My Cake Baking Adventure!

I found a recipe on a blog for a Rainbow Cake and I was intrigued. When I was asked to bake a cake for Cassie and Adam's birthdays, I decided to give it a try! I documented my adventure in pictures!

First, make two boxes of white cake mix, according to the directions on box. Divide batter up into six bowls, add food coloring to each. Purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Bake each color separately in cake pans, greased and floured.

Let cakes cool completely!

Frosting ~ cream together 4 blocks of cream cheese, and a cup of butter. Add an entire bag of powdered sugar, slowly.

Sinful? Possibly! Incredibly DELICIOUS!? YES!!! Best frosting I have EVER had!!! I literally could have just eaten it with a spoon........but I didn't, of course! ;)

Start frosting cakes with the purple first! Frost top and lightly frost the sides. Next top with the blue cake, and do the same. Put in fridge for two hours or the freezer for one. (Don't skip this step! The cake becomes so tall that it is very important that each layer is fully set!) Repeat steps with the green, yellow, orange, and red cakes, putting cake into fridge/freezer after each layer.

After the red layer has set, use the remaining frosting and frost all over the outside of the cake. Decorate as you want! I'm not a decorator, so mine doesn't look very pretty on the outside!

The exciting part was when we cut it!
It is so pretty! And what a fun cake!

It tasted pretty good too!

I think that the Birthday people were happy with it, and that's what matters! :)

In the end, I was very pleased with how it all turned out. Was it fun? Yes! Was it extremely time consuming? Yes!! Was it worth it? Absolutely!

Three Years at Lakeside

This past Sunday we celebrated three years at Lakeside Baptist Church! A lot has happened in three years.
Around three and a half years ago, Lee surrender to the youth ministry. We were nervous and anxious about what was laying ahead for us, but very excited! We had the opportunity to take a church very close to where we were living at the time, VERY close! It just made "logical" sense. As we further pursued the logical, Lee continued to receive phone calls from a pastor of a church called Lakeside. The thing is, God's plan isn't always "logical" to us. :) After meeting with Bro. Scott Hill from Lakeside Baptist Church, we both felt peace and we knew without a doubt that Lakeside was where God wanted the Wood's to be.
Since then, Lakeside has become our family. To look back and see how God has led and is moving among His people is awe-inspiring! We love the youth ministry. Lee and I have such a passion to see young people come to know the Lord and then learn to walk with Him, and to see them get passionate about their relationship with Him! It's exciting! We have the best youth group EVER!! Even the students who have left to go to college, are still so very dear to us and are considered lifetime youth members! :) We are so blessed and humbled that the Lord would choose to use us to minister to others! To God be all honor and glory and praise!
Last Sunday, they threw us a surprise 3rd anniversary party! It was so great! Again He didn't have to bless us with such amazing friends and support systems here, but He did and we are forever grateful! We love you all! Thank you for the encouragement and love that you show our family!
(They meant to put Lee's name first, but the bakery made a mistake! OOPS!) :D

Integrity

Integrity ~ Doing the right thing, when no one is watching and no one is there to tell you to, doing the right thing when everyone else around you is not, taking personal responsibility for your own actions, and recognizing and then fixing your mistakes.

Live with integrity! If we want to be Christlike, we MUST be a person of integrity!

The Weekend to Come

So apparently I'm on a super-blogging roll. That, or I am avoiding the pile of laundry that needs to be folded. Hmmmm....I'm going to go with a blogging roll! :)

Lee and the Heritage Cross Country team are going to Dallas this weekend to run in a race on Saturday morning! With him being gone, we (the boys and I) will be going to spend some time out at the family farm! I'm excited! We haven't been out there to stay for awhile and I always feel comforted and at home when I do!

As for the meal-making commitment I have talked about, I'll be helping prepare a meal at my parents house. Not sure what yet, but I WILL be cooking, so my commitment still stands! :) I'm also planning on making some cherry pies and an apple pie to bring back the old tradition of "Pie Time" on Saturday, if only just for this weekend. Oh how I love the farm and all the family that is on it! I'm going to miss my hubby very very much, but it's going to be a relaxing weekend at "home"!

Have an amazing weekend! Cheer on those Hogs to victory against Alabama! And GO WAR EAGLE CROSS COUNTRY!!!!

Letting it Go

I read this on LPM blog and I wanted to share it!

"It's time to let it go.

That thing's gonna eat you alive.

Wasting time.

Taking too much energy.

Emphatically, deliberately, bull-headedly - put every weighty ounce of it in the ready hands of God and let Him deal with it.

AND DEAL HE WILL.

Every time you're tempted to pick it back up again, thank Him out loud that He's busy handling it and that, once the battle is won in the heavenlies, you'll see it evidenced on Earth. Prepare to become that evidence."

I just loved that! God has been speaking to me so much lately about the battle. About how we need not fear it, we just need to hold tight and be prepared, knowing that if God is for us who can be against us and that He has already won the victory!!! And for this gal, who can tend to be fearful and worry and hold tight to things wanting to "fix" it, I need that reminder daily!!
Right after I wrote my last post yesterday, I went to the first night of our Ladies Bible Study. We are doing "Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed" the Deeper Still study with Priscilla Shirer, Beth Moore, and Kay Arthur. If the study is anything like the first night, it's going to be a mighty good thing!! :)
Anyway, they talked about the anointing of David and how with the anointing comes the BATTLE! WHOA!! God is awesome and evidently wanting to drive that home for me and the other women doing this study! I LOVE it when God is obvious! I LOVE it when I know it can't be anyone or anything but HIM doing it! I know the LORD is GREAT, that our God is far greater than all other gods!!(Psalm 135:5) To HIM be all honor and glory and praise!

Remember

How quickly we forget. As I drove around town today, I noticed that there were flags NOT at half-mast. I had a friend say that she went into one of our local McDonald's to ask why their flag wasn't half-mast today, the response was "Why? What's today?" SHOCKING!!! Once, reminded they apologized profusely and immediately went straight out to fix it. How quickly we forget.

I remember that day, eight years ago. I was eight months pregnant with my first baby. I was up getting ready for the day and Good Morning America was on. I was in and out of the living room but something the reporter said, or maybe it was simply the tone of his voice, made me stop and watch. As I watched in horror, I saw the second plane hit. Those first moments were so confusing. I remember trying to get a hold of Lee, who worked at the Wal-Mart warehouse at the time, with no success and then finally getting a hold of my mom. I needed some one to tell me what was happening. I refused to let it sink in. I remember the moment it hit me. I fell to the ground, arms around my swollen belly, and I wept. What kind of world would my baby be born into? When those towers fell, it was like the whole country felt the physical pain and agony of grief. We shared that grief together. Church doors were opened and sanctuaries were packed. That whole day and many days to come, where a blur of confusion, panic, fear, and numbness. I remember God giving me such a calm peace, in the midst of the terror. I was burdened deeply for the victims families and prayed constantly for them. I couldn't imagine. I remember thinking life would NEVER be same again. How could it?

Then, before we knew it, a year had gone by. I remember watching the news and they replayed the moment the towers fell. Again, I bent over onto the floor weeping. This time, clinging to my 11 month old son. The pain and grief was like it had happened all over again. I remember also feeling anger that the media would put those families through that again, and I prayed for them.

How quickly we forget. How very quickly we forget.

Today may we remember again, that our freedom is NEVER free! A high price was paid so we could live with the liberties that we have. I thank God that He has so richly blessed my family! We live in the GREATEST country in the world! Lord, return us back to you! Help us to remember ~
2 Chronicles 7:14
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

But also, may we be struck anew, that Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price, to give us freedom! Freedom from the bondage of sin and death! He makes us free, if we let Him!
John 8:36
"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

To know how you can have this freedom and peace, click HERE!!

Disturb Us, Lord!

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

By: Sir Francis Drake
(poem taken from LPM, pictures taken from Loren King Photography)

Awe Factor of God

Our God is AWESOME!!! He is so big it blows my mind! (Psalm 8) It is a MIRACLE that a God SO big and SO mighty and SO awesome would reach down to US, lowly humans, and not only want to save us, not only send His Son to die a horrible death for us, but to LOVE and DELIGHT in us! (Zeph. 3:17) That is enough to strike me speechless!

Psalm 8

1 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.

2 From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:

7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

God is Good, ALL the Time! I Can't Seem to Say it Enough!

As I have mentioned before, God is good.....ALL the time!! He has just been making Himself known to me in such a tangible way. He is making me brave for Him! He is giving me courage and strength to do and say things I wouldn't have done on my own! He is visibly working and moving in my own family and in our church family, and this weekend was no exception!
Our youngest son B, was "babatized" Sunday morning! He was SO excited to show physically what the Savior had done in his heart. I was awe-filled by how GREAT our God is and again at the miracle of salvation! My heart is near exploding with gratitude and love! Along with B, we had a mother, daughter, and son baptized as well. The daughter had been to our VBS and Our pastor and his wife went and visited them afterward. They all three came to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Scottie, the son, is on Lee's Cross Country team and has been a force of nature for the Gospel. When God changes a person, He CHANGES them! On top of that we had a family of four come forward to make public their decision to follow Christ as well!
(If you would like to know how you can experience this joy and change, click here!)
God is SOOOO good!
The women of our church also did Cardboard Testimonies! It was one of the most powerful things I have ever witnessed and been a part of! God used every single one of those testimonies to minister to the hearts of the people who saw them. There was not a dry eye in the place! Every woman participating shared a part of themselves and that was very difficult for many of us! Again, He is giving us courage and strength to do and say things we wouldn't do on our own.
We will be doing it again for our 2nd Annual Women's Day Retreat on Saturday, September 12th at Lakeside Baptist Church from 9:00am-3:00pm! Please come and invite your friends! It's completely free and everyone is welcome!
To God be ALL glory, honor, and praise!

This is Me!

My name is Sara and I have alopecia. Alopecia is an autoimmune disease that attacks the hair follicles causing them to die and fall out. It can vary from small bald spots to total hair loss. Mine first appeared when I was ten years old. By the time I was thirteen, my hair had grown back and we saw no signs that the alopecia would flare up again. However, in September 2006, I found a quarter-sized bald spot. Alopecia had made another appearance. For months, hiding it was what consumed my life, my thoughts, and all my emotions. Over the course of those months, I eventually lost every bit of my hair, including my eyebrows and eyelashes. I sank into a deep pit of self-loathing and hatred. I felt stripped of my femininity. I felt ugly. I hated the woman I saw starring back at me in the mirror. I would go for days locked in my home, hiding from the world. Others in my life and even my own self, kept telling me, “It’s simply cosmetic. It’s only hair. At least you’re not sick. You should be thankful for that.” And I was! But I still felt horribly ugly. I was angry with my body. It wasn’t the first time I felt like it had failed me. We lost two babies prior to this; our first miscarriage (our third child), on September 5, 2004 and our second miscarriage (our fourth child) on June 3, 2005. Why? I asked that question many times. The answer ringing in my spirit was always, “To bring Him glory!” I wanted Christ to be glorified in my life, but I couldn’t imagine how this would accomplish that. After a while, I got used to living my life bald. The shame and pain was still there, but I got good at hiding it.

That was all until God decided He had had enough of my self-loathing. I was convicted. I started praying the Lord would clean me and sanctify me, so that I could fulfill the destiny that He has for me. In that process, He began to teach me what true beauty is, what it looks like, and how He sees me.

First, beauty is on the inside.

1 Peter 3:3-4 “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment….Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of the Lord.”

I was so concerned with the reflection I saw in the mirror, that I had failed to recognize and tend to the inside reflection. What was I really reflecting? Was I reflecting Christ to others through a quiet and gentle spirit, or was I so wrapped up in me that I reflected insecurity, anxiety, and pride? As I started focusing on Him and on being a reflection of Him, I found that I focused much less on the outside.



Second, the LORD of lords and King of kings thinks I am beautiful! He told me so!

Song of Solomon 4:7 "All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you."
Psalm 45:11 "The King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him."

To put a question mark where God puts a period is to doubt God Himself! He commands me to trust Him in everything! He calls me BEAUTIFUL.(period!)


Last but most certainly not least, He made me EXACTLY the way He intended me to be. He saw my days before there was one. He calls me fearfully and wonderfully made.(period!)

Psalm 139:13-16 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

This is who I am. This is how God made me! I’m a wife to Lee, a mom to Hunter and Braden, a mommy to two babies in heaven, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a granddaughter, a friend, a niece, a cousin, a youth pastor’s wife, a Reality Check presenter, a worshiper and follower of Jesus Christ, and daughter of the KING of Kings; who is bald! Is it the worst thing that could, or even has, happened to me? NO! Is it still difficult sometimes, as it would be for anyone? Absolutely! But because He is my Lord, I will worship Him always, in every season! I will trust Him in everything! He picked me up out of that dark pit and has given me joy and a new song!

Psalm 40:2-4

He brought me up from a desolate pit,
out of the muddy clay,
and set my feet on a rock,
making my steps secure.

He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.

How happy is the man
who has put his trust in the LORD