Day By Day

This week, 

the song rolling around in my mind is 

"Day by Day."

I will be playing it as an offertory tomorrow.

It helps my nerves when I focus on the words

and this song has always meant a lot to me.

Day by day, and with each passing moment,

Strength I find to meet my trials here;

Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,

I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.

He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,

Gives unto each day what He deems best,

Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day the Lord Himself is near me,

With a special mercy for each hour;

All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,

He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.

The protection of His child and treasure

Is a charge that on Himself He laid;

“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”

This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in every tribulation,

So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,

That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,

Offered me within Thy holy Word.

Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,

E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,

One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,

Till with Christ the Lord I stand.

This week, the Lord has shown us His strength.

Last week, I mentioned a big decision.

The situation came up suddenly and seemed overwhelming.

By Sunday afternoon,

God had given us the answer

and His peace.

Not only did He give direction but He gave an understanding about other parts of our life.

"Casting all your cares upon Him ..."

For those of you who grabbed the non-specific prayer request last week ...

Thank you for praying ...

God heard and answered.

Keep trusting ... Day By Day

Simple Hack

We are blessed to receive free homemade soap,

I love the scents ... I love the natural product ...

but I don't like slime in the soap dish ...

It is not a problem anymore!

All it took was two large rubber bands (probably from some broccoli).

Just wrapped the rubber bands around the dish,

and set the soap on top.

Always have a dry soap bar!

16 on the 17th

Today we celebrate 16 years!

It seems like just yesteraday,

and yet so much has happened in between.

And we look forward to many more adventures ahead.

We tried to celebrate last Friday,

but I was just drained from the week.

We won't really celebrate today,

because we get to help with a teen get-together tonight.

But next Friday night,

maybe a quiet evening at home.

Just a simple supper ...

we are thinking mushroom soup and garlic toast.

And for the celebratory dessert ...

lemon-lavender cupcakes!

We have heard about this flavor culinary delights for so long,

it is time to give it a try ...

just hoping that they don't turn out tasting like SOAP!

Oh the Green

On this Thankful Thursday,

I am thankful for a Spring-like August.

It is as green as spring here in NC.

I have had to raise the mower,

and am mowing every 5 days!

I love mowing,

so this is a great treat

and the greenery all around is so much prettier than the typical August surroundings.

I am also thankful,

because the college students are coming back this weekend

and early next week.

It is fun to have their excitement back around us.

In Front of the Mirror

In the year of refocus,

I am spending time trying to put myself in others' situations.

I am trying to work more on grace and gracious living.

I am trying to give room for my own growth and for the growth of others.

I desire grace and forgiveness and want to give that to others as well.
Verses in the Bible on longsuffering jump off the page
and supplemental reading on acts of grace and open door living continue to drive home the point.

God continues to put reflections of myself before me in the form of others.
God is showing me that 

broken people hurt others.

I have hurt others in my own pain;

and I have been hurt by others 

and now see that much of it was because they were broken.
Grace demands the second chance.

Sometimes people can be helped,

sometimes they can't.

I have abandoned many relationships prematurely.

I was tired.

It was work.
The hurt caused seemed too great.

I didn't want to acknowledge any fault on my part.

It is humbling to admit brokenness and weakness.

Only in humility can broken people be helped.

God has also shown me that not every relationship can be saved.
There is a time to distance one's self.

If there is always an excuse,

if the fault is always in someone else,

the cycle of pain and brokenness will continue.
There are people who use for self-gain
and then cut off when crossed or when there is nothing more to gain.

There will not be healing until there is an acknowledgment of a need for change.

It is hard to know when.

Remember yesterday's post?

I need Thee every hour.

I need His help in my life ...

concerning my actions and responses

and concerning my relationships.

Every Hour

I have been enjoying singing at church.

For many years, that has not really been an option because I was behind the piano

Last week, hubby and I sang a duet.

It was mostly the familiar words of "Trust and Obey"

but with a different tune.

This week, my mind is enjoying the focus on "I Need Thee Every Hour."

A ladies group will be singing it in a couple weeks.

The words have been a blessing.

I need Thee every hour,

Most gracious Lord;

No tender voice like Thine

Can peace afford.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;

Every hour I need Thee;

Oh, bless me now, my Savior!

I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour,

Stay Thou near by;

Temptations lose their power

When Thou art nigh.

I need Thee every hour,

In joy or pain;

Come quickly and abide,

Or life is vain.

I need Thee every hour,

Teach me Thy will;

And Thy rich promises

In me fulfill.

 I need Thee every hour,

Most Holy One;

Oh, make me Thine indeed,

Thou blessed Son.

Perhaps the song has meant so much,

because we potentially face some big decisions.

Possibly in the short-term weeks ahead,

but definitely in the final months of the year.

Without God, we dare not make a decision.

Simple Chicken Burritos

Last week, I set aside the traditional recipes

and went in search of some new favorites.

I was feeling like I was in a great rut and needed to change things up.

So every day, we tried something new.

One of the favorites was a burrito recipe.

I cooked up one pound of chicken in the toaster oven.

I threw the cooked chicken in the kitchen-aid mixer to shred it.

Then I added one finely diced avocado and a cup of shredded cheese.

TADA!  Burrito filling.

I wrapped with an Aldi gluten free sandwich wrap

and browned in a greased skillet.

Simple and good.

But it did lack a little something.

I am going to try again on Wednesday and add a packet of taco seasoning to the inside mix because it was a little bland.

Did you wonder about the cheese?

Last I mentioned that we had totally given it up.

Upon further diagnosis of the situation

it was determined that hubby's daily "otter pops"

were not agreeing with him.

Crazy huh?

Update 8/30
We are thinking that it is the dyes in the popsicles that is the problem.
He had the same problems with Gatorade.

A Season of "yes"

The past 7 months have been a time of testing,

a time of growing,

a time of stretching,

a time of waiting on God and wondering how He wanted to use us.

We, as a couple, definitely like to minister as a couple,

but at the beginning of our ministry change,

it seemed that only separate ministries were offered.

Hubby was preaching once a month locally.

Hubby was supporting a men's prayer meeting.

I was singing in the choir and playing the piano again.
I could paint during the week.

We kept waiting on "together" ministry.

God laid one in our lap.

A chance to be hands-on in helping a missionary launch out.

And it involved getting out of our comfort zone.

And it involved just saying "yes."

There are times when God reminds us that though we are not ministering as WE planned
 (how presumptuous that is),

we can help in many ways as a couple because of our situation and stage in life.

And we are excited ... and looking for the next thing to say "yes" to!

Up To The Challenge

Over the past few years, we have pulled back from dairy foods more and more.

We have enjoyed almond/coconut milk and coconut based ice cream,

but the stronghold, the fortress, has been cheese.

Really, cheese is so good ... and is an easy source of calories and protein.

Recently, we have tried to give up the cheese ...

So suddenly the Mexican dishes which are a staple in a gluten-free home

are a little less appetizing (though they still appear frequently.)
Pizza?  Without Cheese?

I really don't enjoy cream-based dishes made with almond milk most of the time.

So, how would I meet the challenge?
Some things just haven't been duplicated.
Sorry, you can't make a grilled cheese with pumpkin filling (I tried).

But I have stumbled on some finds ...
I made parmesan out of nutritional yeast and raw cashews.
It worked on our pizza.

I came across a dairy-free southern favorite the other day ...

Biscuits and gravy!

We love biscuits and gravy,

but hadn't had it in awhile.

This gravy recipe had sausage,

gluten free flour,

and, ...

Wait for it ...

CAULIFLOWER.

I groaned too,

but I was SO curious.
Hubby was not surprised at my wonderment and was even game to try it
(after cauliflower ziti last week)

Sausage is a pretty strong flavor.

Could it overpower the cauliflower?

My curiosity bested me.

Friday night was the night for biscuits and gravy ...

SUCCESS!

Yes, the house had the awful cooked cauliflower smell
(An hour after with a strawberry lemonade candle burning and that was fixed),

but when blended with water and a little nutritional yeast, salt and pepper,

it was really quite good.

And now you have chalked me up as a kook instead of a cook,

but you just have to roll with it.

And a happy hubby, with a happy belly

is worth more than the acceptance of my readers :)

Derailed ... but getting back on track

Please tell me that I am not the only one ...

one who can be easily derailed from my plans and goals.

It can happen with schedules, with diets, with exercise plans.

I think that it started with a strange sore throat/sinus mess

 that has hit me 3 times in 4 months.

It is easy to get discouraged in sickness.

It is hard to just bounce back after 3-4 days of blah.

Then there was an enjoyable trip to NY - 

more change of schedule.

And we got to enjoy our niece for a week -

another change of pace.

In this time, I also agreed to paint at church.

At this point it is almost done ...

only two storage rooms and the sanctuary.

I love the work, but it is another change.

Friday, I took some time to reevaluate ... to get back on track ... to recommit.

I have kept up on reading and really have been challenged by some of the books I have read.

We have kept up with entertaining once a month and have even been invited to others' homes.

The Isaiah book is close to completion (at least the actual writing)

so we start editing soon.

But the Hebrew lessons have suffered.

I am excited to recommit to them.

This past month I have been encouraged to develop a skill that I enjoy,

to not be content to be stagnant.

I guess it comes from being around folks who are more advanced at it than I am.

I have started a church based music theory course to further develop my piano playing (and my piano teaching).

For years, I have avoided theory, probably afraid of failing.

It is the reason I did not pursue a music minor in college!

Some of our college kids have challenged me to go to the school to take it,

but, I always made excuses.

Not this time,

The course will teach theory, modulations, playing softly, arranging, transposing, playing congregation music, analyzing music ...

It will be a commitment,

but oh how useful it will be wherever God has us.