From My Kitchen and From My Heart

If you like pumpkin spice sugared doughnuts, you are going to love me.

Last Saturday I had a great afternoon spending some time baking in my kitchen. Baking is one of my very favorite ways to spend Saturday afternoons this time of year, and even more so now that I am a working gal during the week. I knew I wanted to make something pumpkin, but something different than my usual pumpkin-chip muffins or pumpkin bread. I decided to try this recipe for Pumpkin Donut Mini-Muffins that I had saved to my Pinterest board, and oh my! They are SO good! Very light and moist on the inside with a sugared exterior, they taste exactly like a pumpkin donut. Make sure that you finish them by dipping them in the melted butter and then the cinnamon/sugar mixture (I know, I know!) because that is what makes them good! I should add that they freeze really well. I froze them in a zip-lock freezer bag (after I got finished eating 2 or 3 or...) and if you take out a couple when you want them, they take less than 30 seconds in the microwave and they are warm and fresh!

Pumpkin Donut Mini-Muffins

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 cup flour (note to my GF friends - I made another batch using all purpose GF flour and they turned out great!)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice (note: I didn't have any so omitted it. I added a little extra cinnamon.)

Topping - 1/4 cup butter, melted
                 1/3 cup sugar
                 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

With mixer, blend softened butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat until creamy. Blend in pumpkin puree. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice.

Fill a sprayed mini-muffin pan. You will get 20-24 mini-muffins, depending on how full you fill them. I used a small scoop, filling them about 2/3 full. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool. Meanwhile, mix cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and melt butter in a separate bowl. Dip each muffin in melted butter, then into the cinnamon sugar mix. Repeat until all muffins are dipped. Makes 20-24 mini muffins.

I do hope you will try them. I promise you they will quickly become a favorite. My husband loves them too!

This week was a somewhat difficult week of transition for me, as I began my new job as an administrative assistant. The job itself is easy enough, my co-workers are nice, and the hours are great. But now every day is a fresh reminder of how different my life is from when I used to spend my days teaching Bible study classes, writing SS lesson material for my teen girls, planning events and fellowships, and helping my husband in the ministry. But although I miss ministry, I am reminded that my daily life can still make a difference by glorifying God, no matter how I am spending my days. You don't have to be a ministry wife to be used of God! Even amidst the seemingly mundane tasks of life, I need to have the attitude of remembering that God put me here, and because of that every task is a service to the Lord. I have this in my journal that I have referred to often:

I am here by God's appointment
In His care
Under His training
For His purpose.

Also this week someone who was very special to us went home to heaven. Dr. David Yearick was our pastor the years my husband was in school in Greenville, as well as his mentor. My husband served his pastoral internship under Pastor Yearick and was ordained by him and the ordination council there. Pastor Yearick was a true pastor - a shepherd-leader with a passion for people. He attended little kids' birthday parties, music recitals, and ball games. He spent hours with families going through surgeries and praying with people through trials. I am proud that my husband was also that kind of pastor, having a true pastor's heart, something that is very rare these days. Pastor and Mrs. Yearick will always hold a special place in our hearts for all we learned under their ministry and their influence on us and our family. Jeremiah 3:15 - "And I will give you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding."

Til next week,
Kathi

Navigating the New and Different

Last week the Lord provided another one of those "special gifts" for me, in the form of getting to spend a few days with our son, his wife and our 4 sweet grandchildren followed by a surprise 1-day trip to New York City with our son! My husband and I had planned to be gone for only Saturday and Sunday, as my husband had to come home in time for being at work early Monday morning. But I was able to stay on and help out with our grandkids for a couple days, as well as do some cooking, baking, and other things to lighten our daughter-in-law's load. On Wednesday our son was taking his Honor Society students from the Christian school where he teaches Bible on their annual trip to New York City, and he invited me to come with them! I was so excited!

I had a WONDERFUL day in New York City, and experienced more in one day than most people get to see in three days. We took the ferry from Hoboken, NJ, and I got my first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline. Our first stop was Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange district, and Federal Hall. That was followed by visiting old Trinity Church ( a National landmark rebuilt in 1846 and also where the movie National Treasure was filmed), and the 9-11 Memorial, which was a highlight of the day for me. After that we walked through both Chinatown and Little Italy, having lunch in Little Italy at the first pizza parlor in New York.

After lunch we boarded the subway for the Metropolitan Museum of Art (which is so huge you could easily spend a couple days just there) which borders Central Park. After spending a couple hours at the art museum we boarded another subway train and then walked to Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center and the NBC Studio building, Radio City Music Hall, and Carnegie Hall. Across the street from Carnegie Hall at the Carnegie Deli we indulged in the best cheesecake I have EVER had, as well as some much-needed coffee! By then it was almost time to begin the subway trek back to the ferry station, but we walked through the Broadway district on our way back to the subway station. An after-dark ferry ride that gave us magnificent views of the city lit up at night completed our day.

All in all, according to my pedometer I walked 10.25 miles. And I felt like it that night!

To someone who is not a "city girl" (I'm not) and had never been to New York (I hadn't), it could be a little scary. Before we arrived I had mixed feelings of excited anticipation and nervousness. I thought of all the bad things that could happen! But once I was there, I absolutely loved it! And as I reflected on the day, much of the reason was due to the excellent guide I had in the form of my son. As someone who has been there many times and has guided many groups through the streets of the city, it was obvious he knew his way around! He knew exactly what sights we needed to see, where they were, and the fastest way to get there. He knew the ins and the outs of things like the subway system and the ferry and buying tickets and keeping ourselves safe. I was amazed at the way he zipped around, took shortcuts, led the students and was such an excellent tour guide. I simply had to trust his knowledge and follow.

As we continue in this season of uncertainty that the Lord has placed us in following the events of this summer, and as I struggle with trusting God (some days more than others), I realize that in the Lord I have the perfect guide and that it's really very simple: if I will just trust Him, He will navigate me through these unknown waters. He knows where I am, and where I am going. I only have to place my faith and trust in Him and realize that I have no reason to fear because He is right there with me. He loves me, He has a plan for me and He will accomplish it.

A verse that has been very familiar to me for many years and that I have memorized and recited many, many times is Psalm 46:10 - "Be still and know that I am God." This week I have broken that verse down phrase by phrase, and as I have meditated on each phrase it has become even more precious to me. "Be still" means to "cease striving." It has the idea of laying down your weapons. It also means to stop fretting and worrying and trying to figure everything out. It means to quiet your soul. "and know" - be absolutely confident in. In what? "that I am God." All that God is and all He does - His wisdom, His power, His goodness, His faithfulness, and more. We can be still, and be absolutely confident in God, because of all He is.

One more thing - when it comes to navigating through the new and different, I wanted to let my readers know that in a couple days I will be starting something else new - a job as an administrative assistant. This is going to be a big change for me, but I know that the Lord is there for me and will help navigate me through this adjustment too, if I trust Him. I hope to continue to have time to keep writing this blog, so please stay tuned! And remember that in your Heavenly Father, you have the best guide possible to navigate you through the new and different.

Love,
Kathi

Times of Refreshment

This morning was the first morning that when going for my walk, I put on a light jacket! It is finally feeling a little more like fall around here. The cooler mornings and evenings are so refreshing after a long, hot summer!

Refreshment is something we all need. Whether we have been immersed in a season of busyness, or just in the mundane daily details of living, a weekend or even a day away provides a much-needed change of scenery, rest, and refreshment. When we have been working outside in the yard or out running errands on a hot summer day, that tall cold glass of iced tea or bottle of water sure hits the spot. I am reminded this week that just as we all need physical refreshment, we need spiritual refreshing, sometimes even more than physical.

I continue to be amazed, even though I shouldn't be, how God always anticipates and provides for our every need. This week an evangelist friend of ours and his wife are in our area, and we have been so privileged to sit under his preaching in services all week long. We were excited to learn they were coming because we knew that we needed the spiritual refreshment. But we needed it even more than we knew we did. The messages from the Word have hit home every single service. The work that God did in our hearts, confirming once again His faithfulness to us, and fellowship time with our friends has been like balm to our souls.

As I reflected on these things being so refreshing to us when we needed it so much, my thoughts went to a verse of Scripture. Acts 3:19b says "that the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." This time of waiting on the Lord for His will and provision in our lives is becoming a sweet time of refreshment and renewing, because true refreshment only comes from the presence of the Lord. We are learning, among other things, that it is more about the journey then it is about the destination.

There is another verse which relates to refreshment and renewal that I have come to understand in a whole new way. Isaiah 40:31 tells us, "They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint." I have known this verse for decades, yet I have gained a whole new insight into what renewal means. During this season of waiting that God has placed us in, we have to first of all truly wait upon the Lord. That means not pushing. It means being willing to yield ourselves to God's leading and timing for what He has for us, and being content with where He has us right now, while waiting for Him to reveal His plan to us. According to this verse, that is how we truly are renewed, or refreshed.

You might not have an opportunity to attend a week of revival services, retreat, or other special event. I know many times I have wished I could! That doesn't mean that you can't receive refreshment. Make the effort to spend quality time with the Lord. Really study your Bible, not just skim through it. Journal your thoughts and insights. Let God and His Word bring refreshment to your soul!

Thoughtfully,
Kathi