The wicker chair on the left of the bed is my Quiet Place. How special this room is to me!

Yesterday’s post about prayer came as a result of what God has been teaching me.  I wish I could say it’s only been a short lesson; it has not.  I have been in the classroom for years learning to pry my hands off of people and circumstances and turn them over to God.

Several years ago in our home, there was an issue that we were doing that I felt displeased the Lord. It really isn’t important what the issue was, but just that I was sure we were guilty before God.  I was convicted about it, and spoke my reasonable request to my husband.  He had a reasonable answer.  I then spoke with emotional reason (I cried!).  He was set on why what he was doing wasn’t disobedience.  I truly thought that my explanations and pleas were all he would need to see the truth.  It was like him looking at a black cat in the dark – he just wasn’t seeing it! 

Finally, after months of trying to convince with my human power, the Lord got through to me to pray for God’s power to move in.  I was ashamed at not leaving this at His feet long before, but I was determined to say no more to man, but to pray before my Father in heaven.  I really can’t even remember exactly how long it took, but it was at least a year of praying when one day my husband came to me and said, “You know, the Lord has spoken to me about something, and I think we need to make a change here…”  I tried not to let my jaw drop and my eyes bug out as I listened to him detail about the very issue for which I had previously nagged him!  He stated that God had convicted Him about the need to change!  Another miracle is that my husband had forgotten that I’d nagged him about it (thank the Lord!).  My response?  I simply said, “Okay.  Let’s do that!”  I didn’t shout, “Well, finally!”  I waited until I got to my Quiet Place and I wept and shouted to the Lord, telling Him how wonderful He is! 

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.  Matthew 6:6

Oh, the blessings that have come from my husband’s step of obedience!  How I admire him for his willingness to obey the Lord.  Another blessing is that because he changed due to God’s conviction and not my nagging, it stuck!  He’s never gone back!  When I nag to get him to change, he changes for a short time, but when God does the work, it lasts! 

I thank the Lord for what He’s taught me about prayer. It’s taken many years, but I’m learning that the best place to see change happen is not in my husband – it is in me when I’m in my Quiet Place.

On another note, I’m excited to tell you that tomorrow will begin a new short series called, “Thrifty Thursday.” These posts will be written by my daughter, Whitney, who has become quite good at being thrifty with time and money. She will share practical tips on how you can be more thrifty, both at home and at the store. You won’t want to miss it!

From my parsonage windows,

We had a lovely weekend with the weather cooling down enough to make me suspect that fall is creeping into my neighborhood and hiding out somewhere.  It was cool enough at suppertime Saturday to enjoy eating out on the deck – something we haven’t done in many weeks because of the extreme heat.  The menu was a perfect summertime meal –

Dry Rub Chicken with Honey Barbecue Sauce

1- 3 lb chicken, cut up
1 tablespoon paprika

Preparation

1. To prepare chicken, remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Rinse chicken with cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat. Place chicken, breast side down, on a cutting surface. Cut chicken in half lengthwise along backbone (do not cut through breastbone). Turn chicken over. Starting at neck cavity, loosen skin from the breast and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat.
2. Combine paprika and next 4 ingredients (paprika through seasoned salt). Rub paprika mixture under loosened skin, and rub over breast and drumsticks. Gently press skin to secure. Cut a 1-inch slit in skin at the bottom of each breast half; insert tips of drumsticks into slits.
3. To prepare grill for indirect grilling, place a disposable aluminum foil pan in grill; pour water in pan. Arrange charcoal around pan; heat to medium. Coat grill rack with cooking spray; place rack on grill. Place chicken, breast side down, on grill rack over foil pan. Cover and grill 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a thermometer registers 180°. Remove chicken from grill; place on a clean cutting surface. Cover with foil, and let stand 5 minutes.
4. To prepare sauce, combine ketchup and the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring the sauce to a simmer over medium-low heat; cook 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove skin from the chicken, and brush with 1/3 cup sauce. Serve the remaining sauce with the chicken.

Crash Hot Sweet Potatoes

You can click on the link to find the sweet potato recipe.  The layout of the recipe is cut up and not really printer friendly.  The best thing to do is prop your computer up on the kitchen counter and start cooking!  The potatoes were really good.  They have a little kick of heat on them that I loved!  You could reduce that if you don’t care for spicy foods.

I made a dessert for the weekend that was a new recipe for me – Café au Lait Angel Food Cake. It’s Angel food cake with coffee flavoring!  Yum!   Knowing that angel food takes lots of eggs, I thought about the fact that I can buy eggs for ninety-nine cents.   That’s a pretty reasonable price for dessert!  This was very easy to make and turned out delicious!  The recipe on Cooking Light has a custard sauce to go with it, but I didn’t add that.. I served it with a scoop of ice cream, a drizzle of chocolate sauce and a chocolate espresso bean as garnish!  Yum!

Café au Lait Angel Food Cake

What’s been cooking in your kitchen?

From my parsonage kitchen,

I love Panera Bread!  Recently I shared a yummy Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad there with my hubby.  It was sooooo good!  I love their menu, but it can be a bit pricey. 

I got so hungry for that salad this week, and when I looked in my fridge, I realized I had almost everything on hand that they put in that dish, so I decided to recreate it for our evening meal. It was so good and we didn’t even have to leave home!  With all the good fruits and grilled chicken, the meal was refreshing, and making it at home refreshed my pocketbook!  Want to try it?

To make it you’ll need:

Salad greens
Blueberries
Strawberries
Toasted Pecans (I used walnuts)
Mandarin Oranges (I didn’t have any, but it was still good!)
Chicken

I grilled chicken using this recipe, but you could use rotisserie or roasted chicken, if you wanted. 
Poppy Seed Dressing

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about getting old.  Maybe it’s my September birthday breathing down my neck; I don’t know.  It’s made me watch older folks around me.  Some are suffering with physical issues, seen in their difficulty to walk, breathe, or talk.  Some are spunky and seemingly full of energy.  Others still have lost their ability to think rationally.  It’s made me wonder what I’ll be like when I reach those “golden years.”  It’s all in God’s sovereign hands.

I may not have control over what happens to my body or mind, but one thing I can control is how I finish the race spiritually.  As I’m reading through I Kings, I’m reading about the end of many men’s lives.  Solomon, who started out his early years loving God and serving him, ended up an idolater because his wives turned his heart from his God.   His end was weaker than his beginning.  Is that what God desires?  Of course not.  Is it possible to keep the faith all the years of our life?  Absolutely!  David walked in the Lord’s ways even after falling into sin.  He encourages my  heart! I want to be like the passage in Psalm 92 that says,

I wanted a centerpiece for my kitchen table last week, so I went out to the herb garden and did some clipping to make the arrangements pictured here.  The fragrance was wonderful!  I included rosemary, thyme, sage and Knock-Out Roses.  The next morning I also added some of the purple phlox that are so fragrant.  This stayed fresh for several days and was such a pretty pop of color and fragrance on my table. 

The picture below is the same arrangement taken with the “Retro Camera” app on my phone.  I like the way it makes it look kind of frosted (though I’m sure thankful it’s not cold enough to do that!).

Sometimes all you need is a walk around the yard to create something pretty for inside.

Take a walk around with a pair of clippers and see what you can find to spruce up the dinner table for tonight. Who says company has to be coming to have a pretty table? Let your family know they’re special!

From my parsonage windows,