Hey everyone! In case you missed Friday’s post, Mom asked me to hang out with y’all while she’s in Israel. So here we go with Monday! 


I don’t live in a parsonage….but I used to. Does that count? =)
At the end of a long work day, I am ready for a quick meal that tastes like it took all day. Anyone else feel like that?

Whitney for…

On this Friday, how about if we look at an accessory that can totally change an outfit? One way to freshen up an outfit and give it new pizazz, is by adding a scarf.  They are so popular now with many different styles. 
These lovely pics are from Tip Junkie – a favorite site of mine.

Once you get past all the cute styles, there are tons of fun ways to tie the scarf!  Look here…

One simple tie is to fold a long scarf in half lengthwise and place it around your neck.  Loop the loose end through the loop.  You can bring the loop up high around your neck or open it up to be more scooped.

Here’s a little series of pictures with a variation of the previous tie:

Fold scarf in half with loop on one end and loose end on the other.



Insert loose end through loop




Twist the looped end, keeping  your finger inside the loop




Insert loose end through loop




Fluff and adjust the knot to the position you want it

Now, go get a scarf and try one of these ties!

Do you have scarves?  How do you wear  them?

I have some exciting news for you today…

If you read my post on Wednesday you know that I’m leaving on Sunday to go to Israel.  However, that does not mean that my blog will be sitting here idle while I’m away.  My daughter, Whitney will be posting in my absence!  Okay, she’s my daughter, true, but the other truth is – she’s a great writer (and she wears a scarf oh, so well!)!  I think you’ll find her posts enlightening, funny, and helpful.  So keep checking in each day to see what creative things she’s come up with, and I will be back on here the last week of January! 

I love and appreciate each of you!

Be refreshed,

Many people feel about fruitcake like the person who compiled the previous list Let’s face it – this sticky confection has gotten a bad rap.  I saw a funny video at Christmas where a woman teasingly said her husband was a lot like a fruitcake noting, “He’s heavy, fruity and very nutty!”  We’d all admit that being called a fruitcake has a bad connotation.  But I believe there is one way in which it would be a blessing to be a “fruit – cake.”

When you and I as believers are walking in the Spirit, that is we have no unconfessed sin in our lives, we will be full of fruit!  Not the sticky dried kind we find in holiday cakes and cookies, but the fruit of the Spirit.  Galatians 5:22, 23 says, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  We won’t just have one or two, we will have them all.  Let’s take a look at each of them and how they will be manifested in our lives as described by Matthew Henry:

• Love to God especially, and to one another for his sake
• Joy, by which may be understood cheerfulness in conversation with our friends, or rather a constant delight in God
• Peace, with God and conscience, or a peaceableness of temper and behaviour towards others
• Long-suffering, patience to defer anger, and a contentedness to bear injuries
• Gentleness, such a sweetness of temper, and especially towards our inferiors, as disposes us to be affable and courteous, and easy to be entreated when any have wronged us
• Goodness (kindness, beneficence), which shows itself in a readiness to do good to all as we have opportunity
• Faith, fidelity, justice, and honesty, in what we profess and promise to others
• Meekness, wherewith to govern our passions and resentments, so as not to be easily provoked, and, when we are so, to be soon pacified
• Temperance, in meat and drink, and other enjoyments of life, so as not to be excessive and immoderate in the use of them.

It would do us well to read over the list and then review the last 24 hours.  Was that fruit a part of our lives yesterday?  Was it demonstrated to the world?  To our family?  Last night at prayer meeting? To other drivers on the road?  We mustn’t look at the list and say, “I need to work on being more longsuffering.” Or “I need to ask for more faith.”  What we need is to walk in the Spirit.  Verse 25 reminds us of that saying, ” If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”  We do that by simply doing what I John 1:9 says and confessing our sin.  Keeping short accounts with the Lord will enable us to be full of fruit.

Ask the Lord to reveal unconfessed sin in your life.  Confess it and then walk in the Spirit.  You may look like a fruit cake, but it will be the best kind!

With love,
Denise

If you peeked inside the parsonage today this is what you’d find in my room…

Why all this?  Some time ago I told you that our church is sending my husband and me on a trip to Israel.  We are going on a pastors/wives teaching tour.  I am so excited about it!  We leave this coming Sunday morning and will be gone until January 20th. 

To be able to see the places I’ve read about in Scripture all my life, will be thrilling, to say the least.  I’ve heard that the Scriptures come alive once you visit the Holy Land, and that’s exactly what I’m asking the Lord for.  I want it to have an impact on my personal devotions, as well as my future opportunities to teach. 

We covet your prayers as we go.  Please pray for:

1. Safe travels.
2. Ability to sleep on the plane
3. Luggage to stay safe and arrive when we do =)
4. No migraines
5. Sweet fellowship with the other pastors and wives
6. Special times of worship while there

Well, I better get back to packing…or removing a certain kitty from my bags!

Thanks for taking time to peek in!

From my parsonage window,

We love our sweet iced tea here in the south. I always say I hate drinking my calories. In keeping with that, I have sweetened my tea with Sweet and Low for years.  Last year I switched to Stevia, a natural non-calorie sweetener, but have found that it left my tea with a funny taste.  I thought maybe we’d get used to it, but nope –  we didn’t. 

So, in an attempt to improve my iced tea, I recently tried a product I hadn’t seen before – Domino Light.  It’s half real sugar and half Stevia.  It has half the calories of real sugar and it doesn’t take as much to sweeten as real sugar would.  I used about half a cup in a half gallon of tea.  It tastes like “the real thing” ladies and gentlemen!  Yum!  It is expensive, but I had a coupon, and like I said, it doesn’t take as much as regular sugar.  I’m going to save it just for iced tea. 

If you’re looking for a way to sweeten your tea and save on calories, you need to try this!  This will freshen your tea and your diet plan (we all have one at the end of the year, don’t we?).

Have a glass of sweet tea and
Be refreshed,
Denise