It’s a New Year

Let's encourage each other to walk with Jesus!

I am sitting in my office with the space heater aimed at my legs, looking out the window at a fresh layer of snow-ice on the sidewalk.  It is a lovely winter scene, God has sent a reminder that He wipes slates clean at any time and any place.

Yesterday my dad would have turned 106 years old, tomorrow my mother in law would be 107.  In a couple of months I will be a year older too, but I am still here.  

This morning I was reading in the book of John, I love John.  It feels like Jesus is still with me on this earth when I read this book.  Jesus prays for his disciples and gives me a great example of how to pray for my children.  Listen to this, “I pray for them.  I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are  yours….Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name.”  Don’t you like this?  This is my prayer for my two little families and for my husband.

Yes, tomorrow is a new year.  What are your plans?  Mine is to have a relationship with Jesus that is deeper than ever and to encourage everyone I know to do the same.

What will the year hold? IDK but lets hold fast to Jesus.

The Little Things

I have said this before and I’ll  say it again–People are funny.  Actually it has been kind of interesting having a bandage on my nose.  I know you may not understand especially if  you aren’t sanguine.  Since sanguinis like to be the center of attention we will do and go most any place just to have a chance to chat, and a bandage gave me an edge.

Back to the nose, some people talk and talk and never say one word about “the nose.”  Now I know they see it but they are polite, they figure the right thing to do is be quiet.  Others the minute they see me they ask about my nose and proceed to tell me they had something taken off some place on their body.  My piano students, they are the funny ones, most of them ask if I fell down. LOL

This wound is just a little thing compared to what others are going through.  For me it’s big because it’s on my nose. Compared to my friends Joe, Leon and Shelly, who are all fighting cancer, my nose is nothing. 

If you are praying for someone will you please add my friends to your list?  Prayer is mighty and I know God answers.  Perhaps if we combine our prayers God will hear us even better.  Do you believe that?  IDK

May I Pray For You?

She is only a small woman but the energy that escapes from her is unbelievable.  She practically jumps with joy.  Don’t get her started talking about prayer or you won’t get away from her any time soon.  Especially don’t ask to see her buttons, you for sure will  still be talking this time tomorrow.

Her name is Geri.  She lives in a small town in Colorado and she is excited.  She has a button ministry that has changed her life.  She is a nurse and every day she wears a button that says, “May I Pray For You.”  I can tell you this, if I was going into surgery and saw my nurse wearing that button, I would grab her and never let her go until she did pray for me.

Geri has many prayer stories and loves to tell them.  Her stories are incredible and she not only loves to share her stories she loves to share here ministry.  Geri makes these buttons to give away.  She will make a few buttons or hundreds of buttons at no charge.  It’s her ministry.

I love it when someone finds a ministry to be excited with and runs with it.  What a blessing Geri is to everyone around her.  If you are interested in getting some buttons please comment on this blog and I will put you in contact with her.

Belief Window

So, what does your belief window look like?  I haven’t figured mine out yet.  But, here’s an example.  Take for instance Mother Teresa, her belief window looked like this:  The lowliest human being was worth saving, was worth taking care of, was worth putting yourself out for.  The men who started the KKK, their belief window looked totally different, if you were black you were not worth anything.

We each have a belief window and that’s how we see the world. Now I know most of us are not Mother Teresa or Klansmen, but the idea still applies to us.  Once we have a belief written on our window, it determines our behavior.

You can imagine a belief window can be very helpful or it can be detrimental depending on the accuracy.  The book says: The first step toward taking control of your life is taking a good look at what’s on your window and accepting the possibility that some of the things on it are wrong.

Okay, that’s it for today.  Tomorrow I have a story to tell you that will illustrate a belief window that is not accurate.

I leave you with “The Alcoholic’s Prayer.”

Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Everyone Wants to Be in Control

We all seek to control our lives, our careers, relationships and most everything else.  If we can get control we should have a better life.  So they say.

Rylin made her choice umbrella, sandals, and upside down sunglasses.

Fact:  My life is the result of all the choices I have made.  IF I can control the process of choosing, I can take control of my life.  IDK this sounds complicated to me.

The purpose of this book is to explore the choosing process, to help me understand how it wors, and then to arm me with a tool that will enable me to see the consequences of my choices.

Then the book says: “That’s all there is to it.”

I will keep you posted as I wade through this little book–I have a hunch they have left out one important part–prayer.  Pray about everthing.

What about my weight I pray about that, and then I eat.  Hummmmmmmm I think I will read the book.  God gave me the power of choice perhaps I can find a clue on making good choices.

Where Have I Been?

LOL I have been right here having fun with my three girls.  My daughter and her two little gals, ages 4 and almost 2.  Today I am spending time with Jillian because her mom and sister have gone to the zoo and will pick their daddy up from the airport this evening.  At this moment Jill’s has the phone off the hook and is playing with the calculator, but at least we are in the same room and both sitting LOL.

Here is a fun recipe for you–I know you can buy this already made but it will have partially hydrogenated shortening in it.  So don’t buy it just make it.  It’s simple and a much healthier version and delicious.  Okay I know you want to know about my weight.  Let’s say I am holding my own, have I been to Weight Watchers you are asking?  Yes I have twice, but I have more excuses than I have success.  It’s not WW fault it’s mine, too much going on and no will power.  This Wednesday I am headed there again, no excuses this time.  It’s a battle.  Every garage sale I go to has books for sale about weight.  Do we all fight the battle of the bulge?  What I notice is everyone who has these books at their sale are still pleasingly plump?  Don’t these diets work?  IDK–It could have to do with willpower and we don’t know where to get it.  You say pray about it–I do!  You say pray harder!! I have!  What is the answer?  Again IDK.  One answer might be to stay away from ice cream toppings.

Magic Shell Ice Cream Topping

1 1/2 Cups of chocolate chips

1/2 Cup Coconut Oil–measured when solid

Melt about 1 minute in microwave, stir, stir, stir when you take it out.  If you need to you can micro again.  I store mine in a jar and just heat it up when we want some.  This is not really great eaten by the spoonful it is better over ice cream.  At least that’s a plus.

The Sound of Silence

Have you experience the sound of silence when it comes to answered prayer.  Maybe not even answered prayer, do you just ever feel that God IS silent?

Georges Bernanos said this: “At that moment I needed prayer as much as I needed air to draw my breath or oxygen to fill my blood. . .A void was behind me and in front a wall, a wall of darkness.”   I don’t want to ever feel this desperate to hear from God but the truth is I often feel my prayers are not ascending to heaven.  Not long ago in church it was stated that the Holy Spirit is waiting to take our prayers before the Lord, now that was a comforting thought for sure.

I also take comfort in the fact that almost all the masters of spirituality experience a dark night now and then. My question is this, if I experience this darkness do I stop praying?  I say NO because if I stop how will I know when God is finally ready to let me feel he is hearing me?  Besides if we stop praying it is just so easy to continue not praying we have to keep cultivating the habit of prayer.

Are you ready for one of my favorite recipes?  This was given to me a long time ago by a woman known as madicker LOL

Rhubarb Pie

4 Cups finely chopped rhubarb, add 2 eggs and mix well by hand.

Mix and add to the above.

1 1/2 Cup Sugar

3 heaping T flour

1/2 t nutmeg

1 T butter

Make your favorite pie crust and pour this in and bake 450 10 minutes, 350 45-50 minutes

I promise to take a picture of my Mother’s Day gift soon–I am still recovering from the last couple of months of nonstop activity.  Today my Topeka kids are coming and will be here for a week–we are excited and I know we will use my MD gift a lot.

I Have Another Question

Does prayer change anything?  I’m confused and I must confess I have had this confusion for a length of time.  Here’s how I see it, if God is all knowing (in other words if God already knows what is going to happen) why pray?  Or how about this, if everything happens according to God’s will, and he has willed a certain thing, then can prayer change it?  IDK

Some say it has nothing to do with God, prayer  changes the person praying.  That may be true but what if I want it to change God’s mind?

I have a friend who just found out she has a cyst, I am praying for her.  Please Lord don’t let it be cancer!  Am I changing anything?  Again IDK.

I do know if we look at stories in the Bible God is affected by people.  Jonah, Abraham, Sarah, Hannah, I mean God certainly answered each of these. I read things like, “ask and it shall be given to you”–that’s what I want to believe but I have seen too many times when it wasn’t true.

My only conclusion is this, God answers90 in his time, in his way.  He knows what is best and I hope on some occasions God can be swayed.  If he isn’t swayed by prayer I have to believe he has a very good reason.  Now am I just finding an easy way out or do you think this is a fact?

The Wedding

Weddings are just a lot of fun.  The older I get the more I know that getting married can be risky business.   LOL  Wonder what Bob would think of that statement?  Well, it’s true!  We all come from different backgrounds and then have the odd idea that we can just say “I do” and every thing will be normal.

When I think back to my our wedding, I never gave a thought that we would do anything but live happily ever after.  HA  It was work.  He grew up in a family that never asked where he was going or when he would be back.  I grew up in a family that I practically had to tell my mom when I was headed to the bathroom.  My father got off work at 4:00 pm and he was home by 4:30 pm on the dot.  Can you imagine my shock when shortly after we were married my husband didn’t how up until 7:00 pm and I expected him at 5?  I’ve learned to go with the flow and he has learned to come home–most of the time. LOL

The wedding this weekend was in Western Kansas and it was held in a bar and grill.  The music was over a sound system and the Groom sang to the Bride.  The food was made by friends and the wedding cake was yummy.

The interesting part was our family.  As I sat looking at all of us it brought tears to my eyes.  We were a table of non-drinkers and smokers not because we have never done it but because most of us are recovering from something or other.  Some have been heavy drinkers, smokers and pot users.  Some have been on Meth and you can tell it by the broken down facial features, no teeth and the blank look in the eyes.  Having said this, my nephew was the first one to wish us a happy Sabbath.  I had forgotten it was Sabbath.

You may wonder why the tears?  It’s because my sister in law never gave up.  She has praye and pleaded with the Lord over her children, grandchildren and syblings.  As a sat there I saw the changed lives one after another and I know it all has to do with her prayers.

So what about the parents who pray for their children and they don’t see the hand of the Lord?  I asked this question of my daughter as I related the weekend to her. Her comment was, “their story is not finished yet.”  To those of you who are watching your loved ones make bad decisions after another, just keep on lifting them up.  I have seen what God will do.  Jer. 33:3  “Call to me and I will answer you. . .”

Family

Tonight I am thinking about family.  It’s another rain filled night and my heart goes out to the young family who just lost their husband, son and father.  Jeff fought a good fight and lost the battle.  Pray for the young woman who must go on and for the children who no longer have a daddy at home.  Pray for the parents who never wanted to outlive their son.

Tomorrow we are going to see our little Kansas kids, they have already started calling to see just what time we will arrive.  I would get up at 5 in the morning and head right out but Bob wants to go to his office for a few hours, guess I will wait for him. LOL

The best news I have it to tell you our Asia kids are moving back to the US.  We are really tickled to have them closer to us.  We can hardly wait for summer.

Today I had a meeting at my office, they always serve lunch and it was yummy.  I had two helpings of Mexican food!  I didn’t eat dessert–it was ice cream and cake.  Tonight I ate an apple .  I know you have wondered how I’m doing on the weight.  Well it’s like a kid with a yoyo, up three, down three, up three, down three, you get the picture.  So I still haven’t lost the 15 pounds but I am holding my own.  This is a fact, I will have to watch what I eat the rest of my life if I want to maintain my weight.  You may be smiling as you read this but obviously this is something I have never done.  I diet and then gain, I never watch.  UGH

At the same time I was at a restaurant and watched a lady give herself a shot in the belly and then she wolfed down white rice.  So if keeping the weight off and exercising will help me keep diabetes away it’s worth it.

Here is a recipe I would love to make right now but I won’t!

Obscene Brownies

1 1/2 sticks of oleo–melted

1 pkg. choc. cake mix

6 oz. can evaporated milk

14 oz. pkg. caramel

6 ox. choc. chips

1 cup nuts.

Don’t follow the directions of the mix, just  add 3 oz. of the milk and the melted oleo and nuts.  Spread 1/2 the batter in a 9 x 13 pan.  Bake 350 for 6 minutes.  Melt caramel and 3 oz. milk in double boiler.  Spread over 1st mixture.  Put cho chips on next and then the last layer of  chocolate dough.  bake 350 for 18-20 minutes.

The last layer I rolled between wax paper and put it over the Carmel and chocolate. (not the paper just the cake part LOL)