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Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Tuesdays with a Twist Blog Hop #249

Welcome to Tuesdays with a Twist #249!
Checkout the many great giveaways going on right now!
Click the button below to enter each Giveaway!!:
God’s Growing Garden Giveaways
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Good Morning and Welcome to another No Rules Party!


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We're your hosts & co-hosts 

Mary @ Back to the Basics and Mary's Kitchen
Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
Angie @ God's Growing Garden
Checkout my amazing "Featured" Pinterest Board

(click HERE to view & follow)
Features!
Each co-host will be sharing her own picks for Features. This gives everyone a better chance of being featured. Be sure to check all of our blogs to see if you were featured! 
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My Features this Week are:


1. "Set the Table - Buying & Collecting Dishes" by Welcome To Fair Meadow Place
2. "Valentine's Day Framed Heart Craft" by The Boondocks Blog
3. "Velvet Mushrooms in a Blue Enamel Roasting Pan" by Penny's Vintage Home




If you've been featured we'd love for you to grab a button.

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The party starts every Tuesday at 7am EST and will continue until Saturday at 11:59pm.  Feel free to stop back any time and "like" your favorites.  Please visit other blogs if you have a moment. 

Share older posts as well as new ones.  No limit on links!

*Pictures should be your own* 

By linking up you give us permission to use these photos

 (with proper link backs) in our features.   And now for the party!





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Monday, January 29, 2018

You're the STAR - Week#1 GARDEN (February 2018)

You continue to amaze us with your wonderful posts!
Thank you again for joining us!
There are many ways to follow me:
blog  |  facebook  |  pinterest  |  twitter  |  bloglovin  |  google+  |  instagram

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by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo YoureTheStarHopLarge_zpsjbrldhcx.jpg

WELCOME to the February 2018 "You're the Star" Blog Hop!
Before we continue onto the Linky party I wanted to share from my blog:


Frank's Flowers - Monet's Watercolor Rose
Monets Watercolor Rose by Angie Ouellette-Tower for godsgrowinggarden.com photo DSCN2603_zpsca7baf26.jpg
Photo by Angie Ouellette-Tower


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WELCOME to GARDEN feature week of the February 2018 "You're the STAR" blog hop!
Meet your GARDEN week Hosts 
by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo YoureTheStarGarden_zpsb5jj8whe.jpg
This week is GARDEN feature week
Swing by the GARDEN Hosts blogs:
Angie @ God's Growing Garden
Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
This is a month long Linky party featuring YOU!
There will be 4 different features each week and 4 different feature categories.  Just to be clear - this is NOT a themed party - you may link up ANY family-friendly blog posts any day of each month. 
The "theme" occurs in our weekly features:
WEEK#1 GARDEN - gardening, homesteading, recycling, outdoor activities &/or preserving (this can include any type of green living,  repurposed ideas, outdoor concerns, posts relating to farm animals etc all while remaining family friendly)



by Angie Ouellette-Tower for godsgrowinggarden.com photo ShopHoppingFeatured_zpsf9fab123.jpg

(All features were chosen from the January 2018 "You're the Star" blog hop)

Bay-Friendly Garden by Adventures in Weseland

Garden Goals for 2018 by Gwin Gal's Inside & Out Adventures



  There's No Place Like Home Sign by MY DIY OL

Kids Cooking Crispy Kale Chips by From Play Dates to Parties



If you've been featured then please grab a STAR button below:



by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo YourAstarFEATURED_zpspebobflc.jpg
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We are in need of more Cohosts (click HERE to view a list of our current hosts/cohosts).
If you are interested in joining us as a Cohost then please click HERE & fill out the form.


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All Hosts/CoHosts will post this blog hop on every Monday of each week.
Please link up your family friendly blog posts below!
It wouldn't be a linky party with YOU!
(IMPORTANT NOTE: by linking up you understand that you might be featured next month and if so, we will use some of your photos from your post - rest assured - we will always link back to your lovely blog.  We might also share your fantastic posts on social media.  Also, you may link up as many family-friendly posts as you like & YES - other blog hops &/or giveaways are welcome {giveaways and blog hops will NOT be featured though}  Thank You & ENJOY! )


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Click the button below to enter the Great Giveaways going on now!!:
God’s Growing Garden Giveaways



Living Well With Montel 6Qt Pressure Cooker GIVEAWAY

Living Well With Montel 6Qt Pressure Cooker GIVEAWAY!
Enter for your chances to win!

Part of the Valentine's Day Gift Guide
but first - read this great post:
Orange Hot Chocolate with Cocoa Cream RECIPE
Orange Hot Chocolate by Angie Ouellette-Tower for godsgrowinggarden.com photo 011_zps41d38535.jpg



click HERE to view the entire post

(the following post was written by Laura from Michigan Saving and More )
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Living Well With Montel 6Qt Pressure Cooker Giveaway ~ Ends 2/14 @lwwmontel @SMGurusNetwork

This post contains affiliate links and I may make a small commission used to support this blog if products are purchased via the links in this post.

Welcome To The Living Well With Montel 6Qt Pressure Cooker Giveaway ($100 RV) Ends 2/14!

1 winner

This giveaway is part of our Valentine’s Day Gift Guide – Stop by to see all the giveaways and great products.
This contest is hosted by the Social Media Gurus Network!

Host that put together this giveaway is Deliciously Savvy

Below is a list of all the bloggers involved in the gift guide giveaways.

A Rain Of Thought, Bargnhtress, Centsable Steals, Deliciously Savvy, Easter Babe’s Theory, Heartbeats ~ Soul Stains, Here We GO Again Ready, Java John Z’s, Living Simply, Michigan Saving and More, Missy’s Views and Savings Clues, Tales From A Southern Mom, Views and More, Welcome To My Kitchen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now let’s get to the Sponsor & Prizes!

WEBSITE ~ FACEBOOK ~ INSTAGRAM ~ YOU TUBE

1 Lucky Winner Will receive a Living Well With Montel 6 Quart Pressure Cooker Of Their Very Own! $100 RV
Read My Review

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And Now The Giveaway!

This giveaway is in no way endorsed, affiliated, or associated with Facebook, Twitter or any other Social Media Networking Site. This Giveaway is valid in the United States Only and Entrants must be 18+ years of age to enter. This giveaway event will end at 11:59 PM (EST) 2/14/18. The winners will have 48 hours to email their information back to mcushing7 at hotmail dot com or a new winner will be drawn, you may want to put this email address as safe as it could go to spam. The sponsors are each responsible for shipping of the above prizes. No blog associated with this contests are responsible for prize fulfillment. If you would like to be a sponsor in a giveaway like this please email Melissa Cushing at mcushing7 (at)hotmail (dot) com. If you take an entry you must stay following for the entire contest or you will be disqualified.

Also we all “love it if you like us” on Facebook! If you like our blogs on social media it helps us bring you only the best giveaways and more of them!

Enter below and Good Luck!



Valentine Signature, by Angie Ouellette-Tower for godsgrowinggarden.com

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Click the button below to enter the Great Giveaways going on now!!:
God’s Growing Garden Giveaways



Studio Thirty-One Purse GIVEAWAY

Studio Thirty-One Purse GIVEAWAY!
Enter for your chances to win!

Part of the Valentine's Day Gift Guide
but first - read this great post:
Homemade Chocolate Orange Ice Cream RECIPE
by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF8571_zps9sh6glwv.jpg



click HERE to view the entire post

(the following post was written by Laura from Michigan Saving and More )
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Welcome to the Thirty-One Gifts Purse Giveaway!

1 winner

This giveaway is part of our Valentine's Day Gift Guide – Stop by to see all the giveaways and great products.
This contest is hosted by the Social Media Gurus Network!
Host that put together this giveaway is Michigan Saving and More
Below is a list of all the bloggers involved in the gift guide giveaways.
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This giveaway's Sponsor is:

Thirty-One Gift

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Studio Thirty-One Purse

$80 RV
See the review HERE.

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THE GIVEAWAY

This giveaway is in no way endorsed, affiliated, or associated with Facebook, Twitter or any other Social Media Networking Site.You are not eligible if you have won a prize from the sponsor in the last 12 month. This Giveaway is valid in the United States Only and Entrants must be 18+ years of age to enter. This giveaway event will end at 11:59 PM (EST) 2/14/18. The winners will have 48 hours to email their information back to las93063 at gmail dot com or a new winner will be drawn, you may want to put this email address as safe as it could go to spam. The sponsors are each responsible for shipping of the above prizes. No blog associated with this contests are responsible for prize fulfillment. If you would like to be a sponsor in a giveaway like this please email Laura Smith at las930 (at)gmail (dot) com. If you take an entry you must stay following for the entire contest or you will be disqualified.

Also we all “love it if you like us” on Facebook! If you like our blogs on social media it helps us bring you only the best giveaways and more of them!

Enter below and Good Luck!


Valentine Signature, by Angie Ouellette-Tower for godsgrowinggarden.com

_____________________________________________________________
Click the button below to enter the Great Giveaways going on now!!:
God’s Growing Garden Giveaways



Sunday, January 28, 2018

PARABLES - The Good Samaritan - LOVE OTHERS

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PARABLES - The Good Samaritan - LOVE OTHERS


by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo SundayPARABLE_zpskg749l78.jpg 



The "Good Samaritan" parable can be broken down into two main points:  number one being the most important: LOVE GOD.  The second is "The Golden Rule" (love your neighbor as yourself).  Today we will be studying in depth "The Golden Rule".



Let's start by studying a little history - Who was a "Levite" and a who was a "Samaritan"?  I must admit that my Old Testament knowledge is terrible - which is why I did not know this & had to do some research myself.  (Most of the following information defining Samaritan and Levite is from "Wikipedia").


Levite - is a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi.  Both Moses & Aaron were Levites.  The Levites were not allowed to be land owners after Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan because God Himself was/(is) their inheritance (taken from Deuteronomy 18:2).  They had a few specific responsibilities like reading the Torah in the synagogue and then other political responsibilities.
Samaritan - is an "ethno-religious" group closely related to Judaism.  The Samaritans believed that their religion was the true religion of the Israelites - they also believe that Judaism has been altered from the truth.   The Jewish & Samaritan people despised each other.  (on an interesting side note - there is thought to only be 751 Samaritans alive in the world today). 

Getting back to the verses that we are studying today.
 
THE PRIEST
The first person to pass this poor stranger who had been beaten up was a priest.  When we hear "priest" we think of someone who lives by what is right & wrong - and that he thinks in terms of "black & white" - ignoring the "gray" areas.  By crossing to the other side this priest had passed judgment on the stranger deeming it wrong to stop and help.
 
THE LEVITE
The second person to pass by the stranger was the Levite.  Above we learned that a Levite was a religious & political person - in my view these are 2 perfect reasons why he SHOULD have stopped instead of crossing to the other side.  Maybe he was thinking that if he had stopped the media would have twisted the story making him out to be one of the robbers instead of the person who helped (Forgive me if there is any media person reading this right now - this of course is me putting a modern twist on the parable). 

THE SAMARITAN
Now the final person in this parable is the Samaritan - the person who stopped & helped. 
Let's put what the Samaritan did into modern terms:
1.  "He saw & took pity on him" - that's compassion and a mental decision to help.
2.  "He went to him & bandaged his wounds" - a physical action plus his own personal time that he used to help has a monetary value (in modern terms - time is money).  Also a modern concern for his own personal safety - what kind of viruses or bacteria was this injured man carrying? - was he contagious?
3.  "He put the man on his own donkey" - that's helping the stranger into his own personal car (gas being used & most likely blood stains on the car upholstery) (sorry to be vivid - but it is truthful). 
4.  "He took him to an inn & took care of him" - literally speaking let's just say that he took him to a hotel - paid for a room & stayed there to take care of him (that's money & time spent).
5.  "The next day he took two silver coins & gave them to the inn keeper..to take care of the stranger.." - I know from experience the cost of a caregiver who comes into your home - an "unlicensed" caregiver will cost $10 an hour (a licensed is $20+ an hour) - we're talking a good amount of money here!
Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that you should spend your children's college fund on a neighbor in need - I just wanted to put this parable into a modern perspective.  
Jesus said "Go and do likewise" - do like the Samaritan did.  Helping a neighbor doesn't literally mean helping someone who has been beaten - it could mean helping an elderly lady who lives down the street who you've never met before but you know that she can't shovel her own sidewalk - you could shovel it for her with nothing expected in return.  It could just mean calling for help on your own cell phone when you see someone is stranded on the side of a road - which means using your own cell minutes with no expectation of reimbursement for those minutes. 
NOTE:  I do want to add an important note - I know I said that we can't judge like the priest did in this parable but we must PAY ATTENTION TO THE URGINGS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.  In our modern society there are dangerous people - if you are about to stop and help a stranger but suddenly get an inner feeling that danger is ahead - then Please Pay attention - that might be an urging from the Holy Spirit telling you NOT to stop.  God will let you know when it's not right. 
Helpful actions both small & large are actions of love - loving your neighbor as yourself -
"Go and do likewise"
  
Previous PARABLE posts:
PARABLE OF THE VINE - "The True Vine & the Father Gardener"
PARABLE OF THE VINE - "Be a Fruitful Branch Instead of a Withering Branch"
PARABLE OF THE VINE - "Producing Joyful Fruit - God's Love Remains Forever"
PARABLE OF THE VINE - "Everlasting Fruit & Everlasting Friends"

The Prodigal Son PARABLE - The Son Who Ran Away
The Prodigal Son PARABLE - The Son Who Stayed Home
PARABLE of The Good Samaritan - Love God First






Valentine Signature, by Angie Ouellette-Tower for godsgrowinggarden.com


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Friday, January 26, 2018

Lemon Coconut Sugar Cookie RECIPE (with Optional Cranberries)


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Lemon Coconut Sugar Cookies With Optional Cranberries

I am forever trying to combine my favorite flavors into new recipe creations.  Today I am combining lemon, coconut and cranberries.  If you do not like coconut or cranberries then you may omit those two ingredients and enjoy a simple but delicious lemon sugar cookie.  I purposely created this recipe to be split in half - one half with the cranberries/coconut and the second half simply lemony.

Sugar cookies are perfect for a Winter treat because they sparkle just like moonlit snow sparkles.  ENJOY!

by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF9130_zpsux3oemiv.jpg by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF9129_zps9oubwd4j.jpg


Printable Recipe

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup solid coconut oil (if you do not like coconut then use butter instead)
2 eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice
additional sugar for rolling
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup dried cranberries

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer cream together the butter, coconut oil and sugar until fluffy.  Add in the eggs and mix just until blended.  Now mix in the lemon juice.  Add in the flour, baking powder, salt and stir by hand with a wooden spoon.  Divide the dough in half.  Add the coconut flakes and dried cranberries ONLY TO HALF OF THE DOUGH (stir until combined) (see pictures above).  Chill dough in the fridge for about 2 hours.


by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF9131_zpsf8jukgp6.jpg
Remove the dough from the refrigerator. 
1.  Begin by taking about tablespoon size pieces of dough and rolling them in your hand to make a ball just a bit smaller than the size of a ping pong ball. 
2.  Roll that dough ball in granulated sugar (see picture above) 
3.  and then flatten with the bottom of a glass (see picture below) (place on a parchment lined cookie sheet).

by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF9132_zpsvkpx4vni.jpg
Continue rolling, covering with sugar & flattening until all the dough is used up (see picture above).  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes (or until desired doneness is achieved).

by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF9134_zpswyh0mqgq.jpg
Cool on a wire rack

by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF9137_zpsj6fmtawv.jpg
Serve with milk, coffee or lemon tea

by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF9139_zpsttgkvjdt.jpg   by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF9138_zpsnh8gvixm.jpg

by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF9142_zpsthszxhos.jpg
ENJOY!

by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo IMG_1061_zpsxolzimji.jpg
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Linked to:
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Over the Moon Linky Party
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You're the STAR
Tuesdays with a Twist
Oh My Heartsie Girls Wonderful Wednesday
Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop
Friday Feature Linky Party
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Take Up The THANKFULNESS Challenge!
I challenge you to thank God for something everyday for one year!  Either write it down in a diary OR share with us on a blog.  If you have a blog & would like to share your THANKFULNESS posts with us, then please fill out this form: 365 Days of Being THANKFUL form - click HERE and you will be added to the THANKFULNESS page.

THANKFULNESS Challenge