Turtles in a Half Shell... Turtle Power!

We love having people over to our home. I feel like everything we have is not ours but has been lent to us from God, we are only stewards of these possessions and God expects us to share what we have with others. I always like to qualify my posts that I am no expert in (fill in the blank) hospitality, and in no way am bragging about serving, but this is purely to encourage us all to be generous with what we have! :0) Just didn't want to come across the wrong way hah! I looked up a few verses about hospitality and being a good steward of what we have. 

"Do not neglect to do good and share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing unto God." - Hebrews 13:16

"Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with [his] hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that need." - Ephesians 4:28

"Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace." - 1 Pet. 4:9-10

Ironically enough, our Mommy Bible study group met this past Monday and also talked about hospitality. A couple of points I really liked from that study was that when we talk about being hospitable, we aren't just talking about having people over, but also having open hearts to others. That means looking for opportunities to help people, being approachable and honest with others, being genuinely ready to help in whatever way you can at any time. Our teacher referenced Matthew 25:34-39 and the following verses, just to emphasize that there is always something we can do for others, and when we are doing for others, we are doing for Jesus and God.

Some other points to think about from our class...

• Being hospitable means creating an environment around you or in your home where people can thrive and feel "at home."
• Be ready and willing to accept or consider something.
• Be gracious and sociable, with an open heart. - This can make you vulnerable to people sometimes, but that is a chance we must take!
• Don't worry about your house being "perfectly in order" and clean, or whether you have the right food or the right things. That is not what is important - we shouldn't judge each other's lives by these things but rather just enjoy the time being shared together.
• We can't compare what we have with what others have, but just be thankful for what we have and open to share it with others.

We have such a huge group of young couples and singles at church here and it really is hard to get everyone together and form those personal relationships with people, but we are trying haha! It was said to me back in September from one of my good friends that she had... never ever seen an episode or movie of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... and I almost passed out. How could you be a child of the 80s and missed out on this awesome so ridiculously cool superhero phenomena??? I mean, it is just me and my sister and yeah we liked my little ponies like the rest of the girls our age but for real, I had more TMNT action figures than my boy cousins, had TMNT birthday parties and definitely watched it like everyday when I got off the bus from school while I at my snack at our little red table. How could this not be a part of your childhood! ahhh! So we planned to have a TMNT viewing party, so we could educate her and others on these super cool guys! I just thought I would share some pics and also some of the things we did! 

Keep it simple is my motto, especially when you are having a lot of people over and have a teething toddler and are five months prego! eek! I read on someone's blog (sorry I can't remember who otherwise I would link it!) that when you are having a lot people over, just make a couple of dishes and then buy the rest, pre made or whatever. So that's what I did here! Of course, we ordered PIZZA in honor of the Ninja Turtles and I also made some Spinach Dip as an appetizer and Honey Bun Cake for dessert. Both are super easy and super yummy. And yes, I will warn you, the honey bun cake is definitely something that could put you in a sugar coma.

So because I like to be silly most of the time or as non serious and sarcastic whenever possible (this drives my mom crazy I think...) we of course had some Ninja Turtle Trivia and a quiz to see which Nine Turtle you are most like - Which Ninja Turtle Are You? All of the quizzes I found online were electronic ones, like you answer right then and it tells you the right answers or which turtle you are. So I just copied, pasted and retyped some questions that I could print out for everyone. It worked out fairly well, so I thought I would share them with y'all. The answers are below. P.S. - I definitely bought a couple of trivia prizes for the winners and didn't have enough because we had a FOUR way tie between some of the guys! So be prepared haha or just add on to the one I made! (And then send it back to me of course!)

Trivia Questions Answered: (I thought number 8 was a little tricky...)

1 b

2 b

3 d

4 c

5 a

6 false

7 c

8 false - he had two swords

9 a

10 false

Which Ninja Turtle Are you? 

Just add up how many of each answer you had for each character. I put all of the answer choices in this order...

Leonardo

Donatello

Raphael

Michelangelo

So if you picked mainly answer A for all of your questions, you would be most like Leonardo. Have fun!

Some pics of our friends and my son's girl crushes. Little does he know, they are already taken. ;0)

Of course Jackson had a TMNT tshirt and also pjs to change into later. And socks. Can't forget the socks. ;0)

Happy Party Planning Y'all!