Recently as I talked with a godly friend about a very difficult situation in which she is living, she asked me to pray for her because she would have to be up at 4:30 the next morning to prepare for work.  Alarmed at the hour, I asked her why she was going in so early. 

“Well, I have to be there at 6:30,” and then she stated not in a way to impress, but just as a matter of fact, “If I’m to have my time with the Lord before I leave, I must get up then.” 

Her comment about spending time in God’s Word and in prayer made it evident that it wasn’t something she tacked onto her morning, if she found the time.  She was making sure she got up, because she knew that there was no way she could get through the day without spending time with God!  This is how my friend is handling her stressful situation.  This is why she’s not falling apart.

We prepare and make plans for lots of events.  Perhaps you’re now in the process of planning for a wedding, for Thanksgiving dinner, a big vacation in the near future, or even what you’ll wear tomorrow.  Are you preparing and planning how you’ll grow in your relationship with the Lord with as much earnestness and effort?  Or is it just another thing tacked onto your day if  you get around to it?  Let me encourage you to do what my friend is doing and plan ahead.  Strategize and think through how, when and what you’ll do as you dig into God’s Word tomorrow.

Here’s what I’m currently doing:

• In March I began reading the Bible through in a year using an app on my phone with You Version. I’m reading a blended reading plan.  Right now I’m reading the psalms and Acts.
• I journal short bulleted notes as the Lord speaks to me from His Word.
• I also read the Proverb for the day of the month
• Psalm 54 – I read the psalm of my age every day.  I’m also memorizing it.
• Review memory passages
• Study a page or two of the I Samuel Sunday school lesson
• Pray, using my prayer journal with different requests each day.

Do you have a plan?  I’d love to hear how you spend time with the Lord.  It’s the most profitable thing we’ll do all day!

With love,

There’s nothing like a good sinus cold to make you hungry for simple foods! Such was the case this past week when the parson and I were both sneezing, coughing and blowing our noses. After several meals of chicken noodle soup, I decided that something a  little more substantial sounded yummy – particularly a Chicken Pot Pie.  I’ve been making this recipe for years and it is so simple to put together. Let me show you, then I’ll share the recipe at the bottom of this post.

I start by roasting chicken breasts with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. 

While they’re in the oven, I made my pie crusts.You could, of course, buy a store bought one.   I like crust on the top and the bottom – why not?!

Now it’s time for the roux.  Place a couple tablespoons of butter or margarine in a pan and add the same amount of flour once the butter has melted.  Mix with a spatula for about one minute. 

Slowly add about a cup of milk, then a cup of chicken broth, whisking thoroughly to remove any lumps. You can add more liquid to ensure a moist pie.

Place second crust over top and trim edges, pinching to seal.  Make slits in the top of the crust.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until golden. It’s wise to put a pan under the pie plate to catch any of the sauce that may seep out, unless you enjoy cleaning out the oven!  Then…

To accompany the pot pie, I served a salad with lettuce, strawberry slices, red onions, almonds, and blue cheese.  I found this really good dressing – Litehouse Pear Gorgonzola in the produce section of my grocery store to top it.  If you can get this where you live, you need to try it!  It’s especially good with a salad that contains fruit. 

One advantage to making your own crust is that you’ll have some extra dough to make a little treat! I cut the leftovers into strips, put them on a baking sheet, and sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar and baked them for 10 minutes in the 400 degree oven with the pot pie.

Chicken Pot Pie
1 lb. cooked white meat chicken, diced
2 Tbl. butter
2 Tbl. flour
1 cup milk, plus maybe a bit more to make it creamy
1 cup chicken broth = maybe a bit more
1 tsp salt
1 tsp thyme
pepper to taste
1- 1/2 cups frozen peas
2 crust pie shell

Melt butter in saucepan.  Add flour and whisk.  Cook for 1 minute.  Slowly add milk and stir with whisk until smooth.  Add broth and stir.  Cook until thickened.  Add seasonings.  Add peas and cooked chicken.  Pour into pie shell.  Top with second crust. At this point you could freeze the pie and save it for later.  Bake at 400 about 30 minutes.

Our colds are better.  Hmmm, was it the pot pie?  Maybe I should have another slice to see.  =)

What was cooking in your house this weekend?  What do you eat when you have a cold?

From my parsonage kitchen,

• In their dresser drawer
• In their lunch box/bag
• In a shoe
• In a pocket
• In their car seat
• By their toothbrush

Be refreshed,

Today’s post is the second response about how to respect a man that does disrespectful things.  You can find the first post here.

My eyebrows lifted in amazement that someone would know me fairly well, and still say, “I can’t ever imagine you smarting off to (your husband), or getting mad at him, or having any sorta bad attitude…” 

Oh, my.  I have done those things more times in our marriage than I care to remember. 
I’ve asked the Lord’s forgiveness, and praise His name, those scenes will never be brought up before me again.  I mention them here, not to glory in my sinful actions, but only to say, we do not have a perfect marriage.  We have to work at it every single day. I also want to encourage you that there is hope, because if the Lord can change me, He can change you!

I wish I had learned the power of respecting my husband years ago!  Wives want to be loved, but when they don’t feel loved by their husband, then they withhold respect.  It’s what Emmerson Eggerich calls “the crazy cycle” in his book, Love and Respect.  Someone has to stop the cycle.  The wife can do that when she chooses to respect her husband regardless of what she is feeling from him.  The question from my friend (and perhaps you as you read this) is, “But HOW?” 

Aside from thinking on the things we can respect him for (no matter how few or how small), we must also remind ourselves how undeserving we are of his love.  If we are really honest with ourselves, we know what we’re really like.  We are sinners saved by grace.  We don’t deserve anything!  It’s by God’s grace that we are saved and have the hope of heaven. 

Because I’m still a sinner, I…well, I sin!  I’m often selfish, unkind, thoughtless, sarcastic… and many other unloving things! Yet, I want my husband to love me (my greatest need).  Why should I look at his life and disrespect him (his greatest need)?  We’re on the same ground!  I need to obey Proverbs and choose to hide my husband’s faults rather than parade them in my own mind or in front of others.  I often ask myself, “Would I want my husband to pick apart my sinful actions, my habits, my mannerisms, or my personality?  Of course not!  But that’s what we as wives often do.  That’s not really playing fair, is it? 

So, when you are tempted to disrespect your husband because of this, and this and this, take a quick inventory of your life and see if you’re perfectly loving.  I think the answer will be a negative one.  If that’s true, then let up on your expectations of him. 

I’ll go a step further with this next Thursday.

With love,

 

Last weekend was full of fun activities.  On Saturday we went with the 30’s Sunday school class to a corn maze on Cleek Farm.  The activity was geared towards children, and the little ones with us loved it!  So, what does a 50’s-something couple do?  After we’d walked through the maze for a while, we found a corn hole to play.  We had tons of fun laughing at our my horrible throwing attempts and cheered for one another when we I finally scored. 

We rode the hay wagon and reminisced over the first time we rode a hay wagon.  It was pre-dating days, but “getting a little interested” days!  Even with a hay wagon filled with people, we were alone in our thoughts on God’s plan for our lives. 

As I mentioned on Monday, our church celebrated its 56th anniversary.  Sunday was filled with wonderful preaching and remembering all that God has done in the years since Boones Creek Bible Church was started.

Sunday evening we had no church service, because we’d had the afternoon service.  So, with the evening free, we decided to head towards the mountains to see the leaves and enjoy a drive.  We turned on the dulcimer music and enjoyed a wonderful late afternoon/evening of leaf watching.

No one else was up on this lookout.  It was SO quiet and SO beautiful.  The next morning I read in my devotions – Psalm 65:13 The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.  Yes, the pastures that we looked down on, and the valleys were shouting for joy and were singing the praises of our great God.  Our hearts were joining in on the chorus!  Our God is a great God!

That was the delightful activity of the parsonage this weekend.  How thankful we are for the ministry activities we are involved in, and also for the chances to get alone with the Lord and one another.  It helps us to be better prepared for what lies ahead.  The Lord always knows what we need, doesn’t He?  We praise His name.

From the parsonage windows,