How we got the bible in english

Bryan Denlinger - The Real Bible Version Issue EXPOSED from Marco Ponce on Vimeo.

Less stuff = more happiness?

For the last 6-8 months I have been in a new process in my life. I have greatly diminished the amount of stuff I have. First it was because we were moving from a 3,400 square foot home with 3 sheds on 16 acres to our 5th wheel and a 30 foot storage trailer. Now its just because I am finding I don't need even all the stuff I saved from the move.

In the storage trailer we built shelves along each side to store totes and other stuff. It is very handy and I don't think I could get rid of it.

On the other hand we also have a very small storage unit we are paying for each month. I have a strong desire to completely empty the storage unit and either integrate the items into the storage trailer or get rid of them. Last night I lay in bed thinking of things I could do with the items in the storage shed. Today I am going to implement my plan.

Many months ago when I started this process I thought it would be awful to get rid of so much stuff. I mean I practically gave most of it away. That part did hurt a little. But bigger than that is the freeing aspect of having less stuff. I have lately discovered that you don't really own stuff, it owns you. You have to house it, clean it, arrange it, take care of it and on and on.

In owning less stuff I find I have much more time for other things like sewing and gardening. I don't have to spend all my time dusting or other maintenance of my stuff.

I keep my keepsakes of course. I cant seem to get rid of all my pictures and a few of my nick nacks. I have some toys that were my mom's when she was a child and I keep them of course. Ideally things like that should be on a shelf where others can see and enjoy them.

This week I have been on a no spending on non necessities time. I have bought a few things but not without really thinking about whether they were necessities or just wants. It has helped me continue my re-education of myself in the buying and spending department. I don't need things to make me happy. I don't need things to be someone. Things don't define who I am.

I will continue to sort through my stuff/things and continue to rid myself of the luggage I have spent years accumulating. I'm not saying I want to be a minimalist or even that I want to get rid of most everything I have. Not at all. But I do want the things I decide to keep to be meaningful to me and my family. I want to be able to maintain the things I decide I want to keep and not have them be a burden to me or my family. If I died today I want my kids to have an easy time going through my stuff and not dread the thought. After all, is all my stuff what I am about? Does it make me who I am?

How about you? Are THINGS very important to you? Do you feel the need to shop often? Do you think that the more things you have the happier you will be? If you cant have something do you think it will hurt you in some way? Can you live with out it?

I realize not many people would choose to live the way we do and that's ok. I also know that when you live on a farm and or have animals you have to have more stuff. I am not condemning that in any way. What I am writing about is my stuff and my self and my life and how I feel about all that. I am just finding that for me I really do like having less stuff.

New Pink Monkey Affiliate

Pink Monkey has a new affiliate. Yolanda from Simply Homemaking is our newest Pink Monkey affiliate and we are so excited to have her on board. Yolanda's blog address is:
http://simplyhomemaking60.blogspot.com/ stop by and say hi. Yolanda is a big do it yourself type person. She has a lovely greenhouse and lives on several acres. Yolanda is a from scratch cook and sews for a living.

Welcome Yolanda.

For a list of Pink Monkey affiliates and sales reps see the right side bar.

up date on no spending week

The other day I bought ice for .94 and it got me to thinking I should invest in ice cube trays and make my own ice. I spent $3.25 on 6 ice cube trays. It takes almost 3 days to make ice in our tiny freezer. This morning we are defrosting the freezer to see if it helps the process.

I have also bought two packages of ice pops which are not a necessity and 9.00 worth of bread and produce. The produce could be counted as a necessity but is it really? I am going to say no and count it in my spending.

Total spent so far this week
ice .94
ice cube trays 3.50
produce and bread 9.00
ice pops 5.00
total so far on my no spending week 18.44.
I am not giving up though. While this is not a no spending week it is way better than I usually do. I am going to keep trying.

I dont know if this is true but I sure enjoyed it.

General Cosgrove was interviewed on the radio recently. Please follow his reply to the lady who
interviewed him concerning guns and children.

Regardless of how you feel about gun laws you have to love this!
This is one of the best comeback lines of all time
.
In a portion of an ABC radio interview between a female broadcaster
and General Cosgrove who was about to sponsor a
Boy Scout Troop visiting his military Headquarters.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER:So, General Cosgrove, what things are you going to
teach these young boys when they visit your base?

GENERAL COSGROVE: We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery and shooting.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it?

GENERAL COSGROVE:I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the rifle range.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER:Don't you admit that this is a terribly
dangerous activity to be teaching children?

GENERAL COSGROVE:I don't see how. We will be teaching them proper
rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER:But you're equipping them to become violent killers.

GENERAL COSGROVE:Well, Ma'am, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but you're not one, are you?

The radiocast went silent for 46 seconds and
when it returned, this interview was over.

No spend week spending????what???

Ok today is the first day of my challenge to myself not to spend and I have already spent money.
I bought a tank of propane for $22.00. I am not going to count that because that is a utility for us since we live in the 5th wheel. With out propane I cant cook or take a warm shower.

I also bought a bag of ice for 94 cents. We have a tiny fridge with no place in the even smaller freezer for ice cube trays so I bought ice. Now I wonder if I can find space for ice cube trays?? I do consider ice a non necessity so I will count that in my total spent on my no spending week.

I might be able to buy 3 or 4 ice cube trays and make my own ice for the price of a bag or two of ice. We will have to see about that.

Spent so far on my no spending week.
.94 for ice.

No shopping week

This week I have challenged myself to a no shopping week. I am going to try to go all this week without buying anything that is not a necessity. I also challenged my friend Christina and she took me up on it. Do you want in on this challenge too?
This is what we are doing.
No shopping except for what we consider absolute necessities.
If we do think we have to buy a necessity we must tell each other what we are buying or bought.
IE, milk or bread or what ever.
I will post what I buy if I buy anything so you can all see how I am doing.
The reason I am doing this is I am trying to break the consumer hold that shopping has on me. I do not want to have the dreaded disease of affuenza any more. I am going to shake it and become a good steward of the resources God has given me.

News from Bush Bunny Brenda~Moz~Africa

BUSH BUNNY BASHING THE BUSH FOR BEANS!

There was no time to lose, as 2 hours into my first day back, one of the village chiefs informed us that illegal food buyers were already working in several of the villages that normally sell their beans to us. We prayed for wisdom and the Lord brought forth several key village leaders with the authority to help us secure and guard beans in major villages until June 1st, which is the legal buying date. So the race is on, and the BUSH BUNNY TEAM is racing in the fast lane to make sure our kids have their precious protein for 2011.

THE SHORTEST DISTANCE BETWEEN A PROBLEM AND IT’S SOLUTION IS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN YOUR KNEES AND THE FLOOR. Those who kneel to the LORD JESUS can stand up to anything. We live by that daily here at our mission station.
GOD’S TIMING IS NEVER LATE

On April 10th, Eric and our super missionary, Grandma Linda (73), went out to Impire village, 16 miles into the bush to visit the church. They greeted the family who had the miracle baby, Esperanca, whom Jesus raised from the dead after being dead in utero for 2 weeks. The Muslim parent’s became immediate believers after seeing this, and it is still the “testimony of the year” out in that area.

To get to Impire, they had to cross a major bridge over a deep river. This bridge had been under water for over a month, but all went well with their crossing. On Monday morning, the whole bridge collapsed into the river bed, making the road impassable. There is no doubt that God’s angels were on duty to protect our team.

This concrete bridge was only 2 years old, and was essential to our food buying in that area of the county. At this time, we wait to see what alternative route might be organized by June for our truck and tractor.

FOOD CRISIS CURTAILED BY O.U. FOOD RESERVES

April is harvest time, so food is plenty. Each year at this time, we release the remainder of our emergency corn and bean reserve to the most needy in our area.

Both the Balama hospital and the Balama High School Dorm students received gifts from us to avert a major hunger problem. The food donations usually given to support these groups were cancelled last month. The hospital’s food supply for the patients was almost gone, and the school dorm was desperate for anything to feed 200 of the most promising 8th, 9th, and 10th graders who come from remote villages all over the county.

Orphans Unlimited built and organized this dorm system in 2001 to help break the poverty cycle in the underprivileged village students whose parents could not afford a high school education for their children. These young men and women took entrance exams to qualify for the 200 dorm beds, as the county wide competition is stiff with over 1000 trying to qualify each year.

To help support themselves, these kids raise a large garden and farm 5 acres with an army of strong backs and their hoes. Because they didn’t receive any food donations in February, they had to live strictly off what they harvested in March. Our truck and crew happily gifted them with 200 bags of corn and 18 bags of beans this week.

The hospital was gifted with 100 bags of corn and 9 bags of beans.

A SPIKE AND “3 MEN ON A CROSS”

On Good Friday, I pulled out a huge carpenter’s spike over 7 inches long, and with my drama “3 men on the cross”, gave an object lesson to an open air crowd of over 100 men who had come to seek work at our mission station. In this culture, men rarely come forward at an altar call as most are from Muslim families and fear persecution or death for their response.

So I wasn’t surprised when no one responded. I ended by teaching them how to pray and receive Jesus in their own home. EASTER MORNING, I was quite surprised to see 3 of those men come forward to receive Jesus. They confessed that my words had entered their hearts, so before our church crowd of 250, they confessed Jesus Christ as their Savior.

THIS IS A RARE HAPPENING WITH MEN in our area, and I was truly blessed at how God is moving among the men in Balama.

BUSH BIBLE SCHOOL is in its 2nd week with 98 students enrolled to study God’s Word. We need more pastors, and “growing our own” is the only way we can plant more village churches.
I hope all of you had a Blessed Easter Weekend with your family.

Love in Christ, Bush Bunny Brenda and the Balama Team

Bush Bunny Brenda is the missionary I met a few weeks ago who lives and works in Africa. She sends out a news letter now and then so I thought I would reprint it here on my blog. Brenda wrote the book African adventures and works with Orphans Unlimited. If you have any questions about this ministry I invite you to contact www.orphansunlimited.org you can make a donation or buy her book from there or just find out more about the mission work they are doing in Africa.

“Crispy Onion Roasted Potato’s”

1 or 2 jars white potatoes, drained and rinsed
1 packet onion soup mix
1 stick (½ cup) butter, melted
garlic powder
pepper
Preheat oven to 350° F. I
n large mixing bowl, place potatoes, onion soup mix, sprinkle with garlic powder and pepper to suit your taste.
Pour on melted butter and toss to evenly coat potatoes.
Place in a greased baking dish. Bake at 350 ° F until crisp and nicely browned.s

I have lots of jars of potatoes I have canned so I started looking for new recipes to use them in.

Homemade onion soup mix

Homemade onion soup mix:
1 tablespoon minced onion flakes (more -or- less/to taste)
1 tablespoons beef broth powder (Low Sodium if you are on a sodium restricted diet)
1 teaspoon onion powder
http://livingonfoodstamps.blogspot.com/

The following recipe calls for onion soup mix. Make your own for less.

Another bottled meat recipe

Here's the Recipe:
1 Quart Bottled Stew Meat, Reserve the Juice
2 Tbsp. Dehydrated Celery
Dehydrated Celery is one of my favorite things to use!
(I've get mine in the #10 cans from Walmart.)
1 Envelope Dry Onion Soup Mix
1 (15-ounce) Can Diced Stewed Tomatoes with Juice
1/2 Beef Broth (Reserved from Bottled Stew Meat)
Optional Pantry Item:
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
(It adds a nice flavor it you have it, but it also tastes great without!)
Instructions:
Place all of the ingredients into a crock-pot
and cook on low for 3 hours.
Serve over potatoes!
http://preparednotscared.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-03-21T21%3A56%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=32

Ribbon basket

A friend of mine sent this photo to me, I do not know where she got it so I cant give credit. Isn't this the easiest, neatest way to keep ribbons in order?

What I'm reading.

http://www.orphansunlimited.org/

I am currently reading this book, African Adventures by Brenda Lange. She is a native Texan who sold and gave away everything she owned to go to Africa to be a missionary. She has been in Africa for somthing like 22 years. Our family heard Brenda speak at a church a couple of weeks ago and we were very impressed with her love of God, dedication to the orphans in Africa and how she gave up everything to serve the Lord. She never plans to retire and works tirelessly to help the orphans now and later by helping them to learn a trade. One of her newest projects is to give micro loans to people to help them get started providing for their own families.
This book is only $10.00 plus shipping. Please consider buying the book and reading it and send along a few extra dollars to help her with this worthy mission.

Wheat Chili Chowder

1 C whole kernel wheat, washed
3 C Water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C rice
1 lb groud beef
1/2 C chopped onion
1/2 C chopped green pepper
1 Tbl chili powder
1 tsp garlic salt
1 can corn
1 large can tomato sauce (16oz)
1 tomato sauce can of water
1 C grated cheddar

In a covered baking dish, put wheat, water, and salt. Bake at 250 degrees for 4 hours. Add uncooked rice and cook one more hour. Saute' ground beef, onioins, and green peppers until meat is almost done and add to the wheat. Add the rest of the ingredients except cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and cook 15 minutes more uncovered. Add a little water if necessary before you put the cheese on top.
This is a recipe I got from my friend Tina. I was at her home one day years ago and she had made this recipe. So far I have gotten it from her twice. I am posting it here so I can file it under recipes so I can find it next time I want to make it.

What's in the freezer?

Check out how this lady keeps her freezer contents organized. http://chiotsrun.com/2011/04/18/preparing-for-a-bountiful-season/ I use a spread sheet but I think this is a much better idea.