All Things Sweet

July 29, 2015August 25, 2015 RefreshHer4 Comments

This week seemed to have a theme…it’s called sweet. Come take a peek from my porch to see why I say that…

A couple of friends shared delicious, peaches from their peach trees. Wasn’t that sweet of them? And oh my! They were sweet and yummy!

They were delicious in our morning yogurt, and on ice cream, but my favorite way to use them was to put them IN ice cream! I found a recipe on Cooking Light for Homemade Peach Ice Cream just before the peaches were brought to our door. As Rachel Lynde from Anne of Green Gables would say, it was “Simply providential!” So after a little bit of mixing and freezing this was the result…

This made for a sweet treat on a hot July day!

Then, on Thursday, it was Free Tea Day at McAlister’s Deli. They have really good Sweet Tea, and we had to indulge! We went to Sonic Drive-in (because it was also national Hot Dog Day) and had our lunch for a whopping $2! Gotta love cheap dates!

While I was praying one morning, Liza Jane came and pushed her way between my arm and the chair and then put her paw up on my face!
How sweet is that?!

I have to wonder sometimes if she isn’t an tool of the devil rather than a little angel; she can be very demanding while I’m trying to pray!

I got to spend Monday early afternoon at the beautiful spa in Johnson City, thanks to a bunch of sweet friends who gave me a gift card! The massage was so wonderful! The pedicure afterwards was a lovely indulgence as well!

Before I went to the spa my husband sent me to have lunch at Wellington’s so that “this day could be all mine.” Again, his love and sweet gestures are over the top and I know I am spoiled far more than my furry feline friend!

The restaurant is so beautiful and the food was great! It got me all ready for a couple hours of spa treatment!

On Friday Alli and I worked on painting her kitchen chairs. They were old library chairs that needed a little spritzing up, and she chose a pretty yellow that will add lots of warmth to her kitchen. Thankfully we got more paint on the chairs than we did ourselves, but we were pretty covered in white primer and yellow paint!

Time with my girls is always a sweet blessing! We laughed, talked, ate lunch and got lots of paint on those chairs (and everywhere else!)!

So that was a good bit of the sweetness I enjoyed since last Wednesday! How would you describe your week in one word?

With love from my country porch,

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Don’t Zone Out – Tune In!

March 19, 2015March 18, 2015 RefreshHerLeave a comment

I just got back from a trip to town. Things I saw have gotten me to thinking about how we all tend to “zone out.” We’re so busy, so frantic, that when whenever we can, we find our way to check out on life. Here’s how I’ve seen it recently:

People in their cars, talking on their phone while trying to make a left turn onto a very busy road. They’re oblivious to the fact that they’re blocking both turn lanes. Zoned out.
Shoppers push their cart out into the middle of the aisle without ever considering that someone might have to come to an immediate halt to keep from hitting their buggy. It’s okay; they never see anyone else, never acknowledge that someone else is in the store. A believer misses the opportunity to serve others or to speak or encourage with a word or smile.
Parents are caught up in conversation or their phone, or a ballgame and miss seeing what their child is doing or what they may be up to. The child speaks and the parents hears, but isn’t listening.
Christians sit in church “listening” during a service, all the while thinking of a hundred other things during the announcements or message. Afterwards there’s no memory of what was said or of the Lord speaking to their heart. They’re also out of the loop about what’s coming up on the church calendar.
Spouses don’t take time for one another to have an eyeball to eyeball conversation. They give “air kisses” as they part in the morning or return at the end of the day. They miss details of the other’s life because they’re zone out.

Okay, so we’ve all seen it and DONE IT! Right? I certainly have! What’s the remedy? How about following the principle Jim Elliott is quoted in saying,

Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt any situation you believe to be the will of God!

When you’re driving, put the phone down. Be a present driver!

When you’re at the store, keep your head and eyes up. Be a present shopper/witness!

When you’re with your children, listen to them. Inspect what you asked them to do. Have a consistent, watchful eye on them. Be a present parent!

While sitting in the church service, keep your notebook out. Write down the announcements the pertain to you! Write down any questions you may have if you didn’t understand the details. Take notes about what God is saying to you during the message. Be a present church member!

Be intentional about spending time with your spouse when you see one another. Greet him at the door. Mark out ten minutes just to talk with him about his day and things he needs to hear. Be a present wife!

Zoning out involves thinking about one person – ME. Tuning in involves everyone around me. Life is a greater blessing when we stay tuned in to others around us! Let’s tune in to others and zone out to self!

Are there other scenarios in which you find yourself zoning out?

With love,

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The Wasted Time of Unforgiveness

March 12, 2015March 13, 2015 RefreshHer6 Comments

It was just a little lovers quarrel between two neighbors, David and Rachel. Then every week after that for forty-two years, he wrote her a love letter, asking her to forgive him, and every week she promptly burned the letter. Her heart was stoic and unforgiving. Finally, he summoned the courage to knock on her door and ask her to marry him. She said yes! They were seventy-four years old when they finally married!

Sad story, isn’t it? To have wasted forty-two years that they might have shared loving one another instead of holding a grudge. As I read that story recently I thought about how easy it is to think you’re so right that you will not forgive. Satan feeds us lies:

You could not possibly give in because by doing so, he wouldn’t learn the lesson he needs to learn.
Forgiving would rob you of the joy of hurting him like he hurt you.
Forgiving would make you a doormat.

Yes forty-two years is a long time, but do we have a right to hold a grudge for forty-two days? How about forty-two minutes? No, forty-two seconds might be more like it.

We might all admit it’s wrong to stay angry and unforgiving, but HOW do you forgive? How do you let go of your right to stay angry? How do you let go when you’re sure you’re right and he’s wrong? The biblical answer is to see yourself standing before the cross. Are you behind your husband because you don’t need God’s forgiveness as much? No, we must see ourselves standing side by side before a bleeding, dying Savior who forgave us though He had done NOTHING wrong. We forgive because we are forgiven.

We forgive in God’s strength alone. We cannot muster up enough gumption to do this in our flesh. Our flesh believes the devil’s lies and “burns the letter.” But when we come to the Lord, we ask Him to give us the grace to forgive.

We forgive because it makes us like our Savior. We let go of our right, as Christ did and we bear His likeness so that a watching world may see His life in us.

Recently my husband said to me something that touched my heart. “Whenever we’re angry with one another, let’s just embrace.” You know what happens when you do that? The anger melts away. Humility and vulnerability are involved and the tensions are released.

What issue stands between you and your husband? No matter how big or small (and most times it’s the little things that get blown out of proportion that cause the most grief), there is nothing that is worth wasting forty-two minutes, hours, days or years over. Humble yourself and make it right.

Do it today. Time for your love is passing and you’ll never get it back.

Lovingly,

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A Peek From My Porch

March 4, 2015March 13, 2015 RefreshHer8 Comments

A Peek Into My Life This Week

I spend a lot of time with my husband as he makes hospital calls. When I was a child, I dreamed of walking the hospital halls as a nurse. The Lord had other plans, and now for all these years, instead of being called “nurse,” He’s given me the title of “Pastor’s wife.” I get to stand alongside my husband as he enters room after room to comfort and encourage. I have learned to love these times at the hospital for so many different reasons. One of those is that we always go to be a blessing, but we always come away having received a far greater one.

Yesterday was one of those busy days visiting at the med center. One of our visits included the former pastor of our church; a dear man who loves the Lord, His Word and His work. As I stood at the foot of the bed and listened to my husband minister to this former pastor, the Lord revealed three important truths to me.

I thought about how at one time this patient was the one standing beside the bed giving the comfort. Now instead, he is listening, drinking in and receiving the encouragement from God’s Word.Time to serve God is short.
I sensed this man’s keen knowledge of God’s Word as, even in his weakened condition, he made a connection from the passage my husband read in the psalms to one in Revelation. Time in God’s Word is evident.
I thought about his wife, at home, unable to be at his side because of her own physical limitations. I’m sure she had ministered with him in years past, just as I was doing now. Is she wondering where he is? Is she calling for him when he cannot come? Time with our spouse is a privilege not to be taken for granted.

So while some folks loathe visiting the hospital, the Lord has given me a joy – not in other’s sickness – but in what they always teach me. What a wonderful privilege is mine to be called “The pastor’s wife.” I pray I will serve as faithfully as this dear man and his wife did. Then when the Lord sets me aside and I can no longer serve in this capacity, I pray that I will encourage others who visit with me as much as I was encouraged yesterday! If I take these lessons to heart that will be far more likely.

Of the three truths the Lord showed me, which one strikes a chord in your own heart? Listen to what the Lord wants to say to you through this faithful former pastor!

With love from my country porch,

Marriage

Every Day Kind of Love

February 19, 2015February 18, 2015 RefreshHer9 Comments

There are 364 days that are not Valentine’s Day But I love the way the Valentine’s Day kind of love shows up around my house nearly every day (we’re far from perfect, nor is our marriage!). So yeah, sometimes ugly things creep in our door, but it’s our goal to make our marriage a priority every day. It’s done because of the little things. Let me show you what I mean.

See this little pink teddy bear? He shows up (as does his counterpart who happens to be purple) in all sorts of places.

When either my husband or I find this little guy tucked away, it’s an unwritten note that says, “I love you!” No words have to be spoken, no note jotted. It was purposefully hidden in a place that the other would find it so they might know they were being thought of. I’ve found this little bear in my measuring cups, beside my toothbrush, inside my suitcase, in a dresser drawer, and here on my make up brush… and all kinds of other fun places. A package of those little fuzzy bears is minuscule. I got ours at Hobby Lobby years ago. It’s been an investment in our marriage that costs little, but has paid un-measurable dividends!

Another thing we do is laugh. It’s easy to take life and yourself so seriously that you spoil the joy of the little things. The Lord says that Laughter is good medicine (Proverbs 17:22)! So, we laugh…

Now you can laugh, too! Cute, aren’t we? These make for hilarious stops at red lights! We laugh, and the people in the car beside us can smile with us!

We also do what my chalkboard says, we try to enjoy the little things.

This was lunch this week on one of our snow-days. We moved the table next to the fire, turned on Andy Griffith and laughed our way through lunch while we enjoyed the comfort of the fire, a simple meal, and one another’s company.

We were given a gift certificate at Christmastime for a great restaurant in our area. We had tucked it away for a date night, then we learned that Monday nights in February was “Buy a meal, get one free!” Our date nights often consist of great things that cost little – or in this case nothing! It wasn’t Valentine’s night, but when you celebrate Valentine’s all through the year, it really doesn’t matter what night you go out!

It’s all the day-to-day expressions of love that make a marriage more than average. Even when you do have one of those occasional “not-so-good” days, you’re still in love, and can overcome evil with good and keep rolling on towards the “Happily Ever After” kind of relationship that the Lord intended – even when it’s NOT Valentine’s Day!

What do you and your spouse do to keep laughing and having fun? Maybe you need a pair of those cute glasses or a little fuzzy bear to perk things up!

With love,