We celebrated Easter with our family and had a special egg dyeing station for the kids.  Zoie and her cousin, Annie were ecstatic to sit side by side coloring eggs.  This was Annie’s first Easter in America, so the anticipation was buzzing to capture the moment for my niece.  The girls worked at crazy speed, grabbing eggs and tossing them in the colorful cups of dye.  The joy on their faces was priceless.

As I watched the girls work together, I had a quiet moment thanking the Lord for His gift of adoption.  He allowed our family to expand with the miracle of two adoptions, but more importantly, this was the day to celebrate our adoption, too.  As a follower of Jesus Christ, we are adopted by God and called to love one another.

God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God. (1 John 4:10)

This is love.

I would love to know how you celebrated the resurrection with your family.

I would love you to be a guest blogger on My Crazy Adoption Blog during my 12 day mission trip to Uganda! Please email me and submit your post for approval.  Please limit your posts to subjects for moms, adoption, missions, and orphan care.  This is such an exciting blitz for bloggers who love to write and make connections with other crazy readers! I simply love guest bloggers!!

I need topics:

• Send me your post ready-to-go (that means y’all do the writing, editing, and spell checking)
• Stick to the top 4 subjects- moms, adoption, missions, orphan care
• Attach photos of your family or subject clipart
• Mommy DIY craft
• Add your blog link to share
• posts to encourage, support, and make us laugh
• yummy recipe

Due date for your blog posts- May 22nd. 

(don’t forget to include attachment with photo)

Thank you so much for helping me blog when I’m in Uganda!

Zoie is my inspiration behind deceptive recipes this month on Wednesday WOW series!!  If you have a picky eater, I really want to know how you deal with the craziness with patience and creativity in the kitchen.

Spaghetti Pie
From Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld

• Non stick cooking spray
• 3 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti or angel hair pasta
• 1/2 pound lean ground turkey or sirloin
• 1/4 cup broccoli puree
• l large egg white
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2-2 1/2 cups bottled spaghetti sauce
• 1 cup low fat cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup carrot puree
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Coat a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray.

2.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta, and cook until al dente.  Drain in a colander.

3.  In a small bowl, mix the ground turkey or sirloin with the broccoli puree, egg white, Parmesan, and garlic.  Form 1/2 inch balls from the mixture.

4.  In a large bowl, stir the cooked pasta, spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, carrot puree, and salt and pepper.  Spoon mixture into the pie plate and smooth the top.  Scatter meatballs on top and sprinkle with mozzarella.  Bake, uncovered, until the center is firm and the cheese is bubbly, 25-30 minutes.

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I would love for you to link up your favorite recipe today in the comments.  If you have a yummy post to share- leave your blog link.

This is YOUR personal shout out for your adoption and missions fundraisers!!  My Crazy Adoption brings the craziness straight to you- sending readers to check out your links!

If you have a special project, fundraiser, or blog post you want to share with my crazy readers, please leave a comment with all your information and permalink (example: http://agoodkindofcrazy.blogspot.com/2011/03/american-girl-doll-giveaway.html) to take readers directly to your site.

YOU INSPIRE ME!!

I Wish

Point of Grace came out with a song years ago entitled, “I Wish.”  I recently came across this song and fell in love with it!  I tell my boys – it’s my feel good song I listen to in my car nearly every day.  Here’s a peek at the lyrics: “… wish I didn’t feel so helpless, wish I didn’t act so selfish, and wish I didn’t get so mad at the world. … wish my hair was a little bit smoother; my jeans fit a little looser, and wish I always knew the right things to say.  I wish I was better with all the things that matter, guess I’ve got some learning to do…”  I kind of laugh every time I hear the part about smoother hair and looser jeans, as I think there are many of us who relate to those feelings.  I’ve shared enough in previous blogs for you to know I have a history of struggling with my esteem, feelings of fitting in, or that I have any real purpose for God.  We live in a society that constantly bombards us with a need to be all things to all people.  I recently read an article from a Christian author where she stated that it was the responsibility of a wife to have meals planned and prepared, maintain an orderly home, keep herself sexually appealing, manage the children, and anticipate the household needs of her husband – even if she works outside the home.  Now, my intent is not to take her views out of context – but I would challenge women to examine their hearts and recognize that their worth in Christ runs far deeper than appearance or what we accomplish in a day.  I firmly believe that our Almighty is a god of order and desires discipline in our lives, but I’ve been learning to hold fast to some very powerful truths that are setting me free from the trap of a performance-based life!  Our foundation MUST be in the truth of who we are in Christ, not on a world’s view.  I hope these scriptures will encourage you today to lean hard on a savior who paid the COMPLETE price for us on the cross:  Matthew 5:14 tells us we are the light of the world; a child of God (John 1:12); Christ’s friend! (John 15:15); no longer a slave to sin, we are a slave to righteousness (Rom 6:18); we are a temple, literally a home of God and His Spirit, His life, dwells in us! (Cor.3:16; 6:1).  Sisters we are chosen and dearly loved by God (1 Thess. 1:4).  Please seek to recognize your worth in Christ today and cling to the ONE who is completely able to fill your soul.

I confess, I really love deceiving my kids by hiding healthy stuff in their food.  My crazy kids (Michael, Hannah and Zoie) have three very different eating habits… see if you can guess?

1. One eats everything in sight- it’s all good!
2. One eats most things, but small portions!
3. One eats literally nothing, but french fries and fruit (no meat!)

This month on Wednesday WOW Recipes, I’m going to feature a new Deceptively Delicious recipe.  I’d love for you to test it out on your kids and let me know if it’s a winner!  You can always leave me, in the comments- your blog permalink if you have shared with bloggers a yummy recipe.  I love swapping recipes and learning from you- the mom pros!!

Ingredients

Directions

1. 1. In a large bowl, mix the water, sweet potato puree, and cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, if using. Add the pancake mix and stir just to combine – the batter should be lumpy.
2. 2. Coat a griddle or large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil, and spoon the batter onto the griddle or pan, using 1/4 cup batter for each pancake.
3. 3. Cook until bubbles form on top of the pancades and the batter is set, 2 to 3 minutes. Then use a spatula to flip the pancakes and cook them until golden brown on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Serve with maple syrup to taste.