I love old, historic homes and the stories behind them.  While on Edisto Island recently, we took a fabulous tour of Botany Bay.  It was a cotton plantation owned by the Townsend family who were renowned for the quality of their sea island cotton. On this plantation stands the ruins of Sea Cloud, the home of the Townsend’s.  It was a brick, three-story home. The treasured memories of the estate tell of carriages pulling up in front of the estate where people would then head up to the third floor to the ballroom to attend a regal event!

I sat in our car while on our driving tour and envisioned the beautifully dressed men and women waltzing in that ballroom, the women’s long dresses swaying as they danced to the music. I could hear the laughter and chatter, and I smiled at the thought of the memories that house had created for those that lived there or had attended a gala event like we read about in our guide book!

We pulled away from the remains of the house and were headed to the next marked spot on the tour map, when my husband put the car in reverse and returned back to the house’s ruins.  He put the car in park and told me to meet him outside.  When I got to the back of our car, he held his hand out to me, and said,

“Let’s dance.”

My heart leaped.   I took his hand and we did just that  (in our own fumbling style).  No one was anywhere near us and we had the “dance floor” all to ourselves!  We laughed and embraced, and we made a memory, thanks to  Mr. Townsend’s influence!

It might just be one of my favorite memories of our marriage.  Here’s why:

• It reminds me that fun times and special memories don’t require anything but a heart that says, “yes.”  Yes, to your spouse, yes to their whims, yes to their desires, yes, to having fun wherever you are.
• It is a picture of a husband who is willing to humble himself to make a memory for his wife.  My husband is not a dancer, but he was willing to do something that might seem silly, in order to be romantic and create a time we’ll both treasure.
• It wasn’t done in front of anyone to impress anyone; it was just for us.  (Okay, now all of you know about it, but you didn’t see it.  Whew!  That’s a good thing!)
• Memories are about touching the heart, and this one did just that!

I’m not sharing this with you to brag, but to encourage you to do what you can today to create a memory in your marriage.  It doesn’t just happen on vacation, it should and can happen every single day.  Memories are just moments that are captured briefly.  Our little dance only lasted a few minutes, but it will be forever ingrained in my heart.  it’s the little things like

• A wink across the room
• A squeeze of the hand
• Stopping him at the door for a kiss
• “Your” song played and enjoyed in the car or at home
• Seizing the moment when an idea strikes you.
• Impulsively pulling off your path and taking a detour

The Townsend’s gave us a great idea on that day!  Could someone pull up to the memory of your marriage and do something romantic just because of the legacy of a memory you’ve left?  If no one else needs to see this, your children do!

Stir up some fun and a special memory will follow!  Create a marriage memory today!

With love,

Vacation is over for us leaving sand in the floorboard of the car, tan marks on our skin, and a smile in our hearts.  However, I have a few tangible reminders around me of our time away and they are sweet blessings!

Like thousands of other beach combers, I came home with a little stash of beach treasures.  I usually only get one or two shells and tuck it into the car for a sweet remembrance of our time away.  However, this time, I had a bit of a plan in mind of how I’d use some extra shells.  So, as we walked along the seashore, I looked for certain shapes and sizes for my projects.

Before I left for the beach, I had drawn this beach theme on my chalkboard.  Of course the quote I wrote on there isn’t true, but we do love the beach and I thought it communicated that!  I decided I needed to add some shells and also some other touches to complete the “Beachy look” of my mantle.

I found the sign with the starfish on it and the blue conch shell at a cute little gift shop on Edisto Island.

I scattered some of my larger shells on the mantle, below the chalkboard.

I filled a glass jar about 1/3 of the way with sand and added some of the shells I collected, and then I set the jar on top of a small stack of books.  The second book in the stack is my very old copy of “The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore.”  I’ve had that book since my elementary school days! I think it’s called an antique now!

The last use for my shells was for a Christmas ornament.  I saw lots of ornaments like this for sale in high end shops, and decided I could make it for pennies!  I filled a glass ornament (I had purchased some glass ones last year) with a little sand, then added tiny shells that would fit into the opening of the ornament.  After securing the top of the ornament back on, I used a Sharpie and wrote, “Myrtle Beach 2015” on it.  It will be a great reminder at Christmastime of the wonderful vacation we had this year!

I’m thankful that though my vacation to the beach is over, I have pretty reminders of our time away around me in the house.  It makes me smile while I get back into my normal groove once again!

Thanks for coming to take a peek!

With love from my country porch,

When we think about kindness and having an opportunity to serve others, food steps in with an obvious way to be a blessing to an individual or a family  Everyone eats.  Everyone needs food.  Often, however, busyness or distraction, interruptions or complexities of life step in and make it hard for a family to have what they need for a meal.  That’s when you and I have the perfect open door for a heart-touching testimony!

Last weekend when we arrived home from vacation, I walked into my kitchen to the lovely surprise of breakfast foods provided by two individuals.  One purchased Panera Bread baked goods.  Yum!  The other purchased milk, eggs and strawberries.  We had everything we needed for a great breakfast before church because of their thoughtfulness.

Instead of sharing a recipe with you today, I thought I’d share a challenge – look for a way you can use food this week as your open door to have a testimony and an outreach.  Here are a few ideas to get you thinking:

• Bake or buy fresh bread to take to a neighbor you don’t know very well.
• Take a meal to someone who is sick or shut in, or is caring for a loved one in the hospital.
• Buy a favorite beverage for your hair stylist and take it when you get your hair cut.
• Make a pie with local berries and deliver it to new neighbors.

There are lots of other options.  Pray and ask the Lord to help you to be sensitive to the needs around you.

Your kindness might just be the open door to also share the Gospel, and that should be our whole motivation!

Do you have an idea of a way to use food to serve the lost in your realm of influence?

With love form my country kitchen,