Author: RefreshHer

Easter · Eternity

Jesus’ Final Words To You

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This week my husband pulled out a journal that he wrote in when his father was dying of cancer. On his death bed, my father-in-law spoke to each of us. With ears leaned down, straining and attentive, we wanted to hear every word he said to his family before he died. His words were precious. They were written down so we would not forget.

In John 17, we have Jesus’ final words to His disciples. This was His prayer for them as He was now facing the cross. But He didn’t just pray for those that followed Him during His time on earth, He also mentioned me and every other person who would trust Him and follow Him as their Savior! How amazing is that?!

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

Could we miss hearing His precious words? Would we turn away and not lean in to hear what He wanted to tell us before He died? Here’s what He prayed for us in His final hour:

  1. He wanted us to have unity as modeled by the Godhead. The Father and the Son were one. Unity among the Body of Christ is so important. Has the cross helped me to love others, or am I divisive in my spirit? Our love for others proves our love for God.
  2. He wanted us to be one in Christ. This is our position once we are saved – in Christ. We’re not one through church membership, good deeds, or our pastor, but in Christ. Is the cross work of Christ and my identification in Him my only hope of salvation? Nothing else will save me.
  3. He wanted us to be marked by glory. Jesus gave His glory to us through His presence, His Word, and His Spirit. It’s the manifestation of His presence. Can the world tell that I’ve been with the resurrected Christ?
  4. He is anxious to be with us! Jesus greatly desired for His people to be gathered to Him in heaven and to see His glory. Jesus longed for heaven’s completion of all things. Am I longing for heaven where I will be with my resurrected Savior and view His glory face-to-face?
  5. He wanted us to know the indwelling presence of Himself. “I in them.” Am I abiding in Christ today?

One of the things my father-in-law said on his deathbed was, “I’m going to miss my family, but I get to see the Man I’ve been preaching about all my life!” It’s normal for us to think about our family members longing to see us, but to think that the Lord Jesus is anxious to see us in heaven is amazing, isn’t it?

Because of Easter, the celebration of our resurrected Savior – we can have the assurance that we can have Christ living in us now simply by putting our trust in Him alone for the forgiveness of our sins. Then, we have the solid assurance that we will see Him in all His glory one day when He brings us home, and we can see His glory by abiding in Him now.

If you’ve never read Jesus’ last words to His followers, or if it’s been a while, you can find them right here. Open your “journal” and be overwhelmed by what He wanted you to know before He died in your place!

Rejoice in His love letter to you,

Sheet Pan Fish Tacos
Fast meal · Mexican Food

Sheet Pan Fish Tacos

RefreshHer4 Comments

New recipes are found everywhere…even in the Kroger Magazine! I love Kroger for lots of reasons, but this magazine they send out is a new reason to love shopping with them! The recent edition had tons of great recipes, as well as some craft ideas! I found some super good spring recipes that I tried this week. As a matter of fact, I tried FOUR recipes from in one week! But this recipe I’m sharing today was our favorite!

A lovely spice mixture is sprinkled on both the veggies and the fish, giving a normally plain piece of fish great flavor! The Crema that is added to the taco will make you want seconds or thirds! Wow. It’s just so good.

There are a couple changes I’ll be making in their method, and I’ll note them in the recipe below.

Directions

  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 orange bell pepper, cut into strips
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
  • 1⁄2 medium red onion, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
  • 1 pound tilapia, cut into 1” strips – I used Mahi Mahi and it was super good!
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
  • 1⁄4 cup mayonnaise
  • 3 tablespoons sour cream
  • Pinch cayenne pepper
  • Salt
  • Warm corn or flour tortillas
  • Avocado slices
  • Step 1 Place rack in center of oven; preheat oven to 400°F.
  • Step 2 In small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne and salt.
  • Step 3 On sheet pan, drizzle peppers and onion with 1 tablespoon oil. Toss with half the spice mixture. Bake until lightly browned, 15 minutes. (I like my veggies a little crisp, so I’m going to add the fish and veggies on the pan at the same time. These were too cooked for my preference.
  • Step 4 Meanwhile, in medium bowl, toss fish, remaining 1 tablespoon oil and remaining spice mixture. Set aside.
  • Step 5 Push roasted vegetables to one half of pan; lay fish on other half. Return to oven; bake until fish is opaque and reaches a safe internal temperature of 145°F, 10 minutes. Drizzle 1 tablespoon lime juice over pan. Again, I’m going to add the fish and vegetables at the same time and cook them for the 10 minutes.
  • Step 6 In medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice and cayenne. Season with salt, to taste.
  • Step 7 Serve fish on warm tortillas with sauce and avocado slices. Refrigerate any leftovers.

I served this with a homemade creamy coleslaw and it was the perfect side dish.

If you have a love for tacos like we do, and you enjoy fish, I hope you’ll try this recipe and be sure to make the Crema, too; it makes it extra special!

Also, like this recipe I shared a couple weeks ago, this is a one pan meal! Gotta love that!

Happy Taco Tuesday one day early! Thanks, Kroger!
Here’s another take on fish tacos that we love as well as this recipe for my homemade tortillas.

Mini Mudroom in the Garage
organization · refreshment at home · spring cleaning

Mini Mudroom in the Garage

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When your garage is messy a disaster and needs some good organization and then you see that your neighbor is giving away a lovely piece of furniture that would make the perfect mini-mudroom, you slam on the brakes and go get that piece of furniture! That’s exactly what happened to us last weekend!

Garages easily become catch-all’s for everything that you don’t know what to do with or don’t need anymore (can I get a witness?!). Over the winter months, our garage got Out. Of. Hand. Now with this beautiful piece of furniture in tow, I decided to use it to make a mud room of sorts. It will be a place where shoes can be slipped on and off, and also used for some extra storage space for the thing my husband needs more room for – his books. I failed to take a picture before we moved the piece in, but here it is just piled up and not yet organized.

I’m married to a sentimental guy. He likes to hold onto things that were his from long ago, his parents’ possessions and maybe even his grandparents’. That means an old cell phone from his mom, a CD player/Boom Box, a ton of CD’s (you know what those are, right? Ha!), letters, and year books are treasures to him. I wanted to help organize his belongings, not really toss them, so that was part of my task in this garage clean-up job. I made a place for his mom’s CD player (and have it plugged in and accessible) and also found storage for the CD’s. I also made a place for his shoes when he comes in, as well as space for some car accessories, yard games and fire pit tools.

Since we always come in through the garage, I like to make it inviting. A wreath, a cute greeting on the door say, “Welcome Home!” If you’re going to hang art work in your garage, why not hang up a picture of a cool, old truck?! A young man at our church gave that to my husband a few years ago.

I also added a tin for bats, balls and other toys so that my grandsons could easily access them. The aqua cushion on the furniture was one I had already and wasn’t using anymore. Now it’s providing a soft place to sit down and lace up shoes!

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I love that this new space cost me $0, thanks to kind neighbors who needed to unload a piece of furniture. If you have a garage that could use some organization, why not look on Facebook Marketplace? People are often selling pieces like this one for little to nothing, or maybe you’ll be blessed with a free piece like I was!

What could you do to create an inviting space in your garage or car port? Sometimes just adding a wreath and a pretty rug can transform the garage from just a place for the car to a place that welcomes you home!

Refresh your garage with a little spring spruce up!

Christian Life

Elevate the Monotonous Into the Momentous

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Last week I stepped outside my front door on a springlike morning. Ahhhh, so beautiful! Then I looked down at the porch where I was standing and saw a hundred dried up worms that were the residual from the previous day’s rain. I stepped back inside the door and grabbed the broom and began my efforts at ridding the concrete of the crusty creepies.

That was only ONE of the many not so glamorous tasks I did that day. My work also included cleaning out the kitty litter box, doing laundry, cleaning the bathrooms….well, you get the idea. It was a day full of dirty jobs, but it was my day and also my delight to serve the Lord in my home – in this quiet corner of my world.

For the last several months, in between my chores, I’ve been studying in preparation for a Ladies’ Prayer Advance where I was to speak. I always feel the heavy weight of responsibility of giving out God’s Word.
It MUST be accurate.
It must be in context.
It must be applied.

The day after sweeping up the dried worms, I made my way to that conference where for the next several days I had the blessing of speaking, but also gleaning from the other speakers. .

I had the joy of gathering with about 300 women to worship, pray and pour over Scripture. I had the delight of meeting so many ladies, of listening to their hearts as they introduced themselves to me. It was a blessing to stop and pray with each one who shared a burden or need.

It was exhilarating. It was a far cry from sweeping up dead worms!

But as all wonderful weekends do, the conference came to a close and we headed home. Monday morning I stepped out to take my daily walk and I was greeted once again with…dead worms. When I returned home from my exercise, I got the broom and got back to the task of trying to sweep them away.

As I swept I thought about the invigorating days that came between my lowly task of sweeping the porch. I was reminded that THIS is what life is. It’s full of high’s and low’s. It’s not always worship songs and wondrous events – it’s also worms and work.

But every day, every task, every moment belongs to the Lord. He has called us to this moment. We must be faithful whether we’re on a platform or the front porch. How are we to push through on the days that are not so glamorous or fun? The difference is our worship.

Personal worship of God each day can elevate the mundane into the momentous.

Where does today find you? On the day when it’s not your birthday, you’re not on vacation or headed to a Ladies’ conference, but you find yourself doing the monotonous, turn your heart to our great God. Open His Word and find the wonder of Him throughout the pages of Scripture. Bow at His feet and adore Him. That act will turn your heart into a sanctuary of praise.

Some verses that remind us of this truth:
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. Co. 3:23

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Ps. 103:1

For from him and through him and for him are all things.To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:36

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?Put your hope in God,f or I will yet praise him,my Savior and my God. Ps. 42:11

It won’t matter that you’re “just at home” or “on your way to work.” You will be filled with the Spirit of the One that created you as much for this moment as He did for the “more holy” tasks. Worship makes those worms momentous. Sound silly? Try it and see how worshiping God elevates your mundane into the momentous!

Crustless Mini Cheesecakes
dessert · Easter · Gluten-Free · Weight watchers

Crustless Mini Cheesecakes

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I grew up in a home where most evenings we had dessert at the end of the meal. It wasn’t something huge like a triple-layered cake, but just a little something sweet. I still enjoy ending the meal with a taste of something sweet.

Small, individual desserts are perfect for a “just enough” serving size! Weight Watchers has a cheesecake recipe that I’ve tweaked a little to come up with a dessert we love!

I bake these individual cheesecakes in small tins I purchased on Amazon. They look like these…

They’re truly the perfect size if you’re wanting to watch your calories, but still enjoy something sweet. I bake them without any crust, then give my guests the option of sprinkling chocolate covered graham crackers on the top. It serves as an inverted crust! Then I top them with fruit, light Cool Whip and chocolate shavings. Wow. They are so good! Here’s the recipe:

Crustless Cheesecakes
3/4 Cup Plain low-fat yogurt
8 oz. Low-fat Cream Cheese
2 Eggs
2/3 Cup sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
Light Cool Whip
Fresh berries
Chocolate shavings
Chocolate Graham Crackers, crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place small baking tins on a baking sheet. Spray lightly with cooking spray. You could also use a cupcake tin if you don’t have the tins. If you use the tin, line them with cupcake liners.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat together yogurt, cream cheese, eggs, sugar and vanilla. Spoon evenly into baking tins. Bake until top is set, 15-20 minutes; let cool and then chill in refrigerator 2 hours (can make up to 2 days ahead).

3. To serve, slide a knife around the edge of the cheesecake and invert onto a serving plate. Serve with fresh berries, Cool whip and chocolate shavings on top. You can also add the chocolate covered graham crackers on top, if desired.

You could also serve these in their little tins for an easy “pick up and go” dessert. Here’s one just with Cool Whip and chocolate. Not a bad combo!

I’m not sure about the WW points on these, but the version with a crust are 7 points, so if you don’t add the crackers, I’d think it would be one or two points lower! I’ve eaten these in moderation with good success (no weight gain).

These make a great dessert for guests. They aren’t strange in any way with artificial sweeteners – they’re just lighter due to no crust and lightened cream cheese. These would be perfect for Easter, perhaps serving them with fresh blueberries and a little lemon zest on top! Give them a try and tell me if you loved them as much as we did!

Anyone else enjoy having dessert after dinner?