A Handy Tip for Quilters and those who sew

So last week was my Quilt Guild meeting. I really enjoy going to these meetings. I am often times inspired to get more done in my sewing room when they have show and tell.

Another great thing about going to the quilt guild meetings is learning helpful hints that will help make my time in my sewing room more enjoyable. And today I will share one of the tips I learned from my last meeting.

 

You know your hand weights - that you use to help keep you strong and keep your bones strong? Well they can be useful in your sewing room as well. When you are using your long ruler to cut fabric - you can place the weight on one end of if and that way you can hold one end of it and not have to slide your hand down and risk - moving the ruler. Great tip!!

Now you have two uses for this handy tool. I hope you are taking advantage of at least using your hand weights a couple of times a week to help keep your bones strong. It is very important to do so!

Intertwined with Love

“God is a very present and pervasive influence in every human experience. No one has ever or will ever be passed over by the passionate pursuit of His saving love. The gravitational pull of his grace has drawn upon every heart, throughout all of history, regardless of one’s level of theological knowledge or religious circumstances.”
~Ty Gibson in his book “Shades of Grace.”

Do you notice what I have noticed? When speaking on grace - it is usually intertwined with love. God's love and grace- wonderful things!! :O)

It's a This and That Post

Just checking in for a few minutes. Today has been a busy day. I volunteered at the Depot this morning. During Hurricane Harvey I decided I needed to do my part to help those affected. And I have come to realize that in order to be ready for the disasters there needs to be people working all year round. I really enjoy doing what I can to help. Right now it only has worked out for me to help one day a week. If the need arises again I will carve out more time to help.

Today my MIL had an appointment that she needed me to take her too- a long over due appointment with the oncologist. Blood was taken and they are going to set her up for a cat scan sometime soon. Followed by a follow up with the oncologist.

I had a package to mail out along with a few other household chores to catch up on like our laundry and cleaning up the kitchen.

I am continuing to read the book "Shades of Grace" by Ty Gibsob. I have to say it's one of the best books I've read. It's in my top 10 Favorites for sure! I was gonna post a photo but I'm actually on my iPad tonight and don't have access to my photos. Anyway- come back by tomorrow when I will share a little gem from said book.

This past weekend I spent a little more time preparing for our up coming garden. I've been weeding our garden boxes and I had to dig up the dead stems from our okra plants. I was able to pull half of them out by hand but there were still half the plants in the garden so I had to get the shovel and dig them out. I'm happy to have that done. Every time I look out at the garden I feel that feeling of accomplishment. Remember the cute garden planning journal I found recently? Well I will be working in it sometime soon. I want to keep record of what we try with our garden and what works and what doesn't. That way each year we can move forward instead of standing stagnantly waiting for success to find us.

Well I really need to close for now. 5:25am comes very quickly and I am trying my best to get to bed earlier. I hope you all are doing well. See ya soon :0)

Another Quarter Deal!

The special birdfeeder was not the only deal I got on the Quarter sale.

 

As I was looking around the little shop, I saw these two 18 qt dish pans, that is what the tag said on one of them.

 I thought that they could come in very useful somehow. So I got them and went along shopping. It wasn't until a few days later that I realized that these tubs were just what I needed!

 

On the Friday before as I was cleaning our bathrooms - I thought of how neat it would be to have some container that I could use to put the stuff on the counters into to take out of the bathrooms while I cleaned. What could I use? Nothing that I had on hand would work for this job- but these tubs do!!!

 That will be what one will be used for. I am thinking that we will probably take the other one and use it in the RV. I am guessing these would be great for when we are taking the food items and such out to the RV when we are going to go camping. So one of these can work double duty - help with cleaning and useful when we go camping as well!

I love to find great deals and for a quarter a piece - I can not complain at all!! :O)

Beloved Names of God...series "Majesty on High"

Majesty on High

"Who being the brightness of His glory...when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."

Hebrews 1:3 KJV

 

• Name of God the Father
• God is referred to as the "Majesty on high" once in the KJV
• Majesty is defined as "grandeur, regal bearing, imposing character, having greatness or supreme authority," Kings and queens have traditionally been referred to as "Your Majesty."
• The writer of Hebrews describes how God used to speak to mankind through prophets, but in later years He spoke to the world through the person of Jesus Christ. And now Jesus has been raised up to sit at the right hand of the Majesty on High.

The term Your Majesty has been applied to some doubtful characters. Frederick William of Prussia marched his soldiers through his bedroom and Queen Juana of Castile had such a jealous streak that she even kept pretty women away from her dead husband's coffin. Nebuchadnezzar from the book of Daniel ate grass!

 

Of course, there have been good, civilized kings and queens, too, but if we want real majesty, we need to look higher. The throne of heaven is where we will find the true, unflawed Majesty on High.

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Sorry I am late getting this posted. We are having temps in the 60's - right now it is 60 and cloudy and overcast. I think I am going to go to the park and get a walk in. I hope you all are doing well.

 

Next week we will look at "Author and Finisher of Our Faith" See you then! :O)  

Public Service Announcement

Today is a great day for another public service announcement post. Something happened over the last couple of months that was very eye opening for me and for some people I know.

While my husband was having his surgery - his half brother came to sit with us at the hospital. While we were visiting he told us about some problems his girlfriend had been having for the past year. Lots of pain in her hands. Although she didn't have insurance, she had been going to different specialist trying to figure out what was wrong with her hands. Several different specialist had test run and just could not figure out what the problem was.

The conversation moved on to some anger issues this same girl was having. This sparked a memory for my sister. A friend of hers had had some major issues and had found out that it was diet sodas that were causing the problems. Aspertame is the main offender. It is very bad for people. So my sister and I advised him to have his girlfriend take a break from the diet sodas and see if there was any improvements.

About a month or so later - I got a message from the girl friend asking me to pass along a big "Thank you" to my sister. The girlfriend had stopped drinking diet drinks and her hands were not hurting her any more. She was so relieved!

We don't know if it has helped with the anger outbursts- but I am going to guess that it has.

I heard on a health program this morning that in a big study - and they said who did the study - I just don't remember - they said that it was found a link between diet drinks and strokes.

So my advice to anyone who drinks diet drinks - try to stop drinking them. Once you get past the withdrawal period - and especially if you are drinking water in place of diet drinks - you will be happily rewarded by feeling a lot better. They really are dangerous. I think if there wasn't such big bucks behind the soda industry that this information would be widely known instead of suppressed.

That is it for today- diet drinks can cause all sorts of health issues and you may never realize that it is the diet drinks causing the problems unless you take a break from them and give your body a chance to recoup from the damage done. Be aware that you may go through some withdrawals, this is normal - but just hold out after a few days you would be feeling better. :O)

Experiencing a kind of grace

This week-end I went to a little thrift store in a town nearby. As I walked in the door the lady that runs the place informed me that she was still doing her sale of 25 cents per item - That is except the clothes, shoes and purses - those things were 1.00 a piece. At first my heart kind of dropped because she had this same sale going the week before and I was afraid that nothing new would have been put out with her continuing to do the sale- but I was wrong.

 

My husband had asked me to look for a filing container that you attach to the wall and can put things into the several slots. And first off I spotted one on the floor. I quickly got it and thought of sending him a photo - but since it was clear - I realized it wouldn't take that great of a photo so I decided to wait. I continued to look and found a couple of neat things here and there. I found a couple of tubs, a crockpot cookbook, a Gardening with Children book and a kind of coat rack - that you put on the wall.

And I was looking just to make sure I hadn't missed anything I looked at the shelving behind where I had found my husband file thing - and lo and behold I found this:

My heart danced! I had seen one in someone's yard and had loved it. I had wanted one for myself but just couldn't bring myself put money towards one since we had a lot of hospital bills we need to get paid off and all.

This gem was not in the best shape- but no worries - my husband was able to reattach the two sides that were really loose or screw all the way out. And I was able to hang it in the tree. And fill it up with birdseed!  

I have a couple of other feeders that I want to rearrange, and hopefully by the time that I post this blog post - I will have been able to take care of that. It is just quite chilly today with the wind blowing so I will wait till it is a bit warmer to take care of this job. There are plenty of things to do inside.

I am so thankful that God orchestrated things that no one else got this wonderful surprise while I was oblivious to it being there. There were at least several other ladies in the store shopping while I was there and walking back and forth where it sat. So I really see it a true blessing that this - a desire of my heart- was fulfilled even though I wasn't quick at noticing it.

Once I had it - another lady there commented on how cool it was.
What a true blessing this is to my heart! An "I love you" from God is what I like to think.

Be sure to be on the look out for "I love you's" from God- I think they are all around us - we just don't always take the time to notice them! :O)

 

Oh and did I mention - it was a quarter?!

An Amazing Look at God's Grace

Getting Refocused

Towards the beginning of last year - I lucked out and found these two great tops - both of which have the brand new tags on them. I paid less than 5.00 a piece for them. It was an awesome deal. They were too small when I got them - but I could get them on - and since I had set a goal of how much weight I wanted to lose- I was quite sure that by the time I reached my goal, they would fit. I love them both! They are very much my style!!!

This past week-end I took a few minutes to try these two tops on plus a few other pieces of smaller things that I have bought. I tried these things on for a very good reason. I wanted to get myself refocused on losing the rest of the weight that I need to lose to reach my goal. And the best way that I knew to do so was to pull out things that I know will be favorites once I am able to wear them. And sure enough I was more focused on  reaching my goal.

I was glad that I had gotten refocused because when I pulled out my journal - in which I am keeping up with my progress- I realized I had forgotten to record my weekly weight in it for the last several weeks. Oops...that can mean big trouble if I am not careful. It is when I get lax about what I am doing that can open the door to allowing the weight to come back on. Sadly I am still up a bit from my lowest point. But its not horrible. I made sure I recorded my weight for this week. And set it up with dates ready to continue recording my weight weekly.

 

I also looked and noticed that last year I only lost 7 pounds. Part of me is discouraged since it is such a small amount. But I realize that any lose is great and that at least I am not up from last year - and that could happen so easily - as I have seen over the holidays and a few extra pounds creeping on.

 

I am hoping I can lose at lease 7 pounds in 2018 - 10 would be better - but losing the rest to get to my goal would be awesome! But I am going to just continue to do the best I can do- that is all I can do.

 

How do you get refocused on goals you have set for yourself?

 

Pink Dishes... A Special Gift

I was given a special gift a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to tell you about it.

A little back story so you can better understand why this gift is very special to me.

My husbands grandmother collected pink dishes. She had a large glass display cabinet in her home with many, many pink pieces. Every time we went to visit her - I would admire her lovely collection. I, SO, wish I had a photo of her collection - but this was way before we had cell phones.

My husband and I had hoped that when she passed that we could each pick a piece from her collection. But sadly, the collection disappeared. And we did not get any of it.

So a couple of weeks ago when my mother in law gave me this lovely salad bowl that came with 6 small salad bowl, you can imagine how very happy this made me!!! I found this photo from Ebay so you would know what I was talking about. I forgot to get a photo of mine before we put it in the hutch - and I guess I am being a bit lazy - since I decided instead of pulling the set out and getting a photo - that I got a photo from ebay instead.

Anyway I am very happy that we have this lovely set. It was really a gift from God.

I have another post about pink dishes that I will be writing up soon - it is another blessing from God - of answering the desire of my heart for pink dishes. Be looking for that post. Hopefully I can get it posted next week. :O)

Beloved Names of God...series "Dwelling Place"

"Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations."

Psalm 90:1 KJV

 

 

• Name of God the Father
• God is referred to as a "dwelling place" once in the KJV.
• The psalm writer uses the term dwelling place to signify the place where humankind truly belongs.
• Psalm 90 paints a picture of mankind turned loose to vent its youthful (and destructive) nature and suffer from the disapproval of God. But from the beginning, God has always welcomed us back to Him. In our few fleeting years on earth, we should try to acquire wisdom and an appreciation of the Lord before returning, like wayward children, to our final Dwelling Place- our loving, patient Father!

What are houses made of? Timber? Brick? Concrete? Corrugated iron? Leaves and branches? Man may have processed them, but God made them all!

 

Since the days of Adam and Eve, we have called our physical man-made structures home, but our souls have always been most at home with God. Only when we lay aside the shelter of our divinely inspired bodies will we really know what it is like to be home- in a Dwelling Place we need never leave again!

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Next week we will look at "Majesty on High" :O) 

4 years ago today....

I remember it like it was yesterday. And yet it was 4 years ago. It was a Thursday. I was on my way to get groceries. My hair felt so bouncy and healthy. I began to think that I was one of the lucky ones. You know the ones that don't lose their hair due to chemo. But sadly the very next day... Like clockwork I notices I was losing quite a bit of hair while taking my shower.  I say clockwork because I was told that with the chemo drugs I was taking that 14 days after your first chemo is when you lose generally lose your hair.

Our son had his daughter that weekend so I did my best to be as gentle with my hair as possible. I knew it would be hard for her and so we waited till she was headed back to be with her mom on Sunday afternoon- exactly 4 years ago today- to shave my head.

I remember sitting on the toilet lid-while my husband shaved my head- I was praying. I ask God to help me like what I saw in the mirror. I'm not gonna say it was easy- but it wasn't as traumatic as it would have been had I not ask God to help me. He gave me strength and courage. And I am ever so grateful for that. Throughout that journey as I would begin to struggle with seeing myself without hair I would pray again and He was faithful.

Today on the 4th anniversary of that fateful day I am so very grateful that I have hair. It will never be something that I take for granted. Had I not experience hair loser- I may have taken the special blessing of having hair for granted.

We need to exam our lives and see what things in our lives we take for granted. There are many blessing that we don't even acknowledge. Today I am taking time to acknowledge not only the blessing of having hair but praising God for all the blessings!

Also, I don't know if I'm trying to get sick, if this anniversary is really affecting me, or what? But for the past week I have felt run down. And I'm feeling a bit concerned. I'd sure appreciate some extra prayers. Thanks so much. :)

A 50 by 50 update and more

 

 

I saw this Meme on Facebook and just had to share it here.
At the beginning of January I have increased my efforts to not only lose the 2-4 pounds I gained over the holidays but was hoping to be able to get back on track to losing the 50 pounds by the time I turn 50. Although I have been really working hard, I am mostly just showing 2 pounds down.

 

Last week I pulled out an exercise DVD that I have had for quite some time. When I first got it I tried to work out with it but it was a bit challenging and so I had put it away. Last week I was determined to work through it. It has 3 cardio workouts and 2 weight workouts. I was able to do them all. It was a bit challenging - but I think it was very good for me. I think that sometimes we need to mix it up.

 

I also pulled my Walk Away The Pounds by Leslie Sansone. And I have been working out with her. What I noticed today was that what she basically was doing was like circuit training. I have heard different trainers talk about pushing yourself for a bit and then a bit of a lower impact - then increase it again. And that doing it that way is really a good idea. And as I worked out with Leslie this morning - I noticed that is how I felt - is that I pushed for a bit then less intensity and then pushing it again.

 

I believe that all of my efforts are working positive changes to me - whether I see them or not. Just because it does not seem like any changes are happening - will not discourage me. I have been on this journey for 1 1/2 years now and I am not giving up.

 

I believe one of the best ways to be successful in achieving what we desire is to write out our goals and also to look at what we can do in order to be successful.

 

I know that for me - the past 6 months or so of not seeing changes or weight loss - in the past would have discouraged me and I would have given up. But this time - this time I have a goal. I sat down and I wrote out a goal and a plan and I gave myself plenty of time. It is not a plan or do a certain thing till I lose the weight and then its back to doing what ever I want. If I want to lose this weight and keep it off I will have to continue the rest of my life.

If you have desires to reach certain goals. Why don't you sit down and write out what you want to achieve. And write out some ideas of what you can do to reach your goals. Make your goals reasonable. And ask God to help you achieve your goals. :O)

Reading a New Book - Highly Recommended

This week I have begun reading a new book. Shades of Grace by Ty Gibson. It is an excellent book.

What I am finding the more that I am reading and learning about grace - the more I notice that it is intertwined with the love of God. And this is most excellent since this is an area in which I struggle sometimes.  So it seems the perfect timing for me to be focused on learning about grace.

 

I have only read the first chapter in this book and I love it. Hope you are blessed as well! :O)

 

“ God wants for us to feel after Him and find Him because He loves us with all the energy of His divine being. It is the nature of His love to continually reach out of Himself in tireless effort to secure our eternal happiness, which is only possible as we embrace His love and allow it to flow freely out of our lives to Him and all others.”

~ Ty Gibson in his book “Shades of Grace” excellent book- highly recommended! 

And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,

27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 

Acts 17:26-27 NKJV                           

When it's cold outside

When it is cold outside it is the best time to:

• make a big pot of soup or stew or stoup as our family calls it. When I was growing up my family called it stew and my husbands family called it soup- so we call it stoup. lol
• make cornbread
• bake potatoes or sweet potatoes
• make bread
• make granola

Why?
 Because it helps keep the house warm.

So it is a good idea to keep the supplies on hand to make your favorite recipes- just in case a winter blast comes your way.

It is also a good time to work on special projects. For me - quilting and organizing are great ways to use your time when you are cooped up inside because of bad weather.

I have also taken advantage of being inside to work on a project of copying my favorite recipes for a new method or storing my recipes. I found some awesome pages for a smaller binder- these pages hold 2 of the large 4x6 index cards. So I am copying my recipes from the 3x5 cards they are on now - to the bigger cards. It will be great when I am finished.

(Not the best photo but you get the idea)

I found these pages(with the 4x6 recipe cards already in them) at a favorite thrift store. I paid 50 cents for them all. There were 30 pages- with 2 cards each- that totals 60 recipes that I can have in this - and if I want to I could put 120 cards. Right now I only have 2 per page- so I can turn page to see the back of the recipe cards. I think I will keep it this way - at least for now. I already had the small binder- I had found it at a thrift store for 1.00 or so and couldn't pass it up. I had had to buy a few of them with another project I worked on a while back and when I saw it I couldn't pass it up. Now I am thankful that I got it. It makes this project cost me less than 2.00 plus my time. That is a good deal!!

What Gratitude Does - revised a bit

"The blessing of gratitude is like a boomerang. When it flies out of a truly grateful heart, it hovers momentarily above the receiver, blessing its recipient, and then makes a 180-degree turn back into the life of the one who offered thanks."
~Author Rebecca Barlow Jordan
This quote was found in the book that I have been reading "A New Kind of Normal" by Carol Kent

Edited to add~ the above quote reminds me of a couple of Bible verses and I wanted to share them with you today.

The first verse is found in Galations 6:7:
"Do not be deceived, God wins not mocked; for what a man sows, that he will also reap."

The next Bible verse is found in Proverbs 11:25:
"The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself."
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A winter blast is headed towards Texas this evening. I have spent the day getting ready for the winter weather. I have brought in lots of wood to help keep us warm. And I worked on getting a good amount of kindling ready as well. Since I will be home tomorrow look for a fresh post then. Ya'll stay warm!! :0

Beloved Names of God....Restorer

Restorer

 

"He restoreth my soul:

 he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake."

Psalm 23:3 kjv

 

•  Name of God the Father
• The name "Restorer" is mentioned seven times in the KJV.
• Restore means "make things good as new."
• Psalm 23:3 is part of one of the most famous pieces of scripture ever. Believed to have been written by King David, the psalm begins, "The Lord is my Shepherd," a tribute from a kind who cared for sheep in his youth. The line, "Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death," is often taken as a description of Jesus' path to eternal life.

Imagine how amazing it must have been, walking in the perfect environment of Eden with God right there by your side! Mankind has become so trapped by its illusion of independence that such a relationship has been reduced to a myth- or at best, an impossible dream.

 

But it's not impossible. The history of man's interaction with God has been one of mutual intimacy. We can get back to that if we trust in the Restorer!

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Come back next Sabbath as we look at "Dwelling Place" Have a good week-end! :O)

 

 

Getting Ready for the Cold Front

I only thought I would get a chance to get some posts written up. I really wanted to and I am looking forward to getting a chance to spend some time on the computer. But here is what happened: Tuesday was a beautiful day - the temps actually got up to about 63 degrees - the warmest it has been here for a while and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to get to the park to get a good walk in. I had seen the weather reports and knew that in a day or two we would have another cold front go through. Because of this, I decided to get some of the jobs out in the yard done that I had been really wanting to do. I had some weed eating that really needed to be done and I needed to pull our old, dead okra plants out of the ground- I only got half of these pulled - the ones I could. Will have to work a bit harder or get a shovel to get the rest of them up. I also dumped our compost bin out into the garden in a couple of places and spread stuff out. I really want to get more of our garden in great shape so that we will get even more produce this year! I got my bird feeder filled up and even my squirrel feeder.

Today - I got a long over due hair cut. And while I was in town hit a couple of thrift stores. That was fun. Didn't get to stay as long as I would have liked to because we had some things that needed to be done. Remember me telling you that a cold front was coming? Well it is suppose to be here tomorrow afternoon. We really needed to restock our wood pile - so we had to go get a load of wood. And we got a good amount of it stacked here in the house.

Since I use a hose out the front door to clean our fish tank - I figured I better get that job done as well before it got cold. And then I made up a batch of my banana breakfast bread. I love that stuff and it had been a while since I have had it so that is what I made. The bread is now cooling off.

I am very tired but very thankful that I was able to get a good amount of things done. I look forward to getting back on soon and writing some posts. Maybe tomorrow. But tomorrow is Dr day for my husband and also our granddaughters b-day and we should get to see her for a couple of hours - if the weather holds up. So another full day. :O)

Hi There

I have some great ideas for some post this week, I just have to wait till I get a chance to get on computer and get them written out. I will have my granddaughter again tomorrow so it could be Tuesday before I can get a post written up. Hope you all are doing well and staying warm. I've heard some of you are dealing with some really cold temps. :)

Not Worth the Cost ...

Friday and Saturday were very busy days - with us having our family Christmas and then my MIL doing her Christmas get together. I got plenty of movement in but I did not get in specific exercise time. I had a difficult time sleeping both nights. I decided on Sunday - not to make that mistake again - so I made sure one of the first things that I did after my quiet time was to exercise.

On Sunday night - New Year's Eve - I ended up getting to bed later than I like to- then had a hard time getting to sleep - why? Well even though it was like 24 degrees with a wind chill making it feel like it was 10 degrees outside  - we still had neighbors out shooting off fireworks. And apparently they would shoot a few off and then go in a warm up and then out again - this went on for a while. I tried to sleep and got a bit here and then. Then at 4:55am I woke up and I was worried about our pipes freezing so I got up and I checked on everything. I tried to lay back down but could not get to sleep. 

The rest of the week - I made exercising more of a priority and thankfully I slept better.
So moral of the story - if I want to sleep better - I need to make sure I get exercise into my day. Try it - you will probably find that the same is true for you.

Exercise = better sleep

 

 

Beloved Names of God....Emmanuel

Emmanuel

 

"Behold, a virgin... shall bring forth a son,

and they shall call his name Emmanuel."

Matthew 1:23 KJV

 

• Name of God
• Jesus is referred to as "Emmanuel" once in the KJV.
• Emmanuel is the theophoric name - in other words, a name containing the name of God. El refers to God and Imanu means "with us."
• Joseph, a descendant of David and an honorable man, was "espoused" to Mary, but the marriage had not yet been consummated when she was impregnated by the Holy Ghost. Joseph, not knowing of the divine plan, was considering sending her away to avoid shame on both sides when an angel explained the true nature of the Child.

Mary's pregnancy must have brought images of financial ruin to Joseph's mind! The disgrace would surely cost him customers and his good name. But once the angel explained that God would be living in his house, Joseph stepped up and played a heroic role.

 

The name Emmanuel and the reassurance that God actually is with us is the greatest comfort we could ever be given. If God is with us, it doesn't matter who is against us!

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Next week we will look at the name "Restorer" :O) 

Resting in God's Love

Resting in God's Love

 

Paul says further, As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cy, Abba, Father." Verses 14, 15. One of the lessons that we are to learn in the school of Christ is that the Lord's love for us is far greater than that of our earthly parents. We have to have unquestioning faith and perfect confidence in Him. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; hears of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." Verses 16, 17.

 

May the Lord help you, as a diligent student  in the school of Christ, to learn to lay your burdens on Jesus. And if you are free in His love, you will look above and away from those annoying trials. Think of what Jesus has endured for you, and never forget that it is part of the legacy that we have received as Christians, to be partakers with Him of His sufferings, that we may be partakers with Him of His glory. 8T126

 

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This is something that I read last week and I am still mulling over it this week.
I hope it blesses you. :O)

A Surprise on a Gloomy Day

The last several days it has been COLD here in Texas. And not only cold but for a good part of it - it was dreary.
Around midnight on Saturday our temperatures dipped below freezing and it has stayed below freezing through till today. It should rise above the freezing point later today.

 

We have stayed home and tried to stay inside as much as possible. I had to get out ever so often to take care of my one remaining chicken and such.

 

On Sunday I discovered that my hyacinth bulbs that my friend gave me for my birthday were blooming. What a great surprise on a gloomy day!! And even across the room - ever so often I can get a whiff of the perfume of the bloom.

 

Only two and a half years later...

Two and a half years ago I posted about finding this great upholstery fabric: (click on link if you want to go read about it)

 

The plan was to reupholster our dining room chairs when we got a chance. Then when we had time we could not find our staple gun. This week we are kind of stuck inside due to extremely cold weather for us here in Texas - and so since we had found the staple gun and knew where this fabric was - my husband has slowly worked on reupholstering our chairs. He also did my desk chair and a little stool we have in our room.

I love it! the fabric- enough to reupholster 5 chairs and a stool - with enough fabric to hopefully reupholster 2 more chairs- and the fabric only cost me $5.00! What an awesome deal!!!

 

 

Tin Can Soup

So several years ago a friend of mine shared a recipe with me. She called it 7 Can Soup. When I made the soup I decided to add to it a can of black beans. The last time I made it (this week) I added a can of lg. red kidney beans as well. You are free to add what ever else to this recipe that would make it better to you.

Tin Can Soup
2 cans Campbell's Minestrone Soup
2 cans Ranch Style Beans
2 cans Whole Kernel Corn
1 can of Petite Diced Tomatoes
1 can of Black Beans (drained and rinsed)

Take all the cans and just dump into a big pan. I simmer this for a while.

Because my husband likes meat - this is what I do: While the soup is simmering, I defrost ground beef. And I cook it by boiling it in water and then draining off all the water and grease. I take out part of the soup for me and then I add the cooked ground beef to the pan and cook for a little more.

Now I usually either make up some brown rice as well. And so when I eat this I put some brown rice in my bowl and then add the soup(without meat, of course.) Or I make up a pan of corn bread to eat with this. Either was is wonderful!

I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as we have! :O)

Word for the Year

Several years ago, I began to notice how different bloggers seem to have a word for the year. It was the same year that I went through chemo and so much more. During that year - I came to understand that "courageous" was my word. The words from the years following that one do not stand out as clearly in my memory. In years past, I have struggles to know what my word would be but for 2018 - this word has already been given to me. I was kind of thinking it would be "love" since I have been struggling with that concept, but that is not the word that was given to me. I will, however, be doing more studying and posting about love.

I got my word in such a weird way. I was actually on Amazon looking at Gardening journals. And lo and behold I saw a daily journal that said "2018 the year of Grace" There it was.... Grace!

Even before 2018 arrived my word for the year began to help me.

I wanted to understand more about grace so I got my  Comprehensive Index of the writings of Ellen G. White out.

I have not used this book very often but something directed me to search for answers in this manner. And I was so thrilled that I did. I found the word "Grace" and I looked under the heading of Christ's Grace - and began to look up what quotes I could find. Several of them were found in the awesome little book called "Thoughts From The Mount of Blessing" a book I had read through back in 2011.

My copy of this book is in my desk drawer so I pulled it out and looked the quotes up. What a soothing ointment they were to my soul. I began to read other quotes I had underlined or highlighted and read my little notes I had written in the margins. And I knew it was high time for me to read this book again. I began reading it that morning and was amazed at how this time the word "grace stood out. Last time I read the book, I had just came to understand the concept of turning your will over to God. And I underlined or highlighted those phrases and quotes with yellow. I choose purple for the quotes about grace. I look forward to going through this book focusing on grace and I am sure by the end of this book I will have a better understanding of the concept of grace.

 

I would be interested in hearing what your word for the year it. Please leave a comment and let me know. Thanks :O)

 

Oh and by the way - Starting on Wednesdays - I will have a "Focusing on Grace" Series. See you then :O)