Is your heart heavy? Be on the lookout; God will make something positive come out of your trials.
Remember that He is in the business of healing the brokenhearted, and He can use your pain to make you a blessing to someone else as well.
Affliction defeats us only if we allow it.
Don’t look back, move forward.
Don’t give up, look up. Look to Jesus.
1. Scrub it thoroughly with soap and hot water. Dry well.
2. Completely coat inside of skillet with a thin layer of cooking oil or shortening.
3. On the middle wrack, place coated skillet in oven. Bake for about an hour at 300-350 degrees. Allow skillet to cool in oven.
Tip: Keep a skillet for the sole purpose of making cornbread. Wipe out with a dry towel between uses. (Soap and water will cause the skillet to need to be re-seasoned.)
Now you are all ready to make some delicious cornbread!
Southern Cornbread
1 cup self-rising yellow cornmeal
1 slightly heaping tablespoon self-rising flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
1 egg
1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a mixing bowl, stir together cornmeal, flour and baking soda. Add 1 tablespoon oil, egg, and buttermilk to dry ingredients, using enough buttermilk to make it pancake batter consistency. Stir just until blended.
On stovetop, heat remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in cast iron skillet. Lightly sprinkle a little cornmeal in hot oil. Add cornbread batter, beating in air as you pour into skillet. Transfer to oven and bake 15 – 20 minutes, or until lightly golden. Turn out onto serving plate immediately.
Notes: If your skillet is newly seasoned, layer a coat of cooking spray before adding oil to pan. Bake bread as directed. The second time around, skillet will be even better seasoned and bread will turn out of pan with ease.
I was in the midst of party plans when I got a bit distracted with paper, scissors, and glue,
As I cut hearts and made a mess of my dining room table, sunshine poured through the windows spotlighting a pretty camellia blooming, gracing my view. (Is this the right time of year for them to bloom?)
Pink, oh, that reminds me! Must be time for a break!
Okay, now then, I must get down to business, and put the finishing touches on the Valentine party that we give for the homeschool group each year.
But wait, Hubby just walked in the door with ROSES and CHEESECAKE!! OH BOY!!!
Turns out, Pooh bear was smart after all. Honey has a lot of benefits!
Soothing a sore throat is one of them. Mix honey with lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and warm water. Gargle or sip, and it will help reduce inflammation and can also kill some types of bacteria. I have used a teaspoon or two of honey mixed with a little lemon juice as a substitute for cough syrup.
Did you know that honey is a good first aid treatment? Since it contains antibacterial properties, cuts and burns can benefit from it as it helps keep wounds free of infection and clean. It also reduces swelling and scarring.
So now that we all have a good excuse to indulge a little, here is an easy recipe (not that this will do anything towards reducing cholesterol! 
Honey BBQ Pulled Pork
1 Boston Butt Pork Roast
1 large bottle of prepared BBQ Sauce
(My favorites are Bull’s Eye and KC Masterpiece)
1 cup honey
1. Rinse roast. Place in slow-cooker and cook LOW for 8-10 hours, or until roast is fork tender.
2. While still hot, shred roast with a fork, removing fat and discarding juices. Place shredded pork in large baking dish.
3. Mix BBQ sauce and honey. Spread over pork. Bake 350 degrees, uncovered, until hot and bubbly.
(Preparing steps 1 and 2 the day ahead works well. I usually divide the shredded pork and freeze half of it for barbequing at a later date.)
Thanks you for popping in! I hope you have a very Happy Valentine’s Day!
What is your most valuable possession?
When I think of the things that are of significant value, material things come to mind – our home, our cars, various sentimental treasures. . . But there is something far more valuable than any of these things.
God’s Word is the most valuable possession that we have. Yet, oftentimes, we don’t think about what a treasure it is.
With all of the distractions in life, it is easy for us fall into taking the Bible for granted, without realizing it.
Make an investment today; an eternal one. True prosperity comes from
reading,
studying,
applying,
and sharing
the Word of God.
It is His “text message” to you.
“But the word of the Lord endureth for ever…"
1 Peter 1:25
I am working this week to get the house all spruced and spiffy,
so I planned a very simple dinner that I thought I would share:
Busy Day Pot Roast
Beef chuck roast
2 — 12 ounce jars of prepared beef gravy (I use Heinz Homestyle)
Rinse roast, place in crockpot and cover with gravy. Cook on LOW about 6 to 8 hours until tender. Cut against grain for extra tenderness. That’s it!
This roast works well as a main dish, makes yummy hot roast beef sandwiches, and is even better (to me) when served with sautéed onions.
I wasn’t planning to bake today,
but when I saw a pumpkin muffin recipe at An Artful Mom, I couldn’t resist. They were DELICIOUS! Thank you, Pam!
Now that I have refueled with yummy muffins and sweet tea, it’s time to get busy again. I know a certain little fellow that needs a bath…
Won’t he be thrilled?
Ah, nothing like making snowballs on a January day…
However, this January day calls for this kind, instead.
It sure has been unusual weather.
Besides making snowballs this week, my youngest daughter and I have been watching “My Fair Lady,” little bits at a time, as we get a chance. I have always admired Audrey Hepburn. She was so talented!
Monday, we had an opportunity to visit a home that we used to live in, which was an unexpected blessing! We had not seen the inside since we moved out in 1997. To our surprise, the day we saw it landed on the anniversary of when we moved there! We felt God’s hand in that! Recounted memories and adventures came to life for my 13 year old, since we had already moved out before she was born. The five of us spent several evenings watching old VHS home movies reminiscing of our beloved days in that house.
Wednesday afternoon I visited with a lovely 91 year old lady with a gorgeous melodious voice, and her artistically gifted daughter. Their picturesque southern home was built in the 1850’s. Charming! The ladies and the home!
I got a surprise in the mail yesterday—a book called "Personal Battle Planner” written by Charles Stanley, from a giveaway. How I came about it was interesting. Last Sunday evening, I was planning to go upstairs to get settled in, and felt like for some reason I needed to go to In Touch. So just in case God meant for me to, I did, even though I had already visited their website earlier in the day. I saw the giveaway and wondered… Oh how I love that the Lord is interested in every detail of our lives!
My husband and his dad have been cutting lumber on the portable sawmill today, getting ready to build a garage/workshop next to our house. Busy days ahead—the best kind!
That about covers our week in this neck of the woods. I hope all is well with you and thanks for dropping in!
“HOPE”—God was very specific with me, as I fretted.
“I know,” I thought. “I need to work on that.” Even though I understand that there is always hope with God, I struggle with applying it sometimes.
He whispered to my heart…
H is for hearing.
O is for obeying.
P is for praying.
E is for expecting.
Listening, obeying Him and His leading, ever prayerfully, and expectantly is just what the Great Physician prescribed. “Expecting? Hmmm…” It took a minute for the lights to turn on in my mind - and then it hit me - expecting that He will guide me, expecting that I can rely on Him and trust Him with anything, and everything! And you know what? You can too. Hope, my friend.
“Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts…” 2 Thess. 2:16-17
Hi Friend. I am looking forward to Dr. Charles Stanley’s new sermon series “In the School of Faith,” and I want to 
I pray that each of us will increase in our faith and more fully comprehend the love of Christ as we walk with Him this year.
Happy New Year!
As we celebrate the dawn of 2012, I thought it would be interesting to take a look back 100 years ago (and no, I wasn’t around then :-)).
Care to join me? Let’s begin this journey of 1912 with some top headlines of the day...
The year kicked off with New Mexico becoming the 47th state on Jan. 6.
Shortly following, the union also gained Arizona on February 14.
Extra, Extra, Read All About It!
After a four day journey, the “unsinkable” Titanic hit an iceberg on April 14, sinking in the North Atlantic's frigid waters. About 1500 lives were lost.
The ocean liner Carpathia rescued just over 700 survivors, on April 15.
In other major news of the year,
Taft and Roosevelt battled it out in the Republican primary. However, Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected as the 28th president of the United States in this three way race.
Famous people that were born in 1912 include:
Julia Child Art Linkletter
Perry Como Vivian Vance
Dale Evans Gene Kelly
Beloved Canadian novelist, Lucy M. Montgomery’s Chronicles of Avonlea was published in 1912. One of my favorites!
The Tale of Mr. Tod, by Beatrix Potter was first published in 1912. (Her complete works were a Christmas gift for my oldest daughter. She was delighted!)
Also, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ creation “Tarzan of the Apes” was published in “All-Story Magazine”. (His book was published in 1914.)
Cars of 1912:
Music:
This was the Ragtime dance era.
Fashions of the times:
Weren’t these dresses lovely—so feminine, so modest, and so pretty. Besides the obvious reasons of dressing modestly, it’s classy.
You would pay about 9 cents for a quart of milk.
A gallon of gas was 18-21 cents.
A house would cost around 2000-5000 dollars.
An average income would be just over 14 dollars/week.
People and Places of 1912:
Above is a crowd gathered for the World Series. 
A few ads of the times:
Vintage Magazine Covers of 1912—what artwork!
