Monday, July 16, 2012

Joy in God's Creations

I located a wonderful new blog site.  http://heathertimagery.com/blog Heather post beautiful pictures and scriptures that glorify God. She is a photographer who makes day to day events like fishing and ballgames show natural appeal. Pictures taken at her friend's wedding had creativity I have never before seen in wedding photography. I have been inspired by Heather's fun creative way of applying scripture to God's creations and have begun to look up scripture to accompany pictures I take.  Visit Heather at her blog and enjoy  "Scripture and a Snapshot".
V1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.Psalm19: v1 NAS


Friday, July 13, 2012

Strength To The Weary


I am delighted to finally find a site that writes about the role of being the caregiver for others. Caregiving.com has expanded my opportunities to share not only my stories, but to respond to those from all walks of life who have found a venue for expression of cares and concerns of caregiving. Fears, fatigue, physical and emotional stress and the unknowns that are yet to be faced are things that caregivers feel safe in expressing. This week on their home page, I requested membership in a group called Christian Caregiving  and felt blessed to be welcomed into this group.  I make it through each day by the grace of God.


v.28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. 
v.29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
v.30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
v.31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint. Isaiah 41: 28-31 NIV Life Application Study Bible


Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Fun Shared in the Kitchen


My 15 year old granddaughter and I decided to make a special burger with  ground venison. She cooks with either me or my husband at least once a week and always wants to prepare something different that she can add to her recipe file. We began adding ingredients and the burgers turned out moist and flavorful. Here's the recipe for the masterpiece burger that would probably be just as good if made with ground lean chuck.

Hunter's Choice Venison Burgers

2-2 1/2 pounds ground venison
2 eggs
1 package onion soup mix
1- 6 oz bag soft bacon bit pieces
3/4 cup Fat Free Half & Half
1 slice toasted wheat bread
Salt & Pepper
Thaw the ground venison. Place in medium mixing bowl. Add eggs, onion soup mix and bacon bit pieces. Scrap the crisp bread crumbs from the toast into the bowl. Pour the fat free half and half over the remainder of the slice of toast. Let soak until even the edges are soft. Mash the bread and add bread and milk to the meat mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Thoroughly mix and shape into burgers, thin or thick as you like. We used the George Foreman grill to get both sides of the burger a nice brown crisp while retaining moisture. The meat is so lean that less than 1/2 teaspoon fat  drained off the grill. 
I would love to hear from you if you have a great venison recipe.


Sunday, July 8, 2012

Our God is an Awesome God


v6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.  v 7And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. v9And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. Genesis 6-8 KJV

The entire mission team walked through a village in Nicaragua to distribute bags of sugar, oil, meal and flour. Glancing off through the dense lush green on the side of the trail, we were awestruck with the glory of God as we saw this volcano in the distance.

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Sunday, July 1, 2012

Family Love- Fruitful Efforts


It was humorous to watch the antics of my daddy as he jumped up, as quickly and unsteadily as most 90 year olds, from the dining room table to grab a string hanging through the window.  He began jerking the string and asking mamma if she saw anything flying out of their fig tree. I couldn’t help but ask what they were doing. Daddy said he was determined to scare the redbirds away from his figs. He had tied a piece of an old wind chime to the end of the string in the fig tree. When he pulled the string the chimes rang in the tree.  I moved to the window and noticed that he had tied strips of black plastic to the string where it stretched across the yard to the fig tree. He said he had to put the plastic ties on the string so no one would run into it.  I think the birds only temporarily leave the fig tree long enough to fly over to the corn daddy has put out for the doves. When they are full of their vegetable, they fly back over for their fruit.  Only daddy could grow a twenty foot tall fig tree twenty five foot across filled with beautiful plump ripe figs and redbirds. I was blessed with sweet figs for supper.

V1 “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. V2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night. V3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yield its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Psalm 1:1-3 NIV Life Application Study Bible
Daddy called about 8:30 PM Saturday night to let me know he could not go to church Sunday morning. I asked if he was sick since he never missed church. He said he had to pick the figs. I told him to plan to go to church and I would pick the figs. At about 7 AM Sunday morning, I began picking figs and it wasn’t long before my husband came with his helpful hands and several buckets. We went up under the branches, stretched limbs down for each other to pick and after about an hour, we had four gallons of figs.  I knew to take them on home with me so mamma would not feel she had to start stemming them. We were both drenched with sweat from the high temperature. I quickly went into the kitchen and salted fresh tomatoes for Sonny and myself. That helped replenish and refresh us. I washed each fig, carefully sorting any that seemed to ripe or green then placing them single layer on towels to dry while we went to church. I called mamma to let her know we would be by at our usual time to pick up daddy. I told her about the beautiful figs and that I would prepare them after church for freezing. She asked if I thought I would have time to help her prepare the ripe tomatoes for freezing. Of course, I said, “Yes” without hesitation.  Church was a blessing and I thought of how blessed I am to have aged parents who are still so capable and desiring of taking advantage of the bounty God willing provides.
Preparing tomatoes had to meet with mamma’s expectation. She wanted to peel them all. I suggested that I boil water in which to submerge the tomatoes long enough until the skin began to pop. She insisted on helping even though she was struggling as usual to breath. I suggested that she and daddy sit at the table where I would plunge the boiled tomatoes in ice water and she could wear her oxygen while peeling off the skin. She agreed and we began the assembly line. Actually, I think everyone was enjoying themselves as we steadily worked through the ripe red harvest of three varieties of tomatoes. After about an hour, I squeezed the large bowl of tomatoes, removing any tough centers or green remnants. The bowl was soon full of enough prepared tomatoes to fill six freezer bags with 2 ½ cups each.  Mamma and daddy smiled as they looked at the tomatoes placed into the freezer.
There are many days when I feel incapable of pleasing my parents when I must run to the arms of my Lord Jesus for comfort and reassurance.  Today I feel that I have done my very best to show my love to them and I feel good about the results.
v. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.” Galatians 6: 4-5 NIV Life Application Study Bible