An encouraging pre-Thanksgiving read

 

 Just sneaking in on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to encourage my readers to celebrate the upcoming holiday with joy and gratitude.  It is so easy, in light of all of the difficulties folks are dealing with these days, to want to bypass this wonderful family holiday.  Last evening I read an article so encouraging that I wanted to share it with all of you.  Here is the link: Let's Make It Happen: Saving Thanksgiving from the Grinch.  The author is Jeff Minick.  

Whenever I'm browsing through the latest Epoch Times newspaper, I'm nearly always drawn to articles by Jeff Minick.  I so enjoy his writing.  He often expresses just what I would like to say if I were more eloquent. (If you wish to read more of his writing, you can check out his blog, Learning As I Go.  You can also look up his articles in The Epoch Times archives here.  I don't have time to read as many blogs as I would like, so I usually just read his newspaper articles.)

I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I did, and that you will make plans for a grateful celebration in some fashion or other.  Ours will include food, family, friends, music, games, and no doubt lots of laughter -- and for that (among many, many other things) I am very thankful.  Let's be sure we are not letting the Grinch steal Thanksgiving, but that we are celebrating with gratefulness and joy!

An encouraging read for moms and grandmothers in times like these

 

 

 

Just popping in today to share a helpful link with my readers and friends.  Like many people, I've been feeling a little unsettled in the past year.  The coronavirus, and now political uncertainty and a certain amount of national turmoil have all taken their toll.  We lost a dear friend to suicide in December also, so our personal lives were impacted by that loss as well.  

 

One thing that has really wrenched my heart during this past year has been the impact of all this stress and uncertainty on children.  Children who were already being homeschooled have a bit of an advantage, of course.  But this is not easy for them, either.  They have the same concerns and fears as any other children; it's just that having school at home is normal for them already.  Their routines have been affected, though, make no mistake about it, with regular activities and events cancelled or taking a much different form.  For example, during the time when the guidelines of our state involved churches being closed for a time, my five-year-old granddaughter demanded to know "Why are we no longer going to church?"

 

At the beginning of the most stringent guidelines, my hubby and I made a conscious decision that we were going to continue to regularly see our local grandchildren, and yes, we were going to continue hugging them.  Life is far too short not to see or hug people you care about.  We have not once regretted that decision, and we believe it was a real benefit and help to the kids (as well as ourselves) through that time.  We have also very much admired the way our daughters and other young moms we know well have kept life as consistent and happy as possible for their kids during these crazy times.

 

My hubby and I started subscribing to this newspaper in the fall.  In a recent issue, I read this extremely helpful article: In An Uncertain World, What's a Mom to Do? .  I was so encouraged and want to share this with all the moms and grandmothers I know.  It contains ten very doable tips for making daily life simpler and more comforting and consistent for our kids and grandkids.  Some are things we may be already doing, but it's a great reminder to keep on keeping on.

I hope this is a blessing to someone today.  It surely was an encouragement to me.

If we know God ...

 

I'm pretty sure I've shared this quote before, but it's been many years.   I came upon it today and I just want to share it again.  It's from Charles Ryrie, and in case you can't read my writing or the scan is too small, I'll write it out for you here as well.

"If we know God, we do not need to know why He allows us to experience what we do.  He is not only in control of the universe and all its facets, but also of our lives, and He loves us.  Though His ways are sometimes beyond our comprehension, we should not criticize Him for His dealings with us or with others.  God is always in control of all things, even when He appears not to be." -- Charles Ryrie

As you can see, this card has been tacked to a wall a time or two.   I took it off a bathroom wall, I think, when we repainted.  Time to tack it back up.

Also,  just a note here to share a link to a blog post which encouraged me so much today.  What's Next for Christians?  Let's keep on doing what God calls His people to do, today and every day.

Friday five for May fifteenth

Here goes with another Friday five!

1.  Spring slowly coming to New Hampshire.  Yesterday we took a drive about 45 minutes south, and were surprised to see the leaves popping out and apple trees and flowering bushes  blossoming much more than our trees and shrubs up here.  (Photo below is from a previous springtime.)

2.  Our favorite local ice cream spot opening for the season.  The outdoor seating was not available yet (hopefully that is coming in the next few days) but the ice cream is as delicious as ever.   Photo below is from last year.

3.  Lovely phone conversations with our faraway daughter and with Jenn, my "daughter of the heart" this week.  A sweet card from our local daughter also blessed my heart beyond measure.

4.  A wonderful Mother's Day service live streamed from Grace Baptist Church in Elko, NV.  They did a special parking lot service for this day, and what a blessing it was to see the familiar faces and cars of family and friends!  If you would like to hear the message we heard (it was a true blessing!), go here: When Mothers Come to Jesus.  I loved seeing how Pastor Jeremy related this not only to mothers, but also to the inexplicable situation we are all living in right now.

5.  Time this week for a bit of long-range planning.  I woke up on Monday and realized we are headed for Utah and a family vacation in far fewer weeks than I had thought.  The planning was necessary to help me figure out just what I need to accomplish between now and then.

And that's this week's Friday five!  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

More encouragement for your day and these times

Delightful, ever so meaningful graphic by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

Continuing to need encouragement myself, I felt led to sidle up to my kitchen table this morning and share a few more thoughts and links with you all.

As I browsed my archives and links I have shared in the past, I found so much encouragement and spiritual sustenance.  I'll start with a quote:

"What should we be doing in the meantime?  We get our act together.  We live every day (as if it's our last) for His glory.  We work diligently on our jobs and in our homes for His name's sake.  We shake out salt every chance we get ... and shine the light ... and remain balanced, cheerful, winsome, and stable, anticipating His return day by day." -- Charles Swindoll, Come Before Winter

Swindoll was speaking of what we should be doing as we anticipate Christ's return, but I believe we can absolutely apply this advice to the waiting situation that we currently find ourselves in.  For some, our jobs may look a little (or a lot!) different at the moment, but we can be diligent at whatever God has given us to do.  Since "diligence" is my word for the year, this advice jumped out at me.  I hope other believers will take it to heart as well!

Here's a link to the post I wrote where this quote can be found.  I think you might enjoy reading the entire post:  Steadfast, Unmovable, Always Abounding.

A few verses from Psalm 37 is a short post of mine from 2017.  Oh, do read this one!  I found it to be just what I need today as I wrestle with all of the emotions concerning real life right now.

When You are Overwhelmed was written during a particularly difficult time in my life (more difficult than this one, in many ways) and may help to give you some perspective.  You might also like:
Thoughts from reading Jonah
Lessons from Joshua 1:9
An encouraging thought for today

I could go on and on, but I don't want to overwhelm anyone.  You will find more by clicking "devotional thoughts" in the label cloud at right.

Then there is this one: Under His Wings,  from Abby at  Little Birdie Blessings.

Wait on the Lord  is another encouraging post from Abby. 

When the Storm Clouds Roll In, by Mrs. Smith at Sweet Tea and Simplicity, will be a blessing to you also.

God Will Take Care of You, by Diana at WriteForward, is a short post that will bless your heart and put a song in it to carry along with you.

I hope that these links and thoughts are a blessing to all of my blog friends today.  Remember, "David encouraged himself in the LORD his God" (1 Samuel 30:6).  Let us do the same!

Catching up

Now this is getting ridiculous -- blogging once a week or less is just not the way I prefer to blog.  However, I know that these days it is not life as usual for most of us, and I am no exception. 

So first, I hope that each of you is having a good week so far and that if you are among those who ordinarily celebrate St. Patrick's Day that it has been a fine day for you.  For a great St. Patrick's Day read, may I suggest Blessed, Not Lucky by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings.

I made some gluten free, refined sugar free, Irish soda bread for our Sunday snack time at church and it went over well.  Today we're not having anything Irish (in spite of some Irish heritage on my dad's side), but I've put together a casserole with leftover turkey.  Trying not to waste any food these days!  It was a new recipe and eventually I'll blog about it.

I've not taken time to share much concerning COVID-19.  There is so much information out there, and some of it is conflicting.  I will say that I was pretty conflicted about it in my own mind for awhile.  Not worried, not afraid -- I know for sure that my all-wise, all-powerful God is in control of every facet of this situation.  But so much information concerning possible causes, the sure knowledge that in our town grocery shelves are emptying as fast as they are stocked,  and the nagging feeling that maybe as citizens we aren't being told everything, had me sort of riled up inside.  On Sunday I came to a conclusion about this: none of that matters in the end.  It's here, it's real, it's serious -- and regardless of the cause or whether we like it or not, we have to deal with it.  And the only way I can deal with it is by remembering what I know to be true about God, and by seeking to live my life in light of that.

Although I haven't done this personally, I've seen that a number of other Instagrammers have been sharing powerful Scripture verses almost every day.  Those are a huge encouragement.  And some bloggers have been writing wonderfully encouraging posts.  Here are a few that I heartily recommend:

What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do, by Whitney at Come Home for Comfort.  Whitney shares from her own quiet time and a look at Proverbs 14 some intensely practical, helpful, and God-honoring ideas.

And from Brenda at Coffee, Tea, Books and Me, two wonderfully helpful posts:

Turning My Thoughts to That Which Brings Peace and
Cultivating Peace in Turbulent Times.  In fact, if you browse around more on Brenda's site, you are likely to find even more posts you will want to read.

I hope that these posts will encourage you as they did me!

Let's see, what else?  My life has been so busy lately that I just don't get much time at the computer.  Hence my lack of posts.  I currently have eight posts started -- everything from the 40-day sugar fast to summer memories to books recently read to easy recipes and more.    I can't even begin to speculate when I will get to finishing and posting these, but I will do the best I can as I really miss blogging regularly.  My Christmas blog has suffered even more from neglect than this one!  And again it's not for lack of ideas, but time.

My major busyness has been spending a couple of hours each day at my childhood home, trying to clean it out.  I've also had to declutter here at our home, to make room for things I'm keeping.  Drinking glasses (or maybe you call them tumblers) are a case in point.  I had some green ones and some amber ones, along with a special set of strawberry themed glasses and then various odds and ends of other glassware.  To make room for the green set I found at my parents' home (which I'm pretty sure I had given them originally, but was still in the box), I had to remove the amber ones and the odd ones.  Off to the thrift store they went!  Mr. T also found a set of 12 glasses with sort of a white gingham look, and he felt there are are often times when we could use a set of twelve.  He's right, and with all that I removed from our own cabinets there was plenty of room for them.  (Eventually I'll do a post on that decluttering, too!)

We've also been busy with some church related things -- hospitality for pulpit supply friends, and, most recently, helping to prepare our church building so that another church body can use it for Sunday afternoon services, having been displaced from their rented facility by recent events.

Of course we are trying to walk as often as possible and stick with the sugar fast.  We're just finishing up Day 23!

Our supper is nearly ready so I'd best go and set the table. 

From the June archives

I'm finding it really enjoyable to try and do a post from the archives of each month.  So here, at the end of June,  is a potpourri of links from some previous Junes.  Enjoy!

From 2006, a post about My Quote Journal.  If you don't have one of these, you might consider starting one.  Mine has been hugely helpful to me, and I've even made some for gifts.

In 2007 I posted my daughter Carrie’s Iced Tea recipe.  It's so refreshing!  Easy, too.

Now It Can Be Told tells the heartwarming story of a precious gift I was given ... twice!

The 2008 post Our Shepherd’s Provision shares some lessons I was learning from a study of Psalm 23.

Light shining in a dark place relates an incident that happened one summer night in our home.

This photo, as well as the calendar one at the top of the post, are from Photos Public Domain

In 2012 I shared the recipe for Layered Fruit Salad in a Jar -- perfect for summer potlucks or family reunions, and so pretty!

Lastly (there are many other June posts, of course, but I'm restraining myself here), here is a post about a wonderful gift for young children -- a Child’s Needlework Basket which has been a hit with my grandchildren.  Got summer birthdays coming up?  Check this out.

Archive posts are fun for me!  Hope my readers are enjoying them too.

May 31 Hodgepodge

 Wednesday -- and the last day of May!  Time for one last May Hodgepodge with Joyce and others linking up at From This Side of the Pond.  If you've never participated, why not get in on the fun this week?  Find the questions at Joyce's, copy and paste to your own blog, then go link up.  Here goes with this week's questions:

1. What makes you feel accomplished? Explain.

Just finishing tasks successfully, I guess.  Craft projects, writing projects, baking, cleaning or decluttering -- it's just a good feeling to finish something and have the result be what you were hoping for.

Kids' devotional books

Two more

Name banner to go along with Happy Birthday banner

Pillowcase

Embroidered dish towel with camper motif

Citrus coasters

Embroidered pillowcase

Cross stitch tea-time trivet

Embroidered dish towel and crocheted dishcloth ... both made by me

Rose-bordered pillowcases

A felt slice of pumpkin pie

Time for tea mug rugs

Well, that is enough of that.   What can I say?  I just love making things and especially dreaming up a project and seeing it through from start to finish.  Hopefully in a few months there will be more of that in my future.

2. If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be? Tell us why. 

 I don't like or enjoy talk shows well enough to want my own.

3. Do you have a great burger recipe? 

No.  I never have had a real recipe for hamburgers, and now we are eating almost no red meat.

What do you like on a hamburger and where is your favorite spot to order one out?

Cheese, mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato.   A few years back my hubby and I had hamburgers here:

and they were the BEST burgers either of us have ever tasted, bar none.  They were huge, too.  If we are passing through Brunswick again, we will be stopping for burgers even if it is the only red meat we consume all year!

4. What's the biggest anxiety producing thing you do on a regular basis?

Driving.

5. This is the last Hodgepodge of May. Tell us about your summer plans.

Apparently, settling an estate.  And a trip to Nevada to see our daughter, son-in-law and family.  This time, we are taking a granddaughter along with us -- our oldest, who is 16.  She has never been out West and I'm looking forward to seeing it all through her eyes.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Saturday afternoon I spent a good bit of time in the kitchen.  I made Candied Walnuts to go with a salad for Sunday's potluck

and also a batch of Vee's Cocoa Dreams,

 which I previously blogged about here: Chocolate, Chocolate, and Chocolate.  That post contains several other recipes and also the buttercream frosting (containing Marshmallow Fluff, yum!) that I used to frost the Cocoa Dreams.  Those were also for the potluck, and they were a gigantic hit.  I find cooking comforting, sometimes.

And so ends another Hodgepodge.  Happy Wednesday, all!

From the March archives

Gorgeous winter collage (very appropriate today) is by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

I had so much fun putting together a post from the February archives that I decided to do one for March as well.  Since it's sort of a hodgepodge post, and since there is no Wednesday Hodgepodge this week, I decided to post it on Wednesday.

For March 2008, I found several posts I would like to share with you.  Many of them involve spiritual encouragement, especially for dealing with trials.

Trusting God is based off notes that I took at a women's seminar by Elizabeth George.  I was blessed all over again as I re-read this and some of the other posts.

This is a digital page that Abby at Little Birdie Blessings designed with a friend.

If you can't read the verse, it says, "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I ... I will trust in the covert of Thy wings."  The reference is Psalm 61:2, 4.

Bookends is another post based on notes I took at the seminar.  This thought has helped me more often than you can imagine.

God’s Path is the first of several posts I wrote during my study of Elizabeth George's book Finding God's Path Through Your Trials.  I highly recommend this book -- I cannot recommend it highly enough, in fact.  While you are in the March 2008 archives, you will find several more posts concerning this study that you might like to look at.

And then there is this one, featuring a special cross stitch I made for one of my daughters.

For March 2009, I'm linking to a post about some of my paper crafting efforts with these winter tags.

For awhile on my daughter's blog, she was doing a feature called A Homemade Life.  I linked to it and shared homemade goodness for as long as she kept the feature going.  In this post I share my recipes for baked beans and brown bread.  Good, economical comfort food!

For March 2010, I chose two posts: one about my early spring decorating and the other on some fun handmade gifts for kids in Chef’s Hats Galore!

 A prayer for my grandchildren, shared in 2012,  has the distinction of being one of the most popular posts ever on the blog.  Not exactly sure why, but a lot of people have visited it.

In March 2014, Gluten-free Irish Soda Bread was a great discovery for me.  If you must avoid wheat (or simply prefer to) you would love this bread, I'm sure.

Also in 2014 I shared these cute felt play mats I had made for my grandchildren.  They were adorable and a lot of fun to make, but sadly, the hot glue didn't hold up well at all.  Guess I would hand-sew these if I ever made more.  Not that I think I will.

In 2015 I shared the recipe for homemade samoa bars from Jocelyn at Inside BruCrew Life.  They are decadent but scrumptious.

And then from March 2016, I shared info on some vintage camper dish towels that I had made and which a lot of people have asked about.

Putting together this post was a trip down Memory Lane for me.  Hope you've enjoyed it too.

Cookies and tea part 2

As promised (or maybe threatened?) here is part 2 of my recent post, Cookies and tea with Judy and Vee.  As you may recall from that post, I was inspired, both by Judy's post concerning her White Crackle Cookies and Vee's post That Promised Chat, in which she referenced her mother's very similar Oatmeal Cookies, along with some other topics.  Both cookies reminded me of an old favorite recipe for Angel Cookies, which is in my last post if you didn't see it.

I spun my Cookies and tea post off that one, with Vee's blessing (and I'm hoping Judy didn't mind, either).  At the time, I mentioned it would probably take a second post to cover all the topics.  So here goes:

First off, there's another cream-of-tartar enhanced cookie that I want to share: Crunchy Toffee Crackle Cookies.

Many years ago, the bakery in our town had a similar cookie among their cookie offerings, and I always loved these.  On the rare occasions we went to the bakery for a treat (my mother was an inspired home baker) it was always a difficult choice.  Lemon bars, raspberry bars, coffee rolls, jelly doughnuts, these cookies -- so hard to decide!

Even as a grownup, I always remembered the crackly, melt-in-your-mouth cookies with their veins of toffee running through and hoped to duplicate them.  One day in Taste of Home I saw a recipe that I thought might make a good base for these.  It was a spice cookie, but no matter.  I left out the spices, and added some vanilla, some almond extract and some toffee bits.  The result?  Very, very close to the bakery goodies I remembered.  I had my cousin (who also remembered these cookies) sample them, and she agreed.

Then, tea.  In the last post I shared about the gorgeous package of Irish Breakfast tea I found at Ocean State Job Lot.

But I would be remiss if I did not also mention the lovely rooibos tea which a friend just brought me from South Africa.

 Here is the back of the package.  (I had to open it up so that all the writing could be read, so the package looks a bit untidy.)

Such a sweet remembrance!  It was so kind of L. to think of me!

And then, Vee also mentioned a couple of unique sewing projects: bowl cozies and a petal pouch. The bowl cozies are made from cotton fabric and cotton batting, to protect a bowl of microwaved food from burning one's hands.  I had barely heard of these, and would have been quite sure that I'd never use one, but just this past weekend I came close to burning my hands a couple of different times when microwaving leftovers.  I now think it's a great idea and I plan on making some soon!

The petal pouch was made by Vee to hold her makeup.  Since the pouch will open out completely, it's easy to see the contents -- much better than a regular makeup bag.  She found the tutorial here: petal pouch.  I think this is a wonderful idea and it looks like a very enjoyable project too. 

Now what I found so interesting about this is that I actually own a petal pouch (a much smaller one) that a friend made for me.

~ closed ~

~ open ~

She gifted it to me with a pretty necklace inside.

the roses are made with rickrack

I'm sure that at the time, my friend told me how the pouch was made, because she is very generous with sharing unique crafting ideas she finds.  But I must not have been paying attention, because as I look at Linda's tutorial, this looks fairly simple ... easily within my sewing abilities. 

And I think that wraps up my thoughts on Vee's Promised Chat.  I've enjoyed this "conversation" and hope that my blog friends have enjoyed it too.