March, 2015 | Inspired Life

06Mar

Tyra Lane-KingslandHome Life, Real Life 4

Let The Little Children Come To Me: Gather

As I call them, they come.

My little flock of five.

They gather around me.

From the biggest to the littlest they find safety, comfort and assurance

in my apron. They wrap themselves around my arms and legs.

My little flock of five. They gather.

Brings to mind the image of Jesus saying,

“Let the little children come to me and hinder them not

for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these”.

So glad today that this is my heart’s position. So glad today that my thoughts

have come into alignment with His thoughts and I too have welcomed

the little children to come to me.

In the hem of my apron they find love.

In the folds of my skirt they find safety and security.

As they gather, I see a vision of my future.

They’ve left home but return with spouses and children of their own.

They gather ‘round the table to a piping hot spread lying before them.

My little flock now has their own little flock.

My children are like olive trees as they gather around the table.

I am blessed!

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

Happy to be connecting with friends today:

Five Minute Friday, Mommy Moments

06Mar

Tyra Lane-KingslandHome Life, Nourishing Life 1

Nutty Seed Granola

We love granola in my house. But our favorite organic granola is SO expensive. This family of 7 uses our resources wisely and buying a luxury item like this granola seems wasteful to me when I already have all the ingredients at home to make my own. I can also control the amount of oil and sweetener by making it myself. So let’s grab a few pantry staples and whip up a batch of Nutty Seed Granola.

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

½ cup pumpkin seeds

¼ cup sliced almonds

¼ cup raw sunflower seeds

¼ cup flax seed

4 tbsp coconut oil melted

3 tbsp honey

1 tbsp maple syrup

½ tsp cinnamon (I use 1 tsp because I really really love cinnamon)

Preheat oven 350. On a baking sheet, toast oats in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove oats from oven and lower the temp to 250. Mix all contents in a bowl and pour onto baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until golden. Stir midway through baking.

Cool then store in airtight container.

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

04Mar

Tyra Lane-KingslandHome Life, Nourishing Life, Real Life

Cut Your Cooking Time In Half

Do you want to save time? If so, keep reading.

It’s Wellness Wednesday here at Inspired Life. Last Wednesday we talked about how we spend our time and the need to redeem our time. If you missed that post, click here. Now I don’t want to just tell you what you ought to do without giving you some practical solutions. So here is a surefire way to cut your cooking time in half. The key is maximizing on inactive cooking time i.e. beans in the crockpot while you are at work = inactive cooking time.

[bctt tweet=”The secret to cutting your cooking time in half? Batch Cooking.” username=”inspiredfully”]

What is batch cooking? Batch cooking is cooking double or more the normal amount of an item then portioning and storing it for later use. The storing can be done in an airtight container and placed in the fridge if it will be used during the week or it can be bagged and frozen for use beyond a week.

Here are some of my staple batch cooked items:

Rice

Can it get any easier? Usually make 1 or 2 cups of rice? Well just double it. Use half today for your dinner and store the other half. There are times I’m storing for use this week such as making rice for dinner tonight then having fried rice on Friday. Since I cook brown rice, which takes nearly 40 minutes; I’ve already saved myself over a half hour of work. If not using within the week, I will bag and freeze. Perhaps I have ‘Chipotle Bowls’ on my meal plan for next week. Bam, the rice is already in the freezer and ready to go. And speaking of Chipotle Bowls, my second staple batch cooked item…

Beans

This is one of the easiest things to make. EVER! Set it and forget it. At any given time I have at least 4 different types of beans in my freezer. Right now I’ve got black-eyed peas, kidney beans, black beans, pintos, and chickpeas ready for making a meal. When I cook them in the crockpot, I don’t season them at all because I may not know at the time what type of dish the beans will end up in. Will the kidney beans be used for Jamaican Red Pea Soup, Indian Curry Kidney Beans or Chili?

Quinoa

I always double quinoa when I cook it because I know I’ll use it sometime soon. In my house we eat quinoa in many different preparations:

~Served hot for breakfast topped with fresh fruit, nuts and maple syrup

~As a side dish

~In patties

~In soups

Casseroles

I try to keep one casserole type dish in the freezer. If I’m ever running late, having a rough day or want to treat myself to a day off cooking, I have something at the ready. This saves me from spending extra money on eating out and saves the extra calories, sodium and fat grams that often accompany convenience food.

The next item is not cooked in advance but prepped and is a huge time saver.

Onions

Most of the dinners I prepare call for an onion. Why not chop them in advance? I throw a few in the food processor to chop then I portion them into small Ziploc bags then place that in a gallon sized bag. You can do the same with celery, carrots or any other diced veggies you use often. It’s a huge time saver.

Here are some items that would serve you well in batch cooking. Let’s cut your cooking time in half. The next time you make any of these items, double the batch and freeze half.

Breakfast

~Muffins

~Scones

~Quick Breads

Lunch

~Lentil Soup

Dinner

~Brown ground meat and portion it to be distributed 3 ways:

Chili

Tacos

Spaghetti

~French Baguette (make and freeze)

~Baked Ziti

So the very next time you cook some rice, beans, or chili, remember to double the batch so you can redeem the time.

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

Happy to be connecting with:

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

03Mar

Tyra Lane-KingslandHome Life, Nourishing Life

Black Forest Smoothie

Dessert for breakfast anyone? Here’s your guilt free way to enjoy dessert for breakfast or anytime. The chocolaty goodness of this smoothie rivals even the most moist, dense, chocolate tall cake (and I love chocolate cake).

This rich decadent smoothie not only tastes good but also is good for you. It is chock full of vitamins, minerals and nutrients to nourish and fuel your body. The chocolate in the smoothie comes from raw cacao powder, not to be confused with cocoa powder, which is roasted and loses some of its vital nutrient power in the roasting process. Raw cacao powder is high in antioxidants. Antioxidants stabilize and destroy free radicals, pesky little byproducts that form when your body attempts to break down environmental toxins. Antioxidants are also known to reduce inflammation. While you may have heard that green tea was the way to fight these free radical, here’s another weapon to add to your arsenal. Iron, zinc, potassium and manganese too? Then throw in some spinach and chia seeds and this smoothie gets better and better. For more on the benefits of chia seeds, click here.

When cherries are in season, I’ll use fresh but since I just can’t wait, I’m using frozen frozen. And I’ve taken the liberty to use shredded coconut in place of the whipped cream you’d traditionally have with this dessert.

Without further ado, presenting my new best friend:

Black Forest Smoothie

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 handful of spinach

1 date pitted

½ cup dark cherries

2 tbsp raw cacao powder

¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 tsp chia seeds

½ tsp vanilla extract

a few cubes of ice

Place all ingredients in high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Enjoy!

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

02Mar

Tyra Lane-KingslandHome Life, Real Life, Spiritual Life 17

I Surrender

“Yes”

“My Heart Says Yes”

“Yes To Your Will”

“I Surrender”

“I Surrender All”

“I Give Myself Away”

“Withholding Nothing”

These are the titles to songs I’ve sung time and time again. But as is the case with many songs we sing, we enjoy the melody, but do we allow the TRUTH of the lyrics to resonate in our hearts?

Do we ‘live out’ the words we sing?

In my heart and mind I’ve truly purposed to surrender ALL to God, withholding nothing. In my heart and in my mind I delightfully obey God. Yet I find myself in situations from time to time where my surrender has been usurped by MY wishes, MY desires, and MY selfishness.

I invite you all into my VERY private space for a moment. Please don’t judge your girl, just pray for me as I illustrate how I can vacillate with this issue of surrender. I am currently the mother of 5 children ages 11 and under. When I got married I planned to have one or two children, my husband and my career. After the birth of my second child, the Lord gave me CLEAR revelation that my body is not my own and was bought at a price therefore I ought to glorify Him in my body and that included my womb. So surrender my womb to Him. That means that I do not have control over my fertility, reproduction, etc. He does. When people ask, “Are you planning to have more {children}?” my answer is, “I don’t know. His will be done”.

While I’ve surrendered my womb to Him, there are days when I literally tell the Lord, “Dude, 5 is good. You hear me? Five is good”. Those moments when I can’t even pee in peace without the two year old barging into the bathroom, while I hear the 4 year old climbing the shelves of the pantry and the 9 & 11 year olds are arguing all the while a pot is burning on the stove. All I want to do is pee in peace. Lord help me, 5 is good.

Yet I look affectionately at the cute pregnant lady walking past me in the grocery store and I feel the emptiness of my womb and wonder, “Will there be another?” My children declare almost daily their longing for a baby sister. They’ve already named her and have a bed ready for her. Each month that I get my cycle is fraught with emotions of relief mixed with a twinge of disappointment. Then if the cycle is a day or two late, I may get anxious with thoughts of how it could really work. How would I manage? Do we have enough money for another baby? I’d need a new car. What about this business I am trying to grow? And on and on.

So you see, even after placing my womb on the altar many years ago, I’m prone every now and again to want to try to run back to the altar and pick it up and run as fast and far as I can in the opposite direction. Even if I don’t pick it up, I may stare longingly, devising plans on how to retrieve it, or trying to negotiate with God on partial surrender (which by the way isn’t surrender). As I said, pray for your girl.

How then do we ‘train’ ourselves to obey? How do we surrender?

We hold fast to the TRUTH.

We meditate on the truth.

And what is the truth?

Jesus is the WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE

His WORD is TRUTH

When the feelings of “5 is good” come up I tell myself the truth saying:

~If I keep my mind on You, You will keep me in perfect peace

~Every good and perfect gift comes from You

~Children are a blessing and the fruit of the womb is a reward

~I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken nor His seed begging bread

~You will supply ALL my needs according to your riches in glory

Then Jesus gently whispers,

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15

He also reminds me that when I do what He says, He will make my way prosperous and I will have good success. In this, He knows I may be weak, fearful and uncertain so He reassures me not to be afraid but to be strong and courageous.

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:8-9

So I cry out to Him in prayer:

You Lord are the Grand Weaver. You see all the strands and intricately weave them together to fashion my story. You pull the tapestry taut as you skillfully make me a new creation. You shed, pick and beat-up as you let off and take up so that I shine without spot or wrinkle. I am weak God. The current of life pulls me in and out. But you Oh God are my anchor. I surrender what I am, to become who you created me to be. I thank you for never leaving nor forsaking me. I thank you that you will be with me until the end of the age. Lord I’m feeling squeezed on every side but I turn my pressure into praise. I thank you for ministering grace and for moving your truth from my head to my heart. Now Lord grant me your peace as I walk out the path you’ve set before me.

To be who He created me to be requires a daily dying to myself. As a disciple, I take up my cross daily and follow Him. And in my everyday life that translates to delightfully obeying Him with a heart of surrender. I surrender. As in the above example, while the thought of a new baby is all at once thrilling and scary, I redirect my attention back to His word.

A few years ago, the Lord impressed upon my heart, “True disciples…OBEY”.

If you are a disciple, a close follower of Christ, do what He tells you to do. Though it may be difficult, He duly equips you. He doesn’t just say, “Follow Me” then runs off and leaves you. NO. He says “Follow Me” then He leads you in paths of righteousness, His rod and staff comfort you, He teaches you along the way, He orders your steps, He knows your uprising and your going down. When you purpose in your heart, Lord YOUR WILL be done, He sends ministering angels to strengthen you.

He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. Luke 22:41-43

For me it’s an undisclosed number of children. For you it may be your job, your marriage, your mind, your ministry, your health, your children.

In what area(s) is He calling you to surrender?

In what area(s) is He calling you to obey?

I want to join you in prayer so write your thing in the comment section below. Once you admit it, then surrender it, you can move forward in delightfully obeying Him.

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

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Let The Little Children Come To Me: Gather