Beyond going to school, I have sat in many other classroom settings. For instance, when I was eighteen, I took a sewing course at a Singer store in our area. I knew nothing about how to sew a straight line, much less how to assemble a garment! I have used those sewing skills my whole adult life!  I’ve sewn many pieces of clothing and accessories over the years as a result.

When my girls were young I decided to take a class in cake decorating. I wanted to be able to make the outside of a cake look appealing enough to entice others want to taste the confection! I’ve made and decorated many cakes since that class!

Over the years, I’ve also taken cooking classes and home decorating classes to keep up on new techniques and ideas. The result has been many meals cooked and rooms embellished.

Since last Saturday I have been in another training class – that of soul winning. I’ve taken a couple of other similar sessions over the years, but I knew I needed to continue to sharpen, not only my abilities to share the Gospel, but also keep keen my awareness of the lost and their need for Christ. I pray that many baby Christians will result from the time invested!

It would have been useless after my sewing class to never enter a fabric store and purchase a pattern and material. After my cake decorating class it would have been a waste to purchase our birthday cakes at the local bakery rather than make them myself. It would also be a waste of this evangelism training if I don’t intentionally reach out and develop relationships with unbelievers so I can share the Gospel with them.

One idea that was brought to my attention is that of having a Christmas open house for our neighbors. We are wanting to meet those that live around us, and what better time than Christmas? This week, we penciled in a time in our calendars in which we can invite our neighborhood over for refreshments the week before Christmas. We just want to open the door of friendship, and have an opportunity to invite them back to do the four lesson Bible study with us. We are excited about how the Lord could use this simple idea to open the door for the Gospel to spread down our street!

What could you do to have an inroad to share the Gospel? Who are you seeking after to give the truths of eternal life? If you need to get some training, go after it! Sharpen your skills in giving the plan of salvation, then make a plan of how you will implement your training. Just think of the wonderful results. . .sinners coming to Christ and rewards in heaven! It couldn’t get any better! 

With love,

Today I’m going to take you off the porch and we’re going to go inside and then upstairs to a place that is very special to me. There’s nothing sacred about this place; there’s no burning bush, but it is dear to me, because it is where I’ve chosen to meet with the Lord each day.

This is a zoomed in picture of my family room. The view is beautiful from my red chair. I sit here with coffee at hand (that’s a necessity in the morning!) and open God’s Word to get my heart right for the day. It’s the most important part of my day. It takes precedence over fixing my hair and my face, and trust me, they need attention! It rules over making the bed or cleaning the bathroom, though they, too, are screaming for attention. I realize that if my heart is not right, nothing in my day will be right. I can’t get here fast enough. You see, I’m a wretch without my Savior!

I get into this little corner of the closet and either sit on this stool, or kneel in front of it and pour my heart out before the Lord. What I love about this space is the quiet I find there. In the devotional book, “Jesus Calling,” the author writes, “Quietness is the classroom where you learn to hear my voice.” In the quiet, I pray. I read this verse yesterday in Psalm 62 and it reminded me that the Lord Jesus wants us to pour out our heart to Him!

By God’s’ gracious hand, I have a lovely home, but my closet is becoming one of my favorite spots because of the nearness of the Lord when I dump it all onto Him. He is near. He hears. He answers. Yesterday after I prayed, I was still. In the quiet the Lord brought the song to my mind, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. I sang it to Him as I knelt. Wow. My literal prayer closet was my sanctuary. How blessed.

I have a friend who has moved for a short while. She sent me a picture recently of the place that she has created for her quiet time. It made my heart smile, because it showed me much more than a space in her house; it showed me her heart. She has a heart that is hungry for the Lord!

Where do you meet with God? Have you created a spot to worship – to read and pray? I bet it’s your favorite place in your home too!

With love from my country porch,

Surgery.  Ugh.  My memory of the room is

                                                                           

My surgeries have been for happy occasions – the births of my daughters. However, the memory of those operating rooms make me shiver. One sweet memory (aside from a sweet baby being placed in my arms!) is when I was taken to recovery; a nurse came in each time and placed a warmed-up blanket over me. It had actually been heated! I could feel myself relaxing under its comfort. Even the chattering of my teeth stopped, and I could rest.

BLAMELESS!Recently while having my quiet time I felt the cold and sterile feeling of isolation; “aloneness,” if you will. I bowed my head, asking God for the understanding of His presence and love. I then opened God’s Word. I was reminded of who I am in Christ in Ephesians 1. Because Christ is my Savior, God sees me as being holy and without blame, before Him in love! I am accepted in the beloved! The Lord brought the realization to my heart that it doesn’t matter what others think about me, or what I could ever be accused of wrongfully. I must remind myself of the Truth about what God thinks of me. He sees me through Christ as…

We’ve had so many busy weekends in a row. This weekend kicked off an evangelism training at church, (The Exchange) on Saturday. We met from 8:00 – 5:00. With that long of a meeting time, we all were asked to bring a snack to share. I made my homemade caramel corn – made in the microwave. You can find that recipe here.

This is a great recipe. You can literally have the popcorn cooling in less than 30 minutes. One thing I love about this recipe is that I always have the ingredients on hand. However, I don’t make it too often because I love it! It would be dangerous to have it around!

On Sunday I didn’t make anything new – I just went for a standard Sunday roast beef dinner.

Because of the very full day on Saturday I needed to have everything pretty well done ahead of time for our meal after Sunday services, so prior to the day I:

With our recent move into a new home, I’ve been looking for inexpensive ways to cover the windows without sacrificing charm!  Better Homes and Gardens had a great picture that inspired me for a clever fix for my kitchen window.  I had already hung a valance, but needed a cafe curtain for the bottom.  Here was the idea:

I found the cloth napkins at Kohl’s.  Any big department store is a good place to look because they have really beautiful fabrics.  These were on sale for $2!  The curtain clips were found at Lowes in the aisle where the curtain hooks are.  They were around $6 for the package of 12.  I used 8 for these curtains, so I still have some for another window treatment!  I love the idea of changing out the napkins even seasonally.  At $2 each, I could have a new set for each month!  =)

If you need a new look, why not Freshen up a window with this simple idea?!

Be refreshed,