Author: RefreshHer

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A Peek From My Porch

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Why Do Sheep Need A Shepherd

Shepherds are called to a life of caring for sheep.

Shepherds love their sheep.

Shepherds take responsibility for the sheep.

Sheep need a shepherd, I am told because they need protection, lest they become a predator’s dinner.  They need a shepherd because they easily get lost and they need guidance to keep them on the right way. Sheep also need governing; otherwise they indulge in activities that could be self-destructive.  

I am married to a shepherd.  His title as pastor takes his responsibilities from simply attending church to shepherding the church  This is a position not of his own choosing, but one chosen by a God who equipped Him and enables him each day to carry out the responsibilities of that call.  He loves his call; he loves his sheep (the church).  He could never do anything else but shepherd – not evangelism or church planting.  You see this is where his heart is!

As the shepherds wife, I also love those sheep.  Each one is precious to me, but I also love the shepherd-husband of mine, and I occasionally see the burden of his cares bearing down on his heart, and it causes me to cry out all the more for my him.  Just this week I heard him say in prayer, “Lord, sometimes my responsibilities seem too great, but I know you will give strength.”  What were those burdens?  Too many services?  No.  Too many sermons to prepare and preach?  No.  It’s the burden of seeing many of his sheep wandering, nibbling on a little grass of the world over here.  Some choose not to stay within the protection of the fold – the church.  They are busy – family time, ball games, and company step in and replace the necessary time with the God’s flock.  It’s the burden of their “bleating” – “I might not be here for services tonight – company’s coming.”  “Little Suzie has a recital next Sunday and we hate to disappoint her.”  “The competition at school is getting my daughter in so late, she won’t be in youth group Sunday morning.”  “The family reunion falls on the Sunday this year so we won’t be here next week!”

Why would a pastor care?  Because he has a shepherd’s heart.  Remember the three reasons sheep need a shepherd?  The shepherd sees the sheep becoming the dinner of the enemy.  He knows the services, the preaching, the revival meeting, the planned activities will help protect them from the one who seeks to destroy.  It will feed them the green grass they need to grow.  It will guide them and keep them from harmful influences elsewhere.  When the sheep are wandering, going here and there, I see the eyes of the pastor/shepherd looking across the congregation for them.  I hear him calling their names as he weeps in prayer.

If you have a pastor who preaches the Word and it stings, remember that he is just echoing the Words of the Chief Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Who loves you even more!  If your pastor reaches out to you with the staff to pull you back into the fold, don’t be a stubborn sheep; yield to his leading and follow his counsel.

Thank God for your pastor today and pray for the heavy burden he bears.

Thanks for letting me give you a peek into our windows!

With love,

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aging

Fat and Flourishing

RefreshHer5 Comments

Today’s post is a re-post from many years ago.
Every time I come across this verse in Scripture –
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;   it brings these thoughts to my mind and I wanted to share them with you again.

Recently I heard a young person say, “I never want to get old! It’s so depressing!” The reason for their statement was that they had heard an older person complain, fuss, moan and gripe about everything that was happening around them. It’s easy for any of us to get into a state like that – no matter how young or old we are.

 If someone followed you around today would they say, “I never want to be in my 30’s! Being a mother is too stressful!” Or, “I hope I don’t stay single all my life; single people are selfish!” How about, “Women in their 40’s sure are moody!” spare me from that! There is truth in the statement, “You are what you have been becoming.” So, what are you becoming?
I love Psalm 92:12-15. It reads: The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; to shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
This passage tells us what a healthy older person should look like; they should be bearing fruit and be fat and flourishing! Fruit belongs to youth, but those that grow in grace keep on bearing fruit even in their later years. Aged believers have had experience trusting in the Lord and should have a sweet mellow temperament that feeds those around them. Why do they do this? To show to the world that their God is upright, their rock and a holy God!
I love what Spurgeon notes about this passage. He says about the older believer, “however feeble his outward man may be, his inner man is so renewed day by day that we may well envy his perennial peace. Perennial peace! That’s peace that’s long-lasting like the daffodil or tulip that will pop up again this spring. As we grow in the Lord we should have peace and contentment that keeps popping its head up through the soil of our lives. No matter if it’s been cold, or the “ground is hard.” We have a God that is leading us, teaching us and enabling us to grow old in such a way that we’re bearing spiritual fruit and are fat and flourishing!
Let’s all take a look at how we respond today to the difficulties the Lord allows in our life and ask ourselves as I am asking you right now:
“Would people envy my perennial peace,
or would they shun me because of my continual complaints?”
It makes being fat and flourishing look really attractive, doesn’t it?!  Let’s live with grace evidenced in our lives today!
With love,
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Cooking

What’s Cookin’ in the Country?

RefreshHer1 Comment

When I used to hear Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa say that she prefers to use homemade chicken stock in her recipes, I wondered if she wasn’t being a little over the top.  Really?  Why make your own stock when it’s canned up nicely and readily available in the grocery store?

THEN, one Sunday last year our church had purchased about six rotisserie chickens from Sam’s Club for a gathering after the service.  When the meal was finished and I looked at all those carcasses left with some meat still lingering on the bones, I decided to take them home and try my hand at making stock.

The result?  It was so flavorful, so nicely seasoned and made so much that I have not gone back to the store brands since!  It takes a little while to cook, but there is nothing hard about it!

The benefit?  You can season it to your taste.  No more salt overload.  One of my roasted chicken recipes cooks with lemon inside the cavity.  I throw that in the stock too, and love the little lemon zing it gives the stock!  It’s also cost-effective!  It costs pennies to make of something that would’ve ended up in your trash can!

The process:

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Ingredients:

  • Chicken Carcass – leave any meat leftover on the bones
  • Large onion, peeled, cut in half
  • 2 large carrots, peeled, cut in large pieces
  • 2 Celery Stalks, cut in large pieces
  • Rosemary sprigs
  • Thyme
  • Salt, pepper
  • Water

Place the carcass of the chicken in a large stock pot.  Add onion, celery, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper.  Add enough water to cover by an excess of two inches.  Bring it to a boil.  Cover and turn to simmer, for 2 hours.  Check occasionally to see it has enough water.

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Remove pot from stove and place a strainer over a large bowl.  Pour liquid into the strainer.  I pick through the bones and remove any meat to use for pot pie or some dish like that and toss all the rest of the bones and veggies.

Allow stock to cool a little.  Rather than canning my stock, I freeze it. Here’s how I do that:

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I place a ziplock back into a one cup measuring cup and then using a funnel, I ladle in the stock.  After zipping the bag shut, I lay it flat and place the small bags into a gallon size bag just in case anything leaks.  I take out about three cups at a time to thaw and place in a mason jar to keep in the refrigerator so it will be ready to use.

There are so many uses for Chicken stock, like gravy!

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The sauce for Chicken pot pie requires chicken stock.  Homemade soups are so good with this homemade stock!  Using chicken stock instead of water for rice or couscous makes it really flavorful! (Have I used the word “stock” enough?!)

It only makes sense if you have a chicken carcass to use it to make stock rather than tossing it into the trash can!!!  I hope you’ll give this a try!  If you can boil water, you can make STOCK!

With love from my country kitchen,

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Uncategorized

Freshen Up Friday

RefreshHer13 Comments

Making your own Spring Floral ArrangementrefreshHer

A fresh spring floral arrangement can be a beautiful addition to your home, but have you seen how expensive they are in any store? Goodness, I only want to buy some flowers – not the whole Biltmore Garden!  Seriously, even at bargain stores, a prepared arrangement is super expensive!  This is where doing a little DIY comes in really handy!

I have been looking to purchase an arrangement for our church, and could not ask the church to spend $150 (at half price) for an arrangement!  So, after weeks of endless searching for something that didn’t cost as much, I decided to make one myself.  I’ve never arranged a large, silk arrangement before, but I was desperate!

First, I found something I liked that I would try to “copy” – not completely, but it would give me a good starting point.  I found this made up at Hobby Lobby on sale for $150:  Thanks for the idea, HobLob, but I’m not buying it!

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Hobby Lobby’s lovely $150 arrangement

Next, I went through the store with this picture on my phone, and I selected the elements I needed to make something similar.  I chose:

  • A container
  • Floral foam to fit inside (You need this to hold the flowers in place)
  • Tall grasses
  • Tall “airy” type flowers
  • Large, full flowers for bottom
  • Small flowers for filler
  • Architectural detal – Moss ball
  • Spanish moss to hide the bottom of the stems

As I selected each item, I popped it into the container to give me an idea if it would be right, always using my picture as a guide.

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I came home and popped each item into the floral foam.  I chose not to use any glue so that I can pull out and add summery flowers later in the year.  I want to get my money’s worth!

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Rule of thumb is that you need something high, something low, a pop of color and a couple different textures.  Click on the picture to get a little closer look at the details.

One of the best things about this project was the final cost – It came to $72!  That was buying the items at half price.  If they’re not on sale at Hobby Lobby when you go to buy them, they probably will be the next week.

I loved having this on my dining room table, but of course, this arrangement is now sitting in the church auditorium.  Now I need to make one for myself!  It is such fun and so rewarding to know you saved so much money making it yourself!  Why not refresh your home for spring and make an arrangement for your table?  Hobby Lobby’s florals are indeed half price this week!!!!!

What  scares you about trying a project like this?  Remember, you can pull things out and rearrange if you don’t like the way it looks!

Our church is starting a week of meetings this week with Aaron Coffey and his team.  If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll join us!  See our website for details.

Stay refreshed,

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