Must remember...

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

I've been making this recipe for....well, eight years now.  I first tasted it as one of my "New Mommy" meals.  Oh, how I loved getting the new mommy meals.  There's just something wonderful about sweet church ladies showing up at your doorstep with a hot meal.  Almost makes me want to have another baby.....ummm....well, maybe not.

This recipe was submitted to the Woven cookbook by Dee Dee Vasicek.

8 ounces cream cheese
1 Tbsp water
2 tsp. onion powder or minced onion
2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 cups shredded chicken
8-10 flour tortillas
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
2 cups pepper jack cheese (we use colby jack - the boys don't like anything spicy)

In a bowl, beat cream cheese, water, onion powder, cumin, salt & pepper until smooth.  Stir in chicken.  Place 1/4 cup down center of each tortilla.  Fold envelope style and place seam side down in a greased 13 x 9 inch pan.  Combine soup, sour cream and milk.  Pour over enchiladas.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  Sprinkle with cheese and bake until melted.



The benefits of serving others.

This past Sunday was our end of Summer picnic fundraiser for Woven.  As I was manning the oven, making scalloped potatoes for 300 people, my mind started wandering. 

Mostly, it wandered to the area of  "How in the world did I agree to do this?". 

And then looking around me, I remembered.....

 

I do this to spend time with a great group of ladies.

 

I do this because in serving my church or community, I'm serving the Lord.

 

 

I do this because how else would I have gotten to know Rhonda...

 

or Jennifer in the pretty orange shirt, who kept hiding from my camera!

 

 

I do this to help a good cause - serving the women of our community.

 

 

And let's face it.....it's fun!

 

 

If you feel disconnected - like you don't have a place to belong - can I give you some advice?  Join in.  Serve.  Help out. 

 

Whatever you want to call it, just do it. 

 

Woven has a couple of events coming up in October with the Harvest Festival and of course, Chocolate & Chuckles.  You can bake a dessert, help decorate, sell tickets....heck, I'll even let you help me clean and decorate the bathrooms if you want! 

 

 Please, don't say "Well, no one has asked me.".  Guess what?  I'm asking you.  Right here, right now.  Want to get involved?  Leave me a comment, give me a call, call the church and talk to Tammy, leave a message on Facebook - there are lots of ways to connect. 

 



Hope to hear from you soon!

Remembering

 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland, (Isaiah 43:18-19).

This is a tough bit of scripture to swallow, forgetting the former things. I cannot imagine how tough it is for those who were directly touched by the terrorist attacks on this date, eleven years ago.

I remember being in my car, driving to Bridgeport on I-79, when I heard the news broadcast about the twin towers. My first thought was of my sister working at the FBI, wondering if it would be a target since we are close to New York and D.C.

Kyla was a little over a year old. Hard to believe how much time has gone by, how quickly it has passed.

I know that when we remember the past, we usually look to it with regret, whether it is a pleasant memory or a painful one. If pleasant, we wish we could go back and relive it, be in that moment again, slow down and enjoy it more, absorbing all that we can before it passes. If it is painful, we wish we could do it over, make wiser choices, listen more, be less reactive.

I did not lose anyone close to me on September 11th. But I know what it is like to spend time looking backwards, dwelling on the past, wishing it were different or to be back in that happy place that is different than my here-and-now. It is a box.

USA Today has an article in today's paper that talks woefully of forgetting what 9/11 did to us and to those who lost something. It tells the story as though moving forward is bad. But the Bible tells us that we need to move forward, that God is doing something new, something refreshing. And we won't realize it--cannot perceive what God is planning--if we are dwelling on the past.

While it is good to honor someone's memory (like I have done for my dad), it is not healthy to dwell regretfully on something that cannot be changed.

I have had such a wonderful year with my husband, such a sense of joy, by giving over -- daily -- my desire to rewrite the past, to make things better because guilt from past failures haunted me. The freedom that comes from looking forward, and trusting the One who sees and knows all, defies words.

It is my prayer that anyone reading this who struggles with painful memories will reach out and take the strong, firm hand of the Savior and make today their first step toward a new thing.

Thanks to Selena Campbell who blogs at glencampbellclan.blogspot.com for graciously allowing me to repost this on Woven.

Mercy Triumphs

Tomorrow starts our first session of James:  Mercy Triumphs.  Hope to see you there!

Just passing on some info.

I recieved an email from Debbie about the upcoming Bible study.  I just thought I would pass it on.

Ladies,

Just a reminder that our Beth Moore DVD study on the Book of James will begin on Wednesday, September 12th!

Thank you for registering for the study guide. The books will be distributed that night. Reimbursement cost for the book is $16 and can be paid as you register at the desk. Checks are to be made out to Trinity Assembly of God / memo - James Study.

Here is a quick outline of our first night together:

6:35 - 7:00 p.m. - Everyone will register with one of our facilitators / teams
7:05 p.m. - Greeting / Prayer / Announcements
7:20 p.m. - Session I (Beth Moore DVD)
8:20 p.m. - Beth Moore recital of the Book of James (10 minutes) -- for those who are considering memorizing the Book of James (Level 5)
8:30 p.m. - Dismissal


Note: We will not break into small groups on our first night. The following week you will meet your facilitator in the coffee shop area and she will direct you to her assigned room / area. She won't be hard to find. Just look for the lady who is holding a pink poster card with your team #.



Every session after registration night will be as follows:


6:45 p.m. - Grap a cup of coffee & a cookie and join your Small Group with your facilitator for discussion of your past week's study lessons.
(If you are not doing the workbook level of this study, you are still welcome to be a part of a small group!)
7:15 p.m. - Return to Kidz Church for Announcements / Prayer / DVD Session
8:30 p.m. - Dismissal



This study is going to be awesome! The theme of this book is "putting your faith into action!"

See you on September 12th
Debbie Starn