My Favorite Bible Studies for Women

There are so many Bible Studies out there, and many are written and designed specifically for women. I'm listing a few that I really enjoyed and learned from. I am not including links because you can google the titles and authors and find them just about anywhere.

My all-time favorite Bible Study (so far) is "Daniel" by Beth Moore. I almost didn't enroll in this study at my local church. I thought, "I know all about Daniel and the lion's den. What else is there to learn from this short book of the Bible?" I couldn't have been more wrong. There is so much prophecy packed into this book, and I learned more about the Bible than I ever have in one class. I learned just as much about Revelation as Daniel in this fascinating study. It is a little pricey (if you try to buy the videos - which I highly recommend) - but many churches have it and may offer it or loan it out to members.

I also learned from:

"A Woman's Walk with God" by Sheila Cragg. She presents much good information about strengthening your spiritual life in times of trouble and in everyday living. Short reading passages are followed by fill-in-the-blank discussion questions that you can personalize. The study really made me think.

"A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place" by Beth Moore. See a pattern here? Her style of teaching jives with my way of receiving. I've tried the audiotapes with her studies, but the visual DVDs are really the way to go.

Do you have a favorite Bible Study? I'd really like to hear so I can check out some new ones.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Love,
TCB

Boys, Boys, Boys

Did you think this post was going to be about all the cute male species out in the world? Shame on you. You obviously haven't been reading my blog much. I'm very married and very in the country and very locked in the house homeschooling and working from a home office. I guess a better title post would be: Boys, Boys, Boys (Need to Read, Read, Read).

I do, however, have very personal experiences with the two males that live in my home. (I'll only discuss issues unrelated to body noises. If you have a boy or are married, I fear you know what I mean. Sorry.)

If it wasn't for all the animals in and around our house (all curiously female), I would be the only estrogen around.

What I have to say is that I have a heck of a time getting my boy (not the man of the house) to read. I bought him a bookmark with a built-in timer so he could set it to read 30 minutes per day as part of our homeschool lesson. If it weren't for that handy bookmark, I'd be wrangling with him over whether he read just 25 minutes or **horror of horrors** 31 minutes per day.

So how (ecstatically) happy I was to see this taking place ON A WEEKEND afternoon.

It's the comics, but it's the newspaper AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO SET THE READING TIMER. Maybe there's hope yet. I keep saying, "If you can read well, you can learn anything."

And yes, I know Anthony Bourdain is on in the background, but notice my beloved is looking at the paper and not the TV. Progress!

One helpful lesson my son is seeing is how TV producers take liberties with written material. For example, he has enjoyed for the last year watching the 1970s Little House on the Prairie TV series. He is currently reading his way through the 9-volume Little House set of books and often points out to me how the book differs from the TV portrayal. He seems to be realizing it's better to read to learn more details.

I like to read non-fiction and am reading a couple of books about boys now. I will share in a future post when I've made my way a little further through them.

In the meantime, happy hump day!

Love,
TCB

Deviled Chicken Wings

I promised I would share the recipe I used for Deviled Chicken Wings in my last post. It originally comes from Sheila Lukins' book, Celebrate! I, of course, always tweak my recipes somewhat to suit my family's taste. Every time I have made these wings, there are never any leftovers. A hit! (Refer to my last post about why I, sadly, do not have a photo of these wings).


Deviled Chicken Wings

5 lbs. chicken wings
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tsp. hot sauce
1 tsp. chili powder
coarse sea salt, to taste
1/2  tsp. paprika
1 small red onion, diced, OR 4 scallions, sliced, OR onion powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put wings in a bowl and toss with garlic. Melt butter and olive oil together and whisk in all other ingredients except red onion. Pour over the wings and toss well, coating them. Put the wings on a wire rack in a shallow baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake 30 minutes more. Lightly dust the cooked wings with extra paprika and red onion/scallions/onion powder (your choice). Eat right away! They are best hot from the oven.

PS. I added the wire rack in the baking process. When I tried them without it, the wings were soggy on the underside. With the rack, they are uniformly crispy.

Happy Monday!
TCB

I Haven't Been to the Grocery Store in Two Weeks

When I get busy with schooling, work projects, and just plain runnin' around, I can't find one minute to go to the grocery store. Sound crazy? If you're a homeschooling or professional work-at-home-office mom like me, I bet you understand 100%.

That's why when I get a slow week, I stock the freezer with grocery store and Sam's Wholesale Club items to beat the "what is there to eat around here" blues. Plus, you know I have one of my freezers insanely stocked with venison, one of the healthiest meats around.

So up this week was:

Cubed venison steak
brown rice & gravy
Lima beans
biscuits ya'll

Deviled chicken wings
red potatoes with butter and chives
celery & ranch dressing

Corned beef brisket
cabbage

corn bread

My family was not even aware I had not visited the store. Thumbs up for smart provisioning.

I'll share the deviled chicken wings recipe in the next post. I so wanted to share a photo of them with you, but my husband eats too darned fast.

Happy day!
TCB

Getting Kids to Eat Healthy

There's been a lot of discussion out in marketplace the last couple of years about ways to get kids to eat healthy foods. Since I'm really into taking care of myself through eating right, taking vitamins and natural supplements, using homeopathic remedies, eating organic and growing some of my own produce, and lifting weights, it's an important topic for me, too.

But it seems all the talk centers around how to "trick" kids into eating healthy - you know, something crazy like putting white bean puree in their homemade cookies. I have two things to say about this: (1) Gross!, and (2) Tell me why it's acceptable to let your kids THINK you're giving them lots of cookies to eat (even if you're slipping them ye olde vegetables)? Aren't you in actuality sending them the message that junk is OK? Remember, they DON'T KNOW your good intentions, or they never would touch that cookie in the first place. Not even if you said "pretty please."

I admit I have grated a few carrots and added to my crockpot spaghetti sauce to sneak an extra veggie serving in on my oblivious son. But I also plop down a bowl of spinach salad with his supper and tell him he has to eat it all because "green vegetables are good for your body."

I think it is healthier to teach your child that a cookie is OK sometimes - even the ones with lots of sugar (don't they all have it?). At the same time, I think it's wise to teach them to balance that with a healthy vegetable or two. What a better way to really learn how to eat balanced meals to create the best mix of fuel for your body.

Otherwise, don't you feel a little like you're cheating them in the nutrition education department? That maybe they will grow up wondering why cookies worked so well for them as children but are not working so well now?

Happy (and healthy) eating,
TCB

Caring for an Aging Pet

I wrote many months ago (my, how time flies!) about how we love our old dog. But there's another side to pets that live a really long time. Since today is not only Halloween, but the last day of National Pet Wellness Month, I thought I'd let you take a peek into what it's like to care for an aging, large (90-pound) pet. It's something to consider when you're choosing that cute little puppy. Will you be able to handle a senior pet that may have mobility issues later on?

Experts* estimate about 25% of our country's pet population is comprised of aging pets, and pets' care requirements change as they go through the natural life cycle.

Molly is more than 16 years old, so she's definitely well into the senior category. There are services that we must spend money on now that we never had to before, just because of her advanced age. And I'm not even talking about veterinarian bills.

I have to pay a mobile groomer, who is strong, has a special table and special equipment to come bathe and trim her now. Because of arthritic back legs (very common in many breeds of large, older dogs and a result of her double hip surgery when she was a puppy), she is not able to stand for very long like she used to when I gave her an outside hose bath.

And she often falls when she tries to get up.

And falls again for no apparent reason when she is trying to go to her food bowl.

Then she just has to wait until someone comes along and picks her up.

Another thing to keep in mind is that large dogs who become stiff and partially immobile need someone to help them squat when they go to the bathroom. Not fun, but it has to be done (Thanks, my son).

As they get older, they may have to sleep somewhere else (rather than in your bedroom) overnight, as they often become incontinent (but of course this can happen with smaller pets, too). Molly has a special nighttime bed in the garage.

Expecting troubles during the aging process would never deter me from adopting a large breed dog, but it's something for every family to consider before making the decision.

Happy belated 16th birthday, Molly!

Love,
TCB and the whole gang

* American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)

Take a Country Walk

While the mile-and-a-quarter road to my house is now paved and not the single lane dirt road it was when we first moved to the country, it is still a nice place to take a walk with my son.

I did just that this afternoon. I always learn all sorts of things.

I learn amazing events. As we shuffled along, he told me he saw three (!) bald eagles when he went fishing in the river behind our house last weekend.

I learned that HardiPlank makes an excellent fort impenetrable by airsoft "bullets."

(Ignore the photographer and her shadow. She is not too great.)

And that chickens lay their eggs one at a time. (I knew that, but I was glad he did, too.)

I'm not sure why half the things my son tells me on our walks work their way into the conversation, but because I find out about what he's thinking and doing, it's OK.

I find out about what his friend said and how nervous he may or may not feel about his upcoming swim meet. I find out about the weather forecast for the next five days (one of his obsessions). And sometimes he just says something surprising like, "I like being at home with you."

What can I tell you? My one piece of advice is to take a walk with your child when you can. You don't have to say a word. He'll do all the talking.

Love,
TCB