Once again, I have neglected this poor little blog. I was reading back through my old posts and am just amazed at how God continually works in my life. I'm glad He is such a big God, because it's hard work dealing with me!! If it were anybody else, they'd have given up a LONG time ago.

I am working again. It was such a miracle how it happened - totally, completely, 100% a God thing. He essentially shoved this job in my face and would NOT let me ignore it. I tried! I turned it down. They came back. I have tried to quit. They keep sweetening the deal. For one thing, it's been very hard not to take advantage of the situation. But it has also kept me actively looking for the reasons He wants me here. I have found a few reasons - and I understand them. They are not fun reasons, they have made me very closely examine myself and the way I handle those around me - but I get it.

In 3 weeks, Josh and I are going to California to visit The Master's Seminary. HOLY MOLY. I cannot believe we are actually going. We have been talking about this for a really long time. There is still no guarantee that we will be moving there, but the likelihood goes up every day. I am so very torn with this decision. I am so excited to begin this new journey - I've never lived anywhere else; I've never even vacationed this far away from home before. But also, I will be leaving my family behind. Even if it's only for 2 or 3 years, nobody knows what will happen in that time. Losing Dad has made me so very cautious of taking anybody for granted in my life.

What else? Peyton is so So SO big now. When I look at her sometimes, I really just cannot believe that she is my child.

Ok, well... I'm going to try and continue this blog. What it will turn into, nobody knows. But... everybody keeps telling me to write out my feelings. How therapeutic it is. So I figured I should take another stab at it.

Spicy Chicken Rollups

I made these the other night and my husband LOVED them. He actually talked about the meal the entire time he was eating it. SO EASY AND SO DELICIOUS!!!

Chicken Crescent Roll Casserole
adapted from Recipezaar.com

2 (8 ounce) cans Reduced Fat Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup, undiluted
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese or swiss cheese (or any cheese of choice)
1/2 cup milk


Filling
4 ounces cream cheese (very soft) * I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese*
2 tablespoons butter (very soft but not melted)
1/2-1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tsp minced onion flakes
2 large cooked chicken breasts, finely chopped (or use about 2 cups, can use cooked turkey)
1/2-3/4 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper (or to taste)
2 Tbsp. milk
1-2 cup grated cheddar cheese (for topping)

(I added a couple shakes of red pepper flakes and a couple teaspoons of chili pepper sauce for SPICE)


Set oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x13 dish with cooking spray. Mix together milk, 3/4 cup cheese and undiluted chicken soup (can season with black pepper if desired).


For the filling --- (make certain that the cream cheese and butter are very soft) in a bowl, mix the soft cream cheese with butter until very smooth, then add in garlic powder. Add in the chopped chicken, onion and cheddar cheese; mix well until combined. Add in 2 tablespoons milk; mix to combine (add in a little more if the mixture seems too dry). Season with seasoned salt or white and black pepper to taste. Unroll the crescent rolls. Place 1 heaping tablespoon chicken mixture (or a little more) on top of each crescent triangle, then roll up starting at the thicker end. 

-Drizzle a small amount of soup mixture on the bottom of the dish. 

-Then place the crescent rolls seam-side down on top of the creamed mixture in the casserole.
-Drizzle the remaining sauce on top (you don't have to use the full amount of cream sauce, just use as much as desired) and sprinkle with 1 cup (or more) grated cheese, or amount desired. 

-Bake for about 30 minutes.

Changes

It has been so many months since I posted. I kind of forgot that I had a blog! Not that I have a bunch of followers out there waiting to hear from me, but I forgot how therapeutic writing is for me.

There has been so much happen in my life since I last wrote. I am now a stay-at-home wife and mommy. I am still grieving over my dad, but I have realized that you can move on and still miss someone. I think about him daily, but I have also allowed the Lord to be my comfort and He has given me more peace than I could have ever thought imaginable. I think as time goes on, I will continue to write stories about Dad- I want to write down some of the harder stories from the week he died and since as well as some more memories from growing up.

I have started attending a Ladies' Bible Study. It's such a cool thing. This is an international Bible study that reaches thousands of people in many different countries. This week, we have been studying in Acts when Paul and Barnabus split up and going their separate ways on their journey, and Paul goes on to visit and build all of the churches that he writes to in his New Testament letters, including Thessolonica and Phillippi. The main themes that I have been studying are very simple, yet carry great weight in my life.

#1- God will guide you in every place of your life, if you will listen and follow him. Paul laid down all of his plans and followed where the Lord wanted him to go. And he ended up doing great things in these towns. Am I willing to lay everything aside if God is leading me to something I'm not planning right now?
#2- God doesn't want us to suffer his wrath. He loves us and sent His Son to die for us so that we could live with Him for eternity. Sometimes when life doesn't seem fair, we have to think beyond this life and know that God does everything perfect, and whatever we are going through right now is to prepare us to live an eternal life worshiping our King.

It's good to be back!


^{1 Thessalonians 5  16} Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.