His Wonderful Works....Part 5



 It's been a long and wonderful summer for us here at the Neals.  I love my front porch, I love the more relaxed mood, and I love projects in the summer.  So between my projects and my porch there have been no posts since June! :)
   These posts are a walk down memory lane for me.  I am doing them at the request of my husband.  He felt it would be good for me to meditate on all the wonderful blessings the Lord has given us.  He's right--it is good to remember the kindness, patience and goodness of the Lord as my Shepherd, my Teacher, and my Friend. (and so much more)
  In my last post I told how the Lord gave us our second child-Alicia.  What lessons He had for me in two little girls.  They looked different and their personalities were different.  Niki started talking in phrases at 15 months.  Alicia took her time in talking, but was pulling up in her crib early on.  She walked first, and her motor skills were advanced.  My mother had often told me not to expect the same thing from my second child as my first one, but now I was learning firsthand how different two children could be.
  Alicia's curious nature was always there.  She was always discovering something new.  Niki, on the other hand, would be walking behind me asking hundreds of adult-type questions.  I was absolutely enthralled with being the mother of two unique little girls.
  At this time I had been growing spiritually and began reading biographies of great Christians.  As a little girl my mother often read us stories of great Christians.  I remember Hudson Taylor, Johanna Veenstra, Mary Slessor and Nate Saint as some of the heroes that we had as children.  The sweet memories of these stories motivated me to start reading on my own. 
   I began to realize how important a prayer life was, how important reading my Bible daily was.  Part of it was because I had become a woman and the other part was realizing how important being a mother was.
  We lived in a small gray house that the church owned that sat in a lot adjacent to the church.  What sweet memories I have there!  I was learning the art of being a homemaker.  The floors were old grey tile, but I polished them with Future wax to make them shine.  I  spent time looking at  cookbooks so I could have a hot meal waiting for my husband when he got home from work.  I enjoyed decorating with items that had been given to me.
  I rehearsed in my mind things that my grandmother and mother had said while we were just chatting that now made sense.  My grandma had told me to always make sure my beds were made, my dishes done and my living room was tidy.  That way if company came I wouldn't be ashamed of my house.
  So what was the wonderful work in this time of my life?  Well, the Lord was just beginning the lesson of contentment in my life.  (And I had to repeat this grade for several years!)
  I had been given the gift of parents who had their value system straight.  Possessions had no hold on them.  My mother had told me she remembered reading a biography of Isobel Kuhn who said to always hold your possessions on an open hand to the Lord and to "never curl up your fingers on them."
  My parents were in full-time ministry most of their adult lives and they always had to pinch the pennies.  But you never sensed they resented it or felt they'd missed something.  They had found something bigger than having the right car, or the right house, or even the right clothes.  They had found how to have food and raiment and be very content. 
   Now we were living life on a tight budget with two little girls that needed clothes, doctor visits and food on the table.  I had a choice to make--resent it and fight it or learn what my parents had learned.  That lesson was how to depend on God and be thankful for what He provided.  I began to pray specifically for things like winter coats, shoes and grocery money for the week. 
  At the same time I was so very happy.  I had a husband who loved me, made me feel cherished, found joy in being the breadwinner and caring for his little family.  Our marriage was a happy one.  We had two healthy little girls.   I found that I could get more joy out of bathing a baby, or sitting under a shade tree and watching them play then in going shopping.  I got more joy out of fixing a new recipe than having a new outfit.  I found out that sitting on the porch with my husband after the girls had gone to bed and listening to the night sounds gave me more joy than going on the town for a night. 
  Although I didn't realize it this wasn't just my personality--it was a gift from the Lord.  I also didn't realize that this is the by-product that comes with carrying out your life in agreement with how the Lord designed the home and family.  When we do it His way it produces a deep contentment and joy in our hearts.
  How thankful I am now for the parents, the grandparents, the church and the husband God had so graciously given me.  All these had played a part in my being able to live in a tiny house with a tiny budget with very used furniture and hand-me-down clothes feeling like I was one of the richest women that ever lived!
  Today I look back with such gratefulness for all the wonderful blessings in my life that I took for granted then.  How I thank the Lord for the memories of the smallest beginnings in my life of I Timothy 6:6--"But godliness with contentment is great gain."
 
  

Day # 4 of advent...
Keeping the Christmas story central in Christmas...believe me, we have a lot of wonderful things going on during Christmas! Today, John and his dad got the porch at our house decorated. This is a first for us--decorating the outside of the house with anything more than luminaries. Grandpa Charles would approve of the job they did! (lots of lights)
Inside, we have my favorite Christmas decoration--our moving nativity. Mary and Joseph have their residence on one side of the living room while Bethlehem is on the other side of our living room complete with shepherds on a hillside.
About 10 days before Christmas Mary and Joseph have a soldier standing outside of their house and a tiny note attached to their door telling them they must go to Bethlehem to be taxed.
They have a donkey and a bedroll ready to go and they begin their journey across the living room to Bethlehem.
We have wise men on the other side of the living room that begin their journey too and arrive after Christmas.
On Christmas morning baby Jesus is in his place and all is well. A star burns over the stable and the shepherds are hovering around the baby and his parents. I love the whole thing.
During the ten days Mary and Joseph move during the night and are in a new place each morning. Each year a new person or thing shows up as a gift for the pocket calendar and makes our nativity scene just a little better for next year. It might be a palm tree, flickering campfires for the shepherds, or a new tradesperson for the city of Bethlehem. The whole nativity is a hodgepodge of homemade, Fontanini, my grandmother's sheep from her nativity set or Dollar Tree goodies but that's what makes it uniquely ours. Each part of it has a special memory and place in our lives.
John begins fretting if they don't move fast enough or don't get going as soon as they get their notice. I stay content knowing that the Christmas story is being carried out right in our living room and we're keeping it in front of the children each day. In front of mom too, when it's busy it's good to go into the living room and look at the whole scene and remember what all the celebrating is really about!

 

Day # 3 of advent....Grandma AllDean's porch looks so pretty with Christmas wreaths and lights...she turned me loose!
One of the ways I love to celebrate this season and keep my perspective is to have my very own silent night. Put on the Christmas music after the kids go to bed, light some candles, get some hot cocoa or eggnog and sit in a darkened room with the fireplace and Christmas lights and just relax and think about all that you love about this season. It can be a time or prayer, a time to remember, a time to go over your grateful list, but it's a good time to just give yourself the gift of a quiet time during a very busy season!
Tonight I'm thankful for the joy of children at this time of the year, the joy of my being a child of God, a wife, a mother, a homemaker. I'm thankful that the Lord has given me a love for every role He has given me. I'm thankful for the beauty of Christmas, for the "mood" that makes people more open at this time of year, for watching my children's excitement build, for the wonderful aroma of Christmas.....I could go on and on...thank You Lord for your coming to us bringing so very much joy into our lives!

What Is Your Occupation?

  As a young mother I had my times when I had to sit before a receptionist at the hospital with a sick baby on my lap and answer questions before they treated him.  In the early years I remember them saying, "Do you work?" 
  "Well, yes at least 16 hours per day and sometimes more--like tonight." 
   I would get two responses usually, the head would go down with a slight smile of amusement or the cold glare of "come one now, let's answer this the way you should" and then it would be rephrased, "I mean, do you have a job?"

  "Yes, I'm a full time homemaker."
   That was carefully worded so they couldn't say, "Then you don't work."  That point had been established in the first question.
   Now the question is, "Do you work outside the home?"  Much better put.  But they still don't use the answer that I wish they would use--"What is your occupation?"

  That would be in interesting question to use if for one day people had to be completely honest.  It really got me to asking myself that question.  I would answer "I'm a keeper at home, or I'm a homemaker." but then I have to think about if I'm am truly occupying myself during the working day as a homemaker or keeper at home.
   I first looked up the words "occupation" and "vocation" in the word of God and found their definitions.  I also looked up the word where Paul told us to "occupy till he came".  I think the context there is "keep on doing what you're supposed to be doing faithfully till the Lord returns." 
   In Genesis 46 and 47 the occupation of Joseph's family was being discussed. Joseph had instructions for them on how to answer Pharoah in what their "occupation" was.  That word meant:
1. deed, work

    a) deed, thing done, act

    b) work, labour

    c) business, pursuit

    d) undertaking, enterprise

    e) achievement

    f) deeds, works (of deliverance and judgment)

    g) work, thing made

    h) work (of God)

   i) product

  You can see there that this was a work, business that had something made out of it or a product. It was a deed with a purpose. 

   When Jonah was asked what his occupation was the definition was slightly different.  His was a question involving more of a product itself or who had commissioned the work to him.  They were more interested with why he was one their boat and what he was headed to do that might be bringing on them what they were experiencing the terrors they were going through.

  

1) occupation, work, business

   a) occupation, business

   b ) property

   c) work (something done or made)

   d) workmanship

   e) service, use

   f) public business

   1) political

   2) religious

  Aquilla and Priscilla were involved in a certain trade.  When Paul lived with them he was able to earn some money because they were of the same trade or occupation.  That was the trade of the tentmaker.  That word occupation simply means "of the plastic art, or trade".  (Acts 18:3)

   Later, in Acts 19:25 men are having losses to their occupation because of people becoming Christians.  That word simply means "such as this".  It could be used by gamblers, people who sell Satanic items, liquor dealers, etc.  People who would be in an occupation "such as this" would take a loss if we had revival.  This happened to be silversmith who was losing business in making false gods.

   Now that takes me back to my occupation, or may I say in a broader sense what should the occupation of a godly woman be.  Webster's1828  dictionary lists occupation as "That which engages the time and attention; employment; business." or "The principal business of one's life; vocation;  calling; trade; the business which a man follows to procure a living or obtain wealth."

   This causes me to think about what occupies my time and attention and what is the product I desire to produce at the end of my life, what is the calling I have from God to spend the time He's given me?  They are sobering questions. 

  "What a terrible thing to have to answer, (If we had to tell the complete truth to the Lord.) "The thing that consumes most of my time is books, the tv, the internet, games, shuttling my kids to the babysitters so we can make money and have everything our neighbors have, working for another master who has a different goal for me than You have." 

  This thought is for me the "keeper at home" just as much as the "working mother" or the "aged woman".  Am I carrying out the occupation and vocation that God wants me doing that I will produce the product He wants to see at the end of my life?

   Proverbs 31:10-31 is the role model the Lord gave me for how He wants me to "occupy my time".  It's beena 37 year pursuit for me and I still have much to develop.  

   Let's look at what consumed my role model's time.

   *She spent time making sure her husband didn't need being spoiled (shamed) by what she did with her time.  I can think of a man walking into a home that has obviously been neglected-it spoils him and shames him.  I can think of a man finding out his wife has used up too much money out of the checkbook.  It spoils him.  He wants everyone to think good of him because of how his wife cares for his home, his money, his clothes, his children and him!  (The word spoil means to plunder or to make money by dubious means.)  He is the breadwinner but he wants (and needs) our assistance in seeing that what he's worked hard for isn't spoiled by us.

    *She spent time gathering supplies in to make things with her hands.  It said she went afar to get just the right merchandise to run their home smoothly. 

   *Every day of her life she did good to her husband and not evil.  (That takes time and a controlled tongue.)

   *She gets up before the sun to feed her household and her maiden.

   *She takes time to go find and purchase a field that she intends to plant a vineyard in.

   *She spent time keeping her physical body strong.

   *She has merchandise she's making to sell and that requires working after the sun goes down.  Today we call that a cottage industry.  There is nothing wrong with it but do you see where it is in her day.  Everyone else is down and she's staying up to work on it.

   *Nor only is she making merchandise to sell, she is covering the needy and she has her own household clothed with scarlet and herself with tapestry.  (This is fine clothing that had hours of needlework involved)

   *Her work obviously helps to make her husband be a man of reknown. 

   *She takes her fine linen that she's made and sells it and delivers it to the merchants.  (No, she didn't set up shop with the merchants.)

   *Because she opened her mouth with wisdom we know she had to have an active relationship with the Lord.  That takes time, it doesn't just happend.

   *She doesn't sit around eating the bread of idleness--this is a busy woman!

  * Her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also and then God praise her-  I CALL THAT A PRODUCT WORTH SPENDING THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE IN!

   Another lady whose priorities and time management has always captured my interest is "the widow indeed".  I hope I never have to turn to the church to take care of me, but I see here that this woman had lived a life that was so pleasing to God that He commands she's cared for.  What had she spent her time on?

   *She had one husband.  (Being a godly, biblical wife involves time seeking God's commandments for you and it takes time to live them.)

   *The widow indeed spends time in prayers and supplications day and night. (it says she's trusting in the Lord alone--that requires a lot of prayer)

   *It says she was well reported of for her good works.  That got my curiosity up- what did good works mean? 

1) business, employment, that which any one is occupied

a) that which one undertakes to do, enterprise, undertaking

2) any product whatever, any thing accomplished by hand, art, industry, or mind

3) an act, deed, thing done: the idea of working is emphasised in opp. to that which is less than work

  

     Here we are again with the things that we spend our time on and let ourselves become occupied with that produces the right product.  It also is called "work".
   *She was to have brought up children.
   *She was to have lodged strangers in her home.
   *She was to have washed the saints feet.
   *Relieved the afflicted.
   Sounds like a busy woman doing the right thing before God.

   The Titus 2 woman is my last role model that I seriously look to as a pattern God has given me for how He wants me to occupy my time.
   *I am to be discreet
   *I am to be chaste
   *I am to be a keeper at home (That little word 'at' has a position involved with it.  Some position words would be under, over, in, above, beside, by, etc.) You can't be "at Walmart" and be "at home" at the same time. You can't be "at work" and "at home" at the same time.  The word keeper involves the care of the home and the watchman of the home.  If we properly prioritize our days we can make our WalMart trips, our phone calls, our time on the internet, but we must never, never let them keep us from being the keeper at our home.  If we don't keep it someone else will.  Be on your guard!
   * I am to be good.  That word means to be useful, to be pleasant, to be agreeable, joyful and happy.
    If I'm fighting God's design for my life but yet I decide I have to or get in trouble with God and I grit my teeth and do it, I have skipped this one.  When we yield to the Designer and decide to live life the way He planned it to work best for us, we find great joy and happiness.
   *We ar to be obedient to our own husbands.  That word obedient means:
  

1) to arrange under, to subordinate

2) to subject, put in subjection

3) to subject one's self, obey

4) to submit to one's control

5) to yield to one's admonition or advice

6) to obey, be subject

   He is to be the one who is in charge, and I'm the subordinate.  I am to be subject to his wishes, I am to subject myself to his control, yield to his admonition and advice and obey and be subject to his wishes. 

   I have found that whenever I agree with God and embrace what He has commanded me to do He gives me wings and I find great freedom and joy in it.  Tr

 Try it--it's much better than being an angry woman with a sign getting your picture in the paper!

 When we refuse to take the occupation that God has given us as women in the Bible we are told in Titus 2:5 that the Word of God is blasphemed.  That is a serious thing.  It makes people take the word of God lightly because they see professing Christians taking their "occupation" lightly.  In Titus 2 He directs that at young women who will not take on their God-given occupation and are trying to get the fruit and blessings of a godly woman (I want my children to go to heaven!  I don't want my children to get involved in sin.  I want my marriage to last.) without carrying out the commands to women.

   The word "blasphemed" means :

1) to speak reproachfully, rail at, revile, calumniate, blaspheme

2) to be evil spoken of, reviled, railed at

  We're there.  So many people have no use for God's word.  They are confused at all the multiple messages coming from professed Christians.  But God is not confused and He's never wrong.  We have a map to follow and it is His word.

  He has much, much more to say to young and older woman but today I want to impress on you how you spend you time.  What your real occupation is.

  I tell the story of when I first learned to do heirloom sewing.  I loved it!  I was consumed with it.  I couldn't wait to get breakfast done so I could pull out my work for the day.  I got irritable with the kids while they were doing school because I wanted them to get done so I could do what I wanted to do.  I dreaded cooking supper, or doing laundry--anything that kept me from what I wanted to do--heirloom sewing. 

  One day, (after another frustrating day at home for everyone) it was just like the Lord said, "You're no longer a keeper at home, a home maker, you're an heirloom seamstress now."  Oh, my how that convicted, but I knew it was true.  That's why my duties as a keeper at home had become frustrating.  I realized I had become an heirloom seamstress that did homemaking on the side and I had to go back to being a homemaker that did heirloom sewing on the side.  When I obeyed the Lord our home became the sweet haven it had always been before that.

  What occupies your time?  What fruit is watching the tv going to give you in eternity?  What fruit is reading novels (and I'm not against either in their proper priority) going to give you in eternity?  But what about a very happy huband who praises you in the gates, or children who rise up and call you blessed?  Pour your heart and life into the occupation that God has given we women!  I'm old enough now that I see much fruit from my labor.  Prov. 31:30,31 says "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.  Give her of the fruit of her hands: and let her own works praise her in the gates."  Make that your goal!  Let that pull you through the days you think you can't keep doing it.

   On my headstone when I die I have instructed my children to put, "I HAVE NO GREATER JOY THAN TO HEAR THAT MY CHILDREN WALK IN TRUTH.'  III JOHN 4

  I hope that is able to sum up the occupation of my life and the product I desired to see.  That the children (physical and spiritual) that the Lord allowed Gary and I to raise for Him are all walking in truth.  That's worth it all!

******************

  Today you will influence someone---that's another word for leadership.  How are you going to influence them?  I ask the Lord daily to bring good influences into my children's lives and to protect them from evil influences.  Today-why don't we each make a choice to influence someone that there is joy and freedom in carrying out our lives as women by God's authority and God's design.  You never know who you may influence--it might be your own son or daughter, it might be the neighbor, it might be your mate.  But let's each one be an influence to do what is pleasing before the Lord!

Love,

Mom

  

Laundry Day!

  I remember my mother talking about Monday being her mother's laundry day, rain or shine!  She said her mother always cooked a pot of beans on Monday. (We were from the North and she made Northern beans!:) If it was sunny the laundry was hung outside, and if it was rainy she said their clothes were hung on the line that criss-crossed their small kitchen!  She said it was one of the sweetest memories of her childhood--something that they knew was going to be the same each week.    I remember the copper boiler in my grandparents garage that laundry was heated in.  We certainly have progressed when it comes to laundry!

  Their was a little quote that you sometimes see embroidered onto tea towels:
   Wash on Monday,
   Iron on Tuesday,
   Mend on Wednesday,
   Churn on Thursday, (some say Market on Thursday)
   Clean on Friday,
   Bake on Saturday,
   Worship on Sunday...
*Want to embroider some little tea towels to show this?  Go to http://tipnut.com/household-chores-towels/ and you'll find some beautiful ones.  Just download them in a file and save them for printing when you're ready to embroider!

  I believe in and love a life of order and so I like following the footsteps of homemakers before me.  My life is reasonably close to the little ditty above.  I do a large amount of our laundry on Monday.  I like to get as much done that day beginning with the towels used by everyone on Saturday. 
  Since our financial belt has been tightened in the last year I am making our own laundry soap.  I have found that whenever a change is required in my life if I embrace it I fall in love with it!  The other day I went by my laundry room and it brought back a sweet memory.  The smell of my laundry room was just like the smell of a laundrymat when I was a girl.  I would go there with my Grandma Nelle if she had a really large load and I loved the clean smell there.  Grandma said it was the Oxydol detergent.  Well, that's what my laundry soap smells like when the clothes are drying.  Other people might hate it but the Lord has given me a love for it!  You can wash 64 loads of clothing with one batch and it costs about .01 cents per load! 
  So, here's the recipe:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap (bars of soap like Zote or Ivory found in the laundry aisle of our Krogers)
1/2 cup washing soda (NOT baking soda)  This is also at our Krogers and it is Arm and Hammer but it's in a large box and is a white powder.  It will be on the laundry aisle, usually near your oxygen cleaners or other soaking powders.  This is a degreaser and removes dirt and other odors.  (I also use it on our bathtub drains when they get slow and it does a wonderful job!)
1/2 cup Borax (also found on the laundry aisle and it is a powder)  Our Kroger sells the 20 Multe Team box.  Borax us a whitener and a deodorizer. (It also will kill roaches!)

Here's what to do:
Grate the bar soap.  Make sure you grate it really fine.  Put it in a sauce pan and add 6 cups of water.  Heat it till the soap melts.  Then add the washing soda and the borax and stir it till it is dissolved.  Remove from heat.
Now pour 4 cups of water into a large bucket or a large pot.  Add your soap mixture to the bucket and stir.  Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir.  Let the soap sit for 24 hours.  It will become a soupy gel.  Pour into containers.  (I use ice cream buckets.) 
  Someone said that you shouldn't use your old detergent containers because you need to stir it before using and they will spill over and make a mess.  I just stir mine at the beginning of the day and then measure it out. 
  This soap is not meant to make a lot of suds but it will clean! 
  Use 1/2 cup per load of laundry.  Enjoy the savings!!

    I have always enjoyed hanging clothes on the line and for Mother's Day my children bought me a clothesline for our back yard.  Our sheets always hang on the line because I love the smell of a bed that is made up of line-dried sheets.  Even Martha Stewart encourages using a clothesline!  I have always said that hanging out clothes and kneading bread are as good as a visit to a therapist for me.  They both are very calming.

  Tuesday is my baking day.  I make three loaves of bread almost every week and we share some and eat the rest!  I love baking and I thoroughly enjoy baking the bread and baking goodies for my family  and friends.  I love being outside with the kids and stepping into the house right after the bread has baked....what a wonderful welcoming aroma!

   Wednesday is my ironing day.  I focus almost entirely on the basic chores on Wednesday so we have a stress free preparation for church.  Since we're getting everyone's clothing ready for church it's a good time to press two or three shirts for other days.

   Thursday is my sewing day.  I sew on other days too but it seems I sew clear through to the evening on Thursday.  Many times I'll use the evenings to do my fun handsewing.  I love smocking and I love shadow embroidery so Thursday evening I treat myself after sewing on the "have to" projects!  Right now I'm sewing five little nurse's costumes for my cousin's grandhchildren.  I hope they enjoy them as much as I've enjoyed sewing them.  I've also been sewing several teddy bears lately.  That's fun, too because it seems no two turn out the same.

   Friday is my "beginning to clean" day.  I used to do all my cleaning on Saturday.  My husband would fuss at me because I also cooked Sunday dinner, did all the handwork for my Sunday School lesson and other pastor's wife projects on Saturday.  I kept telling him that I didn't have time on the week days to do my heavy cleaning.  Then I realized I was really being obstinate and decided to pick one major cleaning project for Friday.  I have since learned that I can actually get two and sometimes three projects done on Friday and we now do our (the kids do their rooms) vacuuming on Thursday!  I save dusting and cleaning bathrooms for Saturday so they are polished and pretty on Sunday.  Works like a dream!
  Saturday is my "get ready for Sunday" day.  I like a big Sunday dinner but I cook it on Saturday.  Everything is oven ready when we walk out the door and all I have to do is heat vegetables and dinner is ready.  At the end of the week I like looking at my chore chart that I made on Monday with each thing crossed off!  It is a very satisfying feeling.

  How I love, love, love being what God designed me to be.  Woman, wife, mother, keeper at home, laundress, cook, teacher, seamstress, and the spirit of my home.   When we yield ourselves to God's authority and God's design a great peace and satisfaction dwells within us.  It spreads to our family too! 
  Whenever I read Proverbs 31 I am painfully aware that after over 37 years of using her as my role model I still need improvement!  Early in my married years I decided that she would be my guide and I would do my very best to become skilled at each area the Lord held her up like a beautiful ruby gem to be admired.  It's been a wonderful adventure and if I died today I am a deepy fulfilled woman. 
  It is my prayer that each woman reading this will kneel before the Lord and ask Him to teach them their biblical role and to give them great joy in it.  That is what I pray over the women on my prayer list because I desire them to find the joy the Lord has given me.  May God grant each reader that joy!

Love,

Mom
  

Hit the Reset Button!

   Today is the Lord's Day, the first day of my week!  It has been a day that has cooled some because of the rain and this afternoon my precious husband and I sat and enjoyed a cup of coffee on the front porch and talked and listened to the steady patter of rain on the oak leaves.  So comforting.
   Each Monday I sit with my notebook and plan my week.  I give each day to the Lord in the mornings, but I am a firm believer in the old adage "Fail to plan-plan to fail."  I have found that even with fun things like reading to the children, taking a walk, playing a game together if I don't give it a specific time in the week it just won't get done!



   Tonight I sit and look at last week's plan.  At the top I have my list of my "streaks".  I got this wonderful idea from Sparkpeople.com.  You set a goal that you would like to have as a habit and then see how many days you can go without missing!  So I have there:
* 8 glasses of water  (then I put abbreviations for each day so I can circle them as I accomplish them)
*1200-1500 calories daily
*5 fruits/vegetables
*Walk-5 days/week
*Strength Train-5 to 6 days/week
  You could even include spiritual goals like memorize scripture, read Bible daily, go through prayer list daily, etc.  The idea is to get a good thing going and you won't want to miss!  It works for me.
  I look at last week's list and I thought it was workable when I made it.  However, I didn't plan on several "unplanned" events. (A doctor's visit I didn't plan on having in Nashville and then a sick day!)  In the past that would have thrown me for a loop and I would have stewed and fretted and been completely overwhelmed. 
  I also worked very hard at keeping up my month long staying on my diet and doing my strength training and cardio workout 5 times per week.  Much to my surprise after losing weight for about two weeks (and I know how to hang on to the fat!) I had gained 2.3 pounds this morning.  In the past I would have beat myself up and then out of frustration and anger had me a little binge party tonight.
  However, because I've gone through several experiences with depression I have learned that those responses only make me "feel" worse about the whole situation after the fact.  So what's the answer?
  Well, I call it hitting the reset button!  I love Lamentations 3:22 and 23.  "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."
  If the Lord gives me a new chance every morning then I can do the same thing when I look at my very human failures.  Just hit the reset button and go after the goal again and again and again until I meet it!
  Every week of my life I look back and say, "I wish I had spent more time with the kids, I wish I had been more gentle in my reaction, I wish I had got more windows cleaned, I wish I had spent more time with the Lord, and the list could go on and on and on...."  If I focus on what I didn't get done I lose sight of what needs done for the Lord today! 
  It truly makes a difference when you get on the scale and see the number go up when you thought it would go down to become introspective and angry and decide who cares anyway? (at least for an hour or two)  However, it has changed everything for me to say "Well, how about that?  Maybe all that strength training is making muscle and it weighs more than fat!  Maybe I should add a few more minutes to my cardio, shuffle when I eat my snacks and see if I need to try some different foods to shake up my metabolism!"  Then I feel hopeful instead of condemned!
  It also made a difference when I looked at my list on Thursday morning (Tuesday and Wednesday being shot.) and said to myself, "Ok, let's put these down by priority.  What has to be done or we're not going to function as a family?" 
  I had planned on reading a large portion of a book to the kids and I did that as we drove home from Nashville.  I had planned on doing a lot of sewing and so I put the most important on the top and worked my way down.  I had planned on cleaning the living room windows, preparing a table for painting and getting the kids final grades ready to send to the school we're enrolled in.
  I was completely shocked when on Saturday not only had I completed almost everything on my list I also had Sunday dinner planned and ready!  My attitude definitely made a difference (Along with giving my family a pleasant wife and mother instead of a fretful one!)
  Here's some tips to help you be a happy homemaker instead of a fretful one:
1)  Be a Mary first--choose to spend time with the Lord if nothing else gets done! "But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:42)
2)  Break down your week's work into a plan.  I put what I want to get done for the week in one list and then break it down into each day.   I only write down one day at a time what I hope to get done and then what doesn't get done goes to the next day.
3)  Divide big jobs into workable pieces.  For example, I'm working on trying to get rid of excess out of our garage (half our life is still packed away!) and also am trying to get all the windows washed.  I have on my list a goal of 1 window per day and 3 boxes per day.
4)  Give each day to the Lord.   Think of placing it on an altar and giving it to Him and telling Him you want His will for your day and not yours.  That way if unexpected company shows up or your neighbor comes over and has an emergency where they need you, etc. your not going to fall apart because your planned day got changed.
5)  Plan time with your husband and children.  Ask the Lord to show you how to minister to them.  Keeping clean laundry in your husband's drawer and closet at all times is ministering to him.  A good hot meal on the table is ministering to your family.  Sitting on the porch and reading to your children is ministering to them.  Taking a walk with them is ministering to them.  Plan to do work together with your children.  I learned from my toddlers that they don't mind a job at all if mommy is right there with them making it fun.
6)  Learn to be a Pollyanna.  See the best in everything.  Don't just talk nice to your husband and children, talk nice to yourself!  Have little mantras you say to yourself like, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!"  "Don't put it down, put it away!"  "Make every trip count!"  "Let's give that the 5 minute clean-up!"  "No, I won't let you in, devil!" (I say that when I'm tempted to get frustrated with my husband and say something I'll regret!)
7)  Remember that anything worth having has a price tag on it.  Ask yourself, "Am I willing to pay the price to..."  For example, "Am I willing to pay the price it takes to see my children trained for the Lord?"  "Am I willing to pay the price to make my husband pleased with me?"  "Am I willing to pay the price to keep my health?"
8)  At the end of your work week enjoy the Lord's Day.  It is the first day of the new week.  Make it a very special day for your family.  I love Sunday dinner.  I love my family looking forward to what's going to be on the table and what dessert I'll be serving.  I love the quietness of our Sunday afternoons and I love being with the Lord's people.  Start your week right by obeying Isaiah 58 and not doing what please you on His day but what ministers to others in a very real way.  At the end of the Lord's Day prepare to plan your new week and when looking back at last week put it behind you and
HIT THE RESET BUTTON! 
  I pray the Lord blesses you greatly in this new week!
Love,
Mom
 
  

Post-Mother's Day Thoughts...

  I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year.  The celebration began on Saturday morning when at 8:15 a.m. a florist delivered me a beautiful hanging basket of bright peach geraniums!  I was curious as I opened the card, and to be truthful, Nevin has always been the one that has sent a rose to plant or flowers as a gift so I half-expected them to be from him.  I was already chiding whichever child did it in my head for "spending extra money they didn't have" but yet thrilled that I was that important!  When I opened the card it said, "I love you.  Alicia"  I had had a rough night physically but it was all forgotten in a second as that warm feeling of being special and loved went through me.  She couldn't have picked a better gift at a better time.  Thank you, my dear Alicia. (and family)
  Then the mail arrived and John knocked on the bedroom door with it behind his back.  He said, "You got this" and handed me an envelope, "and you got this!" and handed me a package!   They were both from Niki.  The envelope held new pictures of our precious grandbabies and the package was a coffee mug with pictures from the last year of the Lott family!  The pictures are on my dresser and the cup has the perfect place in my Hoosier cabinet!
  My next blessing was a visit from my mother-in-law which I thoroughly enjoyed.  We had asked her to spend the weekend with us as this was her first Mother's Day without Charles.  I love her as if she were my own mother and am so thankful for her.  We all went "flower shopping" for a while and found beautiful hostas at K Mart.  She and I both benefited from that trip because Gary went back later than evening and got us each two of them for Mother's Day.
  We bought the food for a simple Mother's Day lunch of hoagies, oven fries and fruit and cheese.  Cierra made brownie bites and Gary  bought chocolate ice cream and low calorie/low fat chocolate syrup so we could have sundaes  I was thrilled that we found the exact things on sale at UGO for my Mother's Day lunch I had asked for.  (They even had chicken and turkey submarine [a.k.a. long strips of deli meat] for $1.59 a lb.!  All we had to do was load the sandwiches!) 
   John bought me the clothesline I had requested so I could freshen my drapes this summer and hang out my sheets weekly.  Cierra bought me the can opener that was on my "wish list" and Gary bought me two hanging baskets of ferns and two hostas.  I'm a blessed mother, with or without gifts--but it sure is nice to have them express their love by showering you with gifts!
  I talked to all my children on Mother's Day and the crowning glory of a present was a personal letter written to me from my son Nathan.  It arrived by e-mail and when Gary came to see why I hadn't come to bed at 11:37 p.m. I was sitting there crying for joy at the sweet letter of gratitude from my son.  It was the perfect gift.
  His letter made me think about the choices I'd made as a mother.  Most of my choices were made from watching the example of my own precious mother and from believing the Bible is true and if we do what it says we will reap good fruit in our lives.  My choices were also a conscious decision on the part of my husband and myself being very serious about raising our children for the Lord.  I remember both of us being very nervous about the huge responsibility we had taken on when we had our first little baby girl! 
  I remember our discussions about the seriousness of being responsible for living souls and us making a definite choice for me to be a stay-at-home mother even if we had to "sell the furniture out from under us" for me to do so.  I also remember when Niki became school age many conversations about her education and once again we made the decision to see to it she got a Christian education and together "counting the cost" of this and deciding that whatever the cost our children would have a godly Christian education not a Christless one that challenged all we believed to be true.
   The Lord always sent the right sermon, the right book, the right person into our lives when we were "paying the price".  I remember reading the book Growing Up God's Way by John Stormer and reading about Susanna Wesley saying that the reason she hesitated to give advice to other mother's about child-rearing was that "so few mothers would take the center of their life and dedicate it to rearing godly children". (not a direct quote but how I remember it!)  I decided then that I would take the best part of my life and dedicate it to raising children for the Lord. 
  I remember another friend handing me the book, What the Bible Says About Child Training  by Richard Fugate.  After reading it I had an even deeper sense of responsibility to obey the word of God above all else in rearing children because God Himself held me responsible for it.  It changed my thinking and my life as a mother in a positive way.
   The last few days I've pondered all of this in my heart and yearned for the Lord to continue to use me as a godly woman, wife and mother till the day I die.  Today I was checking e-mails and a blog entitled "What's Been Easy About Losing 25 Pounds" caught my eye. http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=how_to_pay_the_price_for_weight_loss_and_win.  In this article he talked about "paying the price" to lose weight and get fit.  I had been thinking about "paying the price" but in the spiritual realm for two days now!  Every thing he said fit hand-and-glove with what I'd been thinking about concerning my role as a godly woman.  He talked about making a daily decision to "pay the price" and the long-term benefits you would reap.  He asked you to join his Spark group and list as a comment how you paid the price that day.  It inspired me and made me want to become a part of "paying the price" in the area of health, nutrition and fitness.  But it also inspired me to renew my commitments to "pay the price" in my spiritual life, and to think about it on a daily basis.
  An hour or so later it was time to exercise.  I don't hate exercise, I hate the time it takes out of my busy day.  Each day the man that wrote the book 8 Minutes in the Morning (by Jorge Cruise) has a little self-talk he wants you to do before you exercise.  Today's was about "Loser Zones".  In his book he had the quote, "You will never find time for anything.  If you want time, you must make it." -Charles Buxton, American writer.  That went right along with my philosophy that you will find the time and the money for anything you truly love and want.  He asked the question, "What are your Loser Zones, and how many hours per day do you spend Loser Zone activity?"  The number one loser zone he listed was television viewing--up to 30 hours a week for the average American!  He also mentioned aimless phone conversations, surfing the internet, etc.
  Once again my mind ran to the spiritual realm.  Where were my Loser Zones that kept me from spending more time with the Lord in His word and in prayer?  I could name a couple right off the bat.  Was I willing to "pay the price" so I could reap the benefits?  Who might I see saved this year or rescued spiritually if I was willing to "pay the price"?  What might happen in my own life and that of my family if I was willing to "pay the price" and move forward with the Lord to a higher plane than I've been on? 
  Today I was motivated in the spiritual area and in the physical realm to be a better mother this year than I was last year.  To yield what I wanted to see stronger bonds, sweeter relationships and spiritual fruit in my life and the life of my family.
  Because I'm a mother of older children and younger children I am already reaping some precious fruit from my children that lets me know it was worth every ounce of "paying the price".  My son's heartfelt thank you letter left me knowing it was worth every sacrifice I'd ever made as a mother.  Knowing your children are safely in His flock and fold givs you a good night's rest. 
  I thank the Lord for giving us a guide book and for His faithfulness in sending instructions when we are yearning for them.  I thank Him for letting me have the privilege and responsibility of being a mother, and I thank Him for entrusting those precious little souls into my care for a few years. 
  I pray that you too will count the cost and decide that it's worth every precious sacrifice you make to see your children "spiritually" healthy and satisfied.  May the Lord use this to encourage you to not be "weary in well doing" but to keep on keeping on as a wife and mother separated "from the world unto the Lord".   May God strengthen and encourage each one of you as you raise your family for Him.

Love,

Mom

Spring...

  I love the springtime.  I love the budding trees, the new color showing up everywhere, the way the Lord combines those colors and that everything is coming alive.  I have always loved spring in Tennessee because of the warmth in the air and the sweet smell of the honeysuckle during late April and May. 
  I also love spring because my mind begins running with ideas.  I order seed catalogs (which I usually can't afford to order from) and I pull out my patterns and begin to design clothing for the children on paper and in my head.  I dream of what project I might want to take on to make the house look more cheerful.  I sat the other night and clipped magazines with beautiful spring bouqets and birds on the nest and beautiful downy little chicks.
  This year I am hoping for a clothesline so I can hang my sheets out to dry like I did when we lived at Swan Pond.  Hanging things on a clothesline is some kind of therapy for me.  I love the smell of the sheets after they've been out in the warm sun and summer wind.
  In the spring I begin pulling out my favorite recipes for desserts with strawberries and lemon and other fruit flavors.  I go through my cookbooks looking for lighter fare for our meals and I make a "wish list" of meals to try on my family for spring and summer.  Cierra is now old enough that she and I enjoy sitting together and going through cookbooks and planning what we think would be fun to try.
   As part of my "therapy" for my last real battle physically my husband wanted me to do a sewing project that wasn't because it had to be done but just for fun.  My favorite sewing is for children so I took a 1953 pattern that had never been cut out and made it up.  Because I couldn't physically get out of the house Esther chose the fabric for me by sending photos back and forth via the computer and then buying the one I liked the best.  (Thank you, dear Esther!)
   I'm all done except the buttons.  It truly was good for me to have to plan, design, cut and sew as it kept my mind busy.  Here's the pattern (and the link to where you can buy it on E-bay).

http://cgi.ebay.com/Simplicity-4407-Childs-Jumper-Blouse-Sz-2-UNcut-Patt-/390282736051
   And although I'm not finished with putting the button's on (since I have yet to get back to town!) I'm going to include a picture of how it looks so far.  It has a tied bow in the back that is darling too. 

  Didn't that turn out so precious?  This would have been the type of dress my mother would have made me when I was little.  I have a passion for sewing vintage patterns for children but not much time to indulge in it so this was fun!
   I have a spring sewing list (longer than I can possibly get done.) but just going through my patterns with the little short sleeves or little matching linen coats over the dresses, the little boys rompers, all the beautiful new tote and purse patterns I'm seeing, the twirly skirts for the little girls and the list could go on and on.
  I have to remind myself that they will not all get done and that I need to decide which of my many ideas really matter to me, which are beyond my reach, which would take so much time I would end up neglecting my family, etc. but yet it is still so much fun sitting with pen and paper and planning it all--even if I have to put little astericks beside some of them showing that they are very likely not going to happen and are on the bottom of the list!  That doesn't change the fact that I pray about them and ask the Lord to supply all that I need for that project if it is His will!  (including strength right now!)
  Isn't it wonderful the way the Lord made us to love the changes of the seasons?  When I feel the changes coming for the new season I am so ready for that season.  I pray that you are enjoying that new warmth in the air, the rainy days, the little buds coming out and the tulips pushing their way through the garden soil. 
  I trust that you too have a case of "spring fever" and are enjoying it! 

Love,
Mom

The Wonderful World of Home-Keeping...

I just returned from a wonderful visit to Idaho.  Three glorious weeks with grandchildren, a son and precious daughter-in-law, cooking, baking, playing games, talking and being a family together.  We spent Christmas together for the first time in years and our bonus gift was a brand new granddaughter born on December 15th.  Better than any gift you could wrap up and put under the tree.  Shaelyn Brianne welcome to the Neal family!

(Look closely at the little dress--her Grandma Tami had a wonderful time designing and sewing it! ;)



   When I came home I was almost overwhelmed with all there was to do!  As nice as it was to get all the Christmas things out for the kids before we left it wasn't fun to come home to all those things to put away.  It gave me the strangest feeling that they had all sat here unused during the Christmas holiday.  I know they're inanimate but I felt sorry for them sitting all alone in Tennessee while we celebrated Christmas in Idaho.

   Along with that I had lots and lots of luggage to unload, (Thank you dear Jennibeth for letting me get all the laundry done before I left so I had clean clothes to unpack!)  a house that needed dusted, decluttered (Christmas goodies), and I was battling a setback with my health. Our computer wouldn't boot up and so we were unable to get Cierra back to school.  My camera wouldn't download pictures when it had worked just fine before we left on our trip.  I needed to buy groceries--the cabinets and fridge were depleted.  I felt overwhelmed to say the least. 

   First, I had to run to the Lord and get some spiritual shoring.  That took about three days.  Just reminding myself of His faithfulness and looking at my problems through Him instead of looking at Him through my problems.  (Thank you, Mr. F.B. Meyer.) 

   Then I had to get my handy-dandy notebook out and begin prioritizing and making a daily plan to tackle all that needed done.  I also had to spend two days on the couch and in the bed.(Unplanned --longggg story and a funny one looking back at it!) 

   I had to quote my own little mantra--"Break all large tasks into managable small ones."  With a piece of paper I divided my week up and took those things that needed done and gave them a day.  Today I'm looking at a house that is back to normal.  Not perfect--just back to normal.

    I had to give my days to the Lord and laugh when an unexpected visit on a day when I was trying to get a lot done got a prayer answered concerning the computer problem! 

   I had to remember to look to Him to meet my every need on a daily basis.  Another wonderful laugh when the Lord sent the neighbor lady with a ham that she said she wasn't begin to eat  by herself so she'd taken off what she wanted and brought us the rest.  We are finishing it off in a big kettle of pinto beans tonight.  It fed us a total of five meals!!  Thank You Lord for the ravens!  Pretty much all we had to buy at the store this week was bread,some vegetables, margarine and milk.

   After seeing the Lord take all my worries and reduce them from mountains to molehills I was able to relax.  So I got out a book that my daughter Niki gave me on Mother's Day of 2006.   I love to read it at the beginning of each year.  It is called "Mrs. Dunwoody's Excellent Instrustions for Homekeeping".  It is written as though a mother of the Civil War period is writing her children with instructions on keeping a home.  

   Her first chapter is about the art of homekeeping.  She discusses  the importance of order and talks about keeping a "homekeeping notebook".  As I've surfed blogland I'm seeing all the talk about organizing.  This book is taken from excerpts from women's notes from the late 1800's and it looks like the talk hasn't changed much!  The sweet thing about this book is that she sees homekeeping as a woman's main duty.
  She says "Order is the mainspring in housework."  Then she gives a domestic calendar to follow.  She was the "Flylady" of her day! :) 
   Her suggestions for "Planning a Superior Day" consist of
1)  "Make a plan for your day."  This doesn't require much explanation.  Fail to plan and you've planned to fail.
2)  "Concentrate."  Basically, keep your mind on the chore at hand and you'll get it done.
3)  "Learn to rest and catch your breath."  Taking a break makes you ready to hit the work again.  Rather it's 15 minutes or taking a day away from it all if you've learned to do this you know it is true.
 4)  "Don't Procrastinate ."  Sometimes the chore we've put off is a chore than only takes a few minutes.  To hit it and get it done takes an emotional load off of us along with the load of the chore.  If you're dreading it move it to the top of the list and get it behind you.
 5)  "Sift and sort."  Prioritize your day!  If it needs immediate attention than do it.  If it can wait till the evening in your chair in the living room put it at the bottom of the list. 
6)Strive for excellence, not perfection. 
7.  "Never lose sight of the big picture."  People are more important than projects.  And as I once heard someone wisely say--"The castle is no more important than the king who lives therein."

  I've just begun making my own laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent but Mrs. Dunwoody has all the cleaning solutions you might want to find in her second chapter along with wonderful advice.  I remember using mostly vinegar and ammonia when Gary first went into full-time service.  I also remember my mother telling me if all I had was warm water to mop my floors anyway because I would know I was using what I had.  Thank you, sweet mother!
   Some of the wonderful advice in her second chapter includes cleaning suggestions, how to miter a sheet corner, getting rid of those unwanted guests (she knew cockroaches didn't like Borax!), and even the advice that mice don't like peppermint extract! 
  Her next chapter is on laundry, mending, etc....lots of good advice!   As a lover of linens I enjoy reading this because you can tell the women of her day loved a table spread with lovely linens.  I love reading a book that makes having them and caring for them seem a wonderful blessing and joy!  These types of books are my friends, my "aged woman" reminding me that homekeeping is a gift-a wonderful, varied career choice that has God's stamp of approval on it for me.
   The next chapter is recipes and kitchen ideas.  One of my favorite things in this chapter is her advice on how to season a cast iron skillet.  Everyone should own one and use one.  It will keep you and your family from being anemic!
   Chapter 5 is on the art of entertaining.  I love the whole chapter.  Diagrams for setting tables for different types of suppers, holiday entertaining, and sage advice on how to "Dine--not to Eat".
  The following chapters are on health and beauty, marriage and family, the garden and final remarks.  The pages have some pithy little statements by Aunt Mary Middle that make you laugh (like "My idea of house cleaning is to sweep the room with a glance.") and excerpts from Godey's Lady's Book from the 1860's that make you wish we still had magazines like that being published for the general public, and other wonderful things that make you glad you're a keeper at home.
  Although I love reading the blogs at this time of year and gleaning new ideas for our home I love my dear friends the books more.  They have sustained me during my marriage years and lifted me up by my bootstraps when I was on a pity party more than once!
  I pray as we enter this new year that you are drawing all your strength from the Lord and looking at 2011 as the year that you are a better child of God, wife, mother, daughter, and woman than you've ever been in your life.  God bless each one of you! 

The Fall Season in the Interim of Our Lives...

  Well, here we are living in a "between" home during the holidays.  My husband is between pastorates and so we're living in a rented home.  It's absolutely perfect for us and I thank the Lord every day for giving us such a wonderful home to live in during this interim of our lives. 
  We have always lived in a parsonage and so we've never owned a home.  In our early days of ministry that bothered me a little but as I grew in years and in my spiritual life I began to see it as a blessing in our lives.  Then the Lord gave me a wonderful verse about being a "parsonage dweller".
" And they lodged round about the house of God, because the charge was upon them, and the opening thereof every morning pertained to them. " (I Chron. 9:27)
  Since the Lord gave me that verse I have been very content with my home wherever the Lord might put me.  At this point He has us in a holding pattern in our lives until He gives us new and clear direction.  Needless to say this has altered our life and that includes the holiday period of our lives.
  I'm a true traditionalist.  I love things to be the same so my children and family look back and can say, "Do you remember how mom (Grandma, Aunt Tami, or whatever name fits) always made this or did this during the holidays?
  I also know that flexibility is good too.  This year I couldn't have found all my fall decorations if I tried so I decided to use nature and whatever else the Lord sent my way.  I won a little engraved pumpkin and a candle as prizes at the Wings Conference and the kids and I gathered acorns and pinecones from our yard.   I have a beautiful fireplace mantel and I wanted to decorate it for fall and little by little it was filled with beautiful fall decor. 

  Since I took this picture the Lord even added a beautiful fall vine with berries and leaves and a sign that says "Give Thanks".  My husband and children have all mentioned how pretty the mantel looks.  Thank You Lord!
   This time of year I feel an excitement building up in me.  It's time for the holidays.  I can't resist getting the cookbooks out and while we sit in the living room watching a movie I'm marking the ones I want to try to make.  This year for Thanksgiving I decided we'd have to have the pumpkin cake I made at Jennibeth's house when we spent Thanksgiving with them.
  It was after Thanksgiving and she and I were wanting to make a dessert but we'd about emptied the pantry out for Thanksgiving.  We went scavengering and found a can of pumpkin.  I'd gone through some of her cookbooks and found a recipe that called for just flour, sugar, eggs, pumpkin and spices so that was the choice.  It called for cream cheese frosting and we didn't have cream cheese so I made cooked caramel (I call it penuche but nobody knows what that is) frosting on it.  Oh, my goodness!  It was SO good and became a Thanksgiving keeper at the Neals!
    Here's the recipe:
PUMPKIN CAKE
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups pumpkin
2 cups flour, sifted
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. cinnamon
   Combine sugar and oil.  Add eggs separately, beating well to combine.  Add flour, soda, salt and cinnamon to sugar mixture.  Blend thoroughly.  Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes in pans which have been greased and floured.  Makes three (3) 9" round layers.

Now for the frosting.
COOKED CARAMEL FROSTING (EASY PENUCHE FROSTING)
(For this cake I use a double recipe.  You can double it if you want, but you'll need a strong arm or a helper in the beating stage! :)

1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar

Melt butter or margarine in saucepan.  Stir in brown sugar.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir over low heat for 2 minutes.  Stir in milk; heat to boiling.  Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.
Gradually stir in powdered sugar.  Place pan of frosting in bowl of ice and water; beat until its of spreading consistency.  If frosting becomes too stiff just heat slightly stirring constantly.

  This is a wonderful three layer cake!  The one in the picture has an extra batch of icing on it.  (I do one batch for the layers and 1 1/2 batches for the outside because our family likes lots of the icing! )
  I have a little recipe holder with all my very favorite holiday recipes in it.  Our Christmas punch recipe, cheeseball recipes, spinach dip, sausage bites, baked macaroni and cheese, Swiss medley (a wonderful full-of-cheese side  dish with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, mushroom soup, sour cream and Durkees onions), sweet potato casserole that a died-in-the-wool sweet potato hater will love, all my specialty cheesecake recipes, peanut butter pie, every truffle and fudge recipe you can imagine and the list goes on and on and on in it.  My head is already dancing with new ideas to try this year.  Can't wait to see what the Lord has in store.  I have a new cake ball truffle recipe I wanted to try and someone already brought me some dark chocolate chips they found on clearance.  They're tucked back to become truffles!
  Because of my love of cooking I like to use fall/holiday baking as an excuse to stop by the neighbors with a pie pan full of goodies and a chance to talk to them.  We have a couple near us with failing health and I so want the Lord to use us in their lives.  I love it when you knock on a neighbor's door and you can see genuine happiness in their eyes when they open the door and see you standing there.  It's also an opportunity to teach our children to help others around us. 
  John asked me the other day when I was going to be taking the neighbors some goodies and I told him probably this week.  He said, "Can we take some to the neighbors with the new kittens, because maybe they'll let me see them when we go!"  That struck my funny bone!
  We're going to have Brian and Niki with Halle and Evan for Thanksgiving this year and I'm so excited about that.  I like a FULL dining room table.  The more I have at the table the happier I am!  Niki and I are already talking about what we want to have.  She's planning on bringing a new pie recipe she found and I'm planning on--well, I can't make up my mind!  Too many good things to choose from!
  I also am working on Christmas projects this year.  The main one that I'm working on is making little nurse's costumes for the little girls in my life.  When Niki and Alicia were little my mom made them a nurse's apron and then I made them little hats out of paper.  Every time someone got sick at our house we made the couch up into a hospital bed, stuck the humidifier next to the couch (sometimes complete with tent) and the girls became nurses.
  Mike Shockley says his first memory of my girls was coming into the house to visit us and one of the boys was sick.  He said he remember Niki and Alicia running around in their little nurses costumes and bringing them their needs on a cookie sheet with a tea towel over it.  (All meals were served in the hospital bed when you were sick.)  They loved being nurses! 
  So maybe it's memory lane for me but I wanted to make the granddaughters their own nurses costume.  My pattern is a really old one but it's so cute.  On the cover the little girl has a white turtleneck on and white tights so she looks like the old-fashioned nurse of my childhood that's dressed in all white.  I have Halle's all done but getting the waist and hat fit to her perfect size.  They're quick to sew and take very little fabric.  That's good for the budget!

  

So tonight I'm listening to Old Fashioned Christian Radio, and thinking about the wonderful blessings of a sweet Christian home, good food, the wonder of fall sunsets, leaves crunching under your feet, having the blessing of grown children, grandchildren and children still around me to fellowship with each and every day, the joy of being a woman, wife, mother and grandmother and so many, many other blessings.  How can we begin to thank the Lord for his daily benefits! 

  I pray you're having a wonderful fall season and that your walk with the Lord is real and personal.  May God bless you all!

With love,

Mom



  
 

Stretching the Budget Dollars....

   It seems everyone is feeling the crunch financially these days.  We have always lived on a reasonably tight budget simply because we have made a choice to live debt-free.  However, right now my husband is between pastorates and only working a part time job and so we've had to tighten up the belt several notches.
  Let me say right here how thankful I am for parents who raised me with a different set of values than most people live by.  We learned early in life that eternal values were those that were the most important.  We also learned that relationships (beginning with our relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour) were far more important than anything tangible in our lives.   The older I get the more grateful I am for these important truths that were ingrained into my heart and life.  It allows me to see that those things with eternal values are what really, really matters.
   I also am thankful for learning that some of the most enjoyable things in life are free!  I love watching children play, I love sitting and watching the rain come down while I sit on my porch and drink coffee.  My mom taught me to enjoy watching people.  I can have a wonderful time sitting in a vehicle waiting on my husband and mentally sketching people or guessing their names, occupations or guessing their personality type.  I love bathing babies, telling stories, listening to stories or simply reading a book.  I love nature.  I love....and the list could go on and on with things that cost nothing!
  So with all that said, life still goes on.  We have to wash clothes, buy groceries, clothe our families, and pay the bills!  When the belt does needed tightened what are some ways we can help our families to make it with the least amount of pain?
   One of the major expenses is food so I want to talk about that first.  Years ago I heard a radio program where they talked about how much food is wasted in America.  I was astounded by the statistics.  The current amount of food that is wasted in America is estimated to be 100 billion pounds of food per year.  Is is estimated that 14% of the food Americans purchase is wasted.  The average American family throws out $590 worth of food each year.  This is just food in the homes and doesn't include grocery store waste or restaurant waste.  I stood in my living room after hearing that program and prayed to the Lord telling Him that if He would send us food that was going to be wasted we would use it.  He has never failed to answer that prayer to this day.  Much of our food is from what others planned on throwing away or from a grocery store like UGO that deals with what is about to go out of date or is the overflow of other stores.
  So, first make it a matter of prayer. 
  Second, cook from scratch.  When you buy anything precooked or premade you are wasting money.  It only takes minutes to put together food from scratch.  I read a book once and she gave price comparisons of pre-made food and food from scratch in price and time.  I assure you people who don't cook from scratch are spending a lot of money and not gaining much in time.
  Third, make more casseroles, soups and foods that have meat in them but the entree isn't made entirely of meat.  When we have been the tightest financially I have doubled the non-meat part of a casserole and reduced the meat part.  My family didn't notice.
This includes soups, etc.  You can even make one non-meat meal per week and save.  Meat is one of the major expenses in the food budget and we in the Western world eat too much meat.  You can make baked beans with hot dogs in them along with corn bread and a green veggie and voila!-- a meal.  You can make chicken and noodles, au gratin potatoes with ham pieces in them, pinto beans, green beans with potatoes and sliced link sausage, pot pies, stir fry and Chicken A La King,  and make a little meat go a long, long way.  Need recipes?   Find your basic recipe and then learn to stretch it!
  I have even made some really good dinners just scavengering my fridge and mixing them together and ending up with a good meal from leftovers in the fridge.  I call them "Desperation Dinners".  Twice I've been asked for my recipe and told the person "I couldn't give it to you if I tried". 
  Fourth, reduce waste in your own kitchen.  If you have a few vegetables left and don't think they'll get eaten throw them into a quart jar and freeze them.  Later you can put them in your homemade vegetable soup.  Learn to eat up your leftovers.  Take bread heels and leftover rolls and put them in a freezer bag.  Use them later for overnight breakfast casserole or the stuffing for Thanksgiving Day.  I even have a really good crockpot recipe for chicken and stuffing where those old bread scraps come in mighty handy.  Some of the recipes that have been glorified today by Food Network are really recipes that came from our grandmothers depression days.  My mother said Bread Pudding and Rice Pudding were both recipes to use up the leftover day old bread and leftover rice. 
  If you haven't canned or frozen food before you might want to learn in case someone gives you their extra bumper crop of zucchini or even corn.  I've actually canned an entire freezer of food someone gave me.  Their freezer had broken down and the food had thawed.  They planned to throw it away.  I canned fish and beef both from that freezer load of food!
  Reuse your storage bags (unless meat was stored in them) by giving them a scrub in hot dish water and drying them over glasses on your counter.  Give up paper plates and paper towels for a while.  I promise it won't kill you.  You can memorize scripture or pray while you wash the extra dishes.  No one will bother you as you do it!
  Fifth,  learn who has the best prices.  I keep a small notebook in my purse where I keep the prices of things we commonly  buy.  WalMart used to have a corner on the market in many areas.  I now buy more things at Kroger as they have become cheaper than WalMart on many, many items.  We buy much of our milk at Save-A-Lot because the first gallon is much cheaper there.  We make a weekly trip to UGO and find prices on canned goods that can't be beat.  I check the ads each week.  We buy only Scott toilet paper when it's on sale at KMart or Dollar General Store. (Try it one time and compare how long it lasts next to any other brand and you'll be sold.)   I now make my own laundry detergent at such a savings that I couldn't begin to compare it with the cheapest laundry detergent out there!
  If I have to I can feed our family for a week on a very, very small amount of money.  I'm thankful for the help the Lord has given me in doing this.
Next, ask yourself where the leak is in your budget.  How many times do you go to town each week?  How much are you spending on eating out or entertainment?  Have a family night at home and get out those old-fashioned board games and make homemade pizza versus expensive delivered or freezer section pizza.  Just making the pizza can be half of the fun! 
  We have never owned more than one vehicle as a family.  (unless my children owned one--I'm talking about one for hubby and one for me.)  This has saved us an enormous amount of money.  Just the license, insurance, maintenance, gas cost, etc. is a large chunk of change.  Some people can't even imagine this but I've asked my husband to make sure there isn't an extra car out there to tempt me to run around when I'm supposed to be at home!  I've never felt cheated--I've got too much to do here anyway!
   Now to clothing.  Years ago I was very embarrassed by my clothing and my shoes.  My husband was in the early years of ministry and we had four children under the age of five.  Most of our budget paid the bills and when I had clothing money it went on the children's needs.  Then I learned to give my wardrobe to the Lord and let Him supply it.  Didn't He say to seek Him and His righteousness first and all these things would be added to us? (Matt. 6)  Well, it works!
  I can't begin to tell all the wonderful treats He has given me.  If He can clothe the grass of the field and make beautiful flowers He can take care of me!  The other day I was looking at my wardrobe and realizing that much of it had been given to me in what others would call rag bags.  I also had found wonderful deals on some of my favorite clothes. 
  Now I'm not what you'd call "into" clothes.  My husband actually picks out more of my clothes than I do or insists I buy them when I want to go to JoAnn's fabric and buy another piece of fabric to make a grandchild something new however, I'm not ashamed of what the Lord has given me.
  I am a seamstress but in the last few years I've found you can get as much into sewing adult clothing as buying it on sale or finding a gently used piece at a thrift store.  With that said, I believe you should learn to sew.  Basics if nothing else so you can "refashion" something you found at Goodwill. 
  Learn to shop thrift stores, learn to look at an article of clothing and ask if just a small alteration would make it something you'd love.  Learn to shop at the end of the season in the store--you usually have plenty of season left when they're trying to get rid of them.  Learn to shop in stores like Ross where you can get brand name clothing for a fraction of the full price.  Learn what to invest in financially and what to only buy the cheap line.
   I love having lined skirts (pencil skirts) for dress up.  I have paid more for them because a good lined skirt will last years and years.  If something is more of a fad and is going to be out of style shortly I would be looking at a cheap department store for what I'm wanting.
  We live in a town with probably six to seven thrift stores.  I recently found Cierra three camisole tops to wear under her long sleeved tops for 50 cents each!  They look brand new but they were considered summer. 
  There are many wonderful blogs on refashioning clothes and I know from experience some of the best pieces of fabric I got to use on children's clothings were from larger ready made outfits given to us.  Cierra's first dress I made her was darling.  It was from a piece of leftover fabric with a built in slip made from an old bedsheet! 
   One of my favorite tips I've used for years was to take my old hose that had one leg with a runner and save it.  I tie a knot in the leg that has the runner and put it in my underclothing drawer.  Then when the next pair gets a runner in just one leg I take out both pair and cut off the bad leg leaving the panty part on both pair of hose.  I put them together (it has two pair of panties to it) and I have a new pair of hose.  Make your hose last twice as long!
   These are just a few of the things I've learned through the years but they've sure come in handy when times were tough.  Something interesting is that our children never have really known when we were having a tough time.  Now we've had a few times they knew because of what was on the table. 
 On the whole, however,  they didn't know that when we were pretending we were living in the Great Depression and I was hanging all my clothes on clothes lines in the basement and we used oil lamps I really was pinching my household pennies till they cried with the pain!  We made the most wonderful memories and saved money all at the same time.
    My grandma wasted nothing.  She washed her plastic wrap and reused it.  She saved every tiny piece of thread from sewing and put it on a spool for mending.  She counted how many times the toilet was flushed and knew how much water was being used.  She used a timer with every long distance phone call.  I asked her why she was so careful with all she had and she said, "I lived through the depression with small children to care for."
  I remember my Grandmother Mettler talking to Niki about the Great Depression when Niki had to write a report about it.  She made the comment that the entire time she never saw money exchange hands.  She said you learned to trade your goods and services for what you needed.  She also said that people became very creative during hard times.  She would talk of the beautiful little toys her mother-in-law made for the children from cardboard, pieces of scrap wood and even corn cobs!  She said that going through tough times together would make your relationship stronger when you got through them and that you would look back to those times as some of the best times in your life.  A-men Grandma.   With the right attitude and some Yankee ingenuity (even if your a Southerner:)
it can be a time when you learn to appreciate what you have and make some sweet memories. 
  Have any tips?  I'd love to hear them!  Tough times don't have to be sad times!  I pray you'll turn to your Heavenly Father and ask for wisdom and help and then use what He's given you as a wise steward.  Let's all bring Him glory in whatever state we are in!