You are an influencer!
Influence. It’s a big word. What do you think of when you hear the word influence? I think of leader, impact, strong, change, powerful, and authority. But this isn’t all this word means. Influence means “the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself” (dictionary.com). So in reality, we are all influencers. Have you thought about the influence you are having lately? Are you leaving a positive or negative impact? Is your influence who you want to be? Does your tone reflect your heart? Does your attitude overflow?
As a mom, I have been thinking about this alot lately. My little two year old is soaking up everything he sees, hears, feels, and even smells. I find myself having so much fun with him, and then two seconds later I can be losing my cool about something else. What I need to realize in those little moments is the influence I am having on him. My response, my tone, my attitude, my facial expression, all makes an impact on how he responds to the situation. I want to be lighthearted, patient, loving, and easy going. But I find myself stressed, irritated, and negative. Everything I do is influencing his little character and development. I am an influencer. How am I using that influence! I made a goal this week to pray for my little guy every time I found myself getting a little overwhelmed with his toddlerness. Because the best thing I can do for him is point him to Jesus, pray for him, and love the snot out of him. He’s just being 2! I can’t get mad at him for being exactly how he is supposed to be. But I can influence him to respond positively, feel …
Read MoreHappy Birthday, Mom
This weekend we celebrate a truly amazing woman, our MOM!!!
She is a one-of-a-kind mom, wife, friend, Gammie, cheerleader, crafter, creator, prayer warrior…the list goes on and on. Here are a few words from your favorite girls (your daughters) to you, on your birthday, Mom.
Mom is the picture of what you think a mom should be. She is selfless, enthusiastic, energetic, involved, loving, compassionate, generous, and an amazing prayer warrior. She can do just about anything from sewing to teaching to hiking to organizing! She is such an amazing example of who I want to be as a mom and I am so thankful for who she is and so lucky she is my mom and my kids Grammie.
-Bethany
Happy birthday Mom. We love you more than words can express. Thank you for your devotion to us and our families. You are the best. We hope you have an even more incredible year than this last one.
-Jess
The words that come to mind when I think about our mom is selfless, planner, go getter, faithful, friend, reminder of Truth, helper, learner, wise, and best mom & Gammie ever!
-Bekah
Mom, I love your adventurous spirit. You are always seeking adventure and the BEST in others. Your energy is infectious and you make everyone feel like they are loved. I am so blessed to be your daughter and have my girls grow up with you as their Gammie!
-Rachel
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Read MoreNew Beginnings Start Today
Everyone needs a new beginning….time and time again…if we are truly honest with ourselves. Taking risks in life means sometimes we succeed at the new challenge and sometimes we fail, but I think the most important thing is being willing and open to new opportunities. If we try and succeed we naturally have a “new beginning”, a fresh perspective, a new adventure before us. If we try something new and that new experience fails to meet our expectations, we are disappointed and sometimes discouraged. Mikvah is a ceremonial bath that throughout history has represented to the Jewish people a sign or tradition of “new beginnings”. Mikvah is how the Jewish people would spiritually cleanse themselves. They viewed it as a means to wash away anything unclean a purification of sorts that allowed them to start afresh with a clean slate. Mikvah for Jesus was a new beginning. After he was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, God said, “this is my Son in whom I am well pleased”. From there Jesus was lead into the wilderness where he spent time preparing for his “new beginning” right before He launched His ministry.
On my recent trip to Israel, we had an opportunity to be baptized in the Jordan River. I was baptized in the Pacific Ocean when we lived in Guam, in the early 1980s. It was a very significant time in my life and that decision made a huge impact on my life. I had not ever felt the need to be “re-baptized” so there was no personal draw on my heart to get baptized in the Jordan River. So when I learned the concept of Mikvah, as a ceremonial cleansing and a sign of “new beginnings”, that moved my heart and I was all in. We …
Read MoreFollow the Rocks…….
God is with us in the waiting….He is not only WITH US…He is intimately desirous of connecting with us to bring us to a deeper sense of trust and confidence in Him as our faithful Abba Father. He is the one who can guide us and direct us, open our mind to truth and justice and bring us wisdom and insight.
In my life there is a progression in my faith walk when I find myself in a spiritual desert.
When I am obedient and seeking Him, that progression draws me toward my Abba
Father, but when I am drifting and allowing wrong thinking to overtake me, I feel far
away and alone. The downward progression usually starts in my thought life-I get
discouraged, I feel alone, I wonder what I am supposed to be learning in the
desert….quickly I forget all that God has done for me in the past, I doubt His
faithfulness, I second guess myself and start to feel insecure. The enemy sure knows
my weakness. Listening to the wrong voices creates a tidal wave of wrong thinking. For
me, this type of thinking is irrational and does NOT match the reality of my intimate
relationship with my Abba Father. When I choose the path of waiting on God and
remembering my identity in Him and how faithful He has been in my life, I am drawn to
His word. In His word, I find joy, peace and rest in the midst of my trial. I find truth and I
meet my creator and learn more about His character. I am challenged to listen, trust,
obey and wait. As I seek God and focus on Christ and all that I am learning in the
desert, I am no longer afraid and I begin to cherish my …
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN…who doesn’t love pumpkin baked goods at this time of year. This one is a show stopper. I modified an old family favorite recipe to bring you this healthier version with just as much taste and a wonderful texture. It is hard to eat just one!
I made a batch of these for a women’s gathering tomorrow and I know they will be gone in a flash. They are so moist and delicious, you can not eat just one!!!
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup oat flour
1/4 cup flax meal
1 cup whole wheat flour (or almond flour or coconut flour)
2 cups oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup butter (you can use 1 cup total coconut oil instead of 1/2 coconut oil 1/2 butter)
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup coconut sugar (can use brown sugar here as well)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup organic pumpkin puree (not the pumpkin pie filling that has spices in it already)
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Measure first 9 ingredients (flour, dry ingredients and spices) in a medium sized bowl. Cream the butter, coconut oil and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and blend. Add the canned pumpkin alternately with the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips, walnuts and raisins and stir until blended. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 2 dozen large cookies or 3 dozen medium cookie. Enjoy!
Here are the ingredients for the original recipe, if …
Read MoreA Strong Willed Child
As I have written before, I love listening to the Focus on the Family radio broadcast. I’ll usually put it on when we go on a walk so I can get some “me-time” while we can all enjoy getting some fresh air and looking for doggies (the kids favorite!). The material is so apparent to so many different aspects of marriage, parenting and family. I have learned so much from these 20 minute broadcasts and I usually end up wanting to buy most of the books they discuss because I want to learn more of the information they are sharing about! Today, I am writing about the broadcast called “Surviving the Strong-Willed Child Part 1” by Cynthia Tobias. This is the third time I’ve listened to it because, well, we have a strong willed child…
Our 2 1/2 year old daughter is strong willed! And it has been pushing us to the brink…so we have been searching for some material that may be our “golden ticket”, some strategies that will work for us and our little one to bring a little more peace in our home and overall lives.
Here are some of the points in the discussion that really stood out to me…
Strong Will is Not a Negative Trait
Strong will does not mean rebellion, defiance, and disobedience. These are characteristics that need to be dealt with but it can be done without distinguishing the strong will. Strong will is what pushes one to move ahead. God can use strong will!
“You don’t need to get the strong will out of your child…you need to teach your child how to use the strong will to bring honor and glory to God.”
“Strong will is not a negative trait, it’s one of the most powerful and positive traits a …
Read MoreHealthy Apple Muffins
What a more perfect way to begin the feeling of Fall than to go to Apple Hill! It has been hard to accept the fact that Fall is officially here when it is still high 90s in Clovis so it was fun to go up the hill for some cooler weather and everything apple! The boys started off the morning with all different flavors of apple donuts. We kept the fun going with a tractor ride, lots of photo ops, and a 10 lb box of apples to take home! So, I was quite inspired for a new apple baking recipe…and these healthy apple muffins did not disappoint!
INGREDIENTS
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 Cup Oat Flour (I ground up oats in my Vitamix 3/4 cup of oats, ground into 3/4 cup)
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 TBS Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Cup Grated Granny Smith Apple, peeled (approx 1 med-large apple)
1 Cup Diced Granny Smith Apple, peeled (approx 1 med-large apple)
1/3 Cup Olive Oil (or Melted Coconut Oil)
1/2 Cup Honey
2 eggs
1/2 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt, full fat
1/2 Cup Applesauce
1 tsp Vanilla
Optional: 1 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
Cinnamon Sugar to sprinkle on top after baking
Adapted from www.CookieAndKate.com
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease muffin tin.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl – wheat flour, oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the oil and honey. Add the eggs and beat well. Then, add the yogurt, applesauce, and vanilla. Mix well. (Note from Cookie and Kate: “If the coconut oil (optional) solidifies in contact with cold ingredients, gently warm the mixture in the microwave in 30 second bursts.”
- Combine
Life is messy
My past few weeks have been filled with alot of dirt. My two year old son’s favorite place is covering himself in dirt… Whether we are at the park, the baseball field, at home… he sits in it, pours it on himself, puts all his tractors in it, eats it, and throws it (we are trying to kick that habit). He could sit for hours and be having the time of his life. I keep telling myself that he’s just getting ready for baseball… But all in all I could be pretty stressed out or spend all my time trying to keep him clean. But I have realized, I have to let him be who he is and part of that is expressing himself through his love of dirt, tractors, and everything dirty. I can’t focus on the excessive loads of laundry I am doing weekly or how I have to figure out how to give him a bath with a newborn or how we don’t make it through a whole day in the same outfit (usually half the day is spent in just a diaper). What I can focus on is his joy, his exploring, and him just being a BOY! I don’t want to live my life stifling the boy he wants to be because I want him to be a certain way. And I want to enjoy life with him. Seeing life through the eyes of a child is such a gift! Take it in my friends. Today is a gift. And time flies. Now that we have two kids, I barely blink and she is already 2 months. I realized this the other day as I was doing dishes that I needed to stop and just be in the giggles and the joy of the moment …
Read MoreJuggling “Me Time” and “Us Time”
Finding time for yourself as a mom can be nearly impossible. Emphasis on the “nearly,” because as much as it SEEMS impossible, it is possible. You might have to be a little more creative and willing to INTENTIONALLY carve out that time, but you CAN do it.
Today, I had work I needed to do. I work from home on this blog, building my Isagenix business with my amazing team, and with the little that’s left lead a Girl Scout troop of Daisy girls. Oh and of course first and foremost I’m a mom of 3.
Something that I’ve found that helps me juggle my time is being intentional. I’m trying to write down and schedule the things I need to do every day so I stay focused. I set an intention to complete the things on my list. I am also intentional about time. After I picked up the girls from school I knew I had some things to get done. I told the girls that I needed 30 minutes to work in my office. I set a timer because I told them 30 minutes, which meant I was going to do as much as I could with focus for those 30 minutes.
After the 30 minutes I was intentional about spending time with the girls. My 2 youngest were having fun playing together and my oldest had homework to do. It has been rough finding the time and energy to do homework after a full day of school, so I decided to make a little time for the two of us to do something together first.
I wanted to try a new muffin recipe so we baked together. I told her that she needed to do her homework after we were done, setting my expectations before we started. …
Read MoreChicken Shwarma Bowls
Our Growing Weisser family has become obsessed with Mediterranean food. I am sure part of the obsession is our Middle Eastern heritage. This holiday season i will share some of our traditional Christmas food that we make every season. Chicken Shwarma is one of our go-to favorites. This recipe has been adapted from a recipe that Rachel found online. I worked with it and changed it up and bit adding a bit more spice and a few adaptations to the sauce. This is definitely worth the time and would be a fantastic meal to serve for company. We ate this meal as a “build your own bowl” one night and as a pita sandwich the next night. Sure was delicious.
Chicken Shwarma Marinate
2 lemons juiced
4 Tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic smashed
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon cardamom
Mix all ingredients in a 1 gallon zip lock bag. Add 2 ½ -3 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs. Ziplock the bag securely and distribute the marinate around the chicken pieces by shaking and moving the chicken around once bag is sealed. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Bake or BBQ the chicken until cooked.
I baked mine in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. I think BBQ would taste even better. Build your bowls with lettuce, tomatoes, a scoop of quinoa, a big spoonful of roasted chickpeas and a dollop of cucumber tahini yogurt sauce-(recipes below). Serve with warm pita bread and hummus.
Other ingredients for Chicken Shwarma bowls, wraps, pita sandwiches…..
Pita bread
quinoa cooked according to package directions using chicken stock in place of water
Romaine lettuce chopped
3-4 tomatoes sliced
cucumbers sliced
fresh …