a little lesson in gardening...

Sunday was a lovely afternoon to tackle the out of control rose bush in my side yard.  It was huge! A huge mangled mess of branches and thorns.  Nothing beautiful about it.  Nothing like my Nana's rosebushes that I remember from my childhood.  Now SHE knew how to keep her rosebushes beautiful! She planted them in the spot where they would get the perfect amount of sun, watered them with care, and pruned them every year so that the blooms would come back every year even more lovely than the last.
As I pruned back the twisted branches I thought of the scripture I had been reading the night before... John 15:2.."...Every branch that bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."  When i clipped a branch, it didn't just fall to the ground.  It had to be tugged and pulled to break free from the mess of dead branches. The thorns dug into my hands causing scratches, and some had to be cut in several places in order to be separated.  It was  a lot of work, and after I had finished, it was not a beautiful rosebush....not yet...it looked like a stick bush.  Nothing more than a bunch of green thorny sticks growing out of the ground.
     How often I pray to be a fruit bearing christian!! But not often enough do I remember the pruning process.  So often I try to figure out God's plan before it's time, and when I can't figure it out I decide that I am just not able to be used by Him.  I have too much "Junk".  I am not gentle spirited enough, not wise enough, not respectful enough of a wife, or patient enough of a mom.  "I am just useless" I will think to myself.  Why is it that I feel the need to see all of God's plan to feel that He is using me?
    So I remember the rose bush.  It was ghastly looking in the beginning, but with Loving care, I, the gardener cut away those gnarly branches, and shaped it into the stick bush so that in due time it will produce it's fruit.  This time next year it will have many beautiful roses and the year after that it will have even more...and so on it goes...
    I may look like a stick bush (so to speak) at this point in my life, but budding season is coming.  I may look like a beautiful rosebush at this point in my life, but pruning season is coming.  Either way, the christian life is not  a life of just beautiful rosebushes (because those are only plastic).  Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it is uncomfortable, sometimes it is ugly.....but when I allow God to work on me, when I allow him to prune where needed, when I trust Him as master gardener in my life, I can expect the outcome to be nothing less than beautiful.

To be well-

I love herbs. I believe they are God's medicine~ after all, why would He put all of these amazing medicinal plants on earth but to be used. These two herbal remedies have been the saving grace for my little one this week. I ventured out to the nutrition center for the herbs (Oh, how I love their bulk herb section!) The tea recipe comes from "herbs for health and healing" by Kathi Keville

For the tea:
1/2 teaspoon of each
*peppermint leaves
*echinacea root
*hyssop leaves
*yarrow leaves
*elder flowers
*shizandra berries (which i could not find so I did without)

combine herbs and steep for 20 minutes in one quart of boiling water.

I put mine in the fridge and reheat as needed...the taste is not too strong and with a little honey, my little girl drinks it right up!

For the cough syrup:
1/4 cup of horehound herb
steep herb in about half to two thirds coffee cup of boiling water for 15-20 minutes.
use about half of the tea and add honey to taste. Be careful not to get pieces of the herb in the syrup. I use about 3 ounces of tea to five ounces of honey as horehound is a very bitter herb and I would have no chance of my child taking a dose without a good helping of honey. I give it several times daily and once before bed. Horehound is great for loosening phlegm. It is not a cough suppressant, but it will help clear the junk and get it out of your body.

This picture is from a "compassion" magazine. It has been photocopied and taped to a piece of construction paper with the scripture above reading "do all things without complaining" and that scripture comes from Philippians 2:14. This picture is of some children and mothers walking along a dirt road, carrying jugs of water. Some of the children are not wearing shoes. And look at the child on the far left; the one carrying the white jug. He cant be much older than my daughter, who is three years old.

This was used in a lesson that I taught to my Sunday school class of fourth graders. That was about two and a half years ago. The lesson was more or less about being thankful for the lives that they lived, and to show them how some children around the world lived. I had each student take a photocopy and tape it to a colorful piece of construction paper with the instruction to hang it where they would see it everyday. I wanted my precious little students to remember to not take their life for granted. I, too, made myself a copy to be hung in my laundry room, which was where I endured my least favorite chore. Two houses later, it still hangs in my laundry room....only when I made this, I had a "normal" laundry room. A nice space that was temperature controlled, with some cabinets overhead for storage, and nice tile floors. These days my laundry room is a space separate from the house, very cold in the winter~sometimes the water lines freeze and it is unusable, no cabinets, and no dryer. Only a funky washer that, at times overflows if I don't keep my eye on it, and plywood floors.
Notice this scripture does not say: "Do all things without complaining, unless its really bad, then you can complain, after all you deserve to have a decent laundry room (or fill in your own blank)"

No...It says "do all things without complaining and disputing" Philippians 2:14

Sometimes its not easy to do things without complaining...but God continually works on my heart. His grace is sufficient for me. And how dare I complain about the blessings I have been given....How dare I complain about this when people are living like the ones in this photo....

So I have learned to be content....and perhaps one day I will again be blessed with an ideal laundry room....but i don't need that to be happy. And if i live the rest of my life this way~ I will thank God for the clothes that need to be washed...for the day that it takes me to wash and dry at the laundromat....for the child I have to clothe....and for the husband that pays this water bill!

Yes I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content....I know how to be abased and I know how to abound.....I can do ALL things through CHRIST who strengthens me.

Sweet Cornbread (the best ever!!)

MMMMM This cornbread will make ya want to move to the south!

2/3 cup butter (soft)
1 cup Sugar
3 eggs
1& 2/3 cup milk
2& 1/3 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
4&1/2 tsp baking POWDER
1 tsp salt

cream the butter and sugar
add the eggs
blend
add all other ingredients

AND THIS IS HOW YOU MAKE IT EXTRA DELICIOUS...

Pour into a cast iron skillet

bake at 400 degrees for 25~30 minutes

Yum! My family loves this recipe!

Homemade Granola

This is a quick recipe that i wanted to share...

to make this granola you will need:

Quick oats
Raw organic honey
organic brown sugar
almonds

1) In a large bowl mix about 4 cups of quick oats with 1 cup of brown sugar, almonds to taste and enough honey to make everything moist ( don't measure, i just squeeze the bottle until the mixture is moist)

2) Spread evenly on a baking sheet

3) bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or a little longer if you like it crunchier (stir it around a little when its about half way done)

this is so yummy, super cheap, and much better for you than store bought granola...and its an easy one for kids!!

My daughter loves to help with this and then eat it mixed with organic vanilla yogurt!!

i like it in a bowl with milk...mmmmm

Enjoy!!

My husband requested that I keep my driving to a minimum due to the rising gas prices. After all, he is the one bringin' home the bacon...I have a lot of respect for that man. At first i wondered if i could do it. I mean, I go to the store if i need "a few things", I go to playdates or storytime or whatever else i feel like doing during the week. But i knew i needed to make an honest effort to respect my husband's wishes (still working on that proverbs 31 thing, and how can I be a virtuous wife who has worth more than rubies if i cant even cut down my driving when he asks me to, right?)

So, the week began. We went nowhere. were we bored to death? did i get "cabin fever"? did we just sit and sit and sit? NO WAY! Emily and I had the best week we have had in a long time! we had time for playing dress up and having tea parties, and snuggling together reading books and watching movies. We had time for hot breakfasts and hot chocolate. But best of all, We had more time for God. We had more time in the morning for prayer and devotionals, more time for crafts and learning, more time to grow together in the Lord. And although yes, I teach Emily about faith, She teaches me also. The Bible says in Matthew 10:14, 15 “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” The innocence of a child is the best teacher when it comes to faith. Emily dances around the house singing songs about Jesus that she makes up. Songs about how much He loves us and how He is so good. When was the last time i did that? I guess when we have hectic lives it is easy to lose our child like faith in the rush.

As a mother I must remember that my number one ministry is my child. It is my job to raise her up in the Christian faith. Teach her about God's love and pray that in time, she will accept Jesus' salvation. In the book i am currently reading, "A mom after God's own heart", I read something that really struck me. She said that our mindset as mothers should be this : "If i do nothing else today, I must teach My child about Jesus" And then My pastor today preached about families and he asked "how is success defined in your home?" Well in our home, success is not how much money you make, what kind of home you own or how much cool stuff you have. it is defined by how you live for Christ. Loving Christ and serving others is the foundation for our home. It is our faith in action. It is the most important thing that our child and future children must learn.

So on this Sunday evening (well, late night actually, but when else can a mom blog?) I am thankful. I am thankful for my frugal, gas saving husband. I am thankful that God convicts me to submit to that frugal husband of mine, and I am thankful for the blessings it brings. I am looking so forward to Monday. More learning, fun, and building Christ's character in my little one:)

another fabulous fall recipe that my husband couldnt get enough of!

~Pumpkin Bread with Cream cheese frosting~

Pumpkin bread~

1 1/2 cups fresh pureed pumpkin
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 1/3 cups and 1 tbs all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1heaping tsp cinnamon
1 heaping tsp nutmeg


preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease and flour 3 9x5" loaf pans.
mix pumpkin, sugar, oil, eggs. combine dry ingredients and mix until smooth. divide batter between the loaf pans. bake for 45 minutes or so, until a toothpick comes out clean...


cream cheese frosting~

2 8oz pkg cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup butter (softened)
2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

cream together cream cheese and butter~ mix in vanilla~gradually mix in sugar~

~now for the fun part~

I cut the loaf of pumkin bread lengthwise and spread frosting on the bottom loaf~you can sprinkle the frosting with nuts if you like~i prefer walnuts or pecans~replace the top half, dollop with frosting and a nut, and voila...fall in a pan!