A Life Changer

I must say right up front that I am totally addicted to smart phones, the computer and my iPad especially. Yes, if we are home in the evenings, we have the tv on, but our real attention is directed to the iPad for me and the laptop for my hubby. With that disclaimer out of the way, I want to tell you about the best app that money can buy, "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young.


A very dear friend has had a life changing experience recently and this daily devotional book was a part of that experience. After she started talking about her devotional for the day and how it so spoke to her, I decided to get the app. There is nothing quite like waking up and reading a Word from your Father before you ever get out of bed. I can say, it speaks to you EVERY day. It puts your day in perspective and gives you assurance that your Father will be there no matter what the day brings. It gives you a whole new perspective on living each day.
The nice thing about having the app on your smart phone is that it goes with you every where you go. Forget to read it one day, it is there with you no matter when you remember or no matter when you need it. Each devotional is a short, one page reading packed with just what you need for the day.
My husband has also become hooked on hearing from the Father each morning. They are easy to share on Facebook and Twitter too. Reaching the world to let them know there is Hope has never been easier. Whatever problem you face in life, I think listening to Jesus each day will certainly be a life changer for you.
Have a very Blessed day!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Dear Teacher

Dear teacher,

I have entrusted you with my dear, precious child (ok, maybe not so precious all the time, but still precious to me and to God) for seven hours a day, five days a week.  For my young child, that means you will be with him more waking hours than I will.  That is a scary feeling. 

Who are you?  What kind of personality do you have?  Will you love my child in the way my child needs love?  Do you have the morals that I want my child to learn from someone that spends that much time with him?  Will you honestly seek out the best ways to help him comprehend the concepts that he must learn at his age?  Or, do you just consider this a job and do the same things the way you have done them for ten, twenty or even thirty years?  Are you a screamer or will you give my child that special hug that only a teacher can give when my child needs it?  Will my child look up to you or will he be indifferent to you?  Will you be the teacher that is disciplined and requires discipline in return?  Children can sense the kind of love that is real, that comes from discipline.  Please don’t let them do whatever they want to make them happy.  Life is not that way and they need to learn that at an early age.

Do you comprehend that teaching is not a competition with other teachers?  It is God’s gift to you and you are to do your very best as though you are teaching for the Lord, not for the other teachers or even the administration.  Do you find yourself jealous when other teachers seem to be doing a better job than you or maybe when other teachers get a compliment?  Do you talk about other teachers behind their back trying to make yourself seem more important?  Shame on you.  Do not be slanderers or gossipers.  Do not be jealous!  Try to learn from that person.  Go to other teachers and ask questions.  Sharing ideas is wonderful.  No one person knows it all.  Learn from others.  See if they have a method of teaching that you might use.  It is NOT a competition!  It is my child’s life at stake.  No matter what the grade, you influence them whether it is a positive influence or a negative one.  What my child sees and learns from you could be the beginning of a wonderful life or the beginning of a life of misery. 

If my child doesn’t get the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, he will feel he is a failure when he is older.  If he doesn’t learn how to interact with others in a mannerly and considerate way, he will not achieve the things in life that could be his.  If he doesn’t learn to respect his teachers, he will never respect adults in life.  If he doesn’t learn to abide by the rules, he may land in jail.  You are molding my child’s life.  This is not a job, nor a competition.  It is my child’s life you are dealing with.  Each day before you enter the classroom, please pray that it will be the day that makes a difference and I will be praying for you.  In my eyes, you have the most important job in the whole wide world.  Don’t abuse it but adore it.

Have a Blessed day!

Just thought I would share a few pictures of my Christmas decorations this year.  Not much changed, but they are still fun to look at if you are like me!  Enjoy!

Merry Christmas to all.  Hope you are enjoying this time of preparation for the big day as much as I am!

Have a Blessed Season!

Texas Corn Bread

I am bad and I didn't take a picture, but I so wanted you to have this recipe!  It is absolutely the best corn bread you will ever eat.  At least I think so.  My mother bought the little cookbook around 50 years ago.  It is "LBJ Barbeque Cook Book" by the caterer to the LBJ Ranch - Walter Jetton.  The actual writer is Arthur Whitman.  Be sure to read the entire recipe.  It is quite comical since it was originally made to be cooked out on the open range.  I added my more modern version at the end for all us Southern City Folk. 
I had not had this recipe in a rather long time and I still had memories of this recipe being the one that turned me on to corn bread. My mother is 83 now and has been cleaning out and giving things away for several years now.  She was giving away some of her cook books since she rarely uses them these days and I told her that was the cook book I wanted.  It might be the oldest thing she has that reminds me of my childhood.  I remember the day trip to the LBJ Ranch and her purchasing the cookbook.  Was the recipe as good as I remembered?  It ABSOLUTELY was!!

Here is the recipe.

Texas Corn Bread

(LBJ Barbeque Cook Book)

Read entire recipe before starting!

1 cup yellow cornmeal

½ cup flour
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup sweet milk (that is plain milk to you young readers)
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon soda
1 Tablespoon baking powder

Mix corn meal, flour and salt. Add all the other ingredients and let stand at least 15 minutes without

mixing. Grease the skillet well and heat it. Now stir the mixture and pour into the skillet. Cover the
skillet and bake in the coals, checking every few minutes to see that the heat is right. It is cooked when the top crust is a golden brown color. You will find that the bottom is somewhat moist at this time.
That is fine, for it should be.

HOW I MAKE IT FOR THE MODERN WORLD

Put ½ stick butter in cast iron skillet in a 400° oven and let it melt. Mix corn meal, flour, 4 Tablespoons powdered butter milk and salt in mixing bowl. (I use powdered buttermilk all the time since we don’t drink regular butter milk. Keep it in the refrigerator after opening the container so the powder won’t turn to a hard brick). Add all other ingredients plus a cup of water (to replace the liquid for the buttermilk) on top of the powdered mixture. DO NOT STIR! Pour the hot melted butter on top of all the other ingredients. Let stand for 15 minutes without mixing. This is a very important step. At the end of 13 minutes, return the cast iron skillet to the oven to get hot again. After the full 15 minutes, stir the batter, pour into the hot skillet and bake in 400° oven for 18 – 20 minutes (uncovered) until the corn bread starts loosening around the edges and the top is starting to turn golden and the bottom is really brown. This is so good when it comes out of the oven that you don’t even need to add butter to it! Might want to make two recipes so no one will know you ate the first one all by yourself!

I also made this today with white corn meal because my mother's recipe for corn bread dressing says to use white corn meal.  Works great with that too.  Hope you enjoy!

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

I am so excited! My daughter upgraded her camera, so I got her old one which is more complicated than a point and shoot type camera, but hopefully, I will be able to do better pictures for my blog! I am starting with my fall decorations. Everything was done on automatic since I was learning about tripod usage. I am really basic. :)). Enjoy the fall pictures and hope they inspire you to do something seasonal at your house. I do think if you decorate for the seasons it says you love your home.































I can see those last two are really dark. Oh well, hope they inspire you nevertheless. Hope you have a Blessed week!

Friends

What kind of friend are you? 

What kind of friend do you prefer to have around you? 

One that always agrees with you or one that can help you to see other ways of looking at issues? 

I have found too many times we want friends that will agree with us no matter what the issue.  For instance, your other half, better known as a spouse, husband, wife, etc, does something that really sets you off.  It is just infuriating or maybe frustrating or so dumb.  You get my drift.  They are just so opposite of the way we think they should be.  We have all been there. (If only everyone were as perfect as we are.)  Girls are really bad about this....they run to their best friend and start ragging about their husband.  The friend so many times starts agreeing and may even add fuel to the fire.  Something that may have started out a small issue suddenly becomes major.  It may eventually make you want to give up on a marriage!

Is this the kind of friend you really need and is this the kind of friend you ought to be?  I want to suggest the answer to that question is a rather large NO!  A friend should be there to help you see the issue clearly and maybe even help you see the spouses view point - no matter what her view point is.  Sure she may agree he is a jerk, but she shouldn't tell you that right at this moment. 

A true friend would try to give you positives to look at, help you calm down, and work with you until the situation becomes better.  She would think before she speaks negatively.  She wouldn't add fuel to the fire.   She would pray for you and with you.  After all, a true friend would want to do all she could to help you keep your marriage together.

Think about the kind of friend you are.  It could change your world.

Have a Blessed day!

Life's Challenges

Building character.  How does that happen?  How long does it take?  What is the process one must go through?  I really don't have the answers, but by the time you reach your mid 50's, I guess you have developed character whether it is a good character or bad.  The past month, I had an opportunity to reflect on the type of character I have built.

I am not exactly the best at getting my mammograms done in a timely fashion.  One year suddenly is two or three and then I decide I must go.  This time and the last time also, I got called back in for a second look.  This time, it was inconclusive after 7 films and an ultrasound, so I was on my way to UAMS in Little Rock to try and get a conclusion with a MRI.  Now that was an experience! But that isn't my story.  My story is about all the days between all the procedures.

From the first mammogram to the second one was a wait of over two weeks.  During this time, I got aggravated having to wait so long and decided I was going to tell the radiologist about it.  (He is a friend.)  That is a long time for someone not to know if they are sick or not.  However, as I was sitting in the waiting room waiting on the second one, I realized if they did it all in one day, you wouldn't have time to reflect and see your real character.

I am not one to really worry.  I truly believe the Lord is in control and He will see me through wherever my journey in life takes me.  (Now if it is my child, I might not be as strong, but with me, I am pretty good at handling things.)  While waiting on the second mammogram and ultrasound, I sensed that I would need the next step, but I know from countless other women, that this does not mean there is a real problem.  Sure enough, the doctor came in and told me quite honestly, that he could not make a call whether what he was seeing was anything or just a false something and that he would like for me to have an MRI.  I am a logical person, asked where I go for that and he gave me a list of options and said it would be best if my OB/GYN made the appointment for me.  This had been going on for 17 days, so I drove straight to the gynecologist office (another friend of ours) and got the appointment made for 2 days later in Little Rock.  (If I went to Little Rock, I could take a bumper my husband needed to have chromed and see my daughter too!  So that was a logical place to go for a logical thinking person. ha)

Went on a Friday for the MRI expecting the results the next week but it actually took 15 days.  (No one told me to take the films with me so they had to be mailed.  If this ever happens to you, TAKE THE FILMS.)  This is when I had time to reflect.  What if the worst case scenerio happened and I had cancer.  I truly didn't believe that would happen, but you have to prepare.  The worst ending (in the world's eyes) would be death.  Was I ready for that?  Without any hesitation, I said yes.  I know where I am going when I die, and I know who will be waiting for me when I get there.  For a Christian, it is the ultimate reward and healing and I truly believe for a Christian, death is not a bad thing when you face it.  In my heart, I knew that would not be bad at all, EXCEPT for the husband, the daughter and my 83 year old mother that I would be leaving behind.  These three people depend on me for lots of things (at least I tell myself that.)  That would be the hardest part because I would feel I was letting them down and not carrying my load til the end of time which should be many years from now.  But I know, people die all the time and the ones left behind learn to deal with it, each in their own way.  By day 13 of waiting for the MRI results, I knew deep in my heart all was clear.  I had a real peace that only comes from the Lord.

The biggest blessing from this whole event, was not finding out that everything was ok and I did not have cancer.  The biggest blessing was seeing that I am truly not a real worrier even in the midst of a situation like this and seeing the true peace one can have during such a time.  It is a peace that only comes from truly knowing the Lord as your personal Saviour. 

A quote that came across facebook today:

"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are." - Bernice Reagon

 

Have a Blessed Day!