Persevere!

One step and then another,
And the longest walk is ended;
One stitch and then another,
And the largest rent is mended.

One brick and then another,
And the highest wall is made;
One flake upon another,
And the deepest snow is laid.

So little coral workers,
By their slow and constant motion,
Have built those pretty islands.
In the distant dark blue ocean.

And the noblest undertakings
Man’s wisdom has conceived,
By oft-repeated effort,
Have been patiently achieved.

Then do not look disheartened
On the work you have to do,
And say that such a mighty task
You never can get through;

But just endeavor day by day
Another point to gain,
And soon the mountain which you feared
Will prove to be a plain.

Rome was not builded in a day,
The ancient proverb teaches;
And nature, by her trees and flowers ,
The same sweet sermon preaches.

Think not of far-off duties,
But of duties which are near;
And having once begun to work’
Resolve to persevere.
- Author Unknown

A quote...

Lord,  I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to thee to be Thine, forever. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou wilt, work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever.

~Betty Stam

May this be our prayer too!

Hello all!
As I'm trying to get another blog started I decided to write some more to keep you updated. Two things are of a bit of significance.
1: Sunday afternoon my brothers Liam and Aiden were playing football in our yard, and Liam was diving for the endzone but hit his leg on a rock. He ran inside crying with his leg all bloody, and so we pulled out the first aid kit and cleaned him up, but it took a good piece of his leg :( Today Mom called our doctor, who suggested we come in and get it checked out. Liam ended up getting 8 stiches. (He seems to get beat up a bit....when he was 5 he had to have his head glued after an encounter with the corner of a wall, but that's another story.) Good thing he's a tough cookie!
2. My (iPad) keyboard has not been working for quite some time now, but last night I decided to try and see if it would work. I went to settings and turned Bluetooth on. I closed my eyes and prayed, "Dear Lord, I pray that you would make this keyboard work, I know that you can make it work, and I fully expect that you will. Amen." or something like that, anyway, when I opened my eyes a message popped up on my screen that said it "found" a keyboard, and did I want to use it? It has been working ever since. (In fact, I'm typing with it right now!:)Wow! that was a huge blessing!
So, those are the two things I had to share. I hope to post again soon! ~Madi

My first backpacking trip!

This last Saturday/Sunday, my dad took Aiden, Liam, and I on our first backpacking trip to Upper Priest Lake in N. Idaho. (About 2.5 hours away). We had a great time together, and got a good amount of exercise too, (6 miles to camp and 6 back). So here are some pictures!

Well, these pictures are just a little taste....blogger is kind of making them blurry, and it hasn't been very easy to work with at times, so I think (yeah I know, AGAIN) I might switch to a new blog, same Journeys In Girlhood, but using a different web address, etc. Hopefully, I will be able to tell you what it is soon.

For now, enjoy the rest of your August!

~ Madison

Yet another good recipe!

This is a great chocolate cake, using mostly honey and maple syrup to sweeten it. [Although, instead of coconut/palm sugar we had to use brown sugar :( ] I made it into cupcakes for my brother's birthday, and it made 24. They're moist and easy to make too! You can find the recipe here at The Nourishing Apron.
Side note; I didn't make the frosting given in the recipe, we just used Buttercream Frosting. And by the way, if anyone has a brownie recipe that uses honey instead of sugar, please let me know!
Enjoy your cake!

Soaked Bread Recipe

Mom recently found this bread recipe online, while looking for a bread recipe with soaked flour. It's a little bit like sourdough, and needs to soak overnight, but its really simple and easy! It's also delicious and is quickly becoming a family favorite! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

No Knead Bread Recipe

Ingredients:
3 cups bread flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups warm water

Covered pot (five-quart or larger cast iron, Pyrex, ceramic, enamel...something that can go into a 450F oven.)
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1. Mix dough: The night before combine all ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden spoon until dough just comes together, it will be a shaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on countertop.

2. Shape and preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky, and bubbly. With a wet spatula dump dough onto a floured surface. Fold ends of dough over a few times with the spatula and nudge into a ball shape.    (You can use your hands just keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick.) Generously dust a cotton towel (not terrycloth) with flour. Set dough seam side down on top of towel. Fold towel over the dough. Let it nap for 2 hours. when you've got about a half hour left, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 450F.

3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven. Holding towel, turn over and dump wobbly dough into pot, using your hands to get the dough off the towel. Doesn't matter which way it lands. Shake to even dough out. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf is 210F. Remove and cool on wired rack.

Delicious bread, baked by Mom.

 Recipe taken from: 2007 Steamy Kitchen, Inc. http://steamykitchen.com/168-no-knead-bread-revisited.html