Did you ever have someone ask you, or have you thought yourself – “Why does God do what He does?”

The other day in my quiet time I came across Psalm 119:68 – Thou art good and doest good; teach me thy statutes. That verse is Truth about the character of our God. As I went to prayer I thanked the Lord for many things of the morning and recognized that He is good and does good. It’s easy to see His goodness in things we are thankful for, isn’t it?

As I went to intercede for others I began praying for someone who is suffering and has been suffering for quite some time. Then I prayed, “But Lord, even as you allow this to go on in her life I recognize that you are good and you can only do good.” Nothing “bad” can touch the life of a Christian. Some might argue that suffering is bad, but not for a child of God. It’s being used in their life for a purpose. It may be preparing them for a future ministry, it might be driving them to the Word, or it might be causing them to stop trusting in their own strength. God knows what they need and how long they need it. He is good and only does good.

I then prayed for the salvation of many that I’m burdened for. “Lord, you are good, and you do good.” In His goodness He sent His Son to die for all. That is a good God! He doesn’t want them to go to hell! He does good; He provides salvation to all that will call on Him. Romans 10:9

That one verse touched every area of my prayers. It also touches every area of our lives. Do you know that God is good and only does good? That is His character and He cannot act apart from that. Whatever difficulty you’re facing today, remind yourself of eternal Truth…we have a good God who only does what is good!

Because of His goodness,

Sunday morning I watched a precious little one-year old girl in our church go out the door holding two baby dolls in her arms. Her momma told me that she loves her babies and takes them all over with her. Isn’t it sweet how God gave females that nurturing spirit? From the time most of us were big enough to stand on our own two legs we’ve been nurturing something.

I love Mother’s Day – not just because I’m a mother, it’s just a special, sentimental day. We get the opportunity to do something for our mom to tell her how thankful we are for all she is and all she does. If you don’t have a mother find another woman who has been a blessing to you and tell her so.

Mother’s Day is just a few days away. Have you found that special gift for your mom yet? If you don’t get your Mother’s day gift before the weekend rush, you might not survive the crowds in the stores! You have been forewarned! (That is for the men that are reading this.) 🙂

Some people are just so good at coming up with great gift ideas. I’m one who has to do some serious thinking. Perhaps your husband could use a tip (or two). Let me help…

Every woman likes having a little cash to spend. Here’s a clever way to give Mom some money, but also many sweet sentiments.

He grants the barren woman a home,Like a joyful mother of children. Praise the LORD! Psalm 113:9

Need a card for Mom? Here’s a link for a down loadable one – FREE!

What mother wouldn’t love getting chocolate covered strawberries? How Does She? has step by step instructions on making these luscious treats!

Does Mom use thank you cards? Here’s another download for some cute ones!

If you can’t afford to send Mom to have a pedicure why not make up a little basket of the things she’ll need to give herself some pampering? This Sally Hansen product is supposed to do it all – strengthen, give color, be the base coat and top coat! Wow! Sounds good. Sally Hansen products can be found at Walmart and Walgreens – probably Target too. The gift could also include nail polish remover, nail file, buff, hand lotion, and cotton balls or pads for removing the polish.

He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

Matthew 10:37

For years my husband has been telling this story using our names as the brunt of the joke:
A husband and wife, prior to marriage, decided that he’d make all the major decisions and she the minor ones. After 20 years of marriage, he was asked how this arrangement had worked. “Great! in all these years I’ve never had to make a major decision.” **Smile**

This month in our ladies’ Bible study we’ve had a lesson on the importance of our choices. We looked in Genesis 13 at the choice that Lot made when Abraham let him decide which piece of property he would like for his own. It seems that Lot’s men and Abraham’s men weren’t able to get along, so Abraham said, “There’s plenty of land here, you go one way and I’ll go the other. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right.” Lot looked up and saw the plain of Jordan and saw well-watered trees and lands. It must have been green, lush, and beautiful. You don’t read that Lot prayed for wisdom about this decision, he saw what he considered the best land and took it.

Yesterday was a bitter-sweet day. We had a dinner at church (sweet) to say goodbye to our music minister and his wife (bitter). They have been driving up to our church from Greenville, SC nearly every weekend for six years. We love them and will miss them greatly. What a blessing they have been!

For my contribution for the meal at church I made Greek Chicken, Corn pudding and Apple pie. The corn pudding reminds me of a dish some Mexican restaurants serve. It has a bit of a sweet taste, but it is a savory dish. This serves 8-10 easily. I made it up and baked it on Saturday, then warmed it before taking it to the dinner.

Here’s the finished dish…so good!

Homemade Apple Pie

I don’t follow a recipe for the pie itself, but if you need a crust recipe, I use this one from a dear lady that made wonderful pies. I watched her make pies with one hand in a cast! Her crusts were prettier than any I’ve made using both of my hands!

Two Crust Pie Dough

2 Cups flour

3/4 cup Crisco

1 tsp. salt

Blend with pastry blender until the Crisco is well incorporated into the flour

Ice Water (enough to make the dough hold together)

Add ice water and mix just ’til dough comes together. Don’t over handle it. Roll out.

I made my whole pie up early in the week, then rather than baking it then, I covered it and froze it. I pulled it out of the freezer and baked it on Saturday afternoon. We had a busy Saturday, so it was nice that the pie was ready to just pop into the oven!

I have a tiny apple cookie cutter that I used to make the embellishments on the crust.

What was cookin’ in your kitchen this weekend?