Carb-o-licious

I got a breadmaker!! I got a breadmaker!! Woo hoo!!

Yes, some of you are thinking "who the heck cares that she got a breadmaker". I will still make bread for you! :)

My hands have thanked me for not kneading, not one push on the dough, the 5 loaves of bread I have made since Friday!

I have always been a true fan of bread. Oh how much more I love it warm out of the breadmaker with no work from me except throwing everything in a pan and pressing a button!

So far we have made 2 loaves of cinnamon bread. These loaves were my attempt to replicate Great Harvest's Cinnamon Chip bread. While my version did not exactly look like their round loaf of heavenly goodness, it tasted the same, and that is all that matters to me. I am not too picky about presentation; except when it comes to making the bread for giving. Which leads me to explain 2 more loaves of bread. The first version of cranberry white chocolate did not turn out heavenly, the second did. Or so I heard. I gave it away. It looked great coming out of the pan, and it took a lot of mental and physical discipline to keep my serrated knife in the drawer and walk away.

The fifth loaf was jalapeno cheese bread we ate with chili we made on Friday night. Yummy!

Ok, I have made you suffer enough. I will stifle my over the top excitement of a kitchen appliance. So, act surprised if you are gifted with a loaf of bread! :) After all, I am a southern girl and that's what we like to do - cook good food for those we love!

God's Provision

I LOVE Caleb's preschool, Altus Christian Academy. He is thriving there. The staff is great. His teacher, Ms. Kristy, is precious and wonderful. I wish I could send both of our boys to ACA, but the price is a little too much for our wallets right now.

The school is in the process of expanding and about to move into a new building for the next school year. So, they have been having a lot of events for fund raising and awareness for the community and the parents. Well, in the November newsletter the principal, Mrs. Darby, put in the story of how it became possible. I just had to share.

"It was recently brought to my attention that there are several parents in our school who don’t know the wonderful story of God’s provision and affirmation this past summer. It is a story I LOVE to tell, and I still get chill bumps each time. Around the first week of May, the board of directors signed the contract to purchase the facility at 1220 N. Grady. They knew it would take significant funds to renovate the building, so I contacted a development consultant who had helped Christ Academy in Wichita Falls raise funds to construct a new school building. During the conversation, the consultant told me we would likely need at least one donor to give $100,000. I laughed to myself, thinking that was impossible in a small town, and finished the conversation. Three hours later one of the teachers came to my office and said there was a gentleman who wanted to visit with me. He told me that he had a very strong conviction that God had been leading him to support Christian education, and he thought that meant he needed to start a Christian school in Altus. He didn’t even know ACA existed. He visited with some of the staff at Lawton Christian School who told him there was already a Christian school in Altus. He drove back to Altus, to ACA, and asked what we needed. I normally would have said we needed bugs cleaned from the light fixtures, or boards nailed back down on the porch, but the Holy Spirit took over and instead I told him we needed funding for a new facility. He asked if $100,000 would help. I was speechless. God truly does provide, and often in dramatic fashion. I have to remind myself that I serve the same God who created the universe, parted the Red Sea, asked a man to build a boat in the middle of nowhere, healed the blind/lame/leprous, and resurrected our Savior from the dead. He is a God of incredible miracles and is more than powerful enough to provide the funds we need to renovate our building. It is His work, and He will accomplish His purposes. I pray this story will encourage and embolden you the way it did me. There is something very special happening at ACA, and it is all because of God and for His glory."

Is that not amazing and wonderful?! I feel so blessed that Caleb gets to be a part of this school, even if it is for just a short time.

“GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD. HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER”

1 CHRONICLES 16:34