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
Grace & Pizza
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
Baby dolls, Girlfriends, & Hubbies
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
Penrod Italian Chicken
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
Kim’s Pistachio Pineapple Pudding
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
Love in the Margins, from Mum
A few years ago, my son Ian and I traveled to Atlanta, and during our visit we had the opportunity to attend services at Dr. Charles Stanley's First Baptist Church of Atlanta. I won't forget the sound I heard when he directed us to open our Bibles to a specific scripture. All we could hear in that church was the sound of pages turning. Ian and I just looked at each other wide-eyed in amazement. I took several notes while I was there, and last night while thumbing through and cleaning up my cell phone, I came across them. Just for fun, here are the notes I took from Dr. Charles Stanely: If God has assigned you, He will find you. There is always a gap of time between the anointing & the appointing. Those marked by God do not need the world to market them. We must ... View Post
Little Allan Oat Cakes, by Aunt Gertie
From the kitchen of Aunt Gertie (Gertrude (MacDonald) Murphy in Antigonish, Nova Scotia) Ingredients: 1-1/2 cups flour 1-1/2 cups oatmeal 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 1/3 cup milk 3/4 cup margarine 3/4 tsp soda 1/2 tsp salt Directions: Mix the flour, oatmeal, baking soda, and salt. Cream the margarine until it's fluffy, and then add the brown sugar and the milk, and blend it well. Add the dry ingredients gradually and mix well. Press dough onto a cookie sheet that is sprinkled (heavily) with oatmeal. (This dry oatmeal should almost cover the entire cookie sheet). Bake for 12-15 minutes @ 350 degrees, and cut into small squares while hot. It's messy (like really messy). Tip: When you spread it on the cookie sheet, spread it very, very thin. I kind of take ... View Post
Up In the Balcony
A sweet woman I may never see again made these tulips for me. She lives in Brazil, and she was an incredible encouragement to me, even despite our communication difficulties with needing an interpreter. Our interpreter, and mutual friend Emily once shared a book with me called "Balcony People" by Joyce Landorf Heatherley. It basically talked about the great impact we can have on all of the people in our lives, everyone we encounter. We can boost them up or we can shove them down, referring to people as either balcony people, or basement people. We can ENcourage or we can DIScourage everyone we meet. I have a few very special balcony people in my life. One of several in particular who immediately comes to mind is Edna. We share books back and forth and one of our favorites is ... View Post