Kitchen Table Devotions

by Rita Louise MacDonald

My Last 15

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  I remember the very first time I realized how much of an influence my circle of friends was, how quickly I found myself talking just like them, acting like them, even picking up some of the same mannerisms.  Don't get me wrong - many of these things were good to pick up.  But, many of them - maybe not so much.  I even remember picking up a bit of a southern accent when I lived in the south.  I'd always wished that would stick with me, but nope - I have my Michigan, like-no-other talk back.  (It's NOT an accent, okay?)  And that's okay with me ;) Last night I heard one of my all-time favorite preachers say that you can glance back at the last 15 text messages in your phone to get an idea of who will influence you going forward just this year.  So I did what every other person ... View Post

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Luther & Diane

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My car has been in the shop for two days now.  It's freezing cold outside, and although I'm native to Michigan, I have tropical bones and blood, so I'm shamefully going to admit to you that aside from going up and down the stairs, or back and forth to the dumpster, there has not been much exercise.  I've rather spent the past two days reading, writing, ironing, & cleaning closets.  And on one of my closet shelves with books from one end to the other, I was able only to move a couple of them to my "bathtub reading" shelf.  Not one of them made it into a "donation" pile.  Not one.  I. Love. Books. "Seasons of the Heart" caught my attention, and I opened the cover.  "X-Mas 95, From Luther & Diane" was handwritten beautifully on the first blank page. The book is in perfect ... View Post

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Shelly’s “Lazy” Cinnamon Bubble Ring

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  INGREDIENTS (of "original" recipe from Shelly's Aunt) - 4 cans of biscuits cut in 1/4 and rolled in cinnamon and sugar. INGREDIENTS (of Shelly's "Lazy" version) - Cinnamon rolls cut in 1/2 and placed in Bundt pan. FROSTING DIRECTIONS:  With either version - you also need 1 stick of butter with brown sugar melted over the stove with 1 teaspoon of vanilla. DIRECTIONS:  Bake either the biscuits or the cinnamon rolls for 30 minutes to 45 minutes.  Turn over onto a platter and spread frosting over the top. We enjoyed this deliciousness on Easter Sunday after a late night of egg coloring!    A little history on my friendship of 30 years with Shelly:  I was active duty Army and worked as the administrator for the 341st Military Police Company in San Jose, California in ... View Post

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I Wish You Could See Your Nurse!

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Often lately I go to a local restaurant in the mornings to have coffee with whatever book I'm enjoying.  The waitress knows I like the corner booth - the one tucked behind a tall plant where I can remain unseen for an hour.  I like to read, and I like it quiet - but not too, too quiet....    Just enough noise to enjoy being among people, and that corner booth is just right. During my most recent visit to this local neighborhood diner, I couldn't help but overhear a conversation from a table close by.  A woman had visited her friend in a nearby hospital.  Apparently, that hospital is the worse one in town.  She spent the better part of two of my chapters hammering the place for what I have no idea were legitimate complaints and concerns or not, but I did wonder if she had anything ... View Post

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Grace & Pizza

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Grace.  Several months ago someone asked me to define it.  I gave my short answer of "getting eternal life that I don't deserve, instead of eternity in hell, which I do deserve," but our conversation did not last very long, so I've spent the last few months pondering grace - not because I don't know what it is, but because I've been trying to be conscious of it when I receive it (or not), and extend it (or not). This, I know for sure - It is by grace alone (not because of ANYTHING that I did, or even could do) that I am saved. It is by faith alone (that faith, being a gift from God, and again, NOTHING that I obtained on my own). And my faith is in Christ alone (not in an institution, not in a human, not in anyone other than in Christ). I've even enjoyed asking a few of the ... View Post

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Baby dolls, Girlfriends, & Hubbies

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Yesterday I attended the bridal shower for a young lady whose whole family I love.  It was a sweet day, as I sat with people I'd never met at a table with several little girls, one of whom was quite chatty, and sat across the table from me. That bubbly little girl told me all about her best friend, Arthur.  She told she wanted to be a Mommy when she grows up, and that she knew she needed to marry someone, but she wasn't sure who she wanted to marry.  "I'll have to wait and see," she said.  So I asked her, "Just what kind of boy do you want to marry?" Ready for her answer? "The kind that will stay at home and watch the crabby babies so that I can go to parties like this with my friends."   She then told me that she left her little baby doll at home with HER daddy, because he was ... View Post

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Penrod Italian Chicken

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Ingredients: 4 chicken breasts 1 can condensed tomato soup 1/4 cup water 2 T vinegar 1 tsp dried oregano 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese Directions:  Bake the chicken at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, mix the soup, water, vinegar, oregano, and garlic.  Spoon it over the thicken and bake another 25 to 30 minutes.  Then, sprinkle with cheese (which I totally forgot to do before taking this picture!) Memory For My Kids:  Mrs. Penrod loved ketchup even more than our family!  She even put ketchup on SALAD!  Gasp!!!!   You were out with her one day and came home and said, "Mum, Mrs. Penrod loves ketchup soooo much, that she even keeps a bottle of it in her purse!)  Whenever your name comes up in our family, Kim, that's one of the ... View Post

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Kim’s Pistachio Pineapple Pudding

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I remember making this jello years & years ago on St. Patrick's Day!  It's sooo pretty! Ingredients:   4 small boxes of pistachio pudding Two 8-ounce cans of crushed pineapple Two 16-ounce containers of Cool Whip 4 cups of white miniature marshmallows Directions:  Mix it all together!  Pretty simple, huh? Memory For My Kids:  Kim was a great friend back when Rory & Ian were little.  She and her husband Bob have two sons the same age as my sons, Bobby & Zach, so they attended Preschool, Kindergarten, and the 2 older ones even went to first grade together.  We had many play dates, and the kids would often come over to play, or mine would go to Kim's to play.  We only lived about two miles from each other.  One day I had Ian and Zachary in the backseat of my ... View Post

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