Author: RefreshHer

Home decor

Valentine Decor at Home

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Valentines 1

I’m so thankful for holidays and seasons that allow us to change or add decor to our homes.  I think adding a decorative touch for the little holidays like Valentine’s Day tells our family that they’re special.  School classrooms get decorated, store windows are embellished, and magazines are filled with special touches.  Home should be the most special place, and one way to do that is to add decorative embellishments.

I thought I’d share my simple Valentine touches with you today.  With my love for Shabby Chic, the pink and white, the roses and the feminine pieces are perfect!

Of course the first place I love to start is my chalkboard.  The picture below was my inspiration found on PInterest :

Valentine's Chalkboard Art:

Here’s the drawing on my chalkboard:Valentines 1.jpg

My mantle is red and white – a heart=shaped box, a book that says. “Love” on the cover and other red and white books, roses and a red candle.

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We have our kitchen table pulled up to the fireside for the cold months, which is a cozy touch for Valentine’s Day, too!  I love the painted mason jar that’s holding my pink daisies.

 

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My bookcase has lots of red-covered books – I DO sometimes buy a book for it’s cover, though I’d never judge it because of it!  =)

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The paper and lace doily banner hanging below was found in Target’s dollar section.  I made the red and white toile chair covers several years ago, and their color is  perfect for February decor!

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My entry way just has a simple red berry and gingham wreath and a heart hanging from my old window.  Red M&M’s are the chocolate treat in the dish.  Kisses would be perfect, too!

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I hope you’ve added some fun touches to your home for Valentine’s Day (I’d love to hear about it!), and if you haven’t that these simple pictures might inspire you to do so!

With love,

 

 

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The Grace To Keep Breathing

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As a young teenager, I was at home with my mom one afternoon, merrily going about my normal after-school routines – changing my clothes and hanging my coat up, when something happened that terrified me so much that I remember it as though it was yesterday.  I had popped a round sour ball candy into my mouth and was sucking on this candy while I picked up my coat and went to hang it on the hook on the back of my bedroom door.  I tipped my head back to reach up to the hook, and at that moment the sour ball slid down my throat and got lodged in my wind pipe.

 I could not breathe.  

In a moment, I ran into the kitchen where my mom was preparing supper.  Motioning to her, I tried to tell her I needed help.  This was the day before the Heimlech maneuver, so she did all she knew to do – she pounded on my back.  It didn’t help.  In my mind I was sure that ambulances would have to come and get me – that this was it for me.  Then she told me to do something, she gave me counsel – she told me to put my hand down my throat and try to get it out.

I was desperate.  I did it.

The Sour ball literally went flying across the room.

Air.  Sweet air.

I could breathe again.

Ever since that day I have eaten

not one

sour ball candy.

Though I haven’t partaken of the sour Death Balls, there have been times when I have experienced the same choking – the feeling that “I cannot breathe!”  It can come at times of trials.  It hits suddenly, and even if you know that, “if you’re not in a trial now, one is coming,” it can feel suffocating.

Recently, I was in this very place during a trial and I was gasping for air – spiritual air.  In my fleshly heart I thought, “The ambulance is coming.  I’m not going to pull through this!”  But then the Lord stepped up beside me and gave me counsel – He brought His Word to my mind –

“If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” Proverbs 24:10

“But Lord, I want to trust you!  I don’t want to show small strength!  I want to be strong in You!”

That was when I “stuck my hand down my throat” and got rid of the troublesome thoughts.  Of course there is not way to change a situation – a sickness, a sin, a trial – but we can change the way we respond to it.  Please understand that the difficult situation isn’t the Sour Ball – our response is.  If we respond in our flesh, we will choke.  Our flesh wants to get angry, lash out, blame God or someone else, give up, run away and a hundred other selfish actions.  But if we grab a hold of our response and think biblically instead, we will find God’s grace to start breathing again.

Air.  Sweet, spiritual air.

Keep breathing.  We will make it.  We will go on – whether it feels like it right now or not.  We’re gonna make it.  In the long run, (eternity) everything will be okay.

With a heart for those of you in a trial,

 

 

 

Main dish.

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

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I went to my Pinterest board for a little supper inspiration last week. I love going to my boards and finding things I’ve put there for future use.  I have found some really wonderful recipes!   That’s where I found this lovely dish…

Sweet and Sour chicken

This is Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken from Skinny Mom.  Because it’s not fried, this recipe comes in at under 300 calories per serving!  It’s so good you’ll be tempted to eat more than one serving, but it’s so hearty you won’t have room to do so!  It’s browned on the stove, then put in the oven for 45 minutes to finish cooking.  So plan ahead a bit.  This will need to be started an hour before you want to eat.  Your patience will be rewarded, trust me!

Here’s how you make it:

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients

  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • ½ cup cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 (8-ounce) can Del Monte® pineapple chunks in 100% juice
  • ¼ cup Heinz® reduced-sugar ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon less-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon stevia
  • ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray an 11×7-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Place the chicken and ⅓ cup of the cornstarch in a large resealable bag. Seal and shake the bag a few times to evenly coat the chicken.
  3. In a wok or large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook the chicken until browned all over but not cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes, turning the chicken occasionally. Remove from the heat.
  4. Drain the pineapple and reserve the juice for the sauce.
  5. In a small bowl, whisk together the reserved pineapple juice, ketchup, rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, stevia, red pepper flakes, and remaining 2 teaspoons of the cornstarch.
  6. Place the browned chicken pieces in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Add the pineapple chunks, onion, and red and yellow bell peppers. Pour the sauce evenly over the chicken and vegetables.
  7. Cover the baking dish loosely with foil and bake until the sauce is bubbling and the chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes. Stir the chicken mixture and rotate the pan front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure that it cooks evenly.
  8. To serve, garnish with the green onions.

I served it with rice – how could you not?  It was really good and made great leftovers for the next night!  Aldi’s has great prices on those red and yellow peppers.  I buy the little ones, rather than the large.   They’re so sweet and delicious in this dish (or any other!)  

Who else has recently tried a recipe you’ve pinned on Pinterest?  What was it?

With love from my country kitchen,

 

 

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A Peek Inside the Parsonage

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Our internet has had major issues recently, and I was unable to write a new post for today. This post is from a few years ago. I hope it will help you to refresh your pantry, but also to trust a sovereign God for your needs.

RefreshHer's avatarRefreshHer

When our girls were growing up there were many “lean” years, financially speaking.  The Lord always provided for us, but we often did without special food items, or conveniences, and stuck strictly to our grocery list and immediate needs. There was no ability to stock the pantry or buy ahead while things were on sale, but I truly wouldn’t trade those years for anything.  We learned to trust the Lord and pray about everything – grocery money, doctor bills, gas, school materials – everything.  God is so faithful.  While our pantry wasn’t overflowing, we had what we needed every day. 

During those years, I learned to buy wisely. I got into a routine that I still follow today. I still look for marked down meats, milk and other products.  I coupon at Ingles, where they double my coupons up to fifty cents.  I shop at Big Lots for many grocery items.  I buy some…

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Christian Life

My Prayer Strategy

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Strategy – a plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result.  We have strategies for weight loss, organization or job promotions, right?  We need a strategy for our prayer life, too.  How will we maneuver through the burdens on our hearts without a plan?  

Let’s face it, we all face so much every single day that can cause us to be overwhelmed.  The devil would love for us to feel hopeless, and we are UNTIL we open our Bible and read God’s promises!  We need to take those promises and pray them back to the Lord.  Can I give you some suggestions on how to gather and use those verses in your prayer strategy?

You could copy those verses, or print them out from your computer.

Another simple way I’ve found to keep track of those verses I want to pray, is by using You Version Bible app on my phone.  When I’m reading a passage that would be the perfect promise to pray for a person or a need, I go to the top left of the Bible app where the three lines are, and I click that and then go to “bookmark.”  I choose “Options” then and write the theme of that verse or the person for whom I want to pray that passage.  Here’s what it looks like on my phone:

 

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These are just a few of the many that I’ve bookmarked.  As I’m praying, I click on those verses and I pray them to the Lord.

It may sound like this:

Father, I pray that you will give to Dale a heart to warn those in his flock that are unruly – those who are disobedient to Scripture.  Give him wisdom to know how to comfort the feebleminded and those who are weak (here I will share the people for whom we are burdened – sick and lost, alike).

Keep him from desiring to return evil to those who may do evil to him today. Give him wisdom and the desire to follow that which is good today and to even discern what is good and what is not…

You get the idea.  I love having these verses bookmarked on my phone, and not just posted in my Prayer Closet, because then I have those verses with me to pray at any time and any place.

  • Praying verses is powerful because it’s God’s Word!

 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.  Isaiah 55:11

  • Praying verses is also giving the Lord specific things that you’re asking God for, rather than just rambling, or not knowing how to intervene for that dear one or for your own needs!  Here’s how Paul prayed:And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. 

    Who wouldn’t want someone to pray that for them?!

I encourage you to find verses to use as your prayer strategies, then watch and see God answer!

Lovingly,