Breakfast Time...

I love breakfast meals. They are a wonderful way to start the family's day. The Proverbs 31 woman believed in them too. She actually started hers before the sun came up. I've not reached that goal in following my #1 role model yet! :) However, my family does eat a hot breakfast more than not.

I love fixing overnight casseroles, biscuits and gravy, (that's a special day), bacon, eggs, and toast, scrambled eggs with cheese melted on them with Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits, meat, eggs and waffles or pancakes, coffee cakes, and the list could go on and on. Mmmm..breakfast.

Today we had some delicious bacon that smelled like maple syrup, (Thank God for UGO and it's wonderful surprises at 99 cents a lb.!) Then I fixed fresh country eggs and I sliced up some rapidly-going-stale sourdough bread and dipped it in eggs, milk, sugar and cinnamon and fried it up in the bacon grease. It made some of the best French toast this family has ever sunk their teeth into. You know you did good when the kids thank you more than once for breakfast.

So, if you don't cook breakfast why not make a plan to just cook breakfast twice this week? Plan on making the presentation so nice that even if hubby doesn't normally eat breakfast that he'll decide to set down and dig in!

Family time is so sweet and the meal table is the best place to start drawing them together. Take every chance you get to gather your family around delicious homemade food.

On a regular basis (probably at least once a day) I ask myself what memories I want to leave my family. I want them to associate me with meals, my kitchen, an apron, the sweet aroma of good food, and a table that always draws them home. I have had more than one man delivering a package to my door tell me "Something sure smells good in there!" Food is a key to a man (and your family's heart). Use it to draw the family together and to the Lord!

Love...

Valentine's Day is here again. I thoroughly enjoy it. The kids and I have made homemade Valentine's to send to all the children in the family and I have a delicious things planned for tomorrow. There will be little boxes of candy on the children's pillows and pink waffles or pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast. Supper will be one of the family favorites.
Love is powerful, isn't it? But in a society that has everything upside down I think most of the time even Christians get the cart in front of the horse when it comes to love.
Love is supposed to be the spiritual first, then the mind, will and the emotions and last of all the flesh is to be involved. At all times the flesh must be controlled by the Spirit of Christ in us or love becomes lust.
We cannot really love someone unless we can offer them the love that Christ has offered us--unconditional. He loves us even if we don't love Him or care about Him. Real love is a commitment and it will offer love on days that we "feel" so in love and days we feel out of sorts. It carries out its responsibilities to the loved one rather they appreciate them or they don't. It offers love to the grouch as well as the gentleman! Real love is making a commitment to meet the person we love's needs (that we are responsible for) without conditions. It can only be done with the aid of the Holy Spirit!
We must set that will in gear to be a biblical wife irregardless to conditions. We must control our mind by not allowing thoughts to be fed that create anger and animosity. And we must nurture tender feelings for the one we love.
Intimacy is a by-product of knowing we can be trusted. We can be trusted to be faithful, loyal, true--to-keep those vows. When "the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her" he will open up and become your best, truest and faithful heart's friend. Oh, how sweet life grows when your mate becomes your best friends and confidant.
How God blesses the union of the man and woman who both obey the word of God and put real love in place in their lives.
On this day when love is given so much attention I want to review my life and make sure that because Christ is my "first love" I am offering my mate real love and in the right order! Doing it His way never, never fails.

I'm finally home again after a month of commuting from Tennessee to Cleveland, Ohio to the Cleveland Clinic trying to find some answers to the health problems I've developed since my hospitalization in March 2007 with a bacterial infection called Clostridium Difficile and pancreatitis. Somehow it has left me with a whole new set of problems in my digestive system. Since going to Cleveland it seems the only thing new I've found out is that on top of gastroparesis I now have a small bowel overgrowth and lactose intolerance.
While at Brian and Niki's house in PA I was feeling rather overwhelmed with the whole thing. While trying to sort it all out it was only becoming more confusing. I told the Lord that I wished I could spend the weekend with Frances Havergal. Reading Miss Havergal's writings always makes me see the Lord a little clearer, trust Him a little more, and it always renews a love for the Lord in my heart.
Well, as it turned out little Halle was sick over the weekend and Grandma Tami got to spend Sunday with my granddaughter and Miss Havergal. On top of that the Lord sent snow, snow, snow, which is always therapy for me. I curled up with one of the Havergal books and read to my heart's content between tea parties with Halle and time in the rocker. It was just what the Great Physician ordered.
Before it was time for me to come home (with more questions but no answers) I had peace reigning in my heart again. The Lord gave me many verses that comforted my heart and all week long He kept quoting the verse to me, "All power is given unto me.."
On Sunday my favorite preacher (my hubby) preached a message on the authority of Christ in Matthew 8. He had power to cleanse, power to enable, power to comfort, power to cast out Satanic influence, and power to control the elements. It was that wonderful comforting "witness" of what the Lord had told me all week. Although I don't know what it going on He has it all in control, I just need to yield myself to His control and trust Him that all things will work together for good in my life.
As I've had to do so many times in my life once again I've had to get my mind and heart's focus off the wind and the waves of life and on to the Christ who created them and controls them. He makes no mistakes and has a purpose for each mountain and valley in my life.
How thankful I am that my life has been put into the hands of One who makes no mistakes, makes no wrong decisions, and who I can safely trust to guide me through life.
I pray that each of you who are going through a trial or valley will keep your eyes on Him who is faithful. If your faith is low or weak may I encourage you to make this a week of reading every passage you can find on His power and authority. Tell Him you yield yourself to Him to have complete authority in your life to cleanse, enable, comfort, cast out anything that might be Satan's influence in your life and take control over every circumstance in your life. He will not fail you if you yield to His authority and the result is great peace and joy!