Smokin' Betty's

I was in Philadelphia today to volunteer at the Nartional Juvenile Arthritis Conference at the Downtown Marriot hotel.   This conference brings families from all over the country to network, discuss and learn about juvenile arthritis.    It was an awesome experience to be amongst kids from Texas, California, Missouri, Hawaii that have arthritis.  I bonded with a little ten year old boy name Daniel because we found out that we had the same birthday!
During our lunch break I met up with my friends Kate and Gia.  They live in the city so I knew they would be able to suggest good restaurants to eat at.  They agreed that we should go to Smokin' Betty's at 116 South 11th  Street    N.W. Corner of 11th and Sansome Streets  Philadelphia.  I immediately fell in love with this joint.  Very cute, not many frills.  I felt like I was stepping back in time.  Upon entering the front door my ear caught the crooning of Sinatra.  He was followed by many smooth jazz singers.  Definitely my kind of atmosphere.   We had the choice of sitting at a high top or regular table. We chose the latter. Our waitress was laid back yet bubbly and very attentive.  She even ran down to the bank when we asked for change.....wow.   I was looking over their regular menu....the fish tacos caught my eye.....fish of the day topped with shredded cabbage, pickled onions, avacado, sliced radishes, fresh lime and cilantro on flour tortillas.  Served with black bean, mango salsa.  However, it was brunch, and we were only allowed to order off the brucnh menu which was fine, because everything sounded amazing.  I ended up getting the chopped cobb salad... chicken, avocado, cucumber, egg, blue cheese, hickory smoked bacon, tomato and chopped romaine.  It was excellent!   Kate and Gia opted for the California turkey Sandwhich....avocado, sprouts, Jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, and honey mustard.  The sandwhich was enormous!  Smokin' Betty's is reasonably priced and very quaint.  I loved it.....I can't wait to go back to try the fish tacos!
http://smokinbettys.com/

You Are For Me

I attend a ladies Bible study on Monday nights throughout the school year, and two years ago we studied the Life of Moses.  Fascinating study.....  Moses was a murderer, complainer, excuse maker, yet God chose to use him to lead the Israelites for many years.  I loved studying the life of Moses because it forced me to read through books like Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers... usually books of the Bible that Christians shy away from because they tend to be boring.  However, they were included in the Bible for a reason, as all of its words are God breathed.  I think the thing I took away from reading Leviticus and Numbers, which if you have never read through them they are filled with a lot of details about sacrifices and ceremonies, is that I am so completely thankful and grateful that the blood of Jesus has covered my sin once and for all and that I don't have to worry about performing sacrifices and living under the Law.  I now live under grace and I thank the Lord for that....it's so comforting. 
One of my favorite scenes in the book of Exodus is when the Israelites have left Egypt and they come to the Red Sea. (Exodus 13 and 14).  They are freaking out because they see this huge body of water in front of them and they don't know how they are possibly going to cross it before the Egyptians catch up to them and overtake them.  So Moses, who at one point complained to God saying he wasn't a good public speaker gives this quick power-house speech that I think can apply to us today when we are feeling overwhelmed and consumed by our enemies or situations in our lives.  He says, " Do not be afraid.  Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.  The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still."

I love this!  How comforting to know that God is fighting for us and we just need to trust him.  More on this thought later....

I wanted to share lyrics to one of my new favorite songs by one of my new favorite Christian artisrts, Kari Jobe.  Enjoy.. to see the music video go to:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbSMfL5LuSo


You Are for Me
Kari Jobe

So faithful



So constant


So loving and so true


So powerful in all you do


You fill me


You see me


You know my every move


You love for me to sing to you






I know that you are for me


I know that you are for me


I know that you will never forsake me in my weakness


I know that you have come down


Even if to write upon my heart


To remind me who you are






So patient


So gracious


So merciful and true




So wonderful in all you do


You fill me


You see me


You know my every move


You love for me to sing to you






I know that you are for me


I know that you are for me


I know that you will never forsake me in my weakness


I know that you have come down


Even if to write upon my heart


To remind me that






I know that you are for me


I know that you are for me


I know that you will never forsake me in my weakness


I know that you have come down


Even if to write upon my heart


To remind me who you are

What Can Brown Do For You?

Here is my thought for today.  You may think I am weird, but these are the things I think about.  Have you ever noticed that UPS hires very attractive men?  I remember when I use to work at an Insurance Office and all the ladies would wait with bated breath for the UPS guy to walk through the door.  As soon as he would, everyone would get giggly and have a hard time focusing and stumble over words.  I'm sure this is a phenomenon all over the nation.  So, I wonder how many UPS/receptionist romances blossom in the United States each year and how many actually lead to marriage?  I tried google-ing statistics on this matter, but couldn't find anything.  Probably because no one else on the face of this planet thinks about this.  It would just be an interesting statistic to know.  Can you imagine being the girl that could say, "One day my prince charming just walked through the door.....literally."