Author: RefreshHer

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Freshen Up Friday

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How about couple of apps for your phone to freshen up your relationship with your special someone, and another one for your pictures?  When I add an app to my phone it has to be:

  1. Free
  2. Functional

                                                                  
I  recently found two apps that I really like and thought you might like hearing about them.

The first one is called Couple.   Go here to watch a two minute video about how it can work. This app keeps you connected to your husband.  You can send private messages.  This is an advantage over sending a text message where you risk sending a message only to find out you just sent that private message accidentally to your husband’s boss!  

You can doodle him a picture or send a video or still picture.  You can send a thumb kiss or hit a button that sends a “Thinking of you” message.  You can even send him a list of items you need at the store.  Your birthday and anniversary dates are listed here, too – just so no one forgets!  A history is stored so you can see all the messages and pictures you’ve shared.  This is a great app.  The parson and I have just been using it a couple of weeks and are still learning all its perks, but it’s been great!

Another app that I recently downloaded and love is Photo grid.                          
This fun app takes your pictures on your phone and turns them into something really special. They can take simple pictures like these…

and turn them into this…
You can add texts to them 

You can change the order and style of the picture simply by shaking your phone!

This is another great app that is fun, free and functional!  Oh, and it will freshen up your Friday!  =)

Have you ever embarrassed yourself by sending a text to the wrong person?  Fess up…I’ll share mine later.

See you in church Sunday!

Be refreshed,

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Don’t Quit

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Quit ~ to stop, cease, or discontinue
Ever wish you could?  
Homeschooling moms get weary and dream about quitting this daily routine and instead send their child (even for a day) someplace – anyplace else to receive their education.  Wives discover a husband who has been unfaithful and wish they could quit on this relationship, thinking they’d be better off alone. Sunday school teachers sigh and think they should quit on Monday morning after they review the previous day and all the blunders they made while sharing the lesson with their class.  Mommies want to quit after a discouraging day of disciplining.  Employees get weary of the inner office struggles and daydream about taking a walk out the door.  Housewives weary of the endless messes, laundry and meals before them and imagine exchanging it all for solace on a remote beach.
Hard things make us want to quit.  But it’s the hard things that really make us stronger. But the strength doesn’t come from our inner self as the world tells us – it comes from Christ.  Paul said, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”  II Corinthians 12:10  The hard things before you today might not necessarily be a spiritual battle, but if you quit the responsibility or relationship God has given you, you are not just discontinuing in the hardship, you are quitting on God.  

He is bigger than your hardship.

He wants to equip you to homeschool, Mom.  
He wants to love your husband through you, wife.
He wants to teach you, then teach through you, Sunday school teacher.
He wants to discipline you so you can discipline your children, Mommies.
He wants to shine through you to your coworkers, employee.
He wants to show you how to serve by His example, housewife.
Before you quit, open God’s Word.  Bow before Him in prayer.  Seek Him.  Seek His strength.  Then get up and take pleasure in the hard things, because in your weakness you are made strong.
Don’t quit.

I’m truly not sure why the Lord put this on my heart for today, but if you’re at the point of wanting to quit, it was for you.  God loves you that much.

With love,

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A Peek Inside the Parsonage

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I love Valentine’s Day.  I always have.  Pink and red.  Hearts and lace.  Chocolates and cards.  Kisses and hugs.  What’s not to like?  I also love to decorate my home in a small ways for the holiday.

Here are the touches I added to my kitchen shelf.

The Scrabble tile pictures were a clearance find at Kohl’s last week.  Regularly $40 (ridiculous!), I got them all for $6!  Yeah, that’s my kind of deal!  When I found them I said, “Oh, these are so me!”  I love it when I come across finds like that!

Have you come across something recently and knew it had your name on it because “it was so you?”

From the parsonage windows,

The Blessings of Obedience
obedience · Parenting

The Blessings of Obedience

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I am home after having a time to visit my parents in Kentucky.  I just have to tell you how good the Lord is!

During the time of caring for my Mother-in-law, I often felt like I was neglecting my own parents.  I don’t just mean the months of her cancer, but the years that she lived here in the same town.  We were her only family, and we felt the need to care for her – and were glad to do it.  There were many times, however, that I couldn’t be home with my own parents, and though I knew they understood,  my heart missed them so much.  Then when the serious illness hit my MIL, and the care was intense, I missed my parents even more – probably due to the increase of stress and emotion.

What made that time easier for me was the understanding of my parents.  They never made me feel guilty for not coming home.  They encouraged me in what I was doing.  They prayed for me.  They told me they understood…and they really did.

Now my mother-in-law is in heaven and I have no regrets.  I know we did the right thing in caring for her.  I know that even the sacrifice of the times I would have liked to have been in Kentucky was the right choice.  Then the Lord graciously opened up the opportunity for me to go and visit my parents while my husband attended a men’s conference last weekend.  He left on Thursday morning.  An hour later, my car was headed towards Lexington.  I was to come home on Saturday.  Two days – not long, but I was glad to take it!  Then the Lord sent SNOW!  It was the treacherous traveling kind – especially on the mountain roads I’d have to drive on to get home.  There was no question – I had to stay put.  Sunday it snowed again.  So I had two extra days to rest, visit with my parents, chat, attend church with them, and I even got help from my dad sewing my quilt squares together (he is a great ironer!). We had a sweet time together, and how I thank the Lord for giving me the desire of my heart at the time when my heart needed it so desperately!

                                           

There are two lessons here:

  1. Obedience brings blessing.  That’s not the reason we obey, but it is a by-product.  God is a loving God, and He blesses us when we obey Him.  
  2. Parents that let go of their children are doing them a great service!  If my parents had made me feel guilty, I’m not sure I could have dealt with it.  They let go of me when I left home many years ago.  They always welcome me when I’m able to come visit, but they have NEVER pressured me or given me a guilt trip over not being at a family event.  They are obeying  a biblical command – Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Genesis 2:24  
Now, apply this to you –
  • If you’re being obedient, but having to let go of something else in the meantime, be patient.  Keep obeying.  In His time, the Lord will reward you.
  • If you’re a parent of a child who has left home – LET THEM GO!  They have enough pressure in dealing with life without having to deal with trying to keep their parents happy with their decisions.  Pray they’ll make right choices, then encourage them in what they’re doing rather than laying on a guilt trip because they can’t attend your family reunion, Grandma’s birthday or Sunday dinner.  Be a parent who rests in a sovereign God and obeys His Word enough to let them leave and cleave.
I’m home now and feel rested and so very blessed by my God Who gives me what I do not deserve – blessings, sweet, godly parents, and time away!
What do you struggle with in regards to obedience?  Do you have trouble letting go of your children? Or…Are you struggling with parents who have not cut the apron strings? How are you dealing with it?  I’d love to hear.

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What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

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Whitney here…

One of my lifelong indulgences is crab meat. Whether it’s vacation at the ocean, a special meal at my Nana’s house, or date night at a fancy restaurant in downtown Greenville, I am always happy to eat crab legs or crab cakes! Last summer my Nana found a recipe for crab cakes in Victoria magazine.  The recipe isn’t available online, so I’ll post it below.

This was our Sunday lunch menu yesterday:
Crab Cakes with Sauce Gribiche
Corn 

Crab Cakes
1 (8 oz) container craw-crab meat
1 (8 oz) container jumbo lump crab meat  (I bought Louis Kemp imitation crab meat on sale B1G1 at Ingles last week, and it tasted great)
1 T minced shallot
1/2 C mayo (here in South Carolina we only use Duke’s mayonnaise!) 
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 T fresh chopped chives
1 T  fresh chopped dill 
1 tsp. fresh lemon zest
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
3/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 1/2 C panko crumbs, divided
1/4 C melted butter
1/2 C vegetable oil

In a medium bowl, combine crab meat, shallot, mayo, egg, chives, dill, lemon zest, salt, pepper and 3/4 cup panko. Stir to combine. Stir in melted butter. Shape into approximately 12 2-inch rounds. (I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to divide the mixture into even portions) Dredge each round into remaining panko crumbs. Set aside.
In a 10-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Fry crab cakes for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until lightly browned. Drain on a paper towel. Serve immediately. 

Sauce Gribiche (fancy tartar sauce)
3/4 C mayo
1 large hard boiled egg, chopped
1/8 C finely chopped cornichons  (I used pickle relish in place of the cornichons)
1 1/2 T drained and chopped capers 
1 1/2 T Dijon mustard
1 T chopped fresh dill
1/2 T chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 T minced shallot
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and serve with crab cakes.

What is your favorite restaurant indulgence? Have you tried making it at home?

Whitney