Counting my Blessings

The above picture is an oldie! This is my Mom, brother, and myself when I was a child. My mother was a single mom-back in the days when that wasn't heard of too much. She raised my brother and I without any support-financial or otherwise- from my "father". (Who by the way abandoned us, and I never met him, although he lived in a neighboring town-& he died last year)

And so the blessings I'm counting today are that: 1) God watched over my mom, and us kids and provided for us. 2) My mom became a Christian, and took us to church. 3) My mom loved us enough to sacrifice and keep us together. 4) My one and only brother-pictured here- survived a heart attack that he had a couple of years ago, and is still with us! (he celebrated his birthday yesterday in fact!) 5) my children DO have a wonderful godly father that loves and supports them.

Psalm 75:1Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.

Today was Saturday, and I spent a good part of my day in the kitchen.
I made two loaves of bread, one to eat now, and one to freeze for a time when I won't have time to bake!
I also tried to get ahead by prepackagin my bread mixes. Here's how, and why, I do it....
I buy my flour (both whole wheat and white) in 25 lb bags from an Amish store in Lancaster, PA called Pleasant Valley. (This is the link to the actual flour I buy: http://www.naturalwaymills.com/products.htm )
So, I take quart sized freezer bags, and fill them with the dry ingredients for my bread recipe. Then, when I am ready to make bread (especially on a busy day!) I only have to put the liquid in the breadmaker, and then the dry ingredients, then add the yeast. Very simple!
I also fill gallon sized ziplock bags with pancake/waffle mix, cornbread mix, and homemade bisquick. It really saves money to do it this way, is healthier, and also saves time.

I also made sloppy joes for lunch, and pizza dough for dinner. The pizza I made was the dough, spread with bbq sauce, then I had cooked and cut up boneless skinless chicken breast and put that on, and then topped w/mozzerella cheese.

It took some time to fill up my bread mix bags today, but it will save me big-time when I have those busy days coming up around the corner!

Fellowship

Yesterday we were graciously invited to the home of our dear friends for a Valentine get-together. My daughter (in red) and her friends had a glorious sunny day to hike the 45 acre property...they played games...chatted...and laughed, oh, and of course-ATE!
We really enjoyed the time of fellowship--mom's and girls alike!



But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another... 1 John 1:7

This Little Piggy....never made it to market

Well folks, this is NOT a post for the faint of heart--nor the weak of stomach! :0)

Somehow, and mind you...I haven't figured out exactly how...but somehow, I wound up having to assist in the latest dissection that my dear daughter and her dear friend had to do for their advanced biology/anatomy class...

Thankfully, most of my job was computer help (for dissection directions), and pictures. Although I did have to do some organ identification. :0( Oh, and seeking out a candle to burn for odor control. LOL

And yes, you guessed it, the subject was a fetal pig. YUCK!

I have refrained from showing the more graphic pictures (and trust me--I have them) but the two girls you see pictured here dissecting are two tough cookies! They have even gained the respect of their younger brothers! :0) Need I say more??

This was my daughter's final dissection for her homeschool career, and I daresay she is saying "Wee wee wee all the way home"!

Today's Verse

Wednesday February 6, 2008
Today's Verse: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
Isaiah 40:8 / KJV

I couldn't help but read today's verse and take the opportunity to encourage you to live for God. In this world today, there are many things designed to pull us away from Him.

From doing things that are evil, to just plain ol' serving ourselves.

The things of this world are deceitful and will pass away! But the Word of our God shall stand forever.

Although I am without artistic talent, I am pleased to say that my daughter (17) is not! :0)

She has been given a wonderful gift by God to do art!

Above is a colored pencil drawing she did as a gift for me. :0)

Below is a chalk art drawing that she did. (This was a practice) When you switch on the blacklight, you can see another image...

Below is one from another picture she did. It isn't all that clear though.

This is a way she can use her art for the Lord. There is a message given during the drawing. Actually, about 1 year ago, she went away for two weeks to learn how to do this!

I posted another shot below that I hope is clearer. This is a picture of the choices we each have to make--either Heaven, or Hell. We all have to make it. We will wind up being in one of those two places.
If you aren't sure what exactly I mean by this... Please take the time to go to the bottom of this page, and click on the Way of the Master site to find out that you can know for sure where you're going when you die.

I am thankful to God for my daughter's talent. I pray that she always uses it for Him.
I thought this post went along well with the verse on my blog for the day:
Today's Verse: I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
3rd John 1:4 / KJV

Rainy Day

I really enjoyed today-it was a rainy day. One of those days where it was much too rainy to go out unless you reaaaalllllyyy needed to.

I am one of those people who enjoy all the seasons. I love winter because of the days you're house-bound because of snow or other bad weather. But this year we haven't had any!

So, I knew I was going to have to settle for rain. I've been waiting for one of those rainy days-I had a list of things to "catch up" on when a rainy day came. It was nice to get them accomplished.

But, don't worry--I'm still hoping for Snow! (It must be 4" or more to qualify!)