Ready for 2016

I am excited to be back at the blog this morning! We had a wonderful Christmas with our daughter and her family. Other than the constant rain and dampness (at least it wasn't ice and snow!) and one sick child, it was a great time with our 3 little granddaughters and their parents. Besides a nice Christmas day and a fun trip to Busch Gardens Christmastown, playing, reading books, cookie-baking and craft-making prevailed!


In the past few days, I have heard and read a lot of comments about this "in-between" week - that is, the week after Christmas, but before New Year's. In general, people seem to have negative feelings about this week. They express feelings of depression or let-down after the Christmas holiday, boredom, and restlessness.

As for myself - I happen to love this "in-between" week!

• I love the quiet mornings to sit by the lights of the Christmas tree, with my cup of coffee and my Bible and journal, and really enjoy quality time with the Lord.
• I actually enjoy my Christmas decorations and playing Christmas music more after Christmas, when all the busyness and activity is past.
• As one of those "strange" people who actually like to clean and organize, I have enjoyed giving my house a thorough cleaning and doing some needed organization after all the busyness at church and home over Christmas.
• Most of all, I have come to relish this week as one in which I can really do some preparation of my heart for the coming year. For many years, I have prayerfully chosen a special verse of Scripture for the coming new year. I highlight it in my Bible and memorize it. In addition, this year I was challenged to do something new - to select a word of special significance for the coming year. I loved this! I spent a lot of time thinking and praying about it. I considered and then discarded several words before making my decision.

So, are you ready? My word for 2016 is: Perspective.

In choosing the word perspective, I am saying that I desire to have God's perspective on all that happens in 2016. The new year ahead of us stretches out as a blank canvas of the unknown. I want to try to remember to look at things as God would see them, with His perspective, and not how I am apt to see them. Also, I chose this word to remind me to keep things in the right perspective, whether they be blessings or challenges. I need to choose to be grateful (grateful was a close contender for my special word!). I need to see people and needs as an opportunity to love and to serve.

The verse I have chosen for 2016 is 1 Chronicles 16:11: "Seek the Lord and His strength, seek His face continually." Short and sweet this year, but it says so much! If I would just remember to

• Always seek the Lord and not someone or something else, and
• Seek His strength and not my own, and
• Seek His face (His presence) continually,  

Then I will have the right perspective.

How about you? Do you choose a special verse or word for the new year? I would love to hear your thoughts. May the Lord bless you in this coming year. Thanks for reading my blog! I hope to be a blessing and source of encouragement to you this year as I write.

Love,
Kathi

The Heart of a Handmaiden

Only 9 days until Christmas! As Christmas gets closer, our to-do lists seem to grow longer and longer. There is the present-buying, the wrapping, the finishing up of cards and letters, menu planning, cooking and baking, and the attending all sorts of Christmas events, celebrations, and special services. If you are like me, it also seems to get harder and harder to focus on the reason for our Christmas celebrations. We find ourselves becoming more task-oriented than Christ-oriented. We are more concerned with "getting it done" than we are about why we are doing it.

In my quiet times, I have been enjoying once again reading about and reflecting on the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus. I especially have been focusing on Luke 1:38: "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her." 

When the angel of the Lord appeared to this young, poor, teenage girl and gave her the astounding news that she, a virgin, was going to conceive and give birth to a child who would be God's Son and the Savior of the world, I think that Mary's response was equally astounding. After her question in verse 34 of how this would be, which was a question of normal curiosity since she wasn't married, she doesn't ask any other questions! She doesn't ask how this was going to work with her relationship to Joseph or her parents. She doesn't ask how she would raise this child, or what it would mean to her future. She doesn't ask why she was chosen.

Instead, she says "yes" to the Lord. Not only does she say "yes," but she refers to herself as the "handmaid of the Lord."  In Bible times, the handmaid was the lowest of the female servants. Psalm 123:2 also mentions the handmaid. It is interesting because of what a handmaid did - she was given that name because she would sit quietly and wait for her master or mistress to give her orders by a slight motion of the hands. She had to be very attentive in order not to miss it. She would quickly and completely obey the orders of her master. How significant is was that Mary referred to herself to that "handmaiden of the Lord." She knew exactly what it meant and she was wiling to obey.

The angel of the Lord told Mary that she was "favored." We usually think of that as being a good thing. When Mary said "yes" to the Lord, she had no idea of the trials that awaited her. She had to endure the ridicule and gossip of being an unwed mother. She had to face the possibility of being left by her fiancee and disowned by her family. She would endure a treacherous trip to Bethlehem at the end of her pregnancy, and giving birth away from home in a dirty stable. She would have to flee to a foreign country with Joseph to protect Jesus. Most of all, she would have to suffer watching her Son suffer misunderstanding and hatred, and die a cruel death on a cross.

None of these things were what Mary had in mind when she said"yes" to God's will for her life. Like Mary, when we say "yes" to the Lord, we expect things to be different. We expect joy and blessings and ease - after all, we are submitting ourselves to the Lord. Instead, the reality is often very different than the expectations. This Christmas, in the middle of the busyness, I am contemplating what it means to have the heart of a handmaiden - and praying that I might be more like that.

Wishing you a joyous, and Christ-centered, Christmas!
Kathi

1 Cor. 13 for Christmas

Wow, December is moving quickly - as it always does. I mentioned in my last post that I would tell you about our Ladies Creating Christmas event that we had at church this last Saturday. This was something new for us this year - in fact, I dreamed up the idea and because of that and since it was so different from what we normally do (a sit-down meal with themed decorations and a speaker), I was not sure how it would go. I am happy to report that it was a great success!

Creating Christmas was a hands-on, informal, fun afternoon of learning and making crafts and decorations while enjoying refreshments, fellowship, and a devotional. We had four craft stations, and made some really nice things: sock snowmen, curled paper-filled glass ornaments, a lovely nativity scene Christmas card, and scented foaming hand soap. We also had a cookie exchange and a take-home sheet with ideas for decorating and quick gifts, and recipes for gifts from your kitchen.  All of us had so much fun and I am already getting requests to do it again next year.

The idea behind Creating Christmas is to be able to gather ideas that we as wives, moms, and grandmas can use in celebrating Christmas with our families - the coming of Jesus as a baby into this world for the purpose of dying for our sins. As Christians, we should celebrate, because without the birth of Jesus, we would have no hope! I love the example of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Luke 2:19. We are told that "Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." That has the idea that she treasured the events and memories surrounding the birth of her Son. We should do the same. When we celebrate with gifts, baking, and decorations, we are showing that we treasure the birth of Christ.

That being said, we have to be careful to keep a balance. We are not really celebrating the birth of Jesus if our celebrations and busyness mean other things in our lives are out of place. Consider this reading of 1st Corinthians 13, the love chapter, in the context of Christmas. I have had this in my files for many years, so I am sorry that I do not know who the author is.

"If I decorate my house perfectly with bows, strands of shiny balls and twinkling lights,
but do not show love to my family,
I am just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table,
but do not show love to others,
I am just another cook.

If I volunteer in the soup kitchen or sing carols at the nursing home, and give extra to charity,
but do not have love for my Lord,
it profits me nothing.

If I trim the tree with shimmering angels and hand-made snowflakes,
and attend a myriad of Christmas events and sing in the church choir,
but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops baking to hug the child, sets aside the decorating to kiss one's spouse.
Love is kind, although tired and hurried.
Love doesn't envy another's house that has more decorations and coordinated china and linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way,
but is thankful that they are there to be in the way.
Love doesn't give to only those who can give in return,
but rejoices in giving to those who cannot.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.

Toys will break, necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust.
But the gift of love remains forever.
Faith, hope, and love abide, these three,
But the greatest of these is love."

Wishing you a balanced celebration of Christmas,
Kathi

A Peek Inside my Window

Here we are, post-Thanksgiving and into the month of December. Is it me, or does it seem like Christmas comes faster every year? Since I was away last week, I thought for today's blog post I would first give you a little peek into where I have been and what I have been up to the past couple of weeks. I will end the post with some thoughts to ponder, as usual.

Where I Went
We were so excited to be able to spend Thanksgiving with our youngest son and his family this year. They live in Florida and are the parents of our adorable 2 year old granddaughter and expecting our eighth grandchild (a boy!) in a couple of months. We were there for 5 days and enjoyed time at the park, celebrating Thanksgiving, a day the Tampa zoo, shopping, eating pie and playing games, and other fun things! Being with them was especially meaningful because we got to be present at our son's deacon ordination service, which my husband preached the message for and participated in.

 What I Baked
For Thanksgiving, I am the designated pie-baker. I usually make far too many pies for the number of people present, but hey, I have to include everyone's favorites! And we get to enjoy slices of pie with coffee in the evening which enhances our game-playing times. I made the traditional pumpkin and apple pies, and another one our family's favorites is a decadent pie which my granddaughter dubbed "Cookie Pie." The real name is Toll House pie, and it is also very similar to Derby Pie. In the picture here, it is the pie in the lower right.

Toll House Pie
2 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. flour
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
1 9 inch pie crust, unbaked

Preheat oven to 325. With mixer, beat eggs until foamy. Beat in sugars and flour until well-blended. Blend in softened butter. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Pour into pie crust. Bake 50-60 minutes and serve with whipped cream.

What I Decorated
This year we decorated our house for Christmas a week earlier than usual. Decorating for Christmas is a major undertaking at our house because we have 9 large storage containers of decorations, and because I like to decorate the whole house! We decorated a week early because when we looked at our calendar, after coming home from Thanksgiving we had NO free weekends until Christmas, and very few free days at all. This year I have something new - my husband made me a rustic-looking ladder to display my lighted village pieces and my Old-World Santa collection. I saw it on Pinterest and he said "I could make that!" And he did! I love it!

What Else I Did
As if decorating for Christmas, a trip, catching up both at home and in ministry after a trip, and working on upcoming activities (including this weekend's Ladies Creating Christmas event, which I will post about at a later date) wasn't enough, I squeezed in something special: I was invited to a lunch with Mrs. Heidi Cruz, the wife of Presidential candidate Ted Cruz. I had the opportunity to meet and talk with her, and I found her to be not only a lovely Christian lady, but also very gracious and down to earth!

What Made Me Smile
My favorite picture of the past two weeks:

What Made Me Sad 
In the midst of all the family time, the Thanksgiving and Christmas preparations and celebrating, and the blessings, there are two things which make me sad. The first is the unprecedented turmoil in our country. More shootings, more violence and danger, and more hostility toward God and Christianity mean that my grandchildren are growing up in a very broken world. It makes me sad that they will never know the kind of world I grew up in or raised our children in. Truly, Psalm 31:24 is a verse that encourages us as Christians: "Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord." The key, I think, is the end: "...in the Lord." We all hope in something - or someone. Our hope must not be misplaced - it has to be in the Lord.

The other thing that makes me sad is related to the first, and that is the apathy of Christians today. It is no accident that part of the reason our world is so broken today is because of the careless attitude of Christians - not toward events in the world, but toward spiritual things. I remember after 9-11 the turning of people to God and an increased interest in church and walking with God. Not so today. Even in the midst of all that is going on in the world, church attendance and involvement is declining. I hear over and over again "I'm just too busy." Other things are deemed more important that serving the Lord and working for Him. We are reminded how we are to respond in uncertain times in Ephesians 5:15-16: "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil." When we are living in the midst of evil times - and we certainly are - we are to be wise and make the most of the time that God graciously allows us. That is what will make the difference in our personal and family lives, and in turn, our country.

Lovingly,
Kathi

Dealing with Fear

I was planning to do a Thanksgiving post and give you some pie recipes today, but in light of all the events of the past week in our world, my thoughts are centering on something much more serious and completely different, and that is how to handle fear. Between the terrorist attacks in Paris, news of ISIS infiltrating our own country, and terrible things happening all around us it is very easy to get caught up in a spirit of fear.

As is so often the case, in both my teen girls Sunday School class and our Ladies Bible studies we have been studying topics which go along with this one.  God wants us to love Him with all our mind, and there is a spiritual battle for our minds. 2 Cor. 10:5 tells us that we are to "cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." In short, we must determine to put the truths about God from His Word above every thought that we think. We are prone to a lot of dangerous thought patterns: regret, worry, discouragement, discontent, and - especially now - fear.

The thing that has helped me the most in dealing with fear is realizing that they are "what-if's".  We can spend so much time and energy thinking of all the "what-if's" that they consume us. What if our area is targeted by terrorists? What if my children and grandchildren have to live under terrible persecution? What if someone I love dies? What if I get cancer? And so on and on our thinking goes.

"What-if's" are not true. They are speculative thinking about the unknown. In the list of things that we are to think about in Phil. 4:8. the very first thing on the list is "Whatsoever things are true."

Every "what-if" in life is something God already has knowledge of and has planned for! This week I read and gained some insight from Jeremiah 29:4-10. We are usually familiar with verse 11 which reminds us that God has a plan for us that consists of good and not of evil. But the verses directly preceding that are very interesting. God is speaking to His people who are in captivity in Babylon, through the prophet Jeremiah. If I was one of those people in that situation, I would have been very afraid! Look at these truths that God encouraged His people with:

verses 4 and 7 - twice God says "I have caused you to be carried away into captivity." He is the One who allowed it! We have to remember that nothing happens to us that God does not already know about and is not in His plan for us.

verses 5 and 6 - God gives them a list of specific things they are to do. They are to plant crops and eat the produce. They are to build homes. They are to marry and bear children and raise them. In other words, life is supposed to go on! We can't stop living because we are living in fear of what might happen!

verses 8 and 9 - the people are to keep doing right in obedience to God and not let the negative influences around them deter them from serving Him.

and finally, in verse 10 - there was a time limit established. God sets the boundaries of what can happen, and He is in charge!

There is cause for fear all around us, but God repeatedly tells us not to fear, and He tells us why: because of who He is. When you are tempted to be afraid, rest in His character and His promises!

Till next time,
Kathi

A Vision Adjustment

Sunshine! After a week of dark, rainy, gloomy days I was so happy to see the sunshine pouring in through my windows! The past few days it has been hard to not be in a "down" frame of mind. Are you thinking that you didn't think pastor's wives were ever down or depressed? Well, I have news for you - pastor's wives are like everyone else! We just happen to be married to pastors! That is one of the hard things about being in the ministry - the label that is put on me because my husband is a pastor. People have very definite ideas of what a "pastor's wife" should do or not do and feel or not feel.

Another pitfall of ministry is not being able to measure visible accomplishments or results. I think to some extent we are all "results oriented." Whether or not you are in full-time ministry, we all need the encouragement of seeing the fruits of our labors, whether it be in the form of a clean house, a written report, a homemade meal, a painted room, or a completed project. When it comes to the ministry, that rarely happens. I can think of no other occupation - builders, businessmen and women, doctors, plumbers, teachers, or farmers - that cannot look back over their day or week or month or even year and be able to see and measure their accomplishments. And to be honest - because this is a post of honesty - it can be hard to constantly give everything you have to ministering and helping others, and not be able to see results. And sometimes it even seems like things are going the wrong direction.

Between gloomy weather and the "stuff" of life, it can be hard to not fall into a negative pattern of thinking, which can disturb your joy. Yesterday I gained some valuable insight into the disturbances in my thinking.

Yesterday I visited the eye doctor.

 I had not been in three and a half years, so I was long overdue for a checkup. I had my eyes dilated and was put through the usual battery of tests. One of those tests was to check my peripheral vision. In this test, you are given a clear focus point to stare at, and then when you notice disturbances in your vision around the outside perimeter, you respond. The technician warned me to not start looking at the disturbances, or I would become confused. I had to steadily look at the focal point. That ensured that I would keep the outside disturbances in perspective.

Hmm. I think there's a lesson in there. It is a reminder that in order to keep the proper perspective, I need to steadily focus on my Lord, and not get distracted by the outside disturbances. I was reminded of Hebrews 12:2, which tells us, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." The word "looking" means to fix my eyes on Him, and keep Him as my focal point. The problem arises when we fall into a pattern of looking at all the trials and problems, and keep Jesus somewhere in the background. No wonder we get unbalanced and distracted by all that is going on.

How do we look unto Jesus? We spend time in His Word getting to know Him. We thank Him and praise Him for all that He is - the Giver. We thank and praise Him for all that He does - His gifts. We focus on things like His grace and His sovereignty and His goodness. We remember that the outside disturbances are all part of His perfect plan for us.

In my reading this week, Romans 12:12 caught my attention: "Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulations, continuing instant in prayer." That is a great recipe for dealing with the disturbances in life. Rejoicing in hope - I can rejoice in the Lord who is my hope, because of what He has done for me and continues to do for me each day. Persevering in tribulations - God has done so much for me, and He just asks me to be faithful. The results, or lack of them, are up to Him. And continuing instant in prayer, which means being really devoted to prayer. Also notice the word "instant" - we are more likely to be praying about things as a last resort or an after thought.

Is anything disturbing your vision this week? If so, I hope you will go to our Great Physician who can give you a vision adjustment!

Lovingly,
Kathi

Make Yourself at Home

Last week while browsing in a shop, I saw a decorative sign that read: "Welcome to our Bed & Breakfast! We hope you enjoy your stay!" I was tempted to buy it for our guest room, because it is very appropriate for the last couple of months. In the last eight weeks, we have hosted overnight guests in our home five times! Guests have included our son and his family of five, my sister, and three sets of missionaries - a couple who are missionaries to the military and hosted a conference at our church, a family from Romania, and most recently, our long-time friends and missionaries to Cambodia. Length of stays ranged from two nights to six. In addition, last Friday night we hosted a cookout fellowship in our home that 22 people attended.

I enjoy having guests in our home. Yes, it does involve some work. Laundering sheets and towels, making up beds, cleaning bedrooms and bathrooms, planning for meals, and stocking the refrigerator take time. But I think about verses like Romans 12:13 that tell us to be given to hospitality, and  1 Peter 4:9, where God commands us to show hospitality without a grudging attitude. Hospitality today is mostly missing in the lives of Christians, who say they are too busy or it is not convenient. But do you know what I have found? Having guests stay in our home is always a blessing that far outweighs any work that was done, or any inconvenience!

When I have overnight guests in our home, I want them to feel comfortable. We tell them, "Make yourself at home!" and we truly mean it. We are blessed to have a home that is very conducive to guests - it is a 2-story with the master suite on the main floor. Upstairs we have a loft study/sitting room, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a large "bonus" room that can also be used as a bedroom if necessary. It is the perfect set-up for guests being able to have the entire second floor to themselves, but I always tell them to feel free to use the entire house - the laundry room, the living area, and to help themselves to coffee or a bottle of water or snack. And they do!

Since our most recent guests just departed this morning, this has been on my mind today. And along with these thoughts, I am reminded that if I know Jesus Christ as my Savior, that my heart is His home. Ephesians 3:17 tells us, " that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." That word "dwell" is important. It means that Christ is not just a guest in your heart. He resides there. It is really quite a privilege for us to make a home for Christ in our heart. And I wonder, does He feel at home? Or do we keep Him at a distance? Do we say, "I want You to be at home, and to feel free to use every room and area of my life."? I doubt it. There are rooms and areas of our lives we want to keep for ourselves.

In reality, if Jesus is our Lord and Savior, He is not just a guest in our life. He is the owner. All that we have belongs to Him. Are we trying to be the owner and treat Him as a guest? Or does He truly have ownership of every room of our life?

Lovingly,
Kathi

Thankful for every little thing

I know, I have been missing in action from the blog lately. And this is not the post I was planning to write. I was looking forward to writing about fun times and happy events.

Two weeks ago, I was happily anticipating a "normal" week at home after our busy Anniversary weekend celebration at church. I was excited about dear friends who were coming for a long-awaited weekend visit. I was also looking forward to hosting a cook-out fellowship in our home that same weekend, followed by a visit from my sister from Georgia who had not been here in two years.

Then I got sick.

Not just a little sick. No, for some reason when I get sick (which is not that often), I get REALLY sick. This time, I had bronchitis and the flu at the same time. I paid a visit to my doctor right away who confirmed I had bronchitis and started me on some prescriptions with orders to rest in bed. After a few days of getting worse instead of better, it was determined that I indeed had the flu on top of bronchitis. My fever kept going up and I could hardly get out of bed. As if this wasn't enough misery, I have an auto-immune condition that causes me to get a bad rash whenever I get sick. It was more like a bad sunburn than a rash, and it extended from my head to my feet. Did I say I was miserable?

So you know what happened to all my plans as a result of this. My planned nice week of productivity went out the window. We had to call our friends and cancel their visit. I cried. We canceled the cookout fellowship. And because my sister has CF and no immune system to speak of, we had to put her visit on hold as well. We had some unexpected difficulties come up at church and at home which made me feel even worse. More tears.

During this time, as I lay in bed feeling awful, I realized something. I could cry and complain and be distressed and depressed. Or I could choose to be grateful...to find things to be thankful for even in the midst of all this. As Nancy Leigh DeMoss says, we can whine, or we can worship. So often we relegate being thankful to the month of November. Or we thank God for the "big" things like our home, our family, our church, our health, and our freedom.

I think God wants us to be much more intentional about being grateful, and to learn to be thankful for every little thing. After all, everything we have is because of His grace and mercy. We deserve nothing and without His grace we would have nothing. 

I was thankful that I don't have an outside job right now and that I could stay home and recuperate without being stressed about missing work. I was thankful for a comfortable bed in which to sleep and rest, and for a bathtub with warm running water to make my rash feel better. Believe me, there are many places around the world where people do not enjoy these little things, and especially in the midst of the floods that were going on in South Carolina when I was sick, I was even more mindful of that. I was thankful for a good doctor who called me twice and for medicine and for insurance to help pay for the doctor and the medicines. I was thankful for hot tea and for homemade chicken soup that was brought by two sweet friends from church. I was thankful for a husband who cared for me and who didn't complain about eating soup for practically a whole week. And so it goes.

Yes, we missed our visit from our friends. I have to trust God's providence that this was not in His plan for either of us right now, and hopefully we can make it happen someday. I can be thankful for God's providence. I am thankful that He does have a plan for me and that plan is always for my good and my learning and ultimately for His glory.

My sister did get to come for a visit. In fact, she just left this morning. Our time together was shortened and so we had to adjust our plans and did not get to do some things we had wanted to do, but we still had a wonderful 5 days of shopping, laughing, talking, making a couple crafts, cooking together, and shop-browsing. I am thankful that God allowed us this time together and that even this abbreviated time was under His sovereign provision.

The theme of thanksgiving runs throughout the book of Colossians. In Col. 1:3, and again in verse 12,   we are instructed to be thankful in our praying.  In 2:7, we are to be "abounding in thanksgiving." Abounding means overflowing. And in chapter 3, it is mentioned two more times - verse 15. ..."and be ye thankful" and verse 17: "and whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him."  Chapter 4, verse 2 - "continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving."

We do not always feel like being thankful. We are so prone to have a spirit of ingratitude. But God wants us to be thankful, for every little thing. To get started, you might want to do what I did a few years ago and make it a habit to write down 5 things you are grateful for every day. They can be things as little as a hot cup of coffee, a folded pile of laundry. Trust me, when you get into the habit of cultivating a thankful attitude, it will change you.

Until next time,

Kathi

A Heart to Serve

 It's been quite a week at our house. It began last weekend with hosting missionaries from Romania. We had known them as a married couple many years ago when my husband was still in school, but not seen them since. Now they are the parents of two teenagers. It was our pleasure to host their family in our home for a few days.

The day after they departed began 4 straight days for me spending every day, or most of it, at the church preparing for our church's 25th anniversary weekend, which just concluded yesterday and was a wonderful time of celebration. It began with breakfast for the two visiting pastors and their wives and ourselves and included a Saturday evening banquet, special services, a video presentation, and a barbecue lunch on Sunday. In no way did I accomplish any of this by myself - I was privileged to work with many wonderful and talented ladies. But I must say that it consumed all my time and energy and as wonderful as it was, I am thankful that it is over and I can now give my attention to things I have been neglecting, like my house, my laundry,  and my writing. Wednesday was shopping day, Thursday was spent setting up and decorating the gym for our banquet. Friday and Saturday were cooking and food preparation days, interspersed with trips to Walmart for things we needed.

As I reflected on the busyness of this past week, it could be characterized by one word: service. I would like to share with you a couple of thoughts I have in relation to serving the Lord:

1. Serving is rarely convenient. The timing of hosting a family in our home for the days immediately leading up to our anniversary weekend could've been better. I would not have chosen it that way, but as usual, the Lord had something He wanted me to learn from it. It was found one morning in my devotions: Romans 12:13 - "Distributing to the necessities of the saints, given to hospitality." The word "distributing" can also be translated "contributing." When I read this, my heart was pricked. Yes, it wasn't the most convenient time. But God had assigned me the task of contributing to the needs of His people by practicing hospitality. Missionaries who are constantly traveling have needs. They needed to homeschool their children, and we could provide a quiet place and the use of our internet service to accomplish that. They needed to do laundry. They needed some time to rest. What a privilege is ours as Christians to be used to minister to them! So many times I hear that it is "not convenient" for people to host missionaries in their homes or to have them in for a meal. I myself complain about it not being convenient for my schedule and responsibilities. But you know what? God changed my attitude. I can use inconvenience as an excuse not to practice hospitality, or I can determine that I am going to serve the saints of the Lord to the best of my ability and seek to be a blessing to them! In so doing, the blessing is really ours! And for those who have children at home, what is your attitude teaching them? Which leads me to the second thought:

2. As parents, we have a responsibility to train our children to have servants hearts.  It warmed my heart to see some of the children of our church pitching in with their parents to serve! We had a little girl doing jobs like putting salt & pepper shakers on tables, boys washing dishes, and young ladies serving food alongside their mother. These kids are learning by example to have a heart to serve. Raising kids with servants hearts does not just happen - they need to be trained. Our natural bent is to be self-centered. I am concerned about the lack of hospitality and having hearts to serve among our young people today. My husband and I did some things wrong as parents, but this was one thing we did right. All of our children, by God's grace, have grown into adults who have a heart to serve. We involved our kids in ministry from a very early age. They could set up chairs, put out hymnbooks, set tables, clean the church, fold bulletins, serve at fellowships. As they grew older, they helped in the nursery, played musical instruments, helped in VBS and Children's church, and a long list of other things. They gave up their bedrooms to visiting missionaries and guests. They have memories of being squished together onto a piano bench around the dining room table in order to have enough chairs to accommodate all our guests. I am not saying this to brag on them - I am saying that in order to have adults with servant hearts, you have to train children to cultivate hearts that want to serve. Our children were blessed beyond measure by the experiences they had in serving.  All of them are thankful for the opportunities they had in every imaginable aspect of service that have helped to equip them for their ministries today.

Of course, the best example we have of a servant is the Lord Jesus. He spent His whole earthly life in serving others. Joshua 22:5 exhorts us to show our love for the Lord by serving Him "with all your soul and all your might." What is your service saying about your love for Him?

Lovingly,
Kathi

To everything there is a season....

This morning marked a milestone in our house. I packed up and put away my husband's walker, cane, and all the bags of therapy and post-operative equipment that we had collected since his knee-replacement surgery in June. He received welcome news from his surgeon at his appointment this morning that he can discontinue his blood-thinner medication, and he doesn't have to be seen again until next year! That makes us happy for a couple of reasons: we have both really disliked the Coumadin diet, which didn't allow him to basically eat anything healthy. Green vegetables and salads were out and starches were in! Now we can go back to eating our veggies! Secondly, it means that he is making progress with his daily visits to the gym and pool at the Y and he gets to continue his exercise regimen toward his goal of strengthening his leg.

A few months ago, that walker and then the cane, along with the medical supplies, were absolutely indispensable. I couldn't have imagined packing them away. I was thinking about this the last few days as I put away my patriotic summer decor and got out my pumpkins, scarecrows, apples, wreaths, and other fall decorations. It seemed like I was just decorating our house for summer, and now the summer season is past and fall is upon us. We carefully plant annual flowers in the spring and then dig them up when they are finished blooming for the summer and replace them with something else.

This all reminds me of the verse in Ecclesiastes 3:1 - "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." When we reflect on this, we realize that God indeed does have a designated time and a purpose for everything He allows in our lives. The key to our peace and contentment is to accept and appreciate God's perfect timing of everything in our lives.

Our lives as women are made up of seasons. Each one has its challenges and its joys. We may be young, single women who are trying to figure out what God wants us to do and make hard choices about where we will go to school, what we will study, who we will marry or not marry, where we will live. There is the season of motherhood, when we are so busy raising our children that we wonder if we will ever have a moment to ourselves again. There may be years spent homeschooling, in contrast with years spent in outside employment or working at home. There is the empty-nest season when we have to adjust to just being the two of us again and relating to our now-grown children as adults, and learning to be a grandmother.... There are seasons of illness and health, of friendships that were once strong but fade when one of you moves away or on to a different season. There are seasons of being a caregiver and the one receiving the care. Yes, to everything there is a season.

This is a lesson to me in a couple of ways. We need to learn to appreciate the good times and try to live "in the moment", because nothing lasts forever. So often we are always looking forward to "the next thing" and we miss enjoying the blessings of the here and now. We can also be encouraged that if we are going through a difficult season, God has a limit to it and will bring it to an end when it is HIS time.

In addition, we can look for what lessons God wants us to learn in every season of life. I am a firm believer that God does not put us in any season that He will not somehow use in our lives or the lives of others. He has lessons to teach us and experiences to help us grow and things for us to learn. No matter what season you are in right now, you can know for sure that it will not last forever, and you can be confident that He has something for you to learn. And in every season, He will give you all the grace and strength you need, because it is all under His sovereign control.

Thoughtfully,
Kathi

God's Gracious Providence

September in Virginia is beautiful! The nights are cool and the days have been sunny, warm, and clear with none of the summer humidity - at least for now! In another couple of months the leaves will be turning and I always especially enjoy the beauty of God's creation at that time of year.

I didn't get a post written last week because I was in Georgia, spending the week with my family. My missionary brother and sister-in-law who live out of the country were there at my parents' home, and my sister lives nearby. Since it had been 9 years since we were all together, I decided this was a good time to go and visit. It was truly a special time of being together and we had a wonderful week.

I have been reminded anew lately of God's gracious providence in our lives. Last year in the Ladies Bible Study class that I teach, we studied God's providence, based on the book, Not by Chance by Layton Talbert. It is a book and a study I highly recommend! It makes one more aware of God's providence - his sovereign rule over and direct involvement in every event in our lives. I personally witnessed that again this past week - not just once, but three times!

While I was in Georgia and alone one morning at my sister's house where I was staying, I went to my car and it would not start. It had a dead battery. I called my brother and he came over and was able to get it started by jumping it, and he also went with me to get a new battery purchased and installed. God's providence was that 1) this happened in my sister's driveway and not somewhere along the 9 hour route between there and home, and 2) it happened on my brother's last day there, so he was available to help me. My dad, due to his health, is no longer able to do things like that. God's gracious provision!

The big answered prayer request I spoke of in my last blog post was the sale of our house in Illinois. At the end of this month, we have now been here for three years, and our house in Illinois had still not sold. We have been waiting, praying, and paying two mortgage payments (plus the related utilities, taxes, insurance and expenses!) for three years! We are rejoicing in God answering our prayer, as well as His timing which is always perfect. Well, at the end of last week we found out that the closing on the house was being moved up by a week. They needed the necessary paperwork signed and notarized and in Illinois no later than Monday morning. That meant it had to be done and sent off from here on Friday afternoon. No emails or faxes accepted. And I was in Georgia! My husband arranged for a notary appointment at our bank, and I began the home earlier than I had planned so that I could arrive home in time. It was a stressful and tiring trip, but I made it, only to learn when we got to the bank that a rule had changed. They could notarize our paperwork but they could not witness our signatures. And since we didn't have any witnesses, they couldn't notarize our papers. This was at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon! All I could think of was that I had just driven 10 hours and now we weren't going to make the deadline after all. God then sent a man whom we had never met, who stepped in and offered to be our witness! The paperwork was completed in short order and we proceeded to the Fed-Ex office before they closed and got everything sent off just in time! God's gracious provision!

One of the stipulations in the sale of our house was that we have a swing set in the backyard removed. That was easier said than done - another difficulty of being 1,000 miles away. Our realtor had asked around and found someone who wanted it, but at the last minute when the person found out they had to take it apart and remove it from the ground, they changed their mind. So we still had to have it removed before the closing. The last possible day, it "happened" that my brother was in the same town, ministering at our former church which is one of their supporting churches. This is the ONLY time he was there in FOUR YEARS! It's amazing - our house didn't sell for three years, and then God orchestrates the sale and closing for the exact time my brother would be in town! He, along with a friend of ours there, kindly spent the morning of his last day there doing just that, and they even found someone to give it to! God's gracious provision!

We might think "That's just lucky", coincidental, or our "good fortune." As Christians, there is no such thing as fortune or luck. I share these things with you so that you may be encouraged. God cares about and intervenes even in the smallest details of our lives. The subtitle of the book I mentioned above, Not by Chance, is Learning to Trust a Sovereign God. If we are confident of God's gracious providence in our lives, we can trust His timing and His daily guidance. We fall into the trap of blaming God for the bad things and failing to thank Him for the good things in our lives. As a result, we often misinterpret the intent of our circumstances. What we see as being against us, God is actually working for us. Today, thank the Lord for His gracious providence in your life!

Gratefully,
Kathi

Remembering, Rejoicing, Restoring

Hi there! The end of the summer sure has been busy around here! It is hard to believe that Labor Day is coming up, and there is a hint of fall in the air as the days are growing shorter. I thought I would give you a peek into what has been going on in my life the past week....

Remembering: It started with a get-together with some friends that we had not seen for over 20 years! We recently reconnected on Facebook (there ARE some benefits to Facebook!) and then my friend messaged me that she and her husband were going to be in our area and would love to see us again. We set it up and were so excited. It was so strange...the voices and the personalities were the same, but we all looked different! There have been a lot of changes in our lives in 23 years to catch up on, but as we talked it was like time melted away. We just picked right up where we left off. It was a fun time of remembering the many great times we had shared.

The remembering continued a couple days later as my hubby and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. Again, it does not seem possible that 40 years could have passed since we said our wedding vows as a very young couple one very hot August day in a church in eastern Pennsylvania. We have been through a lot together - good times, bad times, illnesses, surgeries, deaths of both his parents, many moves and some major life transitions, several house purchases and sales, serving in ministry together, having and raising 3 children, their graduations and weddings, and now 7 grandchildren! We had hoped to celebrate our 40th with a special trip, but due to my husband's knee replacement surgery this summer he was not quite ready for that yet. We will continue our celebration next summer, but for now we had a wonderful time having a special dinner and a sunset cruise aboard a schooner ship. God gave us the perfect evening and a spectacular sunset!

We also have had a week of rejoicing...for a couple reasons. God answered a prayer for us that we have been praying for almost three years! More about that in a later post. Another time of rejoicing came as we were able to enjoy the company of one of our sons and his wife and three children for a few days. It was our "last hurrah" before they begin school and we embark on a hectic fall schedule, and what wonderful times of joy we had! We played on playgrounds, read books, spent a day at an indoor water park, another day in Colonial Williamsburg, and our last day at the beach! My husband was only able to join us for one of these excursions, but we agreed it was a perfect week of fun with our grandkids. God was so good to give us such a wonderful week.

 

On to the restoring...last summer when we prepared the home where my husband grew up for sale (see my post The End of An Era, if you missed that), we rescued an old lawn swing that was in their yard which was in very poor condition. We almost decided it was past saving, but we brought it home and my husband set about completely restoring it. It needed to be completely taken apart, stripped and sanded, put back together piece by piece with all new hardware, and totally refinished. It took him almost a year of working on it off and on, but this week he finished it, and it is beautiful!

Why am I thinking and writing about remembering, rejoicing, and restoring? I think it is partly because we have been through a stormy year. With my mother-in-law's passing, my husband's knee surgery with complications, and a lot of difficult ministry situations this has been one of the hardest years in our 40 years of marriage. It is precious to me to realize that God lovingly brings us times of rejoicing. Those times are such an encouragement. Even in the midst of storms, we can rejoice in the Lord. It starts with remembering God's faithfulness to us through the years. In talking about the children of Israel, God said in Deut. 8:2, "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou would keep His commandments or not." Psalm 143:5 ' "I remember the days of old, I meditate on all thy works, I muse on the works of thy hands." When we remember all God has done for us, even if we are going through a stormy time we can rejoice. There are so many good verses on rejoicing I had a hard time picking just a few! Psalm 9:2 - "I will be glad and rejoice in the Lord, I will sing praises to thy name, O most High!" Psalm 35:9 - "And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord, it shall rejoice in his salvation."  And then comes restoring. Just like restoring the swing brought it back to its original good condition, God wants to restore us into a right and close relationship with Him. That's why the Psalmist says in Psalm 51:2 - "Restore unto me the joy of my salvation."

Whether you are in a storm or it is smooth sailing for you right now, remember all God has done for you, rejoice in His goodness, and be restored into a joyful relationship with Him!

Joyfully,
Kathi

Another kind of anniversary

Sorry about the delay in my blog being posted this time! Last week was VERY busy around here, with Revival Services at church, a youth activity at our house, and a bridal shower! Whew!

Just six days from now, my husband and I will be celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary. Even though we got married when we were very young, that still seems incredible... how can it be 40 years? But when I consider that we have three adult children and seven grandchildren, as well as a few more pounds and wrinkles.....well, it's true!  I will probably be writing more about our special anniversary in a later post.

As I was thinking about our upcoming anniversary, I realized that we also have an anniversary of another kind this year. It is the 25th anniversary of my husband's yielding to the call of God to preach. My husband was called to preach later in life. He had been a businessman for 15 years, and quite a successful one at that. We both went through a time of resisting God's call on our lives. As you can well imagine, it meant HUGE changes in our life - selling a beautiful home with several acres of land, quitting a secure job with good pay and benefits, and moving our three children to another state in order for my husband to study for the ministry. But through all of that, God gave me peace and this one primary desire: to invest my life in others. We all invest our lives in something. But only investing our lives for the Lord counts for eternity. During this time, God especially used two verses in my life: One was my life verse in 1 Samuel 12:24 - "Only fear the Lord and serve Him with all your heart, for consider what great things He has done for you." The other is from Luke 12:48b ' ..."for unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required..." God has blessed me with so much, and now He was asking me to give back to Him.

Over these 25 years since we made that decision, we have learned a lot. A lot of what you do in the ministry is never taught in the classroom! I have had some fun remembering some of the things we have done through the years: dressing up in various costumes for VBS, grilling a lot of hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken (sometimes in the rain!) for church picnics, installing and painting drywall and putting a new roof on our church in Illinois, building sets and rehearsing skits, giving out brochures and New Testaments, playing a lot of crazy games (and not just with the teens!), moving the church office from our home into a new (to us) church building, setting up a church library from scratch, building bonfires and driving tractors for hayrides,  hosting Christmas Open House in our home for the whole church, building the base for a giant banana split, taking youth groups and kids to and from camp and retreats....and that's just the things I can think of. You could say we definitely believe in being a "hands-on pastor."

But above all, we have learned that ministry means one thing: investing your life in people. There have been many, many hours of doing that in many different ways. We have taught, discipled, mentored, and most of all loved the people that God has sent our way. There have been surgeries and serious illnesses that we have sat and prayed through, deaths and funerals where we comforted the best we could. There have been tough family situations requiring hours of counsel. We have laughed with them, cried with them, and spent countless hours praying with them. In short, we have knit our hearts together with theirs. That is what God called us to do.

And yet...whenever you invest your lives in people, you are taking a risk. The risk is that the very people who you have spent hours ministering to and investing your lives in can hurt you. We have discovered over the years that it seems like the ones we poured ourselves into the most also hurt us the most. People will misunderstand you. They hear things and don't come to you about it. People reject your counsel and your help. They decide that they want something other than what you have to offer them. And it hurts. And hardest of all, some of them make choices that take them away from God.

But even in this, I have learned. We may think we can protect our hearts from being hurt by avoiding building relationships with the people God sends us. The temptation to do that is great. However, when we do that, we are not really investing our lives in others. We are protecting our own interests and focusing on ourselves. That is NOT what God intends for us to do.

The other truth is this: when we are hurt by people, it makes me think of Jesus. There is no one who suffered more greatly or more unjustly than He did, and there is no one who gave of Himself more than He. It shames me to realize how I sometimes disappoint or turn away from the One who has given His very life for me. When you consider all that He does for us, it makes what we do for Him seem so small and trivial.

What - and who - are you investing your life in? When all is said and done, what will you be known for? A saying that I learned as a child has stayed with me all these years, and the older I get, the more it rings true for me:

Only one life, 'twill soon be past.
Only what's done for Christ will last.

Lovingly,
Kathi

This and That

I thought in this week's post that rather than writing a devotional I would do something a little different and just give you a glimpse into what I have been doing this week. But don't worry - I have included something inspirational at the end, so if the rest bores you, feel free just to skip to the end!

What I Have Organized

One thing I love to do is to organize things! Over the years I have found many great ways of organizing our home, but one thing that always drove me crazy was the freezer.  We have a chest freezer which is filled with packages of meat, vegetables, fruits, baked goods, and so forth, and I hated having to dig through everything trying to find that one item that I was needing. Often I would wonder if I had used it or I just couldn't find it. Or I would buy something, only to find out later I already had it. So, I went to Dollar Tree and bought  5 brightly colored plastic baskets - 3 large and 2 small. Total cost: $5. I unloaded the freezer and brought everything into my kitchen, and I sorted it and organized it by baskets. I used the 3 large baskets for chicken, pork, and beef. I put all my frozen vegetables in one of the smaller baskets and frozen baked goods (breads, muffins, cookies that I have made and frozen) into the other. And voila! It is working wonderfully! Now when I need that package of chicken breasts or frozen peas, I know EXACTLY where to go to find them. An added bonus is that I can easily see by looking at the various baskets when I am low or out of something before I go to the store!

Where I Went

Since my husband had his knee replacement surgery and subsequent complications in June, this summer has kind of been a blur of hospitalizations/PT/ recovery (which is still ongoing), and we hadn't gotten to do anything even remotely "summer-like". I was so excited that we had a free Saturday and that my husband was well enough to be up to a trip to a nearby beach! It was an abbreviated stay and it was the bay instead of the ocean, but hey, it was the beach! I wiggled my toes in the sand and swam in the waves and walked on the beach and LOVED it.

What We Celebrated

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that we have SIX beautiful granddaughters, all very close in age, and one handsome grandson! Two of our granddaughters had birthdays this week, within a day of each other. M. turned 3 and K. turned 4. (Another of our granddaughters turns 2 this coming week!) One of the disadvantages of not living near our children and grandchildren is that we seldom are able to spend things like birthdays together. We send presents in the mail, and we are thankful for cell phone and FaceTime and Skype so we could talk to the birthday girls and sing to them!

What I Baked

I know, you are not supposed to be turning on the oven and heating up the kitchen in the summer when it is 100 degrees outside. I just have a really hard time refraining from baking! One of the things I made this week is Zucchini-Pineapple bread. I have seen many recipes for zucchini bread, but this one just can't be beat. It is moist and absolutely delicious. I originally got the recipe from one of the ladies in our church in Illinois and in case you would like to try it, here it is:

Zucchini-Pineapple Bread

Mix together:
3 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla

Sift together and add:
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix well by hand. Add 2 cups of peeled, shredded zucchini, 1 c. chopped nuts (optional) and 1 15-20 oz. can of crushed pineapple, well drained. Mix well. Grease 2 8 inch loaf pans or 6 mini loaf pans, fill, and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes for regular loaves, 35-40 minutes for small ones.

Keep refrigerated, or freezes well. Try with whipped cream cheese spread!

Last but not least, What I Read

I absolutely LOVE it when I find a book on my shelf that I had forgotten I bought and never read! And it is even better when it is an unread book by my favorite author! And the icing on the cake is when the Lord uses that book to clearly direct me! I have been doing a lot of praying about what study I am going to teach in our upcoming year of Ladies Bible Study classes. I was pretty sure the Lord was directing me to teach a study on Discipline, based on another excellent book by Barbara Hughes, Disciplines of a Godly Woman. Now that study will be enriched by this newly-discovered book by Elisabeth Elliott. As you know, Elisabeth Elliott went home to be with the Lord on June 15. She was one of my heroes of the faith and has impacted my life in more ways than I can count. I highly recommend reading anything by her that you can get your hands on.

In chapter 6 of this book, Elisabeth writes: "It is the willingness we must emphasize here. We pray "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." God's will is always willingly and gladly done in heaven. Willing obedience is a very different thing from coercion. God does not coerce us to follow Him....He tells us what to do, and we find our happiness in doing it. God will never disappoint us. He loves us and has only one purpose for us: holiness, which in His kingdom equals joy. If deep in our hearts we suspect that God does not love us and cannot manage our affairs as well as we can, we certainly will not submit to His discipline. Discipline is the glad surrender."

Hoping you have a good week knowing the faithfulness of your God,
Kathi

Intentional Mothering

If you read my recent post about the potluck dinner recipes, at the end I mentioned that I would be soon be blogging about something for mothers. It's one of those things that has been on my mind for a little while. I don't write too often about mothering, because having adult children and grandchildren, I am past that season of my life. But as I thought about that, I'm really not. God gives us our children for a lifetime. We are still mothers when our children are grown and on their own, it is just that our roles have changed. No longer are we spending our days changing diapers, rocking babies, disciplining toddlers, supervising playtime, wiping faces and noses and hands, making meals and feeding little ones, and picking up toys. We are not dealing with homework and music lessons and curfews and giving rides to all kinds of activities. But as moms of adult children, we move to answering questions about recipes and stain removal and fevers. We have the privilege of praying for them and their families and their ministries.We encourage and support them in what God is having them do. That is why I say that just because our children are grown, our job as mothers does not cease.

And that leads me to the question that this blog post is about....what is our goal in mothering? I used to think that the answer to that question was to eventually work ourselves out of a job when our children leave home. But if our role of motherhood is a lifetime gift and commitment, then that is not true. If we would say that our goal is to raise happy and healthy children and see them go out on their own to fulfill their dreams, I say that we have missed the point. God never tells us that the happiness of our children is the most important thing. The question we should be asking is: What is God's design for mothering? The answer to that question, I believe, is that our mothering is to glorify God. 1 Cor. 10:31 reminds us that "whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Cor. 6:20 also tells us, "For ye are bought with a price, therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

Having the view that God's design for mothering is to glorify Him will help us to mother intentionally. When we are in the seemingly endless, sleep-deprived baby and toddler years, we can remind ourselves that we are not just going through the motions day after day, but we are to be doing everything in a way that brings glory to God, both now in the everyday nitty-gritty, and with the future in view. I recently found this quote from Elisabeth Elliott:

"This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Here, and not somewhere else and doing something else, I may learn God's ways. In this job, not some other, God looks for faithfulness."

God doesn't want us to just persevere and get through the difficult seasons of motherhood. He wants us to have joy in knowing that we are doing what we are doing to bring glory to God. When the children grow older and we are grappling with decisions and situations about friends, activities, and education, always keeping in sight the thought that our mothering is to glorify God will help tremendously when it comes to making those choices and decisions. Does it glorify God to promote this outside interest or activity if it means our child is missing church? Does it glorify God when we permit friendships that are going to be a negative influence on our children?

As mothers of adult children, we still need to mother with the intention of glorifying God. Many mothers have trouble transitioning to a role which means they are not involved with their adult children's life and decisions on a daily basis. When we understand the Biblical teaching that our adult married children are to "leave and cleave", then letting them do just that glorifies God. Upholding them in prayer, and finding ways to encourage and support them as they raise their families brings glory to God.

Intentional mothering. It means realizing that God gave us our children as a gift to be given back to Him. It means living out our role as a mother in a way that will ultimately bring God the glory.

Thoughtfully,
Kathi

What are you bringing to the potluck?

That was a popular question last week, as this past Sunday we had a potluck dinner at church after our morning service. After much debate, I decided on Beef and BeanTaco Casserole, 7-Layer Salad, and Zucchini-Spice Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting. I dedicated part of my Saturday to cooking and promised I would post the recipes and pictures on this week's blog. There wasn't a morsel left of any of them!

Part of my reason for making the Beef and Bean Taco Casserole was selfish: it is gluten-free, so by making it I was ensuring that there would be at least one main dish there that I could eat! The other reason is - it's easy and SO yummy! I make it often. The recipe is originally from Food.com.

Beef and Bean Taco Casserole

2 cups broken tortilla chips
1 lb. ground beef
chopped green onions (amount to taste)
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 15 oz. can refried beans
1 16 oz. jar salsa
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped green pepper, optional
1/2 cup sliced black olives, optional
for topping - shredded lettuce, sour cream and additional tomatoes and tortilla chips

Heat oven to 350. Place broken chips in bottom of sprayed oblong baking dish. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and onion, drain. Return to pan and stir in refried beans, taco seasoning, and salsa. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Remove and pour over the tortilla chips. Sprinkle with chopped tomatoes, cheese, and bell pepper and olives if using. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly. When serving, top with lettuce, additional tomatoes, sour cream and additional chips.

The 7-layer salad is an old recipe which is usually brought to a potluck by someone! This time that someone was just me. You can vary the ingredients for this according to what your family likes and what you have on hand. It is pretty as well as tasty.

7-Layer Salad

1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped

chopped green pepper

sliced carrots

chopped broccoli or cauliflower

10 oz. package frozen peas, thawed

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

several slices of crisp cooked bacon

dressing -  1 1/4 cups mayonnaise, 2 T sugar, 2 tsp. vinegar

Place lettuce in the bottom of a large clear glass bowl, and layer ingredients in order given, pressing down lightly between layers. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and spread over the top. Chill well.

I decided on the cupcakes because I had zucchini on hand, and cupcakes seemed like a good way to go. This recipe was recommended by my sister and is originally from Taste of Home. It was a good thing I kept a few out for my husband or he wouldn't have gotten any!

Zucchini-Spice Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting

3 eggs

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tsp almond extract (I used vanilla because I was out of almond!)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 1/2 cups shredded peeled zucchini

In mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, oil, orange juice, and extract. Combine dry ingredients and add to the egg mixture. Mix well. Fold in zucchini and mix well. Fill paper-lined cupcake pans 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes or until test done. Cool on wire rack before frosting.

Caramel Frosting

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 stick margarine or butter

1/4 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups confectioners sugar

Combine brown sugar, butter, and milk in saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove and stir in vanilla. Cool to lukewarm. Gradually beat in confectioners sugar until frosting is spreading consistency. If it is too runny, place in refrigerator for a few minutes. Frost cupcakes. Makes 1 1/2 to 2 dozen.

As a bonus recipe, I am going to share my recipe for Lemonade Pie. I have had this recipe for a long time and had forgotten about it. I found it when looking for another recipe, and it is such an easy and refreshing dessert for summer!

Lemonade Pie

1 graham cracker crust

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 small can (or half a large can) of frozen lemonade

1 tub Cool Whip

Let lemonade soften, but not thaw completely. Mix with condensed milk. Fold in cool whip. pour into crust, and freeze for several hours. That's it!

I hope you will be inspired to try one or more of these! Happy cooking! Speaking of being inspired, look for a post in the next couple days about mothering.

Kathi

Pulling the Tough Weeds

This week marks one year since I launched this blog! In beginning this new endeavor last July, I felt that I was following the leading of the Lord to share the things that He is teaching me and attempt to be a help and encouragement to those who might read it. In this first year much has happened and my posts have covered a wide variety of events and topics. I truly enjoy writing it and giving you a small glimpse into my heart and life, and I hope it has been a blessing to you in some small way.

For those who might be wondering, my patient is progressing, although it seems to be in baby steps to us - certainly much more slowly than he would like. He is now walking with a cane and continues with physical therapy sessions three times a week, twice-weekly blood draws and doctor checks, and of course the dreaded CPM machine. The machine does seem to be helping, although he has yet to put in 8 hours a day on it. Most days it is more like 3 hours, especially now that he is attempting to spend a few hours each day in his office at the church.

My caregiving responsibilities are slowly lessening, although my life is still far from my normal routine. Mostly that is because as long as my husband remains unable to drive, my days revolve around driving him to and from church, PT, and the blood draw and doctor appointments. I have found that with all that is happening lately, the Lord seems to be giving me an abundant supply of lessons to blog about. I sit down at the computer and thoughts are swirling around my brain like a snowstorm. Today I want to write about an unlikely topic: weeds.

One thing husband has always especially enjoyed is yard work and lawn care. He loves to mow, trim, fertilize, plant flowers, and just in general keep our yard and landscaping looking nice. I had to take over the lawn mowing for a few weeks prior to his surgery, and let's just say that I am not nearly as good at it as he is! Our son and now one of the young men from our church took over that responsibility, for which I am very grateful. My job is one of pulling weeds. I try to go around the flower beds and landscaping a couple times a week and just keep up with the weeds. The other night while my husband was outside walking in the driveway with his cane, we noticed that there were some HUGE weeds around our mailbox. I tried my best to pull them, but there was no way. They were a lot stronger than I was. This morning a kind man and his son from church came by to offer their assistance with our yard work, and they went to work pulling up those weeds. When they did, it was evident why I had such difficulty with them: the roots were deep and they were huge!

As I thought about those big, tough weeds and how their deep strong roots had given them such stability, I couldn't help but think about the weeds we all have in our lives.

• Weeds are usually ugly. They don't produce pretty flowers or anything of beauty.
• Weeds crowd out the good things. If you don't keep up with them on a regular basis, they will very quickly take over the flower beds.
• Weeds require work to get rid of them.
• Weeds are given stability by their roots. If you want to permanently remove the weeds, you have to remove the roots. Otherwise, they will come back. Sooner rather than later. 

The Bible doesn't have a lot to say about weeds, other than the familiar parable about the sower and the seed. One of the types of ground that is described is the thorny - full of weeds which choked out the good seed as it had been sown and was attempting to grow. If we don't keep up with pulling out the weeds of sin and influence of the world in our lives, the seed of the Word of God and the good He wants to accomplish from it will be choked out by the abundance of weeds that we haven't taken care of.

The Bible does, however, talk a lot about roots. There are both good roots (Jeremiah 17:7-8), which when rooted in Christ without the involvement of sin give us spiritual nourishment and health, and bad roots which come from sin and need to be removed. They are what will eventually produce weeds in our lives. One of those bad roots is the root of bitterness in Hebrews 12:15: "Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." Bitterness is a weed that begins as a root and unless it is dealt with will grow into something which not only troubles us, but will spread to others. And did you notice that the verse begins by the admonishment to be "looking diligently'? You have to be on guard for those seeds of sin and bitterness which may have already taken root in your life.

What roots and weeds do you have in your life today? Do you need to spend some time with God and do some weed-pulling? If you don't, they will eventually take over your life!

Till next time,
Kathi