Starstruck

Have you ever gone outside on a clear summer night, lain down on the grass or on your porch, and just looked at the stars?  This is one of my favorite things to do.  Outside in the clear air (I lived in a relatively remote spot, on four acres of land), looking up at the brilliant stars, and, sometimes, the Milky Way, I feel so close to God.  And yet, so small.  The stars up in the night sky looking down where I lay remind me of how beautiful God is, and they show me that I’m not the center of the universe, I’m tiny compared to the world God has created and compared to Him.

            I also love looking at the Hubble photographs.  The beauty of the galaxies simply astounds me.  Sometimes, I’ll imagine myself up in the night sky, holding Jesus’ hand, and He’s showing me the galaxies; when I picture that, I about start crying for joy.  Our Lord created those things for us, because He could.  For us, He wanted to.  Imagine that!  God, so big, who was able to create the millions of galaxies, did it for us, because He loves us that much.

            Another of my favorite songs is ‘Light Up the Sky’ by the Afters.  The chorus reads

You light light light up the sky, You light up the sky to show me You are with me.  I I I can’t deny, no I can’t deny that You are right here with me.  You open my eyes so I can see You all around me.  You light light light up the sky, you light up the sky to show me you are with me.

             

Whenever you’re feeling down, look at the stars, and remember just how big God’s love is for you.  God, who created the stars, and dresses the lilies of the field, know the number of hairs on your head and loves you for who you are.

I'm giving my life to the only One who makes the moon reflect the sun.

Every starry night, that was His design.

I'm giving my life to the only Son, who was and is and yet to come

Let the praises ring, 'cause He is everything

'Cause He is everything

Cranberry Muffin Recipe

One thing that I really enjoy is baking. I love to make cookies, muffins, cake, brownies - anything easy and delicious! Today I am going to share one of my favorite recipes. It's for extra yummy cranberry muffins. Muffins can be a great breakfast and snack food, no matter what kind. Normally I would make these with the left-over cranberry sauce from thanksgiving but they taste great any time of year.


Before making, make sure you have all of the necessary ingredients. 

Ingredients needed:
2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Sugar
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 Eggs
1/4 cup Oil
1/2 cup Milk
1 cup (about 1/2 can) Whole Cranberry Sauce

Directions:
Preheat  oven to 400 degrees.
Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center.
Beat together eggs, oil, milk, and cranberries in another bowl.
Poor wet ingredients into the well made by the dry ingredients and stir until moistened.
Batter will be  lumpy.
Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 of the way full.
Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. (check at 18 minutes)
EAT!

Five Ways to Have Fun With Friends: Spring

In February we wrote a post about having fun with friends on those dreary winter days when you really have no idea what to do. This post is about fun Spring things to do!

1. Photoshoot!
This is an activity I absolutely love to do with my girlfriends. Dress up (or down) in your favorite clothes, do your hair and makeup a little differently and take the girls to a park to take lots of pictures! Try out odd angles and different backgrounds like hanging upside-down on the monkey bars or sitting on a fallen tree. Make sure everyone gets a chance to get their pictures taken and do the picture taking.  It’s also really interesting if you focus on a part of the person’s face, especially eyes, and then get a blurred out background behind them. If you have an SLR camera (or one of your parents has one that you can borrow) switch the focus to manual and focus on something unusual that the auto-focus would normally not.

2. Paintball
If you and your friends are feeling adventurous (or just really bored) paint balling can be a great solution. Find the nearest paint balling place and a good time for all of your friends to get together. Find out how much it’s going to cost and dress in thick clothing. You’re probably going to get hit with a paintball, and it can sometimes hurt.

3. Bike Rides
This is something fun you can do by yourself or with a group of friends. Find  a place you would like to bike to and do it!  Oh... check to make sure your bikes are in working condition first, and that there are enough bikes for your whole group.  It’s no fun if someone has to walk. But other than that, there’s not much planning needed for a bike ride.

4. Sew a new summer skirt
If you are crafty and like to sew (or have a friend who does) look online for a good tutorial  and some fabric on a good sale. Sometimes you can even find an old curtain or  table cloth at Goodwill. Maybe you have some fabric laying around the house somewhere. Besides that, all you need is a sewing machine,  a pair of scissors, some thread, and elastic or hooks and eyes to keep the skirt on.

5. Sports
It doesn’t matter if you are an athlete or even into sports; there are many ways to use sports as a form of entertainment. If you play a certain sport you probably spend a lot your time at practice or a game but if you don’t, there are still ways to have fun with sports. Most people have access to a soccer ball or beach ball. Just kicking the ball around or throwing a frisbee can be a blast. But if you have access to things like tennis courts and equipment, a baseball and bat, or soccer goals you can set up an organized game or match. Maybe play a game of ultimate frisbee or capture the flag. But if you and your friends aren’t the athletic type, there are other ways to have a good time with sports. Go cheer on your little brother at his little-league baseball game. Support your school team at the soccer game. Or just get a bunch of friends together, buy a lot of snacks, and watch tennis matches on TV. Whatever you choose to do, there will be lots of fun involved!