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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Ladies Study on Being Rooted and Grounded in Love: Point 2

Good morning Friends!

Never when I study

do I find some great truth to teach to others

without learning so much more

that I need to apply to myself.

When I began this study, I had much to overcome and to learn. And as I have gone through this study again for this post, I have found myself ever learning, and realizing more than ever how much I need to grow.

My prayer is, Dear LORD, increase my faith.

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This lesson continues to be given as it was for our Ladies Day.

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II. I shall not be moved from my hope in Christ ~

With all the discouragements we find on this earth is it easy to lose track of what our focus should be, our home in Heaven. I know. It’s easy to forget that this life is not about this life. It’s about the one to come. When our hearts are overflowing with anguish from the suffering we see our loved ones endure or that we are enduring ourselves, we can temporarily lose site of that hope. God knows that. That's why He gave us His word and His church to lift us up when we're having trouble shifting our focus from the sufferings of right now, to how it will be one day. If only we will stay grounded in His word, it will help us to focus on our hope of Heaven.

Heaven is real. It’s a real and perfect, beautiful, sin free, pain free, illness free, trouble free, joyful paradise that will be ours for all of eternity. We need to remember that. But Hell is real too. It’s a horrid bottomless pit of darkness, burning, weeping, pain and suffering that would make all the troubles of this life seem like nothing at all. We should live every day remembering it’s a real place that we don’t have to live for one second, let alone for all of eternity, because of the hope we have in Christ.

Satan wants us to lose sight of that. He wants us overwhelmed with sorrows, focused on all the struggles and troubles of this sin sick world, not focused on the joy that awaits us, the joy that will make every bit of this suffering on earth nothing but a dim memory. "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Romans 8:18

Whether our discouragement comes in the form of physical suffering, illness, struggles with overcoming sin in our own lives, the effects of sins of others in our lives, financial troubles, or even discouragement from fellow Christians, God is faithful with an answer for any and all trials that come our way. Unfortunately, they will come to one and all. Being a Christian does not absolve or exclude us from experiencing pain and suffering. The wise man, Solomon wrote “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11

And in the New Testament “…He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matthew 5:45. Some suffering that takes place on this earth is simply a result of the natural laws that God has set in motion, such as the laws of gravity or inertia, laws that we can not live without, but that can result in serious physical suffering in the case of an accident such as a fall from a building, or a car wreck. Other suffering is brought on by men’s sins, resulting in trouble for themselves or others. Still other trials are brought on by living in a sin sick world that now has numerous genetic mutations in our gene pool that cause multiple and varied illnesses.

Knowing all of this, God inspired the Psalmist to write, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;” Psalm 46:1-2. He is a God of constant, unfailing love, mercy, grace and hope, and He reminds us of this hundreds of times over in His word of the hope he has for us.

Paul shares “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

He continues in chapters 4 & 5 “Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

Listen also to Peter’s powerful words! “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:13 Aren't those powerful words! He is talking about preparation here, hard defensive action to muster a defense against the wiles of the devil. He goes on to warn in chapter 5:8-10 “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

Through all of our suffering and distress we must remember to “Cast all our care upon Him, for He careth for you” 1 Peter 5:7. We simply are not strong enough to do it on our own. We must lean upon Christ and on one another, as we are told in Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” When our sisters in Christ are too weary to lift their heads, when their hearts are too weakened by pain and fear, we need to do more than just point them again in the right direction. We need to put our arms around them and lead them back to the hope we have in Christ. We need to read for ourselves and for them verses such as Romans chapter eight. We need to see and hear our blessed assurance that God is always here for us.

“What shall we then say to these things: If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter; Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If we remember these things, we shall not be moved.

All that we are suffering will one day be gone. We are going to make it through to the other side some day!

Let's just keep studying Our Holy Father's word,

and keep our focus on our Hope.

Along with these two things, we, as women, have a third tenet to focus upon if we want to stand firm. That final point on staying rooted and grounded in love has to do with our roll as women in the church and the unique work we have to do.

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Our final point to follow soon.

Much love to you all.

~m.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Friday's Funny

You don't have to make up jokes in life. Real life is often oh-so-much funnier than any joke.

My dear darling oldest daughter is trying hard to teach her sweet girlie~girls right.

She has taught her three year old Sugarbear not to just say she doesn't like some foods, instead to politely say "It's not my favorite" when something is offered that she doesn't care for, to be polite and respectful, "B
ecause that just doesn't sound nice."

So, the other day when they were talking about how you might not like some people, Ash corrected her sweet baby girl, and said,
"Well, that really doesn't sound very nice, to just say we don't like someone..."

Before she could finish the thought,
Sugarbear interrupted,
wide eyed and nodding, saying
"Right, that's not really very nice.
We should just say,
well, you're not my favorite."

I 'bout died laughing.

Oh me, oh my, that baby is a hoot!!!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Ladies Study on Being Rooted and Grounded in Love: Finishing Point 1

This post is a continuation of two prior posts. I know that many may already know the aforementioned scriptures well. You may feel "studied up enough". So let's move on to the next pitfall the devil has dug for us.

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B. Satan will tell you that you already know what the scriptures say, and that reading more isn't necessary.

No tool is too devious for Satan. If you are studying, he wants you to stop.He wants you distracted from your zeal. I have been there. Several years back as a growing Christian I was an avid student of the Bible. I was diligent, and desirous of more knowledge. But over time, I started losing my zeal. When I picked up my Bible I thought, “I’ve read this before, so many times. I already know what it says.” I didn’t realize in the midst of it, that Satan was just using another one of his tricks to deceive me.

Romans 11:33-34 says “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor?”

And the Messianic prophet, Isaiah admonishes us “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God for he will abundantly pardon; For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts….So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:6-9, 11 Satan knows all of these scripture all to well and wants us our fire put out!

God's word is unfathomable in its riches. We must be aware of these wiles of Satan and realize that if we think we already know it all, we still have a lot to learn. As long as we live, as long as we continue to study, we will grow in Christ. We will never plumb the bottom of His treasures, or come to the end of the road in our learning. Our roots will just keep growing stronger and deeper, and we shall not be moved. Ladies beware of his wiles, and keep your focus on HIM and HIS word.

C. So, on to Satan's next trick. He will try to convince us to not care what the scriptures say.

…and the longer we are away from them, the more convincing his arguments will become. Paul warns in Colossians 3:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

Again, it's back to that vicious cycle, the more you are away from the word, the less you want to study. Rather than less of self and more of Thee, it ends up being all about me and none of Christ. It seems to be in us to think that our ideas, and our ways are best. But God clearly states: “Oh LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” Jeremiah 10:23 If we won't pick up our Bibles so that God can speak to us, we will just try to walk in our own way to our own destruction.

Obedience to God’s word is key. The last judge of Israel, Samuel, confronted King Saul with this Bible truth “…Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry…”1 Samuel 15:22-23 Ladies, we are commanded to study. 2 Timothy 2:15 says “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” It’s not optional.

In the book of Ephesians The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine…that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:” Ephesians 4:14, 17-18 We can not stay grounded if we do not study.

Let’s not allow ourselves to be deceived by Satan’s devices. Let's put away stubbornness and apathy so that we can stand firm. If we stay rooted in His word, it will keep us rooted in our hope in Christ, which is our next point.

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Have a wonderful day!

Love,

debbie

A bird in the hand...

is better than one loose in your nest.

Every now and then a little wren shows up in our house.

We have no idea where she comes from, or if it's always the same one.
Right now she is hiding out under my bed.

My little niece is trying to lure her with a decoy,

but to no avail.

I feel sure she's a little girl wren.

She loves vintage jewelry.
:)

Hope your day is lovely!
~m.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Ladies Study on Being Rooted and Grounded in Love: Part 1A

A continuation of our study on being rooted and grounded in love, I shall not be moved.

May God bless us with humble hearts as we study His word.

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I. The KEY to not being moved is to not be moved from our study/knowledge of the scriptures.

You will see us return to this point again and again. All roads lead back to this one. It is a true statement to say that we will be able to overcome and cope with every burden, trial or temptation that comes our way in this old world by turning to God and His word. The apostle Paul writes “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7

Sadly, on the flip side, we will fail, and end uprooted from our Christianity, if we turn from His word. As the prophet Hosea tells us in Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou has rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

Lack of Bible study is a vicious cycle. It’s like any other habit; like trying to eat right, or starting to exercise. The longer you do it, the easier it becomes. The less you study, the less you want to study. It’s called apathy and it’s straight from the devil. Thankfully the more you study the more you want to study and your zeal will be contagious to others. Let's look at some devices the devil uses to dissuade us from study.

A. Satan is the great deceiver and he will tell you at every turn, you don’t have time to study. You are just too busy.

He knows the scriptures, and he is fully aware of the strength we will gain from them. Satan, himself spoke the words “It is written” to Christ in Matthew 4:6 He knows every verse of the Bible inside and out. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 says “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

This scripture is one we are all familiar with…so is the devil.

What about 1 Peter 2:1-3? “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” Yes, Satan knows that one too. Do any of you have any trouble with malice, or deceit, or have you ever struggled with hypocrisy, or know someone who has? Do you always keep your speech pure and kind? God says His word is the cure-all for all of the above. The devil knows you will overcome those nasty little habits if you spend time in God's word.

2Corinthians 4:1-4 spells his plan out very clearly to us. Paul warns, “Therefore seeing we have this ministry as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

What about Matthew 13:19 where we are told “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.” Do you see why he wants you to feel too busy? He knows what's at stake. However God says, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, NOT as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil, wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:15-17 God knows what's at stake too…and it's our souls.

Do you know Psalm 119? You can be sure Satan has that chapter committed to heart, and I have no doubt that it fires him up, no pun intended. Just looking at a few verses we can see why.

Vs 2: “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.”

Vs 11 “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O LORD, teach me thy statutes.”

Vs 15 “I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.”

Vs. 18 “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”

Just the beginnings of verses 119:33-38 “ Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes…Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law…Make me to go in the path of thy commandment;…Incline my heart unto thy testimonies…stablish thy word unto thy servant…”

The very words that helped to inspire this lesson “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Psalm 1:1-3. The key to our success as a Christian is studying and meditating upon his word. We need to remember that all too often being too B.U.S.Y. for God's word, is really us Being Under Satan’s Yoke.

Many of you may already know these scriptures well. You may feel "studied up enough". So let's move on to the next pitfall the devil has dug.

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Point 1B to follow soon. Love to you all!

~m.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Ladies Study on Being Rooted and Grounded in Love: Introduction

Hello friends and loved ones.

This is the first of a multi-part lesson on being rooted and grounded in love taught for a Ladies Day last summer. I had planned on editing it, but time has gotten away from me, so I am just presenting it as is, intro and everything. I did not know at the time of this writing that Satan would have more in store for our family. God is His Divine wisdom certainly knows best to not reveal to us our future struggles. It was a needed study for me at the time, and continues to be one for me now.

Though you were not sitting in the audience that day, I left it as if you were. May God bless us all in our endeavors to study His word and grow ever closer to Him.

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I know that all of us are busy with ever so many things, and I certainly appreciate your desire to come and study from God’s Holy word when you could have chosen a dozen or more other things to do today. I truly don’t say that lightly. I am thankful for each and every one of you that has come to dig into God’s Word. I hope you brought your bibles, but if not grab one off the pew. I plan on using a lot of my favorite scriptures, and Sharleen would tell you, that's most of the Bible. We have a lot to study, and not much time.

When the two people that know me best in life heard that my topic was Rooted and Grounded in Love: I shall not be moved, they both immediately laughed. The joke was not lost on me either. David has always said that if I had a theme song, it would be Tom Petty’s “I won’t Back Down”.

Nice.

But all kidding aside, this study was just what I needed.

Since the time I was assigned this lesson, I have prayed, studied and pondered how God could use me to edify and encourage all of you. I have honestly felt somewhat inadequate and beaten down with all that Satan has been accomplishing lately. Between illness and so many struggling marriages and breaking hearts both in and out of the church, I have felt my faith at times to be too weak to get through, let alone to really reach out to others as I should be doing.

It has been rough.

But God's word and Christian friends have strengthened me. And, in the very midst of feeling overwhelmed and even somewhat despairing with my head hanging down, I was assigned a lesson on not being moved from HIM, my God, my Savior and Redeemer. When I turned inward to muster strength for this lesson, frankly, I didn’t find much in my reserves.

So, I got busy and dug into the Word…And my eyes shifted back up to where they should have been all the time.

Possibly through God’s good Providence, or maybe just some clever planning on the part of our elder’s wives, God continues to teach me and refine me in His Holy Word, those things that I need to strengthen and improve upon in my own life, that I might strengthen others. “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble…” 2 Corinthians 1 : 3-4

So, lucky us, you don’t have to hear a lesson relying on my wisdom or knowledge, and I didn’t have to write one based on what’s in my little brain. To God be the glory! His Word is all sufficient to keep us on track…or get us back on track when Satan is trying to derail and uproot us. And I needed back on track. Maybe some of you do too.

This study has been a tremendous faith builder for me and I pray that you will be encouraged as well to lift up your heads and hearts, lift up your eyes and focus back on Christ, our Savior and Redeemer and His Holy Word. Let Him give you the strength you need to keep going. Bring your focus back to our great Redeemer and Friend. He has given us all the answers we will ever need, IF ONLY we will spend the time and effort studying His Holy Word, His light will come shining forth to lift our burdens, and to help our roots grow down deep into the spiritual water of His Word. “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

Roots form a network for a tree or plant that give balance, and hold the tree firmly in place. They keep it upright and prevent it from crashing to the ground when the storms of life prevail. Roots grow deep to bring nourishment to every cell, leaf and twig. They are life to the tree. If a disease affects the roots of a plant, or you chop through a trees root system, it will soon die.

The spiritual application is crystal clear. Without roots growing down into God's word we will end up spiritually uprooted and lost. The only way to grow our spiritual roots is to study. Obviously our spiritual roots will stop growing and stop providing us nourishment when we stop studying the Word of God. They can also become diseased by discouragement and sin. Lift up your eyes and look around. Brothers and Sisters in Christ are growing weaker daily, some are even dying in the garden of Christianity because they don’t have deep roots reaching the water of His word. Instead of spiritual redwoods, they’re spiritual tumbleweeds blown by the wind in every direction. Why?

I believe it’s because it takes work to stay rooted and grounded in love. Christianity is not a passive, cater-to-me lifestyle. It takes study, thought, prayer and work to remain faithful and encourage others to remain faithful as well. Psalm 16:8-9 says “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.” Christianity doesn’t just happen. It’s about selflessness and discipline.

Some of us may have to work at staying rooted and grounded harder than others simply because we all have our own personalities and life experiences that have molded us, for good or bad, over the years. I don't like the terms "high-strung" or "high-maintenance". I'll let you gues why. :) I prefer to look at people in varying degrees of "passionate to laid-backness".

Maybe for some of us our tongue is harder to control; maybe another struggles with the temptation to dress immodestly as they did before they became a Christian. Another may struggle with self confidence in teaching God's word; or struggle with controlling their temper. No matter the temptation, the trial, the person or the personality type, God has the same solution for all of us. He is infinite in His wisdom. He is the designer of each and every one of us and HE KNOWS HIS CREATION. Sometimes we despair in our differences. Do we think God did not design us?

His solution for standing firm can only be found in His word. That's the "magic pill" so to speak, and nothing else. It won't make worries and problems disappear, but I guarantee that it will make us able to cope, and not just to cope, but to overcome; to have courage and stand firm. The KEY is in our hands. We will be studying three points to aid us in our Christian walk, but the first is, no doubt, the most important.

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Shwew, that was a long winded introduction!

The first point will follow soon.

Have a wonderful day friends!

Much love,

~Debbie


,

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Tuesday's Tip

~~~~Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles...

It takes away today's peace.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Love to you all~
M.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Tuesday's Tip

A day well begun is half done.

I'm not the author of this quote,
nor do I claim to have mastered the adage,
but I know it to be true.

Starting my day with a cheerful,
thankful,
prayerful,
selfless,
kind and
willing~to~work~heart
has conquered many a busy day,
even those filled with unexpected interruptions,
and a to~do list a mile long...
(so many things to paint...
wiggles eyebrows)

Ahem...Where was I?

Ah yes...

and starting without one
has caused many a flop~of~my~days,
wrought with impatience, frustration and a too quick, too sharp tongue.

Sometimes I think I can see it going down in embers around me...
May Day!! May Day!!!

O.k. a bit dramatic,
but you know those days.

So there is my first AWE INSPIRING Tuesdays tip.

Does it count if it's a tip you already know?
I hope so.
There's nothing new under the sun, ya know.

p.s.

O.k., so here's a yummy recipe for those of you that were less than impressed by my tip.

You know who you are.

This is a treasured family favorite,
a recipe of my beloved Grandma,
and simple ta boot.
You gotta love simple.
And did I mention it was chocolate?

~~Grandma's Peanut Clusters~~

12 ounces butterscotch chips
6 ounces chocolate chips
1~ 12 ounce can Spanish peanuts

That's it.

Melt both kinds of chips in a double boiler
(or the good old stand by we always use, a littler pan in a bigger pan of hot water)
After thoroughly melted, stir in peanuts.
Drop by spoonful onto waxed paper or aluminum foil.
Let cool.
Enjoy!
These are the best peanut clusters ever.

Really.

Important disclaimer:
I do not like butterscotch.
These do NOT taste anything like butterscotch.
You are just going to have to trust me on this one.

Have a great day!

~M.



Sunday, January 2, 2011

It's a start

Hello friends.

My full name is Deborah Marie.
To my blessings, I am mom.
To my grandblessings, Grandma. (Dramaw actually)
To my own sweet mama, I was Debbie Doo.
To the rest of the world, including my sweet sisters and bestie,
I am Debbie.

But hubby just calls me Marie.
He has for years.

I guess most of us are busy people.
Many of us too busy.
But it's really the simple things that matter most.

God

Family

Friends

Home

Laughter

Hope

Love

So that's what this blog will be about.

Sometimes I'll just talk about our life and our blessed family.
Other times (hopefully) I'll have a cleaning or sewing tip or recipe or two.
Often I'll share a Bible lesson I have studied.
Along the way I hope to get better with posting pictures of family and the house.
I'll talk a bit about the wild raspberry, our (maybe my)
business and how it's coming along.
We'll just see what life brings.
Nothing spectacular,
except life.