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