Eustace is wandering around in the woods this morning, in search of a forest that’s hidden within its own trees!
I made a reference about not being able to see the forest for the trees not too long ago, and Eustace took it upon himself to go and investigate. Ugh! I have to be more careful with some of the things I say in front of that silly camel. He takes everything so literally, ya know?!
Being a light in the darkest of places requires a powerful source… and it ain’t mine!
Walking in shadows to find the lost calls for strength and courage that only comes from my creator!
My own light is quite weak when I try to fuel it without the proper oil… Holy oil, that is!
I, myself, have gotten lost repeatedly when trying to traverse the shadows by my own strength… and my courage always failed me when I sought to do things on my own.
The only legacy that should remain in my absence? It was never mine to begin with, as I am merely His vessel!
When I was given grace, it blossomed into something much more than I shall ever be… true forgiveness, purpose, mercy, love, and a desire to further His kingdom!
You want a legacy? Here’s one that should last into eternity…
“With what shall I come before the lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Micah 6:6-8
Cookies?
One of my favorite songs about babies has to be from Lady and the Tramp, when Lady first meets the new baby. Put an adorable dog together with a baby and a tender song and what do you get? I get all emotional and start crying!
So it seems that it is fitting and right that I start your Monday off with the sniffles… but in a good way, of course!
Guess what?
It’s a girl!
Well, she’s here but not ready to come out of hiding just yet. That’ll be on or near November 25th. It makes me smile whenever I think on that date since my daughter’s birthday is the 18th. Wouldn’t it be the funniest thing if she is born on my daughter’s actual birthday day?!
They’ve still not quite settled on her name, at the moment, and neither have I. NO, I don’t get to name her! But, what I do get to do that nobody else can is to give her a special Meemaw name, just like I’ve done for all my other grandbabies.
Let’s see, there’s my first grandson “Peanut”, then my little Peach, my pinecone, and Little Man. Following them is my Chipmunk and our little Firefly, too. That makes five in all, so far. I’m also a Godmother to a very special Peapod.
Why the namesakes? Simple terms of endearment left with each of them for their memories… and, let’s be honest here… my memories, too!
It’s funny that I started doing this all the way back when my girls were born. My girls would never forgive me if I stopped referring to them by their personal nicknames, no joke!
I guess it never occurred to me how important it was for them, til a few weeks ago. I was sitting with my oldest grandson and talking about when he was smaller. I thought to apologize to him for always calling him Peanut when he was little, as he always made a fuss at me for doing it.
When I said that I was sorry, my grandson stopped what he was playing on the computer, looked at me funny for a moment, and then said, “why are you sorry?” I told him that I thought it bothered him, but he just smiled and shook his head in disagreement.
Apparently, he would like me to continue calling him Peanut… I’ve been given the all clear!
Ever since that conversation I’ve not stopped thinking about the importance of those little things, those tiny details. Often we find ourselves getting so caught up in doing the big things, we lose sight of what’s possible in a tiny, tiny thing…
All big things begin small, right?!
So, now that you’ve been given way more information than you probably needed for this next part… it’s time we think on a very special name for our newest family member. Yes, I said we! Don’t you want to help me think up an adorable new nickname for my soon-to-arrive granddaughter? Give it some thought if you would and then let me know in the comments. If we all put our heads together I know we can come up with something really adorable.
Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday … hugs
The answer is in the question, silly WordPress! Balance is the answer, in and of itself. What’s in the baskets will depend on the one doing the balancing. The key to the balancing is to choose the correct set of scales!
Look for quality, longevity, and any and all perks available with your purchase. Watch out for companies that cut corners with cheap product and shoddy manufacturing. They will look pretty, but will break after the first couple of uses.
Remember, if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is!
Go with a reputable company, preferably one that’s been around for a good long while. And do your research! Ask around for testimonials from those who previously purchased quality scales. This way, you are sure to find the set of scales that were meant just for you.
I found mine, and I promise that you will too. And I’ll stand on their quality til my last breath! I’ve had mine for as long as I can remember. At times, I’ve abused them, misplaced them, or downright put them away so I could try to do things my way. But I’ve still got them… and they look as good as they did when I first received them. If you’d like to, you can use my testimony and referral to where I got mine if you’re in the market to buy a quality set of scales. I’d be happy to tell you where I got them from… you know, who the manufacturer is, and all.
Until such time, we shall bake cookies…
I thought we could all do with a reminder of who we are and how God sees us.
May you feel God’s love and faithfulness in your lives today, and always… Hugs
It seems like just yesterday she was playing dress-up…
and now she’s having a baby!
And guess what?
I know the gender of my grandbaby, but it’s a secret… for now. My daughter asked that I take a peek at her test results and not tell her the gender, yet. This way, I can bake the gender reveal cake for her and my son-in-law. They want to experience the surprise together, as a couple. Isn’t that incredibly romantic?
So, guess what today is?
Baking day!
I need to get the cakes baked and cooled, but I won’t be doing the frosting and decorating til tomorrow. I want the frosting to be as fresh as possible, so I’ll hold off doing it til just before we deliver it.
For now, I can show you the cake baking part as long as it’s only the cakes. I’ll be sure to show you the whole thing after the reveal, I promise!
I’m making a 4 layer white cake with the surprise candy hidden on the inside. The recipe I found is crazy! It calls to bake them for 50 minutes at 325. Even though my oven runs a bit warm, they baked for 43 minutes before I pulled them… absolutely perfect!
I’ve cooled, wrapped, and refrigerated them til tomorrow morning. When I get up in the morning, I’ll make a huge batch of Vanilla Buttercream frosting. My youngest daughter bought a very lovely cake topper, as well as the candy that goes on the inside.
For now, the scary part is finished… that is, perfect cakes for the decorating. I’m a flavor girl, so I don’t care how pretty the cake looks on the outside. If it doesn’t taste delicious then what’s the point, right?!
Oh, and I even cleaned up my mess! Well, to be honest, it wasn’t that difficult. Ever since I began my baking adventures with that tiny Easy-Bake-Oven, my workspace needed to be clean. I suppose that every baker worth their salt, or more appropriately, their sugar, keeps things clean as they go along. It helps keep a clean and organized work space! Willy Wonka’s factory was always clean and organized… it had to be!
That way he could focus on the magic in the candy. Well, at least that’s what I think…
Peepers… eyeballs… the windows to your soul… whatever you wish to call them, is entirely up to you.
Everyone has them, everyone takes them for granted, and everyone hopes they keep working right.
You can use them, abuse them, or hide them from others… but they go wherever you go…
I know that right this moment, they’ve picked out a glaringly obvious grammatical error in this ridiculous prompt!
If you wish to know more than one, prompt writer, shouldn’t you be using What’re rather than What’s?
Just sayin!
How bout them cookies…
Have you ever wanted something so much that you can’t stop thinking about it? It consumes your thoughts, your dreams, and gives you a motivation that you didn’t know you had. You scrimp and save, make numerous sacrifices to afford the time, money, and anything else required to prepare for said thing. It might be anything from a vacation, a new car, or even a baby!
Unless you are very wealthy and/or were born with a big ENTITLED badge sewn on the left cheek your bum… there’s usually a vast distance from start to finish! I think sometimes we watch too much television, where they make it look like a walk in the park to become ALL THAT!
The last time I checked, there weren’t any badges on my bum nor do I carry a purse full of cash, so I’m looking across a vast canyon that’s deep and wide. In our particular situation, it’s somewhat like looking up from a very deep well. There’s a sensation of being slowly pulled upward, while sitting in a bucket that’s still half full of murky water.
Discovering such a great distance between that first rescue bucket and the really solid dry land needed has been a bit of a shock. Truly, it was ignorant of me to assume that we could get from homeless to successful overnight, just because we have keys to an apartment. When they hand you that so-called GOLDEN TICKET… you’re on your own!
When we were circling the drain, all I could think about was getting my books published and quickly leaving all the bad memories behind. Pipe dreams, I know, but it helped. Not only is it NOT so easy, but now that I’m here in this moment, I’m not even sure if it’s in God’s purpose… at least, not right now!
The program we are in does NOT allow for my husband or I to make any money while he is going to school. If any money is made, we stand to lose much or all of our housing money. No one tells you what to do for any actual dollars needed for things, outside of food stamps that only cover food. It makes me wonder how many people fail to ever recover, due to this little flaw in the system. We’ve actually found just about every flaw, crack, or hole in the system to fall into, which is why it took us nearly two years to get housing (the last six months was the homeless, homeless part.
In the end, I don’t care what president holds office… the system just needs to be fixed… for the people! That’s us, the feet on the ground, the workers, the farmers, the builders, the caregivers… the human souls that keep this country afloat with our hard work, our bloody and dirty hands, and our truly beautiful hearts!
This is the very reason that I rely on GOD alone, above any and all government! The only reason we are here, in this very apartment, had God stamped all over it! No government policy or case worker made that one person change their heart and allow us in… that was GOD!
With that being said, I still find myself wondering what now? Why did God put us here, and what is the next step? What if I step out in faith and start throwing manuscripts out there, only to find that I was the only one who believed in their value, you know? Yep! This loudmouthed frog, Chatty Cathy, Wiwohka Wonka, and redeemed woman of faith has doubt, just like everybody else. My journey toward eternity is just that… a journey! It’s how I intend to get there that will count. Maybe that’s why it’s so easy to see God as our father. He faithfully carries us through our entire life, teaching and loving us through good, bad, right, wrong, darkness, and light.
It doesn’t matter if my steps go off track, if my faith is weak, or if I simply feel unsure about my next choice…
GOD IS WITH US!
GOD IS ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, FAITHFUL!
GOD WILL ALWAYS LIGHT THE WAY FOR US!
It’s not about whether our choices are the right ones, the wrong ones, or even the refusal to decide… it’s about looking up, getting up, and continuing forward in faith, hope and love!
If I’m to be fully honest about why any of this is even being written down and shared with others, it’s to remind myself!
Thanks for listening… hugs
Being either a leader or a follower is somewhat like knowing when to add sugar or salt, flour or water. In the end, what you want is a cake that tastes good AND looks good, right?!
It’s been said that to lead, one must first learn to follow. It’s also been said that to get you have to give, to speak well means to listen well, and to do a job well you have to learn the job in the first place… ok, that last one is maybe just one I made up but it seemed fitting.
Anyhow, we are all capable of leading when it’s truly needed, as well as the following bit!
Just follow the instructions on the back of the box, or in my case, what’s in the pages of scripture… just sayin!
Cookies?
Bailey’s been practicing…
If Eustace is willing to learn how to read maps and navigational charts, when he can’t even read, then I think it’s possible for us. That is, if we set our minds to it!
As they say… Use it or Lose it!
Journey With Me! 