Flu, sinus infection, broken limb, pneumonia, gall bladder attacks, migraines, fever, back ache, joint pain, cataracts, heart attack and a million other maladies are all a part of people’s lives every day.  Some people live with chronic pain for years.  Others deal with periodic illness.  Most all of us surely have had our share of sickness.  Even when you read the Scriptures you read about leprosy, fever, blindness, blood issues, lame legs, and so on. 

During a recent recurrence of a migraine, I was awakened after midnight with the nausea it caused.  I rose to fix myself a cup of hot peppermint tea to ease the discomfort in my stomach.  While sipping the steaming liquid in the dim nightlight I’d turned on, I reached for my pad of paper and pen and wrote down some thoughts I’d been thinking during the night.  I wrote: Why God allows us to be sick:

1. It reminds us how weak our flesh is.
2. It makes us run to the Lord.  (Remember the woman with the issue of blood who came to find Jesus and touch the hem of his robe?)
3. It enables us to sympathize and be compassionate with others.
4. It makes us thankful for days when we feel well.
5. It reminds us we’re not home yet.

We may not enjoy being sick, but, as funny as it sounds, it is good for us.

Revelation 21:4 says, And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.  What a wonderful promise this verse is; I remind myself of it whenever I have a migraine. 

Whatever discomfort you or someone you care about is dealing with today, remind yourself of the truth – One Day all these illnesses will be “former things!” 

With love (and a cup of peppermint tea),

Refresh your Friday by planting a Kiss!  A chocolate one, that is!  I came across a magazine page I had cut out of a Taste Of Home Magazine that had a list of ideas on using Hershey kisses.  Why not try one or two of these ideas?

• Place a chocolate kiss, upside down, at the bottom of an ice cream cone to prevent the ice cream from dripping out! 

• Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and pour into muffin cups.  In the center of each muffin cup, place two chocolate kisses.  Bake until the edges of the brownies are done and serve immediately with vanilla ice cream.

• Wrap a kiss in the center of a small wanton wrapper.  Moisten edges with water to seal.  Deep fry to 2 1/2 minutes in 375 degree oil.  Drain.  Dust with confectioners’ sugar.  Let cool.  Enjoy!

Plant a kiss or two and
Be refreshed,

It’s Thrifty Thursday! Over the next few weeks, I’ll be bringing you a series of posts on ways to be “thrifty” with your time and money. Thanks for reading!

Gauging by the plethora of pictures I’ve seen on Facebook featuring children in backpacks, I think it’s back to school time! Late summer and early fall bring busy days, whether you are a homeschooling mom, a car line mom, an empty-nester mom, or just a busy 9-5 working wife like me! If I left your category out, just keep reading and make this chicken recipe anyway. It’s good. 🙂

This recipe will help you be thrifty with both your time AND your money! How great is that? (Oh and it’s yummy)

Chicken Thighs with Carrots and Potatoes – picture from myrecipes.com

You can find the recipe here: Chicken Thighs with Carrots and Potatoes.

Now – here are my tips to save you some time and money!

Time Saving Tips:

• If you purchase a family size package of thighs and your family only needs four thighs, separate the chicken into ziploc freezer bags of four. Thawing four pieces of chicken takes less time than thawing eight pieces!
• Assemble the dish the night before and place it in the refrigerator (assuming your crock pot has a removable insert). When you get up in the morning, pull it out of the fridge and pop it in the crock pot.  
• Spray your crock pot with a little non-stick spray before adding vegetables and chicken – this makes cleanup even easier!

Money Saving Tips:

• Purchase chicken thighs when they are on sale (you don’t buy meat full price anyway, right? cause you don’t have to…). Here in the Southeast, .98/lb is a very good and attainable price.
• If your freezer contains 4 thighs and 2 drumsticks, feel free to throw those in the crock pot instead of going out and buying more thighs. It worked just fine for me last week!
• Use what you have on hand! The recipe calls for skinless thighs, but I use thighs with the skin still on…nobody complains. I can find these at a lower price than skinless most of the time. I also use whatever potatoes I have on hand. I’ve used Russet and some kind of Klondike Rose, and both were delicious.

If you make this recipe, leave me a comment here or on the RefreshHer Facebook page and let me know what you think!

Until next Thursday….

Whitney

The wicker chair on the left of the bed is my Quiet Place. How special this room is to me!

Yesterday’s post about prayer came as a result of what God has been teaching me.  I wish I could say it’s only been a short lesson; it has not.  I have been in the classroom for years learning to pry my hands off of people and circumstances and turn them over to God.

Several years ago in our home, there was an issue that we were doing that I felt displeased the Lord. It really isn’t important what the issue was, but just that I was sure we were guilty before God.  I was convicted about it, and spoke my reasonable request to my husband.  He had a reasonable answer.  I then spoke with emotional reason (I cried!).  He was set on why what he was doing wasn’t disobedience.  I truly thought that my explanations and pleas were all he would need to see the truth.  It was like him looking at a black cat in the dark – he just wasn’t seeing it! 

Finally, after months of trying to convince with my human power, the Lord got through to me to pray for God’s power to move in.  I was ashamed at not leaving this at His feet long before, but I was determined to say no more to man, but to pray before my Father in heaven.  I really can’t even remember exactly how long it took, but it was at least a year of praying when one day my husband came to me and said, “You know, the Lord has spoken to me about something, and I think we need to make a change here…”  I tried not to let my jaw drop and my eyes bug out as I listened to him detail about the very issue for which I had previously nagged him!  He stated that God had convicted Him about the need to change!  Another miracle is that my husband had forgotten that I’d nagged him about it (thank the Lord!).  My response?  I simply said, “Okay.  Let’s do that!”  I didn’t shout, “Well, finally!”  I waited until I got to my Quiet Place and I wept and shouted to the Lord, telling Him how wonderful He is! 

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.  Matthew 6:6

Oh, the blessings that have come from my husband’s step of obedience!  How I admire him for his willingness to obey the Lord.  Another blessing is that because he changed due to God’s conviction and not my nagging, it stuck!  He’s never gone back!  When I nag to get him to change, he changes for a short time, but when God does the work, it lasts! 

I thank the Lord for what He’s taught me about prayer. It’s taken many years, but I’m learning that the best place to see change happen is not in my husband – it is in me when I’m in my Quiet Place.

On another note, I’m excited to tell you that tomorrow will begin a new short series called, “Thrifty Thursday.” These posts will be written by my daughter, Whitney, who has become quite good at being thrifty with time and money. She will share practical tips on how you can be more thrifty, both at home and at the store. You won’t want to miss it!

From my parsonage windows,