So yesterday afternoon I was in the mood to make a yummy treat to surprise Logan when he came home from a long, hot day of work. However, I decided that baking would be too hot. I remembered seeing a yummy ice cream recipe that my sister-in-law posted awhile back, so I made a quick Walmart run to get the necessary ingredients. I threw it together and froze it for a couple of hours and it was the perfect ending to a hot day! SO yummy. I would highly recommend it for summer parties/gatherings. My mom asked me to bring it to her 4th of July party this week :) The recipe is below! It is super duper easy and quick to make, which I'm always a fan of!
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| I forgot to take a picture before we "dug in"...but this will have to do :) |
Ice Cream Sandwich Cake
12 ice cream sandwich bars
1 large tub of Cool Whip
Chocolate Syrup
Carmel Syrup
5 large snickers bars (I used about 12-15 of the minis because they were on sale)
1) Layer 6 ice cream sandwiches at the bottom of the pan--I used a bread pan.
2) Spread a thick layer of cool whip on top followed by a generous amount of chocolate, carmel, and broken up snickers.
3) Repeat the process again in the order of ice cream sandwiches, cool whip, chocolate and carmel, and snickers.
4) Freeze for a couple of hours
5) Enjoy!!
Besides for making ridiculously unhealthy desserts, we have been keeping very busy! At the beginning of June, Logan began two summer classes. The good thing about summer classes is that they are only 8 weeks long (so he's already half way there!)...however, the down side is that it is a fairly intense workload, as you're cramming a semester's worth of work into 2 months. Needless to say, when he gets home from work in the evenings, he is pretty consumed with going to class and then coming home and doing homework. I'm so proud of him though! As soon as he finished these classes he will officially be done with his Associates degree and he begins his last stretch for his Bachelors through the University of Phoenix at the end of July. He literally jumps from one class to the next without getting a break.
We feel like the University of Phoenix will be ideal for him though, as it caters to working adults. He will attend class only one evening a week. He will take one class at a time for a period of 5 weeks. As you can imagine, the workload in these classes will be intense as well, but at least he only has class once a week and only has to focus on one class at a time!
Besides for school and work, we have made some good friends at our new church- Jordan and BreeAnna Bumpers. BreeAnna and I were good friends throughout my senior year of high school. Now that Logan and I are back at Broadway, we have reconnected with them and have enjoyed hanging out. They were married almost exactly one month before we were (June 5th, 2011), so we have a lot in common. We are very thankful that God has placed them in our path. It is definitely an answer to prayer.
Besides for school and work, we have made some good friends at our new church- Jordan and BreeAnna Bumpers. BreeAnna and I were good friends throughout my senior year of high school. Now that Logan and I are back at Broadway, we have reconnected with them and have enjoyed hanging out. They were married almost exactly one month before we were (June 5th, 2011), so we have a lot in common. We are very thankful that God has placed them in our path. It is definitely an answer to prayer.
As I shared in my last post, I'm working the night shift full time at Cox Hospital-which entails about 3 nights per week. I've gotten into a routine now, so the schedule really isn't that bad. My shift begins at 6:30pm and I am done at 7am. I usually come home and sleep until 2-3pm if possible, and that is usually when Logan gets home. We have been trying to spend those couple hours together and make dinner before I leave for work and he goes to class. When I'm not at work, I have been enjoying friends, books, cooking, swimming, family, and naps--all things that are rarely seen during the school year so I am basically in heaven.
The Lord has been working on my heart a lot this summer....and I thought I'd go ahead and share some of that :) Working in the NTICU has been so good for my spiritual walk! I've essentially been "thrown" into the secular workforce. I'll admit I was pretty overwhelmed at first when I'm surrounded with 20+ coworkers per night who show no outward fruits of a relationship with the Lord. I hear a constant flow of cursing and dirty jokes. I have seen outward disrespect and lack of compassion towards our patients. It can be very discouraging at times. I have to admit that I've been unusually hesitant to share my faith with them. This is very unlike me....but I finally figured out why. I don't want to hurt their view of Christians! I'm so worried that if I say I'm a Christian, I will mess up and then they will forever have a tainted view of who Jesus is. I would NEVER want that to happen! However, when venting to one of my good friends about this she said, "Haylee, the Lord is proving to have a lot of trust in you to place you in a spot among so many unsaved people..." Immediately I felt a tremendous amount of responsibility placed on my shoulders. I don't want to mess this up. But I also don't want to waste this terrific opportunity to share Christ with others. As you can see, there has been a battle going on inside of me.
1 Corinthians 6:19 says, "You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies..."
I recently finished reading Blue Like Jazz. Now before I start tons of controversy, I'd like to point out that I don't necessarily agree with every single point that Donald Miller wrote. In fact, I would dare to disagree with a good portion of it. In my opinion, Donald Miller is not a theologian. But he does explain in simple terms how to love others like Jesus would....and THAT truly is something that a lot of Christians should learn. I don't think this book is for unbelievers because it assumes that you already know who Jesus is and what he did. But for Christians going about their day-to day- life....it's an eyeopener of what loving like Jesus can really look like! Jesus didn't cringe at the thought of speaking to a lesbian or prostitute. Instead, he would speak to their heart because He loved them more than we can even imagine. I want to display this kind of genuine care and concern for my coworkers (and patients, of course)...so that when I'm speaking to them, it's not at surface level (when deep down I'm actually judging them). I want to speak to them from the bottom of my heart...showing that I truly do care about them inside and out. One of my prayers this summer is that through me, Jesus would reveal even a speck of His intense love for them! I just don't think this will happen through me making requests like, "Hey, can you please not cuss in front of me?" I think it's more likely to happen by listening to them, showing love through caring about their needs and problems, and most of all praying. I will of course lead by example through not cursing...but I don't want it to be so shallow! I want my words and actions to be backed up by an intense love for them! I want to trust that the Lord will not let my efforts go to waste. I'm confident that my compassion towards those around me as well as speaking Truth into their hearts will cause them to pause and wonder, "What's different about her?" I know I'm not perfect, and that scares me...again because I don't want to give them a hypocritical view of Christ. But I'm having to trust the Lord wholeheartedly and know that even in my weaknesses I can point others to Him. After all, it's not about me--it's about Him.
Although my summer journey is still in the process, the Lord has been showing me a lot: He bought me. He redeemed me. I owe everything to Him, including being a witness for Him and loving the unloveable around me. God has entrusted me with people He loves and wants to see saved. I can be used as a tool to aid in the process or hurt the process.
There are days when I've felt frustrated and defeated, saying "Am I doing the right things with my life?" But I have to remember that I am not my own! I'm not in charge of this life that I lead. Jesus has claimed me and has placed me exactly where he wants me...as a daughter, sister, wife, student, coworker, and caregiver. Now that He has redeemed me, it's my turn to honor him with the life that I choose to lead in all of these different situations. I've determined if I'm honoring Him...I can't go wrong.
Just thought I'd share with yall a bit of what the Lord has been doing in my heart so far this summer. :)
On a different note, Logan and will be celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary in 3 days!!!! Yayyy! Since it lands on a Monday this year we decided to go ahead and celebrate the weekend before! SO we are leaving on a little getaway trip today and will be back Sunday night sometime. I'll post pics when we get back!!
Have a blessed weekend, everyone. Stay cool!!!!
-H
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