Ummm...i LIKE pie!

Our Thanksgiving Feast would not be complete without pie and copious amounts of real whipped cream!  Ok, let's face it, I love whipped cream and I merely like pie!  Don't judge.
I have story after story of my love affair with whipped cream and how it led to my downfall on more than one occasion.
One such story sticks out in my mind and I'm sure my Mom and Dad remember it well.  I was maybe 10 or 11 and I was tasked with preparing the whipped cream for my Mom's dinner party later in the evening.  It was the whipped cream made with milk and an envelope of powdery goodness.   It was supposed to yield 2 cups of frothy delight.
I remember "tasting" it to make sure that it was suitable for Mom's company.  That was the beginning of the end...it was like the Siren's call to me and every 30 minutes or so I would check on it and make sure it still tasted ok.  I would be careful to smooth the whipped cream back up the sides of the bowl to make it still look like there were 2 billowy cups of creamy goodness.

I think I left to spend the weekend at my Father's house because I don't recall being there for the reveal.  I do however, remember my Mom asking me if I had sampled the whipped cream and I, um, well, couldn't lie and I told her I just tasted it!
Unbeknownst to me, when my Mom pulled out dessert and went to portion out the whipped cream she realized that she didn't seem to have quite the full 2 cups yield...she scraped out the remaining whipped cream into a measuring cup to find that I had left her only 1/4 cup...total!

This happened close to 30 years ago, and it still gets brought up from time to time...some tales are too good to let die and they just become part of the family lore!
My Pumkin Pie recipe is straight from the back of the can, substituting nutmeg for cloves.  My whipped cream recipe can be from a can, an envelope or carton...it just has to contain dairy!

Homemade Whipped Cream
1 8oz carton of heavy whipping cream
1 tsp of vanilla
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
Pour whipping cream into COLD mixing bowl, with a COLD wire whisk attachment whip on high speed until frothy, add vanilla and powdered sugar continuing to whip until soft peaks form.  If you prefer a firmer whipped cream whip until peak tips stand up but not much further than that or you will get sweet butter!

Just a little somethin'- somethin' to get the party started!

Another family favorite at Thanksgiving is the appetizers while we are waiting for the feast to begin. One of my favorites growing up, were my Mom's Stuffed Mushroom Caps.  She used to freeze left over muffins to keep cornbread on hand for this recipe. I found an easier substitute that is a available seasonally this time of year...Stovetop Cornbread Stuffing mix!

Cornbread Stuffed Mushrooms
1/2 pkg Stovetop Cornbread Stuffing mix
12 to16 oz of mushrooms
1/2 c Parmesan* cheese, grated or shredded
1 stick of butter or margarine
1 medium onion
1/4 c water, stock or melted butter, optional
Clean and stem mushrooms, do not discard stems.  If needed slice a small piece off top of cap so that it sits level on the baking sheet. 
Finely mince stems and onions. Melt butter in skillet and add minced stems and onions.  Stir over medium heat until soft, not browned.  Add half of stuffing mix, (save the rest in a ziplock bag for another time) and toss to fully coat stuffing in butter. If needed you can add a little water, stock or extra melted butter to moisten mixture.  Add cheese and stir until melted.  Heap mixture into caps and place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until stuffing is golden brown.
*Can use whatever cheese you prefer - I've used mozzarella, swiss, gruyere, and jarlsberg.
NOTE: This recipe is also a great way to use up leftover stuffing...like that EVER happens at our house, but your family may not be the stuffing hounds we are! :)

Who doesn't love stuffin'?

It's time to give thanks and I'd like to share some of my favorite Thanksgiving Recipes in preparation for the big day.
I love simple things and this recipe for Old Fashioned Bread Stuffing doesn't get much simpler. It is so good just as it is that we have to prepare two batches every year.  You can also personalize it to make it your own!

Old Fashioned Bread Stuffing
2 large onions
1/2 c butter
12 c soft bread cubes
1 Tbsp poultry seasoning
1/2 c water
1 c sliced celery
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Finely chop onions and cook in butter over medium heat until soft but not browned. Add bread cubes, water, celery, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Mix Well.  If not moist enough add more water or melted butter.  Enough stuffing for a 12 to 15 lb turkey or if you prefer dressing, place into a buttered casserole and bake 1 hour at 325.

BEST. SWEETEST DAY. EVER!

If you live in Ohio like I do, then you may be know that the third Saturday of October, is Sweetest Day!  It wasn't until my 20's, after moving out of state, that I discovered this day was not universally celebrated.

Nevertheless, as long as I could remember, I had hoped for a Sweetie to celebrate with on this day. However, year after year I found myself alone. 
I'm happy to say that this Sweetest Day, my Beloved and I celebrated 6 years of wedded bliss. Thank you Lord!

When I first surrendered my heart to Jesus, I learned that I could begin praying for my husband before I even knew his name. So I did.  I was very specific in my prayers of what kind of man I was believing for and year after year I was hopeful that I would finally be introduced to the one my soul loves.  
Well, it only took 15 years of believing, trusting, and praying and at the age of 37, I met my Beloved.

We were introduced at a volunteer meeting for the outreach program at our church and within 2 weeks we had our first date!
It was on Good Friday and what a date it was!  It was a marathon date that lasted 9 hours. We could have continued talking until dawn but said our farewells.  He couldn't wait to see me again the next night!
On Saturday night, he told me to "not be freaked out, but he was falling for me."  To be honest, I had complete peace.
 We sat together for Easter services and in between the 2 services, he asked me to go out to his car because he has a surprise for me...it was TULIPS!

Before our 1st date, I asked Daddy God for a sign of His blessing and I specifically requested tulips.  

I found out later, my Beloved woke up at 4:30am Easter Morning and had to go to the store to buy me tulips! 
Driving to visit my family that day,I wept as Daddy God whispered to my heart, "it is no accident that today is the day I chose to resurrect your dreams of being a wife."
A week later we were engaged.  We began discussing when we should get married and I mentioned that I always wanted either a May or October wedding.  Well, May was a bit too soon, so we were looking towards October.  I mentioned Sweetest Day and my Beloved gave me a look that said, "ugh, not that day!"  
I quickly shook off my hopes for a Sweetest Day wedding and we choose a different weekend in October.

A month or so later, my mom mentioned that we needed to start looking for reception halls if we were intent on getting married in October.  On a whim, she called the place where she and my Dad were to celebrate their 25th Wedding Anniversary in September.  The lady told her that they were all booked up, but they already had my mom penciled in for October 18th!
She told the woman that can't be because her Anniversary was in late September.  She would have never selected the middle of October for a date.  The lady assured her that she was penciled in for September 21st AND October 18th.  Unbeknownst to my mom she had booked our reception hall the previous year! My mom hung up the phone and called my sister.  
She told her what had happened and before she gave her the date, my sister interrupted her and said, "is it October 18th?"  My mom gasped and said, "Yes."  My sister went on to explain that the day after she met my Beloved for the first time she had a dream about our wedding and it was so vivid that she came downstairs and circled the date on the calendar!
Now, you may call that a coincidence, but there are so many stories of my Daddy God's faithfulness that there left NO DOUBT to any of us that this was exactly as He had planned.
And, yes, you guessed it, October 18th just so happened to be Sweetest Day! 

I would get to celebrate my very First Sweetest Day with the one my heart loves.  Oh, how our Daddy God blesses us down to the last detail!
I want to encourage anyone who is still waiting on the one their soul loves that they should have hope in the one who promised to give us the desires of our heart.  He is faithful to bring it to pass.

I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is Mine. 

Song of Solomon 6:3

Drowning in the shallows

Have you ever taken a trip to the ocean and while you are standing in the shallows, all of a sudden...WHAM, you get knocked down by a wave that you never saw coming?
You gasp as you tumble forward only to get a mouthful of briny seawater as you cry out.  Your nose and eyes sting from the salt as you flail desperately in an attempt to stay on your feet.  You feel your fingers suck into the sand and it makes you feel as if you've been shackled to the bottom.
No sooner do you get to your feet, when another wave comes and knocks you down again.  This time you don't even notice that you were dragged into deeper water until you attempt to stand and realize you are now thigh deep.  You turn around to assess the situation and another wave smacks you full in the face and you fight to take a breath as panic sets in...
I've been there myself, literally and figuratively speaking.  It's been a rough couple of months; my Grandmother passed away in June, a beloved Aunt passed away in August and I lost my job in September due to a "reduction in workforce." 
I have felt that I have barely been able to catch my breath before another wave hit and sent me flailing, trying hard to maintain control.
The funny thing is, the harder I tried to control the situations, the deeper the "water" got until finally, I heard a voice say..."Be Still."
My first reaction was, "how can I be still, God? You know our situation?  You know what needs we have?  You really want me to "Be Still?!!"  I could literally feel fear and panic trying to grip me and drag me under.  I had a choice to either give into the fear or choose to obey.  I chose to obey.  I got quiet and became still.  As soon as I did, the Holy Spirit put me in remembrance of all the times that the LORD had brought me through and commanded the storms in my life to cease.  It encouraged me to do what the Word said to do as difficult as that sounds.  Psalm 46:10 NLT states: He says, “Be still, and know that I am God.
In another example, we see Jesus speaking to the storm in Mark 4:35-41 NLT.  However, I believe that His words were also meant for His followers:

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”

The LORD knows that panic leads to fear and fear is the absence of Faith. That is why when the waves start to come, we need to not fear, but speak PEACE to those waves and watch as they subside.  We can be like Jesus in the back of the boat...resting in the knowledge that Our Heavenly Father is going to take us through the storms of life and that we will get to the other side and fulfill all that He has called us to do.  
Years ago, Rick Renner did a teaching on these verses.  What was so interesting, was that he showed us that the storm came because it was attempting to keep Jesus and His followers from one of their greatest victories.  
On the "other side" was the Demoniac of Gedara and He was about to have a life-changing encounter with the Prince of Peace!
I want to encourage all of us that when the storms of life come to blow us off course and to get us in fear, we need to remind ourselves how Jesus responded.  
I LOVE how Jesus didn't leap up, all flustered and command the disciples to row like they never rowed before!  He also didn't command them to turn the boat around.  Many who were in that boat with Jesus were seasoned fisherman who knew a storm when they saw one and they literally shouted at Jesus, so either they were already panicked or the storm was so loud they didn't have a choice.  This shows me that this was no light summer rain.  It was a doozy!  
And yet, Jesus gives us the example to follow, He wakes up and then He speaks to the storm with His authority and tells it, "Silence! Be Still!" 
He wasn't done though, He next turns to his followers and asks why were they afraid?  He asked them "where is your faith?"   He had already told them that they were going to the other side and that is EXACTLY what He meant.  Jesus is speaking to you today...Silence! Be still!  Don't talk about the storm...talk to it and tell it to STOP!

The Tattered Heart

I saw something the other morning that outraged many, and was disturbing to say the least.  For the lack of anything better to do, because he was bored, a young man decided that he would upload a video of himself attempting to destroy a WWII-era Purple Heart medal that he had purchased at an antiques store.

Over the course of five minutes the young man, careful to hide his face, used a knife, a hammer and ultimately a blow torch on the medal.  You can see him toiling with the efforts and wiping his brow, every so often he would stop his assault on the heart and pick it up and show it to the camera.  The final shot showed the now, tattered heart, in his hand. Then he flashes a thumbs-up and carelessly tosses the heart into the corner on the floor.

The comments below the video ranged from mild to explosive, most railing against what this young man did, and as I read through many of them, I agreed that this young man is like many in this country that do not truly understand the cost of the freedom that they enjoy. 

My husband is a Veteran; he served his country for 8 and ½ years before he was medically discharged with honors.  He served State-side during the Persian Gulf War, the only reason he was State-side, was because his duties required him to be here and not in battle.  He actually volunteered to go, but was denied.

He and many other honorably discharged Vets have faced an uphill battle with the VA to secure everything from healthcare to housing; vocational re-training to education.  Sure, there are programs out there to help, but when dealing with the VA, you are assured of one thing, to hurry up and wait!

I could go on and on about what my husband has endured, but it is one story in thousands.  What I want to return to is the image of that tattered heart.  While watching the video and reading the comments, I could not help but notice that no matter how the teen tried to destroy the heart, it kept its shape. 

It brought to mind the verses in 2 Corinthians 4:

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.  Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

It was ironic really, that no matter how the teen tried, he ultimately could not accomplish his goal of completely destroying that heart.

To me it symbolized this nation and all of the Veterans out there who have been ravaged by war, both here and abroad.  The disdain many soldiers are subject to in our country, in previous generations and even now is heart-rending and yet, their hearts still bleed for the Red, White and Blue.  Their hearts still bleed for me and you.

Recently, I asked my husband, after he faced yet another disappointment regarding the VA, if he felt it was worth it?  I asked him, if he knew then, what he knows now, would he have still served?  His blue eyes took on a steely-look and he said, “In a heartbeat.”

Looking at the "Up" side of "Down"

While going through a very rough patch in my life, I prayed and asked the Lord, "Why do we have to go down?"  Immediately in my mind's eye, the image of a diver on a diving board flashed.  I could see their feet on the end of the board and the board bending "down" and then suddenly springing back up as the diver was propelled high into the air to perform his flips. 

No sooner did that image flash by and another took its place, it was a gymnast running down and bounding onto a trampoline before leaping over the pommel horse.  I noticed their feet, in the "down" motion just before they leaped high in the air over the obstacle in their path.

The Spirit of God whispered to my heart, “to achieve what they need to do, they have to go down before they spring up.  They needed that brief downward motion to enable them to fly higher than if they would have attempted the maneuver from a flat, even surface.”  My heart soared as my spirit grasped what the Holy Spirit was sharing with me.

Recently,  I was contemplating this, and I couldn't help but think about Peter when he had gotten out of the boat...He was walking on water, something that to my knowledge no one else besides the LORD had ever done before or since.

I’m sure many of us have heard it taught that Peter went down because he took his eyes of Jesus.  This is a powerful lesson to us all; but if we look further, although Peter sunk, Jesus did not leave him there, He pulled him up!  And, not only did he pull Peter up; He walked with Him all the way back to the boat.

Matt 14:28-33 NLT
Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”
“Yes, come,” Jesus said.
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.   But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.
Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”
When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.

I can imagine after this walk, Peter’s faith grew as he realized that Jesus is with us in the storm and He remains with us until we are safe and the storm stops.  What the enemy means to use to destroy us; Jesus walks on it with sweet Victory not stopping Him from accomplishing what He said He will do!

We will all encounter times where it seems we are sinking, but we can take heart that our Savior doesn’t just get into the water, He rises above it and pulls us up to walk by His side.

I can honestly say, on this side of the storm, that my Faith in Christ is stronger now than before the storm began.  I have seen the faithfulness of God to walk with me during the midst of the storm and His faithfulness to lead me through it until I am safe.
Artist rendering By Yongsung Kim

There's A Hole in Your Bucket...Fix it!

Last week I read a devotional from Kim Potter at  A New Thing Ministries, about the "tipping point."  (Check out the link and sign up for her daily devotional, you will be blessed!)

Kim spoke of how she was given a fountain that had a little cup that would fill up with water and when it was full, it would tip over and pour out in abundance.  As I was reading this the Holy Spirit spoke to me about the saturation point before a flood.

We have had an abundance of rain lately and many areas are under a Flood Warning.  He spoke to me that the flood comes when the ground becomes so saturated that it can no longer absorb any more water. 

I meditated on the saturation point and then today, I was praying about the tipping point and asking the Lord as to when that would be, because I know my husband and I had been faithfully tithing and sowing and I was confused as to why we hadn't experience our "tipping point."

I no sooner asked the question, and I heard a song from my childhood, "there's a hole in the bucket, Dear Liza, Dear Liza, there's a hole in the bucket, Dear Liza, a hole."  To which Liza sings back, "well, fix it Dear Henry, Dear Henry, Dear Henry, well fix it Dear Henry, Dear Henry, fix it!"  They continue to sing back and forth and end up realizing that in the end, they need a bucket without a hole.

A big ole light bulb turned on in my Spirit and I remembered that the Word addresses this issue in Haggai 1:6 NLT:

You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!

The Lord was angered that the children of Israel had seen to their homes as the Lord's Temple lie in ruins.  They immediately repented and began the task of rebuilding the Temple.
I just love it when the Lord uses practical experiences to get His point across.  It made me realize that if I wasn't experiencing the tipping point, then the problem wasn't on God's end, it was on mine.  There was a hole in my bucket and I needed to fix it!  When we spend time with the Lord, He is faithful to show us exactly how we are poking holes in our buckets.
It could be in our deeds,  our motives or even in our words.  Malachi 3:8-10 tells us how that when we don't give our tithes, we are stealing from God.  But when we are faithful to bring our tithes and offerings; God says that,

“I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! NLT

Malachi 3: 16-18 NLT also reminds us to not speak against the Lord, that He has recorded all who honor Him and that He will remember them;

“On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child. Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

In every instance, all that was needed was to repent and obey.  What a blessing it is to know that it's not hard to fix the hole, you just have to FIX IT! 

The Finish Line

But me, I’m not giving up.
    I’m sticking around to see what God will do.
I’m waiting for God to make things right.
    I’m counting on God to listen to me. — Micah 7:7 The Message

With peace in our heart,

we’ll finish what we start.

This race we now run;

won before it begun.

All because you came,

You came to this earth;

A miraculous birth.

You came to the cross;

To save all who are lost.

You paid the price,

Your life given for us;

A Holy Sacrifice.