Bucket Listing :D

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

-Matthew 18:19

There are a lot of things I would like to do, and a lot of places I would like to go. I doubt all of the things on my bucket list will be in God's plans, though I do hope I will be able to do some of them!

Here is the start of my Bucket List:

This is one of the ones at the top of my list

But even though it is towards the top, I want it to remain in God's hands.

This is something I plan on doing, it is not so much of a wish, as the rest are.

Waiting on my brothers... :)

Definitely on my list!

Travel!

Italy is the place I want to go the very most

I am more of a mountain type of girl, but if the beach looked like this I would totally do it!

New York! I have always wanted to go here, and it would be even better to go at Christmas time!

I have never ever been camping. I know shame on me, but I can't help it.

One day maybe, how fun

This is a big one!

 The blessings from God

I have ALWAYS wanted to do this! How cool would this be!

I ran into this, and I realized that I have never ever finished a complete bottle of nail polish, so now it is on my bucket list...

Yes! As if I don't already do it enough with craft projects!

 I am working on this now, so hopefully soon I can check it off!

 I love balloons!

I have memorized verses, but I want to memorize an entire chapter

This is so true! I want everyone to know!

I have always wanted to do this!

This is a weird one, but in the back of my mind it is there.

Practicing, so hopefully one day!

 *One of the most important ones on my list*

The dream of every parent, and soon to be one, and then me. :D

 Definitely want to do this!

I will!

 Although France is not the place I am dying to go, I would love to see the Eiffel Tower one day

This would be so cool!

I have wanted to do this since forever, even though I have a slight fear of heights...

One day, if the Lord wills, I want to be a missionary! 

Yes, I want to glorify God with my travels

 Now, you see me, now you don't! Probably two different countries the most!

I really hope to be able to check this off my list one day

Oh yes! 

This is last on my list, because it is one of the most important to me. One day I hope to be able to do this. I want to share the experience with someone I love. To grow in God, and love others, together! <3

That is my Bucket List. It's long I know, and the funny thing is I could go on and on adding things to it, but I won't! These are some fantastic hopes and dreams of mine. <3 Maybe one day…Lord willing.

School...

"For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it."

-Ecclesiastes 7:12

"How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver."

-Proverbs 16:16

Today, I just want to encourage those doing school. I know it is hard, and can feel overbearing at times.

But God encourages us to gain wisdom, and understanding. School is not something we should kick and scream about as we are being dragged along. We are being given a gift that is more precious that rubies. 

While school is important, it should not be our complete focus. Our complete focus should be on God. The wisdom and understanding we gain from Him cannot even begin to be compared to anything of worth on earth. 

Study hard, it is important, but do not be so consumed that you lose sight of the bigger picture. Let everything you do point to God. You will make it, He will always be there to help you! 

Have a great school day! :D

Fall Cookies (Gingersnap, and Snickerdoodle Recipes Included!)

"Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."

~Proverbs 16:24

Our church, Antioch Cumunity Church, and another church, Savory Christ Church, are taking part in a ministry called, "Church Under the Bridge."

Here is a link:

Chruch Under The Bridge Video

It is an amazing opportunity to serve. What happens is, someone from the churches will come and preach, we will have praise and worship, and we will also provide food for any people that come.  On average they usually have about 250+ people come each Saturday night!

We had a sign up sheet at our churches for people to help provide some of the food.  My family and I signed up to bring some baked beans, and cookies.  Baked beans were easy, however the cookies were not as easy for me.  I was incharge of making the cookies.  I decided on the cookies I would make, which was Snickerdoodles, and Gingersnaps.  I quickly found a snickerdoodle recipe I liked, but it took be a long time to find a gingersnap recipe that was just right.  I did however eventually find one. I baked the cookies and they turned out beautifully, they were absolutely delicous.  I will give you the recipes I used, and maybe you will be spared from high, and low searching, and maybe you will be able to use them to minister as well. :) 

Snickerdoodle Recipe:

Yields: 2 1/2 to 3 dozen cookies (I doubled it)

Ingredients:

1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter (one stick) at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 Tbs. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Roll in:

3 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.

In a small bowl, wisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter for 30 seconds until creamy. Add sugar, and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla. Beat until well combined. 

Gradually pour in dry ingredients, beating after each addition, until well blended. Dough will be slightly sticky, but workable.

In a small bowl combine 3 Tbs. sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Shape dough into 1" balls, then roll into cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place on prepared cookie sheet and flatten slightly with the flat bottom of a glass. (I wet the bottom and dipped into the mixture then repeated as needed.)

Bake for about 8 minutes, I set the timer for 5 minutes, and they were useually finnished by then, so watch carefully! Let cool on the cookie sheet for 3-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack or wax paper to cool completely.

  

They were absolutely delicous, and I hope you love them too!

Gingersnaps:

Yields: 3-4 dozen (I doubled this one too)

Ingredients:

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 Tbs. ground ginger

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

Rolls in:

1/3 cup cinnamon sugar (I used the same thing I had for the snickerdoodles)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl wisk together, flour, ginger, soda, sinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine shortening and sugar. Mis until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses. Gradually blend in dry ingredients.

From 1" dough balls. Roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture, and place them on your pepared tray. (For flat not craked cookies use the bottom of a flat cup to flatten them. For puffy, slightly craked cookies rolls the balls in cinnamon sugar mixture and place on tray just as it is.) Bake for 10 minutes, watching them carefully, and cool on wire rack, or wax paper. (Thiner cookies will bake quicker)

I made both the thin, and puffy cookies. I preferred the thin, while others in my family preferred the softer ones. I sprinkled sugar/sprinkles on them. Just watch them carefully while they cook until you get a pattern down. 

I hope you enjoy them! Yum!

Ballet Magnificat

"You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble: You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah."

~Psalm 32:7

Sunday night I had the most magnificent opportunity to go and see Ballet Magnificat perform "The Hiding Place."  

It was one of the best experiences of my life. The story was so powerful, and the dancers were so talented!  I could spend this whole post telling you about what an amazing move someone did in the second dance, or how far over their toes they were, or how the fabric of the costumes swirled with their turns, but I will spare you those details and talk about something even better. Although the costumes where gorgeous, and their extensions where beautiful, the thing that made the ballet so powerful was their faith.

Dancing was important to them, but that was not where their hearts lied. After they had told the story of Corrie and Betsie ten Boom, and they were one dance away from the end, they stopped the Ballet temporarily. The director came out and spoke. God spoke through her in a mighty way. She explained the story more, and presented salvation. Then she asked all the dancers to come out. They went into the audience to pray for those who needed it. They started playing a couple of songs, and the dancers waited as people came up to them for prayer.  Everyone in the audience was singing, and praying.  After a couple songs of worship they went back on stage to dance their last dance. As they were dancing I noticed that one girl was without a partner. I looked over the balcony railing and saw her missing partner standing at the bottom of the stage.  She was completely unmoved, praying with two young girls.  She did not care that she was missing the final dance, for what mattered most the her was God, and these two little girls.  It was a true testimony to me.  What an example she was being, showing Christ's love.

The last thing that testified to me was after the Ballet had ended, was that the dancers came out to meet the audience.  My mom went and shared her testimony with the director, and I went to see if some of the dancers would sign my program.  I walked around finding a few and began to notice a pattern as they sign their names.  They were not just signing their names.  Each one would sign their name and then proceed to write the location of a Bible verse or verses. 

Sally Monroe (Bestie ten Boom)- Psalm 91

Leslie Shivers (Corrie ten Boom)- Colossians 3:15

Jade Hundermark (Fraulein "The Snake")- John 1:9

Rebecca Colenda (One of The ten Boom's Friend)- Isiah 53

They are such great role models for anyone.  Much better then Lady Gaga, or Katie Perry. The best part is they strive to point to the greatest ever role model God.

History, Will it Always be a Mystery

"But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revelealed." 

1 Peter 4:13

History is a big deal to me. I happen to be quite a history buff. It is one of my famorite subjects in school. To me it is so fascinating to learn about people who lived a long time ago. 

 My favorite time period is the 1800's. 

If I could travel back in time, this is where I would go. I also would love to travel back to the renaissance, or the Great Depression. You might be asking why anyone would want to relive the Depression, and that is a very logical question. My reason for going to this particular time, and event, would be because people cared. They were not so concerned with themselves, as we seem to be nowadays. 

My favorite history to study, is family history. I love family trees! I like to know who came before me, what I am made of, what is in my blood. I like to where I am from, as if that makes a difference on where I am going… ;)

I have gotten pretty far in my studies, but have only been able to trace back to my great-great-great-grandparents. It is tough work, but I am getting there. I have already found out a lot about the countries I am from.

I am:

Candian

Scottish

(This is are Tartan. Our Familes spicific design. No other family has this design, only the Davidson Clan)

German

and Native American (Probably Cherokee)

Often times though I get so consumed with finding out my past, that I forget that the only past that truely matters is Jesus. He is the past that will effect who I become the most. He died on the cross to save me, and then rose again, conquering death. Do you want to know the best part? He is not just my past, He is my past, present, and future! How amazing is that. I have been given a whole book and more to learn about Him. He is truely the only thing that will ever matter. He is who I stive to be like, who I stive to find out more about. The ancestral history I long to know may forever by a mystery, but the history God has given me never will be a mystery.