The evolution of the swim suit

Natural Bug Spray

I don't know about you but the mosquitoes are terrible around here!  My children look like they have the measles, they are so covered in bug bites.

While I detest the pesky creatures, I cannot stand the thoughts of putting conventional bug-spray on my kids.  It's full of nasty chemicals that are so bad for us.

Side note-I was recently talking with someone about the hormone cream (progesterone, estrogen) that you rub onto your skin to help give you a boost of hormones.  If that cream is effective and boosts hormones just by rubbing it onto your body, think of all the chemicals we put on our body on a daily basis!!  Soaps, lotions, shampoo, shaving creams, etc. Think of how they are being absorbed into our bodies just like those hormones creams. And they are FULL of chemicals that are not good for us. 

Anyway, rambling thoughts aside, last year I found a natural bug spray recipe on Pinterest but never got around to making it.  Actually, I had to order some of the essential oils, and by the time I did that, the mosquitoes were hiding for winter. Or whatever it is that mosquitoes do for winter.

So, for fear of looking out the window to see one of my little people being carried off by mosquitoes, I made the spray.  And it works!! It's been so ingrained in us that chemicals are the only thing that can work effectively, I was a little worried it might not work well seeing as how it's made from witch hazel and essential oils.

I sprayed my littlest guy, who was outside in nothing but a diaper, and he didn't get bit at all!  He was outside for about an hour and a half, too!  And it has worked just as well on everybody else.  The biggest trick for me is to get it on the kids before they go outside.  They are forever running outside as soon as their eyes open in the mornings.

As far as essential oils go, I use the Aura Cacia brand.  I get mine from Lucky Vitamin where I get almost all of my vitamin supplements, essential oils, etc.  You can find just about anything you need on their site and usually for much less than the drug store or health food store.

Here's the link to all you need to know to make your own bug spray!!

Natural Mosquito Spray

Happy Mosquito-Bite-Free Summer, y'all!

Marriage Truths

"Most foundationally, marriage is the doing of God.  And ultimately, marriage is the display of God.  It displays the covenant-keeping love between Christ and His people to the world in a way that no other event or institution does.  Marriage, therefore, is not mainly about being in love.  It's mainly about telling the truth with our lives.  And staying married is not about staying in love.  It is about keeping covenant and putting the glory of Christ's covenant-keeping love on display." 
                                         ~ John Piper~

Homemade Alfredo Sauce

I love all things Italian but rarely make anything except spaghetti.  So while I was making my menu plan a couple of weeks ago, I decided to go out on a limb and try homemade alfredo sauce.  I just poured it over linguine noodles (I was out of fettucine), cooked some salad shrimp in garlic butter to throw on top, steamed some broccoli, and tossed a Caesar salad.  Everyone loved it!  

All I can say is WOW!  I kept on licking the spoon to "make sure it's just right."  It was so rich and creamy.  Olive Garden didn't have nothing on me that night, y'all.

Not to toot my own horn or anything but yum-o! :)  It was super easy to make, and did I mention it was delicious? And it's made with REAL food!  Not something in a jar with ingredients you can't even pronounce. 

For the life of me, I cannot remember where I got this recipe.....somewhere on the internet for sure. 

Without further ado, here's the recipe! 

Homemade Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients:

-3 Tablespoons butter
-2 Tablespoons flour
-2 Cups milk
-4 oz. cream cheese
-3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (I used grated, but shredded would work too)
-1 teaspoon garlic powder
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Melt butter in a saucepan on medium-low heat.  Once melted, whisk in the flour.  Gradually add milk, whisking to combine as you go. Add about 1/2 cup at a time, whisk, then wait for the milk to heat up and thicken a bit before adding more.  Once all the milk has been added and it's hot, but NOT BOILING, add the cream cheese.  Whisk to combine.  Heat the sauce back up before adding the Parmesan cheese.  Simmer this until all is melted and mixed well.

Go forth and make thee some alfredo sauce!  Your taste buds will thank you!

Memorization Tools

If you follow Ann Voskamp's blog, A Holy Experience, you might know about her Romans Project.  She is memorizing Romans 1,8, ad 12 this year.  That sounds very daunting but at just two verses per week it's really do-able.  Of course I am behind......but hey, at least I'm still in the game.  :)

One tool that has really made a difference for me is Scripture Typer.  It's an online source to help you memorize scripture.  You choose your verses and your Bible version and then type away! 

There is a tab to "Type It" where the verse is displayed in its entirety and you copy the words.  "Memorize It" removes every other word, leaving you to fill it in from memory.  It keeps track of your words typed per minute and will tell you when you are ready to "Master It".  To master the verse, you type it entirely from memory and have to be quick about it. :)

You also have to get all capitalization and punctuation correct.  Punctuation and I do not get along.  I know very little about it, as you have observed if you've read any of my posts at all. So that's a biggie for me. Also, at any level, if you make a mistake, the color of the words changes to red to alert you to correct your words.

I have had a blast with this!  It's been extremely helpful to me and I highly recommend it.  It's not too late if you want to jump in and start the Romans Project too!  There's nothing more powerful than to have the Words of God in your heart and mind!

Menu Plan 2/4-2/10

I cannot stress enough how much a menu plan helps me!  It makes a ton of difference in my stress level at meal times!  Since we are very spontaneous people, it's possible this menu could fly out the window and that's okay! I would rather divert from the menu than to not have one at all!  That's when I get into trouble.  :)  Here's our menu plan for this week:

Monday 2/4:
Mini Omelets, Biscuits w/honey
Chicken Salad in Pitas
Sloppy Joe w/Onion Rings

Tuesday 2/5:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
-Out- (Dr's appt)
Chicken casserole, baked corn, peas

Wednesday 2/6:
Homemade granola, yogurt, & berries
Cheese quesadillas, celery/carrot sticks w/ranch dressing
Crockpot Cilantro Chicken

Thursday 2/7:
Cinnamon Rolls, fruit smoothies
PB&J
Crock pot ribs, ranch potatoes, oven-roasted cabbage

Friday 2/8:
Waffles, bacon
Egg salad sandwiches, fruit w/cream cheese dip
Steak, broccoli, leftover ranch potatoes

Saturday 2/9:
Eggs, cinnamon toast
?
Chicken chili

Sunday 2/10:
Cereal
-Out for lunch
C.O.R.N.  (Clean Out Refrigerator Night!)

Side note: Many of these recipes came from Pinterest and are posted on my boards.

Ditto

Oh my goodness, I just had to pass this along.  This is priceless.  If you have more than than two or three children, you probably know how tiresome the comments can get about the size of your family,etc.  Kelly has once again done a fantastic job of hitting the nail on the head! 


What I would like to say when people make me feel like a freak for having children

Writing again

It's been a while since I posted anything on this blog....ummm......like almost a year and a half!!  Wow!  A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then.  And a new member has been added to the family.  February 11, 2012, Noah Aaron was born. Nevermind it was five weeks before his due date!  As a result, he spent 10 days in the NICU while we waited for his little lungs to develop.  Life with five has been pretty much like life with four.  WILD!  Our biggest "holy smokes- this is insane" was from two children to three.  After three, we just got used to the crazy.  :)

Having five children, ages seven and under, is very time consuming as one can imagine.  Especially with home schooling.  So the blog got pushed to the back burner.  Way in the back.  But as of late, I've really started feeling like I should start blogging again. 

I am not a writer.  I don't journal or keep a diary or anything.  So writing is not a passion for me like it is for some.  When I started this blog, I had high expectations for myself and my posts.  I had all kinds of posts floating around in my head but because I couldn't get them "perfect" I never wrote them or published them on the blog.  I allowed my expectations to become a burden and I eventually just stopped writing.

I feel like I've grown some in the last year or so.  On the inside.  Thankfully, the outside has went down a bit.  :)  The Lord has been so patient and gracious with me.  Any growing or maturing that I have done is only because of Him.  Aren't you glad "He's still working on me?"

Because of where I am now, (or at least think I am!) I don't think writing will be a burden.  My vision is to write more about our day to day life.  To be more real as a person and not worry so much about the perfect post.  Sharing even a little bit, even if it's imperfect or scattered, is better than sharing nothing.  I can't encourage anyone if I don't write anything at all. 

My goal is not to have a thousand followers or this great blog name.  If I can help just one mama- just encourage her to keep pressing on in this beautiful journey of being a wife, mother, and follower of Jesus-then I have accomplished much. 

My 2013 Book List

The new year has inspired me to set some new goals for myself.  I am notorious for starting a book and not finishing it; so my goal is to not only start these books but to actually finish them!  Some of these books have been collecting dust on my bookshelf but most of them I will try to get from the library or Amazon.  Here is my 2013 booklist, in no particular order:

Created to Be His Help Meet: Discover How God Can Make Your Marriage Glorious by Debi Pearl  (I have already read this book, but I need to read it every year! I can't recommend this enough!)

What is a Family? by Edith Schaefer

The Mission of Motherhood: Touching Your Child's Heart for Eternity by Sally Clarkson

A Mother's Heart: A Look at Values, Vision, and Character for the Christian Mother  by Jean Fleming

Shaping of a Christian Family, The: How My Parents Nurtured My Faith by Elisabeth Elliott

Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman

Laying Down the Rails (Simply Charlotte Mason Presents) by Sonya Schaefer

Seeking Him: Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival by Nanci Leigh DeMoss

Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions by Lysa TerKeurst

Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper

Unstoppable: The Incredible Power of Faith in Action by Nick Vujicic

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon

Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living by Tsh Oxenreider

Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson

Grace-Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel

Teach Them Diligently: How to Use the Scriptures in Child Training by Lou Priolo

Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching and Appreciating Boys by Melanie Young

Graceful: Letting Go of Your Try-Hard Life by Emily Freeman

You Can Raise a Well-Mannered Child by June Hines Moore

There are 22 books listed so if I read two a month I should accomplish my goal!  I'm sure I'll come across new books I want to read so hopefully I can add more to this list.  I will try to post my thoughts on the book when I am finished reading it. I think I will start a Pinterest board and pin each book as I finish it.  Maybe that will help keep me motivated!  :)

Our New School Year is Here!

I just finished ordering the last of our school books yesterday and we are getting excited to be starting school again!  Last year was our "official" start of homeschooling, although we had completed a year of Pre-k  the year before that.

We chose My Father's World curriculum for Kindergarten last year and both Luke and Chloe loved it.  Luke was already reading a little at the start of Kindergarten but he just completely took off.  He is reading on at least a third to fourth grade level now!  It seems he is a sight reader, so he just memorizes the words and that's good enough for him.  The K curriculum wasn't really a challenge for him but he still had fun with it.  My goal was to give him a good phonics base and I was pleased.

Chloe learned her letters, their sounds, and how to write them so she had a great year!  She is starting to read very simple books and I'm sure she will continue to excel with practice.

We are using My Father's World again this year and both children will progress to the first grade.  The reading will not be a challenge for Luke at all but my main goal for him is to have a good foundation for phonics and that will continue this year.  I realize Chloe is young to start first grade but I feel repeating Kindergarten would not be the best thing for her, as she grasped the material quite well.  She is starting the K level for math this year.  We weren't happy with the math in MFW so we chose Math-U-See and love it.

I am completely drawn to the Charlotte Mason style of teaching which is one of the things that drew us to MFW to start with.  If you don't know much about this style I would encourage you to educate yourself.  I think you'll find it well-rounded and "gentle."  

So here's what our year looks like:

Luke (6)

• Math-U-See  (Alpha Level)
• My Father's World for  History, Reading, Phonics, Science, and Picture Study
• Copywork for Little Boys

Chloe (5)

• Math-U-See (Primer Level)
• My Father's World for History, Reading, Phonics, Science, and Picture Study
• Rod and Staff Preschool Set-This is considered Rod and Staff's kindergarten level.  We LOVE these books and the kids have had a blast doing the workbooks.  Plus they are super affordable.  We've bought several different things from this company and have been very pleased with everything.

I also adore Sonlight curriculum because they are all about reading.  I am being extra ambitious this year and plan to read their read-aloud recommendations for the K level.  That's roughly 25 books!  I also plan to have Luke read the Grade 3 readers as he breezed through the Grade 2 readers this year without any struggle whatsoever.  Chloe will be reading the Grade 1 readers  as soon as I feel she's ready.

I have found about half of my material needed on allofcraigs.com .  This is a website where you can search all of craigslist for whatever you're looking for.  It has been a huge money-saver.  There are tons of homeschoolers out there that are selling their used books for a fraction of the cost you would spend new.

I have also utilized Amazon.com a ton.  We are Prime members so we get free two-day shipping on anything that qualifies, which is most everything!  :)  And of course the library is priceless.  Love, love, love the library.  They are used to seeing me weekly there with my huge stack of books all crammed into my Publix reusable shopping bag.

So there you have it.  I hope your retinas are still attached after such a long post!  It's basically a two-in-one post because I didn't write about school last year.  Now we'll just be watching for those last boxes from the mailman, UPS, and Fed-Ex this week so we can begin our new school year!

What Guys Think About Modesty

This is an awesome video about the importance of modesty.  And what better time to be reminded of the need for modesty than spring and summer-when suddenly everyone's clothes seem to disappear because "it's so hot?"  I trust this will be an encouragement to us ladies to choose our wardrobe carefully!

Gems in Chronicles...

Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people,

Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works.

Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.

Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.

Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;

~1 Chronicles 16:8-12~

Gratituesday: Spring

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above...James 1:17

I've enjoyed Laura's Gratituesday posts for quite a while so I thought I would join her in writing about something I am thankful for.  I have so many things.....where to begin?!

The radio station said it's supposed to be 80 degrees today!  I love it! The beautiful spring weather has been so wonderful these past few weeks.  It's almost impossible to keep the kids indoors.  They are having so much fun jumping on the trampoline, digging in the dirt, having tea parties, making rivers in the mud, killing ants, target practicing, riding their bikes and Power Wheels, roller-blading, and picking flowers. There's just so much to do!  

Jacob riding the Gator

Digging dirt for the "garden"

Working in the "garden"

 Luke target practicing

Chloe and Asher having fun in the Jeep

Just yesterday I found the bag of pistachios missing only to find out that the nuts were being used as Easter eggs.  They were hiding them all over the yard!  They've been finding them all day today.  Hysterical, these kids of mine.  

Yes, I am thankful for the official arrival of spring with all of its warmth and beauty.  Thankful to be pulling out the short sleeves and flip-flops.  Loving the fact I can leave the doors open to peek on the kids while cooking dinner or doing laundry.  Listening to their laughter while they're having such a good time.

The hard part is to be thankful when there is a brown ring of dirt around the bath tub and I have piles of muddy clothes to wash.  But that's a post for another day!

What are you thankful for today?

Menu Plan for March 20

We've got a super busy week this week so our menu is plain and simple.  I am working and selling in a local consignment sale Tuesday and Thursday, keeping my friends' two boys on Wednesday, and we are leaving for out of town Friday so that means packing for everyone!  Wow!  Just the thought of all I need to get done makes my heart flop.  I'll have to break out the energy boosting smoothies with all the running around I'll be doing.  :)

Monday

Smoothies-Muffins
Bean and Cheese Burritos
Steak and Potatoes

Tuesday

Pancakes
Egg Salad Sandwiches
Potato Soup

Wednesday

Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Casserole
Soup-Pretzels
Spaghetti

Thursday
Breakfast Cookies
Lunch at Mom's
Dinner at Mom's (I'll be shopping and working at the consignment sale from 2:30-9:30 so the kids will be at Mom's)

Friday

Cream of Wheat
Annie's Mac n Cheese-Veggies
Dinner out (Leaving for trip)

You may notice several of our meals are repeats of last weeks menu.....if I decide on something different for a meal, I just add it to the next weeks menu!  Hopefully we'll get around to the pretzels this week.  I'm looking forward to trying them, as I haven't actually made them yet.  I always forget to make the dough in the morning so it will be ready in time for lunch!  You would think I would remember since all I do is sit around and eat Bon-Bons and watch the Soap Opera Network.  ;) 

Don't Be-A-Chicken Chili

This chicken chili is fabulous!  You must try this dish.  I made it last night and there was just a tiny bit left.  The recipe is from The Gooseberry Patch Halloween Cookbook, but I got it through their e-mail newsletter.

1 T. oil
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 onion, chopped
14-oz can chicken broth
2 (15.8 oz) cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
2 (4-1/2 oz) cans chopped green chiles (I only use one to tone down the heat for the kiddos)
1-1/2 t. garlic powder
1 t. salt
1 t. cumin
1/2 t. dried oregano
8-0z. sour cream
1 c. whipping cream
2 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Garnish:  cilantro

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat; add chicken and onion.  Saute until chicken is cooked through; set aside.  Combine broth, beans, undrained chiles and seasonings in a large Dutch oven.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Add chicken mixture; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.  Add sour cream and whipping cream, stirring well.  Top each serving with shredded cheese; garnish, if desired.  Serves 6-8.

I had cooked a huge crockpot full of chicken pieces yesterday which yielded me 10 cups of shredded chicken!  I used two cups for the chili and put the rest in the freezer to use later.  I used chicken broth that I had made from a previous crockpot chicken batch.  I soaked my beans the night before and cooked them in the crockpot yesterday (I have two crockpots!); used four cups for the chili and put the rest in the freezer for later!  It was easy to bring everything together and now I have lots of good food already cooked and ready to pull out at a later date! 

Sorry I don't have a picture to show you....the chili was gobbled up before I even thought about it! 

Menu Plan for week of March 14

I cannot tell you how much a menu plan has helped me!  I love being able to just look at my plan instead of rummaging through the fridge and pantry, which I was notorious for doing.  It makes life much simpler and that's something I can definitely use more of.

Our everyday life tends to change quite a bit from what we have planned around here so if we don't follow the meal plan for the day I'll just move it to another day or use it for the following weeks plan! 

Monday:

Muffins
Egg Salad Sandwiches
Ribs-Beans-Slaw

Tuesday:

Baked Oatmeal
Pretzels-Soup
Chicken Chili

Wednesday:

Pancakes
Cream Cheese Salsa Dip
Red Beans and Rice

Thursday:

Smoothies
Grilled Cheese
Garlic Chicken Pasta

Friday:

Cereal
Out for Dr. Appt.
Tilapia

Saturday:

Yogurt w/Granola
Bean and Cheese Burritos
Venison tenderloin wrapped in bacon

Sunday:

Breakfast Cookies
Philly Steak and Cheese
Fellowship @ Church-Taking Strawberry Cake and ????

Now you may notice I usually only plan the main course for the meal so that leaves me with adding easy choices of breads, fruits, or veggies, depending on what I'm in the mood for.  I usually just buy a variety of fruits and veggies each week and pull my sides from that. 

So what about you?  Do you use a menu plan?

Saturday Seven

It's been a while since I've posted a Saturday Seven and there's a lot to share so I'll jump right in!

1)  We've had some sort of stomach bug at our house every two weeks for the past six weeks!  And I got the bug two out of the three times!  Yuck!  I'm sneaking Tummy Tune-Up into everything to try and get lots of good guys in our stomachs so they can hopefully win the next time the bad guys attack. 

2)  It appears that Jacob is potty trained!  Hooray!  He has been dry all week wearing his underwear and is starting to tell me when he needs to go potty.

He will be three in April so he's way behind Luke and Chloe, who were trained around two.  But I take the blame for him not being trained sooner.  I wasn't consistent at all with taking him to the bathroom.  You can't expect most toddlers to start changing their ways all by themselves after they've been used to going in their diaper for two+ years!

3)  Austin's birthday was this past Monday!  He got to celebrate three times (Monday, Wednesday, and tonight) so I'm guessing he's feeling the love.  Hopefully that will make up for the fact that he's starting a downward spiral to "middle age."  :)

4)  Asher now knows how to climb down our steps and I am ever so thankful.  We have a flight of hardwood steps in our house and the kids' playroom is upstairs so he always wants to go where all the whooping and hollering is.  (Now that I think about it, there's whooping and hollering all throughout the entire house pretty much most of the day so.....)

At any rate it wasn't the going up the stairs I was concerned with; it was the getting down.  He may or may not have fallen from top to bottom once.

Okay.

So he did.  And I thought I was going to have a heart attack.  Literally.  I ran through the house yelling "Jesus, help us!"  And He did.

There was a bump on his forehead and that was it.  It hurt me more than him, I'm pretty sure.  My heart was beating out of my chest and I was shaking like a leaf.  He didn't even cry real tears (I did) and he was totally back to normal in about two minutes.  (I wasn't) By normal, I mean he was trying to go up the stairs again. 

He's now figured out how to crawl down the stairs backwards and he thinks he is hot stuff.  My nerves have settled a bit knowing he is learning how to get down the stairs on his hands and knees as opposed to tumbling down end over end.

5)  I have recently discovered how much I love thrift stores.  There is one less than a mile from the house and they have "Fill-a-Bag for $7" on Wednesdays.  I've gotten some pretty sweet deals with that.  You can cram a lot of clothes in a Wal-Mart bag when you're determined.  :)

Two weeks ago I found two pair of Tommy Hilfiger dress pants, which he really needed, for Luke for $.75 apiece!  I was so excited!

6)  Our dining room looks kind-of like Home Depot's gardening section landed in there.  We have a five-tiered wire shelf in front of our bay window with two long plant lights, two round lights, and over 100 tiny plants growing.

Austin is growing heirloom seedlings for tomatoes and peppers to plant in our garden this year.  I've learned quite a lot about growing seedlings so far.  Did you know that if you rub the tiny plants it helps them to grow stronger? 

Yeah, me neither.  Nevertheless, I've had several phone conversations that have ended with me being asked to rub the tomatoes.  I'm pretty sure "Wilt thou love, honor, cherish, and rub tomato plants" wasn't part of our vows, so who knew?

7)  I recently finished Ann's book and it was more than I expected!  I cannot recommend this book enough.  The Lord used her words, her quest for joy, to help me change my perspective on some areas in my life.  I'm thankful God uses our brokenness to minister to others.

"One Thousand Gifts" reached #9 on the NY Times best-seller list last week so it's wonderful to know that God is using her life, with all it's hurts, to be a blessing to so many.  You should definitely check it out.  It's only $8.94 right now at Amazon for a new, hardcover copy!

~Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

The winner is.....

according to random number generator....

number three.....

Christie!!

Congratulations!!  I'll be in touch on getting this out to you.  It might require another late night trip to Kroger for coffee and sharing.  ;)

I would recommend everyone to read this book.  It's a huge blessing to me already and I'm not even finished!

Thanks to all of you for entering.  It was encouraging to see your comments!

don't forget....

Tonight's the last night for the giveaway!  It will close at midnight so if you haven't entered, you've got a little time.  And if  you have family or friends who might be interested in the book, tell them to pop over and leave a comment to be entered.  I'll post the results tomorrow! 

but God....

One of my favorite phrases in the Bible is "but God."  Such powerful, life-changing words! 

The set of verses that most frequently come to mind are these found in Ephesians 2:

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 

Doesn't that make you want to give a little shout?!  

I was curious to see what other scriptures contained these exact words so I did a word search using my Sword Searcher.  Turns out there are some pretty awesome verses all throughout the Bible that contain that phrase.  I hope you are blessed and encouraged by these powerful words!

     But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good,  -Gen. 50:20      

      

   But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah. -Psalm 49:15

My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.  -Psalm 73:26

But God raised him from the dead:  -Acts 13:30 

So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.  -1 Cor. 3:7

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:  but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;  but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.  -1 Cor. 10:13

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,  -Eph. 2:4

I'm so glad we serve an all-powerful, all-knowing, ever present, non-changing, holy, righteous GOD!