Encouraging Deep Roots

It's been a rocky kind of year here with lots of changes.  For those of you who don't know me, I hate change!  It makes me feel very unsettled and down.   I find myself in the position of having 2 more adult men in the house and a teenage girl.  My role has changed and there are many days when I blow it big time! There are two men who come and go as they need to.  They have schedules that do not revolve around our family.  They've outgrown so many of the traditions we've done in the past or their schedules don't allow them to participate.  Then there is a daughter who is growing up and has a changing body and the hormones to go with it.  She's not a little girl anymore and I have to keep remembering to stop treating her that way. There are days when I feel frustrated and angry when I go through this dance with the boys, trying to figure out a different way to say something so they won't feel I'm babying them.   Other days,...

Haughty eyes.  Pointing fingers.  Self-righteousness. It's so easy to feel this when others sin. We feel morally superior to others.  When we do feel guilt for our own sin, we justify our own unrighteousness by statements such as, "At least I'm not as bad as those people."  "I messed up, but if you hadn't pushed my buttons..."   Dan just finished preaching through the book of Job.  It's interesting that God never gives Job any answers to the evil that befell him.  Job and his friends never know why such misfortune fell on Job's life.  His friends are very good at speculating that it must be because Job committed some sin.   It's also interesting that they never once look at their own hearts.  They are too busy pointing out all the things Job must have done wrong.   “The heart is more deceitful than anything else and mortally sick. Who can fathom it?" ~ Jeremiah 17:9 As Dan suggested yesterday, perhaps one of the reasons God...

I stumbled upon this recipe for zucchini bread one day and tried it out yesterday. Oh MY!  It was delicious.  It's 3 a.m. and I can't sleep so I might as well share the recipe. LOL!! Since I'll have a houseful of guests in about 9 hours, I'm hoping I can catch a nap somewhere in there. Zucchini Bread 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3 cups sugar 1 cup vegetable oil 4 eggs, beaten 1/3 cup water 2 cups grated zucchini 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for ...

It's "Loving Your Children Tuesday" at my friend Kate's blog and I did steal the title of her post because it reflects my thoughts so well today. It's very easy in blogdom to paint such a rosy picture of perfection.  You only get little snapshots of a day or perfect moments .  So people can read a blog and start thinking that the blogger must really have it all together.  Or they want to emulate that person.  Or they use that blogger as an example of how to run their own lives. I've done it before myself.  But over the years I've realized that my family is unique to me.  My circumstances are different than another.  My only example should be the Lord and what He wants for me and my family. I'm hear to tell you now that I am not perfect.  In fact, I am far from it.  I lay awake many nights, regretting the fact that I yelled at one of my children.  That I wasn't patient.  That I was extremely lazy that day.  That I spe...

Emily has always struggled with her allergies, ever since she was a baby.  She is allergic to so many things - foods, environmental allergies, and has other health issues as well.  But, she is an animal lover through and through. It doesn't matter what it is, she loves it.  And they love her too! Back in July we acquired Otis and while I wasn't sure how it would go with her allergies, we tried it.  At first, everything seemed to be okay.  But as the months have worn on, Emily's allergies have escalated.  The worst of it is the excema.  Her skin is a mess - red, raw, and oozing.  She itches all the time to the point that she can't sleep at night.  The doctor has told us that her immune system is so revved up that she is now probably reacting to things that normally wouldn't bother her. We came to the hard conclusion, and Emily actually reached it herself, that we had to give up the cat.  So last Saturday he went to a new home. ...

I realized that it's already November 13th, Thanksgiving is a week away and I haven't even thought of Christmas cookies!  I normally start them in October and put them in the freezer.  Yikes! I sat down last night and came up with my cookie list.  I'm adding a few new ones this year.  I know this sounds like a lot but we use them for all kinds of gatherings and gifts.  It starts with our annual family Christmas decorating the day after Thanksgiving.  Since that's only a week away, I better get a move on. Minty chocolate cookies Christmas meringues Gingerbread men Spritz Cocoa snowflakes Cinnamon pinwheels Sugar cookies Swedish ginger thins Christmas swirls Minnesota munchers Kolacky Bizcochitos Candy Date-nut balls Rum balls Now I just need to get baking!

Luke 1:37 ~ "For nothing is impossible with God." We read this verse.  We say it is true and yet, very rarely do we have faith enough to believe it. This was a wonderful week of blessings that ended in the biggest blessing of all.  A year ago, a man in our church was going through a separation and there was very little hope of reconciliation.  He spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with us as he dealt with depression over his failed marriage.  It truly seemed impossible for them to work things out. Yet, here we are a year later and his wife has come to know the Lord and God has restored their marriage.  God is continuing to work in both of their lives in an awesome way. We had the honor of watching them get baptized last night and it truly was a testament to the verse in Luke. All things are possible with God! They shared what God is doing in their lives and then the husband had the privilege of baptizing his wife and Dan baptized him.  It was suc...

  We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, "Why did this happen to me?" unless we ask the same question for every moment of happiness that comes our way.  ~ Author Unknown For about 2 1/2 years now I've been counting my blessings every week.  It's been a wonderful exercise and has helped me to get a new perspective on things.  But often, I still whine, complain, carry on, rant, rave, feel depressed when things don't go my way. This past week, I really started praying that God would help me to live in the moment and stop worrying about things I can't control.  I always pray that but when push comes to shove, I'm just as ungrateful as anyone! My desire is to carry out my life with thanksliving.   To be thankful each moment.  To deliberately look for the blessing as it's happening.  Typically, the past two years I have sat at my computer on Sunday night and thought back over the past week and named my blessings.  That is good....

Thank you for all your sweet comments under the post, "In Appreciation."   I put all the names in a hat and Emily drew the name for me.   The winner is.... Debbi Congratulations!  Send me an email with your address and I'll get this off in the mail to you.  Thank you everyone who participated.

I just wanted to remind everyone that there are still 3 days left to enter my drawing.  You can find the details here: In Appreciation   All you have to do is leave a comment either on the blog or under the post on facebook to be entered. Thanks!

I love the teens in our church!  They are a great group of kids who love coming each Sunday.  In fact, our worship leader brings many of them and he and his wife had to bring two cars this past Sunday to fit them all in!  We are a small church of about 30-40 adults, and yet have any where from 10-15 teenagers coming each week. I think a lot of the reason they like our church is that they feel loved.  We include them in our service and they know we want them there.  They help out in the nursery, children's church, worship team, and doing power point.  They really bring a lot of life to our church. This past Sunday, I began teaching a small group for the teens.  This is just a once a month class that happens before our morning service. I'm working through a book entitled, "The 13 Most Important Bible Lessons for Teenagers."  This Sunday we talked about who God is by learning about God as our Father.  Even though our earthly fathers are ...

The first Sunday of each month we partake in communion.  We drink the cup and eat the bread, symbolizing Christ's blood spilled and body broken for us. A life was given so that we may live.  A sacrifice made so that we could have hope. Yet, as my husband mentioned yesterday, how many of us partake the cup of life and remember Christ's sacrifice and then turn around and spew death and hatred?   We sit in church and eat the bread, reflect and pray and look pious and then go home and think nothing of posting the most vile and hateful things on facebook.  We don't hesitate to spout off about our views and our thoughts without considering others' thoughts and feelings.  We spend our time gossiping, complaining and criticizing.   There is an election tomorrow and I'm concerned.  N ot concerned about the outcome of the election, but concerned about how politics can divide people who follow Jesus.   This is the same Jesus who taugh...

In December I will have been blogging for four years and during that time I've made quite a few friends from all over the country and the world.  I began blogging as a way to journal our lives for our family who all live far away.  The grandparents only get to see their grandchildren once or twice a year and it was a way for them to peek into our daily lives. However, it turned into so much more than that.  It has been a way for me to have an outlet for all the many thoughts and musings swirling around in my head.  Through this blog, I've discovered a creative side to myself that I never knew existed.  I've loved honing my writing skills.  I enjoyed getting to know each of you who comment and interact with me.  I've loved being introduced to new people through the blog world. I can truly say these words found in Philippians 1:3-6 ~  I thank my God every time I remember you.   In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy bec...