Happy New Year

I’m not much of a “new year’s resolution” girl.  I find that the resolutions tend to be the same every year.  Lose weight.  Exercise more.  Pray more.  Study the Bible more, etc.  For a few weeks, maybe even a couple of months, I’m focused on those things, but after a while, my enthusiasm wanes.  I stop trying.  I end up feeling like a failure.  That makes me depressed.  I eat.  That leads me right back to the beginning, needing to lose weight and exercise more!  It’s a never ending cycle.

 

I do, however, love lists.  I’m pretty goal oriented.  I like to check things off once they’ve been accomplished.  Last year, while I did make a list, I decided to modify my thinking about resolutions.  Here is something I wrote then:

 

Maybe I should define my life goals and use those goals to determine the changes I need to make for 2010. So, here they are, my goals not just for 2010, but for my life:

1. To look forward to heaven and not be fearful to stand before God.
2. To help someone else get to heaven.
3. To live in a state of gratitude.
4. To pray continually.
5. To hide the Word in my heart.
6. To be diligent in everything I do.
7. To love God with my heart, mind, soul, and strength.

I don’t do all of these things perfectly all of the time, but trying to live these goals is much more fulfilling than checking off a laundry list of “resolutions” that seem to come back around every year.

 

 

The great thing about the list above is that it is a continual process.  It’s not something that I have to do by a certain date or age.  I am trying to incorporate these attitudes into my day to day journey.   It’s a new life motto.  Last year I really tried to focus on the concept of diligence.  I want to be intentional and diligent in everything I do.  I still have room for improvement, but I am making progress.

 

This year my focus is on words.  First, I want to focus on The Word.  I want to immerse myself into God’s Word so much that it becomes a part of me and who I am.  I want it to naturally spring from my heart and my lips.  I want my speech to be seasoned with Its truths.

 

I have also been thinking a lot recently about my words.  Words have the power to hurt or heal.  I want my words to be healing, encouraging and positive.  They are not always.  I have hurt with my words and have been hurt by the words of others.  I want to turn that hurt into healing.

 

I have been camped on these scriptures recently:

 

v  Matthew 12:36 – “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,” Ouch!  How many careless words have I spoken??  How many people have been hurt by my careless speech??

 

v  Ephesians 4:29-32 – “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”   Have my words grieved the Holy Spirit?  Is there anything worse than grieving the Holy Spirit?

 

 

In this new year I want to continue pursuing my goals.  I don’t want to simply check things off a list.  I want to be continually transforming myself into who He wants me to be.  That is the ultimate goal, to be who He created me to be while doing what He created me to do!

 

How about you?  What are you thinking about as we approach 2011?

 

Happy New Year!

Psalm 2

¹ Why do the nations conspire
   and the peoples plot in vain?
² The kings of the earth rise up
   and the rulers band together
   against the LORD and against his anointed, saying,
³ “Let us break their chains
   and throw off their shackles.”
 ⁴ The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
   the Lord scoffs at them.
⁵ He rebukes them in his anger
   and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
⁶ “I have installed my king
   on Zion, my holy mountain.”
 ⁷ I will proclaim the LORD’s decree:
   He said to me, “You are my son;
   today I have become your father.
⁸ Ask me,
   and I will make the nations your inheritance,
   the ends of the earth your possession.
⁹ You will break them with a rod of iron;
   you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
 ¹⁰ Therefore, you kings, be wise;
   be warned, you rulers of the earth.
¹¹ Serve the LORD with fear
   and celebrate his rule with trembling.
¹² Kiss his son, or he will be angry
   and you and your ways will be destroyed,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
   Blessed are all who take refuge in him.


Do you know someone who thinks they know more than God, who thinks their way is better than God's way?  Most of us do. Maybe we've even been that person ourselves, but clearly that kind of thinking is vanity, trying to grasp the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:14). How often is pride our downfall?  Even as far back as Eden, it was pride - Adam and Eve believing that they knew better than the Lord - that led to their demise.

Often we begin to think we are so good, so smart, that God's love for us becomes a burden - chains and shackles (v. 3) that we want to throw off.  This chapter is a clear reminder of how God feels about that kind of attitude.  I would never want my Father to scoff at me, to rebuke me, to bring His wrath against me (v. 4-5).

Looking ahead to verse 12: "...blessed are all who take refuge in Him."  Blessed indeed!  As children of God we stand to inherit all (v. 8), but we must SERVE the Lord, FEAR the Lord and REJOICE in His "burdens". 


Click here for the post on Psalm 1.

Cornbread and Bon Bons

With my husband’s help, I have been compiling a family cookbook.  I wanted all the recipes for all of my favorite family dishes.  You know the ones.  The cornbread your grandmother makes or the chocolate cake that your great aunt makes or your mom’s famous slaw.  We all have favorite foods that take us back to special times or remind of us of loved ones.

I was pretty fired up when I started this project………three years ago.  It’s taken me that long partly because I’m a procrastinator, partly because all the other things in life tend to get in the way, and partly because my family….LOVES. TO. EAT.  I’ve got about 170 pages worth of family recipes so far, with more to go.  I am so tired of typing the word tablespoon.

Since it’s quickly approaching that time of year that is filled with family and food, I thought I might share some of my favorite recipes.  In sharing the recipes, perhaps you’ll learn something about my family, and, who knows, maybe a little something about me as well.  Maybe I’ll even make this a regular part of the blog.

The two recipes I want to share today are from two women very dear to me.  The first is my aunt, Donna. Donna was the kind of person that everyone loved.  You just couldn’t help but love her.  She had a really great sense of humor and was always ready to share a laugh.  Much to our shock and devastation, Donna left this world far too soon and far too young.  She was 49 years old when a massive heart attack took her from us.  I had never really grieved until I lost Donna.  Oh, I had experienced loss before, but not quite on this level.  I was crazy about her.  The moments standing by her graveside saying that final goodbye were some of the saddest of my life.  I was happy for her, because Donna was a Christian and I know, without doubt, that she is with the Lord even now.  I was so sad for us though, for my uncle, for my cousins, for Donna’s mother and sister and brothers.  For her sweet friends that were sharing in that loss.  The world lost such a precious soul.  I will never forget her influence on my life.

The recipe I most associate with Donna is Broccoli Cornbread.  That’s right, Broccoli Cornbread.  I think Donna brought it to every family function.  Even now, there is usually a pan of this unique cornbread on the table at any holiday celebration. 

Broccoli Cornbread

1 package frozen broccoli, thawed, chopped and drained

1 stick butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

1 large onion, chopped

6 ounces cottage cheese

4 eggs, beaten

1 box Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix

Mix all ingredients.  Bake in 9x13 pan in 400 degree oven 25-30 minutes or until brown.

I certainly can’t share family recipes without mentioning my sweet grandmother, my dad’s mother.  She loved to cook and, as with most grandmothers, every time we gathered for a meal at her house, there was enough food to feed the neighborhood. 

I miss my grandmother most at church.  That’s where I saw her the most.  She and my aunt and another sweet lady sat in front of me and my immediate family.  Sometimes when I walk into the church I still look for her on “her pew.”  There are times when I’m surprised that she’s not there. 

My grandmother, or Mumsie, as we called her, was a very strong woman.  She had, what I would consider, a pretty tough life at times.  I never heard her complain though.  She had to work hard for most of her life, but she always seemed very content.  She handled adversity, like losing a child and a grandchild and having cancer, with grace.  It was the third bout with cancer that finally took her life.  She was sick and she suffered, but she was at peace.  She had lived a full life and she was ready to go home.  I remember my mother calling me very early on a Wednesday morning to tell me my grandmother had died.  I had been there on Tuesday evening so I knew it would be soon.  I remember just feeling very peaceful and thankful that she was finally home.  I am so thankful to have had such a godly woman in my life.

There are a lot of favorite “Mumsie recipes” that I could share.  I have to say though, that this is one of the top three.  I remember these specifically at Christmas and they always disappeared quickly.

 Bon-Bons

1 box 10x sugar

1 package coconut

1 cup pecans, finely chopped

1 ½ sticks melted butter

Mix all ingredients together and form balls.  Melt 1 package chocolate chips and ½ bar paraffin in top of double boiler.  Dip coconut balls into chocolate with toothpick and cool on wax paper.

I hope you’ll try one of these recipes.  More importantly though, I hope you are able to spend time with your family during this festive season.  Enjoy the food and the fun, but treasure the fellowship.  Make lasting memories with those you love!

What are some of your favorite family recipes?