Christian Life

Choose Gratitude

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I had been standing in the condo kitchen for about an hour packing up dishes because, in answer to months of praying, my mother-in-law’s condo has sold! So my house isn’t the only place I’m packing! We now are in the throes of packing up what seems to be a mountain of books, a city of dishes, and a nation of pictures at the condo!

I thought I was finally nearing the end of all the kitchenware when I dared open a cabinet door as suspiciously as a mouse entering a room full of cats. When the light hit the inside, it bounced off of a whole cabinet of Corning ware. I groaned – not just inwardly, but out loud. “You have got to be kidding me! Who needs this much Corning ware?!” My complaint ricocheted off the condo walls and echoed in my ears. More importantly, it hit my heart. I knew then it was the Holy Spirit’s conviction. The words in my heart were His whispers –

“If the condo hadn’t sold, you wouldn’t have to be packing all these dishes. This is all due to your prayers being answered.”  “Oh, Lord, forgive my complaints. You are so good, and I will choose instead to be grateful for all You are doing in our lives.”

For the rest of the time I worked, I purposefully chose gratitude, thinking about the joy of this need being taken care of. What’s a little more newsprint on my hands? So what if it takes a couple more days? God did this, and I will be glad! It’s amazing how my perspective changed the afternoon.

Have you found yourself complaining and groaning in your spirit today? What’s causing it? Is it the mountain of laundry? The attitudes of your little ones? The sleepless night? The load on you at work? An unreasonable boss? Start thanking God for that thing instead and watch it change your heart and the situation!

With love (and a stack of happy boxes),

moving

A Peek Inside the Parsonage

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The countdown is now to 2 1/2 weeks before we move. What have we been up to in the parsonage? Lots of this:

What have I learned so far in preparing to move?

  • It’s important to stay focused. Make a plan. Start with your moving date, then move backwards on the calendar. Decide what you’ll do each day so you’ll be ready for the Big Moving Day!
  • Everything you touch requires a decision – 
    • Do I love this enough to pack it? – I’m finding that sentimental things that I’ve saved, are just packed away taking up space. The older I get, the more need I see to snap a picture, then get rid of it. I have the memory and that will last as long the Lord allows me to think clearly. After that I don’t guess it will matter. =)
    • Could someone else use it more than I will?
    • Does it need to be thrown away?
  • Use heavy black trash bags to discard things (that way the sentimental crowd in your house can’t see what’s inside!). I’m not sneaky about what I get rid of – I always ask permission, but I know it’s better if he doesn’t have to see it heading out the door. It’s far less painful!
  • Get to the stores early in the morning to gather boxes that haven’t been torn down. Having to tape boxes together adds time and money to your preparations to move.
  • A friend told me to wrap dishes in clean t-shirts to avoid having to wash the dishes once we arrive at our new home. I’m planning on doing just that. If I run out of t-shirts, we’ll use towels.
  • Clean the things you’re keeping as you go along. Dust the pictures, polish the silver tray, clean the mirror. That way everything is sparkling and ready to be placed in your new home.
  • Wipe down the cabinets as you empty them so you won’t have to do that on your last day. You can stay focused on the large areas of the home instead.
  • Wait on the Lord to direct you to the place to which you’re to move. Then you’ll LOVE your house and all this intense work will be much more pleasurable! That is certainly the case for me!
We got to go inside the house again yesterday to walk through with the inspector. My heart was doing cartwheels as I walked through each room. “God did this!” was my heart’s cry. None but God could have given us the design and floor plan that is so perfect for our needs. I took out a list that I’d made when we first started looking at houses. This house has everything that was on that list and then some! How good is our God? As we would say in East Tennessee – He’s Extra good!

What tips do you have for moving? I’m all ears!

With love from the parsonage windows (for two more weeks)

evangelism · salvation

Reaching Out or Resisting?

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We were seated in our pew at church, this unsaved girl and me. As we sat there, I thought back to how we’d met just a few days before at a restaurant. My husband and I had joined friends for an evening refreshment. She was an employee who was working the dining area and we struck up a conversation with her. She told us of many mission trips she’d gone on and the life-changing events that they were to her. My husband then asked her our favorite question to learn a person’s spiritual condition; “Who is Jesus to you?” Her answer?  “I’m not a Christian. I think Jesus was a figment of people’s imagination, created to help them deal with morality.” We were all taken back a bit, to be honest, but were thankful for this young woman’s transparency. She wasn’t belligerent or hateful; just honest. Oh, the Scriptures that came to all of our hearts…

II Corinthians 4:4 
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 

I Corinthians 15:6
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

It was late and the restaurant was ready to close, so we ended our conversation with an invitation to our church. How we all prayed for her through Saturday and Sunday morning!

Then, glory to God, she walked in the door for the Sunday school hour! I rejoiced as I watched our church family welcome her and bring her in. The Sunday school hour being ended, it was now that I’m brought back to her presence on the pew beside me.

This was the Sunday of the month that we would take of the Lord’s Supper. I’ve always loved this time to reflect on Christ’s sacrifice for me. This Sunday, however, I was sharply aware of how great a gift my salvation truly is. As the communion bread was brought to my pew, the deacon lowered the plate for me, I took my piece. Then, not knowing her spiritual condition, he extended the plate past me to my visitor. From my peripheral view I watched her hands go up in refusal. It was the right response, because she’s not a believer, but my heart ached for her. She did not want any bread, but she was also saying so many other things when her hand went up. My heart truly hurt for her. 

“You don’t want Jesus as your Savior? You don’t want the free gift of salvation? You don’t want to be right with God? You don’t want Him to guide you all your life and make sense of all in this world that is senseless?”

It made me think of my own hands. Though so undeserving, when I reached out to the Lord, He took me in! He accepted me and forgave me and He died for me! As I took of the bread and then the cup, I was aware of my own unworthiness, but the huge gift that I’d received the day I opened my hands to Jesus. He was broken for me; He bled for me and in taking that symbol I was preaching the message that Jesus said we’d proclaim each time we “did this in remembrance of Him” – For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. I Cornthians 11:26

Dear friend, I pray you’ve reached your hands out to the Lord Jesus, but if you haven’t, He died for you and loved you before you were ever born. Don’t resist Him today. Reach out and accept His gift of salvation that He paid for with His very life.

With love,

main dish · Side dish

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

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Country home!

This is the backyard of my soon-to-be new home.  I’m loving the thought of being out in the country!  As I was typing the title of today’s post, I realized that this title will need to change soon!  I think I will change it to, “What’s Cookin’ in the Country?” Or maybe, “What’s Cookin’ in my Country Kitchen?”  Yep, I like the sound of that!  Even more, I love the thought of it!!!!!!  I’m getting geared up for this move and am so excited about all that the Lord has done and is doing for us!  It’s been a roller coaster ride, and a long one at that, but He has been faithful, as He said He would be. 

Deuteronomy 7:9 
Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.


Yesterday’s Sunday dinner was just the two of us. After a very busy week, it was kind of nice to be alone and a little slower paced.   I tried two new recipes that were a hit with the parson!  Here was the menu:

Italian Seasoned Chicken Breasts
Mashed Potato Casserole
Fried Green Tomatoes


Mashed Potato Casserole

Let’s start with the potatoes because who doesn’t love a great potato dish?  This potato dish from Cooking Light is a fantastic way to make mashed potatoes on Sunday because they can be made the day before.  These are DELICIOUS!


Mashed Potato Casserole
1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 1/2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
3/4 cup (6 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
Cooking spray
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
4 green onions, thinly sliced

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Place potatoes, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large saucepan, and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.
3. Place a food mill over a large bowl, and place potato mixture in food mill. Press mixture through food mill into bowl. Stir in reserved 1/2 cup cooking liquid, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, and cream cheese.
4. Spoon potato mixture into an 11 x 7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
5. Preheat broiler.
6. Combine Parmigiano-Reggiano and panko; sprinkle evenly over top of potatoes. Broil 4 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with onions.
Note:

Make-ahead tip: Assemble this dish a day ahead, and bake shortly before serving

Italian Seasoned Chicken Breasts


I’m not sure what makes this Italian, but I do know what makes it good…all the herbs and lemon!  You mix up rosemary, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice salt (I didn’t have the fennel seeds) and olive oil and tuck this under the skin of the chicken breasts and let them roast.  Makes it very flavorful.  I had all kinds of pan juices and I served it with the chicken.  Makes it nice and moist!

The “before” picture!

Italian Seasoned Roast Chicken Breasts

Ingredients
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 bone-in chicken breast halves (about 3 pounds)

Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Combine first 8 ingredients in a bowl, stirring well. Loosen skin from chicken by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat. Rub rosemary mixture under loosened skin over flesh; rub over top of skin. Place chicken, bone side down, on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Coat skin lightly with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 35 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of the breast registers 155°. Remove chicken from pan; let stand for 10 minutes.
Nutrition Note: Since chicken breast meat is low in calories and saturated fat, you can eat the skin and still keep saturated fat within allowable limits. If you like dark meat, which is higher in saturated fat, remove and discard the skin.

I don’t have a recipe for my Fried Green Tomatoes – I just dipped them in egg wash, then seasoned flour and cooked them in a little cooking spray and oil.  Yummmmmmmm!

Let me close by asking you two questions:
What was cooking in your kitchen?  How have you seen God’s faithfulness in recent days?

From my parsonage kitchen,

breakfast · school

Freshen Up Friday

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It’s hard to believe, but school is starting for many children in the next few days. Oh, where or where did the summer go? To ease the distress in your child’s heart about the end of summer and perhaps ease the anxiety, how about some good ideas to get off to a good start and freshen up your first day of school?
  • Bake up something special for the First Day of School breakfast! How about homemade Pop Tarts? These are extraordinary and will be lots tastier than any boxed convenience!
  • Take your child shopping for a new notebook, pencils/pens and erasers. Even homeschoolers would enjoy a lunchbox. Buy one that’s thermal for those times you’re on the road to lessons or co-op classes.
  • Plan for special lunches – not expensive Lunchables, but how about these adorable Muffin Tin lunches?
  • Make out a morning schedule and talk with your children about it. Be excited about getting off to a good start with a plan that will help everyone to start the day on time. Here’s an idea to help you get started.
  • How about a new pair of shorts or a special shirt or dress for the first day of school? Nothing like looking your best to help your child work well!
  • Take First Day of School photos before school. Make it an annual event!
Freshen up the First Day of School jitters and dreads by adding one or more of these elements to your child’s day!

Another thought would be to choose a theme for this school year; perhaps Servanthood or Compassion. Focus on that all year. Memorize a theme verse on that theme. Learn the biblical definition of the word. Sing songs, read passages in the Bible and stories of others that exemplified that character trait. Make this a year of spiritual growth in the lives of your children!

What special idea do you implement to help the First Day of School go well? I’d love to hear!

See you in church Sunday! Let’s be even more faithful to our local church than we are to getting our kids to school!

Be refreshed,