Think back on the past week. How many times in the last seven days have you waited on/for something? I’ve waited in traffic, in line at the store, for a phone call, for a prescription to be filled, for something in the oven to finish baking, to be served at a restaurant, and on and on it could go. Waiting isn’t something most of us enjoy doing, is it?

Are you at the present moment waiting on the Lord for anything? Perhaps you’re waiting on Him to provide a need, move in the heart of someone to be saved, change the habit of your mate, or heal an illness. This list, too, could go on and on.

When you read the Psalms you read the words, “wait on thee” over and over. You are not the only one who has or is waiting on God. While we wait, we can ask ourselves a few questions – such as:

1. How do I wait? Psalm 25:21 says, Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee. We wait with integrity and uprightness. Integrity is adherence to moral character. We find the moral will of God in His commandments; the things He tells us to do. Therefore, while I wait, I must continue to obey the Lord and do all He tells me in His Word. Uprightness is to be in accord with what is right – so, again, we are reminded we are to do right while we wait. Don’t cave in! Don’t throw your hands up in despair! Don’t bail out! Wait and trust that God will do what He says He will do. Waiting isn’t passive.
   

   G. Campbell Morgan said, Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means, first, activity under command; second, readiness for any new command that may come; third, the ability to do nothing until the command is given.

2. Why do I wait? Psalm 59:9 Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence. I wait because I know He is able to fulfill all He says he will.
   

3. In whom do I wait? Psalm 39:7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee. He will not fail, forget, or flee. No one else could fulfill what He can do! Therefore, we wait on Him.
   

4. What is the result of waiting? Psalm 52:9 I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints. Waiting on God and seeing Him fulfill His promise to us gives us a testimony of His provision. We can say to others, “Look what God did! Only He could have brought this to pass!” It indeed is good before the saints! Don’t you just love testimony time when you can hear how God worked mightily in the lives of His children?
   

   In just the past week I’ve seen God move in the hearts of people I’ve been praying for, provide a need for me, and supply our Faith promise offering. That’s why I wait! Because God can do anything but fail. The result of waiting is that God takes the test and give us a testimony!

While you wait on the Lord, Friend, remind yourself of the how, why, who, and what that is able to do exceeding, abundantly, above all you ask or think!

Do you have a testimony that resulted from waiting on the Lord? I’d love to hear about it!

With love,

One of the sweet little girls at my church told me Sunday, “Tomorrow is the first day of spring!” “Well,” I said, “it’s the first day of March, but I don’t think it is also the first day of spring.” “Yes it is” she answered. “Oh, okay!” I said, realizing how much we’d all love for that to be true!

What do we do in March? Hope for spring’s arrival. While we wait, we can be doing a few things to be ready when it does pop its glorious head into our windows. How about:

• Get your carpets cleaned.
• Wash the winter grime off the windows so the sun can shine brightly through it.
• While you’re at the window, take the curtains down and either vacuum them or wash them.
• Paint! Is there a room or two that needs a brightening up? Head to Lowe’s and find a few paint colors you like, then get to it.
• Lighten up your decorating. Get rid of the dark pillows or throws and replace them with your lighter weight and colors to brighten up each room.
• Swap out flowers – get some spring bouquets to replace the winter flowers. Even buying a bunch of fresh flowers at the grocery will perk up your kitchen table or living room. Ingles has bunches for $2.50 this week!
• Clean out closets so you’ll be ready to hang your spring things up.
• Finish any inside projects you have before it gets pretty and you want to be outside instead of in the house!

Proverbs 31:27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

If you need some help and inspiration to clean, go to this link. There are all kinds of helpful ideas and tools to get you motivated – even if your house is a disaster at this moment. She’ll help you take it one step at a time.

Ecclesiastes 12:13,114 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

I found a new game that I LOVE because I enjoy word games. It’s called Scrabble Slam. I found it at Target for $5.24. If you go here you can get a $4 coupon! That’s some cheap fun to entertain you and your family while we wait for spring to come! My husband doesn’t much care for the game, because we played it last night and well… you know! 🙂

Proverbs 2;3-5 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

I love the fresh taste that orange peel adds to food, but it is expensive. I bought some really good oranges this week and before eating each one, I grated the rind before peeling it. If you add a teaspoon to muffin mix or fresh fruit salad,, it really gives it a fresh flavor. I’m thinking even chocolate cake or brownie batter would be good with the granted rind added to it!

I grate the rind, then put it into a storage bag and put it in the freezer to keep it fresh. You can just take out what you need.

Proverbs 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

If we do what we’re supposed to do, when we’re supposed to do it, we would get ourselves in a whole lot less trouble. Have you ever found yourself not doing what you were supposed to? We all have.

In preparation for our monthly Bible study, I recently read II Samuel 11 where it says that David sent Joab and his servants forth to battle,

I can just see him meandering around the beautiful home in which he lived. Everyone was gone. It was quiet. He had time to rest. Verse two says he got up off his bed and walked upon the roof. He shouldn’t have been strolling, he should have been fighting! But now, because he was in a place where he shouldn’t have been, he found himself doing something he shouldn’t have done – he looked upon his neighbor, Bathsheba, washing herself. He lusted after her and had her brought to the palace where he had an immoral affair with her. The consequences of this tarrying were many; the last was the death of his child that Bathsheba conceived. I wonder if David ever thought to himself, “If only I’d have gone with my men like I should have, none of this would have happened.”

This Scripture was part of our Bible study about looking after our home and not being idle. We can certainly apply this to being busy with the household chores, for they are certainly necessary and needful, but I’d like for us to think about other areas in which we are tempted to be idle instead of vigilant.

If we have children it can certainly be a temptation to “send them on” while we tarry. Perhaps we send them to their room to play because we are tired of their bickering. When it’s nice outside we may, in a moment of frustration plead, “Just go out and play!” After a battle of obedience we may tarry in punishment when we see our child doing again what he just got in trouble for ten minutes ago. We look the other way to avoid having to go through this all again.

Teenagers can make us want to tarry. For fear of what we may find, or because we don’t know how to handle it, many parents choose to remain comfortably at home while their teen is fighting the battle with drugs, peer pressure, or inappropriate relationships.

Oh parents, can I encourage you to get in the middle of the battle with your children? Stay after the discipline while they’re young. It may wear you out now, but it’s far better than them having to pay a high price for their rebellious spirits when they’re older. When there is strife between your children, take time to teach them how to biblically respond to one another. You need to stay connected with your teenagers too. Establish a Facebook profile so you can be your child’s “friend” and check on them. See who their other friends are and what they’re posting on the Internet! I do not apologize for doing this. I wanted to know what was going on in my girls’ lives, and this was one way I did that. I care enough to jump into the battle, and not tarry so I can pretend that everything’s okay. You may be saving them from destroying their lives. One prayer I prayed often when our girls were home was, “Lord, help me to know when I need to go to them and interrupt whatever they’re doing.” You can’t imagine how many times the Lord answered that prayer. How thankful I was for the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Another area in which we can’t be idle is in our marriage. We must remain active. Guard your relationship. Pour your time into nurturing it. Guard your own heart against improper relationships with other men. Don’t put yourself in a place where you shouldn’t be.

Don’t tarry. Stay in the battle and fight for your home life.

With love,

How thankful I am for Sundays! What a blessing it is to get to go to God’s house, praise Him, fellowship with believers, and have a day that’s different from every other day of the week. Sunday is the Sabbath and the Lord made it for us.

As I was having my devotions on Saturday I read in Luke 4:16 – And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day… Our sabbath is now on Sunday because that was the day the Lord rose from the tomb and we go to praise our risen Savior! But still, it was Jesus’ habit to be in the synagogue on the sabbath. Is it our habit too? Is the entire day the Lord’s? Do we use the day as it was created? As I studied this passage I was challenged to make a change or two in what I do on that day to make it more of what the Lord intended. In truth, it can be a very busy day for us, so I’m endeavoring, with the Lord’s help to smooth some things out so it can be what the Lord desires. I trust your Lord’s day was a wonderful one!

Our Sunday school class had their monthly lunch at church yesterday. Our theme was Italian food. When I went to sign up for what to bring, there were already many bringing main dishes, so I decided to try my hand at making homemade French loaves to contribute to the meal. The recipe I found was very easy, fat free, and probably cost me pennies to make. Oh, and you can have fresh, hot bread in two hours!

I buy the 25 pound bag of bread flour at Sam’s and the large package of yeast, which is the much cheaper way to go. Here’s the recipe:

2 Tbl. active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
4-1/2 to 5 cups bread flour
1 tsp. cornmeal

In large bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water. I use a thermometer to make sure the temperature is correct.

Add the salt, sugar and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.

I have the blessing of having a bread hook for my Kitchen Aid, so I use it instead of kneading it, but it should look like this…

Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Here’s the dough after rising:

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape into 12 in-long loaves.

Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Sprinkle with cornmeal. With a sharp knife, make four shallow slashes across the top of each loaf. Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

What do you do to make the Sabbath day special, and make it a day of rest? What was cooking in your kitchen this weekend?

Love,

I have a huge collection of cookbooks and I use many of them, but my all-time favorite is one I got several years ago. It’s a collection of recipes from Cooking Light. The reason I love their recipes is because they use “real” ingredients, not substitutions, only they use less of those good things, and the recipes are all delicious! The light part comes from a reduction of the fat. I figure any little bit I can cut out of our diet will only help, right?

A couple days ago I made an Espresso Walnut Cake from Cooking Light. It was moist, cinnamony (new word!), and so yummy! It’s great for dessert or brunch.

Ingredients
Cooking spray
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon instant espresso or 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules, divided
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs
2/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt – I used light sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray, and dust with 2 teaspoons flour.
Combine brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon espresso granules in a small bowl.

Place the butter in a large microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave at HIGH for 1 minute or until butter melts. Add granulated sugar, stirring with a whisk. Add eggs; stir well. Stir in yogurt, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Lightly spoon 1 1/3 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add flour and 2 teaspoons espresso powder, stirring just until blended (do not over stir).

Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan, and sprinkle with half of the brown sugar mixture. Carefully spread remaining batter over brown sugar mixture, and sprinkle with remaining brown sugar mixture.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Cut into squares.

This is so good with a cup of coffee! Try this for Saturday breakfast. Your family will wander in from their sleep when they smell this baking in the oven!

Here’s another great recipe for honey and spice pork chops. I served it for supper with mashed potatoes, apples, peas and homemade bread. We loved it!

Happy Cooking and baking,