Author: RefreshHer

Godly Character Traits

Forgiving the Unrepentant

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Doris still remembers the shame brought to her by her uncle’s sin.  She had been violated as a young teen and had lived with the awfulness of that sin for years.  Bitterness toward the offender had taken root in her heart, and she felt cold and empty. 

After hearing a message on forgiveness, Doris knew that she had to forgive her uncle, but he was completely out of her life, and had heard that he’d even left the country.  She had no idea how to contact him.  If he wasn’t confronted with his sin and given the chance to repent and ask forgiveness what was she to do? 

And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. Mark 11:25

The type of forgiveness that Doris needs to give is vertical forgiveness.  This is forgiveness that is directed to God, and occurs when you are praying.  When God brings a person to your mind that you have not forgiven, and there’s no chance for you to speak with them and rebuke them in love, you grant forgiveness based on the knowledge of how much you have been forgiven.  When we realize the debt we owe the Lord for the forgiveness He has granted us, based on the cross-work of Christ, we should be willing to forgive others on that truth alone.

Vertical forgiveness would also apply if you approach someone about their sin towards you, and they refuse to make it right; they won’t repent.  We are not free to hold onto our bitterness simply because they are  unrepentant.  Vertical forgiveness has no conditions placed upon it. 

The kind of forgiveness that we talked about last Thursday was rebuking a brother about his sin.  He repents, and you forgive.  That is Horizontal forgiveness.  This is directed toward the offender, not God. The condition is his repentance.  Luke 17:3    Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.  However, if he doesn’t repent, then we apply Mark 11:25 and forgive based on our relationship with God and His forgiveness of our sin.

This truth can change our lives.  Living with unforgiveness in our hearts has the power to turn us into bitter old women!  If you have a situation where you have been sinned against and are still waiting for the offender to ask forgiveness, look no further.  Instead, look at the cross and see your sin nailed there.  See Christ suffering in your place, and forgive that person in the same manner in which you have been forgiven.

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. 
Ephesians 4:32
A woman who has a forgiving spirit as a trait in her life will be a blessing to be around.  An unforgiving woman, on the other hand will make you wish you could run to the wilderness according to Proverbs 21:19!
Be a woman of character.
With love,

 

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A Peek Inside the Parsonage

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It never happened before and it hasn’t happened since, but boy did I enjoy it while I could! There was a short period of time that I had a maid!  You didn’t know pastor’s made that kind of money, did you?  Well, trust me, at the time that I had this luxury it was not due to a cushy bank account!  I had just given birth to our youngest daughter and had my hands very full.  I was homeschooling my second grader, nursing a baby who took 15 minute naps, trying to keep the housework up, do the mounds of laundry (which included cloth diapers!) and cook meals for my family of four.  Needless to say, I was exhausted.  Some of you are in the midst of all that and more and you understand and feel my pain. 

I have a mother who is very compassionate, and when she realized all that was going on in my world, she insisted on paying for me to have a maid to come in and take care of me and our home for two weeks.  Wasn’t that nice of her?!  (It goes way beyond nice, but those are the terms our family uses for a sweet gesture!)  It was my responsibility to “hire” someone.  I felt like Lucy did when she was interviewing Mrs. Porter!  I’d heard that a woman that was in our church had been a professional maid, so I took her at her word and hired her to come to my home. 

It turns out she’d been a professional cleaner – not a maid, and there is a difference.  She sure did make my house shine! However, when my mom called and asked me what she fixed me for lunch, I had to fess up that cooking was not on my maid’s list.  So, I had a maid, yet still fixed my own lunches. But hey, I felt very blessed to be a young wife, and new mommy having a personal maid come and clean my little parsonage!

Was there ever a time when you got treated with something really special?

From my parsonage window,

 
P.S.  In answer to the question I posed yesterday, I’d choose the roast beef I fixed myself.  I’d end up eating it while standing at the kitchen counter anyway.  I’d nibble while working on the bank statement or next week’s menu, like I often do when I’m home alone.    I think for most of us, it’s easier to serve than to be served.

Women's roles

Roast Beef Lunches

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If you could have one, which would you choose:   Roast beef leftovers for lunch that you fix yourself, or a peanut butter sandwich fixed by a maid?  It’s a silly question, I know.  I’m going somewhere, trust me.  =)

I am an I Love Lucy fan.  Her antics and  scheming have kept us all entertained for  years.  Do you recall the episode where she hires a maid?  She is intimidated by Mrs. Porter right from the first introduction.  The maid tells her what days she needs off, what she will and will not do, and then proceeds to eat the Ricardo’s out of house and home.  Because Mrs. Porter ate the leftover roast beef in the fridge, she fixes Lucy a lunch of what was left –  dry and very sticky peanut butter on white bread.  As Lucy attempts to eat it, she can’t even open her mouth to speak due to the gooeyness of the sandwich.  She is, of course, hysterical as she attempts to tell the hired help not to fix her another dry morsel, but can’t even pry her jaws open!

I thought of that hilarious episode yesterday when I read this verse:

Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.
Proverbs 17:1
There are several other verses in Proverbs that would be companions to this verse.  They all teach us that it’s better to have a little bit of something in our hearts and  home  (even a dry peanut butter sandwich) and enjoy the quiet that is a result, than to have that roast beef for lunch and have strife.
The “sacrifices and strife” might be things that would keep us busy and away from home.  We are running here and there with friends or family, dragging the children along, trying to keep them happy while so doing.  They miss nap time and are cranky because we had to run to the mall for the sale we heard about.  Or they are delayed finishing up home school as a result of our outings and they are now irritable while trying to do what should have been done hours ago.  We are experiencing roast beef with strife.  It would be better to have the dry morsel – that of missing out on some of those excursions so we could be home where we need to be.  Why is it better?  Sit still and listen to the peace and love that’s there and you’ll know.
It might mean really sacrificing as a mom to stay home with your child(ren) – especially while they are young.  I know there are scenarios, such as that of a single-parent home, where there is no option.  In some cases, though the financial stress would press upon a family, many times that stress is less than the strife caused by carting a child to day care and not being sure of all they are being exposed to each day. 
“Roast beef Lunches” in a marriage might be a wife finding greater fulfillment outside her marriage than in it.  Oh, she may not be running off with another man, but if she isn’t making her husband her first priority, as God intended she’s having roast beef and strife.  Her job, her children, her hobbies become more important and there is conflict, and she wonders why.
Take a good look at your personal life and ask the Lord to tell you – Is there quietness or strife in my home?  If there is dissension more often than quietness, ask the Lord for wisdom as to how you can rid it from your life.  He will show you. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. James 1:5
Have a peanut butter sandwich today, and smile at the quietness. 

So, on the trivial side, a maid with peanut butter or roast beef that you fixed yourself?  Which would you choose?  I’ll tell you my preference tomorrow. =)

With love,

Peanut butter pie · Pork roast · Roasted mashed potatoes

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

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This is the beautiful morning I woke up to yesterday. . .

This time next week that tree will probably be bare.  ~Sigh~  I can enjoy its beauty today, though!

When I look at the seasons changing, I have to believe that God likes variety.  I do too! I get tired of hum-drum, so I love variety in lots of things, but especially my menu.  I pulled out a few tried and true things for Sunday dinner yesterday, but I mixed it up with some new recipes.

Harvest Pork Roast
Green Beans
Corn
Peanut Butter Pie


This picture isn’t pretty, but you’re seeing the browned roast and the apples that have cooked and turned the same color as the meat.  The meat fell apart from the slow cooking. =)



Harvest Pork Roast

2 lbs pork tenderloin, fat trimmed (I used a Pork Roast)
3 Tbsp canola oil
3 cups apple juice
3 Granny Smith apples – I tossed the apples with about 3 Tbl brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon before adding them to the crock pot.
 1 cup fresh cranberries (I used dried – they plumped up so nicely in the juice)

1.  Season roast with salt and pepper.  Brown roast on all sides in skillet in canola oil.  Place in slow   cooker.
2.  Add remaining ingredients.
3.  Cover.  Cook on low 6-8 hours.

I will refer to these Rosemary Roasted mashed potatoes  as “smashed potatoes” because that’s really what you do with them.  They are roasted in the oven, then smashed with a masher.  So they’re not a smooth consistency like mashed potatoes would be.  The addition of the sour cream, Parmesan cheese,  green onion and garlic make these delicious.  This is a great alternative way to have “smashed” potatoes for Sunday dinner.  I had them in the oven set with the timer, so when I got home all I had to do was dump them off the baking sheet into a bowl with the other ingredients.  They were very good and very quick!


I make this pie every couple of years.  Why not more often?  I love it too much!  Cream pies are just heavenly!  This is my favorite recipe for this particular pie!  A dear friend gave it to me years ago, and I’ll share it now with you….

Peanut Butter Pie

To keep the pie shell from shrinking, I put a piece of waxed paper in the crust, and use dried beans to weigh it down.  I take them out about 10 minutes before it’s finished so the bottom of the crust can get browned.

1 baked pie shell
1/3 C peanut butter
3/4 C powdered sugar

Blend until mealy.  Sprinkle 2/3 over pie shell.  This crumbly part makes the pie!  Yum!
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C flour
1/8 t salt
2 C milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 T butter
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 C peanut butter
Combine sugar,  flour, and salt.
Mix well and stir.  Add 2 C milk gradually and cook until thick.  Stir in a few tablespoons filling into 3 beaten egg yolks and then add to hot mixture.  Add 1/2 C peanut butter.  Cook 2-3 minutes longer.  Blend in 2 Tbl butter and 1/2 tsp vanilla.  Pour in pie shell.
Top with meringue or Cool Whip.  Sprinkle rest of crumbly mixture on top.

I pray you’re having a lovely fall day.  Before you leave, why not tell me what’s been cooking in your kitchen?  Have you tried a new recipe you loved?

From my parsonage kitchen,

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Freshen Up Friday

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Less than ninety-eight cents!  That’s all it cost me to freshen up two of my favorite pictures!  (Sorry for posting this, Whitney and Alli!)  I bought a can of spray paint, removed the gold frames, let ’em have it with the black paint can, and popped them back in place.

For my next victim project, I went to the front porch and removed the gold-ish numbers from beside the front door and painted them too.  So much better! It’s Ahhhh-mazing what a little paint can do!


Before



After!





I remembered to take the “before” picture after I’d removed the 2 and the 0! But you get the idea.



What could you fresh up with a can of spray paint?  Consider a…
  • Lamp base
  • Chair
  • Vase
  • Mirror frame
  • Wooden crate
  • Bird cage
  • Shelf
  • Candle holders
  • Napkin rings

Happy painting!!!!

It was a chore, but I did manage to make myself purchase a splurge at the grocery store.  Truth be told, my husband picked this out for me.  He knows me so well!  I’m going to tuck it away and save it to look at during an upcoming trip.  Can’t wait!

See you in church Sunday!

Be refreshed,