The Power of Prayer

The past couple of weeks at church I have seen amazing healing just through the power of prayer. Doctor's found a cancerous tumor on the kidney of one of the elders in our church. And yes, I did say THE kidney, about 10 years ago he had to have his kidneys removed and replaced by a donor kidney. So, he in fact had a tumor on his donor kidney. Our church family is very strong, especially when it comes to prayer. I always joke about our church having God on speed dial, because every time we need a serious healing and we pray we see results almost instantly. Now, I'm not saying that praying ALWAYS gives you instant results, however this past month we have been blessed as a church to be able to see instant results.

The doctors were able to remove the tumor along with part of the affected kidney. In the hospital, blood results showed that the kidney wasn't functioning as normal, but that was to be expected. About a week went by and our elder went in for more blood tests to check on the kidney, the results were better than in the hospital and showed that the kidney was working like normal. Another week went by and more blood tests, this time the results showed that the kidney was functioning above normal, as if he had two perfectly healthy kidneys.

From what I've been told, the doctors here had never done this kind of surgery nor expected such wonderful results. Praise God for the power of prayer and for healing! God uses doctors for His will and He certainly did for our elder, there is no other way to explain such a miraculous healing! God has big plans for our elder, our church, and our community. He has great plans for you and you too can have God on speed dial if you believe, seek him, and pray!

¹³ Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. ¹⁴ Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

   ¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. ¹⁷ Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! ¹⁸ Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops. 

James 5:13-18

Have you witnessed divine healing through prayer and God? Leave me a comment and share, I'd love to hear your story!

Have a wonderful morning dear followers!

Spring Fever

I'm not sure why, I'm guessing its a bit of Spring Fever, but I've recently taken a big interest in having house plants. I've had them a couple weeks now and they seem to be doing well, which is exciting for me because I've never really had a green thumb. Here are a couple photos of my new house plants!

Orchids

Lucky bamboo (which is not really bamboo)

Not pictured is my cute aloe vera plant. I've always LOVED aloe vera plants and am very excited to finally have my own!

I'd like to get a couple more easy to maintain, but beautiful house plants. If you have any suggestions PLEASE leave me a comment!

Anyone else getting Spring fever and bring home some house plants lately?

Another Yum Yum Review!

Last Summer I had the privilege of reviewing an awesome little snack bowl from Yum Yum Dishes. Well, as if their bowls weren't awesome enough, they redid their design to include a plastic lid for the bowl. So, now I can get my daily snacks ready ahead of time and either store them on the counter or in my refrigerator sealed to prevent spills!

With the new lid I can save my Pineapple snack for later!

Sealed and ready to chill in the fridge!

Having the plastic lid has been a huge help and was a very smart move for the Yum Yum Dishes! I have to admit that I grab my new Yum Yum Bowl with a lid more frequently than my original Yum Yum Bowl with out a lid. I can easily plop my snack in my purse and take it with me on the road. No need to stop at gas stations where I would be tempted to over snack on unhealthy foods.

And, as if the new Lid wasn't cool enough, Yum Yum Dishes has added a new product to their list of awesomeness! Yum Yum Dishes now has a 9 inch plate to help with portion control at meal time!

The 9 inch plate is perfect for meal time. The plate has dotted lines to mark out portions for your protein, carbohydrate, and vegetable. At first I was a little wary at the portion size, I love to eat and limiting my intake kind of turns me off. I was surprised however that once I finish my plate I am satisfied, it has just perfect portions for a meal.

9 inch plate from Yum Yum Dishes

Ready for dinner!

The 9 inch dinner plate is also PERFECT for salads! I  used the portion lines to help measure out my Lettuces/Veggies, Grilled Chicken, and Croutons with Dressing. It give me just enough to make a nice and satisfying salad for lunch! The only thing that I would suggest they need to change is the color of the dotted lines on the plate. They are yellow and kind of blend in, I would suggest orange or black.

Overall, I am very impressed with the change to the bowl by adding a lid as well as their new product the 9 inch plate. I recommend them to anyone looking to loose some extra pounds by portion control rather than limiting the types of foods and snacks they can have!

Cost: $24.00 for set of four 4 ounce bowls with lids, $34.00 for a set of four 9 inch plates

Where to Buy: Yum Yum Dishes Website - ENTER Code: RURAL20 at check out to get 20% off your order of Yum Yum Dishes! Code expires 3/19/2012

My Rating: A $$$$

Click here to see what My Rating means!

Please show Yum Yum Dishes some love by liking them on Facebook, Following on Twitter, and signing up for their YUMMY Tip of the Week!

Like Yum Yum Dishes on Facebook

Follow Yum Yum Dishes on Twitter

Thanks for reading and have a great day dear followers!

Disclosure: I was sent a 4 ounce bowl with a lid and a 9 inch plate to review. I was not compensated in any other way. Opinions in this post are mine based on my experience and use of the items. I nor Yum Yum Dishes guarantees any weight loss results from the use of these dishes nor do we guarantee that you will like them.

Freebie Friday 2/24/2012

I reviewed an awesome Digital Scrapbook Software a while back called My Memories Suite v3 and absolutely LOVE it! Because I love it SO much, I'm going to start a regular FREEBIE FRIDAY post to give my readers a chance to download a FREE Digital Kit from MyMemories.com!

Here is a preview of today's FREEBIE:

Click HERE to download the kit! PLEASE note that this kit will ONLY be available THIS week so, don't forget to download it today!

Don't have My Memories Suite? Go MyMemories.com to buy the software and start scrapping! USE CODE: STMMMS86739 at checkout to get $10.00 OFF the software!

Also, as a SPECIAL Valentines Bonus use CODE: LOVEmms5 at checkout to get $5.00 OFF your purchase of $10.00 Scrap Kits! Can be used once only by each customer.

Have a wonderful Friday Dear Followers!

Bloggy Bash Winners!

Thank you to all my lovely followers that were a part of Little Sister's Bloggy Birthday Bash! Again, I would like to THANK Buns Up Baby for sponsoring a cloth diaper for this event! And, without further ado, here are the WINNERS!

Winner of the Cloth Diaper from Buns Up Baby is...

Misty Z.

Winner of the CJs BUTTer is...

Christine T.

And the winner of the Thirsties Booty Love is...

Rebekah W.

Congratulations ladies! You should receive an e-mail from me later today!

Have a wonderful day dear followers!

Beetle Bug

Big Sister had another Speech Therapy session this week. I can not put into words how happy I am for Big Sister on her achievements thus far. I am so proud of her each time I hear a new word. This week she has just exploded with new words and phrases and even told Little Sister to "Take your bottle."

Each visit she seems to latch onto new words as well. My favorite word(s) during this weeks session was Beetle Bug! Now, I will admit she still does quiet a bit of gibber gabber, however in the midst of the gabber I can now make out her new words.

Big Sister tellin' me 'bout it! (And YES she LOVES cars!)

Have a wonderful day dear followers!

Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

What a beautiful day! It was in the 50s here, so the girls and I spent most of the day outdoors. I inspected our landscape to see what survived winter and what needed fixed. I am amazed that in FEBRUARY I have green shoots popping up everywhere! Has spring decided to come early this year?

Hopefully, we will be moving into our new home soon. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done in the new house, but its coming along slowly but surely. A friend of ours will be living in our current home after we move, but I want to make sure that she has little to no work that needs to be done to the yard or landscape after we are gone. 

So, since the weather was nice today I busted out my gloves and got to work cleaning up leaves and weeds around the house and the backyard. Once I got the leaves cleared decently, I was bummed to see absolutely no hostas under the tree in our front yard. Our neighbor had problems with the deer eating her hostas in her woods, but I had thought that ours survived. I'm hoping they are just hiding under the soil, waiting to pop up soon, but we'll see.  We've had several wind storms this winter so, I began working on picking up the branches and sticks that are scattered through the back yard. Big Sister was a little help, picking up sticks and placing them where I instructed. However, she is 2 and easily distracted, so most of her time she was spent poking the ground with sticks or drawing lines in the sand.

As I worked I became increasingly excited about working on the garden at our new house. I have already ordered vegetables for my raised planters, but am still trying to decide on what flowers to use in on the porch and around the house. I guess I probably shouldn't call it a porch, its just a large concrete pad that isn't attached to the house. We will be adding a deck around the house and connect it to the concrete pad, where the garden will be. This will be the first time I've attempted to keep an active garden going, our "porch" is mostly full sun, so if you have any tips or tricks PLEASE leave me a comment!

I hope you had as wonderful a day as I did dear followers,

Plum District Indianapolis CODE!

Plum District Indianapolis has a special code going on right now until 2/25! SAVE 25% off at checkout for local Indy deals only using CODE: indylove

Check out the cool deals going on right now!



CLICK HERE to get $5.00 FREE Plum Dollars!

Click HERE to become a Plum District Affiliate!

Have a wonderful night and stay tuned for tonight's Speed Scrap Sunday with My Memories Suite!

Freebie Friday 2/17/2012

I reviewed an awesome Digital Scrapbook Software a while back called My Memories Suite v3 and absolutely LOVE it! Because I love it SO much, I'm going to start a regular FREEBIE FRIDAY post to give my readers a chance to download a FREE Digital Kit from MyMemories.com!

Here is a preview of today's FREEBIE:

Click HERE to download the kit! PLEASE note that this kit will ONLY be available THIS week so, don't forget to download it today!

Words Words and More Words!

Last week we had to cancel Big Sister's Speech Therapy session because she wasn't feeling well. A flu bug went through the whole house. At first I thought that Little Sister and I wouldn't catch it, but the inevitable happened and I fell victim to the bug followed by Little Sister, who is now finally at the end of the "nose crustys." Although Big Sister was sick the previous week, she still threw some new words at me almost every day. It seems like finally she is making a connection with communicating and getting what she wants or getting attention. She has learned the word sandwich and the sign for sandwich, which she loves to use. I love watching her do it. I've tried to teach her Banana but she does a funny rolling hand gesture for Banana. The therapist says that its okay, if that is the sign she wants to use, then let her!

Let's Get The Party Started!

One year ago today Little Sister entered the world! I am so blessed for her to be a part of my life and part of our family! She brings so much joy to our lives and I just couldn't imagine life without her. So, in honor of her Birthday, I'm having a GIVEAWAY!

Little Sister's Bloggy Birthday Bash starts TODAY! 

I would like to give a SPECIAL Thank you to our Sponsor Buns Up Baby for offering one of my readers a Cloth Diaper from their store! I also have a 2 ounce jar of THiRSTies Booty Love and a 4 ounce jar CJ's BUTTer - New Mown Hay, that I am offering as well!

Clipix Remembers It!

Well, I came across a website today that I love! It is similar to Pinterest, but delightfully different. It is an online bookmark keeper or clipboard. Instead of saving bookmarks to your computer, you can store them online, organize them, and share them with your friends or the world. My favorite part so far, is the fact that if there aren't any photos you like on the site you want to save or if the site has wonderful information but not photos, you can still Clip it to your Clipboard and make your own thumbnail. How cool is that?

I've already made myself a couple clipboards, one for cloth diapers another for blogs I love. Check out my Clipboards at Clipix!

Create your own Clipix, Clip your favorite sites, and enjoy NOT having to search over and over for you favorites!

Have a GREAT day dear followers!

A New Way To Shop Online

Shopping online can be lengthy and tedious when you are trying to compare prices and find the best deals. Going from one site to the other and trying to weed through all the spam sites gets old fast. Well, now there is a new way to shop online! Become, Inc. has a great website that does all the research for you.

Here is a little information about Become, Inc. as stated on their website:

We founded Become, Inc. in early 2004 with a mission to help people make ideal buying decisions. As avid shoppers, we realized the tremendous difficulty associated with researching new products and services. 

We found that none of the available shopping services met all of our needs. General purpose search engines were fine for general purpose queries, but they frequently provided search results unrelated to shopping or page after page of merchants trying to sell us something. At the other end of the spectrum, price comparison sites never showed comprehensive research information such as buying guides, product reviews, articles, forums, and other useful shopping information.

We are working to provide comprehensive, relevant, and unbiased research information to help you choose the right product. We also provide a comparison shopping service to help you get the best deal. Finding the right product at the best price to save you time and money --that is our goal. We are meeting this goal by developing innovative new technologies and search services.

My family is currently working on remodeling a home and I've been searching everywhere for the things we need at reasonable prices. I was astonished at the selection of competitive prices that popped up when I did a search on Become.com

Check out just a few of the awesome deals you can find for household items on Become.com:

42 inch wide stainless steel sink
Central park fountain 7-piece luxury comforter set red
Interdesign shower fabric curtain liners 72x84
 
Happy Shopping Deal Followers!

 

Little Sister's Bloggy Birthday Bash Giveaways!

Welcome to Little Sister's Bloggy Birthday Bash!

We have a week until Little Sister's Birthday and here are our current Sponsors:

If you would like to Sponsor a giveaway item and/or Gift Certificate please e-mail me or visit the Sponsor page for more information. I will be taking Sponsors all the way up until February 23rd!

Thanks!

Plum District FLASH Giveaway

Remember the post about the SWEET deal from Plum District for the Grubbie Style?

Well, the LOVELY people at Plum District are offering 3 of my readers a chance to get $5.00 off the low price of $15.00 for a DURABLE Customizable T-Shirt for Kids! That means you only pay $10.00 for theses awesome Shirts!!

Enter to win by using the Rafflecopter form below!

Holiday Gifts at Vistaprint

Valentines Day is quickly approaching and as with each holiday that comes up I ponder what to get my family and friends. The hardest person for me to shop for is usually my husband, as he claims to "have everything." So, what do you get the Man that has EVERYTHING?

Did you know that Vistaprint has a nice selection of Holiday Gifts? They have items available like Key Chains, Calendars, Mugs, Photo Cards, Photo Books, Magnets, Mouse Pads, and Ornaments. You can select one of these items, use your own photos, and create a beautiful Keepsakes in just minutes. This makes Vistaprint a wonderful solution for the person who has everything!

I think my favorite item is their Mouse Pad! My husband works around his computer a lot and the perfect gift this Valentines Day would be a Mouse Pad with  a cute photo of all his girls on it! What would you choose from Vistaprint, for the person who has everything? 

Check out Vistaprint's Holiday Gifts and while your there check out their selection of FREE items as well! Who doesn't like FREE stuff?

Have a wonderful night dear followers!

Plum District - Deals for Moms!

I was recently introduced to a cool Mom Friendly website called Plum District. As Moms we are always looking for good deals and ways to save money!  They offer amazing daily deals. Local moms find businesses they love and share 50 – 80% savings with the rest of us. All you do is create an account, click a city near you, and look through all the sweet deals! You're going to love it!

Click HERE to become an Affiliate TODAY!

Plum District Indianapolis has a great deal tomorrow from Grubbie Style! Follow this link for a SNEAK PEAK!

http://www.plumdistrict.com/admin/perk_contents/13217/preview

Also, jump over to their Facebook page and SHARE the love! Like them and tell them Rural Mama's Sandbox sent you! Several new faces will win an additional $5.00 off the Grubbie Style deal tomorrow, just for Liking the Plum District Indianapolis Facebook Page!

Just for FUN! Click here and receive $5.00 FREE Plum Dollars from ME!

Have a wonderful night dear followers and happy shopping!

Becoming A Mother Part 5

After my niece was born, I was at the stage where I kind of gave up having a baby. I tried to find things to replace the baby I couldn't have. I decided to raise chickens and ducks. I got a puppy, our farm dog was old, we weren't sure how much longer he was going to live and we desperately needed to have a dog in place to follow his footsteps. I later bought a couple calves to raise for freezer beef. I got them as young as possible so that I could bottle feed them and take care of them like a mother. At the time I didn't realize I what I was doing, but now it seems to obvious. I was so proud of my "babies" and worked hard to make them the best they could be.

Late Spring, Early Summer of 2008 I was surprised when my period was a couple days late. I took another pregnancy test thinking "whats the point" but I got a faint positive line. Was I pregnant? We waited a couple more days and I took another one, negative.  I don't know whether or not I had been pregnant but the egg didn't "stick" or if I had bought a faulty test. I didn't really care, it gave me hope. Hope that a having a baby was still possible for me.

In the fall,  I got sick and had to go to the ER for fluids. I went through a couple rounds of medication and it seemed to fix me right up. I didn't jump back into my busy world like I usually did, but instead took it slow. 

Around mid October 2008 my period was late again. My husband I had ran to the grocery store and while out picked up a test. He couldn't even wait for the groceries to be brought in, he made me rush and take the test. I  took the test and set in on the counter. I looked away, hoping not to "jinx" it. I stood over the counter and looked at the test. It was a very strong positive! I was in shock, was it true? Was I pregnant? I went outside to help my husband, who had started bringing in the groceries. He stopped and looked at me. I smiled and said "I'm pregnant."  I think he almost passed out, and he sat on the ground against the tires of the truck to take it all in. When he got himself together he got up and we hugged. God had answered our prayers, we were going to parents.

Missed the beginning of the series?
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Thanks for reading dear followers! Have a great night!