A few days behind...

Having been out of town due to work I am a little late with my posts but I promise I'll get back on it ASAP! Expect multiple posts a day!

31 Days: Day Two

As I mentioned in the first post of the series, I don't want to just talk about Southern Hospitality but truly want to take it deeper. 

For the next few days I want to look at hospitality from a biblical perspective. Hospitality is a way of life in the Bible. 

"Christian hospitality, as given to us in the Bible, is a sacred process of 'receiving' outsiders and changing them from strangers to guests."

A few examples we can take from scripture: 
1. Joshua 2: Rahab welcomed her home to the spies sent by Joshua.

But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. (Joshua 2:6 ESV)

2. John 4:  The Samaritan woman not only opened her home to Jesus but she testified to who he was and spread the word about the living water.

3. Acts 9: Paul (then Saul) was taken in by Barnabas.

But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. (Acts 9:27 ESV)

(Helpful Source)

31 Days: Day One

Having been on a blogging hiatus for a while due to our recent relocation to Mississippi, when I saw the Nester’s reminder about the “31 days” linkup, I immediately said to myself, “Why Not?”

So here I am today writing the very first of 31 posts for the month of October.

Once I made the commitment to myself to give this whole “31 days” thing a try, I realized that I had to come up with a topic that would not only excite me but could provide enough material for 31 posts. After literally just a few minutes of thinking I came up with…

31 Days of Southern Hospitality (…without the façade)

Let me give you a little taste of what’s to come…

Knowing instantly I wanted to do something related to hospitality, I knew I wanted to go a little deeper than just table decorations and flowers (though we will talk about those things). I wanted to dive in to how hospitality is an extension of our Christian faith and focus on being “hospitable” as a way of life, rather than a way we clean our homes before company comes over. We will look at hospitality in the Bible as well as some fun ways to go the extra mile to making those we come in contact with truly loved. 

Too Popular

I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus with our recent relocation to Jackson, MS. Before I catch up on life lately, I wanted to share with you two articles that really shed light on Fifty Shades of Grey and "Magic Mike." These two pop culture items are simply just too popular among women this Summer. We as Christian women should know where to stand on the issues.

50 Shades of Magic Mike and I'm Not Reading "Fifty Shades of Grey."

With scriptural basis, these two women do a wonderful job of reminding us, as Christian women where we should stand and how we need to be set apart from the world.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!"Matthew 6:22-23

Pinterest Board of the Week: Hand Lettering

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Recently, hand lettering has been everywhere. Some may call it a trend, but I'd say it is just a resurfacing of a lost art. A lost art that I have always loved.

A few weekends ago I was reading through my old journals, and aside from the 5th grade "drama," of note passing, I simply laughed at the evolution of my handwriting (though it was difficult at times to even see the words written, as gel pens and milky pens were all the rage). From curly tails at the end of words to a combo of cursive and print. I love handwriting and seeing how people find different ways to spice up the way a name is written.

Today, I wanna say "Cheers!" to the lovely art of hand lettering. May keys on a keyboard never surpass the the art of the pen stroke.

Lazy Afternoons

As the number of days in Athens are decreasing, Nathan and I are trying to cross things off our "Athens Bucket List." With it being such a gorgeous weekend, we spend Sunday afternoon at the Georgia Botanical Gardens. These pictures were taking with my handy iphone camera (no filter) and I'd say the gardens were captured quite nicely-the subjects were pretty perfect too. If you are in the area the gardens are a must visit of course because of the lush gardens but also there are tons of trails and different areas to explore.

Recipe of the Week: Morning Glory Muffins

While honeymooning in Jamaica, Nathan and I fell in love with morning glory muffins and finally got around to making our own version on a Sunday morning. Mix up these delectable ingredients and morning glory muffins are sure to become one of your breakfast staples.

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup cane sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or any nuts on hand)
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 apple (peeled, cored and shredded) OR 1 cup of apple sauce
3 organic eggs (can always substitute if you don't want to use eggs)
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees 
-Grease 12 muffin cups or use muffin liners
* this batch made 12 large and several mini muffins for us
-In large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in carrot, raisins, nuts, coconut, and apple.
-In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, oil, and vanilla.
-Stir egg mixture into the carrot/flour mixture, just until moistened.
-Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
-Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.


Recipe adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-morning-glory-muffins/