Happy Birthday, Mom

I got a little negligent with my postings and missed my tribute to my mom on her birthday a few weeks ago. I wrote this for her a couple of years out of high school.

What I Love About You, Mom

You prepared regular meals and made sure our home was clean and straightened.

You came to all our sporting and school related events.

You cared for me when I was sick.

You are a wonderful cook and I hope one day I will follow in your footsteps.

You tried your best to provide a healthy lifestyle for us.

You instilled in me a healthy respect for authority.

You worked extra so we did not do without.

Anytime I travel somewhere I can be sure you are thinking about me and know where I am on my itinerary.

You chose family instead of a career.

You are the one who encouraged my love of learning and reading.

You have defended us whenever others have criticized us.

You, along with Dad, helped strengthen the bonds of our family relationships.

You always encouraged me when I thought I was facing the end of the world!

You had a way of rationalizing all my fears.

I always knew I could come and talk to you about anything.

You let me make my own decisions and supported whatever I chose.

You stood by Dad in whatever he did or said.

I will always cherish our times going to coffee, shopping, and the times we watched our t.v. programs.

Thank you, Mom, for sacrificing for me all these years.

Come unto Me

A book I have really been enjoying lately is Holiness by J.C. Ryle. He was an English preacher during the 1800s. It may sound like a dry and laborious read, but I cannot express adequately how much I have been blessed by this book. J.C. Ryle is an eminently clear and concise communicator. And this book reads like a devotional. Every day I read it I could pull a profitable quote to share on here, but I will restrain myself!

In the chapter I have been currently reading he explains the words of Jesus when he said, 

“If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37, 38

One of the things Bishop Ryle points out is how simple the remedy for those who thirst: Believe.

“How simple this remedy for thirst appears! But oh, how hard it is to persuade some persons to receive it! Tell them to do some great thing, to mortify their bodies, to go on pilgrimage, to give all their goods to feed the poor, and so to merit salvation, and they will try to do as they are bid. Tell them to throw overboard all idea of merit, working, or doing, and to come to Christ as empty sinners, with nothing in their hands and like Naaman, they are ready to turn away in disdain (2 Kings 5:12). Human nature is always the same in every age.”

The world over people struggle against the simplicity of the gospel. “I must do something to earn my place in heaven!” No, my friend, you must go to Jesus. He is the only remedy for your sin. 

 

Grandma’s Special

While I am on the topic of recipes with few ingredients  I thought I’d go ahead and post another easy peasy one. I do like cooking very much, but some days when you have bare cupboards and time is of a premium I love to have a few go to recipes that I can throw together quickly.

This one comes from from my husband’s mother. She learned it from her mother. I don’t know what to call it, so we will go with:

Grandma’s Special

1lb ground beef

1 cup of cooked rice

1 can of diced tomatoes (seasoned ones would be great)

1 can of evaporated milk

Brown the ground beef in a skillet. Season well. This part is up to you. My mother in law is the master of seasoning things well. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. Hard to duplicate, but use your imagination. Salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, or whichever seasonings your family enjoys, just make sure to use more than you think is necessary, because this will be the only seasoning for the entire dish.

Layer the seasoned beef on the bottom of a covered baking dish. Spread the cooked rice over the top of the beef. Pour the can of diced tomatoes over the rice. And finally, pour the can of evaporated milk over all of it (if you prefer to do half a can that works fine too).

Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

Doesn’t get much easier than that!

Creamy Potato Soup

Well, the long days of winter have come to an end finally. The days are longer and sun is shining once again. I meant to post this recipe when it was still cold and windy out . . . but we may still have a few of those days ahead of us yet, so I will go ahead and share a comfort food soup for you!

I love recipes that only have a few ingredients and still taste really yummy. This is one, but when I first read through it I thought for sure I would have to add something to jazz it up a bit. I think it tastes fine just as it is and it will be a breeze to make. I hope you enjoy this recipe from Cooking on Clover Lane.

Happy Birthday, Dad

Today is my Dad’s 73rd birthday. I am so grateful to have him still here with us and to (finally) be living close. I wrote a tribute to him nearly 12 years ago. I wanted to post it here in its entirety.

What I Love About You, Dad

You devoted your life to serve our country.

You have compassion for the underdog.

You took care of our home and car repairs.

You taught me how important dependability was for being on a team or working for an employer.

Family was your priority and you made sure we knew it should be ours, too.

You encouraged all my dreams and aspirations.

You were quick to give praise and compliments.

You have always assured me of your trust in my decisions.

You support me and my beliefs even though we do not always see eye to eye.

You never failed to attend my games or academic awards ceremonies.

You sacrificed personal pleasure and comforts so I would have nice clothes, time with my friends, and money to spend like all the other kids.

You stayed away from drinking and gambling to be a responsible man of the house.

You worked an 8 to 5 job that allowed our family regular and quality time with our dad.

You respected Mom by supporting her in front of us kids.

You performed one of the greatest acts of love for us by loving Mom and being committed to her for nearly 50 years.

Thank you for all those things and so much more, Dad.

I would like to add another one since I wrote this before having children. Thank you for being such a great grandpa to our boys. From the time they were tiny babies your love and affection for them is so obvious.

I love you!

Take heart

In light of the recent anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I read a super encouraging blog post by the girls at Femina.

“But we know that our God is stronger than Goliath. We know that he will fall. It is simply a question of when and how. Goliath is not invincible, Goliath does not get away with taunting the Living God. We know how that story ends.”

Read the post in its entirety. You will not be disappointed.

Hardly a dull moment . . .

I want to start a category just for the interesting things my children say. I always think I will remember them later, but that is rarely the case. Some of these things will be more interesting to their parents and grandparents, but I will post them anyways, if for no other reason than my own amusement.

Two days ago as we were all listening to one of the Narnia books on audio my husband said, “I wish I could go to Narnia.” Our five year old replied, “Narnia is in South America.”