For those of you wondering where we were these past couple of days...

Yesterday, Mom had to have some minor surgery and she has been feeling poorly. Please pray for a speedy recovery. Thank you to all who have called and brought food by. My Mom and I really appreciate it. We are truly blessed! ~ Alli

April Birthday Party!

(pictured left to right are Eric, Jack, me and Emily, Sarah, and Philip)

Yesterday after church, our family went over to our Nan's (grandma's) house for an April birthday party. Since so many of the grandkid's birthdays are all around the same time, we thought it would be fun to have one big celebration (Eric, Jack, Emily, and I all have April b-days). The evening consisted of laughter, present opening, candle blowing, and a wonderful cookout. It was so much fun to be able to watch all of the kids open their gifts with all of the excitement! Don't get me wrong, I was excited too :).

Here I am with my Nan. She has been a constant encouragement to me all throughout my life. I think I have inherited her love for cooking and I'm hoping that one day I will become a true expert like she is. After dinner, we were able to spend some time chatting about new recipes, and I helped her plan some freezer meals.

Thanks Nan and Bernie for the wonderful time yesterday!

~Alli

My Testimony

"What is my purpose in life?" I cannot count how many times I have asked myself that very question, and how often I have been asked that by others. After the completion of high school I thought, by the world's standards, that my purpose in life was to go out and get a job or leave the home and go to college. Unfortunately, I went the working route thinking, "I guess this is just what I'm supposed to do now after high school, since I don't want to go to college." After working for two years, I felt God convicting me to quit my job and come home. I thought that if going out into the world to "make something of myself" was supposed to be my purpose, then why didn't I feel fulfilled? Instead, I felt unhappy and exhausted. While I was working, God pricked my heart and my perspective changed to, "What does God want me to do with my life? What is His design for me?" Since this change of heart, God has revealed His direction in my life in so many remarkable ways.

After searching through Scripture, I found that my ultimate purpose is to glorify God in all that I do in life. Through His Word, He revealed to me ways that I can accomplish this. All my life, my desire was to be a wife and mother one day. God showed me specifically through Scripture how this was actually part of His perfect plan for a woman. I was led to this passage, "And the Lord God said, 'It is not good for man to be alone; I will make a help meet for him.' " (Genesis 2:18) Therefore, according to this verse, a woman is to be a help meet to her husband. My purpose in this season of my life is to train for this very important role at home under the guidance of my father. My job now is to be a helper to him and his ministry as preparation for my husband one day.

God also revealed to me that my purpose is to one day be a keeper at home. I found this clearly stated in Titus 2:4-5, "That they teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their husbands, that the Word of God be not blasphemed." These are the things I am working on now while I'm still at home to prepare myself so I can one day fill this calling. Right now, our home is my ministry and I'm using it as a training ground for these purposes.

In addition to being a help-meet and a homemaker, my other desire is to be a mother one day. I feel it is my duty, as a Christian, to train and teach my children(Lord-willing) and bring them up in the glory of God. After all, my generation is going to be responsible for training up and bringing forth the next Godly generation. In this phase of my life, I am trying to learn everything I can about God's Word so I may be able to teach my children when the time comes. Currently, I am enrolled in a Christian college called Telos and I am taking some online courses through them. Telos focuses on building God's principles around all areas of the lives of believers.

Ever since God has revealed to me His plan for my life through His Word, I have felt the greatest sense of peace in my heart. Only a couple of years ago, my heart felt void and everything I did felt meaningless. I had always thought, "Why am I hear?" instead of thinking, "What does God want me to do while I'm here?" I am ashamed because I had never really looked to God's perfect Word for my answer. I only made an assumption and traveled down the path that was not intended for my life. Now I know my calling in life and can't wait to see what the future holds! Now I must focus on preparing and training myself for these future roles so that I may glorify God in my purpose. I has been difficult at times to stand alone and swim against the tide of the world, but God continually gives us the grace to get through the persecution that we receive from others. I will continue to embrace His calling and hold it dear to my heart because God's ways are sovereign, and He has truly filled the emptiness in my life.

~Alli

Cookies Can Be Healthy?

Yes they can! A few days ago, I found a recipe for these healthy but fabulous cookies over at Tammy's Recipes. Even though this recipe is without sugar , the substitution of honey and molasses really fools you and you can't tell the difference! Our family is trying to cut back on our sugar intake but it's really hard to find sugar-free recipes. And when you do find one, the results taste like cardboard. This cookie recipe, on the other hand, is definitely a keeper!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Cookies

2 C. whole wheat flour (I used unbleached all-purpose flour)

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/4 C. rolled oats

6 Tbs. butter, softened

2 eggs

1/2 C. honey

1/4 C. molasses (We didn't have any molasses, so I used an extra 1/4 C. honey instead)

1 tsp. vanilla

1-2 C. (total) chocolate chips, nuts, or sunflower seeds, optional (I used walnuts)

1. Combine flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, and oats. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, eggs, honey, molasses, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix, using hands if needed. Add any optional ingredients and drop by teaspoonful onto lightly greased cookie sheets, or, roll dough into balls and press lightly.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until cookies are done. Remove from oven, wait 5 minutes, and then remove to wire rack to cool.

Enjoy! ~ Alli

Sewing Disaster!

Yesterday, after we went thrifting, Mom spotted this lovely sewing book on the shelf. It is full of fun little projects such as handbags, quilts, lampshades, pillowcases, etc... along with the instructions showing you how to make them. The book itself is so pretty inside with the many different bright colors and pictures.

After flipping the pages, I saw these cute little slippers and thought I would give 'em a try! I decided to use cotton material instead of going out and buying terry cloth for this attempt. I wanted to be safe...just in case I messed up (which was very likely with a new pattern :)). I cut out the fabric and started sewing! This is what I ended up with...

Here it is! The only problem is... it barely fits over my big toe! :) I have a feeling I'm going to be giving this pattern a tad bit more practice before I can have a new pair of slippers that actually fit... ~Alli

Thrifting with Alli

Today was a fun day. Alli and I went thrifting in one of our favorite thrift stores. She managed to find some great deals. This skirt was only $6. I found 2 skirts and some tops. We topped it off by stopping at a book store for an Italian Soda and a Mocha Latte :) Philip was kind enough to brave the thrift frenzy, so I treated him to a Oreo brownie. :) ~Julie

We awoke to this beautiful snowy scene early this morning, and received an unexpected three inches here in central Virginia! Although the weatherman yesterday had predicted some snow for this morning, we didn't get our hopes up. It never snows when you want it to!

Our family is going to be taking a break from blogging for Resurrection Sunday. We hope you all are blessed with a lovely weekend as we reflect on what our Lord and Savior went through for us to live eternally with Him in paradise!

~ The Trent Family