Friday Favorites – Fall and Food!

October 14, 2016October 14, 2016 RefreshHerLeave a comment

With fall’s arrival bringing cooler temps and glorious days, I’ve had some incredible views this week. Between the countryside where we live and a visit to a nearby lake, it’s been gorgeous all around me, as you’ll see in the pictures below.

I had some young bakers in the kitchen with me this week. They made sugar cookies in the shapes of leaves and pumpkins. It was as much fun making them as it was eating them!

Also in the pictures below you’ll see my morning Quiet Time place. I love its comfort and soft lights in the early morning. Liza found a comfy spot, too!

The bottom left picture is dinner at our daughter and son-in-law’s home on Sunday. It’s a special joy to have family living here so that we can enjoy church and a meal after! I truly never anticipated living near either of my girls. I just want them to go where God takes them and their husband, but for now our youngest daugher and her husband are here and we’re enjoying it for as long as God will allow. It’s a special treat to have an invitation for Sunday dinner! Both of my girls are great cooks and like to try new recipes. The meal we had last weekend was a new oone she was trying, and it was really yummy!

The other picture was Katie Brown Chicken that I made for my neighbor who had surgery. I love making this to take to people. It’s easy to put together, and it’s a comfort kind of food that’s also good for you!

The pictures below are all from my yard. Fall allows the roses to bloom again without the threat of the beetles! I’m enjoying their beauty!

In the early morning the view out the front windows is breathtaking. There are the cows, the hills, and the mountains with the sun peeking up and bringing with it a fresh, new day!

When I come back in from my morning walk, I love the view of the front porch. The rockers got a fresh coat of paint this week, making them even more inviting to sit and enjoy the views!

How has your fall started out? Have you made any comfort foods or seen anything beautiful in your area?

I pray you’ll have a great weekend. We have a fun activity planned – I can’t wait to participate in it, then share the pictures with you next Friday!

Find a place where you can hear God’s Word being preached and be faithful to go AND to participate in worship this weekend!

Stay refreshed,

home

The Frenzied Result of Living with No Schedule

October 13, 2016October 12, 2016 RefreshHer1 Comment

Earlier this week I wrote about the need to schedule unscheduled time. Today I want to balance the scales. “Crazy” lives can also be a result of little or no planning whatsoever. Women who don’t do the hard work of planning will waste great amounts of energy and time trying to catch up.

We all have “blitz” moments when we’ve lost something, but are you one of those women who regularly feel like you’re on a merry-go-round that’s spinning at 90 miles an hour? Let’s start with some questions. Do you:

Regularly oversleep in the morning because you’re exhausted?
Attend Bible study, Sunday school or work meetings unprepared?
Lose your keys, purse or phone regularly?
Start a Bible reading plan, but then ditch it because you got so behind?
Commit to helping at church, your child’s school or other programs but quit before your time is up?
Make supper plans at the last minute that result in having to run to the store or going out to eat?
Make promises you don’t keep?
Show up late to most scheduled activities?

If the answer to most of these questions is “yes,” it’s very likely because you need a refresher course in planning.

Psalm 90:12 tells us to

“Teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.”

When we really see how short our days on this earth are, we’ll plan and prioritize our time so we’ll live out our life to the fullest, and that comes through careful planning. Planning and scheduling really frees you up to be able to wisely accomplish the most important tasks in an efficient way.

Here are ten things to help get an unscheduled, disorganized person back on track:

Plan to do what is most important first. Prayer and Matthew 6:33 is a great place to start. Write out your list and number according to their priority after you have prayed about your day, asking the Lord to guide you.
Multi-task. While you’re having your morning Bible reading, have a load of laundry in the washer or start the dishwasher. While the iron is heating up, fold the laundry in the dryer. While you’re unloading the dishwasher, meditate on a verse you’re memorizing. While you exercise, listen to a podcast of preaching or exhortation.
Keep a running list on the calendar of all events for the day.
1. Put them on your daily planner.
2. Schedule to leave for any event 15 minutes before the normal time to allow for traffic or accidents.
Keep your menu near the “to-do” list and prep ahead as much as possible.
Delay Social media or Internet until all the prioritized list is finished.
Try to go to bed earlier than normal so you can be rested. (We started this on sabbatical and it has stuck!)
Have a designated place for keys, phone and purse.
Make everyone in your house prep their outfits the night before (you, too!). They should have everything out – underclothes, attire, and both shoes. Back packs, brief cases, or Bibles should be near the door where you’ll exit.
Prep breakfast the night before.
Now you can schedule a day to be unscheduled!

Let’s not huff and puff our lives away because of a lack of planning. Proverbs reminds us that a prudent women foresees evil and hides herself. That just means she looks ahead and anticipates what is coming and prepares for it.

Let’s be prudent and plan with wisdom so we’ll be free rather than frenzied!

P.S. Come Home for Comfort wrote an excellent post about planning ahead with some links to other posts on the same topic. You can read it here.

home · organization

Bathroom Vanity Organization

October 12, 2016October 11, 2016 RefreshHer2 Comments

It always amazes me how just a little organizing can simplify my routines and even put a smile on my face!

Recently while staying away from home, there was a little porcelain dish on the bathroom counter. Each night we were there, I put my contact lens case in that dish. It looked so pretty, and it kept the counter from being cluttered up. I determined when I got home, I would find a little dish where my husband and I could both put our lenses. Here’s what I came up with:

bathroom vanity.jpg It’s actually a tray for keys, but it works well because there’s enough room for two cases. Prior to this, my husband had his lenses case by his sink, and I had mine on the other side and it looked cluttered! This is so much better!

Then there was an issue with my lipsticks. I have a lot of shades, and had to DIG through the drawer to find the one I wanted. I saw a You Tube video where the gal bought a special tray for lipsticks, and while that makes sense, I didn’t want to have to find a place to put another container! Instead I lined them up in the tray I was already using instead of laying them down. I also put them in upside down so the shade is revealed. It works perfectly!

Do you need to add a little organization to your bathroom vanity? Work with what you have first, then add containers if necessary. If your results are like mine, those little efforts will really simplify your morning routine!

Refresh your space!

Christian Life

My Schedule for Today is to be Unscheduled

October 11, 2016October 10, 2016 RefreshHer2 Comments

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Last month when I had the blessing of speaking to a group of pastor’s wives, my subject was on REST. I encouraged them from the life of Jesus who told His disciples in Mark 6:31, where He said,

Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while; for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

We can all push ourselves so hard for so long that we find that we, like the disciples, scarcely have time to sit down for supper! We eat on the run. We try to play catch up with the laundry on Saturday as the mountain of clothes in the hamper resembles that of Mt Everest. We feel deprived of time with our spouse. We haven’t had a whole paragraph of conversation with our kids – only phrases like, “Where’s your homework? “Did you brush your teeth?” and “What time is your game tonight?” Our spiritual life is shallow and leaves only guilt instead of joy and peace.

Something has to give.

The suggestion I’m going to share is one I learned this summer during our sabbatical. It’s one that is harder to do than say, but it’s needed, and may I also add, it’s necessary if we’re to live out fruitful lives for God’s glory.

Schedule unscheduled time.

Sit down with your calendar, a red pen (and your spouse, if you’re married) and find regular times you can be “unscheduled.” I would recommend that you spend these times as a family or just as a couple. It doesn’t have to be a whole week or weekend – it could be just one whole day. But take that red pen and put a big red “X” over at least one day every couple of weeks where you are

unreachable,

uncommitted,

and

unscheduled.

Try to stay unconnected while you’re away, meaning don’t plug into the Internet. Don’t text with friends. Don’t send emails. Instead, try to:
Rest – Sleep in. Take a nap. Go to bed early
Play – Have fun! Play games. Go to a concert. Enjoy a snack. Take a drive.
Read God’s Word
Write in your journal
Spend time in prayer
Make meals easy if you’re at home or staying somewhere where you still need to prepare meals.
Work on a project that is different from your normal tasks; work on a hobby you enjoy, for example.

Even just a day away from your normally hectic routine will energize you and help you to be ready to return to the demands that await you. After Jesus and His disciples returned from their rest, Jesus was immediately moved with compassion on the crowd that met Him because they were as sheep having no shepherd. We, too, will have a renewed love to minister to those in our lives after we’ve taken time to schedule being unscheduled.

Do you need to mark out a day in red ink? Ask the Lord how, where and when, then do it!

Appetizer · entertaining

Cheesy Artichoke Appetizer

October 10, 2016October 8, 2016 RefreshHer4 Comments

artichoke-dip-1 — I failed to get a picture before I put this out for my guests. I stepped out to snap a photo and this is all that was left!!! That’s a good sign! You need to make this!

Rarely ever do we order an appetizer when we go out to eat, but if there IS something we’ve ordered on those rare occasions, it is a Spinach Artichoke Dip. Served with warm tortillas, it’s easy to make a meal out of it!

When you find a recipe that tastes every bit as good as your restaurant favorite, and is super simple to assemble, you know you’ve hit on something dangerously wonderful. It’s dangerous because you know you shouldn’t eat it too often, but it’s wonderful because you have the chance to make it anyway!!

I served this last weekend at my Fall Party and it was a huge hit. If you’re going to be entertaining this fall, you really should add this to your menu.

I love having an appetizer for my guests when they arrive so they have something they can nibble on while I put the finishing touches on the meal. It just seems to make gathering together warmer and more inviting if there’s a hot, bubbly dip ready to greet everyone! The ingredients are few and simple! You can serve this with tortilla chips, crackers, or toasted bread.

Artichoke Dip

2 Cups grated Parmesan cheese

2 Cups Mozzarella cheese

1 Cup mayonnaise

2 cloves garlic, minced

16 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and finely chopped

¼ Cup green onion, chopped

Combine all ingredients, except onion. Mix thoroughly. Place in an 8×8 baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Sprinkle with green onion. Serve warm.

artichoke-dip-2

This is good stuff, folks! It even warms up great if you happen to have any left over (good luck with that one!).

With love from my country kitchen,