Enthusiastic?

In my daily devotions this week, I decided to start reading Revelations. It's something I have avoided, because it is so hard to understand. A lot of people have been talking about the end times since mother nature has surprised us with such weird weather and earthquakes. I think about the second coming often and Justin and I have talked about how close it really must be. I decided to take it really slow and soak it in. My Bible is a New International Life Application and it has a commentary at the bottom.

I have been reading everything that is written and it has really helped.

Today I read chapter 2 and verse 4 and 5 just leaped off the page with such conviction. It said:

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent , I will come to you and remove your lampstand from it's place.

The commentary said: In the first steps of your Christian life, you may have had enthusiasm without knowledge. Do you now have knowledge without enthusiasm? Both are necessary if we are to keep love for God intense and untarnished. Do you love God with the same fervor as when you were a new Christian?

My desire is to be an enthusiastic follower of God and really love the person that is front of me and be a reflection of Him. Really made me think today. How enthusiastic am I?

~ Mexican Yumminess~

My favorite food in the whole world is Mexican! I have made chicken enchiladas several times, but today I decided to get a little creative and try something different. Here is what I came up with! It was amazing, even if I say so myself!!

When we were in Uganda, Grace (the lady that does the cooking when there are teams there) made fresh sauted spinach with onions and garlic. I have never liked cooked spinach, but I made up my mind I was going to try everything she fixed. It was soooo good! It wasn't soggy or slimey like canned or frozen spinach. So with that in mind, I decided to incorporate it into my chicken enchiladas. Boil the chicken and shred (I used a large package of thighs) Then make the sauce, which is:

1/4 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup Flour

2 Cups Chicken Broth

8 Ounces Sour Cream

Chopped Jalepenos`

Melt the butter on low and then stir in the flour and stir until smooth. Slowly add the chicken broth and keep stirring until it is thick and bubbly. Remove it from the heat and add the sour cream and jalepenos`. Pour half of the sauce in the bottom of a 13X9 baking dish.

Chop an onion and 3 to 4 cloves of garlic and probably a half of a bag of baby spinach (rough chop) and saute` in a small amount of butter until the spinach is slightly wilted. Add the shredded chicken and sprinkle with Cumin (about 1 teaspoon). Dip corn tortillas in hot grease and fill with chicken mixture and a small amount of Monterey Jack cheese. Pour the remaining sauce on top and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Add a layer of Jack cheese and bake until just browned.

Enjoy!!!!

Home Is Where The Heart Is! ?

This is our home away from home in Elk City. We are trying to make it home and are feeling more comfortable there all the time, but there is no place like home (Fairview). We have been living here during the week since April, 2011. Thank you Linn Energy for taking such good care of us!

Noodles, Noodles and More Noodles!!!

This is something I always look forward to! Every year the week before the Mennonite Relief Sale a big group get together to make noodles to sell. It starts with 20 dozen eggs, 50 pounds of flour and a lot of willing workers. This year we had about 20 people show up to help.

It is so much fun hanging out with these older ladies and gentlemen and visit while you work for the 4 to 5 hours it takes to make these wonderful noodles. I always hear some really interesting stories!

Eva Neufeld and Carolyn Winter usually get there earlier than anyone else and start making the dough, so that when the rest of us get there we can start the kneading and rolling process. Eva always mans the mixer.

Carolyn breaking the eggs for the mixer.

Marcia Shewey was the kneader today. Everyone just jumps in anywhere they can.

A BIG PILE OF DOUGH READY FOR ROLLING!!!!

There were probably about 10 noodle machines there today and we had them all working hard. This is Millie and Gene rolling out the dough into strips to dry.

There were at least 5 or 6 racks for drying and they were all full several different times.

Every table in the dining hall was full of noodles that will dry over night before packaging.

Rolling, rolling, rolling!!!

These are the wide noodles.

And finally the thin noodles. After we are all finished cutting and laying out the noodles, we get to sample them. Carolyn fixed a great big roaster full of chicken and noodles and it was so yummy!!! If you have never done this, you really ought to try it. It is so much fun!!!

My Girls

Just goofing around with Animoto, but turned out pretty cute! All about my grands! Just click below to view the video.

My Girls

There's A New Hurst In Town

October has been a blur in the Hurst household!! We have been so busy getting Daniel and his beautiful bride married. It has been a wonderful time in our family and we are so blessed to have another sweet daughter-in-love!! Yes, it's love, not law! Here is just a sample of pictures from our fun weekend October 8th.

Kensi and her Dad as they walked down the aisle. She looked beautiful!!

Daniel was fighting tears when he saw her for the first time. The tears won!! I am so glad they didn't take pictures together before the wedding. Call me old fashioned!!

The excited mothers waiting for the wedding to start!

Watching the photographer taking pictures of our side of the family (and waiting for their turn) before the wedding.

Dancing at the reception!! So much fun!

At the end of our Mother - Son dance and a good cry! It was such an emotional day. Daniel and I both cried a lot! Happy tears, though!

Papa dancing with his Jelly Bean!

This is the only catastrophy that happened. The cake fell apart during transport to the reception and couldn't be saved. Only the 6" top cake survived. The poor lady that was delivering the cake was hyperventalating by the time she got there. The only thing that could be done as late as it was, was to go to Wal-Mart and buy some cupcakes. Kensi handled it very well. Her reaction was "Oh well, I got Daniel, that's all I need!" So glad she wasn't a bridezilla about it!

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY KENSI

Happy Birthday to my Favorite Sister!!!

Today is Lisa's 48th birthday!! Oops, was I suppose to say how old she is??? We are all going to go out to eat together tonight and celebrate at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Canton. We have shared some really fun times together, but one of my all time favorites was when we went to Africa together. Below are some of my favorite pictures from that trip of the two of us.

I usually get funny cards, but today I guess I was feeling a little sentimental. This is what the birthday card I bought for her said:

We are Sisters...our memories filled with the same images of family pets and Halloween costumes, holiday gatherings, and long car trips. Sisters....with our own world of negotiations, truces, pacts, secrets and looks of shared understanding (we do this one a lot!), united by a million everyday moments that became a lifetime of sharing. We are Sisters....and we need never ask ourselves who we are, for in each other we can see the girls we were, the women we've become, how far we've traveled in our journey together. And we know what only Sisters can know...that a love that grows through stages and phases is stronger for having been tested. That sticking together works for almost anything life can throw at us. That we belong to each other in a way that we can never belong to anyone else...in a way that is deep and lasting and real.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA, MY SWEET SISTER!!! I LOVE YOU FOREVER!!