I would like to introduce you to a very special lady in my life – my mom, Mildred Ray. What a blessing it is to have a godly mother who encourages her children and grandchildren in spiritual matters. She has always been my greatest point of motivation in homemaking, cooking, baking and decorating. She truly has the gift of hospitality.

I’ll never forget when my husband, girls and I were making our move from Indiana to Tennessee nine and half years ago. What a respite my parents’ home was to my family! We were moving all our earthly possessions in a U-Haul truck. My husband drove the truck and our older daughter was with him. I was following behind in our minivan with our younger daughter and our cat, Oreo. Oreo got out of her cage and was sprinting across the dashboard of the van as I drove, the U-Haul broke down 45 minutes after we left, I got a terrible migraine, and we had a three hour trip ahead of us! When we arrived at their house, the lights were lit to welcome us, though it was midnight or after. My mom had prepared a beautiful spread of refreshments for late arrival, had hot chocolate and all sorts of delicious treats ready, along with soft beds and warm quilts waiting to give us rest. Only heaven would have been better than that welcome! That was one of many times that we’ve been the recipients of her hospitality.

She has opened her home to many, many people over the years, and has made each one feel they were the most welcomed guest she’d ever invited. I learned hospitality from watching her. I invite you to take a peek into her heart and home as you read the post below penned by the most loved mom in the world…mine.

Denise has asked me to be Guest Blogger today. I have never been a teacher, as such, but I’m never at a loss for words, so I can hide behind the computer screen and say a few words.

I am past the three score and ten years, the Bible refers to, so I have the advantage of looking way back.

I was saved at the age of six. I fully understood my need of a Savior while listening to the “Children’s Bible Hour” on the radio. My Mother was right there to lead me in the Sinner’s Prayer, as I confessed my sins and asked Jesus into my heart. She has always been a good example of a godly Mother, and I miss her daily. Today, is the 30th Anniversary of her death, and Home Going. I know she is with the Lord, but her teachings and influence have stayed with me, and I’ve never forgotten her ways.

All I ever wanted to be was a wife and Mother. Today, in our Society, that is not as revered as it should be, but is still most important in God’s structure of family.

We have three daughters, and son’s in law, six grandchildren, three of their spouses, two great grandchildren, to date.

We are close knit, but far flung, so get togethers with all attending. doesn’t happen as it once did. Yesterday, I had the privilege of having one daughter and her husband to dinner after church. I fixed every one’s favorite, fried chicken, and all that goes with it. I have always loved cooking and baking and fixing a pretty table. I am very resourceful, and try to use things I have in different ways. My son in law loves coconut creme pie, so I baked one for his birthday this Tuesday. We had a wonderful time of fellowship, and that is so important.

Don’t let your advancing years diminish your role in the family. Grown children and grandchildren need Mothers and Grandmothers, too. Be there with your comfort, gentle words of encouragement and love your family ALL of your life.

Proverbs 31:27 She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness

I am blessed, aren’t I? My only regret in her writing this post is finding out that she fixed fried chicken and coconut cream pie yesterday – two of my favorites! I thank her for sharing her heart with us and for the lessons she continues to teach with her life and her pen.

Did you have a mom that taught you from her life? What did you learn from her?

With love,

Oh, my! Two days this week and my post has been “late” – in my way of thinking anyway. I try to have it ready so it will be posted early in the morning, but this week with being out of town and not always having Internet access, my plans have not always worked out!

Today I got up and my first thought was “blogging,” my next thought was “No, time with the Lord.” If I don’t hear from Him first, I have nothing to say to others. I was reminded of a quote by George Muller, who said that the first duty of his day was to make sure his heart was right with God. Now, that’s a plan to stick with! So, after having had my quiet time, though this is late, it’s in God’s time. 🙂

I use a Bible study book for my weekend devotions and I was working today on a study about busyness (God knew I needed that!). Claudia Barba made the statement that years ago we judged a person’s status by their leisure time. Today we judge a person’s status by how busy they are. I see this even in “well known” preachers. If they have a lunch date scheduled, three phone calls while at a meeting, text messages and beeps while in the car driving to that luncheon, and a schedule that takes them into 2050, wow! They must be important! Yet, that’s not what Jesus’ life exemplified. He was never rushed, never in a hurry or scurrying about to do this and finish that. He always made time to talk with the Father before ministering to others, and He finished the work God gave Him to do!

If you find yourself frantic, trying to get everything finished that’s on your “to-do” list for today, stop and make sure you’ve first had time with the Lord. Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. You will come to understand what He wants you to do, and what you can let go of. So often we’re busier than we should be because we’ve added things to our schedule that the Lord never intended. As you obey His direction, you’ll also have His strength to be able to finish the task.

As I contemplated writing this post I thought, “I’ve written about this a lot this week,” but it seems that every time I turn around I bump into my own inclination to go my own way, or speak to others that are so busy with other things that they make very little time for what matters most. Wherever you are in this area, I trust you’ll get done today exactly what the Lord desires – nothing more, nothing less!

See you in church Sunday,

Every day I fight with doing “empty” things; things that have no real value. Facebook, reading blogs, and the such. I don’t think those things are bad in themselves, it’s just that they can be time snatchers – taking more time that I’d dreamed of giving them! For others television viewing or scanning might be an issue. Some get caught up in a book and can’t put it down until they’ve finished it. Each of those activities has their place, but must be kept there by our discipline and the Lord’s enablement.

There’s one activity that will never be a time waster or a guilt giver – that’s time spent in God’s Word. As I was reading and studying today I came across this wonderful verse: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:11
If I read it, it will accomplish something. If I share it with another person it will prosper. If I claim it, it will not return to the Lord empty. What wonderful promises!

I’ve been singing this song that’s playing since I read the verse. I share it now with you.

Are you spending time in His Word?

With love,

I’m not home right now, I accompanied my husband to Atlanta. While he’s in board meetings, I’m studying and preparing for an upcoming event. How wonderful to have the time to linger in God’s Word and prayer without the normal distractions at home.

I’m late posting today – I took for granted that Internet access would be accessible where my husband and I are staying. After all, if you can get Internet at Chick-fil-A, it should be free anywhere you’d stay, right? 🙂

I’ll share a couple of thoughts before diving back into my studying…

Anyone that’s been saved for any length of time has undoubtedly heard about the need to memorize Scripture. As I stated in my post yesterday, we must have God’s Word tucked away in our hearts if we’re going to be a godly testimony in the time of trial. There are many memorization plans out there, but the one that I’ve begun to use in the last year has been simple and effective in my life.

As I read the Scripture, or as I hear verses read in church I listen for verses that would be beneficial for me to memorize. I write the reference down in my journal, then I write the verse out in my notebook that is pictured here. I was using just a little pocket notebook, but really found what I was looking for when I went into Office Depot recently. These index cards are connected by the ring and then bound by an elastic band so the cards don’t get wrinkled up if I drop the book of cards into my purse. I’m trying to memorize verses by categories. I have a group of verses on the tongue, one on trust, heaven, thoughts, the Word of God, prayer, and the character of God.
I use my time on the treadmill to start with a category and try to review the verses and their references (the hardest for me to remember) in that category. If I get stumped I take a peek at the verse. I try to add a new verse each week. I find if I don’t review there verses regularly I forget them in a couple week’s time. Oh, what a blessing this has been to my life! Do you have a plan you use? Tell me about it!

I recently saw in a magazine a simple way to cover a lampshade. Here’s my before picture:
I laid the lampshade down on a piece of newspaper (I taped two pieces together to make it big enough). Then I penciled the top and bottom edge of the shade onto the paper and rolled the lampshade until I’d drawn all four sides. I added about a half an inch to the top and bottom for a hem of sorts. I then cut out my paper pattern, laid it on my fabric, then cut it out.

I took the fabric outside and laid it on a piece of plastic. I sprayed the fabric with an adhesive spray. Then starting at one corner I pressed the fabric onto the lampshade, smoothing as I went along. Once the fabric was in place I smoothed the extra material over the edge of the lampshade for a finished edge.

I added a lace trim to the bottom of the shade for an extra touch. You could use ribbon, buttons, roping, or whatever you like! It really transformed an old lampshade for very little money!

Proverbs 15:1 – A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger.

I saw another neat idea recently. Someone took a men’s pant hanger that had multiple hangers on it and used it for a totally different purpose. The hangers could come unhooked on one end, so they opened the end and slid their ribbon rolls on each row. How convenient that would be for wrapping gifts! I’m going to be on the lookout for a pant hanger on sale!

What good ideas have you found recently?

With love,

Wow! Valentine’s Day on Sunday! We love Him because He first loved us. I John 4:19 We wouldn’t be able to enjoy true love without the Father’s demonstration of His great love for us in the death of Jesus Christ!

We have celebrated Valentine’s all month, as you know if you’ve followed my blog, but we really celebrated this weekend! Friday afternoon we headed to Knoxville where we had 4:30 reservations at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Some dear friends had given us a gift card at Christmas and we saved their loving gift for Valentine’s Day. It is truly an adventure to eat there. The setting is beautiful with the restaurant sitting right next to the river. The tables are covered with white linens. There’s candle light, gracious waiters, and food that is out of this world! The food was generous in portions, and we were fortunate enough to have enough leftovers to bring home for part of Sunday’s dinner.

Saturday night was our church’s Valentine banquet at a restaurant in Kingsport. What a sweet time of fellowship we had! Twenty-one couples attended. We got to know one another better by sharing our most memorable date, written on a 3×5 card.

The memory I wrote about occurred a few years ago. My husband and I went to Wolf Laurel Ski resort near us and had dinner in the lodge in the summertime. After dinner, they informed us that they were running the ski lift, if we’d be interested in riding. I talked my husband into riding with me, spite his fear of heights! The sun was setting over the tops of the mountains and it was breathtakingly beautiful up there! He was terrified at first, but then he was okay with the ride. There were only a couple other people on the lift, so the man running it let us stay on as long as we wanted. I think we rode it about 7 or 8 times. So romantic!

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Try these simple folds, then tell me what’s been cooking in your kitchen recently!

With love,

Denise