Be Still and Know...Then and Now

First I have to say that with the Thanksgiving break being all but over I am finally actually feeling like Thanksgiving. I just sat down to a wonderful plate of leftovers and am feeling very satisfied. I’m coming to the party a bit late today but at last we have all our files back in place on the new desktop and I have my new birthday laptop up and running. I am comfortable blogging with my feet up in my favorite recliner watching Americas Funnies Videos. Thank You Jesus and my thoughtful husband that I am no longer chained to the desktop, nor do I have to fight the DD for computer time either……for that I am very thankful indeed! So this edition will be a culmination of the last two weeks. I did not get each day but I did get a few good shots….so let's get at it! Week 47 Monday, November 14 Things have changed around the Be Still and Know household as I am now watching Muffinhead four days a week. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays. I will keep this schedule up for the remin

The DD had a sleepover last night so even the dog is sacked out upstairs, the hubs is off to his Men’s Small Group that meets every Saturday and I am sitting on the sofa listening to the oven pre-heat. My insulated thermal coffee carafe mysteriously has water sloshing around in it and for the life of me I can not figure out how it got in here, life is full of the unexplainable. My day is full of my favorite things, I am having and after thanksgiving Thanksgiving, only abbreviated. Since I did no cooking beyond tossing a pie in the oven to take to my SIL for the actual day ofTthanksgiving I am suffering the aftereffect of Thanksgiving withdraw….no leftovers! We feasted on imaginary turkey peanut butter and jelly sandwiches yesterday. I have an abbreviated menu planned for this evening. Pork Roast with Apricot Glaze Sausage & Cranberry Dressing Honey & Orange Glazed Sweet Potatoes Homemade Applesauce Spiced Cranberry Sauce Steamed Asparagus I will get the pork roast on

Having just retuned from my normal trip to the Wal-Mart for the necessary personal care products such as toothpaste and toothbrushes and etc, I returned home feeling a bit overwhelmed but also a bit encouraged. Out of the 24 products on my receipt there were only four or five that were manufactured out side of the United States. There were a few product that failed to state where they were manufactured so I will have to do some additional research to follow up to see how I did. My deodorant did not state where it was manufactured nor did the toothpaste I purchased. Most to the shampoos and conditions were all made in the USA as well as the other hair care products. I was shocked at how many products I purchased that did not list any where on the label where they were manufactured. In a few click on the www I was able to determine that the Sensodyne toothpaste was probably made into Malaysia, I tried to email the company that manufactured the deodorant but was unsuccessful due to th

We are in the middle of some major computer upgrades. I am currently in the process of restoring all my files and the time table is looking like it will be a few days before all my necessary files have been re-established. The old desk top was on it's last legs and the hubs acquired a newer (slightly used) one from the abandoned pile that accumulated at his office. We now have a much faster model however it will take several day to get everything loaded back on and all my files back in place. The joys of a new computer. I am thankful for the increased speed additional space om the HD. So I will see all of y'all in a few days once I have all my digital ducks in a row........ Blessings R

For some time now I have been avoiding something. It was not a huge life altering decision, it was more a nagging you need to do this only you just to chicken to do it kind of thing. It is so odd how God works out certain things and God being God and all His timing is always perfect. There are times when you have to wonder why certain things work out and other things do not. Mine is not to question why, mine is only to try to be obedient to what God is leading me to, or more to the point leading me away from. I finally stepped away from an area of ministry today that I should have stepped away from several years ago. My failure to heed my inner prompting in favor of what other people wanted me to do spoke louder than my desire to be obedient to what God had been telling me to do. Today I finally had the courage to actually say the words out loud, as well as have those words be well received. Isn't that the rub. We hesitate to do what we know we need to do because of fear that we

Well almost….I got four out of seven days this week. I will make a disclaimer ahead of time. Due to the particularly unpleasant nature of certain female bodily function this weeks P365 post is decidedly hormonally driven. In an attempt to be completely real and transparent to all aspect of the peri-menopausal process I have decided to adapt a full discloser policy…….those with weak constitutions may want to jump straight to Thursday where my selections are of a more acceptable topic and not hormonally motivated! Monday, November 7 Just call me Gomer….SUPRISE, SUPRISE, SUPRISE……. I woke up Monday morning feeling awful. Hence the photograph of the Homemade Whole Wheat toast with a drizzle of honey. It hit the spot as well as putting something in my tummy so I could take the necessary meds to help with the awful I woke up with. In addition to feeling awful I was also really really, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY ticked. The reason for my awfulness had not reared it’s ugly head since July

I could be shredding the ten pounds of junk mail that I said I would not let pile up AGAIN! I could be sorting laundry. I could be getting a head start on my bible study for next week. I could be working on some more handmade Christmas gift’s. What am I doing? Drinking coffee, wasting time on the internet, dreaming about how to better organize my kitchen pots and pans, thinking about what I will cook for thanksgiving, begin irritated that I am out of cinnamon and have to go back to the store. I was there yesterday and forgot to pick some up. I need cinnamon for the new sweet potato pie recipe I want to try. I am not a huge fan of pumpkin pie so I thought I would give sweet potato pie a try. They had a five pound bag on sale at the grocery store so I bought a bag. In a perfect world what would you do all day? I think I would just bake bread, make homemade jams and jellies, bake pies and cookies and formulate new recipes. Baking and cooking just makes me happy! So in a perfect

I am thinking that all I want to do is make a hasty retreat to Walnut Grove and I don’t want to come home until January. I know life was hard during the pioneer days, however my longing for things to just be simple is palpable. I think that is what attracts me about baking bread. It’s a simple process, uncomplicated by the passing of time. Caroline Ingalls made her bread about the same way I make my bread today. I like that! Filling out health insurance applications and having someone else tell me what they will and will not pay for when I am paying for the premiums sends my blood pressure over the edge. Then that in turn renders me ineligible for health insurance. Not that I have high blood pressure but the process of getting health insurance is enough to send it though the roof. Caroline Ingalls didn’t worry about taking Half Pint to see Doc Baker or how she was going to pay for it! She traded him a basket of eggs or a quart of jam or invited him to Sunday supper. The fact that my h

Again I am still searching for my P365 mojo, Hopefully with the fall weather and the holiday season approaching I may get further inspired to attempt to be a bit more photo-active through out my week! My new favorite saying….It Is What It Is! So here is my week…….such as it is. Monday, October 31 Why yes, she is Wonder Woman! Tuesday, November 1 I made good use of some of the apples we got in the mountains. They made for a really good pie!     Saturday, November 5 Homemade Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread, thick cut bacon and scrambled egg’s. We rarely get to have Saturday breakfast together. The hubs usually has his men’s small group on Saturday morning but this Saturday morning he found himself at home. It was good y’all, the breakfast and all being together on Saturday morning. I have to share with you all y’all my latest senior moment. I was in the midst of getting a batch of cinnamon bread as well as Honey Whole Wheat done. I have learned that it is just as easy to get tw

I read a post this morning that really got me to thinking. We all know that our economy is in a bad way. I’ve been watching the ongoing news stories on ABC about Made in America, and how almost all of the products we purchase are manufactured in China or in some other country. As I sit and type this I look around my house and know that almost all the items in it have been manufactured in a different part of the world. As consumers for decades we have been shopping arbitrarily without thought to the origins of the products we purchase. I will admit that the thought of perusing a complete boycott on all foreign manufacturing seems overwhelming. It would possibly render me and my whole family in the position of having to rid ourselves of every article of clothing and render us housebound were we to take the goal seriously. However as a consumer thinking of the small things I can accomplish within my realm of influence, well that is a bit different. What can I do to personally make a co

Over the last two weeks the focus of my bible study as been a very difficult topic. Innocent Blood. We are deep in the Old Testament, studying the wavering Israelites and how easily they were lead astray by the culture that surrounded them. It is very easy to gloss over the reality of how far the Israelites strayed from God’s commandments and from His protection. His directives are very clear in numerous places throughout the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 18:9 9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 2 Kings 17:15 15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, “Do not do as they do,” and they did the things the LORD had forbidden them to do. These are just two instances where God lays down His expec