Peach and Raspberry Parfait

Well it has certainly been a while since my last post, more than a while actually. So much has been happening in the past several months I’ve been in a tail spin. Between graduating high school, taking the SAT, apply for college, getting everything organized and ready to go to college, and the trials of moving  it’s been a very busy few months. Everything seems to have settled down for now though so I am hoping I can get back in the swing of blogging. At least until school starts back up, college  here I come! I am actually very excited to be starting this new chapter in my life and look forward to all the amazing things that God has planned for me in the coming months and years :D.  Today’s post is kind of like a restarter post so it will be shorter than some of my others. Since it’s summer once again here is a fun super simple recipe that will help start the summer off right 😀

Peach and Raspberry Parfait 

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 05m| Total Time: 25m

Ingredients

• 2 peaches, cut into 2 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 cups raspberries
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the peaches, raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice and let sit, tossing once, for 20 minutes.
2. Scoop the ice cream into bowls or glasses and top with the fruit mixture.

Something I would definitely add to make it even better is graham-cracker crumbs or even just graham-cracker themselves! It will make it taste even better 😀

The awesome thing about this recipe is that you can use any fruit or ice cream you want so there are endless possibilities 😀 😀

Can santa be celebrated in a Christian home?

  Seasons Greetings! as the weather is finally turning colder and the stores have put out their Christmas decorations, it’s really beginning to look a lot like Christmas. However, the real question is, what should Christmas look like? Sadly the most prominent Christmas “identifier” is unfortunately santa  claus :(. We see him in stores, hanging on Christmas trees, decorating the mantel, out in the yard and up on the roof. There are songs sung about him and kids eagerly awaiting the arrival of the “jolly old fellow” , and as Christmas grows closer the children are trying to be on their best behavior so that they will be on the “nice” list. Frankly, Christmas has become nothing about a big santa celebration with only a select few choosing to celebrate what Christmas really is. Over the past several weeks as Christmas gets closer I have had many interesting debates with people about the “santa issue”, and because of some of the response I received I felt compelled to put up a post whether or not santa can be celebrated in a Christian home. I have a strong belief that NO HE CAN”T. While most people would consider santa to be “harmless” bit of fiction, he really isn’t. The BIG problem with santa is that he takes away from the focus of Jesus. Children eagerly await the arrival of the jolly man and are on their best behaviors so that they insure a generous turnout for presents. What should be happening is that children should be excitedly expecting to celebrate the birth of the Savior and be on their best behaviors because that’s what Jesus’ wants. Although, removing the focus off of Jesus is the biggest problem with santa, it is not the ONLY problem. Another problem with santa is trust. When a mother and father tell their children about santa claus, the child will generally believe that he is real. Especially since dad and mom work behind the scenes to make him appear to be real. But tell me, what is the matter with letting your child derive some “enjoyment” and “fun” out of this fictional character that they gain so much excitement about? Problem one, HE IS A LIE! For every child that hears about santa, at some point that same child will discover that santa doesn’t exist. What does this do? It kills the trust that the child had in their parents. In addition to this just being BAD in general a MAIN repercussion of this is that the child will start questioning everything. “Well, if my parents lied to me about santa, maybe they lied about Jesus too” I don’t know about you but I NEVER want to have my child think that I lied about Jesus. Talk about some serious problems in the future. Other arguments I hear is, “My parents told me about santa and I turned out all right”. Well just because you run across the interstate and live doesn’t mean it was a good idea. Even if santa didn’t hinder you personally he may hinder others. This goes back to stumbling blocks. If put in perspective santa can 1) be told to someone and have not affect on them in the long run. In which case what’s the point. or 2) he can serve as a MAJOR stumbling block for others. In which case the Bible warns that we will be held highly accountable if we cause others to stumble. HIGHLY ACCOUNTABLE, Matthew 18:7 and . Basically summed up santa serves no purpose other than to remove the focus from Jesus and be a stumbling block to others. Even if you teach the child from the get go that santa is pretend and not real but that Jesus is the real reason for the season. Then my question to you is, why bring santa into the celebration at all? Why have a blow up santa in your yard or the “north pole” decorating your home? Why pollute  your childs mind with songs of santa, as the “Christmas” songs play in the background? If you wouldn’t let your child listen to lady gaga why let them listen to santa music? (yes I consider santa music to equal the repulsiveness of lady gaga and all the other filth that is out there in the music industry)  Besides , if the child knows he isn’t real then the child’s happiness would then be being derived from Jesus and celebrating His birthday, instead of the gifts that “santa” brings, so having all that insanity with the fat guy wouldn’t make any sense. It can be hard sometimes to break traditions that you may have grown up with, but I strongly recommend that before you are starting your own family that you talk about the way that Christmas will be celebrated with your husband (this is actually something you will want to discuss BEFORE you get married).

One fun thing to do is a birthday cake for Jesus. That is something my family has always done and it really helps with channeling the focus on the reason for the season. Reading the Bible story about Jesus’ birth is always a must, and even though gift giving is not a bad thing I recommend trying to keep the focus away from getting gifts. Especially for little children. It is so easy for kids to get side tracked with whatever present they receive.  Try to find exciting ways of getting the kids to “give Jesus gifts”. This can be accomplished by letting them know that how they act and the deeds that they do are like little presents to God. Then of course teach them about the amazing gift that God gave them and that the greatest “gift” they can give God is accepting Him as their Savior. Simple things like this will enable them to learn about God and hopefully yearn to please Him. Training a child in the way they should go is a hard one, it’s also a rewarding one as well though. Even if every member of the family is standing against you if you decide to take santa out of your Christmas, go forward with the knowledge that you are standing for God and don’t care what others think. That is one of the hardest things to do, but as long as YOU are doing what is right it doesn’t matter what others think or say, because when it all comes down to it the only thing that matters is what God is going to say. And I don’t know about you but I would much rather tell God that the reason I took santa out was to focus on Him then to try to explain the reverse. Always remember that the more you focus on God the more persecution you will receive. So don’t be surprised when everyone is against you. Wear the persecution as a badge of honor!! and  STAY FOCUSED ON GOD!! Just a side note. If you have ever looked at the word santa you will discover that by simply switching the n to the end of the word you get satan!!! Talk about a wake up call! satan uses santa to remove the focus from God, and giving what the name spells it makes all the more sense to NOT add santa in the Christmas celebration!!

Blessings to everyone and a merry CHRISTmas!!

Maryanna <><

P.S. if you want some more ideas on keeping your holidays focused on the  true reason for the season email me at maidensofvirtuelivingforchrist@yahoo.com

Merry CHRISTmas!!!

Work when you don’t have to!

For many years I have prayed and asked God to help me to be a proverbs 31 kind of woman. Although I would try to be the self-disciplined, hard working woman that the Bible talks about I always felt as if I were coming up short. No matter how hard I tried to make sure all my chores, studying ect. was done I found that there was always something left to do. It also didn’t help that I really didn’t want to clean up anything or study which although I tried to go about it with a happy attitude I never was able to fully embrace all the work and therefore I never did my chores or studies to completion. I am sure that some of you may be able to relate to my predicament, that although you want to be like the woman in the Bible your own displeasure for work and, lets just admit it now, laziness sorta gets in the way. Well I finally found out what it means to be a proverbs 31 woman. It’s really quite simple…Work when you don’t have to! Most times we work for a reason, whether that reason be to avoid getting in trouble, or maybe it’s that we want to receive recognition for something we did. Whatever it is we usually work for a REASON. However, I had the fortunate opportunity to work for the best reason…because I didn’t have to. I am sure we have all had those days where we know we should do something but we really don’t feel like it and we are pretty sure this would be one of those times that we could get away with not doing it. Well that was pretty much what happened to me. I knew I had a kitchen, living room, school room, and bedroom to clean but I REALLY did NOT want to do anything because I was tired and it was getting pretty late. Even though I was pretty sure my dad would let me off the hook for that night I decided I should do all that cleaning anyway. To my own great surprise I found that once I started cleaning I couldn’t find my off switch and I ended up cleaning a lot of other places that I wasn’t even “required” to clean. Now this may not seem unusual on the surface I mean come on we have all had those days when we just get in a cleaning spree, but the difference is my cleaning spree hasn’t stopped. So your question right now probably is “what does this have to do with being a proverbs 31 woman?” my answer “A LOT!” When you know you can get away with not doing something that has to be done but you do it anyway that is demonstrating self-discipline. Additionally I found that when you work when you don’t have to you do a better job because that means you’re working because you want to. As long as you have a happy heart work won’t seem like work and it will just be another way to praise the Lord. My challenge to you is that next time you don’t have to do the work do it anyway. Work when you don’t have to and the proverbs 31 woman in you will shine brighter than ever.

Remember what Christmas is REALLY about

The story of Christmas is a very special event that happened over two thousand years ago. Unfortunately few people recognize this. Most people believe that Christmas is all about the gifts and santa clause.  But no, Christmas is not at all about the jolly old fellow who some have started to idolize. It is about Jesus the only Son of God coming down to earth to save us from our sins . You see Christ came down to earth to suffer, die, and rise again after three days so that we might have our sins forgiven. Christ had no reason to come down and suffer on the cross for us but He did and He did it out of love that only He can give . This is why we can truly say we love Him because He first loved us, for if He didn’t love us first do you really think we would love Him? The majority of people though would rather recognize santa clause than God. I honestly believe that saten has brought santa into the picture to take our focus off Jesus and put it on something else. Sadly the few people that do realize this are to scared that they will offend people and hurt people’s feelings so they wont speak up for Christ, but that is wrong thinking. People don’t realize that if they don’t say anything others won’t be able to know the truth. additionally if you don’t say something people won’t want to come to Christ because they might think “what good could He be if His own followers don’t even stand up for Him”. The key that some may forget is that it doesn’t matter what other people think. So many of us fall into this trap that saten has set up for us, and what is ridiculous about it is that not EVERYONE can like you ALL the time. You see if you go down the path of evil then the Christians , who will pray for you, won’t like you. However if you go down the heavenly path all the evil people, who couldn’t care less about you any way, will hate you. So lets stand up for what’s right and remember what Christmas is REALLY about this year.

We’ve been so busy

Hey everyone sorry I haven’t been posting to much these past few weeks but we have been SUPER busy especially with school starting back up, and now my little brother and sister are sick 😦 so I haven’t had a whole lot of time to blog. Things are kinda settling down now so I will do my best to get back in the swing of things. Just keep checking back every now and then and sooner or later I am bound to get something up :P. I usually try to post something every Tuesday so hopefully I can get something up by then 🙂

Blessings

Maryanna <><

Return to the Art of Letter Writing

     To be literate means the ability to read and write, and I am sure that everyone already knows how to do both. But here’s a question how often do you actually write a letter to someone? With cellphones, text-message, e-mail, face book and a billion other ways to communicate it’s no wonder that the art of writing a letter disappeared. Of course it’s really nice to be able to talk to someone you may not have seen in a while, and although talking to or texting a person is soooo much faster than writing a letter, letters can sometimes be more enjoyable. When you send someone a letter your demonstrating to them that you care enough to take the time to write a letter to them. This may not be true for you but I LOVE getting letters from people, unfortunately that usually only happens on my birthday. The point is if your like me and enjoy getting letters then YOU should take the time to send them. So I challenge you to help bring back the art of letter writing. It’s really easy just get some paper, a pen, an envelope, and a stamp. I am sure your remember it, it’s that stuff you have stashed away in a drawer that you never open ;). It doesn’t have to be a long letter just something short and sweet that shows the receiver you were thinking about them. Do you accept the challenge? Then let’s get to work and bring back the art of letter writing. 🙂  

Modest Doesn’t Mean Ugly

When I look around at young women these days it really strikes me at how much the clothing has changed over the years. Years ago it was considered improper for a young woman to show her ankles, much less almost her whole body. Between SHORT short-shorts, mini-skirts, and practically see-through tops there isn’t much left on young women other than their skin. Now
 don’t get me wrong I am not saying that we have to go back to wearing hoop-skirts and bustles (although I wouldn’t be opposed if we did), but we DESPERATELY need to return to some degree of modesty. Some of you may be thinking that the word modesty means ugly clothes, but that is so very far from the truth. Modesty doesn’t mean ugly it means covered. You can be a modest young woman and still wear pretty clothes (just look at the picture). That favorite shirt of your’s that has a low cleavage simply put a camisole under it and suddenly it’s a modest top. Trade that mini skirt in for a knee length or longer skirt, even skorts would work and you’ll suddenly be ten times more modest and all you’ve really changed is the length of your skirt. In this absurdly HOT weather we’re having down south shorts are definitely a preferable choice for some over the long skirt, however shorts can tend to be a bit more tricky, just because, as their name implies they are SHORT. It is possible to wear shorts and still be modest, however, there are just some “rules” to follow when buying/wearing them. Rule one STAY AWAY FROM the rack that sells SHORT-SHORTS, and GO TO the rack that sells just REGULAR SHORTS. Rule two NEVER WEAR HIGH HEELS with SHORTS. So really shorts are kinda like that mini-skirt we mentioned earlier just make them longer and your set 🙂 . Now of course you can, but I am in no way implying that you have to wear basketball shorts to be modest, frankly (and don’t be offended this is just MY OPINION)  basketball shorts for girls go against the law of femininity, but I’ll talk about femininity in a later post. A simple summary of all this is wear a camisole under your shirts and get longer shorts and skirts. Additionally when you start dressing in a more modest manner you’ll find that people, young and old alike, will treat you differently. You may not be able to notice this differential treatment so much from girls, but you may see a change in the way guys, your own age and older, treat you. If you find your suddenly being treated with respect and reverence don’t think it’s that new perfume your wearing, it’s because your dressing like a lady. Your body is the temple of God and when you treat that temple with respect and dress to honor God others will start treating you with respect too.

Praying for Your Future Husband

     It’s no secret that prayer is powerful, and it’s far from unusual for people to pray for others they’ve never even meet before. So why not pray for your Future Husband. It might sound a little strange at first and you might be thinking what would I even ask God to do for him. Trust me I thought the same thing when I started doing this so I know how you feel. Just start by asking God to be with him, protect and guide him, as you continue to do this you’ll find more things to pray about on his behalf.Praying for your future husband might be something new to you or it might be something you’ve either thought about or are doing now, no matter where you are on this the amazing part of it is when you pray for your future husband after you meet that special someone you may get to see what your prayers did for him. So come join me in praying for your future husband.

Wake Up with God

  How many times is it that you put God second even without meaning to. Maybe you try to find time for personal Bible study but something always happens and you keep pushing it off until eventually the day is over and you say to yourself I’ll make sure that I have Bible time tomorrow. Unfortunately the same thing happens again and God just keeps getting put off.  If this is you then maybe it’s about time that instead of FINDING time for God we all MAKE time for Him. Starting TODAY I want to Wake Up with God, make a commitment to yourself and God that when you wake up in the morning you won’t even leave your room until you’ve had God Time. I know that for some that might mean waking up a little yearly than usually, and that’s never really fun to do,  but I guarantee you that you will have a more relaxed day or at least have more peace of mind because you started your day with GOD.

Dancing, Dancing, and Dancing OH MY!

With everything from Ballroom dancing, Square Dancing and the Virginia Reel this summer has been FULL of DANCING!!! I probably go just a little overboard with the whole dancing thing, but what can I say I have a passion for dancing 😀 . Learning how to dance is more than just fun though, it’s also a great opportunity to meet and make friends. Also ever since I’ve started doing all these activities I have gained a new appreciation for my mom and dad. Every Thursday, Tuesday, and occasionally Saturday they sacrifice their time and energy driving Katie and I to the dances and then picking us up, or sitting in the car waiting for us. It has really opened my eyes to how much my parents must love me that they would sacrifice so much of their time so I can do something I want to do. God has really blessed me with a fantastic life, wonderful family, and a great summer. 🙂