American children have so much today that gratitude is often sorely lacking.  Because many children live with more than everything they need, are able to eat out frequently, and have access to so much due to the Internet and technology, it is so important that parents train their children to be thankful.

A sweet, young mom asked me recently how she could instill gratitude in her child.  I sat for a long while thinking and praying before writing back a response to her, and I’m sure I left some things out, but here was my answer to her:

• Reading a missionary biography written for children – one like George Mueller. and how God provided what they needed and how thankful he was for the least little thing will impact a child’s heart to see that they are truly blessed. I’m sure some of the Trailblazer books would also cover gratitude.
• Our children have so much today, and it’s easy for them to adopt the attitude that parents owe them something. I recently saw a child demanding their parents’ Ipad so they could color. Wow. At one point, we took all the “extras” away from one of our daughters. They had food, clothes, and books, but all electronics and “toys” were off limits for a good loooong while. They learn to appreciate what they no longer have. 
  Perhaps rewarding with either earning back one thing the child has had taken away, (a sticker on a reward chart, or a special stay-up-late for games with Mom and Dad) after a certain amount of thank yous have been verbalized, would push them towards gratitude. You want to be careful and not reward “things” for gratitude – it would counteract what you’re trying to accomplish.

• Making sure that our kids SAY thank you is an important tool, too. “Thanks for supper, Mom.” “Thanks for playing ball with me, Dad.” Writing thank you notes to people for things they have done is also important in teaching them that we should be thankful for what others do. A thank you to their Sunday school teacher or children’s church worker would be a blessing to the recipient. They should write a note of thanks and not just expect relatives to send a gift on their birthday or Christmas.  Make sure they have a box of thank you cards for their own so they can write their notes.  Give them a special pen to use to write with.  If they’re too young to write, you have them dictate the note (write it just the way they send it – the recipient will love “their language,” then have them sign the note themselves. 

• Being responsible for chores at home for their age level will also help a child to be grateful for all that seems to magically get taken care of in a day. Supper preparation – making the salad, making iced tea, preparing a simple dessert, are all things primary age child could handle. Sorting laundry, ironing linen napkins, and folding laundry helps them appreciate clean clothes! This shouldn’t be seen as a punishment – but a part of family life. We all live here, so we all help.  (Money Saving Mom had some good suggestions for chores for 4 year-olds.)

• Of course, memorizing lots of Scripture about gratitude is crucial. What power the Word has! I’d make those the verses in school memorization, as well as Bible stories about those that were thankful.

• Also, if there was an opportunity for your family to help someone under-privileged, that would open up a window into their world and how blessed they are. Is there someone you could serve by taking them a meal, or doing an act of kindness? Everyone does a part of the serving – not just Mom and Dad.

• Demonstrate thankfulness in your own life as a parent.  Your children should hear you saying thank you to your husband for working and providing for your family.  They should see you writing thank you notes and hear you saying how grateful you are to the Lord for ….and …..

Dr. Bob Jones Sr. said, “When gratitude dies on the altar of a man’s heart, that man is while nigh hopeless.” Let’s not have hopelessly ungrateful children because we failed to teach them!

By the way, thanks for stopping by and reading today!  =)

With love,

My weekend get-away with my sisters was such a blessing!  Not only are we blood sisters, we are also sisters in Christ, so we had a wonderful time encouraging one another in this most important area of our lives.  Together we sang, prayed, cried, laughed, hiked, gave pedicures and manicures, and also ate some great Retreat Food!  Some may go to a cabin and roast hot dogs, but I have sisters who love to cook and are good at it, so we each prepared a meal or two for our weekend get away. 

Here we are on the porch of our cabin.

Savory Crescent Chicken Squares
1 3-oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
3 Tbs margarine, melted
2 cups cubed cooked chicken or two 5-oz cans boned chicken
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 Tbs milk
1 Tbs chopped onion
1 8 oz. can Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent dinner rolls
3/4 cup seasoned croutons, crushed

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl,blend cream cheese and 2 Tbs of margarine until smooth.  Add next 6 ingredients; mix well.  Separate dough into 4 rectangles; firmly press perforations around edges together to seal.  Spoon 1/2 cup meat mixture onto center of each rectangle.  Pull 4 corners of dough to top center of chicken mixture, twist slightly and seal edges.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Brush tops with reserved 1 Tbs. margarine; sprinkle with crouton crumbs.  Bake 35 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  Serves 4.

My twin sister, Dianne, made our breakfast one morning.  It was a Pampered Chef recipe for a Quiche. Take a look at this yummy morning food…

Quiche Base
3 eggs
1/2 C half and half (you could use milk to cut back on fat)
2 T flour
1/2 t salt
dash pepper

Bacon, Tomato and Cheddar Quiche filling

3 bacon slices, crisply cooked, drained and c rumbled
1/3 C seeded, chopped plum tomato
2 T sliced green onions

Cheese
1/2 C shredded cheese

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray small oval baker with non-stick cooking spray.  Whisk together quiche’ base ingredients in bowl; set aside.
2.  Combine filling ingredients and cheese; spoon into bottom of baking dish.  Pour quiche’ base over filling ingredients.
3.  Bake 30-35 minutes or until center is set.  (A knife inserted in center will come out clean).  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.  Yield:  2-3 servings

Here was my sister, Sharee’s scrumptious supper meal: 

The Lord is so good to go before us and provide rest just when we need it.  A couple of months ago I suggested to my sisters that we get together for a “Sister’s Retreat.”  They agreed, so we made plans to get together at a place not far from here for a three day, two night get-away.  The time has arrived, and is tomorrow through Saturday, and the timing is perfect.  It’s coming when we all are weary.  We’re all involved in good things, but even good things can wear you down. 

I can’t wait to see my sisters, to have some “girl talk,” laugh together, cook for one another, spend time in the Word, maybe do a little crafting, hiking and Scrabble playing, and for sure get some needed rest. 

I will not have Internet service, so I won’t post again until Monday. I’m sure I’ll come back refreshed and ready to get back into my routines once again.  

Do you ever get together with your siblings or friends for a time of refreshment?  What do you do?

See you in church Sunday.

Be refreshed,

I had wanted to make this purchase sooner – the pansies for my flower boxes, but somehow whenever I was in town, going to Lowe’s was out of the way.  Finally last Saturday I got up early and made a trip there with the express purpose of brightening up the winter look of the window boxes out front.  As I neared the landscape area, I scanned the flowers and saw only summer varieties for those brave enough to set them out before the usual “Mother’s Day safety zone.”  I made my way over to a sales clerk and inquired if I was too late for pansies.  “There are some over in the side lot where all the ‘destressed’ plants are.”  As I made my way over, I had to chuckle when I saw the sign, “Destressed Plants.”  The word destress means to place strain or stress on something.  I had thought she meant distressed, signifying that the plants suffered from the weather, etc.  At any rate, these plants were all marked to $1!  In your mind’s eye, you’re probably seeing brown wilting leaves and pathetic stems, but these weren’t like that at all!    Here’s one of the pots I bought…

I happily found six of these lovely plants and put them in my cart, along with two lovely Dianthuses.  I remembered as I drove home that last fall I purchased several plants at the end of the season for $1 – a couple Clematis, and a rose bush – all which are blooming happily in my yard today!  Then this thought came to my mind – Waiting can turn out to be a blessing!  However, waiting on the Lord is always a blessing!

This truth was certainly true in Joseph’s life!  In Genesis 39, Potiphar’s wife tries for days to cause Joseph to fall into an immoral affair with her, but he refused her.  Here is a young man who could’ve had a little “fling” but said “no.”  He waited for God’s plan, for God’s choice of a wife, and for God’s purpose in marriage.  If you’re familiar with the story, you’ll remember that Pharoh brought him out of prison after two years, and because Joseph interpreted his dream, he promoted him as the second ruler in Egypt.  Verse 45of chapter 41 says, And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On.   Joseph married – as a matter of fact, he married the preacher’s daughter!  =)   I’m sure she was a blessing to Joseph as he ruled over Egypt.

It’s always the right thing to wait on God’s best!  God has a perfect plan that He will fulfill.  He did it in Joseph’s life, and He’ll do it in yours, too.  Just wait and see what blooms!

With love,

Easter dinner is a pretty traditional meal at our house.  We usually always have ham.  This year was no exception.  You just can’t beat a honey-glazed spiral cut one! However, I added a couple of new side dishes.

The potato recipe was found here.  This is a nice change from a standard baked potato and super fast and easy. 



To cut your potatoes evenly without going all the way through, lay them on a cutting board in between two wooden skewers or spoons. This will ensure that you won’t accidentally go all the way through the potato while slicing.



We have a friend that grows a big garden each year and knows that we love fresh asparagus.  He brought us some this weekend, so I was excited about serving it for Easter.  Here’s how I fix it:

Roasted Asparagus
Snap tough ends off each stalk.  Lay on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with Olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Roast in 425 degree oven for approximately 7 minutes. That’s it!

I simply made up a box of white cake mix for the cupcakes, then proceeded with the rest of the recipe found on Southern Living’s Web site here.

Scoop out a hole in the cupcake using a melon baller, then fill with one heaping tablespoon of the pineapple filling.

Pineapple Filling 

2 (8-oz.) cans crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Stir together first 3 ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until a pudding-like thickness.

2. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla; pour mixture into a bowl. Place heavy-duty plastic wrap directly on warm filling (to prevent a film from forming); chill 2 to 24 hours.

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

2 Graham Cracker Crusts
Peanuts – 1 Cup, divided

1/2 Cup Smooth Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Milk
1 8oz container Cool Whip, thawed

Spread peanuts into bottom of crusts.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth.  Add powdered sugar and blend together.  Add peanut butter, then milk and blend.  Fold in Cool Whip.  Divide filling into prepared crusts.  Freeze until firm.
To serve, drizzle with chocolate sauce, a dollop of Cool Whip and more peanuts.

How did you celebrate Easter?  Did you try any new foods?  Did you invite guests?

From my parsonage kitchen,