Dinner #17

Okay I am getting a little bored with my choices. I am someone who loves to create, loves change and loves new things. I am struggling with what I see my next 20+ days are going to be like, dinner wise and I get kinda down. But God always says to keep your eyes fixed on Him and great things will happen. So I will just seek Him and ask Him to give me the fortitude, attitude and gratitude I need to see this through. But God reminds me that some of his children don't know what is for dinner because they have no food nor money and I am complaining b/c I stocked myself up with so much chicken I am getting tired of it? Wow how awful does that sound. And look at how grateful I should be that I didn't stock myself up with all ground meat and pork...ugh! So this is a blessing that I can do so many things with chicken. Thank you Lord for making me see that this journey and this blog thing is not really about the food or some fancy impressive recipe or my pride to show I can create and cook. No this is about me trusting you to see me through this. This is about me being so dependent on You that I don't even see tomorrow, let alone think about it. I am entrusting that all to You and just embracing today. Enjoying today. Praising God for today and thanking Him today. I love you Lord!

Ingredients:

• you got it....4 chicken breast cutlets
• 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 shallot
• butter
• oil
• garlic
• 2 Baked potatoes
• salad

Items wanted: 1 french baguette 99 cents

DINNER SERVED: Chicken scampi with potato and salad

Soooo delicious!!!!!

Jonah 2:9

Dinner # 16

Today is a big day in our house. My husband is being baptised in the spirit tonight at church at 7pm! He is excited and thrilled and woke up with a big smile. Our house is very different now. I wake up and pray and read some devotions and I sit down and write my thoughts out on here and I ask God what would He like to say. He always likes when I end in scripture but His instruction was clear to just note the book and chapter. He wants anyone who might be reading/following to go to His word to see what it is He has to say. Good one God! So today is about Christian. He likes to read and then play basketball and then it gives me time to be alone in the tranquility and the stillness. I love to take my book and notebook to the pool and just sit in the jacuzzi seat in the deep end and just read, takes notes and then swim. It is then that I truly meditate on what I just read. For anyone who hasn't read, "Purpose Driven Life", I say you should pick it up today. So instructional and so clear. It is something you read for 40 days, 40 chapters. I have to admit the way I read it has not been 1 chapter, 1 day. I let the spirit lead me and there are days I skip and then when I think I am going back to "catch up" the chapters I see the timing of the chapter for that day, that moment. Example... I skipped one day and when I read this morning it was about the importance of being baptised in the spirit as an adult. How the submerging of the water symbolizes the death of your old self and the coming up and out of the water resembles your new self in Him being born. That a person needs the power of the spirit in us in order to do their part in continuing the supernatural ministry of Jesus Christ. So God's timing is always so perfect! I feel so blessed. My cup runneth over with joy, peace and contentment. I feel like I am being refreshed and renewed. What a glorious day and night it will be.

Ingredients:

• Pasta
• Ricotta Cheese
• Gravy ( I didn't want to waste it after defrosting it)

No items needed: 0 cost

DINNER SERVED: Christian's favorite..pasta mixed with ricotta cheese and a splash of gravy. His Mom used to make it for him and he loved it so I made it in honor of her and her son. For she is a proud and happy angel!

John 3:5

Dinner #15

Wow day 14. It really isn't that hard. The only thing I am craving is seafood, crab meat, crab legs, scallops, shrimp. Oh well...my clearing of the mind and the freedom I feel outweighs any seafood fest. For now I have a whole lot of chicken...haha. It is what it is. I buy many chickens when they are on sale and it is what my husband and I love most so there is a lot of chicken still to be made and eaten in our household. But the more important lesson for me is how more mindful and aware I am. I look at everything when it comes to spending. I break down what my take home pay used to be and when you take away the weekly massive food bill, weekly commuting costs with gas and tolls not to even mention the wear and tear on my car, high utility bills, services we used, it isn't all it appears to be. I tell my niece a lot of it was just a facade, a masking if you will. I peel the layers back and realize that the more you make, the more you spend and the more you allow things in your life that you can do without. I also feel such relief b/c people also took, expected and it was too much for me after all these years. I used to see and feel it everyday....people's mindset was "oh she can pay, she has more than I do" or "why should I treat her? she can treat me, she has it, I don't"....etc...it used to hurt my feelings a lot but I just would thank God for my blessings and He would always remind me that all my blessings should and will always come from Him, not man. Thanks Lord for the reminder! So to some people looking in, they are thinking how on earth would a sane person walk away from that financial freedom....and the answer is quite simple......no amount of money nor no amount of things can nor could ever replace what I have now....and that is the ultimate relationship I have with Jesus Christ. And when you seek and put Him first in all things, then He will provide for us in more ways you could ever imagine. God is bigger than a car note or mortage payment..... for He is my partner and forever present in this household, in my husband's life, in my family's and in mine. And again I hear the Lord softly remind me to Trust in me with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. I will Lord, I am.


Ingredients:

• Defrosted red gravy I had in freezer
• chicken cutlets
• mozzarella cheese
• breadcrumbs and oil
• egg
• milk
• salad mixings

Items needed: none 0 cost

DINNER SERVED: Chicken parmesan and salad.

Proverbs: 3:5

Dinner #14

The Lord is providing in ways never thought possible. When you truly walk on faith without a "net" I believe it is then that the Lord really can shine through. Some people have faith without seeing it there in front of them. Others need to see the "proof". I will tell you a cute story. When I knew the Lord was trying to get my attention and through 2 very special people He spoke to me. I remembered His words quite clearly. One command He had was put no one nor no thing in front of Him. Not the kittens, Christian, the pool. C was happy he ranked before the pool in line of importance to me. :) But it was a powerful message and it hit my heart and I was very upset that God was jealous of things I had placed in my life that distracted me from Him. I never did anything in "spite" for I truly always tried to please God and one of the ways you do that is with your actions and words. BUT this was something different, something more deep, more powerful, something way more. I felt it through my entire body, my soul, could not shake the message He clearly sent. So back to today.....I am in my office praising God for His faithfulness in all things and I again apologize if I ever put the kittens before Him and I will not do that. My Lord said to me as sweet and gentle as only He could , "I created those animals for you. You are to nuture them and to raise them. That is your purpose. I created them especially for you and I marked them so with a birthmark like yours. Praise me first and you may do your devotions with them in the bedroom so they can be with you also." I cannot even tell you how special this message was to me. It was easy to translate, easy to repeat and easy to relay to others. The Lord marked those cats with the special birthmark like mine.......and for those of you fortunate enough to have met my babies, you will know that Romy has a small round circle on his left back leg and Toby has a small round circle on both his sides....as for me....I have a small round birthmark on my left thigh. Lord, you are truly a masterpiece and I thank you today for this precious message and you are wonderful in my sight!

Ingredients:

• Perdue roaster chicken
• New potatoes, the rest of the bag
• Salad mixings with oil and vinegar

Items needed....none 0 cost

DINNER SERVED: Roast chicken with roast potatoes and side salad.

* If I had known I was going to have to put myself and my dinners out there every night, I would have had made sure I had more in my freezer, other than chicken. I do know how to cook other dishes besides chicken but I must do with what I have.* :)

Genesis 1:24-30

Dinner #13

The Lord is providing even for the birds. My husband got a bird feeder as a gift from me so he makes sure the birds feast every day in our backyard. Having said that, bird food cost money too. We used to get it from the store and even with that, we have not had to. Our neighbor, Warren has been bringing by stale bread/rolls 3-4 times a week and my husband has been grinding them up and for the last 2 weeks the birds have eaten everyday without us buying a penny of food. Even the smallest of details He has under His control. Well church was once again fab and it feels so natural to be back worshipping and singing like I never was gone. My husband has been healing too and feels the spirit in the church so we are praising together as a couple for the first time in our 8year+ relationship. We have been down a long road together and it has not been easy. I would say to myself, Lord you do not make mistakes so I will see through this. For what You have brought together, let no man take it under. So for all of you facing difficulties in your relationships or marriages, I say have faith and pray yourselves through it, as a dear friend (I affectionately will refer to as Sister Lee)once advised me. So here we are today. Amazing, surreal, unexplainable, incomprehensible. All the words that cannot even begin to express this journey so far and it has only been 14 days. What has transpired in my life in 2 weeks, some people experience in 20 years. God is opening the floodgates of heaven to me and for all the years of claiming Psalm 37:4,5....wow here it is. So I say to you, keep the faith, never stop believing for the Lord God is with you! So whenever you feel down because you feel He has left you, just remember He is walking both in front of you and beside you .





Ingredients:

• 2 hamburger patties frozen from July 4th


• cheese


• hamburger buns


• potato salad


• corn on the cob


• French fries (frozen in the bag-what was left of them)

Items needed: none 0 cost

DINNER SERVED: Cheeseburger with french fries and corn on the cob

Hebrews 13:1-6

Dinner #12

I realize the number forty (40) is going to be significant. I am being asked by God to cook 40 dinners in 40 days. I am reading "The Purpose Driven Life" which takes you on a 40 day journey. I attended the SHAPE seminar at church this am and I committed to a ministry for 40 days. And my husband will be celebrating 40 years of life early next month. Wow! I always knew 3's and 7's were God #'s but never 40. Lord, you are always amazing! Well today was lovely. I still pinch myself that I am off in the middle of the summer and on a Saturday. I cry when I see how much I have missed of my life because of all those years of working. Now believe me, we all must work. It is expected, it is required. However I will never subject myself to something that had more time in my life, than my husband, than my home, than my family, but most of all than my God. How I missed that simple message that nothing is more important than my life with God. And God finally got my attention with that very fact not by my employer decreasing my pay and increasing my work load but by the demand of them to have me add a 6th day of work on top of my regularly scheduled 40+hour work week. I shutter when I think of the glorious summer I would have missed being away now 6 days a week. It was then that God revealed to me that He never intended for me to work that, but He tested me to see if I would obey for Him. And once I wholeheartedly accepted that I would do whatever it is I needed to do to provide for my family, He told me it was time to leave. Thank you Lord for this glorious gift, this miracle of all miracles, you are the king of renewal, restoration and revival and I am feeling them all! Thank you Linds for opening your home to your uncle and I today. Thank you for making us a delicious lunch that carried us all the way through the entire day and night. Thanks to you we only ate some easy leftover salad from last night for dinner. You are my little buddy and I love you! So through an angel, we saved food for another dinner.

No ingredients needed: 0 cost

DINNER SERVED: Leftover panzanella salad from Dinner #11.


Psalm 138....wow Thank you Lord, Thank you!

Dinner #11

Ok so I have to admit something came in the mail that required me to go pick up at the post office. I was sick to my stomach for what it was and my husband prayed with me to stay strong, focused and still. I was still thinking the old way and the Lord told me to trust Him for all will work together for good. To not rely or trust in man but Him and Him alone. Okay Lord, I will. So my husband told me he would go pick up whatever it was for me so I ran into my bedroom with my kitties and did my devotions and just stayed in the spirit and asked God to give me peace and protection. For the way I left my employer, there was not full closure and I simply wanted to move on. I was already so far removed and beyond the place that held me for half my life. Only God can do that. But this "card" brought me back to the secular world and its flesh and I was sickkkkkk to my stomach. So my husband comes back with the envelope and I open it to find a check for a substantial amount of money. No letter, no explanation, just a check. I rejoice in the Lord and thank Him for His faithfulness and I am forever now sure this is all the work of the Lord. And I vow never to stumble or question again. How great it is that for all my life I had to lead, make decisions and take control and now I have someone ready, willing and able to do it for me. Thank you Lord for taking over the reins. You are awesome and I thank you for bringing this blessing to our household. What a miracle and what a sense of peace it has brought me. I sleep at the pool on a lounge chair for the first time in years. I am peaceful and still for the first time . When I stop to ponder it all, I am simply overjoyed with gratitude to my friend and Father.

I need to point out that because we truly do not know the future of our finances I shop for the rest of the challenge so the kitchen will be stocked with milk, vegetables, fruits. There will be no more visits to the supermarket for 21 days. Cost: $75

Ingredients:

• Red Peppers
• Red Onions
• Italian bread
• Olive Oil
• Cucumber
• Tomatoes
• Lemon
• Dijon Mustard
• London Broil

DINNER SERVED: Grilled london broil with panzanella salad.

Colossians 3:15-17

Dinner #10

I am glad I have more to share and pen than my meals because all my kitchen had in it was chicken, in every form and pasta. Thank goodness C and I love chicken. We are going to turn in to one by the end of all this. Well I have to stop and say there are no limitations with God. The scripture says you can move a mountain with mustard seed faith so I am believing in God and this journey all the way. The questions are starting... what happened at work, what am I going to do, how am I going to earn a living with no severance, what happens when you have nothing left to sell?......................................................

All I can say to all of you is I claim.................. Colossians 1: 3-14 !

And all I ask of all of you , whoever is reading this right now, not to worry for me and my circumstances, but to rejoice in them and to pray for me. Pray for my healing, pray for my endurance and pray for my faith. That is the best gift of all! XO

Ingredients:

• Chicken thighs
• Honey Mustard bbq sauce
• Salad Mixings
• Potato Salad

Items Needed: none 0 cost

DINNER SERVED: Baked chicken with honey mustard basting and green salad with side potato salad.

Matthew 17:20

Dinner #9

Wednesday. I start my selling quest. Like the liquidating commercials, everything must go! It is a cleansing process and if you saw all the stuff I have you would think you were at a store sale. But I see why God is having me do this. First He is guiding me and speaking to my heart on what to post first. And through this I am seeing and learning that the people that are calling and coming to see/buy are truly excited and happy and blessed to be buying the items. So my once thought of things are now going to be a blessing to people that truly need and want them. And that is the true reason behind this all. I get to share my story and my blog so other women can know they are not alone in feeling what they are feeling. And for those that truly are at a crossroads in their life with their careers, residences, finances, relationships..just know that when you seek Him in all things than you cannot go wrong. As I say to my husband everyday, "God's Got This!!!"....and he does!

Ingredients:

• Gemelli pasta
• Sundried tomatoes
• milk
• parm cheese
• flour
• butter
• 2 pieces of chicken

No items needed: 0 cost

DINNER SERVED: Chicken tossed in gemelli pasta with a sundried tomato cream sauce. And the leftovers go to Warren, our neighbor friend in need.

Philippians 4:13

Dinner #8

We received some good monetary news today so I am feeling peace. Relief and I know it is a gift from God because I need to be focused on greater things at hand than how my Macy's bill is going to be paid. He gives me encouragement and it lets me know that He is definitely here and with me. I find comfort in the fact and I am laboring to continue to add to our blessings. I work from 4:30am to 9:30pm gathering possessions and things I used to like, forgot I had, things never used or worn. Ridiculous, shameful, worthless. I put them all up for sale and wait upon the Lord. As for our dinners, I am feeling good and I want to celebrate and I ask God if it is okay. I am craving Pizza Hut and my husband has never once wanted to go with me but I love it for it is simple, inexpensive and satisfying. I ask if we can go and he said whatever I want. Now to anyone Pizza Hut may seem trivial but it has meaning and symbolism to me. For the only days I have eaten at the Pizza Hut restaurant for a sit down meal is on a Good Friday. The day the Lord died for us, for me so that I can have eternal life. It is by no coincidence that this is where the Lord placed on my heart to go for dinner. Of allllll the restaurants to choose from..this is where He draws my heart to. And I know it is the symbolism for me. That through my death of my old life, I have new everlasting life with God on this earth to labor and work for him. Dead are the days of working for man. I have a new boss and his name is Jesus Christ.

Pizza Hut Order: Medium pizza special with breadsticks and soda

Cost: $17.99 plus tax and tip

John 3:16,17

I wanted to make note that this blog is on a 7 day delay. These events took place a week ago, not in current time. :)

Dinner #7

I am getting used to the new mindset of asking myself : "Does this serve a purpose?" . I do this before I speak, before I act. I certainly have been getting the hang of it when it comes to shopping. The one thing I always did, and liked to do must stop. I am weaning off of it. If I go to a store I tell myself it serves no purpose. I had to go into Bed Bath and Beyond for some tioletries and they had the cutest flipflop door mat...Aww!! They had the coolest bright neon colored make up cases....want them! But I can't...I remind myself old habits, old mindset. But I am honest with myself and I am sad. I am feeling pity. But I think of my Lord's face and all His promises and I realize my life with Him is more meaningful than those summer things that will fade and get lost amongst all my other possessions. Upon this realization the Lord commands of me something else...shed my earthly materials that no longer serve a purpose, that no longer represent me as I am now. I don't need fancy watches, handbags, shoes, all the things I wore that I thought represented my success..no longer needed, nor required, nor of God.

Ingredients:

• Whole Roast Chicken
• Corn
• Larger Potatoes

Items Needed: none 0 cost

DINNER SERVED: Grilled chicken with baked potato and corn

My body is being replenished, renewed and restored with every healthy meal.

Proverbs: Chapter 10

Dinner #6

It is Sunday and I am up and ready to receive God's word and His personal message for me. He has my undivided attention so I know He will instruct me today and speak to me. I am so ready. I tell my husband the Lord really has blinders on me, to the left and to the right. To anyone this could be time for a major meltdown or major freakout. But I know as sure as I know my name that The Lord has orchestrated all of this to get my attention so that I will serve Him and only Him from this point forward. He is preparing me for something...something He has for me. How blessed am I that God is going to reveal to me what he created me for and what he created me to do. He is going to reveal to me His my purpose for my life. Wow..I really have to stop and ponder that statement. I am overwhelmed with emotion of gratitude. For He who dwells in me now is going to tell me what He truly wants me to do and be. I am in awe and ready to hear. Use me, speak to me Lord, I am listening.

Church was invigorating. Not as emotional as I thought I would be. I tell my husband before we enter that I cry a lot in church and to please not worry and ask me ten times if I am okay b/c I am. Guess who the cryer was? One hint....it was not me! Christian, you are a lovebug and a little mush mush.( I love you and so does God! xoxo) I was focused, focused like I never was in my entire life. I had to listen for the message, for my instruction. Well as soon as the pastor opened his mouth and spoke of purpose, shape your life, what is God's intention for you, I just smiled and knew I was with God and He was smiling on me. Thank you Lord for your new mercies and blessing each and every day. As my husband always says when I say, "God is good...he says no, God is Great".

Ingredients:

• Box of Ziti
• Light cream
• Parm Cheese
• Tomatoes
• Basil
• Salad Mixings

Item Wanted (can you see the pattern here??): French Baguette 99cents

DINNER SERVED: Pasta in a light tomato and basil cream sauce.

Surprisingly delicious and light, not as heavy...tomatoes made the dish.

Lamentations 3:22-26

Dinner #5

Saturday. My first one off in I cannot even tell you. I always worked on weekends, Sundays..holidays. Modern day slavery to not be able to take a day off when you want. To not be able to attend church when it was what I always knew, always did. Well guess what? My hubby and I are planning on going to church tomorrow and I am as giddy as a little kid. I missed it, but I tried to tell myself for years I didn't...but I so did. I missed the music through my soul, the sermon through my heart but 1 more day and I will be there again. Now how many do you know dread church..children, adults? Not me for I know the Lord dwells there and He will instruct me on the way I should go. Remember I am completely living for Him and I have no idea what the next step is. He is the ruler of this and me so I must be still and quiet often to be able to hear exactly what the direction/purpose it is He wants for me. A friend of mine called this time and me living in a "spiritual lockdown" and I truly am. I cannot be around distractions, negativity, self centeredness, takers. I must be with my Lord and only the angels He allows near me. Thank you Lord for taking me into your arms and protecting me from all. I speak to my "earthly" Father too b/c I know he is with my "spiritual" Father and I know I was his baby and he always made me feel special and protected so now I am blessed with 2 Fathers to love me.

But I still am home and I am still facing my challenge of what we will eat for the next 35+days....thank goodness it is summer. Not only for the weather and my daily pool outing but because I would weigh 300 lbs. if I had this challenge in the dead of winter. Thank you Lord for your perfect timing. :)

Ingredients:

• Chicken
• Bbq Sauce
• Potato Salad
• Salad Mixings

Items Needed....actually Wanted....: French Baguette 99cents

DINNER SERVED: Bbq Grilled then Baked Chicken with Potato Salad and Green Tossed Salad

simple, light and easy!

Matthew 6:25-27

Dinner #4

So now I am ahead of the game because I have those delicious potatoes I made yesterday. I know we have a few of ears of corn left so I will use those up. Never thought we would have eaten all of that but thanks to this new challenge, God made sure of it. I know I will be needing some supplies soon so the $25 budget sounds like $225. Amazing how quickly your brain can rewire itself. How the Lord is amazing at how His desires become ours and He wanted me to stop and appreciate all of His mercies and blessings that are new each and every day. It is hard not to cry and feel bad. I pray for the girls I left behind at work. But I keep telling myself they will become stronger because of this. My journey will empower many....jeez. That was a little large of a statement but I know it....I feel it....I believe it!

Ingredients:

• Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary/Oil/Garlic
• Corn on the Cob
• Chicken Cutlets
• Basil
• Btter

No items needed so: 0 cost

DINNER SERVED: Basil and Butter Grilled Chicken w/ Corn and Potatoes

So yummy and so light! Lost 15 pounds so far on my continued journey. God is not only shedding my past, he is shedding the old self in the form of my body. He is renewing my mind, BODY and spirit.

Romans 12: 1-2

Dinner #3

I look through my fridge and realize I have some things I better use before they are wasted so I become a cooking nut. I see 2 red peppers...confession...I didn't even remember they were in there. I see 4 plum tomatoes thisclose to their demise so I need to do something with them...hey wait..mozzarella cheese. I know I will make a small platter for my hubby and I and it will be a Caprese Salad, with some roasted peppers and cheese and I will slow roast the plum tomatoes and serve the other side with that and cheese...Nice...lunch is served! Whew!! I need to be mindful but I also am going to need my imagination and some creativity too. I roast more new baby potatoes with rosemary/oil/garlic for like an hour (to die for....you must try!!). I comb through recipes that I have never made that I always pushed to the side for something more fancy or challenging. Well guess what? My husband and I both need to come down and few pegs and eat whatever it is God wants us to eat. We have been high on the hog for too long. I tell my husband every day he needed this lesson too. He only likes chicken breast, no thighs (do you know how much cheaper thighs are to buy and eat?), no leftovers, no pasta b/c he ate so much as a kid. Well my little lovebug of a husband it is time YOU come down to reality too and listen to what God has called US to do. So I tell him he has to eat whatever I make no matter what and his response? "It is fine I was just spoiled, I will eat whatever it is you serve." Wow...Lord you are amazing...:)

Ingredients:

• Tortellini; cheese 2 packs
• Basil
• Tomatoes
• 1/2 cup Light Cream (the other half from yesterday's carton)

No Items needed so: o cost

DINNER SERVED: Cheese Tortellini in a Tomato Basil Cream Sauce

Delicious and my husband loved it!

Psalm: 37:24

Dinner #2

It is actually my true 2nd day off of my new world. Nice. Niece coming to spend the day at the pool...excited...going to the movies tonight to see "Twilight/Eclipse" with her. Enjoying her company. She has packed a lot of wisdom into her young 27 year old brain and she is actually helping me in times of her own struggles. So for that I will refer to her as my "angel" today. I asked the Lord to send me angels and lots of them. I feel so void, so empty of all fight and emotion left. I was a director, mentor, almost mother figure to a lot of women (love you JLo) for a lot of years and I am exhausted and my own tank, even the reserve is empty...not good but the Lord is the one who will replensish, restore and renew me. However He also is in protective mode and wants me to Himself and only Him. My husband is helping a friend teach little kids in a vacation bible course this week so he is out of the house too. All alone, with just God. Just the way He wanted it....and for a long time. I miss you Lord and He softly said I missed you more!
So today I must not forget my challenge that God is insisting I do. To some it may seem trivial, no real essence or meaning....but knowing God at the end of this 40 day trail, I am sure I will find myself in a place I never dreamt I would be so come and experience the wonderous spiritual journey that God has ahead for me....and hopefully you too.....whoever you are!

Ingredients:

• Perdue Roaster Chicken, thawed
• Rosemary
• Olive Oil
• Lemons
• Fresh Garlic Cloves
• Corn on the Cob
• Baby New Potatoes
• Salad Mixings

No Ingredients needed so: 0 cost

DINNER SERVED: Tuscan Lemon Grilled Chicken with roasted rosemary/garlic/oil potatoes and Corn on the Cob.

Belisimo!

Isaish 41: 9 thru 13.

Start of Challenge: Dinner #1

Will not food shop for 40 days. Full blown. But I am able to buy essentials, milk, bread, eggs, water... you know the items you get when a snow storm is coming. $25 maximum...my rules but approved by God so there are boundaries.

Okay easy, I got this....but wait 1st night and I have company coming. Oh great...that is going to take up food. But the company are my nieces. I haven't seen my one in a while and I want to see her...I miss her. Okay think...the old self would make a whole dinner plan up and run to the market and prepare..cost apprx. $50 easy..it is my nieces! 4 people...but NO...new plan, new life, new way...So I inventory the freezer, fridge (top to bottom) and pantry...I found things I never knew I had. I then asked God to forgive me of all my waste. I was so ashamed but He said it is done and do this so I went in to my creative mode and served a fab dinner and fed 4 people without a problem.

• Broccoli
• Chicken Cutlets
• Pasta Box
• Basil
• Lemons
• Parmesan Cheese (on the side)
• Butter
• Bread
• Salad Mixings and Dressings
• Lemonade

Item Needed: 1/2 cup Light Cream Cost: 99 cents

DINNER SERVED: Cavatappi pasta tossed in lemon, basil cream sauce with broccoli/chicken.

Lord, You are masterful and Amazing!

Matthew 25:23, Matthew 24:45

Day #5

As I stood in my kitchen on the 1st morning of my new life I felt God tell me to take inventory. Inventory of myself, inventory of my possessions. So no better place than where I was standing. So as I patiently waited for my coffee to be brewed I began to see what exactly it was I had in my cupboards (what a sweet old fashioned word). And what on earth did it matter? Was there not a more pressing matter at hand God? This is what I quit my life for? To follow you to the kitchen? But He said yes so I did what He said to do. He spoke very clear and very firm and told me I was out of control and out of hand for too long. That all my blessings came from Him and they can be taken away. Yikes! So I said I was ready to listen and obey. He told me to watch every penny that comes in and goes out of my house. To be mindful and responsible. To stop living like I had endless mounds of money and live more like Him when he was here. He told me He was proud of my obedience and that He was the potter and I was only the clay so allow Him to make me what He always created me for. That what I just went through at work was not punishment but preparation for a much greater task. I was going to minister for His work and for His purpose. So He asked me to trust Him and not buy any food outside of the necessities like milk, water and coffee (thanks for that inclusion Lord... you are merciful) and fruits/vegetables for 40 days and He will provide for us 40 dinners.

Luke 12:48

Day #4

God showed me one of the things I had to do. Be mindful of my spending. I spend in excess. Whether it is a touch of compulsiveness I am not sure but I like to shop. :) So He asked me to do something for Him. I told Him anything He asks of me, I will do. He asked me to stop spending and living in excess. The desire He placed on my heart to cook was coming with a heavy price tag and it wasn't of Him. It was me. Just always shopping and buying more food on top of more food. Don't you find yourself going to the super market every week faithfully even though you have a pantry/fridge filled with tons of food? And always being shocked by the amount the cashier says? I always would go in saying I was NOT going to spend more than $100 and come out $125, $130, $160! On 2 people!!!!!! Ridiculous. And I am ashamed to admit the waste at the end of the week. All the food we would throw out...the 2 leftover slices of pizza, the lemons you forgot you had and when you found them shoved in the back you greeted them with such enthusiasm, "Hey I didn't know you were back there...I forgot I had you"...and don't they always look different b/c now they have fuzz growing? Ewww. That was me. And I was so ashamed. I asked God to forgive me and tell me what it is He wanted to say and I would listen. After all, my life was in His hands. I had just completely surrendered all my being to Him. And I had vowed before Him that my life was not my own anymore, that He would control every single facet of my life..every detail. What was it that He was going to ask of me that included food, cooking and shopping.....

Proverbs: 3:5

Day #3

I woke up so happy and free. Not scared, not anything. Light as a feather. Ready to listen and obey. God spoke very clearly to me that it was now time to be Mindful and Purposeful with everything in my life. That I/we have lived in excess for too long. I always considered myself a good steward of my money, faithful tither, generous, not at all stingy or selfish...so I was not afraid of Him being displeased. I knew none of this was punishment but preparation....but for what? What on earth does God have to say to me that required such attention..such stillness. I was sooo happy and thrilled to know and hear. I was grateful and humble that the Lord God , my Father was so anxious to speak to me. Wow!!! What a wonderful friend and Father alike. I love you God, you are so awesome!!! Now anyone else would be freaking out, scared to death but not when you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you. No I was smiling from ear to ear because I knew all that I have recently endured with my employment was not man's plan, but God's. All the trials and tribulations were now defined in my heart as tests..tests from God. You mean you allowed them to treat me this way? Yes, said the Lord...yes. But I let no weapon formed against you prosper. That is indeed true. I was attacked in every way and in every direction but I always stood firm and still and I knew in my heart if God was for me, then who could be against me. Certainly not those clowns who call themselves ethical employers. But the day I drove home was July 5th 2010, "my spiritual independence day" so to speak. My hubby gets a shout out for that tag line. :) I had handed in my cell phone so I had to drive home alone with no one to talk to, stuck in holiday traffic headed home so there I was stuck in what should have been a 50 minute commute, taking just under 2 hours. 2 hours alone still just with God. He let me know that all would be revealed and all of this would have purpose.

Psalm 46:10

Day #2

I need to now live my life doing what makes me happy. Exemplifying God and His name. He keeps saying over and over "Let no man enslave you to the blessings I have bestowed upon you".

I woke up to a new beginning. A new life. A new way of "being"...still. Wow! But it is because God has so much He wants to reveal to me. All the things He wanted and tried to say but I was too busy being distracted with life. So He took away the distractions of life, namely my job, to be one with me. So....I knew there was a lesson; many actually to be taught and learned.

Lesson#1: Be Mindful Be Purposeful No More Living in Excess

He showed me what I needed to do next.

"Speak Lord , And I'll Listen and Obey"

Day 1

Wow. I just left my job. I have never been unemployed in my life. I have worked since I was 17; actually longer if you count all the years of babysitting I have done. I never realized how we are conditioned to work from the time we turn 6 years old. All day, every day, 5 days a week when we learned to get up and go to school. Then we are expected to do another 4 in college and then 4ever be out there amongst the living working. How the heck did I know what wanted to do or be. I have never NOT worked though. Although I am happily married, I never became a mother so I never stopped to raise a child. I never stopped to simply smell the roses. To enjoy life. To breathe. To simply "be". I have always made a living for myself. Now don't get me wrong because if I never worked I would not be blogging right now b/c I wouldn't have a computer. So believe me, I understand the good old American way. For me and only me did I need something truly miraculous and truly of God for me to stop and question my true purpose on this earth.

By the way I never mentioned that the job I left paid handsomely and was my place of being for over 12+years. And I left it with no replacement job; no savings; no net; no warning...I left it simply because I heard the sweet, soft voice of God whisper as only He could, "It's time".

Jeremiah 29:11