Hope Mommies

After our son Jackson went to Heaven last summer, I was added to a group called Hope Mommies, it exists to bring the Hope of Christ to bereaved mothers and their families experiencing infant loss.  It has truly been one of the best things for me!  I have found so much support & healing from these women & they truly help me find peace & hope when I need it.
One of the ways that we help other grieving moms and families is by providing Hope Boxes to hospitals and individuals that we find out about.  The Hope Boxes contain a brochure about our Hope Mommies group, a bracelet to give them a reminder of their identity as a Hope Mom, some comfort items like bath soap, candles, lotion, etc., a small journal, a biblical grief book,  a bible, bookmarks with specific verses about grief, a hand written note from another Hope Mom who has grieved and found hope along the way, coffee, tea, kleenexes, and other similar comforting items.  These boxes cost $50-$75 to put together because we want them to be special and meaningful.  We prefer that you send us monetary donations instead of purchasing items for us so that the Hope Boxes will all look similar and have the same type items in each one.
We are hosting a bake sale to help fund the assembly of Hope Boxes for moms in our area at the East doors of the Big Spring Wal-Mart on Saturday, April 13, 2013 from 7:00 A.M. until we sell out.  If you would like to donate baked goods and/or money please contact us!
We would love to start a support group in this area for moms who are hurting and want to help others through their grief!  We would like to meet once a month and check on each other while we put together Hope Boxes for other moms.  If you are interested in joining us, please let us know :)
You can donate online by going to hopemommies.org/hope-boxes and donate in honor of a Hope Mom & Baby that you know or you can contact me at 325-203-6384 and the boxes you sponsor will be donated locally.  Thank you in advance for your prayers and donations, they are all greatly appreciated!

You are what you eat...yikes!

I have always heard the expression, You are what you eat, but I never really thought about it much.  We don't eat horribly, but we don't eat completely healthy either.  We have some friends who really take eating healthy to a level that I have never heard of & it has me thinking about the way we eat.  I don't think I will go to the extreme that they have, but I do want us to be a lot more healthy than we are now.  I really want to get dedicated and make sure what we are eating is good for us.  I'm going to start making our own bread, cutting out junk (I'm already trying to cut artificial sweetners all together), making better snacking choices, and eventually I would like to have our own garden and things like that.  It Works has some great resources in their Fit Works Community that I need to start using more of!  I just looked over a few of the recipes that they have & I was blown away!  They also have meal plans & fitness plans that look great too!  I'm going to try this brownie recipe & I'm super excited about it!  

It Works Brownies

Ingredients:
-1 (16 ounce) jar creamy raosted almond butter
-2 eggs
-1 ¼ cups agave nectar                       
-1 tbsp vanilla extract
 -1/2 tsp sea salt
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 cup dark chocolate chips
-4 scoops (8 tbsp) Rich Chocolate Ultimate ProFIT

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325°
2. In a large bowl, blend almond butter until smooth with a hand blender
3. Blend in eggs, then blend in agave and vanilla
4. Blend in Ultimate ProFIT, salt and baking soda
5. Fold in chocolate chips
6. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish and pour batter into dish
7. Bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes

Serves 24 brownies

Do any of you have any suggestions or tips for us as we start eating healthy? Things your family already does that you think works well?  I would love some websites with research & things like that :)  You can post below or e-mail me at codychristinb@aol.com

I look forward to reading your suggestions :)