My future Food Network host

My girl loves to cook.  She loves to be creative.  Put the two together and you have some pretty interesting kitchen experiments.  She calls them salad.  

I think this all started when I was assembling a green salad and she wanted to make one on her own.  I'm pretty sure it had strawberries and some of her favorite foods.  That is probably what got her attention.  

Since then she has decided the sky was the limit and that the term "salad" was a loose term and had many interpretations.  I have to agree with her (jello salad, potato salad, chicken salad, tuna salad and so on...).

Here are some of her creations...

This one was pretty good.  The brown sugar and butter on toast had potential.  Thankfully, 

the chocolate syrup and mustard did not make the cut.

This one was hard for me to watch.  I often get the "that is so wasteful & there are starving kids guilty twinge".  

However, the "these things go bad quickly & you didn't have immediate plans for them" 

tempered with the 

"seriously, how could you have gotten these raspberries to the starving kids?" 

thought trumps the guilt.

(Sorry for the chaos in that paragraph,

yet another sampling of the run on sentence kind of thinking I do.)

It was also interesting, because after you added the mayo, parmesan dust cheese, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and sliced colby jack, you let it ferment cook in the sun.

This one was reallllly niiiiice!  It had a pungent odor.  That is what happens when you use a mostly full bottle of mustard.  The poor grape tomatoes and parmesan cheese didn't stand a chance.  However, there was a silver lining.  It cleared my sinuses:)

And here we come to one of the biggest reasons why my girl loves to cook.  See the woman in the background.  That would be grandma.  Unlike her mother, sweet girl's grandmother is good at cooking, and she enjoys feeding people.  It is something special they do together. My girl really loves these time spent together and that makes me smile. 

And once in a while, if I give them a sad hang dog look, I get some banana nut bread out of the deal.  It's a win-win situation for everyone!

Much love and many laughs,

A

Community Bible Study devotional

Last week I heard a devotional that was inspirational.  Here are some thoughts I wanted to share with you.  These words are from Cindy Beqette and "The Red Sea Rules". 


"Sometimes God Will quiet a storm; other times He will let the storm rage and He quiets His child."


As Christians, we know we will face storms.  Yet still, they can stun and rattle us just as much as anyone else.


If God doesn't quiet your storm, He has another plan.  He may want to quiet you, His child.  Sometimes deliverance takes place in our hearts rather than in our circumstances.


How does He do this?  He calms our hearts by changing them.


Here are some ways He does that:


1.  When you surround yourself with God's word, fear will turn to faith.


2.  Get to praising.  God tells us he inhabits the praise of His people.  Have you ever felt the quieting and calming of your spirit as you lift your hearts in worship to God?  It is truly astounding how praise and worship change our hearts.


3.  Make a gratitude list.  It chases away our self-pity.  It's hard to complain when you're recognizing the things you have to be grateful for.


4. Spend some time with people who make you laugh.  It may not change your circumstances, but it will change your outlook.  




Just because we are believers does not mean that strength comes easily or naturally.  However, it does mean we have access to everything we need.  We have the faith, trust, and the courage we need to press on.  When you get knocked down, God will give you the grace to stand back up and say "I still believe that You love me, You have a plan, and You will never leave me."  Our trust in Him is our gift back to God.


"If He brings you to it, He will bring you through it."

It was a timely reminder of God's goodness and an encouragement to me.  Thanks Cindy for sharing these encouraging words.




Much love, many laughs, and God's blessing be on your life both today and in all the days to come.;


A