Hello all, and welcome back. I hope you have found some rest, relaxation, freedom, joy, peace, and revelation this last week, as we have all been blessed to experience another one. I apologize for not posting this last Monday, but we took out time to travel through Southern Canada and the Seattle area. My best intension was to post on our trip of course, but I was so captivated each day by the beauty surrounding me on all of our hikes and in all of our amazing experiences, I decided to go with it, take in all we could, and be in the moment. Sometimes we just have to go with the flow. I have so much to share and I am so happy to be connecting with you again. I miss our time!
The weather in Southern Canada was simply perfect and the scenery was unimaginably beautiful! We had a fantastic time riding gondolas part way up to snow covered mountain peaks in the Whistler area, hiking, visiting a strawberry, blueberry, vegetable, and flower farm in Pemberton BC, shop, and eat some tasty food in Squamish, Pemberton, Whistler and Seattle. In this time in our lives, we are trying to eat less meat and dishes containing high cholesterol ingredients, so as we ate different delicious meals in Canada, I took mental notes on healthy ways I could try to replicate them when we got home. Of course we were not perfect eaters on vacation, that would be a sin (just kidding) but we tried to modify and consume some healthier options if possible. It is so wonderful to explore and see other parts of the world. It can broaden your horizons in so many ways, to experience other cultures and new tasty foods. On our trip, we tried to shop at the market for breakfast and lunch on several occasions, this is where I discovered our newest edible creation. It is meat free and I have added some tips and ingredients to make it even more healthy. I am going to post a yummy spinoff of one of the vegetarian items we ate in Canada. As we were enjoying some of the interesting foods we ate, I knew I could come pretty close to recreating something similar at home. I will give you the recipe later in the post. If you enjoy hummus, I think you will love it. I have made this item now two times and we both love it :-)~ I am going to leave you in suspense for a few minutes. I hope it doesn't disappoint!
(Here is a picture of one of our hikes close to the village in Whistler, BC)
Some of you reading this post have been keeping up with listening to a 35-minute sermon a week, on The Power of Change, others have digested a few of these powerful sermons, and there are others who have not yet listened to any, which I get it! Ultimately, we are all pushing through on our journeys, but we are all going through them at different times and in different ways. If you have not listened to a sermon or are behind, don't sweat it, today is a new day! Here is the link to the final episode. It is so worth watching! This will be the last post that will contain TPOC Series. I will let you know when I find another series worth posting.
Part 6 :You In Five Years https://www.life.church/media/the-power-to-change/you-in-five-years/
If you are feeling like 6 episodes to this series are too much with the limited time you have, I encourage you to not miss this final sermon of the series Part 6: You in Five Years.
Why not take a curiosity leap of faith, and start your journey at Part 6, which is the last sermon of the series, then decide if you want to invest 35 minutes on the other five to explore deeper, how to incorporate a new mindset and achieve transformational heart change in your life. Why not dip your toe into the waters of Change and feel how refreshing it can be to progress in freedom and experience change.
Some of you are still working on or have already found your:
Spiritual Who: Deciding who you want to be in Christ
Spiritual Why: Decide why you want to change (spiritually) and why do you do what you do?
Spiritual What: What good habits do we want to start bringing into our lives?
Spiritual What Not: What habits do we want to break in our lives?
Spiritual How: How should we think about the power of God for a spiritual mindset?
Lastly, we need to find our:
Spiritual Impact: What can we begin doing consistently that will lead to a legacy we can be proud of.
***Here are a few websites containing many uplifting scriptures we can take to heart, which will help us along with finding comfort in Gods promises to help apply and connect with the questions above. This is key in helping us stay the course and keep us on track to aid in implementing change. If we even take it one step further and memorize the scriptures we choose, they will forever be etched in our brains and in our hearts, and can be accessed at anytime.
(As I was writing this post, I imagined a squirrel gathering it's acorns in it's mouth for the winter, so it will always be nourished and will be assured of not going hungry. I captured this picture on one of our amazing hikes. Isn't he cute?! He looks guilty lol)
Here are a few websites containing meaty promises in scripture, we can cling on to while implementing change and being encouraged at the same time. This is where I have found my scriptures I am holding close to my heart, to help me through the process of change.
I took out time one early morning and enjoyed a serene spot in Whistler, down by a river, not far from our hotel. I enjoyed the serenity and beauty of this location, to look up scriptures (from the links I added to this post) to make progress in my endeavor with change.
Here are a few key points of many, from Part 6 of the TPOC series:
Our lives are the sum of all the small decisions we make.
It is not what you do occasionally that makes the difference, it's what you do consistently.
If you don't like what you are reaping, change what you are sowing.
Godly habits reap Godly outcomes.
Pastor Craig reminds us that God promises all of us, He will multiply our good or bad seed we plant in our lives. Think of what an incredible harvest we will reap if we sow good seed. God will multiply it exponentially. This is shown in the scripture:
Mark 4:20
And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
Pastor Craig mentions in Part 6 The 3 Laws of Sowing and Reaping:
You reap what you sow.
You reap more than what you sow.
You reap after you sow.
You will understand this concept more as you listen to part 6.
Pastor Craig also brings up another valid point, when you plant an apple seed you will reap apples not plums. This is what the saying means when you hear: You reap what you sow. In other words, He says, "Intensions do not determine direction, your habits do."
***If you are feeling like 6 parts to this series are too much with the limited time you have, I encourage you to not miss the last sermon, Part 6: You in Five Years. Start at the last sermon, then decide if you want to invest 35 minutes each, to explore deeper how to incorporate a new mindset and achieve transformational heart change in your life.
If you are beginning the series, I will post Part 1 through 6 here. Just click on the links below. Each sermon is approximately 35 minutes and well worth watching. It could be your best and most helpful 35 minutes you experience today.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
As you begin your week, set yourself up for success. We have officially moved into Summer and have entered a new season, a season of planting in the rich soils of our lives, to bring about a good harvest. This is a perfect time to begin implementing and planting good habits into your daily life and quitting others. This will catapult us into our new season of freedom and success in your life.
This is a picture I took at North Arm Farm in Pemberton, BC
These Blueberries will be ready to harvest by August.
When we think of Pastor Craig earlier saying on apples and plums, the same concept applies here. If you plant a Blueberry Bush you won't reap Blackberries.
Keep in mind, we reap what we sow, so we need to be intentional about the harvest we want to gather in our lives.
As I talk about food and bringing forth a good harvest, I have begun the week by getting creative in the kitchen and experimenting with new foods that are healthy, that can help us lessen our meat intake. We enjoy meat but sometimes too much of anything can make a good thing, not so good. I am on a mission to find some good healthy alternatives to meat and other unhealthy foods we consume. As the weeks go by I will add them to my post.
The new mystery meal that is now going to be a staple in our house hold is called a:
Spicy Chickpea Wrap...If you like hummus, burritos, and wraps, I can almost guarantee you are going to love this!!! I found this recipe and modified it a bit, but it is tasty just the way it is. Here is the link I found that led to my version. I will share some of the changes I made below.
Here are a few pictures of my creation, it was yummier than it looks. I am not a Food Blogger, but I do have a love for studying nutrition and creating yummy healthy meals.
Here are a few of the ingredients I used. I also added carrots, seeded tomato's and greens.
Important note:
Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas) are a wonderful source of protein but like most beans they contain lectins that are not very healthy for you. The Eden Brand pressure cooks their beans which therefore takes out most of this negative property in beans. You can also pressure cook the beans yourself if you have an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. If you want to look up why lectins are not great for you, you can google it yourself. I don't want to bore you too much. We actually bought a case on line since we will be using these beans quite frequently. All grocery stores do not carry them. but some specialty one's do. If you just want to try the recipe, pick up a can of organic Garbanzo Beans and give it a try before going all in. ( I do recommend the pressure cooked one's, they are much healthier and you can make many more items with these lil golden beauties. I will post an appetizer and more dishes I now make with them another day. 1 can will make two good size burritos. That's only $1.75 worth of garbanzo's per burrito, what a deal :) I used the food processor to make a creamy mixture, but you can also us a potato smasher to get a grittier consistency. Just use less or no sauce to make the mixture. You can dip it in the sauce once the wrap is created.
Here is the link we used to buy a dozen cans:
I have included my newest find and secret ingredient to my version of this recipe.
If you can handle a lil heat, I found a sauce that will knock your sox off. I substituted the mayo and Sriracha Sauce for this item, and also used it on the side to dip our burritos in. So convenient and yummy.
(Sweet and Spicy Sriracha Sauce by Chick-Fill-A, oh so good but a little spicy if you don't love spice. You could use mayo and add just a few drops to it, for a little flavor if you prefer)
I added cut up thinly sliced carrots, mixed greens, and Roma Tomato's (because they have the least amount of seeds in them, so I can easily remove them due to the lectins in the seeds)
Let me know if you end up trying this new creation and what you might have added to yours to make it extra yummy!
As I sign off, I invite you to explore more on my website www.intoyourgrowth.com
The "About" section will help you to learn more about my inspiration for writing this BLOG. As you choose to spend some of your valuable time on this site, I would like to invite you to click on "BLOG" to see all of my posts, as only a few are shown on the front page. If you view this on your cell, you can click on the brown square menu button at the top of the HOMEPAGE or you can use the arrows below under the most recent posts, to find more.
If you are encouraged by what you see, I invite you to "SUBSCRIBE" to this Blog (if you have not already done so) and you will receive notification via email when I publish a new post. I usually try to post on Mondays :) I would love to hear how your are doing on your journey, so please feel free to add any comments in the Comments Section.
I will also add this recipe to the Food For Thought and Bonus Section of my blog. Just click on Home to get to these sections.
Be well and God bless you all,
Jen
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