A Peek into My Life This Week

Seven years ago was when I learned about Apples Of Gold Nurturing Ministry.  I was “gung-ho” and ready to begin it from the moment I learned about it!  But the timing wasn’t right.  There were many needs God had to provide to make it happen. Waiting for the Lord to bring to pass a burden on your heart is far better than pushing and making it happen yourself!

Yesterday began our first Apples Of Gold class and we had a FANTASTIC time together.  As I opened our time in prayer, I couldn’t help but weep, remembering how I’d prayed for this.  My heart was overflowing with joy.

All the mentors were at my house early to pray together and get in their places.  One was at the door, one was at the sink for clean-up duty, and one was ready to greet the younger women when they got into the kitchen.

click on the picture to enlarge

1.  I can’t tell you the joy it was to my heart to have those women surround the counter as we chatted and cooked. We shared our tips and secrets for meal-planning, knife sharpening, scone-making, pineapple cutting, and on and on for an hour.

2.  The two ladies standing were two of the mentors who were at my elbow, whisking my dirty prep dishes away, handing me things I needed for the recipe and checking on food that was cooking.  Talk about a blessing!  They were such a huge help!

3.  This lady was on dish-washing duty.  What a worker!

4.  The other mentor taught our lesson on kindness.  The teacher in her jumped out and lovingly lead the ladies through the Scriptures and encouraged them in displaying kindness to a world that needs the Savior.

I have a bunch more pictures from the day, but I just wanted to highlight our time together.  If you’re not involved in mentoring a younger woman, perhaps it’s something the Lord will tug at your heart about as He did mine seven years ago.  What a blessing to serve the Lord as we serve these sweet young women!  Ask the Lord how you could get involved in a younger woman’s life and see what He will do!

Would you mind to answer two questions for me today?  
1.  Have you ever been mentored?
2.  What hinders you from mentoring a younger woman?

With love from my country porch,

The car engine starts, the garage door opens, and your husband’s car is headed out the driveway…again. How you miss being with him, and dread yet another day apart.

 As you know, I have a daughter who is a newlywed.  It’s so sweet to see their new home established and the love they share.  I see myself in her and I recall the wonder of being able to be with my husband all the time.  What a blessing it was for us after being separated by three hours!  I was so thankful to be with him constantly!  But after the honeymoon, life stepped in; we each had ministries, jobs and responsibilities.  We couldn’t be together every minute.  There are some days we only see each other a matter of an hour or so, depending on the demands in our life.

One day the Lord reminded me that rather than feeling an emptiness when we were apart, I could go to the Lord in prayer for my  husband, and it brought us “together!”  There’s no way I could always know what my husband needed (even when we were together), but when I went to the Lord and prayed that God would be His all that day, or when I asked God to provide His need, to guard his heart, to give him wisdom for decisions he needed to make, God did for him what I could not.

Then, I found a verse in Proverbs that helped me to add another request to my prayers.  Verse 20 says,

I found a great deal on Chuck Roasts at Sam’s a couple weeks ago and was so excited about having roast for Sunday dinner!  I found a great recipe from Taste of Home with a marinade that flavors the meat, and also makes a wonderful gravy to serve with the meal. Roast + Gravy = a great combination for a  Sunday dinner!  

Marinated Chuck Roast
Ingredients
1/2 cup orange juice
  3 tablespoons soy sauce
  3 tablespoons brown sugar
  1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  1 boneless beef chuck roast (3 to 4 pounds)

Directions
In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the orange juice, soy sauce, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce; add the roast. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Pour the marinade into a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes. Add roast to the pan. Cover and bake at 325° for 3 to 3-1/2 hours or until the meat is tender. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Thicken juices for gravy if desired. Yield: 8-10 servings.

The gravy is rich and delicious!

Oven Roasted Red Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic
1 1/2 lb small new red potatoes (about 15), scrubbed and dried
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4-6   cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
kosher salt
pepper

Directions
Pare a narrow strip of peel from the middle of each potato.  In a large bowl mix the oil, garlic, and rosemary; add the potatoes and toss well.  Then season vegetables with kosher salt and pepper.  Transfer the potatoes to a shallow baking pan and roast at 350 degrees until potatoes are tender when tested with the tip of a knife.  Serve hot.

Field Salad with Grapes, Snow Peas and Feta

Ingredients

5 tablespoons white wine vinegar
5 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 cups gourmet salad greens
2 cups snow peas, trimmed and cut lengthwise into thin strips
2 cups seedless red grapes, halved
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

Preparation

Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle dressing over salad; toss well.

What did you have for Sunday dinner?  Will you try any of these recipes?

With love from my country kitchen,