Turtle Burgers !

These   are an awesome grandkid food, and having one with gluten issues, is happily GLUTEN FREE!  Easy to do, and with boys who have a carnivore-type appetite, the meat lover in them will salivate!  Just stick hot dog pieces in the appropriate places in a nice hamburger patty, and cover their top with bacon pieces to make the impressive turtle "shell".  Add cheese on the inside for extra goodness if you have no lactose issues.  Easier to do in the oven than on the grill!   

Hot weather bloomers!  Lookin' good on the deck..:)

  Gotta love Zephaniah!

Oh what a marvelous God we serve!  And oh, how marvelous are His good gifts to us!  One such gift is my cuppycake, yes my beautiful granddaughter.  She is a lovely young woman now, but forever in our hearts, our very first girl.  She has just returned home from a dynamic youth camp.  The Lord has done so much for her, she who has such a passionate heart for Him, and has had some rough waters to navigate for awhile now.  All to make her stronger for the plans that He has for her future.  The Lord has made Himself so personal to her, and assures her of His protection and love for her in the midst of a babylonian culture!  He will keep her.  He promises it.  And He does not lie.

She has one very similar character trait to her dad.  Neither one will ever be a yes-man or a yes-woman!  What you see with them is what you get.  What they adopt for their own is well thought-through. 

When I think of her, I think of what God thinks about her:  "He will take great delight in you!"  Zephaniah 3:17

Zephaniah has a lot of truth about my girl in it!

  

Good Eatin'

In the South, we eat for all occasions, happy ones, sad ones, and all occasions in between!  So, it seems appropriate to share a good and EASY recipe for roast... something a little different and impossible to mess up, even for the most inexperienced cook.  So, here goes....(and we're even including pictures!)..

Mississippi Crock-pot Roast

Start with a chuck roast.  Throw it in a crock pot.  Pour over the roast a packet of ranch dressing dry mix, then a packet of aujus gravy dry mix, then put on top of that a stick of butter or margarine, and 5 or 6 pepperoncini peppers.  NO WATER.  Turn the crockpot on low for 8-ish hours.  Delish!  (Don’t add veggies as they will absorb the seasoning and be too salty.  Serve over rice, pasta or potatoes instead.)

Here's what it should look like when you turn that crock pot on.  Now didn't we promise it would be easy??

Today, our family got smaller. 

No, nobody died, it just feels that way somehow.  Our son and daughter in law signed divorce papers, ending a marriage that for many years, was very happy.  It's the last day of their marriage today.

To try to put into words my reaction to this is not so simple.  Yes, there were sad and destructive words and actions.  Yes, there was much hurt.  But..oh what a wonderful happy and blessed beginning they had.  Theirs was a "covenant" marriage by choice, the ceremony full of the Word of God, and celebrated by so many.  This was no casual worldly relationship...then.

They intended to live a life of mission and service to the Lord, both of them very committed.  So sincere, so idealistic, so in love with each other and the Lord.  Three beautiful children, all cherished and wanted. 

How does this happen?  Several years ago, we began to notice a change.  Priorities changed, appearances changed, the way time was spent changed.  It looked as if the desires of their heart changed.  Sometimes the care of this world in a young family can upset the balance.  Is that what happened? Perhaps.  We could sense trouble ahead...could they?  If we commented gently, we were met with denial.  We worried, silently then.

By the time their relationship failed, one had carefully planned it, and the other was totally surprised at the legal papers served.  Then, it started, the long 18 months or so that it took to completely end a marriage, and to completely devastate a family.  They should have known better, as there was a pattern already of divorce in one of the parental families.  They should have tried everything, but they didn't.  It takes two, doesn't it, to save a family?  One had already set their course on a new and different kind of life, one that embraced the culture of the day.  How did this happen??

What advice do you give your adult child in this situation?  Hang in there, for heaven's sake get counseling, don't give up...the two of you and God can work out anything..?  Yes, we encouraged, tried to help our grandchildren..and might I add, under the darkest legal cloud you can imagine.  There is a particular breed of attorney that makes a LOT of money off of divorce.  A LOT.  And in the end, their input and involvement just makes things 100 times worse. 

So now, to add to the misery mix, many thousands of dollars have been devoured during this process, money that could pay for educations, medical expense, braces, prom dresses, and all the other necessary items for children.  How long will it take to recover from the complete assault on that family?

We know the mastermind of this debacle.  Of course it is satan, who we despise with every fiber of being.  We have seen him in action against marriages before, but were still caught off guard when he set in his sights his evil plan for our own children and grandchildren.  We MUST teach our childen more agressive spiritual warfare, and to confront in the light, what satan would like to keep in the dark! 

What this has done to us as an extended family has been devastation...a word over-used these days, but the only one that rolls off my fingers at the keyboard.  We've known physical devastation, and this, this is devastation of people, up close and personal.  I have known friends whose children have gone through divorce, and many of them say, 'oh, you just have to let them do what they are going to do, and stay out of it'....but no one has ever been able to tell me just how to do that.

Do you just ignore it?  How?  Do you just keep busy?  How?  Do you just say to yourself when you see your grandchildren suffering...oh well?  How do people do that?

How do you just stand by and watch people you love self-destruct?  How do you watch them change into someone you don't even know?  Lord, You alone know how to reconcile all this damage.  You alone know how to guard the kingdom purpose and destiny of all these we love.  You.  Alone.

On this, the last few minutes of this day before we have one less family member.  Tears.  For someone we have been praying for since before she was born, who has been one of our children for so long.  Just..tears.

 

This morning, on awakening, the Lord had a few interesting words for me.  (Well, I mean are His words ever NOT interesting???  Duh...)

Knowing my medical background, and that I've never been any good at the questionable skill of denying reality, and have been carefully instructed in the skills of assessment of what I see with my natural eyes, He had a very simple instruction for me:

 
PICKING THE FRUIT

Yesterday, I had some rather unsettling experiences.  Yes, it happens to all of us now and again, even to those of  'mature' years.  Sometimes, in those happenstances, just for a moment (or two) mind you, I want to have what is known around these parts as a good old "hissyfit".  I know, I know..those are best relegated to the second year of life and occasionally to pms-days (thankfully long gone for me!!).  Honestly I work hard at being a low(ish) maintenance woman, I do.  But there are those instances, when you just feel the need to express it, hissyfit style. 

Duck Dynasty!

Now this TV show is truly hilarious, I mean, laugh-out-loud funny!  These people are laughing all the way to the bank...while the rest of us crack up at them.  Actually, Phil, the patriarch of this family, my hubby actually knew back in college.  He was (believe it or not) the star quarterback of his college football team (my hubby's rival team), and a friend who knew him at the time (lived next door to him in the married students' dorm--yes, he was married to "Miss Kay" when she was 16--true redneck style!)...reported that they had 7 (count em 7) hound dogs living in the dorm with them! 

Apparently all these guys are college educated and know exactly what they are doing, and are all gazillion-aires making duck calls, of all things!  And sometimes pawpaw Phil comes out with some real wisdom, especially with the grandkids..gotta love him! :)

Australia: My second favorite country

(originally written over a year ago!)
I find Australia a diverse and fascinating continent. Believed to have been one of the first continents to break away form Pangea long ago, the land was isolated for centuries and therefore devoloped unique wildlife, unlike any other wildlife system on earth. With most of the continent being desert and grassland, the animals and native peoples alike are tough and accusomed to the hot, dry climate of the outback. The Aborigines are the native peoples and are believed to have come from the Pacific islands. Later on, England took control of the land and began shipping prisoners there to work. Australia was a prison isle for quite some time. My knowledge of it all is very fuzzy, and I wish I knew more. I plan to read up on my Australian history some this summer. What I do know I gained from my World Geography course this past freshman year in high school.

Getting my beach and shabby-chic on

Recently, I got in the creative zone, so decided to convert just one of my (empty nest) guestrooms into a home office for just me. Now, we already have an "official" home office, with the obligatory computer desk, bills and family info filed, etc. That's actually the one my husband uses, and umm..let's just say he keeps a tad of a messy desk. (Good thing that desk has close-able doors, LOL!)

Certainly he knows where EVERYTHING is..but with my bent toward the orderly (and the pretty), it does not seem to my psyche to be a workable solution. He just does not appreciate my nice neat piles and cute accessories..but he does have an industrial sized shredder..it's all in how you look at it, isn't it?

 Enter..my own office! Fortunately, I have a good laptop, a kindle and now a smartphone (finally got one at the urging of the grandkids..all the while I was protesting "why would I want to see the internet on that tiny screen???"...however, I have now entered the 21st century and am finding it quite useful..my favorite feature being the voice feature for messaging! No more hunt and peck on that tiny keyboard for me! Plus of course the apps...but..I digress..)

 All those electronic gadgets now..the docking stations were starting to clutter up my bedside table..and I do so hate clutter! Therefore, I can easily justify the use of a whole room for that, plus a new opportunity to decorate (which I never could do when I had an office at work!) and organize my stuff. Decorating and organizing being WAY cheaper than therapy in my view! (you know how it is when you can't "fix" something, well cleaning/decorating/organizing is my way to fix something else! Works for me!)

My dear husband built me a shabby-chic desk (I LOVE HIM), and I brought my sister's Victorian fainting chaise in, and some things a dear old friend gave me after Katrina, an old ornate dining room chair I covered with yellow chenille..you get the picture, it is turning into a beach cottage/shabby chic office! Lots of light, looking out on the golf course and the back yard. Hydrangeas abloom outside my windows, and my own little private deck with my Mother's day fountain that my hubby gave me (did I mention I LOVE HIM??) with adirondack chairs and pots of flowers and herbs and veggies.

Then, to feed my un-ashamed addiction to office supplies, I have a large double-door closet to organize them in. Haven't really had to buy anything, just had to gather it all up from other places in the house. The only problem I can see is, when the grandboys come, putting down air mattresses in this very girly office may not suit them..oh well, so far they have enjoyed putting together model airplanes in here! We have lots of other places they can sleep!

Broken things

As I guess it may be with many bloggers, sometimes you take a blog-break, which is what I have done for awhile.  My Cuppycake and I (as well as the rest of our family) have gone through a truly difficult time in the last year or so.  Tragically, her parents are separated and divorcing.  Candidly, I never thought I would see that happen in our children's families..but alas, it has. And I will not pretend that it has not been very hard on our Cuppycake and her little brothers, and her dad, as well as for all of us extended. 

The Lord has taken us through some rough waters with this, and His grace has been sufficient, although there are times we may all have been in less-than-ideal places.  Not to diminish what is an ongoing trial, we have tried to be open to what the Lord is teaching us through this.  And of course, what the enemy means for harm, if we let Him, the Lord will always use it for our ultimate good.  Isn't that just like Him?? 

What seems impossible in our circumstances, will (and has) actually grown us.  I feel confident in Him that my son and grandchildren will be strengthened through this, and will always always always pray for my dear daughter-in-law's restoration and happiness.  My Cuppycake is on the mend, and is a priceless pearl, learning and growing through it all!  OK, enough said for today on that subject..she has her own story to tell...we press on.

I will say this: prophetic declaration prayer from the Word over those you love and see suffering simply..WORKS.  Be bold, be aggressive, and refuse the enemy any more ground..then take back what he has tried to steal by violence in the spiritual realm! Just sayin' yall.