Lucy Ricardo Strikes, Again!!

Reblogged from simplyjuliana.com:

Leave it to me!  Yesterday Auntie Em wrote me and told me her number of hits had almost doubled!  She became suspicious and went to the post that was getting numerous hits from all over the world!  She began to read.  All seemed perfectly normal.  The only thing different was she used the term "BFF".  She began to think, "What if that has another meaning besides "Best Friends Forever"? 

Read more… 334 more words

I had to share this-- simplyjuliana and I have been friends a loooong time, like since junior high! And we both foot a belly laugh out of this one! Auntie Em

Be Anxious for Nothing!

Do you ever worry over something like a dog with an old bone? You chew on it, take it out and look at it a while, turn it over and over to examine it from all angles, talk about it to your friends, maybe make a Facebook post about it, MAYBE pray about it, then go right back to chewing? (Do I sound like the voice of experience? GUILTY.) I recently read on that great source of sound doctrine, Facebook, (My tongue is firmly in my cheek, but I have so many wise Christian friends that I do call it my Facebook Bible study!) that “Worry is saying that God can’t handle our problems.”

Philippians 4:4-8 is a great kitchen-wall Scripture… the challenge comes in living it!

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NASV)

The cure for worrying is right here in Philippians. Rejoice in the Lord. When? Always. You mean when there’s lots more month, and not much money? Yep. When my son is failing a class? Un-huh. When my daughter insists on dating a loser? You bet. When I’m sick? Then too. And the reason we rejoice is there too: The Lord is near. Remember, He said He would be with us ALWAYS, even till the ends of time. (Matthew 28:20)

And look a little further. God invites us to talk to Him about what is worrying us. Don’t worry about it, but talk to me (prayer), and tell Me what you’d like (supplication, requests). Thank Me. (Thank You Father for inviting me to talk to You, for wanting to talk to me, for being concerned about my problems. Thank You for what You will do in the situation and in me.)

What will happen? The peace of God will guard our hearts and minds. I love that! My mind needs guarding, because it can go crazy! You’ve done it too, haven’t you, when your child is out late and you hear a siren, or you get called back into the doctor and you have your funeral planned before you get there?

I want to throw in another thing about guarding our hearts and minds. Yes, God is all powerful, but we have brains that I believe we should use. Be careful, dearies, about what you allow in your heart and mind. Pay attention; examine yourself, and figure out what makes you anxious. Then get it out of your life if you can. It is silly to ask God to remove your anxiety while you are ingesting a steady diet that will worry you, just like scooting a book closer and closer to the edge of a table and asking God not to let it fall!

Our modern culture is a worry-maker, and I believe you have to actively fight NOT to allow it to. The very pace of it is exhausting… there’s always something to do, people to talk to, problems to hash and rehash… I’ve chosen to avoid any political show that is not informational– I don’t want to hear people argue, interrupt and talk over each other, with no real interest in having a meeting of the minds. I get the facts in simple lists, and I will vote, but I’m not going to spend a lot of energy listening to “hype.” I used to watch the Law and Order SVU all the time, but I realized that the depravity of the bad guys was just letting too much darkness into my life. One of my favorite book series was Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli and Isles, which was much darker than the TV series. With my tendency to depression, I finally decided that it was unwise to expose myself to that kind of literature.

So here’s your challenge, should you choose to accept it: Confess your worry. Tell God that you know He can handle it. Thank Him for His constant love for you and whoever you’re worrying about. Quit talking about it! Find some applicable Scriptures and write them on index cards, rewording them to fit your situation. Avoid anything that makes you feel worse.

So keep that poster on your Facebook wall, and the Scripture verse on your kitchen wall, but be sure and get the passage in your heart!

TeeKay from A Thimbleful of Wisdom, Juliana from simplyjuliana, and I are teaming up to do a series on Philippians every Wednesday in September. We started last week with “Work in Harmony“; and next week will be Whatever… But for today, it’s a favorite “kitchen wall Scripture”…

10-minute meals with Auntie Em!

School started last week!

It actually went very smoothly, and I actually always get up early so I can visit a bit with Mr X before he leaves, so it’s not getting back on a schedule, but getting used to getting DRESSED and LEAVING THE HOUSE that takes some getting used to! I was so glad I had some freezer meals waiting! I froze 3 meal-sized servings of taco meat during my Once-a-Month-Cooking marathon, remember? Behold the awesomeness of a 10-minute meal:

 

7:54. We’re starving and tired. Take the meat out; microwave a minute or two to break it up; then put in a covered container to heat through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While that’s heating, drain some Ranch style beans (of course you can use regular pinto or black beans too), then heat them; and grate some cheese. I usually use cheddar but couldn’t find any! Heat the beans up after the meat heats.

I also sliced some cherry tomatoes that I had, and got out some tortilla chips and bottled hot salsa.

Layer it as thick as you like. Microwave a few more seconds to melt the cheese!

 

 

 

 

8:04. Ten minutes, freezer to table. Supper is ready. Once-a-month cooking payoff! And may I just say, it was a big hit!

Super Sweet

      

(Have I got your sweet tooth screaming? All these pictures are in my Pinterest food board; you can click to follow me.)

There are a lot of really good, inspiring writers around the world, writing blogs while carrying on with their “real” lives. It’s encouraging to know that there is so much wisdom and kindness in the hearts and minds of regular, everyday people. One of these people is Faith at Faithrises, who writes to encourage, motivate, uplift, and inspire people to rise above personal difficulties and challenging circumstances. What a great work!

Sweet Faith nominated me for the “Super Sweet Blogging Award.” What a “sweet” thing to do! My constant prayer is that all my words, coming from my mouth or my fingertips, will be a pleasing, sweet aroma to our Father. This is a fun award because it’s all about sweets… which I love! Then I get to nominate my own sweetie-pie bloggers.

Guidelines:

1. Give credit to the person who chose to nominate you. (You rock, Faith!)

2. Answer the “Super Sweet” questions.

3. Nominate a “Baker’s Dozen” (13) blogs.  

“Super Sweet” Questions:

1. Cookies or Cake?  Cake. The ooey-gooey, pecan-covered, fudgey chocolate sheet cake.

2. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate!  

3. What is your favorite sweet treat? See #1

4. When do you crave sweet things the most? Mid-afternoon. I could eat the whole cake when I get home from work.

5.   If you had a sweet nickname, what would it be? I’m usually “honey” to my sweetie.

My Baker’s Dozen blogs:

1. simplyjuliana

2. A Thimble’s Worth of Wisdom

3. Deep Roots at Home

4. On the Border

5. Climbing the Mountain

6. I Hope 4 him

7. Thoughts from an American Woman

8. The Alabaster Jar

9.  The Romantic Vineyard

10. Too Darn Happy

11. The Reluctant Entertainer

12. Sherry’s Place

13. My botanical garden

Visit these great bloggers, and you will be in for a treat! If they are new to you, tell them I sent you by.

Upcoming Series– Life Lessons from Philippians 4

 

 

September 1st…Summer is over, so it’s time to get back to “school!”

 

 

Have you ever felt you needed a life coach? A little help in your relationships with family members? Your thoughts? Your insecurities?

 

Help is on the way!

 

Every Wednesday in the month of September, my friends Teekay at A Thimble’s Worth of Wisdom, Juliana at simplyjuliana, and I are teaming up to do a series on Philippians 4. Each Wednesday we will all write on these topics.

Sept 5- Work in Harmony (Philippians 4:2-3)

Sept 12- Be anxious for nothing (Philippians 4:4-7)

Sept 19-Whatever.. (Philippians 4:8)

Sept 26- I can do all things (Philippians 4:13)

 

Please join us as we share three different aspects of the same Scriptures. As we go, share your thoughts with us in the comments, or write your own post and link us to it!

Is Blogging For You?

You might remember that my sweet bloggy friend simplyjuliana awarded me a Reader Appreciation Award a few weeks ago. Well now she won a One Lovely Blog Award and passed it on to me! Her blog is a few months older than mine, and apparently an offhand Facebook remark from me inspired her to start it! (She had said something profoundly spiritual that made me ask if she wrote a blog, and I told her she should if she wasn’t already.) Well when I started getting an itch to write, I talked to her about it and she encouraged me to go for it. We’ve bounced ideas around and had such a good time together.

If you have some hard-earned wisdom, or an area of expertise, consider starting your own blog! When I realized that people asked me questions often (many times on Facebook, about flower gardening) I realized I might know some things that would help others. It’s been very rewarding to get the comments and feedback. If you are not ready to go all out, write a short essay about something in your field and send it to me. I’ll consider publishing it as a guest post! TeeKay did that, then started her own.

I have quickly found a community of kind people who are helpful and supportive. It’s lots of fun, and writing posts makes me think! Questions? Leave them in the comments and I’ll be glad to help.