Top 9 for '09

Here's a list of favorite things for 2009:

1. Living by radical faith

2. Tucker...POTTY TRAINED!

3. Watching Mission Gunter thrive

4. Mom getting married

5. My niece's arrival on Christmas Day

6. Chris Tomlin concert with Savannah

7. Strengthened marriage

8. New Church

9. Faithful friends...old and new.

What were a few of your favorite things in 2009? We spend so much time on New Years Eve trying to put the past behind us. Is there anything good that you would like to remember?

The Bread Box

It was bread making day at our house today. I was hoping for better results than last week's fiasco when I accidently used shortening that had soured. Talk about looked beautiful, tasted disgusting....I'm tellin' you...totally gross.

Today's venture was much more successful as I used a food-proof Banana Nut Bread recipe that I've used forever (insert angels singing here). Of course, it's from The Taste of Georgia cookbook, which as the picture testifies....has seen better days perhaps!

The bread box in the background is a piece that my dad made around 30 years ago. My mom just passed it down to me while I was home this last time. I love it, and it fits nicely into my farmhouse country decor too.

As far as the bread is concerned. It just needs a good slathering of butter or cream cheese and it'll be fit for a king....or queen...I can't wait!

The Cutest Cowboy

Make a Smilebox postcard

This post is for the grandparents...Poppy and Jo and Pops and JoJo.

All others...feel free to peak...just know...it's geared towards those who think my kids are adorable!

Waiting

If you are in the midst of doing Beth Moore's Esther Bible Study you know that lesson 5 deals with the four letter word- WAIT.

In my adult life I feel like I've spent a lot of time waiting for things to happen...here are a few:

1. to finish college
2. to get pregnant (took almost 10 years)
3. to wait for our daughter to come home for NICU (3 months)
4. to buy our first home
5. to finish remodeling our first home so we could move in
6. to get word about new jobs
7. to move from the RV to our new to us house

...and so much more.

You can make your own list- maybe like me, you feel you're playing the waiting game too. It's a test of patience...and I'm not saying I pass it.

Tonight as Beth Moore spoke she said something like this:

Don't spend your life waiting on events. Spend your life waiting on GOD! He's the only One worth waiting on.

That'll preach! Waiting on events always has that beautiful let down feeling after it's all done. Think about it...when we are pregnant...we don't say things like, "I can't wait to change 12 diapers a day". "I can't wait to be up all night with a fussy baby". All we think about is this picture of a woman in a pretty rocker and white gown rocking a baby and singing a lullaby. But, reality, or the beautiful letdown comes when we realize that woman doesn't exsist. The norm in life is a ragged mommy with spitup on her sweat shirt (which hasn't been changed in 3 days) rocking in the recliner and falling asleep way before the fussy baby does! It's not that it's a horrible life....it's just a phase of life.

When you fix your eyes on Jesus, the beautiful letdown will never come, because you'll be waiting on Him for everything. As He answers one prayer, or hears one concern, you move onto the next- and life continuously revolves around waiting on Him....and HE will give you strength as the eagles. When we wait for events, we lose sleep, we worry, we anticipate, we stress...but in waiting for the LORD we receive strength for the waiting, endurance for the journey and hope for the favor of God to shine on us.

As I am in a state of waiting right now, these words encouraged me. Maybe they will encourage you too.

Fall Recipe Exchange #7

We are in the midst of our Fall Recipe Exchange. If you are interested in participating here are the details: Fall Recipe Exchange .

Cheesecake Delight

Crust:

1 dry butter bake mix
1 stick of butter melted
2 eggs beaten

Combine ingredients and press in a 9x13 pan

Filling:

3 eggs beaten
1 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1 pound of powdered sugar

Beat together and pour on top of crust. Back at 325-350 for 40 minutes.

*You can add chocolate chips to the crust....and it is delicious!

Thanks to Helen Starrett for sharing this recipe with me!

Rainbow Day

We are house-sitting this week for some new friends who are a host family for a foreign exchange student from Korea. Sonny is a delightful 15 year old young man, well mannered, kind, plays well with others. We are enjoying him tremdendously.

It's homecoming week at the high school and so it's also spirit week. You remember...wacky hair and sock days, backwards day...Well, seems the schools not too good about speaking Sonny's language. He didn't really understand the madness behind Homecoming Week at a State Championship Football Team highschool. We didn't know anything about it so we didn't know he was confused...and missing out! So, Tuesday afternoon, after two days of spirit week at school, he tells us that Wednesday is "Rainbow Day" at school. Hmmmm...rainbow day. Dress in colorful attire???...that must be it. So we begin thinking and planning something for him to wear...it's a little weird...haven't really heard of this spirit week activity before...but, what do we know...we are new to town.

About 10pm, Bruce's sister, AKA Home and Family Science Teacher at the highschool calls and Bruce happens to ask about "Rainbow" day. She laughs...seems rainbow day is really tie dye day!!! Poor Sonny! He didn't know. We were laughing! So after calling around to see if anyone has any tie dye apparel....or will even admit it if they do, Bruce, Sonny and Tucker head to walmart to get the supplies for what would become the most awesome tiedyed shirt SSHS has ever seen! FUN Times!

After a day recovering from this extremely late night/early morning activity, I was thinking about how this scenerio is so true when we as Christian talk to the world in our religious language. They have no clue what we are talking about most of the time when we say things like saved, redeemed, holy, sacrifice, sanctified, purified. Just like Sonny, it's not their fault. It's ours for not explaining it better.

Let me add that the joy on Sonny's face when we finally discovered what he was talking about was priceless....I wonder if that is the same look an unsaved person has when they finally understand what Christ has done for them.

How to Catch a Skunk

HOW TO CATCH A SKUNK

First: Find someone who owns a trap...or perhaps you have one in your garage. Set the trap in the area where you have seen the skunk. Use tuna fish or bread for the bait. We used bread.

We set the trap at around 9:30pm last night. Here's what we found at 7am today:

Find someone who is willing to dress up in a tarp. Evidently the key to this process is not allowing the skunk to see you. Mr. Ray Calhoun was willing to be the skunkman and risk his life for us....what a hero.

Another key ingredient is for the tarp person to be very slow in sneaking up on the skunk. They don't like abrupt motions.

After you get close enough to drop the tarp over the crate, tuck the tarp around the trap like a present so that the skunk cannot see out. Beware: The skunk is not happy at this point.

Convince a couple of unsuspecting guys to help load the critter into a truck, then wave goodbye to the skunk....You're skunkman will take care of the rest. Don't ask questions.

And that's how you catch a skunk.

CBI Dropout

It's been 16 years since I sat in a classroom...with teachers who give tests.

A few weeks ago Bruce signed us up to take Old Testament Survey on Tuesday Nights at Central Bible Institute. We are now on week two and the familiar tune..."Beauty School Dropout" has been changed in my head to "CBI Dropout".

Oh. My. Goodness. It's a great course. It's interesting. It's amazing...largely because we spent a whole hour talking about Darwinism and evolution and Hitler, Marx and Freud. Amazing stuff I'm telling ya. But it is an hour of complete, hardcore concentration....and frankly I don't know if I can do it! I know you are probably thinking "sure you can, Bruce is the one with ADD". Thank you, but unfortunatly by 7pm most of my brain cells are spent.

However, I am not giving up yet. I figure if I audit the class, I can sit there a whole lot less stressed out because I don't have to pass a test. Poor Bruce...he won't be able to cheat off of me :)