I love to find a great idea, don’t you?  I recently read about stashing in a beautiful jar all the toiletries you get when you stay at a hotel.  I logged that thought away.  Then one day when I was searching through clearance items at TJ Maxx, I found a pretty jar marked way down because it had no lid.  My mind ran to this idea.  I realized the jar doesn’t need a lid – it just serves as a container to house the toiletries.

So, I brought the jar home, filled it with my stash from trips, and placed the jar in my guest room.

When I’m expecting overnight guests, I also put one of the  little hotel soap bars in the shower.  I mean, really – who wants to use someone else’s half-used bar of soap?

Those little touches in the guest’s room and your bathroom can refresh your guest’s stay in your home, and make them feel really welcome.

Freshen up your guest room – even if it’s a room that is normally occupied by a family member, by filling a jar with items they can use while they’re in your home.  You’ll  be refreshing them them at the same time!

See you in church!

Be refreshed,

What power there is in touch. Yesterday while I was praying, I was leaned forward, my head in my hands, calling out to the Lord. While I prayed, my sweet kitty, Liza, heard me and jumped up on the arm of the chair (though she’s not supposed to be there!). She then hunkered down, and reached her paw out and put it on my arm and kept it there! I reached for my phone and snapped this picture. I know she has no emotion, but it seems something stirs in her when she hears me crying out to the Lord in prayer. It’s just so sweet.

Far greater than that, was later in the morning,  when I met up with some friends. The first thing they each did when they saw me was to embrace me tightly and share how much they’d been praying for me during this week of roller coaster emotions. They touched my heart.

There is so much expressed in God using another human to touch you. It shows the depth of their care. Our Savior touched those with whom He was showing compassion. People that touch others make a difference. Jude 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference. It’s not necessary to give a bear hug. You could put your hand on their arm. Place your arm around their shoulders. Rub their arm. Pat their hand. Touch is soothing. Touch displays warmth and care. It brings you close. Maybe that’s why many of us hesitate…we’re afraid to get that close. Oh, how we need to push back our inhibitions and just do it; we need to show someone we care.

Maybe you’re not in close proximity to physically touch someone who needs your compassion; there are other ways to emulate that. Call. Pick up the phone and speak your compassion. My older daughter called me as we were headed to the accident scene, just to check on me. It touched my heart. Send a card. A real, in the mail, card. Send a text message right then. Don’t wait. I had one friend that sent a text to me near 2 a.m. because she knew we were at the hospital. That she would take the time that late to message me, was a blessing.

I’ve really been lousy at this most of my life. I’m praying the Lord will help me to show more compassion, of which I’ve been the recent recipient. It’s certainly made a difference…just like God’s Word says it will.

There is at least one person in your world who needs a “touch” from you – people are hurting all around us. With whom do you need to display compassion? Do it today.

With love,

Monday was a day for comfort. The comfort of home. The comfort of a hug. The comfort of just being together. The comfort of sitting on the couch together and talking. The comfort of having dinner in front of the fireplace. The comfort of grasping hands in our mealtime prayer. The comfort of playing games after the dishes were cleared away. The comfort of one another’s presence.

Through the tragedy of the accident, our hearts have especially leaned heavily on the comfort of God’s Word and of the reminders of His presence. “Lo, I am with you always” has a deeper understanding, a greater appreciation. Always. He was never away. Never unmindful. People leave. People forget. People have intentions. God never leaves – never forgets – always follows through. What comfort that has been to my heart.

Alli and Andrew had to go back home yesterday, which means we can’t be with them, but our God went, and He also stayed. He is with them. He stayed here with us.

Because we have a Comforter, we are comforted and we know how to comfort. The time with Alli and Andrew was sweet, and we relished the opportunity to give comfort. Perhaps today you have a sick or unhappy child. Maybe your mate is disgruntled or discouraged. Lay aside the things you feel are calling for your attention at some point today and dish out some comfort. Cuddle up. Read a psalm. Play a game. Listen to them. Make things cozy. Light candles at dinner. Bring out the special dishes. Buy donuts with sprinkles. Bring dinner on a tray with a flower in a vase (silk will work just fine!). Color pictures. Look at photo albums. Laugh. Pray together. And remind them that the One True Comforter will always be with them. Yep, ALWAYS. What comfort!

From my country porch,

Can you define the word, perspective? Dictionary.com says this:

Perspective ~ 1. a way of regarding situations, facts, etc, and judging their relative importance
2. the proper or accurate point of view or the ability to see it; objectivity.

One way of bringing your perspective into sharp focus is to let a traumatic life experience touch your very world. We had one hit us just this week. We got one of those calls that no parent wants to get. Our youngest daughter phoned, and through tears and terror in her voice, said, “We’ve just been hit by a drunk driver!” My mind wanted to scream out, “No! This can’t be!”

I don’t know at this point how to share my story of how this week has begun. This picture will sum it up:

The car on the left is our future son-in-law’s car. The one on the right was driven by a drunk driver who hit them as they were going home to Greenville Sunday night. God spared them in miraculous ways, answering my simple prayer for them that I’d prayed only 30 minutes before the crash, “Lord, please protect Alli and Andrew as they go over the mountain tonight.”

My heart is overflowing with gratitude to the Lord for sparing their lives. The firemen and police officers all witnessed the fact that it is a miracle. I know a God who performs those on a regular basis, and I see His hand all over these two young people, and what has touched their lives.

My heart has cried happy, relieved tears since Sunday night. I could share much, but let me just share a few simple truths the Lord has brought to my heart in this.

1. This world is temporary; we must not love it. I read Psalm 4 yesterday. Verse 2 says, “How long will you love vanity?” How long will you and I love the stuff that isn’t eternal? How long will we pour our time and efforts into empty things? If we have today, we have it because God gave it to us to use for His glory. Touch people’s lives. Invest in eternity.

2. God preserves His children for a purpose; we must serve Him. Verse 3 – But know that the Lord has set apart those that are godly for Himself. That doesn’t mean that painful things won’t touch us, but God will give grace for the trial, and will preserve our life so we can be a testimony of Him and for Him through it and after it.

3. Goodbyes are precious; we must guard them. We say it often, but we should treat every goodbye as though it is the last, because it very well could be. If you say goodbye in person, through an email or on the phone, make sure it will be in such a way that if you never see that person again, you won’t have regrets. When we got the phone call from Alli that the wreck had just happened, I thought about telling her goodbye at church just an hour and a half before, and I was thankful that it was with smiles, hugs, and “I love you’s.” It was the same with Andrew.

I don’t know what has touched your life recently, or what is in the future, but I pray that these simple truths will encourage you in the midst of it, or before it comes to you. God won’t waste your pain. He is up to something good in each of our lives! It may also just give you (as it has me) a fresh perspective on life!

From a loving, grateful heart,

If you use Pinterest for cooking inspiration, you know that it is very easy to sit down on an afernoon when you’re starving and pin a ton of recipes that look amazing, but never get around to making them!  I took a good, hard look at my boards last week and decided it was time to push up my sleeves and make/bake some of these fantastic recipes!

I started with Bo-Berry Biscuits from here on Saturday.  My future son-in-law, Andrew, loves Bojangles’ version of blueberry biscuits, so I thought I’d try my hand at them and serve him some while he was here for the weekend.  

Bo-Berry Biscuits
Biscuits:
2 Cups Flour
1 Cup milk – I only used about 3/4 cup.  Add a little at a time so they’re not too wet.
1/3 Cup sugar
5 T of butter
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 oz of blueberries (fresh or dried)

Look at that lovely glaze on that biscuit!  Yum!

Glaze:

1 Cup of powdered sugar
1/8 Cup of water
1 tsp of vanilla
½ tsp of lemon juice

Freeze butter. Preheat oven to 450F. Mix salt, sugar, flour, and baking powder in a bowl and sift. Add the cold milk into dry ingredients and mix. As dough begins to form, use a cheese grater to grate your frozen butter evenly over dough. Fold dough, and knead… repeat until all butter is spread evenly throughout dough. (If dough is too sticky to handle, add 1/4 Cup flour.)

Fold in the blueberries. Gently pull of chunks of dough and pat to form biscuits. Place on un-greased cookie sheet or cake pan. (Or spoon into muffin tins!)

Place in oven and bake for about 7-12 minutes (until golden). Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the microwave, and paint finished biscuits with pastry brush. Mix glaze ingredients in a bowl, and drizzle over BoBerry Biscuits with a fork.

 Saturday night we had guests over.  My menu was Beef Carnita Tacos from Cooking Light.  You use stew meat simmered a long time for the tacos.  It’s a wonderful change from hamburger meat on tacos!  The fresh salsa served alongside is great, too!

Beef Carnitas Tacos
Directions:
Ingredients


2 cups chopped plum tomato (about 2 medium)
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup diced peeled avocado
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
2 cups Beef Carnitas – See below
1 lime, cut into 8 wedges

Preparation
Combine first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl; toss well. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon 1/4 cup Beef Carnitas onto each tortilla; top each with about 3 tablespoons avocado mixture. Fold in half; serve with lime wedges.

Beef Carnitas
Ingredients

Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 pounds beef stew meat, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup less-sodium beef broth
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 large unpeeled orange wedge – I don’t add this, but help yourself!  Lime would be better, in my humble opinion.

Preparation
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add beef; sauté 5 minutes or until beef is browned on all sides. Stir in broth, sugar, salt, and pepper; nestle orange section into beef mixture. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 ½ hours or until beef is tender.**I cook mine for about 3 hours because I want it to shred apart.   Remove and discard orange. Continue simmering, uncovered, 8 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates, stirring frequently.

As a side, I added this dip, also from Cooking Light, that I have made, but it’s been a while, and it is so worth repeating!  I spread cream cheese in the bottom of the dish, then layer the dip on top and serve with tortilla chips.

Tex-Mex Black Bean Dip
Ingredients
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup diced tomato
1/3 cup mild picante sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Preparation

Place beans in a bowl; partially mash until chunky. Set aside.

Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add beans, tomato, picante sauce, cumin, and chili powder; cook 5 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add cheese, cilantro, and lime juice, stirring well. Serve warm or at room temperature with fat-free corn or flour tortilla chips.

I have a couple other Pinterest recipes planned for this week.  I’ll let you know how it goes!  Do you have some recipes you need to pull off the board and bring into your kitchen?  What will you try this week?

With love from my country kitchen,