Tina The Storyteller

Getting dinner on the table can be tough sometimes. Especially if you're in the midst of a busy day or a string of busy days. That's why I have a couple of dinners that I know I can get on the table in less time than it would take me to leave the house, order food, wait for it to be prepared, and get back to the house. These kind of meals end up saving time not just because they're easy to prepare and get on the table, but because you can plan for them and know that you can tell yourself, "Dinner will be ready soon." Some of them can be thrown together with pantry items last minute or you can swing by the store with a very short list instead of hitting up the pizza joint for the fifth night in a row. Tacos Taco Salad Hamburgers Grilled Cheese ( get fancy with it or heat up some Campbell's tomato if you're into it) Yaki Soba (coleslaw mix, soba noodles, sauce of choice, BAM dinner) Pancakes , sausage, and fruit salad Sloppy Joe  and tater to...

This summer, we had a fun program at church and the kids all brought their lunch. Do you know what they brought? Lunchables, every single one of them. If you aren't familiar with what that is, they are prepared lunches that are mainly variations on cheese and crackers. In honor of all those Lunchables, I'm sharing 20 school lunch ideas that don't include a sandwich nor any nuts. Homemade Lunchables: English Muffin Pizza, toast the muffin before hand send with cheese, pepperoni, and sauce Cheese and crackers with pepperoni or meat of choice Nachos, chips and queso dip, side of salsa Sandwich alternatives: Stuffed pita, especially good with tuna or egg salad Lettuce wraps, great with chicken salad or any luncheon meat Tortilla salad wrap, place salad and meat in tortilla and roll with it Meat roll ups. Roll luncheon meat around cream cheese and pickle or a cheese stick Finger Food: Hummus and veggies Chips and dip Pickle platter, send olives, pic...

This year in our homeschooling, we are reading A Wrinkle in Time . Before we picked the book, I had no idea that Madeleine L'Engle wrote from the Christian perspective. When the opportunity to read A Light So Lovely , about her spiritual legacy, came along I gladly said yes.  The book starts off with a brief over view of the L'Engle's life, which was very helpful for someone like me who was starting at point zero. Though at times it felt more like a biography than the spiritual memoir the author was aiming for. In that regard, in some ways, this is a book about L'Engles affect on Sarah Arthur and how her legacy lives out in her personal life.  The chapters include topics such as Truth and Story, Faith and Science, Religion and Art. My favorite was probably the Fact and Fiction chapter. Sometimes when you live in the realm of your own creation the lines between what has happened to you and what has happened to them can be confused. The warning was to not l...

Thief of Corinth by Tessa Afshar is a historical fiction set in ancient Greece during the time of the apostle Paul. The story is about a young woman, Ariadne, who flees Athens and an arranged marriage to an abusive young man chosen for her by her oppressive grandfather. She and her foster brother escape to the home of their father in Corinth. As Ariadne settles in to life in Corinth, she also finds that learning where she belongs in this society is not as easy as it appears. It becomes compounded when she discovers that her father is a thief with a reputation of stealing from the corrupt and calling them out for their misdeeds. In the midst of trying to protect her father, stay connected with her brother, and temper her feelings for the love of her life, she encounters Paul the apostle. These stories that he shares with their family intrigue her and ultimately, Christ enters her story and helps Ariadne to find peace in the midst of her troubles. Afshar does an excellent job of ...