This is what it looked like out my kitchen window this weekend. Beautiful, isn’t it? Okay, I’m ready for spring, but if it has to be winter I say the snow makes winter gorgeous! I’d much rather see trees with snowy covered branches than everything being barren and gray .

However, with the cold comes dry skin. My feet seem to take a worse beating than any other part of my body. It’s pretty bad when you can hear the sheets rubbing against your feet at night! All the scrubbing of a stone does little good for my rough skin. The only thing that really works is an inexpensive drug store find that my mom has used for years – it’s Vaseline! I got the baby scented kind and it smells so good! After I shower, I apply a little bit to my heels, then put on soft socks. You can’t imagine how soft it makes your skin! It’s quite a cheap remedy too! I got a huge container at Walmart for less than $4. That’s pretty good, I’d say!

Proverbs 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

Put warm water in your vase along with the plant food that comes with the flowers. Before you put your roses into a vase, run warm water in the kitchen sink. Cut the stems of the flowers under water at an angle and get them right into the vase of water. Every couple of days, refresh the water and cut the stems again (just a little is all that’s necessary). When you refresh the water add about a teaspoon of sugar to your water. Keeping the flowers out of direct sunlight helps too.

Proverbs 3:13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

Use for flimsy paper plates

These are the plates that won’t hold up to your homemade lasagna! Use them instead to stack between your good dishes. It will keep the from getting chipped while being stored.

They will also keep your non-stick cookware from getting scratched.

Have you come across any ideas, books or products that would make us wiser? Tell me about them!

With love,

P.S. In case you’re wondering…yesterday I put three freshly ironed handkerchiefs in the Valentine pillow for my husband with a note saying how thankful I am that he has a tender heart. Are you planning a way to tell your Valentine how thankful you are for him?

I love crafting and I love being resourceful. I had a cute little fingertip towel that I’d gotten after Valentine’s Day on sale one year. I had sitting it out on the bathroom counter and that’s exactly what it did – it sat there. So I thought, “This towel is useless like this. What can I do with it?” Then I saw where someone had taken two kitchen towels and used one to make a pillow and another one to make a pocket. How clever to use that beautiful stitching on the towel to embellish a pillow!

I had leftover fabric from the curtains I made for our guest room, and I had a faded throw pillow that needed new life. I made a simple little pillow case for the pillow by cutting out two rectangles of fabric and sewing the three sides together. I then put the pillow inside, then stitched across the opening.

To make the pocket I cut a 4×6 inch piece of my fingertip towel, turned the edges under and stitched them on the machine. I then placed the pocket on the pillow and hand sewed three sides to the fabric. Ta da! A Valentine pillow that serves a purpose!

Since yesterday was February the first I put a note and a treat in the pocket for my husband to find. I think two weeks’ worth of notes ought to let him know he’s #1 in my heart!

Take a look around and see what you can re purpose then tell me about it!

Thanks for stopping by,

East Tennessee was covered with a beautiful mantle of snow on Friday evening that hindered normal activity all weekend. If you live in the north you’ll laugh when I tell you we got 4-5 inches. But you have to understand that we aren’t prepared for the slick weather like the north is, and because there are steep, curvy roads, travelling can be quite hazardous. Hence, we just stay put!

Our church had a 2:00 service yesterday, giving the sun time to melt some of the icy roads and make driving doable. We had a long morning to rest, spend time with the Lord, and have dinner before church rather than afterwards, as we normally do. I invited my mother-in-law to join us. We had a nice leisure meal before heading over to a wonderful service with God’s people.

My muffin recipe is one I got from a Bed and Breakfast cookbook years ago. To simplify things I will often mix the dry ingredients into a Ziploc bag, mark it and tuck it away for a day when I need a quick bread.

Pumpkin Muffins

I like to use the coarse sugar on top of the muffins – it makes them pretty and the sugar gives a little crunch.
One other little tip about the muffins – I buy a can of pumpkin, spoon out 1/2 cups full and place in small freezer bags. (One small can of pumpkin will give me four or five bags) Then I pop them into the freezer. To make the muffins I simply thaw the bag of pumpkin in the microwave.

I love to do twice baked potatoes for Sunday because you can make them up the day before and then just reheat them on Sunday. I bake the potatoes, scoop out the shells then add equal amounts of butter and light sour cream. I vary the other ingredients, but yesterday I added green onions too,then sprinkled the tops with cooked bacon, cheddar cheese and paprika. After they come out of the oven I added fresh parsley for color.

Corn Pudding

2 eggs

2 tbl flour

2 tbl sugar

2 tbl butter, melted

2 cups corn

dash of salt and pepper

1 cup milk

Beat eggs thoroughly. Add flour and sugar together. Add milk and beat, add corn and melted butter. Cook in 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. Do not stir.

It seems like winter weather makes everyone want to eat comfort foods. What do you cook when it’s snowy at your house?

Happy February,

Four preachers met for a friendly gathering. During the conversation one preacher said, “Our people come to us and pour out their hears, confess certain sins and needs. Let’s do the same. Confession is good for the soul.” In due time all agreed. One confessed he liked to go to movies and would sneak off when away from his church. The second confessed to liking to smoke cigars and the third one confessed to liking to play cards. When it came to the fourth one, he wouldn’t confess. The others pressed him saying, “Come now, we confessed ours. What is your secret or vice?” Finally he answered, “It is gossiping and I can hardly wait to get out of here.”

We laugh at that story, but the truth is, there are people who love to share things about someone with anyone willing to listen. If you’ve ever been the one being talked about, you know how hurtful those words can be. No one likes to think that someone is talking about them, because usually what is shared isn’t completely the truth. What can we do about it? Aside from approaching the person who is the gossip, we really can’t stop people from saying what they will. The answer to handling words from others comes from the Scriptures.

In Psalm 119:23 the psalmist says, Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes. I read that in my prayer time a couple days ago and it hit me like a ton of bricks – this is the way to respond when others speak ill about you! What did the psalmist do when princes spoke against him? He thought on God’s Word. What might he have thought?

• Psalm 56:9 Lord, I thank you that you are for me!
• Psalm 73:25 Lord, you’re all I the approval I want.
• Psalm 18:20 I thank you, Lord that you know my innocence and You will handle this for me.

There could be many other truths to meditate on when someone is speaking evil against you. What a blessing it is that the Lord knows and He cares. If we meditate on His Word instead of the gossip we will be encouraged instead of enraged, humbled instead of hurt.

If you’re going through a time of slander, be like the psalmist and run to the Word and think on its truths instead!

See you in church Sunday!

Having a great marriage takes hard work, as does anything that is worthwhile. As we go through these points together, I never want to make it sound like an easy thing to implement each of these four areas into our lives. It takes a stern commitment as we seek to obey God. At the same time, God will equip us. He gives us instruction in His Word so we know what to do, godly people to encourage us, and His Spirit to guide us. You can have a wonderful marriage – it really is what God wants for each of us that are married.

So, with that said, how are you doing at helping your husband? Have you started asking your husband how you can help him each day? How about submitting to him? Have you found a positive word to use in response to his requests? Are you bending in his direction? These were the first two ways we learned we are to have a heart for our husband. Today let’s move on to the last two ways we can have the right kind of heart for him.

3. Respect your husband. This means the same as the word for our reverential fear we have for the Lord. It’s visual, it’s seen by everyone. Ephesians 5:33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Treat your husband as you would Christ himself. How would we talk to Christ? How would we greet Him when we walked in the door? This is how we’re to treat our husband.

Ask of your attitude, “Am I demonstrating respect for my husband?” This is what it means – we’re to be affectionate, loving and showing respect that is seen by others and our husband.

4. Love your husband. This is a phileo love – friendship love. This means being best friends with your husband. Treat him lovingly. We become a husband lover. Again, it has to be a decision that he is the number one human priority in our lives. This puts him above our parents. He is before our children, and our married children. That puts him ahead of a best friend, a sister who’s been your best friend all of your life. He has to be your number one relationship, and he must know it!

Who is the first one you call when you learn some good news? Make sure your husband is the one you contact before anyone else, then with his permission you can share the news with others. Make him first.

To love your husband means choosing him over other human relationships. Keep him first before your children. It’s easy to become child-centered. Where do your children want to sit when you and your husband on the couch? Between you two! That’s symbolic of what they want to do, and we have to be careful that we keep our husband number one.

We need to ask of our decisions – am I spoiling my husband rotten? That is our assignment from God. That’s how we show him we love him.

I love one scene in Andy Griffith where Briscoe Darling thinks Aunt Bee is falling for him because she gives him butter for his potato, extra pot roast at dinner, more pearly onions because she learns that he likes them, and then she finishes off his meal with several pieces of pie. He looks at her and says, “Miss Bea, it appears that you’re specializing on me!” My husband and I use that phrase often with each other when one or the other does something especially thoughtful. But in reality that’s we should be doing for our husband on a daily basis. So “specialize” on him!

Elizabeth ended with a checklist. See how you’re doing…

• Pray for your husband – Ask him how you can be praying for him, then ask about that request and how it went.
• Plan for him – Love doesn’t’ just happen. It has to be planned for. Plan special meals. Plan special times alone. A friend of Elizabeth’s has a baked potato date each week. Plan for him daily, for his homecoming. Prepare the house, prepare your greeting, prepare the very words you’re going to say. I have found a blog where the gal has challenged her readers to have a weekly date night with their husband. I don’t know if this writer is a Christian, but she has the right understanding that a marriage takes time together to foster the relationship. If you go here you can get some good ideas of date suggestions. Planning time together is the only way it will happen! Let him know he’s first by planning date nights with him and him alone! Prepare the children – Daddy’s coming home. Turn the TV off. Have the table set – it’s the promise of that which is to come. Plan not to be on the phone. You usually know when your husband’s going to walk through the door. You can prove he is your number one priority by not being on the phone with anyone.
• Please him. Does he like the salt on the table? Does he like to read the newspaper? Does he need a big breakfast? Is his football game on?
• Protect your time with him. If he’s home, you want to be at home. One woman said she didn’t know where her husband was. One night she stayed at home, and there he was!
• Praise him

We want to be like the Proverbs 31 woman who does her husband good and not evil all the days of her life. Obeying these four important words – help, submit, respect, and love will help us to be what God intended! We’ve got lots of work to do and we can do it with the Lord’s help. Don’t feel overwhelmed, just work on one thing at a time and watch what the Lord will do in your marriage as you have a heart for your husband.

Cheering you on!