Testimony Tuesday: I’m Walking

I just finished my morning mile and tears started streaming down my face.

Tears, because I realized that I was walking without pain and I remembered the many days that I dealt with chronic pain in my hip. Walking was painful, sitting was even more painful. Other than my husband, no one really knew just how much pain I was in. On top of that, I had several doctors tell me that I would always be in pain and their insistence made me believe that the pain was just a normal part of my life.

BUT GOD. I understand that there are many conditions in life that we must deal with, but I decided to cling to my faith. I prayed that God would do what ONLY he could do in the supernatural and that I would do my part in the natural. I spent the last year going to physical therapy, sometimes two and three times a week. This month, my husband and I joined a new gym and have been consistently working out 4 to 5 times a week.

I may have slight pain some days, but it’s NOTHING compared to what it used to be. My therapists don’t understand it. My doctor initially thought I would need surgery, BUT GOD.

Last year, I posted a photo of my handicap placard. I got it in 2008 upon my until diagnosis. That was my registered placard, not my mom/dad/auntie/grandma’s. MINE. And I declared that this time next year I wouldn’t need it. I’m happy to report, not only do I NOT need the placard, I now park at the furthest parking space in most parking lots. God IS faithful!

I’m sharing this testimony this morning, praying that it encourages you to KEEP GOING! Believe God for his best for your life and refuse to settle for anything less.

Matthew 19:26 New Living Translation Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

Walking: Mary Mary

Morningstar Blackbean Crumbles Recipe on FixitWithFran.com

Meatless Monday: MorningStar Chipotle Black Bean Crumbles

I had two back to back meetings scheduled for this evening, so I knew I needed to plan ahead. I came home at 4:30pm and used these MorningStar Chipotle Black Bean Crumbles to make tacos for the Husboo. He loved them and EVEN had seconds. My final evaluation is always completed by asking if he would have that meal again. With NO hesitation he said, “YES!” Another #meatlessMonday win!

Product review: The crumbles are a new MorningStar product and I highly recommend them. They are preseasoned and the cook time was only 8 minutes. I had taco seasoning on standby just in case the flavors weren’t to my liking, but I didn’t add a thing.

I served the tacos using Old El Paso’s new Tortilla Bowls and added Sargento 4 Cheese Mexican Blend and Wholly Guacamole’s spicy pico and guacamole dip. A quick, 30 minute meal.

I also purchased the Grillers Recipe Crumbles, so I’ll review those at some point in the future. Until then, “Go fix something!” 🙂

Press Through the Dark Place

This week, I was able to reconnect with a friend from grad school that I hadn’t seen in over 4 years. As we laughed and caught up, she said, “Fran, you ALWAYS made the most out of whatever season you were in.”

That touched me to the core. Grad school was a hard time in my life. My scholarship program’s funding got cut (I went from having a full tuition scholarship with a stipend to NOTHING), I was pursuing my passion of working with kids only to have a gun drawn on me at work, and I worked 5 different jobs while being a student full time and pursuing two degrees.

Not many people know those parts of my story, but it’s sooooooooooooo AMAZING how God will use people in your life to remind you of everything you’ve overcome and to speak even the smallest words of encouragement at the right time.

I never thought that about myself, but I see how the description is fitting. It’s easy to lean to the flesh when times are hard. To become discouraged and feel overwhelmed. But when I stand in faith, I truly adopt a resolve that “if this is where God has me during this point in my life, this is where I’m supposed to be to learn/experience something for the next part of my journey.”

I’m by no means perfect, and sometimes I’m slow to take on that mindset, but it NEVER fails me.

I started this post because I saw this image and felt overwhelmingly thankful, but I pray it encourages you as well. Even in the darkest hours, God will send those small reminders. I pray that you press through, understanding that the dark hours are not meant to destroy you. Rather they are intended to strengthen you and accomplish a greater purpose.

I also encourage you to thank those people that have been lights in your life. I like that phrase, “Give people flowers while they are living.” You may have thanked them in your heart, but thank them with your words. Let them know they made a difference. Sometimes, that in itself is a light that can help to keep them going too.

Seeds of Faith:

Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

Philippians 3:12-14
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8
(Emphasis on verses 18-19; 37-39)
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Isaiah 41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

More Marriage Meditations

In honor of “Marriage Monday” I decided to share some thoughts from a recent conversation with one of my single friends….

My friend asked for some dating/relationship advice and I thought this part of my response was worth sharing:

Marriage is work, but it’s interesting to consider comparing your dating interactions to a job.

We all work some grunt jobs along the way, but a career is the ultimate goal.

Marriage is a CAREER, not a job. You want your marriage to be successful, to last. You may shift from job to job (dating relationship to dating relationship), but you want your marriage to be the fulfilling work you do until your dying day. You want to build something that will go from this generation, to the next, and the next and so on after that.

If you’re the person doing the “hiring” and you already see you have someone that’s not interested in doing the “work”, it seems to me that you’d want to keep that position open for a person with the same long term vision.

Don’t settle for a temporary person– one who has openly expressed that he/she is only looking for a short term position and not a long term tenure.

Don’t sell yourself short. Don’t cheapen your requirements. Hold the position open for THE BEST candidate.

In the end, you’ll thank yourself. I’m speaking from experience here.

Pinterest Experiments: The Peppermint Parade

Merry Christmas everyone!

I’ve been VERY busy this week and I’m happy to report another round of successful Pinterest experiments. We’ll call this the “Peppermint Parade.”

First up is the “Peppermint Dish” I found on Pinterest. Here’s a link to the recipe.

I started lining my springform pan and quickly realized that this one bag would NOT be enough. We paused the production for a Wal-Mart run.

After returning from Wal-Mart, I then realized that the new mints were a different color. I thought to myself, “I can make this work!” The result is the design you see below.

This took about 96 peppermints.

Per the directions, I baked the mints for 8 minutes and then let the plate cool. You REALLY do have to keep an eye on the oven. You’ll look one minute and it will seem like nothing’s happening. Then you’ll look again and the mints will be melted. It happens QUICKLY.

Next, I made peppermint blossom cookies. My inspiration was this recipe that I also found on Pinterest.

The recipe said to let the cookies set for 15 minutes. I noticed that the kisses were still soft, so I sped up the process by placing the cookies in the fridge.

After both elements were done, I arranged all of the cookies on the peppermint dish. I think this is too adorable. Perfect for the holidays!

I decided to give some cookies as gifts. Thankfully, I’d picked up some cute tins from the Dollar Tree and lined them with these napkins (also from the Dollar Tree).