Author: RefreshHer

Family life

Noteworthy Wednesday – Help for Homeschooling Moms

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Many families are homeschooling their children these days. While it’s not for everyone, those that feel this is God’s will for their family, are going after it with all their heart.

Perhaps there are those of you, like myself, who have been down that road and are now finished. (Did I hear a happy shout?) 🙂 As you look back on your experience, can you recall:

  • What did you do with the little ones in your family that weren’t homeschool age? How did you deal with the distraction they were to their sibling trying to do their school work?
  • How did you organize all the “stuff” for school – records, books, papers, supplies, etc.?
  • What do you know now that you wish someone had told you when you were first starting out?

If you could answer one of those questions even, I know of many young moms who will thank you for it!
With love,

Christian Life

Today is a Gift

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One night last week my husband and I attended a meeting for pastors and their wives. During the preaching, one of the men in attendance began to look sickly. Those seated near him became alarmed and tried to quietly aid his wife while the preaching continued. Then the man that was preaching could see that the problem was getting worse, and he asked my husband to assist. The ailing preacher was laid out in the floor. It appeared very serious.
Everything stopped while he was cared for. He wasn’t responding and had turned a dreadful shade of white. The preaching had stopped as several were caring for the sick man, and we had special prayer for the patient, then small groups gathered on their knees to pray. Some cried openly, fearful that he wouldn’t make it. The EMS was called. Because our location was so remote it took quite a while for them to get to us.
Thank the Lord, after about ten minutes, the sick man began to come around, then he spoke! Relief washed over all of us! He recognized those around him and remembered where he was. By the time the ambulance arrived he was seated in a chair sipping water. They checked him over and all appeared to be fine. He was urged to see his doctor the next day. The preaching service then resumed at his insistence. The irony was that the message was about Elijah’s passing from earth to heaven. Here before us had been an illustration of how quickly life can be snatched away.
We all know that unless the Lord comes first, we will die. Psalm 89:48 says, What man is he that liveth and shall not see death? I had to ask myself, “if that would have been me laid out on the floor, what regrets would I have?” How would we spend today differently if we knew this was our last? What phone call would we make? To whom would we witness? How much more time would we spend in prayer? In Bible study? What changes would we make in how we planned to spend our day?
Watching someone fail physically as I did is not something any of us would want to see, but I’m thankful for the reminder that, “Today is a gift; that’s why it’s called the present.”

What will you do with the gift that lies before you?

With love,
Cooking

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

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Our whole family was together this Sunday – a rare event these days! What a blessing to minister in music together in the morning church service. Whitney was at the piano while Alli played her violin to accompany my husband and me singing, “Consider the Lilies.”

After the service ended we came home for dinner. My husband and I sat at the counter so we could pop up and serve. He’s my favorite dinner companion!

 

Katie Brown Chicken w/carrots
Mashed potatoes
Green Beans
Country biscuits
Chocolate Cherry Cake w/ice cream

I served our favorite dish – Katie Brown Chicken. That’s our name for it. Katie Brown is a woman who had a cooking/decorating/crafting show at one time. I loved it. I’ve lost touch with what she’s doing now, but I sure wish she’d bring back her old show, “Next Door with Katie Brown.” It was so good. One great thing about it was getting this recipe from it!

 

Katie Brown Chicken

Wash a whole Roasting Hen, dry with paper towel, then rub with Olive oil. Squeeze a whole lemon; reserve juice. Place lemon halves inside hen. Sprinkle inside with salt. Add fresh sprigs of rosemary and thyme. Tie legs and place hen in dish. Sprinkle skin of chicken with paprika and salt. Pour the lemon juice over hen. Add baby carrots and potato cubes to dish. Add enough chicken broth to cover vegetables. Bake until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees. (When I go to church I put the oven on about 280-300 degrees and let it cook until I get home from church. It’s always done, but not overdone.)
After removing chicken from the oven, mix 2 Tbl flour and 1/4 C water together, then add to chicken juices for a delicious lemony gravy for the meat and vegetables.

 

What was cooking in your kitchen?

With love,

Uncategorized

Bake up Some Fellowship!

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I promised I’d share the Blueberry Streusel Muffin Recipe this week, so I guess I’d better do that today. But first, how about these dreamy treats…

I made these over the weekend and froze half of them (don’t tell my family they’re in the freezer!). These are Peanut Butter Blossoms from my Hershey cookbook. They are so good. Even just one…

with a glass of milk, of course! It’s a great combination of flavors – peanut butter and chocolate! Mmm! Try them if you haven’t made them. I’m warning you, though – you’d better freeze half as soon as they cool or they will disappear before morning!

Here was the Blueberry Muffin for last weekend’s breakfast. This is my new favorite muffin recipe! It came from Taste of Home.

So, what will you bake this weekend? I’ve shared lots of my new recipes to give you some ideas. What’s keeping you from baking up some cookies or muffins and inviting some folks over for fellowship? Add a pot of coffee or a glass of milk and you have all you need to offer your guests!

I’ve been reminded this week through a couple of events the Lord’s allowed me to participate in that we need one another! We need friendships to encourage and prod each other along. Don’t try to be the Lone Ranger. As I heard someone say, “Even he had Tonto!” Call up a friend or a family and invite them over this weekend. You’ll be glad you did, and so will they!

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

Proverbs 18:24
See you in church,

Christian Life

Sufficient Grace

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Startled. That was the look in his eyes.

My husband and I hadn’t been married long before I lovingly made him an apple pie, cut a slice of it and put it in front of him. Then I got the look – the startled one. He looked at the pie, then at me in disbelief. Then he said, “Hon, from now on please cut me a slice bigger than an 1/8!” Clearly this was not sufficient for his appetite. I grew up in a family of small eaters and 1/8 was always enough for us. I learned my lesson and have increased his portion size!

Last night at prayer meeting we read II Corinthians 12:9 – And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. It was explained that the word sufficient means enough. God’s grace will always be enough for every trial we’re going through. It will be portioned out for each person, for each need, and it will not fall short of being sufficient. It won’t be 1/8 of his grace when we need “the whole pie!” We will never have to look at the Lord in prayer and be startled that He only gave us a small amount.

It is enough. Always. For every need.

How have you experienced His grace?

Because of His sufficient grace,

P.S. Thank you to those of you who participated yesterday! I’ve learned from you and am taking note of the books mentioned, as well as your comments.