Thought for Today

"He delivered me because He delights in me"

 Psalms 18:19

Life

Life throws curve balls at times that are impossible to catch.  It has left me feeling like I have been punched in the stomach. 
God opened my eyes to a Bible verse that I have hidden in my heart to combat this feeling.

"You are my Rock and my fortress; Therefore for Your names sake, lead me and guide me." Psalms 31:3

Vegan Scalloped Potatoes

  Here is a recipe that turned out good! The recipe called for too much pepper.   I cut down the quantity here. We use very little black pepper.  I have wanted to replace with ground papaya seeds, but never have them on hand...

Vegan Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup vegan margarine, melted
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 6 tbsp flour
• 6 medium potatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups soy milk
• paprika
• parsley sprigs for garnish

Preparation:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. With a little of the vegan margarine, lightly grease a 9 inch square baking pan. Stir the salt and pepper into the flour.
Place 1/3 of the sliced potatoes along the bottom of the pan, followed by 1/3 of the onion, 1/3 of the remaining margarine, and half the flour.
Repeat this layer with 1/3 of the potatoes, 1/3 of the onions, 1/3 of the margarine and the remaining flour. Top this with the rest of the potatoes, onions and margarine.
Pour the soy milk slowly into the pan until it almost covers the top layer. Sprinkle with paprika.
Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the potatoes are soft and the milk is thick. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Just...

working...

...always something to do when you get to stay home unexpectedly.

Lately Pleasures

The Joy of Prayer

Summery of a booklet prepared by Women of Spirit:

1. Kneel before God in a secluded place in your home away from distractions. It is an inspiration and witness to the universe.

2.Pray when you are at your peak, alert and consistent. Make it an act of worship, in a private spot.

3.Begin with a praise song to focus your heart and mind on God and His blessing. Raise your arms with palms towards heaven. This can be dynamic.

A new act of worship done with sincerity and respect can bring you to a new, eciting level of communication with your loving God.

4.Pray aloud. It focuses prayer. "Confess with mouth"

Some say that audible prayers gives Satan access to intimate thoughts, BUT!.. "Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world!"

It drives Satan crazy when he sees the suffering people of God and they respond in visible and audible acts of worship. How we show our thankfulness and love than to kneel and honor Him who died as an act of love for us.

Salamander ?

 

As I was weeding out some very tall grass, I came across something that I did not expect to see.  I am pretty sure these are salamander eggs, as this long critter tried to find shelter.  He/She did not like my intrusion...

Not the greatest picture, but all the white spit could be salamander eggs.  That is my opinion...I could be wrong.  Wouldn't ya know it there is a foggy spot on the camera too...

Unscheduled Days

It was a beautiful day...one that I thought would be a regular, scheduled pattern of a day...until...my daughter logged into her on line school page and it said she was not enrolled.  Huh???  Three weeks into classes.  She has been doing her work faithfully.  Her bill had been paid.  Her grades were good.  What was going on?! 

A phone call to the administration was made.  The deadline for payments had passed, and it appeared that she had not paid in full.  Hmmm...This was not sounding good.  We hung up and drove over to the school.  We were able to talk with the right people, and discovered a lack of communication. When her  GED scores had been turned in, that changed her status.  She did owe more money, but we had not been informed. We had to get administrator signature, and his approval to re-instate her back into her classes.  Fortunately they waived the reinstatement fee, as it was not our fault.  Thankfully we had the $$ to pay the extra amount owed. Relief...problem solved.

The next day, J tried to log into a power point his teacher had sent out, but it wouldn't open. He tried everything he knew. Off to another campus to get it checked out by the  technician he had been corresponding with. Maybe problem solved...at least temporarily.

Now I know why I stay home!

God Speaks

We had a picnic that included a fire pit cooking our potatoes, corn and onions.  My husbands job is to tend the fire.  He took his watch off to protect it...but who knows where he put it?  Couldn't find it...but he needs one for work!  When I saw a watch at Target that would be appropriate, he told me to get it. But I heard a still small voice that said, "Wait".  We had looked everywhere...even driving to the location of our picnic as we knew no one else would have been in that remote location... without success.  Today I got my camera out of its bag and there was a watch staring up at me from the bottom of the camera bag.  THE watch.  He had put it there without telling anyone, and I hadn't noticed it when I put the camera in the bag...but God knew where it was, and gave me the privilege of finding it.

Oh Beans!

This past spring I threw some dried, over-ripe beans onto the dirt by the front door. During the summer months, this plant came up!

And now...we are getting one bean at a time off the plant. 

Not enough to even make one serving!  It almost looks like a snake! Ewww!

Good Attitude

One day J was mowing the grass.  He came running into the house whimpering oww...oww...oww.  He had just been bitten twice by wasps.  We tended to the stings immediately, but the area  still swelled up.  He was supposed to play the piano for song service in church, but couldn't.  Then came the party for his sisters. He was not able to participate much because of the pain associated with the swelling, but he did what he could. Later he said that he had fun even though he couldn't participate in all that he wanted to.

He is growing up,

learning life lessons, 

making the best of a not so perfect situation.

Celebrate!

R was baptized by the only pastor that she can remember. She also has worked for him for over a year as his church secretary.

We invited friends  to our home to celebrate.  All total...around 30+

One of the ice cream cakes  The other one said Happy Birthday N

Her last year of teenville. 'sharing' ice cream cake frosting

 Playing ping pong

Playing volleyball in the dark...a few lights strung up here and there.

It was one of those days that fills up your heart.

We also invited our Pastor and his family for a light supper and to listen to favorite audio stories on CD one Friday evening..a favorite activity that we have done a few times with them over the years.  They will be moving soon  and we won't get to do it with them anymore:(