BBQ Chicken (in the slow-cooker)

I have had the pleasure of trying out a few recipes for my crock-pot. Both include chicken and some type of BBQ sauce. So they were delicious and I hope you can try them out! Enjoy!


Hawaiian BBQ Chicken
Supplies: 
skinless, boneless chicken breast
pineapple chunks
bbq sauce

Place frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot and cover with sauce.  Empty can of drained pineapple chunks on top.  Cook on High for 2-3 hours or Low for 4-6 hours.  Shred chicken with two forks while still in the crock pot so the chicken will be well coated with sauce.  Serve over rice.

***I found that when you cook it on high for a longer period you may want to use less chicken so it doesn't dry out. I used 3-4 instead of 6***

Italian BBQ Chicken

This one is soooooooo easy. You take 3-4 chicken breasts in the slow cooker. Empty a whole container of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and squirt a couple squirts of italian dressing. Cook on High for 2-3 hours or Low for 4-6 hours. 

I served mine with mashed potatoes and edemame but you can pick out which is best! Nomnomnom

Hope you enjoy these fun and easy slow-cooker recipes! 

Love and Peace Beloved

Smooth Sailing?

I love navy...yes the color.
 I love everything navy and am happy to report that it is my favorite color for the time being. Its a versatile color in that when its paired with a complimenting color can make a nice match for any season. In clothes, flowers, decorating, themes, you name it and navy will pretty much be there for you. This recent obsession with the color started with the whole nautical theme idea I had for decorating my future bedroom. I was thinking navy walls white bedding with a splash of cranberry to brighten the space. I loved it and couldn't wait to start crafting my way into a nautical bliss.
Not only has this sweet relationship my my friend navy influenced my creativity, but it has now infiltrated another kind of inspiration, an inspiration of the heart.
Surprisingly enough I need a lot of help when it comes to figuring whats going on in my head or my heart. I'm not a very reflective person. When its quiet around me, when I'm walking to class or sitting in silence for whatever reason it is not my natural tendency to ponder or reflect on things. My sister and I joke around that I hate theory and this is part of it. I'm a concrete person not an abstract person. Thus the difficulty in processing my emotions. I think its funny actually because my friends all tease me for being the most feeling and emotional person they know, but these feelings and emotions have no where to go. They just sit there, collecting dust, until something or someone stirs them up. Sometimes its a good conversation with a fiend asking intentional questions, other times it may be a circumstance in which someone says something that rubs me the wrong way but I can't figure out why. This happens to me all the time! It is so frustrating when someone says something like that and my face and body language reacts but I don't know why. Then the person asks what's wrong and I don't have an answer for them until a few hours or sometimes days later when they have completely forgotten about it. This is my life...welcome.
So what am I getting at with the color navy and how my head works (or doesn't)??
Because I got really excited when journaling and trying to get a gauge on where my heart when I made it connect to navy...in a very roundabout way. I was trying to think of an analogy to describe this season of pre-graduation yet post-college that I have found myself in. Its been a very confusing time so try to track with me here...
To begin with there is a sense of loneliness, no matter how you try to spin it. Even though I have great roommates, sweet friends and a lot of fun I can't shake this feeling. Because it has finally hit where I don't feel like I belong on a college campus. Its like overnight there sunk in this "me and them" attitude. For years now my best friends and I have all been doing this college thing together. A major thing that connected us was this college ministry. But now I am on my way out the door and many if not most of my friends are still there. So where does that leave me? Its confusing because I am genuinely excited to move on with my life, to turn that next page to the exciting new chapter of my life. But what this chapter will hold I have no idea. And it is here where the fear and anxiety makes a devastating appearance. I can feel the temptation to worry and grow anxious over me, threatening to drag me under its waves. And waves are exactly how I would describe it. The waves that rock my little life boat to and fro, though somedays are sunny and beautiful. I contentedly float on the surface enjoying the sunshine. These are the days where I rest assuredly, knowing by faith that God is sovereign over my life. I know that come what may my life is in His hands and there is literally no place I'd rather be. There is another kind of day that is quite the contrast these pleasant, happy days. These days its harder to see the sun through the clouds, and I'm nearly rocked into oblivion. The water is rough and dark, my face may even turn green with sea-sickness. These days may not be frequent but they do appear every now and again, daunting and filled with worry. I don't want to give into these days because I can remember yesterday, I can remember the sun and the glassy surface. They say to avoid sea-sickness one must keep their gaze on the horizon line, and in this choppy season it is no exception. I must keep my eyes fixed on one thing and one thing only...the face, my prize. There is no other way to survive this new and confusing transition but to keep focused on the race set before, on the prize that awaits me. But how? To be honest I don't actually know, but what has worked for me up to this point is just complete and utter surrender to Him. I can't make it through these difficult days on my own accord. I've tried and I have failed. All I know is that this has driven me to truly come to the cross naked and empty of all my devices. But because of the sweet message of the gospel I can come boldly to the throne of grace and ask my eternal Father to help me. I can confess my iniquity and uncover my transgression before Him. The words of the Psalmist in the 32nd chapter describe it perfectly, "Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surly in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance."
There is no way to make it through this season completely smoothly because we live in a Genesis 3 world. I am not going to react to everything exactly the way I should. I am going to get scared maybe even hurt a little bit. My heart and my flesh are going to fail me day in and day out as are my friends, but God is my strength, my deliverer, he is my portion he is enough and more. It would be easy to sum it up as saying "you just can't win" but thats not exactly true because you see it has already been won for me. There is nothing for me to beat anymore, its been beaten. This is my horizon line that will keep me from completely losing myself. This truth is what can conquer my fear and doubts that the nasty, stormy winds roar back at me.
It all comes back to the same voice from the same man that rebuked the same wind, "And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Peace! Be still!' And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." (Mark 4:39)

Peace and Love Beloved

Different Sizes of Beautiful Feet

On Monday night after babysitting for a really fun couple I got the opportunity to pick their brains about some things I was a little confused about. This turned into one of the most enlightening conversations I've ever had! It started with their questions of how I enjoyed New Years Conference in Chattanooga, TN. I began to explain to them how it was great but that for some reason I left a little discouraged and a bit befuddled. It began with a misunderstanding from months ago. To make a longer story short my confusion stemmed from a lie that infected my mind. It was not because of anyone else, just my own sin and the opportunity Satan saw to try and deter me from God's plan for my life. The lie was simply this; If I am not fit for evangelism in a specific ministry here in the states, what business have I in going overseas to do missions..? Again I will state, no one ever told me such a thing, but when discussing my future with well loved and trusted friends this is how my sin tainted the message. The couple helped to break it down for me that that was never the intended message. See, I had been walking around for a while thinking that I wasn't going to be as effective for God's kingdom because I wasn't primarily gifted in evangelism. After talking with this neat family, they helped me see that to think I'm not gifted in evangelism is not only unbiblical but completely false. God has gifted us all in evangelism because it is the mission of the Christian (Matt 9:36-38, 28:18-20, Acts 1:8). There are different ways God has wired us up in how (not if) we are gifted in evangelism.
How has this played out in my life? Well, since coming to college I have been involved in a campus ministry. I love this ministry and stand behind it with full support for what they believe and their mission.  As with a lot of college ministries because they are working with college students it has a small window to impact the campus. Ministries like this often have to operate in semesters, and school years, and only getting to invest in some students for no more than 4-5 years. Therefore, the ministry is extremely fast-paced, and God is faithful in how he moves in and with them. The way the Lord has wired me up is a little different. I can share my faith with people for weeks, months, even years and see very little to zero fruit but can still maintain and pursue a relationship with that person (not to say the ministry can't, just differently). Its relational, its walking life together and that takes time. And what I've come to realize is that neither is better or worse, they are just different. And there are surly more than just these two. What's more exciting is that God still wants to use me to impact his Kingdom, I know not yet what that means or what it looks like but I'm to faithfully walk with Him and into His Good works He has laid out before me.
I feel like this may have been a bit vague and my point may be fuzzy so here's the bottom line: The point of this post is that I hope it encourages you the reader. If you have been feeling confused, discouraged, maybe even bitter that your personal ministry doesn't look like "so and so's", or you may wonder even doubt that God can/wants to use you in His harvest, take heart dear friend. God is a big God and he intricately designed you before the foundations of the world, you are fearfully and wonderfully made, and He didn't make any mistakes. Just because you may or may not be a "good fit" for one thing doesn't mean you don't fit anywhere. You just need to seek out other areas that may be your better or best fit.
I may not be "wired up" for some types of ministries but maybe God wants to send me to a big city to live and work in a community to take the gospel to co-workers, or maybe he'll lay another country on my heart to live longterm among the people there. Or maybe I stay where I am for a while and invest and serve the local church. I don't know what or how He wants to use me, but I have promise after promise written on my heart that He will.
Isaiah 52:7 talks about how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news. It matters not the size or shape of feet, but that the feet come.
Peace and Love Beloved

Getting Down To Business

Ok so here are the basics...each knit cowl or scarf is one of a kind and there are a couple variables; size and pattern. A small cowl takes up about two skeins of yarn. This may vary based on desired width and pattern. A medium to large cowl takes about three skeins of yarn, again depending on width and pattern. For example....below is a Small Cowl with a "double Kayla-knit" pattern with 18 stitches across. The total for this cowl would come out to $11.00.

Small Cowl
$11.00

Large Cowl
$19.00

A Large cowl like this is of course larger, heavier, and takes longer to make. This particular cowl has a triple "Kayla-knit" pattern with 27 stitches across. The total for this cowl is $19.00

Here are a few examples of different patterns....

Double "Kayla-knit"

Triple "Kayla-knit"

Ribbon Knit

Regular Knit

For more information or to order please contact me via e-mail at kaylaburns2@gmail.com.
Thanks for your interest and support!
Peace and Love Beloved

Willing Hands Knitting

How lovely and faithful our Lord is. He has provided me with a passion and a love that can now benefit others. I learned how to knit when I was in high school but it was not until recently that I have taken up this fun hobby a few notches, as most of my close friends and family have noticed. Recently though my little projects have received an increased amount of admiration and attention. Now there are friends and co-workers beginning to ask if I would make something for them. Behold, an idea, nay a dream has been born! Willing Hands Knitting is what I am calling my little dream. All profit from each knit projects sold will be given to an organization I hold very dear to my heart: Falling Whistles. This is a group that partners with other organizations in parts of Africa to rescue and rehabilitate children solders from the Congo and other dangerous countries. Falling Whistles works to raise awareness here in the states by spreading the message of a story where children too small to carry weapons are forced to carry whistles, whistles that serve as both a warning and a distraction. For the full account of this amazing group click here. 

I'm very excited to begin this great adventure! Prices and patterns and other details to come soon. 

Peace and Love Beloved

Words

The phrase "A woman of few words" has never been applied nor relevant to me. Even in middle school and high school my teachers commented on my "wordiness" when writing. This has proved to be useful in my major. The ability to string a variety of eloquent words together in a pleasant flow makes it seem like I know what I'm talking/writing about. Sometimes this is indeed the case, other times, it is a nifty devise used to fill up pages and required lengths. It is mischievous I know, but words are never in short supply so I figure I may as well use them if they are there. Even as I sit at my computer crafting these paragraphs into shape and my fingers trill across the keys I wonder what it is I am trying to say with this and where I am going. Where I want to go is this: Words carry great weight in our lives and have major influence as well. The only other thing I can compare this to is music which does the same thing for me. Sometimes I listen to music with no words and words come to me. Not in the form of whimsical lyrics or poetic verses, just words, even ideas and awry thoughts just pop in and out. Its almost like a flavor sensation. Words are the flavor to a song sometimes. Others may try to argue with this concept and I wouldn't argue back because I can see it the other way too, but who says it has to be one or the other really?
In the circle of believers I run with whether it be at church, or among friends in fellowship, conferences, etc, we often discuss the role words can play in our relationships. We read verses like Proverbs 12:18 which says "There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." We come to the conclusion that words can either give life or take life. So I ask myself, "Am I a life-giver or a life-taker?" We all like to think that we give life with our words, but is that always the case? I read about amazing godly women who were described as life-givers. I read their bios and journals, even their confessions of sin and the ugliest things seem to be giving life to the reader. I think to myself, "I want to be a woman like that..." A woman who has no trace of venom on her tongue but brings healing and love with her words. It can get discouraging when I am sometimes confronted with the fact that I am not yet this woman. Yes, God has sanctified and is continuing to complete the good work which he began in me, but man do I have a long way to go!  Even today I was forced to see the ugly side of me in a "friendly" game of volleyball. 
I am not known as a quick-witted person, so when my friends tease me and try to get a rise out of me words fail me and are in short supply. I never know what is funny or witty, but I try, too hard in fact. This particular game was difficult for me to participate in because my teammates (bless their souls) were not the best volleyball players. I, coming from playing in high school and being generally competitive, was struggling to be a good sport. Before I even know it I started smack talking my friend. It probably wouldn't have been so bad had it not been from a place of real frustration and anger. Thankfully he didn't hear me, and it wasn't even that "trashy" but I brought myself up short thinking, "I don't want to be this girl!" 
I believe as women God has given us a keen sense of the power that lies in words. Looking to the Proverbs 7 woman whose words bring about destruction. "With much deductive speech she persuades him, with her smooth talk she compels him." (vs. 21). I am not meaning just in the manner of bringing about lust and pulling men down into sexual sin, though this too is a grievous occurrence I have seen commonly referred to as "innocent flirting" (but that is another post yet to be written), it can be in any way that does not push others to the cross or give life to one another. 
We are so confused by the mix messages that society sends out to us females. We think we should be relevant and relatable to others, which I agree with to a point. But does that mean we are to look like the world, after all isn't that what they do? Sarcasm and hurtful jokes are brushed of as shop-talk and or even worse it is so commonplace that is goes unnoticed. As believers we must raise the bar, lift up our standards in how we communicate with one another giving life and not taking it. This may be different for each individual. for instance I know myself, my attempt to be funny and relatable (especially to brothers) usually end is me saying something stupid and left feeling regretful. 
Again I don't really know where this post is intended to go...I just know its something I've been thinking about, so call it food for thought if you will. Are you a life-giver or a life-taker with your words. Is your sense of humor fed off of sarcasm at the cost of others around you? What would your relationships look like if you consciously thought how to push each other to the gospel and to life? How can we alter these areas to really make a positive difference?
You know what is a sobering thought? To think about how Jesus spoke to his people. Was it with harsh sarcasm intended to tear the other down? No, his words were wrapped in love and tied with compassion.  His words gave life, and gave it abundantly. 
Deuteronomy 8:3 " Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word from the mouth of the Lord". 
Peace and Love Beloved 

Quickie Budget Tip

Don't know about you but I need help keeping my budget tight! This little idea came to me when I was thinking about the days when I was a bank teller. Hope this helps!

All you need is a couple strips of some fun scrapbook paper, scissors and tape. You can get really fancy and get stickers, stamps or handwrite the words. My budget is pretty easy for now. Have Fun!