Debbie's Chili Beans

I first had this chili in 2008 when a lady made it for her church.  Thanks to Debbie for this fabulous chili!  

• 1 lg. onion, chopped
• *1 lg. green pepper, finely chopped, optional - this was not in the original recipe (I'd like to use ½ each of green and red) Leave out if just making chili, and not chili beans.
• *2 T. butter (I used more since I added the green pepper)
• *3 lbs. ground chuck (Use 5 lbs if only making chili and not chili beans)
• 2  28-oz cans petite diced tomatoes
• 1  15-oz can tomato soup
• 1  28-oz can tomato sauce
• 1 Tbs. garlic powder
• 2 Tbs. chili powder (or use 1 envelope McCormick's Chili mix)
  
  
• 1/2 c. mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• *64 oz canned beans (or cook 1½ lbs/3 cups dry pinto beans)
  You can use all kidney beans, or a combination of kidney, pinto, and ranch style beans.

►Soak and cook dry beans before beginning the chili.  Three cups dry beans yields about 7-8 cups cooked beans.  Or you can use canned beans.



In large pot (mine is a gallon and a half), brown the ground chuck, then drain.
Leave hamburger in colander while frying together the butter, green pepper, and onions.

 Add all ingredients and simmer about an hour to get everything heated, and flavors blended.

Crockpot

►If beans are cooked, after cooking onions and ground beef, put everything in on Low for 3 to 4 hours.
►If using dry beans, soak overnight or use the quick soak method.  After cooking onions and ground beef, put everything into the crockpot with additional water.  Turn on high for an hour, then on low for about 7-8 hours.

Makes a gallon and a half.  Make sure your pot/crockpot is large enough!  =)

sMiLeS,

Crescent Peach Bites!

I saw Apple Bites the other day on Pinterest, and immediately I thought of Peach Bites!!!  

I do love peaches.

These are so simple and also pretty quick to make.

• 3 peaches (plus a few more just to eat!)
• 2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
• cinnamon
• sugar

Preheat your oven to the temperature that is on the crescent roll tube, about 350º or 375º.
I peeled and sliced the peaches into sixths, but if they were larger I would do eighths.

Unroll the refrigerated crescent rolls and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on them.  I used the already-mixed cinnamon and sugar since I couldn't find a bottle of just cinnamon at the store!
These weren't too sweet, so you could put more than I have here if you want them sweeter.

Place the peach near the larger end of the crescent roll.

Fold the ends over and tuck around the peach then roll it up.

After doing a few of them, I found it was easier to just lay 4 crescent rolls at a time on the plate and sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar on all of them at once.  =)

Bake as directed on the crescent roll tube.  375º for 11-13 minutes.
Serve with a few more peach slices!  =)

More goodies to make with crescent rolls.

sMiLeS,

Where'd it go???

So hilarious! Poor Sophie! But I can't stop laughing!




sMiLeS,

♪♫ Only One Way

Just knowing *about* Jesus, believing he exists is not enough. Even Satan knows he is real. 
You need to have faith in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ as your only way to heaven!  
Not good works, not going to church, not anything but Him.  He and He alone can save you from sin.
►How you can go to Heaven.

                                                   ~Rebekah, Abigail, and Bethany~

sMiLeS,

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

A god is anything to which you give priority over God.

...friends, your truck, grandchildren, boyfriend, your cell phone, a job, places to go, your house or yard, television, internet, homeschool…  

...things.

How often do you check facebook or texts?  Do you talk to God that often?
How much time do you spend connecting with others? 
How much time do you spend on making your car look good, or your home or yard?

What are your priorities?  
What do you spend most of your time on?

How much *personal* time… do you spend with God?

If your spouse or boy/girlfriend gave you only that much time, how would you feel?

God is right there, waiting.

Stephen

Acts 6

In verse 5, Stephen, "a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," was one of the seven chosen to minister to the widows.  By the end of chapter 7, he was dead.
v. 8  And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

 9.  Then there arose certain of the synagogue... disputing with Stephen. 

10.  And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. 

11. Then they suborned men [bribed them], which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. 

12.  And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, 

13.  And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: 

14.  For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. 

15.  And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

Acts 7

v. 1 Then said the high priest, Are these things so?

Then for the next 50 or so verses, Stephen began to tell of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of Joseph who was sold into slavery but later made governor over Egypt, and of Moses who was rejected, and was said of him, "Who made thee ruler and a judge?"  God made him a ruler over Israel, but the people turned their backs and worshipped a golden calf.  

51.  Ye Stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.    
52.  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them with shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

53. Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. 

54. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 

55. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 

56. And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 

57. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 

58. And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. 

59. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 

60.  And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Could we be willing to tell the truth no matter what?

Travis and I are going to be FATHER- AND MOTHER-IN-LAW!!!!

Been anticipating when this would be "official" for a good long while now!
So excited!  So happy!  So thankful Rebekah is marrying a Godly young man who wants to serve the Lord.

So gorgeous!  Caleb has great taste!

They have "officially" known each other for almost 2 years.  Caleb's mom and I actually met years ago when Rebekah was about 5 years old and Caleb about 7, I guess.  We were in a homeschool group together.  I remember meeting this lady that had several cute little boys!  Neither of us were in that group for very long, and I'm sure we both skipped some meetings.  And by the time we were to meet up again, there would be 7 children.  5 boys (4 teens) and 2 girls.  Hehe, made me think of the 5 loaves and 2 fishes.  Wonder if Caleb's little sisters would object to being called fish?  lol.

But on September 3 of 2011, Caleb and Rebekah were at the same church meeting at the same time.  I always say to be where God wants you to be, and you'll meet the right one!  You'll meet a lot of the right people, because those are the ones who are where God wants them to be!
They didn't see each other again until some time the next month, but they were quickly smitten. ;)  They had found out that Caleb's family and my girls and niece (The Hawks Trio) were singing ♪♫ at the same revival on different nights.  So they figured it out for each of our families to come on both nights so they could see each other again.
And it's been that way ever since.  If there is a revival or youth meeting near enough to attend, chances are both of our families, or at least our family and Caleb and some of his brothers, will be at that meeting! 😊


So yesterday...  Caleb and Rebekah are going to be doing the music for the Bible School at Caleb's church, and Rebekah still needed to practice a few of the more tricky songs from Patch the Pirate.  If you know anything about their songs, you'll know you can be humming along and you may go one way and the song will go another!  So Caleb's mom asked that the girls come over to their house to go over those songs again.  Afterwards, several of the boys and girls went walking down the gravel road on the pretense that my girls could meet some friends that lived down that way.  Then they came upon this in the road:

Awww!  The kids always say that finding a penny means, "God loves you." Caleb gave Rebekah the penny and told her, "God loves you..." and knelt down and finished, "...and I love you too!" ♥  He had never actually said the words before.
She put her hand over her mouth, eyes big.  She finally managed, "Is this for real?"
He assured her it was for real!  Then he pulled out the ring.  "Rebekah Anne Hawks, will you marry me?"
He barely got the words out before she answered, "YES!"  Followed by, "Oh, my soul!" and moments later, "It's so beautiful!"  Then she asked, "Are you serious?" still not quite believing this was really happening!  lol.  She totally had not suspected a thing!  😊
This was the first time they told each other "I love you." ♥♥♥  Oh, they had hinted around about it forever, but she was waiting for him to say it first, and knew he wanted to give her a ring first.
They were on Cloud 9, let me tell you!  Still are.  Well, I guess they have been for quite a while already, haha!

One of Caleb's brothers, Ethan, was videoing, and I was able to pull a couple of shots from that:

"Rebekah Anne Hawks, will you marry me?"  (Duh!) heehee

       See the heart♥ in the road? ↑ 😊

"Show me the ring"

►You can watch the proposal here.


Travis and I were just down the road, waiting for the final text from Isaac, another of Caleb's brothers, to tell us it was okay to come on.  We didn't want to arrive too early and make Rebekah wonder why we were there.

back at the house

Then followed pictures, phone calls, excitement from everyone!  The younger kids were especially excited.  The youngest said, "But that's your marriage finger!" and it had to be explained why an engagement ring goes on the marriage finger when you're still not married yet. 😊

And Caleb's little brother Gideon gathered up the ♥ rocks and put them in this container. These are the "love rocks," as he calls them.  So sweet.  =)

Needless to say, facebook has been a flurry of beeps all day from notifications -- of comments to posts I've been tagged in, or have commented on, or have posted myself.

Such excitement!  😄

Apple Festival, October, 2012

after singing at the Wilkes County rest home

See Abi making a ♥ in the background! =)

Rebekah's 18th birthday

at Caleb's house

at Rebekah's house

♥ ♥ ♥

sMiLeS,

Value, Worth, Love, Sacrifice

When work you have done is carelessly undone by someone else, it can be quite frustrating.
This morning my kids were getting ready to go to a campmeeting that we'd only learned about last night, so nothing had been ironed, and everyone was hurrying.  One of my kids asked me to iron some things for them, so I ironed them then laid them carefully across the bed so as not to cause wrinkles.
Then this child decided to wear something different and changed clothes.  But instead of hanging up the clothing I had ironed, or even spreading them out on the bed, I later discovered the clothes carelessly thrown into a pile and thoroughly wrinkled.
I was quite annoyed to say the least.
Those clothes had already been ironed!  If not now, at least keep them nice so that they could be worn another day.
But I still love my child.  I admit it took awhile for me to really feel that love once again, lol, but I did!  =D

When we go the extra mile to do something for someone, and they give it no value, have complete disregard for the work you did, it isn't fun.  We feel like saying, "Fine!  See if I do anything for you again!"

I'm so glad God isn't like that.
He gave his only Son to die for you.
For you!
He suffered a severe beating, a crown made of thorns was forced onto his head, and then He was nailed to a cross.  Nailed right through his hands and feet to hold him there, hanging, struggling for every breath.
Jesus Christ, who is sinless and perfect, took on your sin and my sin, and suffered that humiliation which was worse than the physical pain so that your sins would be paid for.  So that you could go to heaven.
Because he loves you.

Bunke Family Ministries facebook and website

The price for your sins is already paid for.
Are you going to reject that?  Will you carelessly throw away what God has done for you?
Something already paid for,  a gift just waiting for you to accept.
Waiting for another day might work for ironed clothing, but not necessarily for salvation.  You don't know how much longer you have on this earth, and you don't want to wait until it's too late!
Jesus Christ sacrificed his life for you!  Please don't disregard what He did for you!

I am planning to attend an event in a few weeks to commemorate the homegoing (to heaven) of two young children who were both killed in an accident involving a drunk driver.  I'm sure that father never even thought of what would happen as he buckled his children in that day.

You don't have the assurance that you will be alive even an hour from now.
Please don't wait until it's too late!



How to accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and your only way to Heaven:

Do you know Christ as your personal Savior?
Have you ever received the Lord Jesus Christ into your life?

Realize That God Loves You
God loves you and has a plan for your life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

The Bible Says That All Men Are Sinners
Our sins have separated us from God. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

God made man in His own image. He gave man the ability to choose right from wrong. We choose to sin. Our sins keep us from God.

God’s Word Also Says That Sin Must Be Paid For
“For the wages of sin is death....” Romans 6:23

Wages means payment. The payment of our sin is death and hell, separation from God forever. If we continue in our sin, we shall die without Christ and be without God forever.

The Good News Is That Christ Paid For Our Sins
All of our sins were laid on Christ on the cross. He paid our sin debt for us. The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, and He arose from the dead. He is alive forevermore.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

We Must Personally Pray And Receive Christ By Faith
The Bible says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”Romans 10:13

New Life
Everlasting life begins when we receive Christ as our Savior.




Plan of Salvation copy/pasted from ThisGenerationForChrist.org

Forgiveness

"Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.
Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath."
Proverbs 21:23-24

Do you rehash things in your mind, dwelling on what you'd like to say to someone?
**What is in your heart will come out.**

I have been thinking of someone... who did something, or rather forgot to do something.   And probably doesn't realize it and/or has forgotten.  So I need to just get on with life and forgive them because it is kind of petty anyway when you consider it.
Seems like the past couple of weeks I just keep seeing verses in Proverbs that are telling me to forgive... and lots of verses about the tongue!
So I need to quit dwelling on it before I say something I will regret.

"Only by pride cometh contention..."  Prov. 13:10
"In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride..."  Prov. 14:3
"In the multitude of words there wanted not sin, but he that refraineth his lips is wise." Prov 10:19

"He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him."
Proverbs 18:13  (Just thought I'd tack that on.)   =)


sMiLeS,

My Babies are 16!

I love them so much.  I can't believe they're this old!

A couple of months ago

About 15+ years ago!

A couple of weeks ago.  Hehe!

sMiLeS,

This was fun!

I love algebra!  Seems I've forgotten quite a bit since I graduated (ahem!) 23 years ago... but it's still fun, and I love re-learning it.
And some I don't even remember learning at all, lol!

Today was especially fun:

Graphing Linear Equations with Slope-Intercept (videos)

(About the block of wood the dry erase board is sitting in.)

sMiLeS,

I Will Give My Life... To Count For Jesus

These two songs have spoken to me many times in the past year.  I've posted them on my blog before, but just really wanted to share them again.



♪♫I Will Give My Life

I will give my life unto the Lord, I will give myself unto His word. All that He has granted unto me shall be His own. (!)  He is Oh, so worthy of the best, I will serve through His own righteousness.  All the Glory give to Jesus' name and His alone.

I will give my heart unto the Lord, I will give my hopes for God to fill. All that I desire, all my dreams, shall be His own. He is Oh, so worthy of this rest, I will wait through His own righteousness.  All the Glory give to Jesus' name and His alone.

I will give my lips unto His praise, I will fix my eyes upon His gaze. All my reverence, all that I adore, shall be His own. He is Oh, so worthy to be blessed, I will worship His own righteousness. All the Glory give to Jesus' name and His alone.

I will give my life unto the Lord,
                          I will give my heart unto the Lord,
I will give myself unto His word.
                      I will give my hope for God to fill.
All that He has granted unto me shall be His own.
                       All that I desire... shall be His own.
He is, Oh, so worthy of the best,
                    He is, Oh, so worthy of this rest,
I will serve through His .............................own righteousness. 
                               I will wait through His own righteousness.
All the Glory give to Jesus Name………….….and His alone.
                     All the Glory give to Jesus Name …..….lone.
 Tag: All the Glory give to Jesus Christ the Lord and Him alone.

♪ ♫ To Count For Jesus 

All want their lives to count for something;

To leave their mark when life is through.

But vain pursuits will count for nothing:

Time will erase what ‘ere we do.

I want my life to count for Jesus,

For earthly things will quickly fade.

No need to add to worldly riches;

I only seek eternal gain.

Inside my heart there burned a question,

What was I placed on earth here for?

It truly was to build a kingdom;

Not of my own but of the Lord’s.

I want my life to count for Jesus,

For earthly things will quickly fade.

No need to add to worldly riches;
I only seek eternal gain.

What are your goals?

Originally posted at: To Build A Kingdom, Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow?, and Do You REALLY Want to Be Like Him???

Run!

Proverbs 4:15
"Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away."

Sounds like when we're trying to avoid someone in the grocery store, doesn't it?  There are times we are in a hurry and too busy to talk, and you just know that person loves to talk!  Or maybe it really is someone we want to avoid. =(
But I'm sure we've all been there.

"Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away."

We teach our children to not talk to strangers, watch out for stray dogs, stay out of the woods unless I'm with you, stay where I can see you, and a host of other similar admonitions.
But when it comes to our own lives, sometimes we allow things in.  Sometimes its an attitude, or anger towards someone.  Those things we can hide pretty well in public if we're good at it.
We allow a few exceptions in music, or in television shows or movies, and before you know it, one day you look back and realize you would never used to watch that type of show or movie.
We tend to excuse things by saying they're not so bad, and we think we can handle it.
We let a little sin in, and allow it to grow.  How?  We think about it first.  We may wrestle with it awhile before we eventually reason that it isn't so bad, and the cost will be minimal.
We eventually do what we think about!  But sin will grow.

"Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away."

That means don't even consider or regard it! Stay away at all costs.  Or it will cost you.                            

As the Patch the Pirate song "Put on Your Running Shoes" says, "Don't stop to take a closer look!" (lyrics, youtube video)
I remember a song from when I was a child, "Never Smile at a Crocodile."  Some of the lyrics are, "Never smile at a crocodile; never tip your hat or stop to talk awhile.  Don't be taken in by his welcome grin; he's imagining how well you'll fit within his skin!"
I Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."  
Whom he may devour!
If you're lagging at the back of the pack, so to speak, the lion will get you.  He always goes after the weak prey.
Stay strong by reading your Bible daily and listening to good preaching, then applying to your life what you've read and heard.  Pray all day about little things and big things; keep your communication with God constant.  Be accountable to someone else.  Keep check on each other as to what you've read in your Bible each day.
Run from temptation and toward God!


sMiLeS,

Prompting or Punishment?

I have been reading about the children of Israel, and the judgments that God had to inflict on them.  Most of them seemed pretty harsh, but they just would not listen!  They would come about and begin to obey Him again, but before you know it, they were right back in sin.  So finally He let them be led away captive for 70 years!

This morning I read an article by Dr. Paul Chappell entitled Requiring Punishment.
Part of the article said,

"Isaiah gives us a fascinating insight into God’s chastisement of His children. “For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen” (Isaiah 28:27-28).
Delicate plants like fitches—a herb used for seasoning food—were not threshed because the heavy tool would crush them. But the thicker grains used for making bread went under the tribulum [a threshing instrument]. When our hearts are soft and we quickly listen to God’s Word, we do not require judgment to remind us to do right. When our hearts are hard and our ears refuse to listen, God is able to get our attention, though we will certainly not find that process enjoyable. God calibrates our circumstances based on what is required to get us to obey.
If we are responsive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the instruction of Scripture, we will save ourselves much heartache."

This is so true!  When our hearts are ready to listen, it only takes a small bit of prompting by the Holy Spirit to make a change.  That still, small voice can only be heard when we are listening.  I know we've all seen that in our children as well.  Some children listen better than others, and when they don't, we often need to administer a more stern punishment.

Stay in the Word of God daily, and ask him to show you something from what you read.  Be searching as you read.  Read for understanding.  Find a quiet place and block out everything around you.  Early in the morning before everyone else gets up is best for me, and I like to write down in a notebook the verses that speak to me.  Don't have your cell phone or other distractions near.
I do keep a sheet of paper handy because there is always something popping into my mind that I need to do that day, so I just jot it down rather than dwelling on it.  I think this is more distracting for women, because we don't have the focus men have.  Our minds are constantly thinking of the cares of the day, and it can be a hindrance when we are concentrating on something the devil would rather us not.

So get in your Bible early!
Before it is "too late" and things start needing to be tended to and the phone starts ringing!

sMiLeS,

"Love and Honor"

"Marriages do not usually collapse suddenly. Instead they fall due to a long process of erosion..."
Read more here.

The verse right at the beginning of the article got me.
I had just this morning been kind of implying that my husband was wrong about something.  Just a little dig, you know.  Like we women can do.
But those little things can cause great hurt.  We all know how that feels.  And I felt so bad that I just had to call him and apologize.  Even though he didn't say much back to me when I uttered those unkind words (he rarely does), I knew it hurt him for me to be that way.
I don't want to be the cause of erosion in our marriage!

"A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones."  Proverbs 12:4

sMiLeS,