Dun-ta-dun

I went to the restroom last night at about 2:00 in the morning only to remember that may nearly two year old took the last Dun-ta-dun (roll  of tp.  She puts it up to her mouth and says dun-ta-dun like she is making a big anouncement) upstairs with her!  Bummer!  I guess I can just look at as getting extra excercise.  Kids, Gotta love them!

Until next time,

Cucumber Soup

A couple of summers ago we had an over abundance of cucumbers, so I began to look up recipes for things to do with them. This was one of my husbands favorites!  It is a cold soup and is VERY refreshing. 

You will need:

2 cucumbers
1 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. parsley
2 tsp chives
½ tsp dill
1/4 tsp mint
1/4 tsp tarragon
( or 1 pinch dried tarragon)
1 ½ c. plain yogurt

Blend in blender, chill 1 hr. , Serve cold.

Until next time,

Joy...a Fruit of the Spirit

In my Sunday school class we have been studying the fruit of the Spirit.  (Galatians 5:22) Of course our first week we studied love; and let me tell you, I learned, and am still learning, a lot from that lesson.  Some day I will post my notes for that; but I have continued that study in my personal time and it is not yet finished:).  As you may know, the next fruit listed is joy; but for some reason I was intimidated by that word...so I skipped it and went straight to faith. (I skipped a few others also; but faith seemed the easiest to teach.) My motive for skipping joy was I didn't feel I was qualified to teach someone else about joy.  When I think of the word I think of a personality entirely different from my own.  I don't know many people who would look at me and say..."now that is a joyful person!".  I might be described as calm, or confident; but probably not joyful.  Upon further study I have found that maybe I can talk a little bit about joy.  The simple definition of the word - as we know it- is probably happy.  Images of a person who is always smiling and full of gleeful energy is probably what comes to mind; but Mr. Strong would dissagree.  Below are my notes from our study on JOY.

Joy...a Fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22

Song: I've got joy down in my heart...Jesus first, yourself last, and others in between.
Like words: rejoice, happy, joyful

Happiness depends on happenings; but joy is continual.  John 16:16-33 (v. 24)

Defined:  [OT] Rejoice, age or stage in life, delight, gladness, good, beauty, to be or make gleesome,  cheerfulness, welcom battle cry, clanger, blithesomeness or glee - most common meaning used 43 times.
[NT] Exultation, delight, cheerfulness, to glory in, to rejoice in, to boast, gratify, derive pleasure, to curm or hold in check, gratitude, benefit given, calm delight - the most common meaning of joy used 51 times.

Verses: Nehemiah 8:10; Ps.51:12, 126:5; Isaiah 35:10, 61:3; Zeph. 3:17; Luke 1:44; 15:7; John 16:24; Romans 15:13; Gal. 5:22; Phil. 4: 1; Heb. 12:2; James 1:2; 1 Pt. 4:13; 3 Jn. 4

Since last Sunday was mothers day, I also added this little study about the most joyful mother I could think of in the Bible - Elisabeth.  She is the only mother in the Bible that I can think of that was told that her child would bring her joy and others would rejoice at his birth.Luke 1:5-25, 39-45, 57-80.  (Key verse 14)
John's life - John 3:1-22, Matt. 11:2-19 (prison), Mk. 6:16-29 (killed)

Personal application:  I may not always be bouncing off the walls with apparent happiness, but I can always display calm delight.  I have the Lord as my Savior and he brings me joy - inner happiness and pleasure.  I can strive to train my children in a way that will bring me and others joy in the future.  I can ask the Lord for things in His name that my joy may be full...(I am thinking of one "thing" in particular!) Jn. 16:24

Until next time,

March-April Prayer Letter

Dear Pastor and praying friends,
These past few months have truly been an adventure for us. We praise the Lord that we have survived the big storms that came through this area recently. We experienced severe thunder storms, hail and rain; but no tornados touched down in our immediate area. There was a family not too far from us who lost their mother and seven year old son.

The people in our church have experienced many challenges as well as answers to prayer. The young family that we mentioned in our last prayer letter have a three year old son who was seriously ill for several weeks. He had to be medi-flighted to Children’s hospital in Little Rock with double pneumonia and a very low white blood cell count. He underwent many tests, including a test for leukemia; but we praise the Lord that he made it though and is now back to his old self, with no leukemia! Also, a young lady in our church recently passed out after visiting her child at school. It was discovered that she has severely damaged kidneys and the doctors say she will have to be on dialysis for the rest of her life. This is a faithful family in our church and they-

she, her husband, and two teenage children - will need a lot of prayer as they face this storm.

We praise the Lord that the van has been running for a whole month with no problems! We would like to ask you to continue to pray that our van runs well as it is a tremendous tool for us to reach our community. Just last week two young people were saved. One of whom has been coming for about three weeks. We went by his home this past Saturday to find that he and his family are moving. We also recently found that one of our members was seriously considering a big move; but changed her mind at the last minute. These situations helped us to realize that we may only have a short time to minister to those who attend our church. May the Lord help us to make the most of each service.

Recently we had two pastors come and visit and preach for us. One of them commented several times about how well behaved the children were and how well they sang. This was a tremendous blessing to us as well, as they do not always display such good behavior!

Family News: Our family is doing rather well. Soon our daughter will be two years old, which is very hard to believe; and my wife is due to deliver our second child on or around June 8th. Please pray with us for a safe delivery and a healthy baby. Thank you for your faithful prayers and support!

Until next time,

Easy Cheesecake Recipe

Last night was my dessert night and I wanted cheesecake; but we were out of eggs and vanilla; so I substituted and the result was GREAT!  So below is my easy cheesecake recipe:

4 packs of cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 TBS lemon juice
1 tsp pancake syrup (or vanilla; but I was out!)
1 can of cherries, pitted
8 oz of whip cream
Oreo crust (or crush your own)

Blend the first four ingredients well.  Put into the crust.  Cover with cherries then whip cream.  Sprinkle with oreos if you like. Cool 1 hour and there you have it!