Moving! Follow Link for Bacon

Yes, I am a dismal blogger.

Yes, I am moving.

Good news: Recipes! If you like bacon and cheese, check out this blog. I'm posting some of my favorite recipes.

http://heartsinthehome.blogspot.com/

Taco Casserole

Tacos and spaghetti are two of the messiest foods to eat. Spaghetti is usually pretty straightforward, but preparing all the little taco toppings can be a pain.

Casseroles, on the other hand, are a busy cook's best friend.

Mix tacos and casserole, and what do you get? A somewhat less messy taco that you can prepare ahead of time, and that uses about half the dishes. If you want to make it in the morning for dinner that night, mix up the cooked ingredients and pop the casserole dish in the fridge.

Taco Casserole

2 cups dried brown rice

2 cans black beans
1 can yellow corn

Taco spice to taste (any mix works)

1 lb. ground beef

Chopped lettuce

Salsa

Sour cream

Cheddar cheese

Tortillas & taco shells

1. Pre-cook the rice according to directions
2. Brown the beef & drain the fat
3. Preheat the oven to 350 F
4. Mix beans, rice, corn and taco spice, top with cheese. Transfer into a 9 by 13 pan, bake for 20 m. or until cheese is bubbly. If it's refrigerated, bake for 40 minutes
5. Serve with salsa, lettuce, sour cream, and cheese. Eat by itself or in tortillas or taco shells.

Additional/alternate ingredients:

Your own favorite taco toppings

1 - 1 ½ large white potatoes or 4 small white potatoes

Chop into 1-inch chunks, fry in bacon grease, drain, and mix with the beef before baking

Replace or mix the black beans with great northern beans and/or kidney beans

Mix diced tomatoes and/or tomato sauce with the beef before baking

Replace the ground beef with ground turkey for a healthier meal

Replace ground beef with diced chicken for a different texture and a healthier meal

Replace the brown rice with white rice

Enjoy!

~Maria

The Three Steps of Writing

    I've heard it said that there are no "Three Steps of Writing," and I think it's true. In order to write the best way you can, there are a myriad of techniques, teachers, styles, personalities and quirks. Your writing style, and the way you write (trust me, those are different things), will be developed over a long period of learning and experience. And so, there are no "Three Steps of Writing Well."
    However, I believe that there are three simple steps to getting actual writing done, and they are all needed in order to learn how to write well.
    Step one is simple: Read. What you read will be reflected in your writing. I think that Luke 6:45 sums it up nicely: "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." Basically, that means that what you spend a lot of your time or thought on will be reflected in your actions or words. There is nothing you can read that has no effect on you -- it can affect you positively, negatively, or just confuse you, but
 everyone writes for a reason, that writing cannot be unread and its effects can be long lasting. Read a lot. Read what you want to write like, read different styles, read old writing and new writing, read both fiction and nonfiction, read poetry as well as prose, read about writing.
    Step two: Write. It's as simple as that. Learning about writing is important, and reading is important, but no matter how much of either you do, the surest way to improve is to write. You will never really be able to write as well as you want, but with (lots of) learning and (lots and lots and LOTS of) writing, you will be able to write well enough to put what you want on paper, the way you want it.
    Step three: Revise. Just plain writing will never be enough. Your first draft will always have something in it that needs tweaking, or taken out, or added in. That's the point of a first draft: it is nothing more than getting your framework on paper. Nothing will ever be perfect the first time around.
    In reality, writing is quite simple. In the words of Gene Fowler, "Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead."

~Maria

Blowing the Horn

1. Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:

3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.

6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Ezekial 33:1-9

This passage describes the job of the Christians in America today. We are supposed to see problems and warn people about them. That is why I started the blog Blowing the Horn. On this blog, I will post testimonies of God's power and prayer requests. Stop by and follow me to help me spread the Word.

Here is the link to the blog: http://blowingthehorn.blogspot.com/

~Maria

Help Miroslav Get Adopted

     Miroslav is a five-year-old boy who was sent to an orphanage for special-needs children by his mother because he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. She hoped that he could come home after a year of treatment, but the orphanage does not actually help the children, and Miroslav was unable to come home. His mother asked for help to find a family to adopt him. 

     McKennaugh Kelley, who wrote this post, described Miroslav's plight this way:

     [When they met Miroslav] He was turning two. We called him “Angel Boy”—I cannot explain the beauty of his spirit. He, in circumstances that no little child should live in, was so full of a sweet, heart-breaking peace. His eyes showed no contempt or anger. Ever. They only held love and a sad, mystified wonder at why he was left alone and uncared for.

     He had just been placed at an orphanage for special needs children due to his diagnosis of cerebral palsy. His mother still held rights. She was only allowed to visit him one day a week because she had entrusted him to this place. We got to see her three or four times over the seven weeks that we were there. Once, she brought Miroslav’s older brother, a rambunctious boy who enjoyed striking us down with his plastic sword. The boy showed a gentle side, though, as he bent and tenderly kissed Miroslav’s cheek. Miroslav smiled ever so sweetly at him. I sensed the love between these two brothers. I even felt that the mother cared deeply for her youngest son. Why, then, had she left him here?

     With the help of a translator, my family and I asked her if we could do anything that could assist her in bringing Miroslav home. Did she need money to take care of him? No, she didn’t. She said that he got the therapy and care he needed here. Our hearts broke as we thought, “If only you could understand! Your child gets no therapy. No special care. He spends all his hours behind crib bars, waiting for you. He is hungry, afraid, abandoned.”

     Miroslav’s mother told us that, in a year, he would come back to live with them. We knew what a year in this place could do to a child. “Oh, God,” we prayed, “keep Miroslav strong.”

When we left the orphanage, when we looked into Miroslav’s angel eyes one last time, we held hope in our hearts that he would be freed from this place.

     Back in the US, we were unable to get news of this little boy. Then, after more than a year had passed, we saw a photo of him with a missionary. The very photo in this article. He looked so happy, so joyful. But we knew that when the missionaries left, he would be back in his crib. Little Miroslav was still at the orphanage. His mother’s promise had not been kept. We’ll never know why. Still, he remained unavailable for adoption. We prayed. We asked God that his family would take him back, or else they would sign their rights away, so that he would have a chance to leave the orphanage.

Today, he is still in the same place, still waiting for his momma to come back for him. She never will. He is turning five. He will spend his birthday alone, in a crib.

     10 days ago, nearly 3 years since we told Miroslav goodbye, I received an email from a Ukrainian friend. In her words, “God is making the best for children who need him. Can you imagine that the lady from [the orphanage]…said ‘please find family for Miroslav’?”

It was an answer to prayer. He is available for adoption now. He can be freed. If only an adoptive family can be found.

     That’s where your part comes in: Share. Miroslav’s. Story.

     Most everyone knows that Ukraine has all but destroyed part of Kyiv in their rioting. I have seen photos of beautiful monuments that I stood under that are blackened, burned, and crumbled. It is shocking and terribly saddening to someone who has been there. But, even more troublesome, are the Russian troops who are taking over Crimea. Adoptions in that region have been stopped. Adoptions ARE still taking place in Miroslav’s region. Is time running out? Maybe. I don’t know.

     Is there a homestudy-ready family out there that could rush through the paperwork and claim Miroslav before he’s stuck behind crib bars forever? There must be. But it may take many of us to reach the right person. You can take the first step towards finding Miroslav a family by pressing the Share button.

     Not all great things are hard.

     The person who wrote this article can be reached at mckennaugh [at] inbox [dot] com or 570-549-2442. Please visit the original post at http://therebelution.com/blog/2014/04/help-miroslav-get-adopted/#.VEVX1PldWwE for more information.

In Christ,

~Maria

The Grammar Rant

The short-and-easy, hate-grammar-but-want-to-write-person's checklist.

1. Don't write alot. You don't write alittle, abit, acantaloupe, aporkchop. Don't write alot.
2. Avoid repetitions. Repetitions are annoying. Repetitions draw away from the story and to the repetition. Constantly check for repetitions. Only use repetitions for specific purposes.
3. Commas are a wonderful invention that keep sentences from running together like this one is and can prevent odd sentences like this one: Let's eat Grandma vs. Let's eat, Grandma. Commas can save lives. Use them.
4. Proper punctuation! Some things, like exclamation points and periods, can be interchangeable. Other things, like question marks, aren't. Don't end a question with a period! It makes the question sound flat and confuses the reader. For instance: Don't we need to get lettuce. vs. Don't we need to get lettuce?
5. (How often do you see parenthesis in books? Not that often, right? [You never, ever see double parenthesis {Avoid parenthesis like the plague}])
6. The dreaded -ly word! Really, suddenly, abruptly, angrily, sorrowfully, happily, faithfully, amazingly, beautifully, prettily, lovingly, gently, harshly, personally. These sneaky little pirates like to steal the "umph" from your descriptions. Unless these descriptive words are necessary, don't use them. When you edit, search for -ly words and pick and choose the important ones. Let your descriptions stand strong on their own!

Tune in again for more grammar/spelling points!

~Maria

Writing Prompt

"Every breath hurt."

Who is saying this? What does it mean? Physically or emotionally? A beginning or an ending?

Write a paragraph from this sentence.

~Maria