Ingredients
4# Cubed steak
Flour
Salt
Pepper
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
Water

Directions
Dredge steak in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. In a skillet, brown meat on both sides in a couple tablespoons of hot oil.  Place in crock pot.
In a medium size saucepan, mix soup and 2 cans of water on stovetop.  Mix until blended.  Pour over meat.
Turn crock pot on high for one hour.
Reduce to low and cook for 4 hours.
Serves 8 

Combine the biscuit mix, cheese and onion in a large bowl. Stir in milk until a soft dough forms; stir 30 seconds longer.
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 450° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Combine butter and garlic powder; brush over biscuits. Serve warm. Yield: 15 biscuits.

Only 19 more days until Spring! Woohoo! For all you non-southern readers, that last word was a happy exclamation! Though we are experiencing winter weather in Tennessee today, I know that spring is just around the corner!

It’s time to get your house and yourself a little ready for the new season.

                                             

It was an afternoon designated to cleaning out the now empty condo.  I sat in the box-filled living room with stacks of photo albums in front of me.  My desire was to go through the pictures and find the photos that were special so I could take them home and scan them and file them on my computer.

As I sat there and perused through  those books, I felt like I was reliving my adult life.  There was this picture:

Funny, huh?  Yeah, those were dating days when we were just getting to know one another and were wondering if there was a future in this special relationship.

Then I found this one:

That photo screams, HAIR!  =)  But it also reminds me of our early days of ministry.  They were tough financially with a new baby, our first home, the need for a new car, etc.  But we were happy trusting God together and watching Him provide for our little family.

I progressed then to years later…

Adoring daughters honoring their daddy on Father’s Day. We were in the thick of homeschool then.  My husband was working hard to provide so I could stay home and be a mommy to our girls.  We made time for fun, yet cheap dates together – $5 Pizza after the girls went to bed, candlelit dessert, games, even our trip to the grocery store was made into a date time.  We saw our love continuing to grow.

Then this one from Whitney’s high school graduation weekend:

I guess we were celebrating!  This was taken at a restaurant in Greenville, SC where we had lunch with our families.  This picture reminds me that it’s okay to be fun and flirty with one another!  Who cares if others are there?  A kiss in public is permissible when you’re married!  =)  It’s moments like this that keeps a married couples’ hearts close.

After hours of sorting through photographs, I found myself missing my husband!  Looking back at all those years of our relationship reminded me of how good the Lord has been to us, of how much He has brought us through, and of how our love for one another has grown through the hard times. I walked through the door of our home and went straight to my husband’s office and found him seated at his desk.Slipping my arms around his shoulders, I told him how much I missed him that afternoon.  I’m sure he was a little bewildered (we’d only been apart a few hours), but he didn’t question my statement.  I slipped an envelope of pictures before him and he began flipping through them.  There was a smile, a laugh, and even a couple of tears over what was inside.  It’s more than just pictures; it’s a relationship from the Lord that has grown, changed and deepened over the years.  We are blessed.

When was he last time you sat down and looked through old photos of you and your husband?  It would be a great date night!  Fix your favorite beverage – coffee, hot chocolate, pop some popcorn, and sit together with the albums in your laps.  It will take you back and remind you of God’s goodness, and of where your relationship started.  It will renew those embers and help you to realize what a blessing it is to love and be loved!

Happy Thursday!

It’s a busy week at our church and our home this week.  As I shared recently, we are in revival meetings with the Pettit Team.  It’s been such a blessing already!  It’s always so worth the full days and nights to be a part of what God is doing!

I was remembering this morning that when our girls were home and we were homeschooling, I had a choice – I could either push myself and my daughters to academic distraction, or I could ease things up a bit in our schedule so we would all be rested and ready for the revival meetings.  My hindsight tells me I’m sure I could have relaxed even more, and I really wish I had. in order to make the week a blessing instead of a dread.

As a mom, we want so much for our children.  We want them to do well in their academics so we push them to do their best, whether in home school or public.  We keep a watch on their grades, we meet with the teacher if there are problems.  We might even hire a tutor or use the Co-op Classes for home schoolers.    We might desire that they be trained in instruments or have athletic skills. We take them to lessons and practices and then faithfully attend their performances to show their advancement.

While all those endeavors can be fine, and even done with good intentions, we need to check and see that the thing we’re most fastidious about is their growth in Christ.  Why be educated, musical or fit if not to  use those abilities to serve the Lord?  Those skills in themselves will not last or matter in eternity.

Could I suggest to you, Mom, a few things you might consider during a week of revival meetings?

• Be the first to sign up to keep part of the team.  Their influence on your children is incredible!
• Sign up to help with a meal and then involve your children in the preparation, giving each of them responsibility.
• As a homeschooling family, center lessons around revival and evangelists.
• Make sure everyone is rested.  Get to bed early.  If possible, allow children to sleep a little later if they were up late the night before.  Allow rest time in the late afternoon.
• Forgo extra things like lessons or practices during revival.
• Participate in every activity the revival is offering!
• Make supper meals simpler during the week.  

How will you help your children prepare for revival? What will you do today to help them love God?  

From the parsonage windows,