immediately start looking for that answer. Protect me from the time wasting activities that steal those precious moments I could be spending with you. Keep my eyes moving and my head up because that is the way I will see blessing the easiest. Make me a person who lives in anticipation of what you are going to send next. 

Bless me, my family and my friends. 

Lord, Bless even those who don't know you so that maybe their hearts will be won over. 

Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.

1 Chronicles 4:10

Did you just push me???

"Yes, come," Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.

Matthew 14:29

Does anybody ever wonder if Peter was pushed? 

When I was walking this morning I was thinking about how Peter could have possibly been pushed out of the boat. Maybe not but... I kind of had a picture of the kid on the side of the pool. You know with the fear it is going to be cold. The guy that would've went on his own but his friends thought that they needed a little bit of a shove. Doesn't mean his was not going to get in just means that he was a little scared and taking longer than they thought he should.

So what if Peter got a little shove from his buddies and when he stepped out there he said Hum... That's not that bad. I can do this. 

Recently some things were brought to my attention in a harsh way. Kinda like being shoved out of the boat. I was going to get out of the boat. I could see Jesus. I could hear him saying, "Come. Get out of the boat. Come and I will give you rest." But the waves were too rough, what I stood to lose was too much. I was scared. But when this set of circumstances happened it was like I was shoved straight out into the water. Now it is sink or swim. Well without Jesus, a place to put my trust, a safe place other than self reliance, I was sure to sink. 

So I took a deep breath closed my eyes and started to walk. And guess what I am walking. I am walking on water straight to Jesus. 

I will admit in the beginning I was not to happy about it. But I think  I am growing to love this facing my fears thing I am going through. The more fears I face the more I have to rely on God and the more I have to rely God the more power I have in my life. 

Now just like Peter whether he was shoved or not I am currently walking on the water. Sights set on Jesus. Every now and again I start looking left and right at all the waves and I get nervous and I start to sink. 

At that moment I go back to my knees. I go back to praying. I go back to focusing on Jesus.

Right now all I am getting done is the important stuff. Mainly talking to God and getting encouragement from His word. My house is a mess, my laundry is behind but I am at peace, my children are happier, I am starting to feel like a mom again. 

I am focused on God.

I am prioritizing my life with God's will.

I am making the devil frustrated at every second.

And I must say it all feels good.

My peace is returning because I have less to worry about. 

All the little things that I did that were for nothing that consumed my day because of fear and worry are gone and I have so much more time and patience with the world.

So for all of you out there...

GET OUT OF THE BOAT!!!

And if someone close to you tells you something you needed to hear. Don't focus on the hurt or pain that it cause when you heard it. 

Don't focus on how they said it.

Don't focus on their intentions.

Focus on the truth.

Pray about it.

Decide if it is from God and if so....

Start walking on water!!!

I want to be a Mary!!!

The Bible says take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

Psalms 37:4

Today I'm dealing with conquering my fear that causes me to try to control.

God is always there, he is a constant. He cannot be stolen, lost, no one can keep him for me. God will never turn me down. He never has a bad day or is too tired to listen. God is trustworthy and will never let me down. God will never steer me wrong. God will never let anyone hurt me without coming to my rescue. There's no fear of loss and putting my faith in God because he will never leave me. Fear brings about the need to control...There is peace not fear when I put my faith in God. There is no need for control and manipulation when you are with God because he is in control.

What do I need to control when God is in charge?

Nothing! 

What do I have control over?

Nothing, except how much time and faith I give to God....

Ironically, my relationship with God is the only thing I really have control over but yet right now in my life it seems to be the only thing I'm not trying to control. 

So if I make my relationship with God the most important thing to me, not myself and protecting myself from pain, 

not my spouse or the worry my marriage will fail, 

not my kids and my fear I will lose them somehow, 

but God, El Roi (the one who sees), Jehovah Rohi ( the Lord my shepherd), Jehovah-Elohim ( the majestic, omnipotent God), my protector and who has my best interest at heart, the one who before I was born knew me and approved of me (Jer 1:5), and the one who knows the plans he has for me and THEY ARE GOOD PLANS ( Jer 29:11).

If I make God the most important then as long as I have him I will be okay. I can have peace in the fact that I will never lose him and if I delight in him he will give me the desires of my heart. My desires are not to be free of trials and difficulties because those are what keep me at the feet of Jesus what is my desire is to learn, grow and help others with the knowledge I have gotten from those trails so that those things I went through will not be in vain.  

Trials are there to remind me that I'm a Mary not a Martha. Sometimes I try to be Martha because the world tries to make me feel guilty for not being busy, productive, thirty, efficient but my true peace and comfort comes from being at Jesus' feet. My true Comfort comes in being the person that God designed me to be.

So I prayed this morning.

God,

Make my relationship with you the most important thing to me. Make me disciplined to spend time with you all the time. Make my need for you more than my husband, my kids, my family, my service, my housework. Make me a Mary because my heart is to be a Mary. This world tries to make me be a Martha, but I'm at Mary. When I try to become Martha, I'm irritable, unfocused, unpeaceful, controlling, and fearful because I am not your feet. Teach me that at your feet there is peace, not fear. At your feet, I can lay down my fears and know that because I'm there giving my whole heart to You, You will give me the desires of my heart. I am sorry for choosing what the world wanted which is a Martha. I want to be a Mary.