Author: RefreshHer

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Winning Over Worry

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1. Prepare 2. Plan ahead 3. Proceed

Those words will sound familiar to you if you’re doing the study of Loving God with All Your Mind. I have been encouraged as I’ve done this month’s study. With all that’s going on in my world between preparing our children’s choir for a Christmas play, teaching Sunday school, preparing for company for Thanksgiving, baking 300 cupcakes for a wedding, attending 2 out of state wedding showers and one local one, thinking ahead to Christmas and dealing with the agenda that each day brings, I could easily become a frantic woman! However, as I sat and worked through lesson three I can see how things can be simplified by following the guidelines in Scripture.

First, I cannot worry about tomorrow. (Matt. 6:34, Phil 4:6) I have to deal with today and I do that by preparing my heart each morning as I meet with the Lord. I give Him my day and my tasks. Then I make a plan. I’m trying to break up the big tasks into smaller tasks so that each responsibility is reachable.

I’ve found that having a little sideline list on my agenda helps. I make out my plan for today, but then I have a list of things that have to be done in the near future. If I have 5 minutes before I have to leave for an appointment, I’ll look over at that other little list and try to see if there’s something I can do in these extra 5 minutes. Believe it or not, lots can be accomplished in that little bit of time!

For instance:

Today
1. Hem sleeves
2. Mop floors
3. Meet friend for lunch
4. Prepare clothes for trip

To Be Done this Week
1. Make pumpkin roll for Sunday School dinner
2. Bake 4 dozen cupcakes
3. Wrap shower gifts
  • While on the phone this week, I got the gifts wrapped (sorry for the noise, Mom!)
  • I can mix up the cupcake batter the night before (it has to be refrigerated) so they’re ready to bake in the morning.
  • When I have a few minutes I can mix the dry ingredients for my pumpkin roll so when I get ready to bake it, it will be like having a mix all ready!

I pray you’re being helped by our study. If no one else needed this at this time I did. Planning ahead really does eliminate worry! I’m amazed at the end of each day how the Lord equips me to accomplish what needs to be done and even more!

What truths from this study are helping you win over worry?

Loving God with my mind,

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Sharing the Wealth

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I’ve been thinking more about the journaling I mentioned yesterday. When I pulled my journal out yesterday morning to do my daily writing, I saw my devotional thoughts about a Scripture passage I’d read earlier. The Holy Spirit had brought truths to my mind and I penned them in phrases in my journal. “Oh,” I thought, “I need to write a post about this on my blog!” It was then that it dawned on me that another huge blessing of journaling is that you’re ready to serve God when you have something written down!

Journaling is place to pull thoughts from if you’re asked to share a testimony in church, or give a devotional for your ladies’ group! You can only take others spiritually where you have been yourself. When the Lord teaches you a truth, you need to share it with others. It might be in your small group Bible study, with your mentor, or with your husband or children, but someone needs to hear it! So, your journal will also serve as a resource from which you can pull what you’ve learned and then use it to minister to others!

As you look back on what God has taught you, you will no doubt see spiritual growth from all the Truth you’ve stored in your heart. You won’t want to keep it to yourself, though, you’ll want to share the wealth with others!

With love,

Christian growth

Keeping a Memorial

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If I have a couple soap boxes, one of them is on journaling. I think it’s so crucial to write down what God is doing in your life. Over and over in Scripture we read about God telling the children of Israel to write for a memorial. Stones were to serve as a memorial to their children about what God had done for them. Why a memorial? Because God knew they would forget.

Without a journal, you and I will forget how God answered prayer. We will forget how He was at work in our lives. We will forget how desperate we were in a time of trial and how He moved in and worked in a mighty way. Oh, we think we’d never forget, but we will without the aid of some kind of memorial.

I am not suggesting you add some labor intensive writing to your busy day. Let me give you a few suggestions that will be simple ways to keep track of blessings and God’s work in your life.

  • Get a simple notebook (or use your current prayer journal) and make a page for each day of the week.
  • Each day write the date, then using phrases, bullet things you can praise God for – blessings He’s given.

Also add answers to prayer.

  • Write short blessings from the Scriptures that you read in your quiet time that day.

I’m not suggesting you keep a diary – but a memorial of what God is doing. I have my journal as a part of my prayer journal. Because it’s a three ring binder, I just keep adding pages to it. I have to tell you, it is such a blessing to me to look back on how God has been at work in my life. It increases my faith to pray about some hard thing in my life when I read about how the Lord answered prayer in some other “impossible” situation! It makes my heart overflow in praise when I read about His provision for the a need we’d been praying about for a long time. This book is a treasure to me! I know I would have forgotten most of what I’ve written and am so thankful to have page after page reminding me of how faithful my God is.

If you’re not journaling yet, can I encourage you to start out in a small way? Just do a little each day. It will encourage your heart. Have you been journaling? What do you see as a benefit in keeping this kind of memorial?

Remembering with thanks,

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What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

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The truth about my cooking adventure yesterday is that I served leftovers for Sunday’s dinner. **Gasp!** You know what? It was wonderful! I didn’t have any preparations before I left for church. Along with the extra hour of sleep I got, I had all kinds of extra time yesterday morning!

This is the way my mom often prepares her Sunday dinner now that it’s just her and my dad. She’ll cook a nice meal Saturday night, knowing there will be leftovers, then makes up a plate for each of them and pops it into the fridge. The meal only has to be warmed in the microwave the next day, and perhaps a salad added to have the meal ready to eat. Pretty nice!

I didn’t scrimp on the table scape – I set the table the night before. I still use pretty napkins and plates, even when it’s just the two of us. I want to convey a message to my husband – you are important to me!

I will share a recipe I made earlier, however. I made a Golden Winter Soup (made with butternut squash) a couple weeks ago and froze it in gallon size bags. I put them in the freezer flat so they’d thaw quicker. I doubled the recipe because I had several squash to use. I also purchased leeks for the recipe and wanted to use all of those. To be perfectly honest, I’m not a huge fan of butternut squash, but I’d found a recipe that had 5 star reviews from many people, so I gave it a try. It was so good! It has chicken broth and potatoes in it that kind of even out the squash taste. Please try this and tell me what you think. It’s a very simple recipe with big bang flavor!

This kind of soup needs a crusty bread. We are fans of popovers – something I’ve only been making a year or so. Popovers require some time to bake, but are well worth the little bit of thinking ahead effort. I made some when I served this soup this week. They were a great accompaniment! I don’t have popover pans – I just use giant muffin tins. It works great. Here’s my recipe from my very used Better Homes and Garden Cookbook:

Popovers

2 eggs
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 tbl salad oil
1/2 tsp salt

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with a rotary beater or electric mixer. Add flour, milk, salad oil, and salt. Beat ’til combined. (Over beating will make them fall!)

Fill 6-8 well-greased custard cups 1/2 full. Bake in very hot oven (475 degrees) for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to moderate (350 degrees) and bake 25 to 30 minutes longer or till browned and firm.

If you like popovers dry and crisp, turn off oven and leave popovers in oven 30 minutes with door ajar. Serve hot.

What did you cook this weekend? Have you tried something new or did you make a tried and true dish? Tell me about it!

With love,
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The Humble Will Hear and Be Glad

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I can’t believe it’s November! The cold front moving into our area today is a stern reminder, however! It’s definitely not June or July out there!

With November comes Thanksgiving, a favorite holiday for most. I recently read a magazine editor’s reference to Thanksgiving and she said something like, “Thanksgiving is all about family and food.” Have you ever found yourself talking to a magazine? I said out loud, “You’ve got to be kidding! Thanksgiving is about giving thanks to God!” But I realize that the world sees both Thanksgiving and Christmas as family time, and what we can get, rather than reflecting on all we’ve been given and being thankful to the Giver.

Yesterday I was reading Psalm 34 – I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall be continually in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear thereof and be glad. Who is it that loves to hear others praise God? The humble! A proud person doesn’t rejoice when others are praising God. In their pride they sit and criticize. They scoff. They belittle. They do all this because they are proud of their standing, the way they conduct themselves, or their “proper behavior.” Remember the Pharisees? Did they love it when the sinful woman wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair and worshipped him? No. They looked down on her. She knew her sinful condition too, but it made her thankful for Jesus’ love and acceptance in such a way that she humbled herself and wiped his feet.

You will not see a proud person stand and praise God in a church service. You will not see a proud person nod in agreement or wipe tears from their eyes when another is sharing the overflow from their heart to their wonderful God. No, it takes a humble person to praise God and another humble person to be glad at their praise.

Check your heart. Do you rejoice when others praise the Lord? If not, it could be pride that is lifting its head. Remember the pit from which you were dug, and you will be humbled to a point of praise. You know what else? The humble will be glad!

See you in church Sunday!

With love,