Evan's First Message

Here's a photo of our oldest son giving his first message for youth group last night.

http://bit.ly/15wsKQR  Click on the link to read about "The Gospel According to Paperman".

We're proud of you, Ev!

I Love Cookbooks!

Let's say that I was in your home and you had to do some errands. Just give me a stack of your cookbooks, set me in a chair next to a window, and I would be happy as a clam for a couple of hours.

I'm not a chef - not even close! I make the same things in rotation all the time. I enjoy baking more than I do cooking a meal. But I do love looking at cookbooks. There is something almost therapeutic about it.

There are websites that I love such as www.thepioneerwoman.com  She is an awesome cook with great, easy to follow recipes. I also find a lot of recipes via blogs.

But there is something about holding a cookbook in your hand. I especially love church cookbooks. Those tend to have tried and true recipes that are good for families.

Here are some of the ones I turn to over and over:

The Pioneer Woman Cooks  by Ree Drummond

Anything by Paula Deen - She makes the kinds of food I grew up eating. My favorite meals are still just about anything fried  with a glass of sweet tea.    
Southern Plate - Christy Jordan
Southern Generations - printed by the Junior Auxiillary of Starkville, Mississippi
Betty Crocker Cookbook
past issues of  Southern Living magazines

and 2 cookbooks that have long ago lost their covers.

One was a gift from my mother-in-law which she had bought from First Church of the Open Bible and the other is Life After Pizza which has one of my favorite dessert recipes pictured below. You can see how used this recipe has been by the chocolate pudding splatters across the page.

Oh my, this is good stuff.


Also, in case you might be interested, this is my recipe organizing system.

I know, pretty impressive, right? But I can generally find what I'm looking for. One of these days I will get to organizing it. Probably after the kids are grown and then I'll be too sentimental to change anything.


What about you? What are your favorite cookbooks? Do you feel like yours are old friends?



Happy Spring!

Linking up to: www.impartinggrace.com  www.savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com  www.frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com

Breaking the Power of Hurtful Words

 

Recently, I watched the first half of the movie Walk the Line. Many of you have probably seen the life story of Johnny Cash. In the movie, Johnny Cash is twelve years old and his brother has just died after an accident. He hears his father say these words, "The wrong son died." Can you imagine how you would feel? Your brother has just died and your dad utters those words, knowing that you are hearing them.  What affect would it have on your life? Maybe you would think that those words would have no effect at all beyond temporarily hurting your feelings. But words take on a life of their own, and can cause damage for the rest of a person's life.

The Bible says in Proverbs 18:2  that life and death are in the power of the tongue. What we say matters. What we speak out into the atmosphere does have an impact.

Have you ever wondered why it is called "cursing" when someone is directing curse/swear words towards you? Could it mean that there is a curse that comes along with those words? I don't know, but people do have a way of living up to either low or high expectations based on what is being said to them.  The Bible also speaks of people "blessing" other people with their words. There is a tremendous repercussion of either cursing a person with your words or blessing them with your words. It isn't a neutral arena. You are being touched in some way, whether for the good or bad.

I once was helping a young man in his twenties study for his GED test. He was becoming increasingly upset one evening as he was trying to study from his book. After talking for awhile, he tearfully told me that he had always been labeled by teachers as "dumb" and "slow".  Several years had passed since he had been in the classroom, but the sting of those words remained. He still identified himself with those words. As a child or young person, you automatically feel that an authoritative person's words to you are true.

Another example is from my very first year of teaching 2nd grade at a Christian school in Louisiana. I had the most beautiful class of 8 year old children.  I noticed though, that one of boys never made eye contact and was very quiet. His teacher from the previous year commented to me that he was "slow". I was surprised by her words about him. I observed him and came to the conclusion that he was actually very shy. Being shy myself, I understood a little of how he felt. When I praised him one day for his reading, his face lit up and he gave me the biggest smile. I tried to praise his accomplishments whenever I could. I would find ways to encourage him and let him know how proud I was of him. At the end of the school year, his mother hugged  me and kissed me on the cheek. She had tears in her eyes as she told me what a change she had seen in him that year. He hadn't dreaded coming to school as he had the year before.  Either through words or actions that previous year, he had been made to feel that he couldn't achieve success.

What about you? Is there an event that instantly comes to your mind when you think of hurtful words spoken over you? Did someone call you dumb, ugly, fat, skinny, worthless, or perhaps speak swear words over you (towards you) that caused devastation in you?  When you recall that time, do you still feel the sting and pain of those words? God wants and is able to remove the pain of that time of your life. What He says about you is very different than what a person has said to you.

The Bible says in Psalm 8:19 that God delights in you. Delight means "something that gives great pleasure". Did you know that this is how God feels about you? If you've been beaten down by words all of your life, that may seem too good to be true, but it is true. Ask Him to show you how He feels about you. He is able to make it clear to you in a way that you will know is truly from Him.

Our tongue has the capability of blessing and cursing. If a young girl is talked to as if she has no value, what will she be looking for when she grows older? She will identify with what is being spoken over her. She will look for a young man who will call her beautiful even if the man is not intending to treat her with honor and respect. But if a young woman is treated as someone precious and valuable, she is more apt to look for a man who also treats her in the same way.

I remember being in 8th grade English class. It was the first time I ever had to do an oral book report. I had no idea I was about to have a life changing moment. I also had no idea how my body was going to react to being up in front of my peers. My face turned bright red and my knees began to shake. My hands shook so much that I had trouble reading from my paper. My voice cracked several times. A few of the kids laughed and then the teacher laughed, too. The whole memory can still have a painful feel if I dwell on it. I remember sitting back down in my seat, wondering what had just happened. I had never given an oral book report before, so I hadn't known that I was going to have such a hard time. But the feeling of not being able to perform in front of my class was devastating. When I am feeling insecure, I still feel like that junior high girl standing before her class.

We do have an enemy that spends a lot of time de-valuing us and lying to us. He is called "the father of lies". Why is he so interested in speaking lies to you? Because he wants you to believe everything bad that has ever been spoken over you and more. He wants to fuel those words until he can devastate you, totally and completely.  He isn't interested in just making you feel a little bad about yourself. He wants to DESTROY you. If you've been raised with harshness, then you may be more apt to be harsh with your own family. His desire is to not only to destroy you, but succeeding generations of your children and their children. It doesn't have to continue on for generations in your family line. It can stop with you and with your decision. But you will need His help. We (I'm including myself) are able to grit our teeth and try our best for periods of time, but it takes the power of God to make the change that we cannot do on our own. After all, if we could really do it ourselves just through our own will power, why would we ever need God's help? But we soon find out that our good intentions and efforts can never be enough.

 Is there still a deep hurt inside of you about what a spouse, a boyfriend or girlfriend, a parent, a friend, or a boss said to you?  Get in a place by yourself and pour out your deepest feelings about that time to God. He is really the only one who understands the pain you went through. He is able to lead you in forgiving a person who has hurt you, even though everything may scream inside of you that they don't deserve forgiveness. I've heard it said, and I agree, that holding unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. It is really only hurting you.


One of my most painful memories is speaking harshly to my oldest son. When he was about 8 yrs. old, I spoke sharply to him. I don't even remember what I said, but I do remember looking over at him as we drove and seeing tears running down his face. That moment pierced my heart forever. I apologized to him, but it is a moment I wish I could go back and live over.

The Bible says that the tongue is such a little member, but even though it is tiny it is capable of sparking a great fire (my paraphrase). Our words can bring peace and blessing or strife. It is our decision to make and thankfully, one that we don't have to try and carry out on our own.

If you've been hurt by words, find a place to pray and tell the Lord the pain you still experience from those words. Ask Him to remove the sting those words still cause you. He if faithful to do that and to help you to lead someone else in finding that same freedom from hurtful words from their past.

If this feels like it is speaking to you, then I'd like to pray with you, if I may. You are not the person that your (teacher, boyfriend, spouse, boss, parent, relative, whoever)  said you were. You are not the words they spoke over you. In Jesus' name, I break the curse of those words and speak life and joy over you. I bless you with the words that Jesus speaks over you. I believe you will hear what He says about you today.






 Linking up to: www.impartinggrace.com 

Why I've Always Liked Martha Stewart

I began watching Martha Stewart back in the 90's. This was her original television show called Martha Stewart Living. I think it ran until 2004. I was never a big fan of her more recent show on the Hallmark channel that was taped before an audience. In my opinion, she shines more when she is working alone.

I watched her as much as I could with little ones running through the house. Somehow just the sound of her voice was kind of a soothing presence during a busy morning. I especially loved the cooking segments with her mom. They made so many interesting things together such as meatloaf, pecan pies and pierogis. I always wanted to make those pierogis but never have yet. (I think it is something best made with my mother-in-law. It seemed a little complicated to make alone, but looked delicious.)

                                                                  Courtesy www.youtube.com
                                                            Martha and her mom making a pecan pie

We were living at a ministry at the time I began watching her show. We lived in a very small house with six kids. This was before home decorating blogs. I feel that we made that little place into a beautiful home. I think some of the thanks would go to Martha. I learned a lot of housekeeping and home making tips from her.( I still can't fold a fitted sheet correctly though, and that is okay by me! That wasn't what I was looking for.)

 I think I've always appreciated order in a home. In a small home with that many little ones, disorder and chaos would have been the death of me. I think she helped to teach me the beauty of simplicity. We were able to create a lovely home with very limited funds.

We didn't have satellite television at that time and so I didn't have the Food Network to watch. But I loved watching her prepare recipes. I still use several of her recipes today such as her Dirt Cake.

It looks like a potted plant, but it's actually a dessert with cream cheese, pudding and oreo "dirt". Courtesy www.marthastewart.com under "Jane's Dirt Cake"

 

You can still purchase dvd's of her original program on ebay or Amazon. Her Thanksgiving dvd is still one I like to watch once a year and try ideas for recipes or decorating.

If I could give her advice (not that she needs it) it would be to get back to what made you popular to begin with. Don't do a show with a television audience - you don't need it. Get back to just you alone or you and one guest preparing a meal together or setting a table for family for Thanksgiving. That is where you shine.

I'd also want to say "thank you" for helping teach me about making my house into a home:) I miss you, Martha!

Linking up to :  www.impartinggrace.com  

www.savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com    www.frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com

A Note From a Princess

A couple of months ago, I watched as Kate Middleton left the hospital where she had been treated for extreme morning sickness -hyperemesis. As soon as I saw her, I could tell how sick she was feeling.

I had hyperemesis with each pregnancy and it was the most debilitating and extreme sickness I have ever experienced. There was absolutely nothing that would curb the nausea and the 24 hour a day sickness that I experienced. The doctors tried Unisom and Zofran but it made no difference at all. I tried ginger. I tried everything.I tried to eat crackers and ice chips. But nothing would stay down. I totally lost all appetite and could have cared less if I ever saw food again.  In the end, it just had to be gotten through. I always ended up in the hospital at some point with severe dehydration, sometimes more than once.  During one pregnancy, a PICC line had to be put in until I got over the roughest part.( A PICC line is an intravenous line that is put in to help you stay hydrated during the excessive vomiting.)  But then, at the end of the fourth month, the symptoms would ever so slowly subside and I could begin to enjoy being pregnant. When I was about five or six months pregnant, I was always the happiest pregnant woman you would ever meet!

When I looked at Kate Middleton, I could almost feel her symptoms. I googled the address where I could send a note to her as well as the proper way to address her. Then I sent a short note to let her know that I was praying for her, that this sickness would not last, and that it would be worth it all in the end. I did feel a little silly taking it to the post office to be mailed. But I also know that it would have helped me if I had known someone else who had been through the same thing.

I did wonder if she would even see it. A couple of months went by and I forgot about it.

But two days ago, I received a note from Buckingham Palace!

I know that there were probably many of these notes mailed to well wishers and others who, like me, knew how she had been feeling and wanted to help. But it was very fun to receive it!

2 Corinthians 1:3 says, "...and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."

If you are experiencing this kind of morning sickness, I just want to say to you, too, that it won't last forever. You will feel better in time. One day soon, you'll hold your beautiful baby in your arms and this hard time will be in the past.
Linking up to :  www.impartinggrace.com    www.savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com 

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Not long after we were married, my mother-in-law bought me a wok and a Chinese cookbook. I found the recipe for sweet and sour chicken in that cookbook and I've made it ever since. It's very easy to put together and makes a pretty presentation. I do have to add with a laugh that two of my kids say they don't care to eat it anymore as I have made it so many times. But my husband still says that it's one of his favorites.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into cubes
1 green bell pepper cut into thin strips
1 can pineapple chunks, drained
2 small bottles La Choy Sweet and Sour Sauce
white rice

Brown the chicken breasts in 2 T. oil in a wok until cooked through - about 10 -15 minutes.

Add a little more oil if needed to stir fry the bell pepper strips with the chicken until tender.

Add the can of pineapple chunks.

Add the 2 bottles of sweet and sour sauce.

Heat until hot and bubbling and then turn to low. Serve over rice. You may also add egg rolls for this meal.

It's really good and super easy to put together. I've been in a cooking slump lately and have been so tired of cooking. I think I'm just ready to eat fresh tomatoes and corn and good things from off the grill. But we have a lot of snow on the ground right now, so that day is still a ways off.

Enjoy! And here's hoping that spring is almost here:)

Linking up to www.homestoriesatz.com  

www.impartinggrace.com mixandmatchmama.blogspot.com

They Will Grow Up and Bring You Cupcakes

 

Our little boy turns 22!

Our first child just turned 22 years old! It seems just like yesterday that I went to the hospital, not really knowing what to expect. Oh, I had heard plenty of horror stories of labor and delivery that some ladies felt obligated to tell me about. But I hoped it wouldn't be as bad as all that. Fortunately, it was a quick delivery and before I knew it, I was holding an 8 pound baby boy in my arms.

Dave and I laugh now over how scared he was driving us home. I sat in the back with baby Evan as we drove slowly home in the snow. (Dave was horrified at the recklessness of every other driver on the highway that day.) Neither one of us could believe that just the two of us had driven to the hospital and now it was the three of us. We were now three. He was with us forever.

I wasn't prepared for colic. I held a screaming, crying baby and cried too, not knowing exactly what was wrong or what we should be doing. But finally, the colic faded away and we had a sweet little baby boy that we fell in love with.

Evan was always an easy baby. We used to take long 16 hour drives to see my parents in Mississippi. I would look in the backseat and there would be Evan, sucking on his round, red pacifier while giving me a grin and kicking his bare feet.

He walked at 9 months. Not long after we bought him the cutest little businessman suit.  I remember when my parents visited and I dressed him in that suit and watched him walk into the livingroom. He also carried  his "briefcase" which was a black cassette holder with a handle. My dad laughed and said he looked like he should work at a bank.

It seemed that Evan didn't stay in babyhood very long. I became pregnant again right away with twins. They arrived prematurely when Evan was just 8 1/2 months old. There were many weeks of Evan coming along with us to the hospital to visit his siblings.

As I've written before, after our twins came home from the hospital, we had days of unbelievable stress. They cried nearly 24 hours a day. This was before we knew that they had cerebral palsy.  I would sometimes escape for an hour or two on a Sunday afternoon and would take Evan with me. Those were sweet days of our sharing a burger and french fries or walking around the grocery store together. I sometimes don't know how I would have made it during that hard time without Evan. But sometimes I worry that he had to grow up too soon.

He used to say to us when he was about  five, "Is it time to put the kids to bed yet?" as if he weren't a kid himself. But I think he liked a little time with just me and Dad at the end of a day.

I remember another time when he was about 7 or 8 yrs. old. We were leaving Mississippi again after being at my parents for a visit. I suddenly realized that it was so quiet in the van. I looked at the seat behind me to see Evan sitting quietly, looking out the window, with big tears rolling down his cheeks. He enjoyed those visits so much with my mom and dad.

 Despite the long hours of being a mom, despite the tears (yours and theirs), and sitting up at night with one who is wheezing or vomiting, wiping runny noses, or walking the floor with a crying baby...it will all too quickly end. You'll look around and that little toddler will suddenly be 22 years old.  He will drive to a place he heard about to buy cupcakes to surprise you and the rest of the family (even though they cost a lot).  One of the qualities I love about him is his delight in buying things for other people. I think he is going to need a very well paying job in order to continue to fund his generous habits:)

Even though I miss his baby days, I love the young man he has become. I love his personality and to see him interacting with friends and family. I can't imagine our lives without him. I look forward to seeing all that God will do in his life.

Ev, I'm so glad you were born. You've made our lives so much richer. I have said this about all the kids, but I say it about you today...what would we have done without you?

Linking up to:  www.impartinggrace.com  www.frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com  and www.savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com

www.homestoriesatz.com

www.kellyskornerblog.com

He Will Calm Your Storm

Many of you today may be in a hard place. Discouragement, despair, depression...those awful "D" words.

If I could blow peace over you in the same way we blow dandelion seeds into the air, I would.

photo courtesy of chrisroll/freedigitalphoto.net

Sometimes we feel that God has forgotten us, but He hasn't. Our feelings are so fickle. They can be up one day and down the next. But God is a very present help in our time of trouble, whether we "feel" it or not.

God is close to the broken hearted.

Is your heart broken?

Is everything around you, your circumstances, your thoughts, raging in turmoil?

Ask Him to come and show you how much He cares for you. He isn't too busy and He isn't unconcerned. You have a very real enemy who plants doubts and fears in your heart. He constructs events in such a way that you begin to feel convinced that God is too busy for you. But those are lies.

He is infinitely and tenderly concerned about what concerns you.

Take a few minutes today and just lay on your bed or floor and ask Him to reveal lies you have believed and to begin to show you instead what He is saying about you. Your enemy delights when you say you are too tired to try anything else or when you say, "What would be the use of praying?" Exactly. That is what your enemy wants. That is what he is working hard on 24 hours a day.

But God longs to take you by the hand and calm the fierceness of the storm all around you. He will push back the heavy curtain and let you see the bright sunshine that's always been there. You just haven't seen it in awhile.

Dear God, bless whoever is reading this today. And I declare over them that You will reveal your tender love and care for them today no matter how they feel, because You are stronger than any feelings.

Linking up to:
www.impartinggrace.com

Target Find

There's just something about Target.

 I go to Walmart because I have to. I have a big family and the prices on the thousand boxes of cereal I buy are cheaper there. But I go to Target because it's fun!

My husband and I ran in there the other day and I found this bargain - buy 1 watch and get 1 50% off. I really don't wear much jewelry, but I loved these watches. The first one was $14.99 and the 2nd one - half off.

If you're looking for an inexpensive watch, I think the sale is still on.

What kinds of things have you found at Target lately?

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and www.impartinggrace.com

What to Do with Leftover Birthday Balloons

Our daughter just turned 16 years old. We surprised her that morning with 16 balloons and 16 roses. It's so hard to believe that she is this age!

She enjoyed the balloons on the stairs for a few days afterwards. Then we decided to send those leftover birthday balloons on a mission.

We attached small stick it notes with a message and also our church name and city.

Next, we sent the balloons on their way.

 

I wonder how far a balloon can travel?

 

We thought it would be neat to send someone a message that God cares about them. Who knows? Maybe it will float to someone's home who could use some encouragment. Stranger things have happened.

 

It was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I'll let you know if anyone contacts us.

 

Have a great week!

 

Linking up to:

www.impartinggrace.com 

www.frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com