Years ago, a young mother was making her way across the hills of South Wales, carrying her tiny baby in her arms, when she was overtaken by a blinding blizzard. She never reached her destination and when the blizzard had subsided her body was found by searchers beneath a mound of snow. But they discovered that before her death, she had taken off all her outer clothing and wrapped it about her baby. When they unwrapped the child, to their great surprise and joy, they found he was alive and well. She had mounded her body over his and given her life for her child, proving the depths of her mother love. Years later that child, David Lloyd George, grown to manhood, became prime minister of Great Britain, and, without doubt, one of England’s greatest statesman.

Mother’s understand that kind of sacrifice. That’s the kind of love we have for our children. We would literally give our lives for them. Sometimes, however, we need to be reminded in the midst of the “blizzard” to stop and play in the snow with our child. I hope you understand my analogy. We certainly don’t stop in the middle of a dangerous situation and play, but the kind of blizzard that I’m referring to is the day to day routine of mothering.

We get everyone up, we fix three meals each day, we clean the house, we get the children off to school, or teach them at home, we fix scraped knees, return the overdue books to the library, buy the groceries, take the dog for his rabies shot, we shuttle the children to piano lessons, bake brownies for our daughter’s youth meeting, make sure that homework gets completed, get everyone off to bed, and then fall into bed ourselves completely exhausted. But as we look back on the day, we must ask: How many minutes in that very full day were spent just spending time being with your child, one on one, eyeball to eyeball, nose to nose, doing something just for fun?

I heard someone say “When you’re up to your neck in alligators, it’s difficult to keep your mind on the fact that your primary objective is to drain the swamp.” Those children are around you all day, swimming in your swamp and you stay so busy, but can I just encourage you to take time to be with them? I was challenged by this years ago when we attended Family camp. A dear lady encouraged moms to have “Mom and Me Time.” This was a daily time of thirty minutes devoted to one child. I wish I could say I was faithful to this every day all through their lives, but that is far from the truth, but I do have some very special memories of the times we spent together. I only had two girls, so I could easily spend time with each of them each day, but if you have many children, perhaps you need to spend thirty minutes a day with a different child – make your rounds!

The things we did in those thirty minutes varied each day, and changed as the girls grew older. But this isn’t just for little children – teens need to spend time with you just as much – perhaps even more! With young children you could:

• bake something, or work on a dish for the supper meal together, play a board game, play on the swing set, draw on the sidewalk with chalk, teach your child to play hopscotch, ride bikes, play badminton or H-O-R-S-E on the basketball court.

With an older child you could:

• Teach a daughter a hobby – scrapbooking, card making, sewing, or cake decorating (anything that interests her). Have her teach you something about the computer! Discuss a book you’re both reading – Set Apart Femininity, for example. Go to Starbucks and have a beverage and play a board game there. Play an outdoor sport such as tennis.
• Talk to your son about being a man, a leader and a gentleman. Have him teach you about his favorite sport. Jogging or walking together each day would be a great way to spend thirty minutes with your child, and be able to talk (if you can talk and exercise at the same time!)

The ideas are endless – the point is – just plan to have Mom and Me Time. Mark it into your schedule and make a plan for what you’ll do. Time together will build a strong relationship and will provide you with wonderful memories you’ll both treasure. The Scripture says, Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Make a sacrifice while your child is with you – you won’t believe how soon they’ll be gone.

With Love,

Last Saturday I had the privilege (and fun) of attending an interior decorating class entitled, “The Grand Entrance.” I’ve been looking for a way to meet people from the area, I love to learn about decorating, and the class was free, so I attended! The class was held at Gracious Designs, located in downtown Jonesborough, TN.

I don’t have a foyer in my house, and I honestly thought I wouldn’t be able to apply what I’d hear to my own home. I was wrong! The interior designer was so practical and full of good ideas. I thought I’d share with you the things she told us about creating a beautiful entryway to your home.

The entryway begins outside your house. Think about the driveway, the sidewalk or the door you walk through to get inside your home – that’s the area that you want to make appealing to those that would be arriving. As we think about the exterior entrance here are some thoughts to consider:

• Take time to clean – Wipe down cobwebs, sweep away dead leaves on the sidewalk, wash grimy windows, and polish tarnished doorknobs. These are the first impressions people get of your home. You never get a second chance to make a first impression!
• Grace the sidewalk with flowers. White flowers will reflect the light and even give a moonlight garden at night. Red and yellow flowers are the brightest flowers. You could also choose lavender, which is aromatic, as well as beautiful!
• Add a piece of seating at your entryway – a chair or a bench welcomes people to sit down and relax.
• Place a colorful rug at the door. Replace it as it becomes discolored.
• Hang a seasonal wreath on the door, or install a doorknocker on the door to make a beautiful statement to those entering.

Next our instructor gave us tips on the interior entrance way and how to make it grand. I was so excited after hearing these suggestions that I spent a couple of hours that evening rearranging things in my living room to create the look she described. So far I haven’t spent a dime to make these changes. I can’t promise I won’t purchase something in the future, though! 🙂 Here are her suggestions for the interior entry way:

• Your entry should be a postcard of the rest of your home. It should tell a story about who you are and what you love. For this reason, I placed a small Bible and a framed verse on the shelf – this tells those who enter that the Word of God is important to us and that we love the Lord!
• If you do not have a defined entry (like my living room), create one by using “floating furniture.” As in the picture below, you can create walls by putting a small table, a room screen or hall tree at the door. I took the bookshelf that had been against the wall next to the door and turned it perpendicular to the door. I also turned the chair’s back to the shelf to give it even more of a walled effect.
• Provide seating in the entry. A purse can be set down, or shoes can be put on or taken off here. I’m not crazy about this little bench, but it’s what I had and it works fine.

Below is the view coming into the front door. What you see in front of you can also be considered the entryway.

• All five senses should be stirred when you walk in.
• Smell – This is the first sense your sub conscience notices. A bowl of potpourri or a candle will give a pleasant fragrance.
  

• Taste – How do you taste an entryway? Have a bowl of candy there to offer your guests. See the little bowl with the pink wrapped chocolates in the picture below? Come visit and taste for yourself how good an entryway can be! A treat at the door just says, “I’m glad you came!”
• Sound – Have a CD player near where pleasant music can be played. A small table top fountain is also a relaxing sound. Wind chimes outside your door are another option. I like to turn Pandora.com on my laptop since my computer sits on my desk in the living room. This is another option for sound.
• Touch – Have a variety of textures. Add shiny glass, textured flowers or potpourri. Mix the smooth cabinet with a runner or other fabrics.
• Sight – Place a small lamp or candle there. In the picture below you can see a little tin light. That light also gives off potpourri fragrance from little potpourri rocks inside! I love this light. It was a gift from a dear friend, Vickie. I need to find out where she got it so you can find one for your house. It’s so cute and it smells so good!

Also included in sight is a mirror in the entryway. Have you ever walked into someone’s home after your hair has been blown every which way on the walk from your car? It’s nice to have a mirror for added reflection in the room, but also so guests can take a peek and see if something needs to be fixed! The little mirrors in the picture below were my solution to the mirror need. I had these tucked away. The bottom mirror is for those my height and the top is for those as tall as my husband, so I’ve think I got it covered!

The last picture is the way I turned both wing back chairs in order to create an entry way. It created conversation seating, and with the ottoman between the chairs and topped with a tray, it provides a place for cups or glasses.

I hope this gives you some good ideas of what you could do to create an inviting space in your entryway! What will you do first? Tell me about it!

Under His feathers,

The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.

What parent is there that would want their child to remain an infant all their life? As cute as our babies are, we rejoice at each step of growth as they mature. In the same way, as we continue on this journey of walking with the Lord, we have learned in our study by Elizabeth George, that we must first have a relationship with God by receiving Christ as our personal Savior. After that, the natural outflow from our spiritual life should be growth.

Elizabeth learned from an older godly woman that in order to go beyond just floating along in our Christian life, we need to dig deeper. The means that she used to do that was:

1. She never bought a skirt or pair of pants without pockets in it. At the beginning of the week she would write a new memory verse on a 3×5 card and would take it out all day long and read it and work on hiding that verse in her heart. What verse are you currently working on memorizing?

2. She had “Five Fat Files.” She purchased five file folders in order to tuck away information on Biblical subject matters. She was to pick five areas in which she wanted to grow in expertise so that she was filling herself up with knowledge in these areas.

   In order for us to follow this advice we need to ask ourselves (and pray about) what we’d like to be known for. Do you want to be known as a woman of prayer? Mentoring? Soul winning? After you’ve chosen your five Biblical topics, seek knowledge in these areas. You’ll then know what subjects to be studying. We can’t read everything, but when we have chosen five areas, we have a better idea of what kind of books we should be looking for. We’ll know which workshops to attend when we go to a ladies’ retreat. We’ll clip articles from magazines on those subjects, or print off information we read on the Internet. We can talk with people who are excelling in those areas and ask them questions.

It really helps to funnel our attention to a much smaller focus, and then to seek knowledge especially in those five areas. How will this aid your spiritual growth? You’ll be anxious to get out of bed in the morning to jump up and get in God’s Word to learn more what He says about those five subjects.

Along with filling your five fat files, Elizabeth encourages us to code our Bibles. If you’re seeking knowledge about prayer, mark a P next to each verse you read about praying, a person who prayed, how to pray, Jesus’ prayers, etc. If you make a study of the Women of the Bible, role of women, older women, place a W beside each passage you find about them. Each day as you read your Bible, read it with a pen in hand; that is an act of faith, revealing that you’re certain the Lord is going to show you a nugget that you need to mark.

This kind of study is the main stream to ministry. As you fill yourself up in these five areas, you’ll be like a teapot jumping on the stove. You’ll be so filled with knowledge from God’s Word that you’ll be pouring out on other people. Like the woman that Elizabeth learned from, women will seek you out to get wisdom from the areas in which you have grown.

So, what kind of ministry will you have from the outflow of your spiritual growth? By His grace, let’s each choose those five areas and start growing!

Because of His grace,

Springtime brings a couple pastor’s conferences for my husband to enjoy. Preachers need preaching to just like we do! He spent a good bit of the last week away from me at The Wilds for their Power in the Pulpit Conference. What a refreshment it was to him!

I wanted to plan a special meal for him to have upon his return home, so I planned this grilled Sirloin with Charred Tomato Salsa. We enjoy grilling steaks, but I typically always make the same Teriyaki Marinade. This recipe is a great change. It tastes healthy and really wakes up a plain ol’ grilled steak! I had a little extra meat and salsa left over – that will make some delicious beef burritos!

Charred Tomato Salsa

1 14.5 oz Can of Fire Roasted tomatoes

1/2 Cup Red onion, thinly chopped

1 tbl red wine vinegar

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Combine ingredients in a bowl. Serve at room temperature with grilled sirloin steak.

I love fresh asparagus, but have never had it fresh from the garden. We have a dear pastor friend who dropped off some for us – wow! What a difference it makes to have it so fresh!

I placed the asparagus on a sheet pan, drizzled it with olive oil, then salt and pepper. Bake it at 400 degrees 6-8 minutes. I like it crisp-tender.

I served a twice baked potato along with it to round out the meal.

For dessert I made Sunflower seed cookies. If you like Pecan Sandies you’ll like these. They’re a little salty mixed with the sweetness of the dough. They’re thin, crispy rounds of goodness!

Sunflower Seed Cookies

1 cup butter or marg., softened

3/4 Cup shortening

2 Cups sugar

1 T water

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 Cup roasted salted sunflower seeds

Cream butter, shortening, and sugar. Add water and vanilla; mix well. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture; mix well. Add sunflower seeds. Shape into 1-inch balls; place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets.

Flattered with a glass dipped in sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes or until lightly browned.

Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Yield: About 10 dozen

I think my husband was pretty glad he came home – even if he did have to grill the steaks!

What’s been cookin’ in your kitchen lately?

With love,

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. Proverbs 22:3

I read through the chapter then he said, “Read the first three verses again.” When I got to verse three he said, “That’s the one I wanted to hear. Isn’t that wise?” We talked about it a minute before we hung up. I’ve meditated on the verse all day.

We can all probably think of people who didn’t obey this instruction, but I wanted to think about some illustrations of people who have done what this verse says.

One perfect example is Joseph in the book of Genesis. When Potiphar’s wife began speaking seductively to him, Joseph, in prudence, ran from her presence. He could see that the end result would be sin and he “hid himself” from it.

Then it also dawned on me that by calling and asking me to read Scripture to him, my husband was putting into practice the wisdom of which this verse speaks He knew that without the Word of God to calm his heart, he would continue in his frustration and anger. Rather than stewing over the stupidity of drivers, he ran to the Wisdom of the Word to redirect His thinking. How wise.

How will you practice prudence today? Guard your heart against sinful reactions. Stay out of places where the end result would be sin. Turn from temptation. Hide yourself from the evil you see ahead of you rather than passing on – oblivious to the danger in your path!

Have a great weekend,