Sunday, June 19, 2011


HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!
(Recipe: Apple Blueberry Pie)

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.
-C.B Kelland

I had no idea when or how Father’s Day began, so I did a little research. Perhaps this is something you did not know either.

Father's Day started in 1910 and is credited to Sonora Smart Dodd from Spokane.

The story is that she got the idea while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in church. The June holiday is recognized for being the birth month of Dodd's own father, who raised six children after their mother died in childbirth.

The event received almost immediate support, including that from William Jennings Bryan, President Woodrow Wilson and later by President Calvin Coolidge, who recommended it for national holiday in 1924. It wasn't until 62 years after its origin that it became a national holiday by President Richard Nixon.

It could be debated that the holiday started as early as July 5, 1908, when Grace Golden Clayton suggested to her Fairmont, WV congregation that the 250 fathers killed, including her own, in the nearby Monangah Miners Disaster in December of 1907, be honored.

Because of the many events that take place within the same holiday timeframe, this event was not promoted well. It didn't pick up momentum or gain awareness outside of Clayton's community to catapult into the modern holiday that we celebrate today.

The white and red rose was made the official flowers for Father's Day celebration. While the white rose commemorated gratitude for a father, who was deceased, a red rose expressed thankfulness to one, who was living.

And now you know!

To all dads everywhere, thank you for your part in providing for your family. You are the tower of strength to your wife and children – at least my husband has been for our family – thank you. God bless each of you.

"The greatest gift I ever had
Came from God, and I call him Dad!"
~~Author Unknown.

Apple Blueberry Pie

3/4 c sugar
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
5 C. apples, peeled and sliced
1 C. blueberries, fresh if possible
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 unbaked double pastry shell (or make your own pie crust)
2 tbsp margarine
Double-Crust Pastry for 9" pie

In a large bowl, stir together sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add apples, blueberries and lemon juice; toss to evenly coat the fruit.

Turn into pastry lined 9" pie plate. Dot with margarine. Add top crust; seal and flute edge. Bake in a 425 degree oven until crust is browned and filling is bubbly.

Sunday, June 12, 2011


WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT ME
(Recipe: Coconut Macaroon Brownies)

Recently my husband and I attended a retreat. it was an awesome few days away, especially since the retreat was held on the beach! There is something magical about standing on the ocean’s shore and looking out at the massive expanse, amazed at God’s creation.

Our speaker for those few days was challenging. Made us do a lot of soul searching as we spent time alone with God, and discussed together as a group. During one of our sessions he had us look at a list of things that God says about us. We all know God loves us. We are forgiven. We are part of his family. As I looked over the list we were given, I stared in wonder and humility at all the things God says about us – about me – and realized anew how very much God loves me and how very special I am to him. Let me share some of these awesome thoughts with you as well, for you to ponder and think about. (taken from Neil Andersons’s ‘Bondage Breaker’)

I AM ACCEPTED
a. I am God’s child – John 1:12
b. I am Christ’s friend – John 15:5
c. I have been bought with a price; I belong to God – 1 Corinthians 6:20
d. I am a member of Christ’s body – 1 Corinthians 12:27
e. I am a saint – Ephesians 1:11
f. I have been adopted as God’s child – Ephesians 1:5
g. I am complete in Christ – Colossians 2:10

I AM SECURE
a. I am free forever from condemnation – Romans 8:1-2
b. I cannot be separated from the love of God – Romans 8:35, 38-39
c. I have been established, anointed and sealed by God – 2 Corinthians :21-22
d. I am a citizen of heaven – Philippians 3:20
e. I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind – 2 Timothy 1:7
f. I am born of God, and the evil one cannot touch me – 1 John 5:18

I AM SIGNIFICANT
a. I am the salt of the earth – Matthew 5:13-14
b. I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit – John 15:16
c. I am God’s temple – 2 Corinthians 3:16
d. I am a minister of reconciliation – 2 Corinthians 5:17-20
e. I am God’s co-worker – 2 Corinthians 6:1
f. I am God’s workmanship – Ephesians 2:10
g. I can approach God with freedom and confidence – Ephesians 3:12
h. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength – Philippians 4:13

If you are a child of God through faith in His Son Jesus then you are a SOMEBODY! In God’s eyes you have much worth. Take time to thank God for his awesome thoughts toward you.

COCONUT MACAROON BROWNIES
1 cup soft butter
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups four
¾ tsp. cream of tartar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup chopped walnuts
4 cups unsweetened flaked coconut]
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 Tbsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla. Combine the flour, cream of tartar and cocoa; stir into the egg mixture until well blended. Fold in walnuts. Spread half of this mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Make the middle layer. In a medium bowl, stir together the coconut, sweetened condensed milk and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Carefully layer this over the chocolate layer in the pan. Top with the remaining chocolate batter. Spread to cover evenly. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until top is no longer shiny. Cool in the pan before cutting into bars.

Monday, June 6, 2011


HOPE
(Recipe: Fruit and Spinach Salad)

I was conversing with a friend this past week. We were talking about our walk with God. What we have been learning about God. What God seems to be saying to us. Her comment was, “I keep thinking about HOPE. That is a powerful word, and yet a word of mystery.”

As I thought about it, I would have to agree with her. How do you define hope, really? The dictionary defines it this way, “to desire something with confident expectation of its fulfillment.”

Wow! Confidently expecting what I desire to be fulfilled. I was then reminded of Psalm 34:4 which says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Desire means, “to have a longing for; to wish or request.”

I am getting the sense that what I desire and what God desires for me are two different things. God desires me to delight myself in him, long for him, put my hope completely in him. When I do this, everything else seems to fall into place perfectly.

Psalm 130:5, 7 says, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. O Israel, (you could add your name), put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love, and with him is full redemption.”

As I hope in the Lord, I am fully expecting God to love me unfailingly. As I hope in the Lord, I fully expect his full redemption.

Yes, hope in the Lord is a good thing. Psalm 147:11 reminds us, “The Lord DELIGHTS in those who fear him, who put their HOPE in his unfailing love.”

And my all-time favorite verse, Isaiah 40:31 – “But those who hope (to desire something with confident expectation of its fulfillment)….those who hope in the Lord WILL
a. renew their strength
b. will soar on wings like eagles
c. will run and not grow weary
d. will walk and not be faint

An old hymn expresses these thoughts on hope well:

The Solid Rock

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found,
Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne.

Chorus: On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

On what is your hope grounded this morning? On the temporal hope of the world, or on the hope that comes through knowing Jesus, through studying and obeying his Word? If you’re feeling hopeless, open God’s word and let God minister to your heart today; with confidence expect God to turn your hopelessness into hope.

Fruit and Spinach Salad

1 pound fresh spinach, torn
4 cups whole strawberries, sliced
1 11-oz. can mandarin oranges, drained
1 star fruit, sliced

Ginger Dressing:
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 T. olive oil
2 T. sugar
¾ tsp. ginger or 1 T. minced fresh gingerroot
2 tsp. grated lemon peel

Arrange spinach and fruit on salad plate. Mix the dressing well. Drizzle over salad. Serve immediately. Serves 4