Kelly's Thrifty Tips

Want to save money on gas? Ask directions. According to a British study, men drive an additional 276 miles a year because of not asking for directions which can waste up to $3000 in gasoline over a lifetime! I am not saying that women do not waste gas as well. I just don't have any numbers on that.

LINK: Lost Male Drivers


WEBSITES

If you are looking for some awesome shopping deals, sign up with Eversave. You sign up with your email to Eversave, and you will get daily deals sent to your email. You can go for them or pass. These deals can be local or online. A great online deal right now is for magazine subscriptions through Blue Dolphin. You can pay just $12 for $26 magazine subscriptions. To learn more about Eversave follow the link below.

LINK: About Eversave

You might also want to check out Groupon. Groupon features daily deals from different cities all over the country. People sign up and then see the deal and decide if they want to buy in or not. You can save mad money! There isn't a Prescott, Arizona Groupon, but there is one for Phoenix and Tucson. Maybe the Prescott businesses will jump on this soon. You can also get some pretty cool online deals there just like Eversave. Check them out at the link below.

LINK: Groupon

FREEBIES

While supplies last you can get a free subscription to Forbes magazine through Rewards Gold.

LINK: Free Magazine

Tom's of Maine is offering a sample of their Wicked Fresh toothpaste. There is a limit of 100,000 samples so get it while supplies last.

LINK: Wicked Fresh Toothpaste

While supplies last, click on the link below for your sample of Breathe Right Advance nasal strips.

LINK: Breathe Right Advance

FreeCCM's free download this week is Israel Houghton's "You Hold My World." You can still get "Reaching For You" by Lincoln Brewster, "Skeleton Bones" by John Mark McMillan, "What Grace Looks Like" by 33Miles, "Raising Up The Dead" by Caedmon's Call, "Power in the Blood" by Bart Millard, and "Eyes Wide Open" by Sara Groves. Don't forget that you have to be a member to get the freebies.

LINK: FreeCCM Music Downloads

More Free Test Prep!

Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions is pleased to offer free online test preparation for the SAT, PSAT and ACT for Students. All students, freshmen through seniors, now have 24-7 on demand access to comprehensive preparation. These lessons will guide students through instruction, practice and mastery on every skill tested on the exams.

Kaplan’s proven methods are delivered through instructional video lessons, guided practice problems, and independent practice quizzes. Kaplan’s adaptive learning technology, Smart Track, analyzes the student performance and adjusts to provide each student with a customized learning plan. Smart Track also moves from course to course, and test to test with students, so that demonstrated mastery in the PSAT is carried over to the SAT.

Here’s how to sign up:
1.) Visit www.kaptest.com/kas. Under “Free Resources” select “SAT Online”, “PSAT Online” or “ACT Online”.

2.) Click “Enroll Now”, then click “Proceed to Next Step”

3.) Fill out “Billing Information” (don’t worry, it’s still free). You must complete all fields, including student and parent contact information.

4.) In the “Promotion Code” box, enter the discount code for the course you would like to begin :
• SAT Online KAS2S711
• PSAT Online KAS2P711
• ACT Online KAS2A711

5.) Click “Apply” next to the promo code box. Total should automatically reset to $0.

6.) Click “Submit Order”, and you’re done!

I found this deal at Big Big Forums.

God is Powerful and In Control But Also Personal

God is Powerful and in Control, But Also Personal

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4 NIV)

A few weeks ago I was standing on our back deck looking up at the evening sky.

There are millions of these tiny points of light laid out over the canopy of darkness

It is always amazing to think that God, our Creator, set all of the stars in place. So many billions of stars and galaxies! Yet, He cares for each one of us. He cares so personally that Psalm 139 describes it this way:

Psalm 139: 2 -He knows when we sit down and when we rise up.
3 -He is familiar with all of our ways.
4 -Before a word is on our tongue He knows it completely.

Think of this one for a minute; He hems us in–behind and before; and He lays His hand upon us (vs. 5)! When I am afraid, I ponder that and am so comforted. He is in front of us, behind us, and He lays His hand upon us. We are completely covered with His love!

When I am facing an unpleasant test or procedure, I remind myself of this verse. To think of how big our Creator God is, and how personal His love for us can be. When we are facing an uncertain future because of ill health, we can know that He is right there with us. All of His creation, the moon and the stars, the birds of the air, the lilies of the field, He created. He is familiar with all. He knows. And He covers us.

“How precious to me are Your thoughts O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand” (Psalm 139:17-18).

*The Concept of Divine Control

. . . how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! —Matthew 7:11

Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct in this passage for those people who have His Spirit. He urges us to keep our minds filled with the concept of God’s control over everything, which means that a disciple must maintain an attitude of perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek.

Fill your mind with the thought that God is there. And once your mind is truly filled with that thought, when you experience difficulties it will be as easy as breathing for you to remember, “My heavenly Father knows all about this!” This will be no effort at all, but will be a natural thing for you when difficulties and uncertainties arise. Before you formed this concept of divine control so powerfully in your mind, you used to go from person to person seeking help, but now you go to God about it. Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those people who have His Spirit, and it works on the following principle: God is my Father, He loves me, and I will never think of anything that He will forget, so why should I worry?

Are you expecting God to act on your behalf today?
The following story was written by a doctor who worked in South Africa.

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do she died leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator. (We had no electricity to run an incubator.) We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts.

One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst. Rubber perishes easily in tropical climates. "And it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed.

As in the West it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

"All right," I said, "put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. "Your job is to keep the baby warm."

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby.

I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle. The baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.

During the prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. "Please, God," she prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon."

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added by way of a corollary, "And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?"

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say, "Amen?" ! I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything. The Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer would be for a package to arrive from the homeland.

I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the verandah, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting.

Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored.

Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas-that would make a batch of buns for the weekend. Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the.....could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out-yes, a brand-new, rubber hot water bottle, I cried.

I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was in the front row of, the children. She rushed forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!"

Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted. Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you, Mummy, and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child-five months before-in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "that afternoon."

Jesus said there are times when God cannot lift the darkness from you, but you should trust Him. At times God will appear like an unkind friend, but He is not; He will appear like an unnatural father, but He is not; He will appear like an unjust judge, but He is not.

Keep the thought that the mind of God is behind all things strong and growing. Not even the smallest detail of life happens unless God’s will is behind it. Therefore, you can rest in perfect confidence in Him. Prayer is not only asking, but is an attitude of the mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural.

“Ask, and it will be given to you . . .” (Matthew 7:7).

So many people pray with an attitude as if they are trying to hit a dartboard blindfolded! They know the target is there, they have an idea of the general direction; they just hope they´ll just get somewhere close. But understand, when you get into God´s Word and declare His promises over your life, it´s like taking the blindfold off and walking straight up to the bull´s eye! When you pray with expectancy according to God´s Word, you´ll hit the target every single time.

What are your needs today? Find the promise in God´s Word that addresses those needs. Then, expect God to act! He is faithful to His Word, and He´s just waiting to show Himself strong on your behalf.

A PRAYER

"Heavenly Father, today I come to You with an attitude of faith and expectancy. I know that You have good plans for me, and I choose to come into agreement with Your Word. Thank You for hearing my prayers as I wait patiently for You. In Jesus´ Name. Amen."

"Before they call, I will answer!" Isaiah 65:24

Kelly's Thrifty Tips - October 21

I have talked about ways to save money, win prizes and get free stuff. Right now I just wanted to mention a few ways to give. These are easy as can be and totally free.

Go to Target and make a pledge to take time to read with a child, and Target in turn will donate a book to children in need. You will be doing good in two ways. One by reading to a child and the second by getting a book into the hands of another child. Pretty cool. :) Follow the link below to make your pledge.

LINK: Target Reading

If you head to The Hunger Site you can click and give. There are several causes that you can click on and each click will give a donation from sponsors. They also have items you can purchase there which enables the sponsors to give more. Again though, you don't have to pay a thing to give. You can give for hunger, literacy, child health, breast cancer, the rainforest, and animal rescue.

LINK: The Hunger Site

Goodsearch is a search engine that you may have heard about on Radio Shine. It is very easy to do, and can be a huge benefit to the nonprofit you search for. To do a search you can simply go to goodsearch.com and put in the name of your charity in the box where it asks who are you searching for. Put the charity name in and click verify. That is it! Then you just do your search. You don't have to constantly fill this in if you use it frequently. Each search will give a one cent donation to your charity. It may sound small, but it really adds up.

Check this out:

Charity or School Size	Number of Supporters	Average Searches Per Day	Estimated Revenue/Year from Search	Amount Purchased Per Person/Year via GoodShop	Average % of Sale Donated	Estimated Revenue from Shopping	Total Donation/Year
Small	100	2	$730	$500	3%	$1,500	$2,230
Medium	1,000	2	$7,300	$500	3%	$15,000	$22,300
Large	10,000	2	$73,000	$500	3%	$150,000	$223,000

One of the cool features is you can also check on your charity and see how much money has been raised so far.

Goodsearch also has Goodshop which is a shopping link that allows you to shop online and a portion of those proceeds also go to your charity at no extra cost to you! These are stores you probably already shop at online. Stores like Amazon, 1-800-CONTACTS, Barnes & Noble, bebe, Best Buy and many more. PS Radio Shine is a Goodsearch Charity so feel free to search and bless today! :)

LINK: Goodsearch

Free Rice gives just that. Free rice. You go to the site and you answer the quiz vocabulary questions. For each right answer ten grains of rice is donated. Sounds like a small amount to you? Since its inception Free Rice has donated nearly 83 billion grains of rice. Read more here: Donation Impact

LINK: Free Rice

FREEBIES

For this one you have to pay for shipping, but it is definitely an awesome freebie. Right now you can get a hardcover photo book at Picaboo. New customers qualify for this freebie that will definitely make an awesome Christmas gift for someone special!

LINK: Picaboo Free Hardcover Photo Book

New Release Tuesday members can download lots of free songs, but the special can't miss song this week is Third Day's "Make Your Move" from their new CD "Move."

LINK: New Release Tuesday

If you want you can also listen to "Move" this week at NRT. Click the link below. LINK: New Release Tuesday Listen to "Move"

FreeCCM has a free download of Lincoln Brewster's song "Reaching For You" as well as several other songs AND an opportunity to download 10 free songs! Crazy cool! Got to love being a member!

LINK: FreeCCM free song download

iTickets.com has two free downloads including "Love Amazing" by Circleslide and "Let Us Go" by Konviction. Remember you have to be a member, but it is a great site. I find out about lots of great concerts thanks to iTickets.com.

LINK: iTickets Free Music

Taster's Choice is STILL giving you the chance to try their instant coffee packets. They do come in great flavors. I got mine last week. If you have been passing this by...commit now!

LINK: Taster's Choice Sample

While the offer lasts, you can join Rewards Gold take a brief survey and get a subscription to Men's Fitness. I have picked up many free magazine subscriptions through Rewards Gold. Give it a shot.

LINK: Rewards Gold

If you have a Kindle and you want to get a little more financially savvy, you can take advantage of a free Kindle edition of 16 Expert Lessons for Successfully Managing Your Personal Finances (Collection). This is free for a limited time. Of course you do have to have a Kindle reader.

LINK: 16 Expert Lessons for Successfully Managing Your Personal Finances

SHOPPING DEALS

Get a $5 Target gift card from Real Simple while supplies last when you spend $15 or more on a combination of Target Wise Buy products in one transaction at Target. Products that you can purchase are:

Silk Soy Milk Reach
Access Flosser
Oxyclean Versatile Stain Remover
How to Train Your Dragon on DVD and Blu-ray
Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars
Eucerin DAILY SKIN BALANCE Skin-Fortifying Body Lotion
Curel Sensitive Skin Remedy Lotion
Garnier Skin Renew The Brusher Gel-Cleanser
Garnier Ultra-Lift Anti-Wrinkle Moisturizer SPF 15
Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Dark-Circle Roller
Garnier Ultra-Lift Pro Gravity Defying Cream
Colgate Total
Bertolli Frozen Meals
all Small & Mighty

If you are planning on buying some of these items, why not take advantage of the gift card opportunity? You can use it for yourself or maybe make it a nice little stocking stuffer.

Make your $15 purchase in any of the above combinations between October 5, 2010 and November 12, 2010 (I recommend getting it done ASAP as it is while supplies last). Oh this needs to be postmarked by November 13th. Again...I wouldn't wait long.

Mail your receipt and your name and address printed clearly on a 3" x 5" card to:

Real Simple Smart Shopping GiftCard Offer
c/o DW Direct
P.O. Box 5067
South Hackensack, NJ, 07606

There you go. Nice and easy. Take advantage of this deal if these are products you will use. There is no point in spending $15 on products you don't need or use in order to get a gift card. Want more details? Follow the link.

LINK: Real Simple $5 Target GiftCard

Pier One has two printable coupons that are good until November 7th. One is for $10 off a $30 dollar purchase and the other is for a free reusable bag with a $25 purchase. You can get some awesome Christmas gifts here. I personally love their candles and their table settings.

LINK: Pier One Coupons

Okay, we covered freebies, some coupons, ways to give, and lastly I would like to share a cool giveaway. Chicago Coupon Confessions has a giveaway for $150 in Safeway gift cards! One winner will win a $75 gift card and three will win a $25 gift card. One of the ways I stretch my budget is by keeping an eye out for giveaways like this. So head on over to Chicago Coupon Confessions. The giveaway ends on October 31st and the winners will be emailed so you need to include your email in the entry. You will notice how other entrants spell out parts of their email (like AT instead of @). That is a trick to keep spiders from grabbing your email. So be sure to put your email like that.

LINK: Chicago Coupon Confessions Safeway Gift Card Giveaway

The Power of Praising God

The Power of Praising God

¹⁵Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. Hebrews 13:15

Praise invokes God's presence. It gets God's attention, it creates an atmosphere. Praise is to the New Testament what sacrifices, and offering was to the Old Testament, praise is sacrifice. Psalm 22:3 “says that God inhabits the praises of His people,” so when God's people praise Him, He draws near and worship results. God has given each of us a praise ministry with a worship "team" that is never any farther away than an inch below our noise: our lips, mouth, and tongue.

God does not need either our praise or our worship-He is God no matter what we do or don't do-but we need His presence. God's presence comes through our praise. If we desire to live abundant lifestyle, we must learn to cultivate a continual environment of praise. Hebrews 13:15 says, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that confess His name." Praise is a sacrificial offering to God, the spiritual "first-fruits" of our lips.

4 Facts about Praising God

I. It is God’s desire that we praise Him with childlike faith.

Praising God in the midst of negative circumstances can turn seeming defeat into total victory. Psalms 8:1-2; Matt. 21:16

II. Praise Demonstrates Faith.

1. God has promised to answer prayer upon His established principles. Phil. 4:6-7.

2. It is our duty and privilege as kings and priests to offer God praise, Heb 13:15.

III. Victorious Living Through Praise.

1. Through Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, victory belongs to the child of God. It is appropriated through praise. 1 Cor. 15:56-57; 2 Cor. 2:14.

2. David shows us how to appropriate God's power. Psalms 9:1-4; 50:14, 15, 23; 56:4-11.

IV. Biblical Examples Of Victory Through Praise.

1. The first thing Jehoshaphat did was seek God. Then he prayed according to the word. 2 Chron. 20:9. The results of praise - 2 Chron. 20:17-22.

2. Jonah put action to his faith by praising God. He offered the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Jonah 2:1-10.

Paul and Silas got victory when they praised God in spite of there circumstances - Acts 16:16

Why is praising God important?

The reasons are countless. First, God deserves to be praised and He is worthy to receive our praise:

• "For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods" (Psalm 96:4).
• "Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom" (Psalm 145:3).
• "I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies" (2 Samuel 22:4).
• "You are worthy, our LORD and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being" (Revelation 4:11).

Second, praising God is useful and favorable for us. By praising God, we are reminded of the greatness of God! His power and presence in our lives is reinforced in our understanding. "Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant" (Psalm 135:3).

Third, praise discharges strength in faith, which causes God to move on our behalf. "From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger" (Psalm 8:2). Praising God also transforms the spiritual environment that we have. 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 clearly illustrates the alteration that happened when the Levites gave praise and thanks to the Lord and the temple was filled with a cloud signifying the glory of God.

"The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: 'He is good; his love endures forever.' Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God."

Fourth, God inhabits the atmosphere of praise. Psalm 22:3 says, "But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel (KJV). If we want to see a clear manifestation of God's blessings and grace, all we need to do is to praise Him with all our heart, our mind, and our soul.

Praising God - Who and When?

Who is to praise God? "Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD," states Psalm 150:6.

• "I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips (Psalm 34:1)."
• "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands" (Psalm 63:3-4).
• "Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister by night in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD" (Psalm 134:1-2).

We cannot embark on the true joy and benefits of praising God unless we have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. As children of God, He dwells in our bodies through the Holy Spirit. This means that wherever we go, God is to be praised. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 states that "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."

Praising God - How to Praise and Worship God

How is praising God possible? Singing songs and hymns, clapping our hands, even jumping for joy…the list is endless. We can give glory and praise to our God with the use of our physical bodies, with our hearts and minds, and with our deeds. There are many ways to praise God!

No matter how you praise and worship God, it should result in an awe of God's power, love, and grace for all of us! However the best way to Praise God is to Obey Him.

One thing I want to make crystal clear is the importance of the presence of God. It is one thing to know of God's omnipresence, but quite another to experience the reality of His personal presence on a continuing day-to-day basis through praise, quiet time in His Word and personal intercessory prayer.

Before anything else, we need the presence of God. Everything else in life depends on God's presence. Praise attracts the presence of God. True praise is an exercise, a discipline that flows from a pure heart and a humble spirit. When we praise and acknowledge God, we are acknowledging His sovereignty and Lordship as well as our own dependence on Him. That spirit of humility is just what God is looking for in us. If we approach God with a humble spirit He will do two things: When we come near God, He will come near to us; and when we humble ourselves before Him, He will lift us up. And with those two actions all things all possible! ( Phil: 4:13)

Praise is an act of FAITH. It is the highest expression of faith because it shows we are trusting God.

^{1 [a]}I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonders.

² I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. Psalm 9:1-4

Kelly's Thrifty Tips

Good morning!!!!! I have some awesome things to share today. I have been looking up some ways to save money with cooking substitutes, play substitutes and even some grooming substitutes. I also have some more job hunting sites to share with you today, because you really just can't stop at seasonal sites. And finally I have some awesome freebies for you to peruse. Take a little stroll through this post. I think you will see something you'll like. :)


This week I made fried chicken for the first time! Let me tell you, I was beyond proud. At first I was a little scared as I had never made it before. Honestly it is amazing what you will try to make in order to give your husband a little smile! At least that is how I am.

See the plan went like this...Saturday afternoon my husband and I were driving home from the Shepherding Your Teen conference (which was amazing), and he told me he was craving fried chicken. This mainly translates to expensive fast food eating. In all fairness I should admit I do enjoy a little KFC now and then (though I was a bigger fan when they tried skinless fried chicken). At this time of my life, I just don't enjoy the prices. On a whim, I decided to make it myself. Truly I thought for a moment that I had made a big mistake, but once at home I found a great recipe and there really was no stopping me...I was committed. There was only one problem, I needed buttermilk. I don't buy a lot of buttermilk. No that isn't true. I NEVER buy buttermilk. I purposely avoid buttermilk and have ever since I was seven and mistook buttermilk for eggnog. BLECH. In fact, I don't even think I have seen buttermilk at my local store. They probably have it, but then again, maybe not. This is not an item that rings very high on my shopping list. I recalled a recipe that you can use to make a buttermilk substitute. I jumped on line and found it.

All this searching made me decide to show you a few substitutes that you can easily make in order to save money or make when you don't have certain things on hand.

Buttermilk - Mix one cup of milk with one tablespoon of lemon juice (we usually keep those plastic lemons full of juice in our fridge). Let sit for five minutes and then use as recipe requires. I used this in the fried chicken recipe and it was GREAT!

Mayonnaise - Honestly I wanted to do this because I have a thyroid condition and soy is bad for my thyroid. Soy has been a main ingredient in just about every mayonnaise I have found so I hunted for a recipe I could make on my own. Follow this link for very easy mayo instructions: Mayonnaise recipe

Fingerpaint - When my son was little, he just loved fingerpainting. It wasn't very expensive. We just ran out a lot. I wish I had these recipes back then: Make your own fingerpaint

Playdough - No matter how hard we tried, our Play-doh would always dry up or get mixed up into an ugly purplish-brown color, and no one would want to use it. So I got in the habit of making our own playdough. Here is a link to a very easy recipe: Make Your Own Playdough

Natural Dye for Playdough - Honestly food coloring always worked for us, but if you want to go that route there is a nice instruction guide here, and the colors are lovely: Natural dye for homemade playdough

Shaving Cream for ladies - Now this substitute has nothing to do with mixing an item with another. A while back I mentioned using conditioner for shaving cream (talking to you ladies out there). I have to say that this truly is one of the best substitutes I have ever come across. You don't even have to go pricey. Last week Suave shampoo and conditioners were on sale for 99 cents. I bought two huge bottles of strawberry conditioner and totally replaced my shower shaving cream. It smells great, works great and you don't step out of the shower with dry and itchy legs.

SHOPPING TIP - Did you know that you are more likely to purchase an item when you physically touch it? Ohio State University did a study that found that people who handled an item were more likely to buy it. It takes about 30 seconds to already "feel" like an item is yours. Keep that in mind the next time you go shopping especially Christmas shopping. :) Here is a link to an article from MSN about this study: If you touch it, you buy it

WEBSITE TIP- Where the jobs are

A few weeks ago I gave a couple of websites that are great for seasonal job hunting. Today I wanted to give you a website that is helpful for the job hunt in general. Check out Simplyhired.com. This is an amazing search engine that enables you to search for jobs in broad terms by state or more specific by keyword or category. Definitely give it a look and pass it along. It is a great tool.

LINK: Simplyhired.com

Another awesome site is LinkUp.com LinkUp goes though thousands of corporate sites and posts the jobs that you may not normally stumble on. Again it is another fabulous resource to take advantage of.

LINK: LinkUp.com

Remember you do not have to own a computer to use these sites. Simply go to the library where you can have access to computers and the internet for free.



FREEBIES

Start Sampling which is totally one of my favorite sample sites has a huge listing of freebies. Follow the links below for each one:

Crest Pro-Health Clinical Gum Protection (quiz to qualify)

Cottenelle Fresh Flushable Moist Wipes

Redken for Men Clean Spice 2-in-1 Conditioning Shampoo

Gas-X Prevention

True Lemon (also orange and lime - great in H2O)

Sun Crystals

PowerBar Energy Gel Blasts

Dove Ultimate Go Fresh Deodorant (Sam's Club Membership # required)

Lanacane Anti Chafing Gel (Brief Survey)

John Frieda Root Awakening Shampoo and Conditioner

OXY Clinical

Dove Daily Treatment Conditioner

Nature's Bounty Your Life Multi Adult Gummy

Shout Color Catcher

HUGO BOSS Cologne Sample

Eucerin Daily Skin Balance (facebook sample)

Gas-X Thin Strips

Garnier Fructis Ant-Dandruff Shampoo

Emergen-C Vitamin D & Calcium

And some more samples from around the web...

Ester-C Gummies

The First 10,000 entries will win a FREE studded bracelet from Seventeen. Entries are limited to females ages 13 to 29. This is while supplies last. A notice will be posted when they reach 10,000 entries.

Make Me Chic Studded Bracelet


Kashi still has two of their snack drive samples left if you haven't gotten in on this freebie.

Kashi Snack Drive Sample

Vaseline Intensive Rescue sample while supplies last (giving away 1 million samples)

Vaseline Intensive Rescue

Printable Coupon for two free 5 x 7 instant HP Photo Cards from Walmart. Print your coupon, bring your best photos and leave with two awesome cards.

Coupon for 2 free 5 x 7 instant HP Photo Cards

My son is taking Japanese, and one of the things he has toyed with is oragami. When I saw the free samples of Origami paper from Everything In Paper Crafting. I knew I had to check it out. They have tutorials too so you might want to check it out yourselves. One thing after I entered for the paper it mentioned a sample for comet. It was one of those participation samples (register, complete offers, and get samples)...don't do it.

Free Origami paper

FREE REDBOX MOVIE CODE

There is another free Redbox code circulating: CHANCEMONOP This code can only be used once per account. The code is supposed to last until it has been used 1 million times.


Well, that is all for today. See you next week!

Your Testimony and Praise Has Power

YOUR TESTIMONY AND PRAISE HAS POWER

"And they overcame him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." (Revelation 12:11).

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Your testimony is about what you have experienced - what you have seen and heard. A real Christian can talk about their experiences with God through Jesus Christ. We as Christians are called to a relationship of real communication with the Son of God. God comes to live inside us. Things change. God deals with every person in a different way. The more Christians that come forward and talk about how God has
intervened in their life, the more people will begin to realize that God is for real, miracles do happen, and prayer works. This will inspire others to seek God and turn from their sins so that they too can know the peace and satisfaction that comes to a person who truly gives their life over to God.

Acts 1:8 says, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

To be a witness to Jesus is to speak and communicate the things
that you have seen and heard in your life, that happened because of Jesus. It’s the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus real to us, and makes Jesus real through us. God's plan is for people to hear the good news that Jesus Christ paid for their sins, and conquered death for us through rising from the dead. After believing, people should go on to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, and then testify to others what God has done for them.

One of the greatest testimonies was from a power pagan emperor who came to know that the God of Israel was indeed God over all. King Nebuchadnezzar actually said in an announcement that went across the whole known world:

"I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me." (Daniel 4:2).

Like Nebuchadnezzar, we should seek to glorify God all over the world. Now, with Radio Shine and the advent of the internet, it is possible to do this all over the world with very modest resources. I want to encourage YOU to do your part in spreading the fame of our God by writing down your story or sharing it with us all through the medium of the Radio or the internet.

Many people are getting challenged and uplifted by the testimonies that our listeners share on Wednesday and everyday by their phone calls, letters and e-mails. You too can share your story with the world through this station and our e-mail info@radioshine.org or steve@radioshine.org.. You can reach people that no one else can reach by sharing what the Lord has done for you

The Bible says, "Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!" (1 Chronicles 16:8).

If you have been rescued by God from your sin and the consequences of it, one of the ways you can express thanks to God is by telling others of what happened. Writing your story down will equip you to share it verbally with others, and will enable you to reach at least one person per day for the rest of your life for the Lord.

Other Considerations on Sharing your Testimony

If you have really drawn near to God, you will be like Peter, who said, "For we cannot but speak of the things we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20) Even when he was persecuted and threatened on account of his testimony, and the power of the name of Jesus that he was operating in. The most important thing to testify of, though,
is not physical miracles, as wonderful as they are, but the way God has redeemed your soul - bought you out of the hand of the devil for himself.

The Bibles says in Psalm 107:2, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy".

It is a wonderful thing when we can honestly testify that we now know God has forgiven our sins. If God has redeemed you, then you
should say so - publicly. And one of the best public forums today for this is Christian Radio and the internet. Go to steve@radioshine.org any time and share what God is doing in your life or call (888) 587-4463 Wednesday Mornings between 6:30am – 9am to testify for Our Lord Jesus. Radio Shine is here to encourage you in your faith!

Kelly's Thrifty Tips

I thought it might be nice to do a little something about reusing an item or two.

If you are like me, you may have a wallet that is a little tight because of loyalty cards and membership cards. If you are also like me, it may be hard to find those cards when you need them. Here is an awesome tip. Take one of those Altoids mint tins and use it to hold your loyalty cards. This is a great place to keep them where the cards wont stretch out your wallet, and they will be easy to locate. These tins are also great to hold mini boo-boo kits. You can put in some bandages, aspirin, cough drops, Rolaids, and those little wet naps. They can also be used as mini play tins by adding some crayons and some folded up paper or even some Soduku sheets or crosswords and some golf pencils to keep you or the kids busy when waiting.

Mesh bags. I am always gathering up mesh bags from onions, nuts, and fruits. Here are a few ways to reuse them. You can use them as a scrubber for pots and pans, attach them to your gutter top to keep leaves out but water will still go in, you can also use them to hold small items that you are going to wash in the dishwasher like baby bottle nipples and caps, when you gather up all those itty bits and pieces of soap that kind of make the soap dish look creepy, pop them in a mesh bag and use that to wash extra dirty gardening hands or even scrub rough tootsies (doesn't that sound so much nicer than rough feet?) and if you want to offer the birds a little treat, you can place some suet in a mesh bag and easily hang it from a tree branch.

Ketchup bottles. Reuse cleaned ketchup bottles to make fun bath toys for the kids or make pancake or cupcake batter squeeze out without the mess.


Website Tips (A little website for the kids and one for you!) -

If you have a child who is planning on taking the ACT, SAT or GRE you might want to direct them to Number2.com. Number2.com is a free site for SAT, ACT and GRE prep. They also have a great vocabulary builder section. Considering that my son is 15 and a sophmore in high school, we are definitely going to keep this site in my computer's bookmarks.

LINK: Number2.com

Nowadays families are super busy. There are sports events to go to, lessons, work, parties and so many other things to keep track of, and Cozi has a way to keep track of it all for free. With Cozi you can keep your appointments on track, have the kids schedules set and even color coded, you can plan and print out your shopping lists, and lots more. And it is all for free! This is such an amazing tool! Truly keeping things organized can keep the stress down, finances up, and keep you at peace! Follow the link below to check it out.

LINK: Cozi Online Organizer for Families

FREEBIES

Target has free samples now! These are great samples too. Follow the link below to get a sample of Tide Original with Acti-Life laundry detergent and Glad Odor Shield trash bags. With six foster kittens in our home, the odor shield bags would be a great freebie!

LINK: Target Freebies

The first 10,000 to respond to Right At Home will get the Touch-Up & Go Pack. This pack includes a canister of Scrubbing Bubbles Antibacterial Bathroom Wipes, a pouch of Pledge Lemon Clean Wipes, a pouch of Pledge Multi Surface Wipes and a canister of Windex Original Glass Wipes. Sign up now for your chance.

LINK: Right At Home Touch-Up & Go Pack.

The first 500,000 registrants will receive a coupon for a free bottle of Advil. This is definitely going to go fast so head on over ASAP.

LINK: Advil

While supplies last you can get a sample of Ester-C Gummies. Now is definitely the time to take advantage of all the vitamins you can get. LINK: Ester-C Gummies


I have to bring this up again, because if you haven't signed up yet, you definitely want to take advantage of a free sample of Taster's Choice little coffee singles. This samples if for six varieties. These really come in handy when you want a coffee but you are on the go.

LINK: Taster's Choice Singles

Free CCM has a new download this week for 33Miles new song "What Grace Looks Like" from their new CD "Today." Great title! You can still take advantage of their other free downloads from Caedmon's Call, Bart Millard, Disciple, The Afters, Phil Wickham and Sara Groves.

LINK: Free CCM

iTickets.com has a free download of "You Belong To Me" from Michael W. Smith's CD "Wonder." This is good if you missed it on hear it first! You can also download "Your Will" by Ken Reynolds Featuring Darick Rutley from Gotta Have Gospel 8.

LINK: iTickets free music

And speaking of Hear It First. Really you must sign up. This week's download was Matthew West's My Own Little World. Just sign up for their news letter and get to download new music EVERY Tuesday! You can also listen to Matthew's new album "The Story of Your Life" AND enter to win a special Matthew West prize pack. Seriously...do you want to pass this up? PS I also got to download "Love Amazing" by Circleslide.

LINK: Hear It First

Here is another interesting treat. If you can't make it to the Make A Difference Tour or if you want to just enjoy the music in advance. Go to Hear It First today at 5 pm Pacific to watch the Make A Difference Tour. There is a suggested donation of $10.00.

LINK: Hear It First Live

PREREGISTER FOR THE EVENT HERE: Make A Difference Tour

Difficulties Give Us A Testimony

Difficulties give us a Testimony

1 Peter 1:3-7

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, ⁵who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Your struggles and problems are for a reason. Sometimes they are the result of making decisions in the flesh instead of in the Spirit. In Romans 8:5 we are told that those who live in the flesh have their minds fixed on things of the flesh, but those who live in the Spirit have their minds set on the things of God. When we slip into making decisions without seeking the Lord, we often make mistakes that lead to difficulties.

However, not all of our problems are the result of not seeking and hearing from God. When we go through difficulties, keeping a steadfast faith in God with a heart of praise and thankfulness, we grow spiritually. Problems of the past prepared you to deal with the struggles of today. And victoriously going through today’s issues will prepare you for the problems of tomorrow.

Many people mistakenly think that when you turn your life over to Jesus Christ and invite Him to be the Lord of your life, that you will breeze through life without difficult challenges. However this is far from true. Throughout Scripture we read that those who walk with God have had and will have difficult times. In 1 Peter 1:5-7 we are told that we are kept by the power of God through faith, and that we can greatly rejoice even when we have trials. The genuineness of our faith gets tested by “fire” to show that it’s real.

As you trust God, stay close to Him, pray, praise Him, and read His Word. Then the testings will result in spiritual growth. You’ll see God’s hand putting together the details and bringing victory through the trials. Then you’ll have a testimony to share with others about the faithfulness of God.

One key to finding victory in the midst of struggles is being able to enter into true worship. Tell God how wonderful He is and how much you love Him. Concentrate on His attributes. Call on the name of Jesus and repeat His name. The sound of His name and your worship change the atmosphere. Miracles have to be birthed. They come through the spiritual atmosphere before they are manifested here on the earth.

Just as birthing in the natural realm is not easy, birthing in the heavenly realm can be difficult. Many of God’s people have travailed in prayer and ascended in worship for weeks, months, or years before they see the miracle they’ve been expecting. Remember, the battle is the Lord’s, and the victory will come from Him. So develop your intimate relationship with Him and watch for what He is doing. Build yourself up with the promises in Scripture and thank and praise Him for what He is doing. Read devotionals that will inspire faith and broaden your understanding of Scripture. Let Him renew your mind so that you don’t concentrate on your circumstances, but instead concentrate on Him.

Others will see how you go through tough times with an attitude of faith, joy, and expectancy. Your testimony of how God is taking you through may be the very thing that leads others into a relationship with Jesus Christ

"He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure."
Psalm 40:2 ESV