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Saved to Serve

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I’m back! I’ve been unusually absent from here, but we have had some days away where there was no connection to the Internet. While life goes on without blogging, I’ve missed sharing my heart and the things the Lord is doing in my life.

My husband and I had the privilege of speaking at Ambassador Baptist College this week. Every time we visit that campus we are so impressed by the sweet spirit of the students. They are gracious, polite, and they love God!

What a blessing it was for me to be able to address the wives of men preparing for the ministry. Those ladies and myself share a kinship – we are ministry wives! We have a unique and wonderful calling. I was delighted to be able to speak to them and encourage them about the blessing of being called “the minister’s wife.”

Yesterday morning while my husband addressed the men, I got to speak to about 80 young college women; a privilege I don’t take lightly. To be able to speak to them about “The Woman God Uses” was a challenge to my own heart. God does not use someone who thinks they have something to offer Him, He uses an unlikely person in unusual circumstances to accomplish unbelievable results for His glory! If anything was accomplished in the days we were at Ambassador, He gets the glory for it, for I surely have nothing to say without His enablement!

Has the Lord opened a door for you to serve Him in some way? Don’t be hesitant or afraid to say yes! He will equip you and sustain you to accomplish His will. The blessing from being a vessel He can use is beyond words. We were saved to serve. Are you serving faithfully and regularly? If not, ask God how He might want to use you in the days ahead.

Under His feathers,

Cooking

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

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My kitchen was unused this weekend, due to a wonderful trip to the Creation Museum. Oh, if you have the opportunity to go, you really need to see all that this place shows. I came home with a humbled heart at a wonderful, omnipotent God Who created a vast universe, and yet is mindful of me! What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Psalm 8:4 It was humbling, indeed!

I have tried a couple of new recipes lately that we enjoyed so much and I want to share them with you. The first is a main dish called Wasabi and Panko Crusted Pork with Gingered Soy Sauce. Wow! It was so good!

It calls for Wasabi paste which I’d never used before, but it really gives great flavor to the sauce. It also calls for sake (no idea what it is!) or dry sherry. I personally never add alcohol to a recipe. I usually just add chicken broth in its place and have never missed it. I’ll leave that up to your personal conviction.

I served the dish with rice and peas. It’s a quick fix meal as well. I hope you’ll try it!

The other recipe I tried was for Chocolate Chip Raisin Biscotti. These look hard, but they’re super simple, fat free and wonderful with a good cup of coffee!

Chocolate Chip Raisin Biscotti

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup superfine sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup raisins
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease and flour 2 baking sheets. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Whisk the eggs and vanilla extract together then stir into the dry ingredients. Add the chocolate chips and raisins and stir them into the dough. The dough should be sticky.
Divide the dough between the baking sheets and shape into 2 flat loaves about 10 in. long and 2 in. wide. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until pale golden. Remove from the oven onto a chopping board and immediately slice into thin pieces about 1/2 in. wide.

Lay the slices back onto the baking sheets and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Turn over each slice and cook for a further 10 to 15 minutes, or until the slices are golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

When cool, store in an airtight container. The biscotti will keep for a couple of weeks.
What’s been cookin’ in your kitchen lately?

With love,
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Pain that Points to Eternity

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A swollen, sore finger with what looks like osteoarthritis has plagued me for a couple of weeks. My shoulder and ankle are also whispering something in my ear. Yeah, you know what it is – age! Right, I did just have another birthday, so I guess my body is celebrating! It gives me comfort that I’m not in this alone! What little reminders do you have that you’re aging?

Last night I was lying in bed thinking about all these little things that have sprung up and I thought about how they are all reminders that this body is groaning to be replaced by an incorruptible body. That won’t happen with a bottle of Oil of Olay, that day will come when Christ returns.

I Corinthians 15:52, 53 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

The body we have now isn’t fit for eternity, but our new one will be! Revelation 21:4 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. No more need for Tylenol or icy hot!

Even more amazing is that our sinful desires will be gone forever as well! I Cor. 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. It will no longer be a struggle to do what’s right. There will be no more wrestling with my sinful flesh. What a day that will be! We will be like Christ!

So even on days when I’m dealing my little issues, it reminds me of a greater day that is coming and I say, “Thank you Lord, for my pain!”

Looking for His return,

P.S. Do you have the assurance that you will be with Christ for eternity? Trust in Him today, my Friend, for without Christ, eternity will be far worse suffering than anything we could experience here on this earth. Christ has paid for your sin-debt; all you need to do is receive Him as your Savior. I’m praying you will do just that today.

Family life

Noteworthy Wednesday – Ideas for Family Times

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One secular magazine that was such fun to have when my girls were growing up was Family Fun Magazine. I would highly recommend it to any parent with children at home. It has good recipes, fun craft ideas, activities, and seasonal family things to enjoy.

I saw this week that you can get a yearly subscription right now for $3.75! That’s a great deal! Go here to find the deal listed at $4.69, then use the coupon code WKLYSPEC to get it for $3.75 when you check out. The offer only lasts through the end of this week, so don’t wait too long.

There is a book, too, that we used in devotion time that is great for young children. The book is entitled, Leading Little Ones to God by Mariane Schooland. You can find it on Amazon.
The table of contents there will show you the wonderful truths it teaches about God – how we got His Word, the understanding of the trinity, who Jesus is, why we go to church, etc. It’s a very good tool for helping children understand our great God and for learning how BIG he truly is.

Do you have a resource or on-line site you go to for good ideas for fun, food and activities for your family? Is there a special book you use for family devotions? Share it on today’s Noteworthy Wednesday.

Love ya!

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What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

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Yum! Yesterday’s Sunday dinner was a church-wide fellowship. Food doesn’t get much better than a church dinner in the south! However, getting a meal ready to take out the door with you when you leave for church can be a challenge.

This week I decided I was going to do everything I could by Friday. So I made mostly dishes that could easily be made ahead of time. Okay, this London Broil I did on Saturday, but the meat was in the fridge marinating since Friday night. Talk about delicious! I found this recipe on the Internet and am so glad I tried it!

Can you see in the picture below how juicy the meat was? It was also full of flavor from the marinade. I cooked it medium rare on the grill on Saturday evening and then just warmed it up before I left for church.

This is my broccoli salad recipe from Cooking Light that I shared with you here.

I also took a potato casserole for the meal. It is supposed to be made ahead of time, so that was a perfect side dish.

I saw these cupcakes on Barefoot Contessa last week and decided this would be my dessert – Chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter frosting and topped with salted peanuts.

Take a closer look…

Pretty much heaven in a cupcake liner!

The batter has sour cream in it which make them moist, and coffee which brings out the chocolate flavor.

Grilled Marinated London Broil
For marinade:

4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 TBL balsamic vinegar
4 TBL lemon juice
3 TBL Dijon mustard
1 1/2 TBL Worcestershire sauce
1 TBL soy sauce
1 TSP dried oregano
1 TSP dried basil
1 TSP dried thyme
1/2 tsp. hot red pepper flakes
2/3 cup olive oil
1 London Broil (2 to 2 1/2 lbs.)

Directions:
In a bowl, whisk together marinade ingredients until combined well. Put London broil in a large resealable plastic bag & pour marinade over it. Seal bag, pressing out excess air and set in a shallow dish. Marinate meat, chilled, turning bag once or twice at least 8 hours. Preferably 24 hours.

Remove meat from marinade, discard the marinade
.
Preheat grill and set meat on grill, turning each once, 9 to 10 minutes on each side, or until it registers 125 to 130 degrees on a meat thermometer for medium-rare meat. Alternatively, meat may be broiled. We cooked ours longer for medium-well done.
Transfer meat to cutting board and let stand 10 minutes. Cut meat diagonally across the grain into thin slices.
What was cooking in your kitchen this week?

With love,