Gayla's Magazine

Asian Peanut Sauce

This is a wonderful peanut sauce - great on all sorts of veggies.

1. 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter with nothing added
2. 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
3. 2 tablespoons soy sauce
4. 2 cloves garlic, crushed
5. 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
6. 1/2 to 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root (optional)
7. 1/2 to 2/3 cup water

Mix all the ingredients except for the water in a small saucepan with a wire whisk. Add the water and whisk again. You can add additional water if you want a thinner sauce. Heat until warm and pour over the veggies or serve on the side.  Mmmmmm good!

This is low glycemic and works well for diabetics too!!

Watching the Goal

Life takes on different views from time to time.... sometimes it's smooth sailing with glassy waters and free flowing gentle winds. At other times life's winds challenge every part of ones life with fast actions, thrown circumstances and little sleep. And many watchful eyes take in every detail, and nuance of my  fast paced life.

November has been a stretching month for me. Nothing slow and easy... with many daily responsibilities of home-base as well as traveling to different churches with very different needs with my husband.  Finding facts and actions for my growing charity works is a daily event.  And as a minister's wife the never ending battle with spiritual warfare goes on daily.

To keep one's balance means staying focused..... keeping on the pathway.... looking neither left nor right... putting my own eyes on the Lord and His leadership alone.  It can sometime mean guarding ones private hours firmly for refueling body, soul and spirit.

My favorite devotional book  Springs in the Desert trains me  every day.  As a ministry couple there must be room for the trial of faith, the discipline of faith, the patience of faith, the courage of faith, and often many stages are passed before we really realize what is the end of faith, namely, the victory of faith.

Looking ONLY unto Jesus.... Who is the Author and the Finsher of my faith.

 So while I have not written here as frequently as usual... the phrase comes to mind... 'texting and driving don't mix'.  The same applies to me - blogging and flying down life's roads sometimes cannot happen at the same time.

Maybe December will be better?  Who am I kidding?!

Five Enemies Within

The first enemy that you've got to destroy before it destroys you is indifference. What a tragic disease this is. "Ho-hum, let it slide. I'll just drift along." Here's one problem with drifting: you can't drift your way to the top of the mountain. The second enemy we face is indecision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity and enterprise. The third enemy inside is doubt. Sure, there's room for healthy skepticism. You can't believe everything. But you also can't let doubt take over. Doubt is the first step towards unbelief. Unbelief will keep you out of your "God promised life." The fourth enemy within is worry. We've all got to worry some. Just don't let it conquer you. Instead, let it alarm you. A better word for worry is "concern". Be concerned but do not worry. Worry is a sin if left unattended. The fifth interior enemy is over-caution. It is the timid approach to life. Timidity is not a virtue; it's an illness. If you let it go, it'll conquer you. Timid people don't get promoted. They don't advance and grow and become powerful in the marketplace. You've got to avoid over-caution. Luke 10:41-42 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." NKJV Bishop Drew Rousse

Our little dog

We have such a sweet little Yorkie who is so smart and lovable.  At night she likes to be wrapped up in her blanket in her bed with her two toys close to her.  She will stay like this till she goes to sleep!  Missy is the best dog we have ever had!

To all my diabetic friends and family....

To all my diabetic friends and family.... eat well today.... ignore the headlong rush in society that is eating their way into a early death! Be stong and resist the tempting foods that are designed to hurt your body.  We love you and want you to stay healthy.  In fact families of diabetics also must eat right to encourage our loved ones to eat well. So my friends.... this is for you today!Personally I am fixing Italian Parmesan Turkey tonight to support!!

Diabetic Food Pyramid

Diabetes Food Pyramid was designed by the American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetic Association. Unlike the USDA Food Guide Pyramid, diabetic food pyramid guide you with group of foods based on their carbohydrate and protein content because these foods affect blood glucose levels, which is indeed the primary concern to people with diabetes. You may find differences like potatoes and other starchy vegetables in the grains, beans and starchy vegetables group instead of the vegetables group, cheese is in the meat group instead of the milk group.

A serving of pasta or rice is 1/3 cup in the Diabetes Food Pyramid and ½ cup in the USDA pyramid.  Fruit juice is ½ cup in the Diabetes Food Pyramid and ¾ cup in the USDA pyramid.  This difference is to make the carbohydrate about the same in all the servings listed.

Grains and Starches
Situated at the base of the pyramid, these are foods contain mostly carbohydrates. Bread, cereal, rice, and pasta are food in this group mostly made of grains, such as wheat, rye, and oats. Starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn, and peas also belong to this group, along with dry beans such as black eyed peas and pinto beans. Starchy vegetables and beans are in this group because they have about as much carbohydrate in one serving as a slice of bread. As for beans and starches,  they are group together because they affect blood glucose in the same way.

Recommended serving: 6 -11 servings per day.

Vegetables
Vegetables are full of vitamins, minerals,  fiber, and naturally all of them are low in fat. Vegetables that should be at the top of your food list should be dark green and deep yellow vegetables, such as spinach, kale, broccoli, romaine lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, chilies and peppers. Try to get fresh or frozen vegetables rather than canned vegetables because they have less sauces, fats and salt added.

Recommended serving: 3 - 5 servings per day.

Fruits
Fruits are fabulous because they provide important vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Fruits also contain carbohydrates. Most dietitians recommend consuming whole fruits rather than juices because of the fiber contained. Avoid fruits and fruit juices that contain sweeteners or syrups added. This group includes blackberries, grapefruit and tangerines, cantaloupe, strawberries, oranges, apples, bananas, peaches, pears, and apricots.

Recommended serving: 2 - 4 servings per day.

Milk
Milk products contain a lot of protein and calcium as well as many other vitamins. When looking at milk or yogurt, try to choose low-fat or nonfat milk products for the great taste and nutrition without the saturated fat.

Recommended serving: 2 - 3 servings per day.

Meat and Meat Substitutes
Includes in these group are beef, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, tofu, dried beans, cheese, cottage cheese and peanut butter.  Meat and meat substitutes are great sources of protein and many vitamins and minerals. Nutritionists usually recommend fish and poultry over red meat, because it's less fatty. Keep your portion sizes small and trim away all the visible fat off meat. Baking, roasting or grilling is preferable to frying.

Recommended serving: 2 - 3 servings per day.

Sweets, Fats and Alcohol
Sitting at the very top of the pyramid simply means that your body should have smaller amounts of them. Your body needs fat for some things, but it's smart to avoid eating too much of it. And although sugary foods like candy and cookies are simple carbohydrates that can give you quick energy, they are usually loaded with calories and don't offer much in the way of nutrients. In the right amount, though, fats, alcohol and sweets can spike up the flavor in meals and snacks.

Recommended serving: Use them sparingly. In other words, eat only a little bit and don't eat them very often.

By following the Diabetic Food Pyramid Guide, you'll be sure to live a healthy lifestyle.

LIve long my diabetic friends..... really everyone on earth should eat just like you do!

 

National Diabetes Month

This is National Diabetes Month and I know how hard it is for diabetics to stay on top of their blood sugars.... I have a Dad and a brother who daily fight this battle.  So in honor to them today  please watch this video - if you have diabetes this will make you smile!! It's good!

 

The Pruning of the Lord

Our lives are like growing trees.... the end result is to be a full grown, fully developed, well rounded deep rooted tree that others can shade beneath.  But getting to that place is a process of ordeals, storms, high winds, scorching suns, dry seasons and the intentional pruning by God.

Pruning hurts. It means letting go of comfortable places, personal things and people. But to truly become who God is designing you to be, means pruning at times.

The Master Gardener sees the entire view of the tree and knows what is just a distraction, or something that is a hindrance, or even something that just is not His plan for the tree.So He cuts.... and shapes.... and removes everything that is not His desire for the tree to grow into.  And in time the newly cut off places don't hurt and the strength of the tree grows past the areas that were just sapplings that took away from the entire focus of the growing tree.  

The wise tree will say..... "God you are the Planner and the Designer of the Garden and please put my tree in just the right position and place YOU want it to be."

Can you imagine a tree fighting with the Gardener?

 

Packing...

Every time I help to pack a container I think of the next hands that will touch these items.  I can see their excitment, their joy, their comfort, their encouraged heart, their hands that mine have silently touched with love. I may never see their faces... but ohhhh how I have seen them.

I have seen hollow cheeks with haunted eyes of deep hunger.  I have watched the hunched over backs of feeble adults too weak to stand up straight.  I have held the hands that felt like horned thick calloused pads from years of terrible work. These are.... the untouched lives of men and women who will prize a bar of soap like you cant believe!  Who will carefully use this shampoo and guard it drop by drop. 

They can't see me.... but I do see them while I pack. And with every shipment love is loaded hand over hand for each precious soul.  I am so blessed beyond words to get to do this work.

Attention American Women

American women be thankful for your home - no matter it's condition..... no one here in this great country lives like this. A reality check of how other women are living this very day around the world will change the perspective of complaints.  Please visit www.momsagainsthunger.org and help a mom in need today.

Oh how I wish it would be TODAY!!

WHEN CHRIST COMES
By:  Max Lucado

You are in your car driving home. Thoughts wander to the game you want to
see or meal you want to eat, when suddenly a sound unlike any you've ever
heard fills the air. The sound is high above you. A trumpet? A choir? A
choir of trumpets? You don't know, but you want to know. So you pull over,
get out of your car, and look up.

As you do, you see you aren't the only curious one. The roadside has become
a parking lot. Car doors are open, and people are staring at the sky.
Shoppers are racing out of the grocery store. The Little League baseball
game across the street has come to a halt. Players and parents are searching
the clouds.

And what they see, and what you see, has never before been seen.

As if the sky were a curtain, the drapes of the atmosphere part. A brilliant
light spills onto the earth. There are no shadows. None. From whence came
the light begins to tumble a river of color-spiking crystals of every hue
ever seen and a million more never seen. Riding on the flow is an endless
fleet of angels.

They pass through the curtains one myriad at a time, until they occupy every
square inch of the sky. North. South. East. West. Thousands of silvery wings
rise and fall in unison, and over the sound of the trumpets, you can hear
the cherubim and seraphim chanting, "Holy, holy, holy."

The final flank of angels is followed by twenty-four silver-bearded elders
and a multitude of souls who join the angels in worship. Presently the
movement stops and the trumpets are silent, leaving only the triumphant
triplet: "Holy, holy, holy." Between each word is a pause. With each word, a
profound reverence. You hear your voice join in the chorus. You don't know
why you say the words, but you know you must.

Suddenly, the heavens are quiet. All is quiet. The angels turn, you turn,
the entire world turns-and there he is. Jesus. Through waves of light you
see the silhouetted figure of Christ the King. He is atop a great stallion,
and the stallion is atop a billowing cloud. He opens his mouth, and you are
surrounded by his declaration: "I am the Alpha and the Omega."

The angels bow their heads. The elders remove their crowns. And before you
is a figure so consuming that you know, instantly you know: Nothing else
matters. Forget stock markets and school reports. Sales meetings and
football games. Nothing is newsworthy. All that mattered, matters no more,
for Christ has come.