Woman Thou Art Loosed!!!!! October 2-4, 2014

Woman Thou Art Loosed is here in the ATL this week!  If you're attending, we'd love to hear your praise reports and if you're watching via live stream "we'd love to hear your praise reports"!  Email us at 1stdegreelove@gmail.com.

A taste from Tanya - Love is green onions, squash and tomatoes, lol!!!

I love cooking for my family, and lately its become something of a learning experience.  I'm really making an all out effort to use more local and organic ingredients and I'm experimenting with recipes.  Some recipes come out great, others not so great.  Well this one was great!  I hope you try it an enjoy and please let me know how it works out for you:-)

Yellow Squash & Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients
2 bunches of green onions
2 large yellow onions
4 yellow squash
4 zucchini
4 vine ripened tomatoes
1 carton mushrooms
4 garlic gloves
2 boxes no bake lasagna
coconut oil
Tony Chachere's
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano leaves (dried)
1 tsp basil leaves (dried)
1 can Cento tomato sauce
2 jars of Barilla roasted garlic sauce
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Preparation
Chopped up your green onions, yellow onions, squash & zucchini.  In a large pan place 2 tbsps of coconut oil and put on medium heat, once pan is heated place green & yellow onions and saute' until onions are soft. Add mushroom and saute' then add in spinach and saute'.

While the onions and spinach are cooking, heat your oven to 350.  While your oven is heating, slice your tomatoes and lay them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Season with Tony Chachere's (or whatever seasoning you like).  Bake in oven for 15 minutes to flavor and remove excess water.  (If you don't do this step your lasagna will be full of water.)



Add squash, zucchini and garlic to pan with onions and spinach, add Tony Chachere's, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, basil and saute' til squash is fork tender.  Once squash is tender drain all the vegetables in pan in a colander until no liquid is dripping from the bottom (IF YOU DON'T DRAIN ALL OF THE LIQUID FROM THE VEGES, YOU WILL HAVE A LIQUID LADEN MESS WHEN IT BAKES).  Remove tomatoes from oven.

Begin assembling your lasagna:
Combine Cento tomato sauce and Barilla in a large bowl.  Layer bottom of lasagna pan with a thin layer of sauce, with a large spoon layer in veges from colander, place six tomato slices over veges, layer over lasagna noodles, pour over more sauce and layer with a handful of each cheese.  Continue this process until you have filled your lasagna pan.  Your final layer should be sauce and cheese.  Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake
Place lasagna in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until noodles are done (per noodle cooking instructions).  When done, remove from oven and remove foil.  Let sit for 15 minutes to set up and enjoy!

FYI - Depending on the size lasagna pan you use, if you find that this makes two pans for your family, you can freeze a pan of lasagna once it cools. Wrap it in Saran Wrap first then cover with an aluminum top or foil and place in freezer. It keeps well for 6 months.

I Surrender!

This past month has been one life changing event after the next, some welcome, some not welcome at all.

I'm participating in one of the most rewarding fasts of my life, The 40 Day Surrender Fast, by Dr. Celeste Owens.  Its actually the first part of a 61 day fast.  The last 21 days will be the 21 Day Financial Fast by Michelle Singletary.  I started on June 1st and I love it!!!  Both women are members of my former church, the First Baptist Church of Glenarden and I know the dynamic ministry that comes from Pastor Jenkins, so I knew if this was a church wide fast, I wanted to pay attention.

The 40 Day Surrender Fast is a fast that encourages you to surrender every area of your life to the Lord and gives you areas to consider giving to God, along with wonderful scriptures to meditate on and allow the Lord to minister to you. For me, each day brings a new revelation as to how I truly thought I had it "all under control" and I don't, I need the Lord in every area of my life.....EVERY AREA!  I've learned I'm not as together as I thought I was. Most of all I'm learning to surrender my will for the Lords will daily and its a beautiful thing.

In what I considered a spirit of excellence, I really thought I had given over every area of my life, including my thoughts and actions, to the Lord, but this fast has quickly shown me I have not.  I'm a control nut, I like for things to be a certain way, most of, if not all of the time. Routine makes me comfortable, particularly when I control the routine. I didn't realize how much I thought I had under control until recently.  In the course of two months its been one battle after the next.  I've been forced to surrender things to God I genuinely thought I had already surrendered.  My thoughts, my words, my fears, my insecurities, my family, and my ministry, all I've partially surrendered but not completely, and lets be real, partial means not at all.

How does that happen when you're a saved, Holy Ghost filled woman of God, a loving wife and mother and a dedicated member of your church, operating in your ministry?  Easily, it happens when you ask the Lord for His help, but then do what you want.  It happens when you get busy for the sake of busy, trying to meet everyone else's expectations and neglecting the true expectations of the Lord.  So what is a sister to do?
I surrendered.

I realized that I can't, and I mean absolutely can't handle all of the things going on in my life without the power, guidance, intellect and direction of the Holy Spirit.  I need the Lord in every single area, every crack and crevice of my life.  I know that I can trust the Lord completely and He doesn't need my supervision on how to handle me or anything concerning me, but I certainly need His supervision.  So what am I doing different?  Being still and resting, allowing the Lord to renew my strength daily.  Spending quality time with Him with a heart that seeks His will and not trying to get Him to line up with my will.  Giving myself wholly to the Lord and then listening for His voice to guide me as I move forward.  I've taken a break from everything that would be a distraction, including church activities.  "What Tanya, church activities can be a distraction?"  Yes ma'am!  I requested that I be pulled from activities for the months of June & July to allow me to be refreshed and hear from God (do everything in order).  I'm so glad I've gotten still and quiet.  I've learned alot about myself and the Lord is exposing, healing and restoring areas I didn't even realize I needed help in.

Thanks Dr. Celeste for allowing the Lord to use you in such a powerful way in your transparentcy.  Real surrender is an act of "checking yourself" daily.  Praise God when He checks us He does it in love and with the intent of bringing us into a place of breakthough and wholeness in Him.  I surrender!

In all you do, do it in love,

Tanya

You can purchase The 40 Day Surrender Fast by Dr. Celeste Owens and The 21 Day Financial Fast by Michelle Singletary on amazon.com you can also visit Dr. Celeste's website www.drcelesteowens.com and Michelle's website at www.michellesingletary.com

Check Yourself

Have you ever had one of those mornings of self evaluation when you realized some of the crazy you deal with is you?  Well that was my morning today.  I learned many years ago that I needed to do an honest self evaluation periodically to truly allow God to create in me in a clean heart and renew in me a right spirit.  My heart needed a tune-up, a behavior that I've long overcome crept back up, (trying to be controlling by overtalking my husband).  At the time I really believed that what I was saying "needed" to be said because my point of view was more important than his, lol!!!!  In his true loving self, he just looked at me and shook his head and said, "if you have all the answers then why are we talking"?  Not good:-(  I immediately felt terrible and apologized to my boo, and then asked the Lord to help me never go back to old behaviors that He's given me the strength to overcome, conquer and walk away from completely.

The words and tone of a wife to her husband can set the tone of a conversation, change the mood of the atmosphere and turn the direction of the topic.  There's a well know saying that goes "The husband is the head, but the wife is the neck that turns the head in any direction it choses".  That can be good and bad depending on your motives.  If you're trying to get what you want, your turning becomes manipulation.  If you're trying to make a point that encourages your husband to take a leap of faith, your turning becomes encouraging.  If you're belittling your spouse into cowering down to prove a point, your turning becomes toxic.  If you're speaking to your husband with high regard, complimenting and edifying him with your words, your turning becomes life building.  Check your motives, how do your words and actions impact your husband?  Are you turning his head, or breaking his neck?

In all you do, do it in love,
Tanya

URGENT ALERT: White House to send specialists to help recover abducted Ni­ger­ian schoolgirls 5/7/2014

By His Knowledge Ministries joins the community of believers as we pray for the safe return of the Nigerian school girls that were kidnapped two weeks ago and on Sunday, and for the quick capture of their captors.

Please stay abreast of this horrible crime and continue to make your voices heard on behalf of these girls and their families.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/protesters-plan-morning-rally-to-demand-nigerian-authorities-take-action-to-rescue-girls/2014/05/06/c3408bba-d514-11e3-8a78-8fe50322a72c_story.html


In all you do, do it in love,
Tanya Murphy

Here we grow again!

Love it the 1st Degree is growing to meet the needs of Christian married women worldwide! Love in the 1st Degree is a program of By His Knowledge Ministries. You can now get information about By His Knowledge Ministries program on our "Programs" page; class information, leadership training and Love at Home sessions on our "Events" page, as well as make donations to the ministry from our "Become a Supporter of BHKM" page. We are so honored and blessed to be able to provide you with excellent programs, events and married couples get-a-ways custom designed to minister to the needs of married couples.

Continue to keep us in prayer as we move forward with the work of the Kingdom! The God be the glory!

I Dare You to Praise Your Way Through.................

Can you offer our God a sacrafice of praise in the middle of your uncomfortable situation? I know we like to look like we've got it all together, but there comes a time when it may look together when is all falling apart. Glory to God you can praise Him when you're going through and He'll keep you in the middle of your storm. You'll look beautiful in the midst of something ugly. You'll have peace when it feels like your life is in pieces. Just try praising our awesome, loving, tender God today, an unselfish praise, and undignified praise..................watch God empower you as you praise Him. Ohhhhhhh He's worthy! Praise Him through it all, good and bad an watch our God bring you into complete victory!!!!!!! I dare you to praise Him today! Click on the link below and praise our God like your very life depends on it, because it does. In all you do, do it in love, Tanya