My Opinion of Fiber One(R) Protein Cereal

For those of you that read my blog you know I'm a BzzAgent. What this means is I get to try different products for free and then post on various sites my opinion of the product.

The product this time was Fiber One Protein Cereal and they gave me coupons for 2 different flavors: Cranberry Almond and Maple Brown Sugar. I also had coupons to pass out for $1.00 off.

After trying both cereals the Cranberry Almond won hands down! It wasn't too sweet, didn't lose it's crunchiness and had plenty of cranberries and almonds in it. This is one of my new favorite cereals that I will be using to trade off each month so I don't get bored  :-)

Now usually I like a little sweetness to my cereal, but the Maple Brown Sugar was way too sweet for me. I told my husband he could have it but it appears it's too sweet for him also. We did not finish this box of cereal. 

I have an amazing job and in my office I have a coffee pot - can't start my day without coffee ! And then downstairs we have a big kitchen and a portion of the refrigerator I can put my stuff in - which for me is now Skim Milk because I have cabinet I keep my cereal box, bowl and spoon in. Fiber One Protein Cranberry Almond cereal will now be one of those boxes in my cabinet.

I have also been know to eat this for dinner :-)  It is yummy!!

Give Yourself Fully to the Work of the Lord

56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

I Corinthians 15

The words that stood out to me was 'work' and 'labor'.

I guess it's something I have not heard preached very often in churches. I hear how 'easy' life should be because of God's promises. Now don't get me wrong, there are lot's of promises and by faith and prayer we will see them answered. However, it's not a sit and pray, you just relax and here you go Santa kind of life in Christ either. We are called to go into all the world and that can truly be work!

So in verse 58 we are told to stand firm, let NOTHING move you. ALWAYS give yourselves FULLY to the work......because you know that YOUR labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Fully is Abounding in the KJV – in the concordance it means – be in excess...superabound or excel...be better...increase

Sounds to me like we are to go above and beyond, get out of our comfort zone, out of our home, out of our church building. We are to be so full of God and His Word; His Love, His Mercy, His Forgiveness, His Joy and His Peace - these are the works of God (Isaiah 32:17NKJV) that overflow in us and we should be displaying them in our workplace, in the grocery store, where we volunteer, etc.

Now let's look at 'work' in Strong's – task, employment, a deed, action, that which is wrought or made, a work. #2041 érgon from ergō, "to work, accomplish") – a work or worker who accomplishes something..

Employment – this is necessary to survive today. Men need to have jobs, employment so they can provide for their wives, their families, their parents as they age. Singles need employment so they can move out of their parents homes and begin their lives. Employment is not a BAD word, God expects it of us and where He puts us can be a mission field.

So, if we are to fully....work – we need to quit complaining and making excuses .God will not ask us to do anything He won't equip us for - then we need to make sure we are doing the Works of God (Isaiah 32:17) People should see a difference in us,not 'preaching' but actually 'living' the Word.

When you put yourself on God's throne, ….you are so good because blah blah blah ...and throw God's name in here and there, you talk about prayers that were answered with a pride of how God favors YOU – yet you do not admit when your prayers are not answered the way you have prayed them (at least not yet) and how are you treating your spouse, your parents, your employers and employees with honor – seeing others as better than yourselves ( Phil 2:3) These are things you need to go before the Lord with, to make sure you are 'working' according to God's will.

When I work or volunteer I need to make sure I'm focused on God and not on self. I can tell you, that when I get focused on self it can lead to listening to gossip and sometimes joining in, It can lead to focusing on a pain here or there and my thoughts take a wrong path.

I have been told they wish they had more volunteers like me. Do you know what they are really saying? They wish they had more volunteers that do their work as unto the Lord. Because when you do that you aren't focused on building yourself up but your focus is on honoring God and I believe you do better work.

The word 'labor' is toil #2873 - laborious toil, involving weariness and fatigue.

We are to give it our all for the Lord. He will renew our strength and He will give us the rest we need. I don't know about you, but when I'm working for the Lord, it is a labor of love, I want to touch people, through the work I'm doing, for the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe this 'labor' is not a bad weariness (one where we are doing things for self) but it's one where you are so full of the joy of the Lord and you are shining for Him, that you really have no idea how tired you are until you finish your work. Once your work is finished you feel great but are looking forward to resting at home. You have a sense of accomplishment and are thanking God for the day and now for your time to relax. This is kind of hard for me to explain, but a weariness from doing God's work is not the same as the weariness from doing things for selfish reasons. My husband summed it up for me this way - you have a clear conscience at bed time.

Tradition

Tradition

Definition: Strong's Greek – 3862 parádosis (from 3844 /pará, "from close-beside" and 1325/dídōmi, "give over") – properly, give (hand over) from close-beside, referring to tradition as passed on from one generation to the next.

I don't believe all tradition is bad. I will not judge you if you buy birthday gifts and have parties. I will not judge you if you have Graduation parties. I will not judge you if you decorate or dress up for Halloween and head out for some yummy candy, games and fun. I will not judge you if you put up a Christmas tree, lights and buy gifts at Christmas time. I will not judge you if you celebrate your wedding anniversary and have a traditional way you celebrate. I won't judge you for the baby shower or wedding shower you have. I won't judge you if you don't celebrate or have a 'tradition' for any of these things because I don't see sin in any of these unless you put them above God and His Word. If your 'traditions' become gods in your life and cause you to gossip, stress out, spend more than you should on stuff you nor they need, manipulate people or just give you an excuse to be self-centered and selfish....then I think the tradition is a problem.

When you tell others their traditions are sin and you condemn them and yet you have your own traditions, that's a problem. If you want to condemn some traditions then get rid of all of yours!

Now with that said, there are traditions that do not line up with the Word of God, they are made by religious people that desire power and I believe it's to take the attention off what is really going on in the persons life. They make a rule, a tradition that you must follow because they know you will have this or that happen to you or they scare you with God can't love you or people won't take you seriously.....that is not from God.

Mark 7 “He replied,“Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7They worship me in vain;

their teachings are merely human rules.’ ⁸You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” 9And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!

He goes on to talk about how they watered down the honor your parents command, changed it to suit their desires and He said they do many things like that.

I believe when we make 'traditions' in the church we are putting our will on other people instead of God's will. We take grace away, we deny the power of the cross. And when we desire to follow half truths or traditions that have nothing to do with God's commands, we are really living in fear and seeking to be approved by man.

So how do we, do I, know when a tradition is something to let go of?

Ask yourself these questions:

Does it put a burden on us/me?

Does it cause me to question the cross and what it does for us/me?

Does it make me live in fear of God's wrath?

Does it contradict God's Word?

If it doesn't and it's just a wonderful memory maker and in no way dishonors God....by all means, enjoy your tradition. I know I enjoy mine!!

Kroger Skillet Meals and Fresh Selection Salad Kit Yummy

I love being a BzzAgent and this is one of the reasons why !!!

I received coupons to try Kroger's Garlic Bread, Fresh Selection Salad Kit, and a Skillet Meal.

So no I had to decide what Salad and what Skillet Meal I wanted, they have a good selection.

This is what I ended up with.

After picking these items up I came down with the flu and for about 5 days I'd get home from work and head straight to bed.

On the 6th day I was getting hungry and feeling better---just now well enough to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

Then I remembered these items and with the help of my husband we put together a GREAT meal in about 10 minutes. It was fast, easy and with my husband it was fun!

It was delicious and I know it will be helpful to have a couple Skillet Meals in my freezer at all times.

The Salad Kits will be great for lunch at my job.

and the Garlic Bread.....well we ate on that for a couple days so I need to find a way to fix 1/4 of a loaf and refreeze the rest.

When you shop this week make sure you try these items, you won't be disappointed!

Kashi HummusCrisps

I have never liked the Kashi brand. My husband and I tried one of their cereals years ago and just never thought we'd try them again.

However, when the opportunity came as a BzzAgent, to try this product we decided to give them one more try.




We picked up a bag of Kashi Hummus Crisps at Kroger, Sea Salt & Olive Oil.

I was so sure I would not like them that I took a BIG handful, left the bag with my husband in his studio and walked away.

First bite, that wasn't too bad, second bite, this isn't bad at all, handful is suddenly gone so I head back to my husbands studio to get the bag!!!

Now my problem is eating the 'suggested' amount.

Good thing they are a healthier chip!

               *3.5g total fat per serving

                     **3g protein from chick peas and whole grains. Not a significant source of protein.

For more information to to this link  :     Kashi Hummus Crisps

God's Promised Peace

My husband and I had found the perfect way for me to give a brief testimony on getting out of depression and panic/anxiety attacks that had kept me in bondage for too long.

The Lord had also been speaking to us about getting out of debt and He gave us a plan which we started implementing.

Within 24 hours we had several prayer requests answered! We were praising God and thanking Him and giving testimony. Then...........

my husband gets home from church and our home had been broken into. I'm eating lunch with a friend and I feel my flesh rising up and I looked at my friend, told them what happened and then put my head in my hands bowed my head and prayed - God you have to help me through this I know You will make it right. I continued to pray for my husband since I wasn't there with him and for our pets - everything else was just stuff.

So our and every one's first reaction was - what a shame, this is awful. And, yes that is true because as Ephesians 6:12 says  "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms"

Now since we know it's the darkness in this world that causes these things to happen and that God promises to get us through, we won't dwell on that, we will look for answers, for what God is going to show us through this. And yes we prayed for the people that did this - not to get hurt as the flesh wanted to pray - but for them to experience God every time they touched something from our home.

Matthew 7:  24 Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

Our home is built upon the rock and we will not take our focus off God!

Proverbs 16:  20Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.

As I was talking to the Lord and listening! He asked me, 'What did you talk to the Pastor about at church this morning?'

My answer, "It was about emotions and not allowing them to rule you but we are to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Then He asked me,  "And what did you talk to Pastor Kathy, your husband and Me about a few days ago?'

My answer, "That I'm ready to be faithful and stand up and give my testimony."

The Lord is so sweet He said, "and what else?"

 I can't tell you the peace I was receiving as He guided me away from my fleshly response. He is always with us, we just have to calm down and listen, seek Him.

So. I thought for a moment and I replied, "Well, Lord, you have given Rob and me a specific plan and we made the decision to obey and told the Pastors. I agreed to follow the wisdom You were giving Rob. And within 24 hours we had at least 3 blessings, answered prayer, leaving only 1 or 2 things we were waiting on answers for.

The Lord said, "Can you see now why the darkness came in? It is trying to stop you.

How amazing is this conversation? I'm so thankful I know God and He knows me.

Rob and I are now facing a test or you could say, going through a trial.

James 1:  "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds"

I began thinking, we tell God 'yes, we trust You and we will be joyful in our times of trials.....' but then when something happens and those emotions come in.....are we still committed? Was it just lip service or do we really mean what we tell God? I knew I meant what I told God and I was going to rest under His wings. (Psalm 91)

That evening as my husband and I had our Bible reading and had snuggled down for our prayer time, he was speaking God's Word I know! In my husbands gentle spirit, out of his spirit that is full of love and faith in God, my husband prayed -

"Father, they took things from us but they can't take the most important things - they can't take You God, they can't take our faith in You and they can't take the relationship we have with You and with each other."

I melted.

Now, the next day we decided we were not going to pick at each other - should have done this or that, we were going to look for answers so it won't happen again. What does God want from us?

Are you ready for this?? After all you just read you won't believe what I was planning!

I was already talking to my bosses about changing my work hours, talking to my husband about staying home from church until we could get some things done, I was rearranging my life so I could be home when my husband was not. I was going to check into an alarm systems - monthly fees.

The Lord began talking to me and asking me if this reminded me of anything. I had to think and then it came to me and I was aghast.

I had been delivered from the pit of depression and panic/anxiety attacks about 4 years ago. I was home bound for a year. And now I was planning on being at home as much as possible again because I didn't want someone to break in again. I was allowing fear to come back in.

That's not going to happen. I repented, changed my attitude and promptly started praising and worshiping God in song. I started thanking Him that His Word says He will never leave or forsake me; that He died for me and that is an incredible love.

As soon as I began to see what the devil, the darkness was trying to do and stopped it in the Name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit in me - there was freedom, fear no long controlled me.

Christ in me, perfect love, cast out all fear.

I did not change my schedule, if anything I am more highly productive than before. I volunteer at Down Syndrome of Indiana and through that other non-profits have asked for our help.

Now, my husband and I are working as one and we are taking each step the Lord gives us to secure our home without going in debt. Remember one of the things we committed to the Lord was to get out of debt. We want to honor God, our faith and trust is in Him. He has given us ideas and we are implementing them.

I praise God that He does talk to me and that He opened my eyes because the 'things' can be replaced if we so desire. I do not want 'things' to replace my commitment to God, to be above God. It's amazing how blessings and joy unspeakable came all because I listened, trusted and kept my faith in the Lord and in His Word.

And since all this has happened, the transmission has gone out of my car.

Because God has been showing me things and talking to me about faith, we just handled it without getting upset or despairing. It was towed free to another city and they have given us a reasonable quote and we know God will work it out.

 Romans 8:  28 "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

As A BzzAgent I Tried the Special K Nourish Bars and Oatmeal

Yep had to run out off the house without breakfast again this morning....but wait !!!!

Through BzzAgent I have Special K Nourish Oatmeal to try.

This morning as the computer was booting up. I made me some

Cranberry and Almond Oatmeal.

Very easy you just add hot or boiling water and stir, then add

the Cranberries and Almonds and stir again.

YUMMY!

I was pleasantly surprised that it filled me up and I wasn't hungry

until lunch time.

Then I had a Special K Nourish Bar

a Lemon Twist

That didn't hold me over for very long but it did help my stomach

to think it had gotten some food. 

When I drank skim milk with the bar it helped me last

about 3 hours before thinking of food again.

Here's a picture of the awesome items I received as a BzzAgent to try

I'm also going to add these to my list of items for our next camping trip.

#GotItFree