~ A Thanksgiving Prayer ~

Thank You, God, for everything … 
The big things and the small, 
For “every good gift comes from God” … 
The Giver of them all. 

And all too often we accept 
Without any thanks or praise, 
The gifts You send as blessings 
Each day in many ways. 

And so at this Thanksgiving time, 
We offer up a prayer; 
To thank You, God, for giving us 
A lot more than our share. 

First, thank You for the little things 
That often come our way; 
The things we take for granted 
And don’t mention when we pray. 

The unexpected courtesy, 
The thoughtful, kindly deed, 
A hand reached out to help us … 
In the time of sudden need. 

Oh, make us more award, dear God, 
Of little daily graces, 
That come to us with “sweet surprise,” 
From never-dreamed-of places. 

Then, thank You for the “miracles” 
We are much too blind to see, 
And give us new awareness 
Of our many gifts from Thee. 

And help us to remember 
That the “key” to “life” and “living,” 
Is to make each prayer a “prayer of thanks,” 
And every day THANKSGIVING. 

~ Helen Steiner Rice ~

 

I also thank Him for all of you!
For your friendship, and the blessing you have been to me here!
I pray each of you have a most blessed and Happy Thanksgiving Day!
Hugs ~ Deborah <><

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“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.

Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.

Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.”

1 Chronicles 29:11-13 

Hope you all had a great weekend!  Mine was a busy one … no snow, though … but the craft show was good, and we were blessed!  Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers on that!  After that long day, hubby headed over to a friend’s house to see him again before he leaves to go to Africa for a three year missionary trip.  They’ve become very close, and I know he’s going to miss him very much.  As for me … I headed home to get off my weary feet!  Sunday after church we went to dinner together at one of our favorite restaurants, The House of Tokyo … they have great lunch prices, and they cook it right in front of you.  We had not been there in quite sometime, and we were glad we went.  After that, we went to the apple orchard, to get our favorite apples before they were gone, since the season is winding down now.  It was a cold, gray day, and we did see some snow then!  We also got a tip on how they keep those apples fresh longer ….

… when you put them in your crisper drawer in the fridge, cover them with a sopping wet towel … yes, sopping wet!  When it starts to dry out, sop it again, and lay it over them, that is if you haven’t already eaten them!  They will stay crisp and fresh for quite awhile!  They actually keep the apples that have been picked, in the big refrigerators, and in tubs of water … pretty interesting information for us apple lovers!  After the trip to the orchard, we went to my sisters and spent a couple of hours before calling it a day.  Yesterday, I wasn’t feeling too well … and I wondered if it was the food I had eaten the day before.  I tried to get out of bed, and was extremely dizzy … couldn’t really stand to get my bearings.  Not sure where that came from, but the whole day, I was very dizzy!  I also had to get Lewis packed to head out of town for a job this week, so needless to say, my being dizzy made for a pretty trying day!  I’d so appreciate your prayers!  I’m still feeling that way, and I’m hoping this goes away soon! 

Also, unfortunately, my husband has misplaced his driver’s license, and some other important cards that were in a little holder of sorts.  We’ve looked everywhere, but haven’t found it yet.  He thinks it could be on one of his jobs from last week.  Please pray that no one else has it, and he finds it soon!  I’m concerned about identity theft these days!  He put it in a heavy quilted shirt jacket, and can’t remember exactly where he left that at!  He will be leaving early this morning, around 5:00AM, so if you would pray for a safe trip for him as well.  And now, he’s traveling without a driver’s license, out of town … he really has no choice at this point!  Your prayers are so appreciated! 

Pookie is doing great, and staying very close, so far!  Although the other night, I looked out and saw another cat on the porch!  Whatever am I getting myself into!  I haven’t seen the other one since then, and when Lewis gets home later this week, we’re going to take her in to the vet, then she’ll be in the house!  It’s so cold out tonight … 20-something, and I’m a bit concerned for her.  She’s staying in her warm box though … smart kitty!  I hope you all have a great day, and stay warm, too … I’ll be visting around and checking in with the rest of you, today … in the meantime there’s a devotion that I read yesterday, that might encourage you as well!

Blessings & hugs,
   ~ Deborah  <><     

A Bad Cup Of Coffee
 ~ Julia Bettencourt

“…Be ye holy; for I am holy” 1 Peter 1:16

I think everyone disagrees on what makes a good cup of coffee. With today’s hot coffee trend, we try all kinds of flavorings and different ways of experiencing coffee. It used to be basically served black or with cream and sugar. There wasn’t much variety.

Nowadays, people like coffee served and brewed a lot of different ways. We tend to disagree on what’s good. What we usually agree on is the basics on what makes a bad cup of coffee. It can be weak, bitter, stale, cold, or soured by something we put in it and we’d probably all agree that it tastes bad. Face it. No one likes to drink a bad cup of coffee.

I don’t suppose people like those bad tasting Christians they come across either. I wonder what type of coffee we’d be.

Weak.
When we are weak Christians, we don’t have much faith. Sometimes when we are weak we don’t know God’s Word enough to know what we stand on. The way to remedy our weakness is to add some grounds.  Dig into God’s Word and get grounded on the principles found in the bible. Study the attributes of God. Learn what you believe concerning doctrine and bone up on the basics of living the Christian life. Enrich yourself with a vibrant prayer life and rely on God’s strength and not your own.

Bitter.
I’ve known my share of bitter Christians and I’ve been there at a few points in my own life but if bitterness isn’t dealt with, it starts growing and eating up your life. Bitterness doesn’t leave a pleasant aroma. You can’t do much with a bitter cup of coffee. No matter how much cream or sugar, or even how much whip cream you want to plop on top, the bitter taste is still there. You have to dump it out and refill the cup with a new fresh brewed pot of coffee.

Isn’t that just so like in the Christian life? No matter how much we add to our Christian lives, no matter how many good deeds we do, how many church programs we become involved with, if our bitterness is still there, we are still bitter and it hinders us in our Christian walk. What we need to do is empty all our bitterness and ourselves of self and then allow the filling of the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives.

Stale.
The dictionary describes, stale as “tasteless or unpalatable from age”. Do you ever get complacent about your Christianity? Just have lost that first love? It’s easy to do, especially for those of us who’ve known the Lord for a very long time. We kind of get weary in well doing.

I know we don’t want to just sit as Christians and not do anything but we do. “Unpalatable” doesn’t go far enough to describe us sometimes. I guess we need to freshen up. There’s a worship chorus that says, “Holy Spirit fall fresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me.” I think that’s what we all need so that we will get busy for the Lord. We don’t want to be Christians that just sit and get stale and tasteless.

Cold.
You may have brought a cup of coffee to your lips that you hadn’t realized had gotten cold. You think it’s going to be warm and good and then you realize that it’s cold. We get that way in our desire to serve Christ. We grow cold as a Christian. There are probably a lot of reasons. We get away from Christ, slow down in our bible reading and prayer life, stop going to church and pretty soon we are cold.

What do you do to a cold cup of coffee? Most of us just add a little bit of hot stuff from the coffee pot. We go to the source of the heat. That’s how we should do as Christians. Go to the Source. Get on our knees and talk to the Lord. Draw closer to Him and then we’ll get warmed up in our Christian walk.

Sour.
Have you ever tried something new in your coffee? With all those new flavorings and things out there, I’m sure some have. Ever tried something in your coffee that just left a sour taste in your mouth and that didn’t agree with you? Or maybe you’ve put some cream that had gone bad into your coffee. That’s a sure fire way to ruin a perfectly good cup of coffee.

It’s the same thing when we allow worldly and ungodly things into our lives as Christians. It doesn’t agree with us because we are in the world but not of it. As Christians, those things sour us and basically make us rotten. We become ineffective in our Christian lives when we allow the things of the world to come spilling in.

Conclusion:
I hope I don’t prove to be a bad cup of coffee. This past Sunday our pastor spoke about being in the presence of the Lord. He used the verse, “…Be ye holy; for I am holy“, 1 Peter 1:16 and was talking about how spending time with the Lord brings that sweet aroma. I think that’s what this is all about. In order to avoid being weak, bitter, stale, cold, and sour as Christians, we have to learn to be in the presence of God more.

Spending time with the Lord through prayer, bible reading and study is what’s going to make us into those strong cups of coffee. It will allow us to let the Holy Spirit stir us. I know I need to work on spending more time with Christ. I think we sometimes take our time with the Lord lightly. I know perhaps I do. We think of it as just a devotional time or bible reading time but when we realize that we are spending time in the “presence of the Lord” it really puts things into perspective. He’s a great and holy God and we have the opportunity to spend time with Him each day. He’ll blend us to perfection if we’ll just spend time with Him.

So, what type of coffee are you?

The leaves have all but blanketed the ground here … winter is well on it’s way!  It has been beautiful here … although today, it was gray, rainy, very cool, and getting colder!  We may even see some snow, come tomorrow!  As for now, I’ve been preparing this week for another craft show on Saturday.  We loaded the van then headed to the school to set up earlier this evening.  They gave us two hours tonight, and then we’ll get two more hours in the morning before the doors open from 9:00AM to 4:00PM.  It’s usually very busy, and we’re pretty tired by the time we load up again to head home.  I am looking forward to it, though, and praying for a prosperous day!  It was raining ‘cats and dogs’ when we got there to unload … not very pleasant, and besides, soap and water don’t mix!  I had everything pretty well protected, and we got in and set up in less than two hours this time!  I have a few small things to finish up and I’ll have ample time to do that in the morning!  It will be a good day. come rain, or shine … or maybe even a little snow! 
 
I mentioned cats above … well, we have a kitten that has come to live on our porch!  She has some very pretty markings, is very loving, and she really seems to like it here.  I’ve been feeding her, and slowly introducing her to the ‘Moosh’, our indoor cat, through a crack in the door … they’ve exchanged ‘paws’, and Moosh seems to be slowly warming up to her, although there have been a few hissing sounds from him!  I tell him he needs to be nice, and I can tell she doesn’t seem to mind his presence at all … in fact, she seems as if she’d like to come in and play!  I’d like to get her de-fleaed, and de-wormed (if she has any), also those necessary shots, then bring her in as an indoor cat … I’m hoping Moosh will take to her … if not, my sister is more than willing to give her a home … and she’d still be in the family!  But, I do so want to keep her for myself!!  I’ve become attached … and that can be a dangerous thing! 

I am concerned about a few other things … such as whether or not a 2 cat litter-box is a good thing … or, should I have one for each of them?  And, Moosh is on a special diet, so how would I keep her from eating his food … or him from eating her kitten food?!  How DO you introduce a new kitten into the home where there is already a ‘seasoned’ cat!  Just some things to ponder!  If anyone has any hints, tips, or suggestions … well, you know where the comment box is!  )

We do live next to a busy road, and we have had a puppy run out and get hit … also another little kitten that came to our porch a few years ago was found in the road by my husband … so sad!  This one seems to stay close around the house, the other one did not, so if you would, pray that she continues to do that, until we can get her into the vet!  I did notice today, that she loves to just sit in the rain … contemplating.  Hmmm, ‘cat contemplations’ … wonder what she’s thinking?!  I’ve given her a funny little nick-name … well, ‘Mooshie’ is a funny name, so I thought why break tradition!   We call her ‘Pookie’ … really!   She comes running when you call her that!  Mooshie and Pookie … oh dear!  What have I gotten myself into!  Lots of kitty-joy, I do think!  Pray that all these concerns that I have will be worked out … I know once he gets used to her, Moosh will have someone to keep him company when we’re away.  ‘It is not good for cat to be alone’!  

I did take some photos of her yesterday … she’s a bit camera shy, and wouldn’t sit still for me, so I did the best I could … not sure how they turned out yet … going to see now!  Once we get her in here with the Moosh, ‘Betsy and Benjie’ may have some blog competition here!  They are a couple of really cool cats who have lots of fun together over on Linda’s site!  They are related and get along very well … so, I’m hoping M & P will learn to get along, too!  Here are the photos … you can see why I’m just a little bit attached, now can’t you?!! 

First time she saw the camera …
she was a bit shy in the beginning.

Such beautiful eyes!!

She blends right in doesn’t she …
great ‘catouflage’!!

‘Pondering Pookie’

Not too sure how happy this one will be, though!
That ‘look’ should give me some indication …
don’t you think?!

‘Awww, but, Moosh … how can you resist my big golden eyes?!’ 
She had just come out of a corner in the garage,
where she discovered some cobwebs …
you can faintly see them on the right side of her face.
Curious kitty!  Aren’t they all!

Okay … that’s certainly enough for now … let me know what you think of her!  It’s late, and I need to get some sleep before morning!  In the meantime, you all have a wonderful weekend … mine will, again, be busy and full, but I’ll get around to check in with you all very soon!  

Hugs & blessings!
               ~ Deborah <><

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. 
Hebrews 4:16 NIV

I’ve stumbled.  At the beginning of each day, I find some time to enter the throne room of God and bring my praises and petitions to Him.  Some days, I dance in singing praises all the way.  Other days, I march in assure of His attention and presence.  And then there are days I stumble in wondering why I’m there. 

Once I heard my pastor say sometimes he doesn’t feel like praising.  But he goes through the motions anyway.  Then a wonderful thing happens.  He begins to believe what he’s saying.  Ever have days like that?  Sometimes you’ve had a rotten day when everything has gone wrong.  And sometimes, you are just tired.  The demands of life and living have worn you out.  So, you stumble in.

This morning I sat on the floor of the throne room and looked around.  “I’m here, Lord,”…  like He needed me to tell Him.  I began to speak and apologize for stumbling in, not my usual peppy self.  He listened.  I explained how some days all I could do was stumble in, and in telling Him I realized it didn’t matter.  I was there.  He didn’t care how I got there.  And then I praised Him for that.  As I praised I noticed I sat up a little straighter. 

Then I praised Him for listening to a wretch like me.  He kept listening.  My heart was full.  I stood and thanked Him for loving me.  He listened.  I felt His presence and the warm wrap of His embrace.  I raised my hands and poured out my petitions before the throne.  And guess what happened?

He listened.  And He loved me.  And He filled me.  And He lifted me.  And I am His!  

Though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
Psalm 37:24 NIV

Set my heart, O dear Father, On Thee, and Thee only,
Give me a thirst for Thy presence divine.
Lord, keep my focus on loving Thee wholly,
Purge me from earth; Turn my heart after Thine.

A passion for Thee; O Lord,
Set a fire in my soul and a thirst for my God.
Hear Thou my prayer, Lord Thy power impart.
Not just to serve, but to love Thee with all of my heart.

Father fill with Thy Spirit, and fit me for service,
Let love for Christ ev’ry motive inspire,
Teach me to follow in selfless submission,
Be Thou my joy and my soul’s one desire.

—Joe Zichterman

“In Your presence is fullness of joy.”
Psalm 16:11

I trust you all had a blessed weekend!  We did!  Had a wonderful time celebrating Mom Betty’s birthday with family!  Chili’s was delicious, by the way!  Yesterday, we also had a busy day at church, then after that, went to my sister’s to play some cards with her and her hubby!  Lewis won!!  We finally headed home, exhausted, after the long weekend.  I recently received an e-mail … thoughts on the recent elections … and wanted to share it with you!  It is lengthy, but I believe, well worth the read!  I look forward to your comments on this! 

You have a blessed Monday … I’m on my way around here today, to catch up some more!  The weekend kept me busy and away from the computer … which I might add, is hopefully getting those ‘bugs’ worked out this coming Wednesday!  Cory the Computer Guy will be here then!  

Blessings to all! 
Hugs ~ Deborah <><

 AUTUMN

The time of each year that snaps us awake.
Out of the doldrums of late summers bake.

The switch that is thrown, for trees, colors to make.
And families unite for activities sake.

The chill in the morn’ being quiet refrain.
Warm afternoons have natures disdain.

The drone of the bee in its last search for nectar.
The squirrels stock their nests as winters protector.

The smell in the air of hot cider, and burnt leaves.
Makes us rejoice in the brilliance of the trees.

The tweak on your skin by a chill in the morning.
Is all you will get of a cold winters warning.

So enjoy the crisp air, the colors, the feelings.
Of Autumns great show and its ex-cited dealings.

Reflect on this time, it is special and dear.
And oh so short to exist, as the best time of year.

      ~D.McDermott~

Well … finally … it’s beginning to look a lot like Fall around here, isn’t it!  I love the colors of the season, but I did enjoy that ‘ocean’ blue, too!  I still have some changes I want to make, but this is definitely a start.  It’s also beginning to feel a lot like Fall here, as well.  It’s about 46* outside, and they’re prediciting thirty-something by morning.  There’s the hint of woodsmoke in the air … I just love that!  So how’s the weather in your neighborhood … and what are your plans for the weekend?  We’re just relaxing here on Saturday, and then tomorrow we’ll have a fairly full day of church.  It will be a good day.  I pray you all have a wonderful weekend … I’ll be making more rounds here today, as well.  I’ll try to get some photos posted sometime this weekend.  Hmmm, I think I may make a pot of chili, and a loaf, or two, of pumpkin bread … that sounds good on a cold day like today.  I also need to get out my winter sweaters … it looks like the chill is here to stay for awhile!  I’ll see you soon!  Blessings on your day!   Hugs ~ Deborah <>< 


Let the first act on waking be to place yourself, your heart, mind, faculties, your whole being, in God’s hands. Ask Him to take entire possession of you, to be the Guide of your soul, your Life, your Wisdom, your Strength. He wills that we seek him in all our needs, that we may both know Him truly, and draw closer and closer to Him; and in prayer we gain an invisible force which will triumph over seemingly hopeless difficulties.  ~ Sidney Lear

 

To Mom Betty … We love you!

 
P.S.   This is a real quick update … we won’t be relaxing here at home today … it’s a ‘happy day’  … hubby has already left to the antique mall to restock … and silly me, I forgot to mention that today is Mom Betty’s 81st birthday!! 

They are both doing pretty well … Lew goes and plays pool with Dad at the recreation center there at the assisted living home … Dad always wins!  Hubby beats me, though … all the time!    But, I am glad they are spending so much time together … making up for those ‘father & son’ years that were lost to each other.  Family is so important!  We’re looking forward to today … we’ll be having dinner out … (per Mom’s request) … at a restaurant, called ‘Chili’s', later today.  She’s been wanting to eat there for awhile, and it’s just the day to do it!

So we’ll be headed that way,  … and it’ll be a relaxing day ‘out’ with the whole family!  It is ‘chili’ out, too … cloudy, and windy … definitely a day to dress warm … hmmm,  … now let’s see, where did I put my favorite sweater?!  But first, I’m going to go get a hot cup of tea …  … or maybe I should make it … coffee, before I get ready to leave!  I’m a bit draggy here, late this morning!  Ever have draggy mornings?  Yep, me too!  

Warm hugs to all!      

I love that ‘Pulse’ we have on here!  Thanks to those who commented on all of them that I had recently put up … so much has been happening, but first let me catch you up on our anniversary last week.  Hubby didn’t get home when he thought he would last Wednesday afternoon, so we didn’t get to do much driving around in the country, to enjoy those colors before darkness fell, but we did have a very nice anniversary dinner.  We ate at a place called ‘Outback’ Steak House … it has an Australian flair … we hadn’t eaten there in a very long time, so we thought, why not!  We had an appetizer called the ‘Bloomin’ Onion’, with a great dipping sauce that started off our meal, which consisted of the house salad, seasoned rib-eye steak, steamed buttered broccoli.  I had the whole grain seasoned wild rice, and Lew had the sweet baked potato with lots o’ butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon!  I prefer the rice to that … I don’t like too much sugar with my steak, if you know what I mean!  Anyway, it was a nice quiet, romantic dinner, and as usual, after we were finished eating that, we were approached with their luscious dessert menu!  It wasn’t a hard decision at all, though … we chose their moist, three layer, carrot cake with buttered cream cheese icing, toasted pecans, and sprinkles of cinnamon on top!  We shared one very large piece, and oh my … that’s worth a trip back just for that!  It was special to us because our wedding cake was just that very same flavor!  Not white, or chocolate, but, moist carrot with that buttered cream cheese icing and pecans!  We had apple cider instead of the traditional punch.  I think I kept the top of that cake for quite a few years … in the freezer … we never did eat it, isn’t that sad?!  Of course, it did eventually deteriorate, so I took a photo of it when we were moving one year, then I had to finally get rid of it! (  I’ll have to share that photo with you, sometime!  Then, after dinner, we did a little driving in the country, but we only had about a half hour of light left … so I went to get the back of my hair trimmed up … the lady who does it would normally charge me $10.00 for what they call a ‘bang trim’.  Well, she had called and said her prices went up a little bit, so when I went in and got only 3 inches trimmed off, no shampoo, and no extras … I figured it might have gone up $5.00 at the most, but when I went to pay — mind you it took only 5 minutes … she told us it would be $27.00!!!  I just couldn’t believe it!  Neither could my husband!  So I said, you mean it went up $17.00, no shampoo, or coloring, or anything???  She shook her head yes!  Well, now, what would you have done?  First I looked at my husband, and said, ‘Happy Anniversary, Honey’!  I honestly felt like telling her we didn’t bring that much with us, but I knew I couldn’t tell a lie, but I came to a very quick, and wise conclusion that I won’t be going back there again!  I thought that I would do some calling around to find someone to do it much cheaper … then a friend told me about a lady who does it from her home … ‘Deb’s Country Cuts’!  Their family loves her, so I’ll be ’paying’ her a visit in about 3 months!  After we left there, we went mall walking and hubby got me some chocolate covered peanuts … double dipped!  Love those things! 

Pumpkin Dump Cake

Mix together:

1-16 oz. can pumpkin
1-12 oz. can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 – 4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (depending on your taste)
1/2 tsp. salt

Pour into a 9 x 13 pan.
Sprinkle with 1 box yellow or spice cake mix, dry.
Sprinkle 1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans evenly over the top.
Drizzle over all 1 cup {2 sticks} melted margarine, or butter.
Bake 50 – 60 minutes at 350° F.  
Ice cream is great with this … as is whipped cream.
Enjoy!

Yesterday … we got up and got in line to vote at 5:45AM, and today, have a new President elect.  I feel we need to pray, first and foremost, for his salvation, and also for Godly wisdom to take on this enormous task that he is facing!  I have friends who are very concerned about where he might take this country, as too, are we … but, we need to just take one day at a time … have faith in our Father, and trust … our joy truly comes from the Lord, not any man, or our circumstances … so be encouraged … God is STILL on the throne, and is in complete control … remember, the hearts of the ‘kings’ are in His hands! - Proverbs 21:1.  Our hope should remain in the Lord … for true, and lasting, peace comes from Him … He is faithful and just …

Hugs,
~ Deborah <><