Lynzie's Cheesy Chicken with Parmesan Noodles

I absolutely love to cook! I grew up standing in a chair to reach the counter so that I could cook with my Mimi. Thankfully some of the things she has taught me over the past 22 years have stuck! Not only do I love to cook, I love to find recipes, tweak them, and then make them my own. That's what has happened with our favorite family recipe in the Brewer home!

I found this recipe in a magazine last spring and meticulously stuck to it the first time I cooked it. I was so excited when my very picky fiance, at the time, loved it! It's very hard to cook for a picky eater, but he loves cheese and he loves chicken, so this one worked! Over the past year I have tweaked the original recipe a little. I have also come to understand really good cooks a little better. My family always teases my Mimi because we will ask her for a recipe and she'll tell us she doesn't know it. She's made some of her meals and goodies for so long that she doesn't follow a recipe. Her steps for us to follow usually consist of "a little bit of this, not too much of that, and a smidge of this." We never understood how she didn't know, but now I'm getting it! I've cooked this recipe so many times that I don't measure anything, I just pour and hope it works! But as I made it tonight I was careful to note the steps so that I could share it with all of you! Hope you like it!

Cheesy Chicken Ingredients:

6 Fresh Chicken Breasts (Or however many for the amount of people you are serving)

Seasoned Slat (I use Lowry's or Cavender's)

1 (10.75 oz) can of Cream of Chicken Soup

6 Slices of Cheddar Cheese

6 Slices of Swiss Cheese

1/4 Cup of Butter (Melted)

1 Cup of Herb Stuffing Mix (You could use chicken stuffing mix, but we love the herb taste!)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Lightly spray a 9 X 18 dish with Pam.

3. Place chicken breasts in the dish and spread apart. If your chicken breasts are really thick, I would cut them in half so that it doesn't take as long to cook. You could use frozen chicken if you needed to, but in my experience fresh works best!

4. Sprinkle seasoning salt on chicken. Flip chicken to other side and sprinkle salt to coat it.

5. Spread Cream of Chicken soup evenly on top of the chicken. You can also spread it around the chicken to fill the dish.

6. Place one slice of Swiss Cheese on each chicken breast.

7. Place one slice of Cheddar Cheese on each chicken breast.

8. In a bowl, melt the butter. Then, add the stuffing mix to the bowl and stir until the stuffing is coated.

9. Sprinkle the butter/stuffing mixture across the top of the chicken and cheese.

10. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour.

Parmesan Noodles Ingredients:

9 0z. Bag of Wide Egg Noodles

3 Tablespoons of Butter

3 Tablespoons of Sour Cream

1/2 Cup of Grated Parmesan Cheese

Salt to Taste

**I start cooking these when the chicken has about 20 minutes left to cook. You want to serve the noodles with the chicken as soon as it comes out of the oven!

1. Follow the directions on the egg noodle bag to cook noodles. BE SURE TO BOIL THE WATER BEFORE ADDING THE NOODLES! The first time I made these I added the noodles to the water before it was boiling and it turned into a mushy mess. Lesson learned :)

2. When noodles are cooked, drain and pour into a serving bowl. 

3. Add butter, sour cream, parmesan cheese, and salt. Stir together and serve warm!

I don't know what it is about this recipe, but the chicken always turns out so tender and juicy! It always makes for a happy household and a clean plate! :)

It's Springtime!

I absolutely love Spring. Spring decorations just brighten my day. Especially Easter decorations! I think I can blame my Mimi for this. She has always decorated her house for Easter and it is one of the highlights of spring when I am able to visit her and see all of her adorable touches around the house. She almost didn't decorate last year, so I had to go over there and make sure she didn't slack off :)

To go along with my love for Spring decorations, I have come to love making wreaths! There are so many easy ways to make a wreath that I never even thought about. Thankfully, Pinterest has helped me find several wonderful craft blogs that have wonderful tutorials on how to make easy, yet adorable, wreaths for all seasons.

Today I made a spring wreath to go our front door! I haven't done well with keeping a wreath on the door since Christmas because we have been so busy, but I finally had time today to make our door look a little Springy!

The wreath I made today was inspired by a fall wreath that I found on Linda's Blog. She has some very helpful tutorials on how to make simple wreaths and other crafts! The neat thing about this wreath is that it is interchangeable. The flowers clip on and off so that you can change them out for each season while still using the same wreath! I actually used two of her tutorials to help me out today and you can find those here and here. Using both of them helped me understand a few of the steps that I was a little hesitant on!

I took a few pictures of the process so that I could provide a few helpful hints if you want to try this wreath too!

Materials Needed:

Any type of wreath form you would like

1/2 yard of burlap {Here is a very helpful hint on how to cut burlap in a straight line!}

Three different colors of felt {Linda used burlap for her fall wreath, but I wanted to have spring colors for this one, so I used felt! I works just as well!}

Three dome craft buttons

A small amount of fabric to cover your buttons, or you could paint them

3 Alligator clips

Hot glue gun

See the three extra burlap loops with the alligator clips?? I love that the flowers can be changed and I can still use the same wreath body! So clever!

Linda has a picture of a template on her blog for the petal pieces, so I just free-handed these and cut them out. You will need a small, medium, and large petal template.

To make it easy, I pinned each template to the felt, cut around it, and then removed the template to do the next petal!

Your flowers will need 6 petals in all. I did 3 small and 3 medium petals for the blue and pink flowers. Then, I did 3 medium and 2 large petals for the yellow flower to make it stand out a little!

The petals are so much easier to make than they look! This is what they look like after they have been glued together, but before the buttons are put on! I think I am going to attempt to make some headbands for my niece using these flower designs. They are so easy to make and would be so cute with a stone in the center on a headband!

I did not realize how easy it was to wrap buttons with fabric! It took about 2 minutes to wrap all three buttons with fabric. Then, I hot glued the buttons onto the flowers and the flowers onto the alligator clips. All I had to do to finish was clip the flowers onto the burlap strips!

I know this wasn't a step-by-step tutorial, but I had to give Linda all the credit for this one! I am excited about making different flowers and decor to clip onto this wreath in the future!

The Rock and The Sand

I am sadly missing school today because of my first sick experience since the beginning my teaching career! I am very impressed with how well my immune system has held up so far. I had to leave school half-way through the day yesterday and was impressed that I made it through the first 8 months of teaching without getting sick! I guess it was bound to come sometime.

Rest is always good for me because I usually am going 90 to nothing constantly. However, after being in bed for 24 hours, I am ready to be up and going again. Thankfully, the Lord knew I needed this time with Him.

This week I've been reading through the book of Matthew. It's one of those books I honestly do not frequent because it is full of the familiar stories you grow up hearing about. I suppose as I've gotten older I have come to think I know everything ;) Oh, how wrong I can be! God has definitely been setting me back in my seat this week as He has revealed himself in new ways through familiar stories about Jesus preaching, performing miracles, and calling the people around Him to come to Him. My husband likes to remind me often that this is the process of sanctification. What a beautiful process of sanctification it has been this week!

Since I have been stuck in bed for the past 24 hours, I was able to pick up Matthew and continue rereading again today without having a reason to stop. It has been nice to have no reason to look at the clock and no reason to rush. With this free time I stumbled upon such a familiar passage in a brand new way. I was overwhelmed with joy at the way the words jumped off the page in such a new, brilliant light. You are probably also very familiar with this passage. It is a popular one in Children's church. There is even a catchy song to go along with it that will stick to your brains and never let you forget. You know...

"The wise man built his house upon the rock, the wise man built his house upon the rock, the wise man built his house upon the rock and the rains came tumbling down! Oh, the rains came down, and the floods went up! The rains came down and the floods went up! The rains came down and the floods went up and the wise man's house stood firm!"

Today, however, instead of the passage causing my mind to dance around in glee, singing the song that never leaves, I was struck with a much more urgent and serious feeling. 

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."--Matthew 7:24-27

We all know this parallel, we have all sang the song and performed the motions in children's church, we've all come to a basic understanding of this concept: build your life on a firm foundation, not something that will fail. But reading it again today revealed something a little deeper to me.

Jesus offers Himself to every person on this planet. Scripture tells us in 1 Timothy that God desires to see all saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Sadly, there are two groups of people in life--the group who accepts, believes, and trusts Jesus and the group who denies, ignores, and tries to live independently of Jesus. However, these verses in Matthew paint a picture of a promise for both groups: the rains will come down, the streams will rise and try to overtake, and the winds will blow and threaten stability. It's going to happen for both groups of people. Both groups will experience the storms of life. The person who accepts, believes, and trusts Jesus will not be exempt from the storms simply because he has chosen Truth. The difference between the two will be the outcome. One will stand and one will fall. Both will experience struggle, heartache, and difficulty. But both will come to different ends. The one who trusts will be protected, he will be sustained, he will be showered with grace, he will be held up by a power far beyond understanding "because [he] had [his] foundation on the rock"(Matt. 7:25). The other will endure similar storms and hardships, but will be crushed under the burdens he was never intended to carry. Amazing. Horrifying, yet amazing.

Why do we intentionally face that crushing? Why do we intentionally choose to ignore when we already know what the outcome will be? It's like looking into a magic ball and being able to know the future, yet not doing anything about it. I am so guilty of this. I know what my life will look like if I do not spend my time earnestly seeking and chasing after Jesus--dark, gloomy, and destroyed. Yet many times I choose to run after other things rather than build up my firm foundation. The Lord filled me up today with this reminder--the storms of this life are always coming. The clouds are filling and the thunder is rolling. Will I stand or fall? Will you stand or fall? It is our choice to make.

First Grade Theology Part II

After teaching for 6 months, I am realizing that God probably put me in a classroom full of 22 six and seven year olds because He knew I needed to learn some very basic lessons within the complexity level of First Grade. I suppose I wasn't made to learn lessons in more mature settings. However, since Jesus desired for us to grow more like children in our faith, I'll go with it!

I continue to learn new things from my 22 kiddos every day. These lessons aren't always fun to learn at the time, however. My patience and nerves are usually shot by the end. Most of these life lessons come in the forms of arguments between kids. Sometimes I get so frustrated when I have to remind them of the same things over and over. I want to ask them, "Don't you get this??" But it sure is funny when the moment comes and I realize that my Teacher would probably like to look at me and say, "Don't you get this??" Thankfully, in God's sovereignty, He has a plan for my slip-ups and sees beyond my moment of failure.

All week we have experienced a reoccurring theme in our classroom. Someone does something wrong and that someone blames someone else for making that someone do it. This is a popular happening with six and seven year olds. Excuses go flying and everyone is "blameless." One of my little boys struggled with this all week. Early in the week he got in trouble for continuously talking while I was trying to teach. I had warned him several times and then finally had to have him and the boy he was talking to power down for not changing their behaviors. The main little boy was distraught over this and just kept telling me, "He was talking to me! He was making me talk!" I quickly had to ask him (as gracefully as possible), "Does he control your lips? Does me make your lips move?" Of course the answer was obvious. I then had to explain to him that no one can make him do anything. He has to make the choice to do what he knows is right even when someone else is tempting him to do what is wrong.

Later in the day this same little boy ran into another situation that was very similar to his talking episode. We were walking down the hall when I turned around to see him hit a girl in the head with a paper book. Now, I realize it is paper. However, it made a loud pop and looked a little painful. The girl was fine, but I was appalled. I could not believe that he was continuing in his poor choices and even hitting a girl. I pulled him aside to discuss the matter and his first words were, "She hit me first! It wasn't my fault!"It seemed like I just could not get it through to him that blaming someone else for his actions wasn't going to cut it. I could not get through to him that he chooses whether he is going to respond positively or negatively to a bad situation.

Of course God was using that little boy to teach me more than using me to teach him as I figured out Wednesday night. That afternoon had been full of energetic kids who desperately needed to let all of their energy out, but couldn't because of the downpour of rain. On top of the high energy levels, I had a lot of work and preparation to do for several big observations coming up soon. I didn't leave work until 6:15, I was starving, and had to go straight to the church to be on time for youth. I was so exhausted that I honestly felt like just going home. However, I knew I could use the encouragement of fellowship and the Word to help my bad mood that had developed throughout the afternoon. Instead, my bad mood escalated when I got mad at Nathan for something so little that just happened to slip into the radar of my negativity. I'm not the sweetest person when I get mad, so I was very rude and blamed my frustrations on Nathan. I told him as much later that night and thankfully he is much wiser than me. He responded in the most humble and honest way, which almost made me more mad! That he could respond to my bad choices of anger with humility and kindness blew my mind.

Later my mind flew back to my guilty little boy from school. My heart sank. I was just like this six year old boy. I had made the choice to be in a bad mood and take it out on Nathan. I tried to blame my poor behavior on him, when really I had made the choice to be in a bad mood. I had allowed the less desirable moments of the day bombard my attitude. There was no one else to blame but myself. I realized that, just like I had told my student the day before, no one makes my lips move. No one makes my face create awful looks. No one makes my attitude plummet. I do. I choose how I will respond. Simple as that.

How quick are we to blame others for our mistakes or our awful attitudes? How often do we fail to take responsibility for our poor words, attitudes, and actions? How quick are we to point the finger to get it away from ourselves? No one makes us do anything. The choice is ours.


"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life..." Deuteronomy 30:19

1st Grade Theology

I learned last spring while I was student teaching that there would be many lessons that God would reveal to me through the little lives that He put in my classroom every day. I suppose that since Jesus delighted in children so much in the Bible that often times He chooses to teach me through them instead of teaching them through me. I absolutely love the children God has placed in my classroom this year. I have had a few come and a few go, but as of right now I have 22 students--16 boys and 6 girls. Yes, I (and my 6 sweet girls) covet your prayers on a daily basis :)

With the boy to girl ratio in my classroom, there is NEVER a dull moment. Someone always has a story to tell, an illness that needs to be cured, a booboo from getting hit, a joke to tell, a fight to be settled, a shoe that needs to be tied, a question to be asked, and the list goes on and on. I come home every day with a thousand stories to tell Nathan and he always knows which kids to ask me about, knowing that they had to have done something interesting that day. I love it.

Many of the lessons God has already taught me through these 6 and 7 year olds have been straight-forward, black and white, convicting lessons. To have such sweet little children be the vessel through which He teaches me makes it even clearer when He's trying to get my attention. Though I have felt guilty at times by the realization of areas that need to be changed, it is always refreshing and I am always so thankful that God is using these kids in my life way more than He's using me in their lives. So at the end of the day, I usually feel very at peace with what I've seen and learned.

However, yesterday was a bit of a different story. We were pushing chairs in, putting backpacks on, chatting about the weekend, and lining up to go home when I remembered I needed to grab something off of my desk. Everyone was lined up at the door and as I turned around and walked back to my desk, I noticed one of my adorable students standing behind my desk. I gave the child a smile and a funny look and said,"What are you doing over there?" No response. I walked closer and asked again. Still no response, but this time there was a bug-eyed smile. I repeated the question again and in response she held up her backpack. As the backpack was being held up, I caught a glimpse of a page of stickers in the other hand. At just that moment the stickers fell to the ground and the she continued holding the backpack in the air. I walked around this very guilty looking child, knowing what had happened. I sat down in my chair and picked the stickers up off of the floor. I looked into her big blue eyes and asked, "Where did these stickers come from?" Silence. So, I proceeded to spend 3 or 4 minutes asking many questions like, "How did these stickers get out of my drawer?" and "Why were you behind my desk?". (The kids know that they have their space and I have my space and that they are not allowed to be behind my desk without permission.) I continued to question her in a very tender and calm way, hoping that she would see that I was not angry or mad, but only looking for the truth. I was very kind in the way I approached her and reminded her that admitting what she did and being honest is always better than not telling the truth. She began to cry and repeat over and over "I didn't do it!" And that's when my heart sunk. My eyes filled with tears. If it wasn't for the fact that she had to be on the bus in 3 minutes, I would have cried with her.

My heart sunk and I wanted to cry my eyes out because I realized in that moment that this sweet little girl had sinned. Now, please don't think I am being extreme here; I do have a point. This little girl had taken a page of stickers out of my drawer without permission and then proceeded to lie about it. I tried to be so graceful in talking with her hoping that she would see that the truth is always better than a lie. However, she didn't. She didn't want to admit she was wrong because she knew there were consequences coming. In that moment, as I stared into her eyes and saw how hard she was trying to hold on to innocence and convince me she hadn't done anything wrong, I was heartbroken because I was reminded of the depravity in which we are when we don't know Jesus.

The Bible is full of scripture that reminds us of what we are without Christ:

"Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." Psalm 51:5

"I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature." -Romans 8:18

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is not at work in those who are disobedient." -Ephesians 2:1-2

"There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God." Romans 3:10-11

"...For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

We were born into sin. We are sinful people by nature. We are dead in our sins and transgressions. We live in darkness. We are lost. We are lonely. We are in need. And that need is for forgiveness that only comes through a Savior. What struck me during this conversation with my unswerving student was that before we can be forgiven, before we can be healed, before we can be renewed and given new life, we have to acknowledge our need. My sweet little girl could not come to grips with her mistake. She didn't want to acknowledge what she had done for many different reasons. It broke my heart because she didn't see her fault. She didn't see her need. But I did. I saw her mistake. I saw her need. And I couldn't do anything about it. I was helpless before her because in that moment, nothing I could have said would have convinced her that the truth was better.

24 hours later I am still thinking about her and the stickers. Not because the stickers were a big deal, but because I want her to know Jesus. After telling Nathan the story last night, we talked about what it will be like one day when our own children make mistakes. When they steal, tell a lie, or sin in some other way. When we sit down to talk about what they've done, they will most likely deny their failures at least once, if not many, many times. How painful will it be to sit and look into their eyes and know that they don't see their sin. They don't see their need. And know at the same time, we cannot convince them. Only God can change their hearts.

So, what has God shown me through this day in the classroom? Pray, pray, pray for the kids in my class. I want them to know Jesus so badly. Pray for my own children that I don't even have yet. That God would work in their lives every day, even as they are young children figuring out right and wrong. Lead my children by example. When I am caught in sin and I continue in sin without acknowledging where I have gone wrong, my kids will learn from me and do the same. I pray even now that the Holy Spirit would give me grace to confess my sins and run away from them in order to seek Jesus. He is light. He is life. He is truth. He is better.

Your Spiritual Act of Worship

I absolutely love to blog. However, I rarely make time to sit down and do it! I'm hoping that with this New Year MAYBE I'll get better at it :)

My heart is full. God has blessed and is still blessing daily. Nathan and I had an amazing first Christmas together and are so thankful that we were able to visit all of our family over the break. With the holidays over, excitement is building for the coming days! We are thrilled about this new season that God is carrying us into and cannot wait to see where 2012 leads!

2012 has already brought many changes around the Brewer home. School has begun for Nathan, I am knee deep into teaching my kiddos, and we have begun our ministry at Conway's First Baptist Church. Nathan is the new worship leader for The Burn, FBC's youth, and Thrive, a new contemporary service on Sunday mornings. Change is hard sometimes, but it can also be full of unbelievable joy and peace. I am so thankful for the way God has provided for us in this new transition. We miss our church family at Antioch, but God has stepped in and allowed us to already begin building strong relationships in our new home. I am amazed every day at His provision and plan.

Along with feeling overwhelmed with blessings over the past month, I have also been wrapped up in many thoughts. A few weeks ago I came upon a few verses in Romans that set me back and humbled me. They looked straight at  me and bombarded my pride. They set straight any thought that believed I had control of my life. They clearly revealed pieces of God's character that I tend to overlook at times.

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgements, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay Him? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen." --Romans 11:33-36

There is so much power in these words! Even while I was writing them and thinking about their depth and power, I was struck with a fear that only Satan could have been behind. This Word is so living and active that just by reading it and proclaiming it, Satan is threatened. Praise God for His victorious Word that helps us in our times of weakness and battle!

These four verses encompass the most amazing traits of God. He is beyond understanding in ways--His understanding has no end and His ways are beyond our understanding because He sees all! He is the God who sees us right where we are at any given moment, but He is also the God who knows what is to come like He knows what happened yesterday. No one has or ever will be enough for God--He needs no completion. He is all complete, filled, and whole. And the most amazing part to me that leaves me in awe is that EVERYTHING is from Him, EVERYTHING comes through Him, and EVERYTHING is to Him. Nothing that is or happens or exists is unknown to Him. Everything, every little detail is to honor and glorify Him. This includes the little things that we may not consider spiritual, as well as difficult and challenging things that cause many critics of God Most High to ask how a loving God could allow. Everything is for His glory, so that He may be known by all.

Many times in the Bible we see the word "therefore." I love this word. I am your typical Type A personality. I require direct instructions in order to follow a task. Any time we see "therefore" we know there are explicit instructions coming. This passage in Romans is no exception. Paul tells us and reminds us of God's sovereignty and His power above all. And then He comes in to tell us that BECAUSE OF the Way God reigns in our lives, there is something that we should do.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--His good, pleasing, and perfect will." --Romans 12:1-2

These two verses are very well-known to many Christians. The challenge that these words present calls us to abandon the ways of this world, be transformed into Christ's likeness, and offer ourselves as sacrifices for God to use to bring His name glory. We know this challenge, but do we take in the full magnitude or just shrug it off? I realized that I had never read all six of these verses together at one time. When I did, it completely changed my view of this calling. Because of the abundant mercy that God has shown me, because of the grace He has poured out on me--not because I deserve it or because He needs me, but because He loves me and wants me--there is nothing else I can do but give myself completely to Him and say "yes" to Him. "Yes" to whatever it is He wants to do with me. This is so much easier said than done. It's so easy for me to say, "Yes Lord, use me and do whatever you want," but still live by my own ways. But this is where verse 2 comes in--"Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." This renewal comes only through time with Jesus every day, many times a day.

It was not coincidence that as God laid these verses on my heart and began opening my eyes to His will for me to lose more of me and gain all of Him that He was also having me read Kisses From Katie.

This book was written by a 23 year-old missionary in Uganda. Katie moved to Uganda right out of high school to serve and minister to the lowest of lows in Uganda. In the 4-5 years that she has been there she has started her own ministry called Amazima, which sponsors 400+ children, allowing them to have food, school supplies, school fees and basic necessities. She has had the opportunity to help feed 1,500+ people in a remote village that many people consider to be untouchables. In addition, she began a program within this village that allows for women to escape prostitution and the making of alcohol in order to make a living that supports their families. These women create amazing beaded necklaces that are sold through Katie's ministry. On top of all of these ways of outreach, Katie has 13 adopted Ugandan daughters. All at the age of 23. At first I was so amazed that I wanted to honor her and pat her on the back for giving up her comfortable life and living in filth in order to spread the name of Jesus to hopeless and dying people. But remember Romans 12? "This is your spiritual act of worship."

I am so thankful for the timing in which Katie's story came into my life. It is such a beautiful picture of Romans 12:1-2 and allows me to see exactly what Paul is saying. Does this mean that everyone should up and move to Uganda? I don't think it does. Paul tells us to say "yes,", to be transformed, and to be renewed. THEN, we will know what God's will is for our specific lives and what it is that He is calling us to do as our "spiritual act of worship."

I don't have a clue what God is going to ask me to do in my life. The idea of giving everything away and moving to minister to the "least of these" is something that intrigues me more than ever. Taking children in as my own and showing them the love that Christ has shown me is a deep desire. Many of you know how deeply Nathan and I feel called to adoption and we are praying even now for God's direction in that. We don't know when, from where, or how it will happen, but we are praying for our future in bringing home children and teaching them about the Hope that can be theirs. I am so eager to jump right into that, but I am also eager to be obedient right now, right where He has us. I praise God for the blessing of being a wife. I praise God for the opportunity to serve at First Baptist. I praise God for the opportunity to walk into a classroom full of 22 children every day and teach them and love on them. This is where God has me. This is where I desire to live out my "spiritual act of worship." 

Where is your "spiritual act of worship" being lived out? Wherever it is, whatever you're doing, whoever you're surrounded by: be transformed, be renewed, and live out your life as worship unto The One who is above all. 

To find out more information about Katie Davis' ministry in Uganda visit:

Katie's Blog

Amazima Ministries

Blessings of Finding Home Sweet Home

Believe it or not, I am still alive. My blog would tell the world that I disappeared. However, life has taken over and kept me quite busy this semester! I have been student teaching in a Kindergarten class since January and have loved the experience! The kids in my class are joys to see every day and have made sure to keep me energized! On top of student teaching, we have been planning for the wedding, which is June 18th--2 months from yesterday! I cannot believe how fast time has gone by! We are so excited and are right in the middle of all of the major planning for life after the wedding!

For the past month or so, we have been praying very diligently about where God wants us to be after we are married. Nathan is originally from Oklahoma and I am from Conway. We both love both places and consider them both home, to be honest. I will be graduating here in two and a half weeks and, Lord willing, will be teaching in the fall. Nathan will still have a little bit of school left, but is planning on going into ministry wherever God leads. Though he still has some school left to finish, we have spent the last month knowing that I would not be tied here and that moving to Oklahoma to serve in ministry could be a possibility. We both love his home church there and love the people and really have a heart for what God is doing in that area. At the same time, we know that it would be wise for Nathan to finish school here. All of our pros and cons have weighed back and forth and we have prayed that God would reveal to us where HE wants us to be, not where WE want to be. I was getting to the point of worrying because time is ticking away and we still were even sure what state we would be living in after we were married. Thankfully, God began stirring our hearts last week and helping us see a small glimpse of His plan for us. He gave us a peace and a sense of guidance that for right now, we need to be in Conway. Nathan will finish school and I am hoping to be teaching in this area in the fall.

So after making this very big decision, we began looking at houses again. We had started looking at houses last month, but God closed a few doors and showed us that we needed to keep looking. The funny thing is, we didn't look for very long! We spent all afternoon yesterday driving around to every neighborhood that we could possibly think of to find a house to call home. We saw a few that were possibilities, but at the end of our search, we found the cutest, most perfect house for us. It was For Sale By Owner, so Nathan called the number to get information about it. The guy answered and informed Nathan that he was actually walking some flyers out and that we were welcome to grab one. As we talked to him, he told us that we could come in and look around if we wanted to. I was thrilled!! We walked in and I instantly knew that this could very well be home. We looked around and talked to the couple for a little while and then decided that we needed a second opinion! As first time homebuyers, we don't know a whole lot about the process, so my parents are teaching us and guiding us along the way! Mom came right over and she loved it too! So, the only one left was dad. We went home and had dinner and then went back to look at the house a third time! This couple was so sweet to allow us to just take over their night! We ended to visit agreeing to pray about the decision and be in touch soon.

Now, I have crazy dreams. I don't know why, but I am known for having the weirdest dreams. However, last night my dreams weren't weird at all! They were wonderful dreams about the house! I woke up so excited about it! On my way to school, I stopped by CBC and left Nathan a note on his truck that said: "I think this might just be the one..." We both knew that it was perfect and we felt a peace that we were ready to move forward! So, this evening, we went back over with my parents, took a final walk through, and made an offer. I know this sounds extremely fast and rushed, but we are on a bit of a short time schedule. With getting married in 2 months, we have less than 8 weeks for all of the paperwork and closing procedures to go through. So, finding the perfect house with such a short time frame was such a blessing and we could not pass it up! The couple was on board with our offer and accepted it right away!

Here are a few pictures of our soon to be home!

My dad was helping us check everything out!

This is the entry way, as you walk in the front door!

View of the living room from the kitchen.

The Kitchen!

Dining area attached to the kitchen!

View from the back of the dining area.

The Backyard!

View of the back of the house!

Nathan signing our Offer Agreement! We felt so grown up :)

The owner even let us take the For Sale sign down for him :)

More pictures to come in the upcoming months! We will be closing on the house June 2! Just enough time to get everything moved in before the wedding! We are so excited about this new chapter in life. It is so exciting to see how God is just answering prayers, closing doors, opening doors, and leading us all along the way! We can't wait to move in and make it our own after the big day in June!