I’ve enjoyed seeing the Facebook posts on people’s walls of their year in review.  It’s followed by saying, “It’s been a great year; thanks for being a part of it.”  Hmmmm, what did my year look like?

Last January I chose the word, “JOY” to be my word for the year.  I can’t say that joy typified me, but I tried to come to choose joy in my circumstances, though there were some hard times!

February brought one of those “hard times,” as we dealt with the near head-on car accident of our daughter and soon-to-be son-in-law.

We saw God’s sovereign hand protecting and caring for them as He miraculously guided them safely out of the clutches of death.  We praise His name for His protection, and all that we learned through this trial!

Our annual trip to The Wilds for the ladies’ retreat took place in April.  We were challenged and refreshed as we listened to Barb Leatherwood share from her cancer experiences.  It was a blessing, as always!

The highlight of my year had to be when my neighbor trusted Christ as her Savior in early May as we finished up week three of The Exchange.  Oh, the joy of seeing her bow her head to receive Him!!!

Of course the other joy in May was the wedding of Alli and Andrew!  All our family was here to see them get married!  What a blessing!

May also found us at our favorite place…the beach!  How many days ’til we return?  =)

In June we had the privilege of attending a Spiritual leadership conference in California.  We came home encouraged, refreshed spiritually and with a fresh perspective of where our ministry needed to head.  How thankful we are that our church provided so we could attend!

June also brought our 32nd anniversary.  The years are flying by!  I’m blessed to be married to Dale; He is God’s gift to me!

The months of June and July were busy with the first Apples of Gold Class.  Six younger women met for six weeks with four of us older women to be taught cooking skills and biblical principles for being a godly woman.  I’m not sure who enjoyed it more – the younger women or the older!  Can’t wait to do it again!

We had the blessing of hosting a Five-Day Bible Club at our house in August.  What a joy to see these little ones being taught the truths of God’s Word!  It opened up the opportunity to host a weekly Bible Club later in the year with my two next door neighbor children.

In August, one of my most read posts was written.  It was entitled, World’s Worst Mom.  We all feel that describes us on one day or another, right?  Maybe it will encourage you today.  You can find it here. 

September brought my birthday and my sweet husband’s care and love demonstrated on that special day with breakfast in bed!

Another popular post occurred in October, when I wrote about something near to my heart – the importance of family mealtimes together.  If you didn’t read it you’ll find it here.

In the cool fall months I enjoyed getting to snuggle in on those first few snowy days we enjoyed and shared the warmth of our home with the one I love most.

November also brought the opportunity to share Thanksgiving with my family in KY ~ a privilege I never take for granted!

December found us travelling to be a part of the Mission Teen Retreat in Spain.  It was wonderful beyond my expectations to be able to participate in this event!  I’m so thankful to the Lord for allowing me the privilege to serve Him there!

We ended the year with our girls and their husbands in our home to celebrate Christmas together for the first time!  We had a great time of fellowship, worship and laughter.  How blessed we are!

Thank you, my readers, for hanging out with me this past year, and for reminiscing with me today at God’s goodness in 2014.  I praise Him – the Giver of every perfect gift that comes from above!  To Him be the praise and glory for it all!

From my country porch,

I married a guy whose middle name is spontaneity.  His idea of planning ahead is figuring out what you’re going to do in the next hour and making preparations in about 45 minutes.

He married a planner.  I like everything penciled into my planner book ahead of time…way ahead of time.  I enjoy anticipating the event and preparing for it early enough that I can think it through ` a lot.  We’re an interesting mix.

I would guess that there’s one planner and one spontaneous person in your marriage, too.  The Lord knows we need one another to balance the other out.  He needs my planning skills, and I need to relax a bit.

With the new year just before us, I have begun to think a bit about next year as a married couple.  I’m making some plans ~ such as:

Happy Monday after Christmas! Are you as ready as I am to eat “normal” again?  Well, if you happen to have an extra can of Cranberry sauce leftover from your festivities, you must pour it over chicken or pork and make this dish!  I did it in the crock pot for Sunday dinner and it was great!  Not too caloric or fattening, but plenty heavy on flavor ~ you’ll love it!

Cranberry Chicken
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp orange zest
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
I also added about 1/2 cup of chicken broth to the crock pot

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place chicken in greased 13  9 x 2 inch baking dish.  Bake for 20 minutes.  While chicken is cooking, combine remaining ingredients.  Spoon cranberry mixture over chicken.  Return to oven for 20 – 25 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.

Do you have any clever uses for holiday food items?

With love from my country kitchen,

I love so much about this time of year ~ the joy of the Story of Christ’s birth and God’s promise fulfilled in His Son, time with family, lights, music, traditions, parties, good food and special treats…it’s all so special.

This week has been brimming with all those things.  Let me give you a little peek…

Click on pictures to enlarge

1.  Bible club – We had a Birthday Party for Jesus yesterday.  We had Christmas tree cakes and hot chocolate after rehearsing the Christmas story with flannel graph and singing the new song they’d learned.  What a joy this is to my heart each week!

2.  After Bible club we headed to Pigeon Forge for the afternoon.  We’re blessed to  be less than two hours from the fun of this mountain vacation spot.  This picture was in the Old Mill area ~ a favorite spot of ours.

3.  This picture was taken on a little dinner date we had earlier this week.

4.  We spent a short time at Dollywood yesterday ~ before the rains came!  Then it was too cool and wet to enjoy the park, so we opted for the lights in town in a nice, dry car!  This was the tree at the main fountain.

5.  We had dinner with Alli and Andrew at Apple Barn before our Dollywood adventure.  That was a  fun time with a delicious meal and great company!

6.  This adorable mouse (or is it a bear?) was outside the Apple Barn.  Too cute!  The large picture was in the same area.

7.  Love the red berries and the bird house outside the Apple Barn.

There was beauty everywhere we went.  What a fun week this has been!  And today’s Christmas Eve!  It’s also my dad’s birthday ~ another special reason to celebrate!  I’m praying you enjoy this special day and the one to follow tomorrow.  God bless you, my blog readers as you rejoice in our Savior’s birth!

Merry Christmas!

From my country porch,

Soooo, how’s your holiday preparation coming?  As I admitted last week, I’ve felt quite behind after being away, but I had the blessing of help in the kitchen yesterday!  Alli offered to come over and help me so I could be free to enjoy this week.

We had so much fun in the kitchen together!  It reminded me of all the years in the past baking with my girls; sprinkles and flour flying faster than glitter in a snow globe!  Baking with someone else just makes it so much more fun!

It make take you longer, and it may make a bigger mess for you if you let your little children help you, but those cookies decorated with their little hands will taste the best!  The dough they roll out will be the prettiest because they will have created a memory snapshot in their heart and in yours!

As you finish up your preparations this week, be sure not to let the stress of all you have to do rob you of time to create special moments with your children.  When they’re grown like mine are, you’ll welcome them back into the kitchen where you’ll laugh at the funny things that happened when they were small.  The warmth in your kitchen will be from something far more special than the 350 degree oven; it will come from what you shared together during their childhood.

Make time to create memories this week!

With love and a sprinkling of colored sugars,