Couple of our recipes from Thanksgiving

I don't know where some of these recipes came from originally.  I do not claim that these are my recipes, only that I've used them.

Buttermilk Pie

1 9in pie crust
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 Tablespoons flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) melted and cooled to room temperature

Preheat oven to 400. 

In large bowl mix sugar, flour, buttermilk, lemon juice, vanilla, eggs, butter. Bake pie crust for 5 minutes.

Remove pie crust from oven and pour filling into crust. Bake for 10 min. at 400, then reduce heat to 350 and bake until set, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. Serve at room temperature.

• Cranberry Sauce
• 
  
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries, and cook until they start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat, and transfer to a bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

Thanksgiving

While the holiday itself has come and gone, the art of being thankful is here year round.  We had a wonderful time with friends yesterday.  I'm so thankful to have them in our lives.  God knew exactly what he was doing when he purposed our meeting.  These friends aren't just mere friends, they are our family now!!!!  I love it!

Well, I didn't have time to update on the house situation.  The mortgage company extended our time to get the money together due to the holidays.  Tuesday no later than 5 pm is THE LAST day we have to get the money.  I in my own eyes don't see this happening.  I know that God is able and His view point is much greater than my own.  So it could be 4:59 pm and God bless us with the funds needed.  Yet, it could be God's will to close the door on this house all together.  Then I trust He has another door waiting to be pushed opened with our next place of residency.

I'm trusting and yet still a bit nervous as well.  God is able and I will rest in that.  He will care for me and my children and I most definitely will rest in that!

Thankful Thursday -Fellowship

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Today and every day I am so grateful for dear friends and fellowship.  There is just something about getting together with like minded friends and sharing your day with them.

We had no plans for Thanksgiving, my oldest sister went out of town, my youngest sister went to her in-loves home and me and my children were going to just hang out here at home together.  I planned our menu, not a lot.  Bought the groceries needed.  And prepared my mind and body to just relax and enjoy the day with my kiddos.  Then we got the invitation.  We totally LOVE this family.  They have become like family to us.  There are 11 children and truth be told I can't remember whose name goes with who until I get there and see all the faces! LOL ;-)  But I love them all the same.

So, our dinner we cooked on Wednesday so that we could have it on Friday...no need cooking on a day I could be sewing! LOL
We also made a few things to take to our friends.  We'll be back later this evening and hopefully we'll have some great pics for me to post.

Another thing that makes me so grateful for this family...they have been there for me an my children from the moment my mother was in the hospital last year.  This her 3rd year without her mother and my 1st year without mine.  We are kindred spirits in more ways than one.

Thinking of how she has been my rock over this past year, I'm grateful to all the rocks in my life!  You women ROCK!!!!!  Thank you for pouring into me even when you were down. Thank you for lifting me in prayer and covering my family as well.  Thank you for inspiring me to do better, live righteous, seek God, and serve my family.  Seriously, YOU ROCK!!!!

So Very Thankful

I know it's not Thanksgiving or time for my Thankful Thursday post, but I am just so filled with gratitude that I wanted to tell you all and the other many families that have blessed us with prayer and monetary gifts just how much I appreciate you.  There are many days when I think about how each of you has blessed me and many of you I don't even know.  I'm grateful to the body of Christ, but I'm even more grateful for my Savior and all He has done for me.

Have you ever been so full of gratitude that there just weren't words to express how you feel?  I feel that if I keep going, I'll be weeping.  I am blessed beyond measure!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

This is just but one sample

Just a little taste of what I'll be making....

Any idea what this is?

Sewing Area Organization

I debated over and over about reorganizing my sewing area since I don't have a new deadline to move out.  I really contemplated not doing it because I know we'll be packing it all up soon.  However, as I tried to sew Christmas gifts, I was getting totally frustrated with the area and the lack of organization.

So today, instead of sewing....even though I so wanted to just sit down and sew, I took the entire day and reorganized and rearranged my sewing area.  The girls are not sewing so I had them pack their things up and utilized their area, getting rid of my larger sewing desk.  With this setup, I even have a place for my laptop so I can watch video demonstrations while I sew.

I didn't take any before photos, but here are my after photos.  Excuse the stuff on the cutting table.  That's part of my Christmas gifts.

Now I'm too tired to sew.  So, I'll be sewing tomorrow when I get off work.  Some time in there I'll squeeze in cooking.

To all my sewing friends...

Have any idea where I can get inexpensive labels to sew on my items???

I'd like them to say Made With Love by Tasha or Handmade By Tasha

Any ideas?????

Closing Etsy???

Well, not necessarily closing it but changing what I sell, at least that's what I'm thinking.

I completely enjoyed making each burp cloth, nursing cover up, and bib.  Yet, I don't think there is much of a demand for them.  I will continue to make them, but as baby shower gifts.
I won't reveal what I am making...well, one person knows already, but she'll not tell until I reveal it. ;->
I'm praying that these items will sell well.  We shall see.

Winner of Give Away

I'm delighted as punch that there is a winner over at Love Abounds At Home.  The blessed winner Nabila not only wins a beautiful maternity apron from my dear friend, but she also wins these lovely items as well..... 

Nabila, I'll get your information from Love Abounds at Home and get this in the mail to you right away!!!!  What an awesome blessing!

Thankful Thursday -Provisions

On Saturday, the men of a dear family we know were returning from a week long hunting trip.  The 5 of them shot 8 deer.  They kept 5 for their family of 13, gave 2 to families that were hunting but were unable to hit a deer, and then, they brought one to us!!!

WooHoo for deer meat!  I love venison meat and my children are just really being introduced to it.  Out of the very large doe that we got, we were able to cut up and get 4 large roasts, which I was then able to cut in half and so we have 8 venison roasts, we also got 3 freezer bags of stew meat, then we had backstraps...never had that before, but I'm told it makes great BBQ meat.  We kept all the bones to make stock and there were some bones with meat left on and I'll use those to put in my greens or beans.

Monday night, I took one of the roasts and put it in the crock pot on low with some seasonings, onions, and bay leaf.  I also added a cup of water...venison is very lean and can dry out rather quickly.  Tuesday afternoon I added some broth, cream of mushroom soup, barley, and a bag of frozen mixed veggies.  We sat down to eat dinner rather early that evening and then I realized that would have been a perfect meal to have some cornbread with.  However, as we were all sitting at the table, it was really too late.  It didn't stop us from enjoying our meal.

It was totally delicious!!!!

So today, I'm thankful for God's provision of deer meat that will last us a while.  Only God knew that on their first hunting trip ever they would hit 8 deer and that they would bless us with one.  Meat is one less thing on my grocery list for now!!!

Praising God for his creatures!  Especially those we can eat! LOL

Preparation & Praise

I'm mentally preparing to pack things up and get them into our storage shed.  I've tried to mentally think of how we'd cook, eat, and sleep.  Neither of these is easy, but it is my reality at this point.  Come Friday, if I don't have a specific amount of money, the mortgage company will call me to tell me the specific date they will pick up the mobile home we are in.
I'm gonna be honest, cause it's all I know to be...I'm terrified, gripped in fear, and yes, shame.  I'm feeling like a bit of a failure and I'm trying to figure out what the lesson is in all of this.  What would God have me to learn from this?  What is He teaching me?  How can I use this to help someone else going through a tough situation?

I know my God loves me and my children.  I know He cares about what happens to us.  I know that His hand is upon us.  I know that He will work all things out for our good.  So today I choose to praise Him and give Him thanks for who He is.  He is still mighty.  He hasn't changed, He's still our provider, He's still our protector, and He's still God.

UPDATE on my Update

The mortgage company has called me this morning. They of course don't want to forclose on the home, as this is an extra expense for them. 

They will accept $1086 between the end of today and Friday in order for us to stay in the home. They will defer one payment (Nov. payment) and start me off owing Dec. payment of $369 on Dec. 5th. 

I need a serious miracle. I can't imagine being out in the cold with my children living in our van. That or a shelter will be our only options if we don't have a move of God in our situation. 

I can worry about the conditions of our home later if I can deal with at least knowing we will have a roof over our heads.

Please be in prayer!!!!!!

Update on Housing Situation

Well, we have approximately 3 weeks to come up with $1600 and then begin making our regular payments of $369 beginning Dec. 5 or prepare our departure.  I'm a bit down, as I am not sure what we will do.  Nothing has happened at this point, no open doors or windows.  I still know that God is able, even in the final hour.  So I'm trying to remain focused on Christ....it's hard but I'll keep pressing forward and trusting.  My children remain so brave and their faith is unwavering...believing God will provide us a home.

Please continue to lift us up before the Lord.

Thank you!!!!

Thankful Thursday

I am amazed at the vastness of this thing we call World Wide Web.  I at times loath it because I can't seem to discipline my usage of it and yet I am ever so grateful for it because without it I may never have met some of the most dearest friends across the globe that I have.

I am thankful for the numerous friendships I have encountered.  I am a blessed woman in many ways, but especially because of the number of godly women I have met via facebook, blogs, and internet groups.  I may never get to meet you all on this side of heaven, but what a great celebration it will be when we all get to heaven!

May I just take this moment to say thank you for inspiring me, speaking truth to me, encouraging me, and lifting me in prayer!!!!  I LOVE YOU ALL to pieces.

Many blessings to each of you!

Oh yeah, one of those dear friends is hosting a give away at her blog... Love Abounds at Home.  Hop on over and enter.  I'll be tossing in a bib, burp cloth, and nursing cover-up to her blessed winner!

Wednesday Morning Ramblings

I'm just warning you now that what I am about to say is various thoughts going on in my head right now.  They may or may not make any sense, but they are important to me! ;-)

Last night during our family devotions...We are using Nancy Leigh Demoss' online Habakkuk study...she brought up many valid and insightful thoughts.  I've been thinking on them through out the night and well into today and even this morning during my quiet time.

She spoke about our timing not being God's timing and that He has an appointed time for everything.  He sees the bigger picture and knows just when the timing is right for various things He has planned in our lives.  She also said that whatever you are going through, whatever the circumstances, it will not last forever!!!!!!  Hallelujah

HE WILL FINISH MY STORY!!!

I began to ponder my post from Monday.  It was a rough day, so many doubts, fears, sadness, depression, and anger began to creep in.  I knew full well that it was an attack from the enemy, but I'm blessed to say that though the attacks come, they don't last as long as they used to.  A dear friend of the family shared the words to a song with me and I immediately found the song on my ipod and played it over and over.  The first time it was playing, I think I got maybe 2 minutes into the song and my spirits began to lift as I began to praise the Lord!  Immediate transformation began to take place as I praised my DADDY!  
As I began to ponder what Nancy Leigh Demoss was saying and my blog post, I could see things from a different perspective...I was seeing things through God's point of view.  I spoke of getting weary, however, God wants me to endure and be patient.  His plans and purposes for my life will come in His time.  I need to remain hopeful and faithful while waiting on the Lord.  it will surely come, it will not delay.  It seems like there is a delay to me because I'm in the mix of it.  I am also human and I want what I want, when I want it and I want it now.  Isn't that how most of us are?  We pray about something and after a few days or weeks we get weary in praying because we figure something should have happened by now!  OUCH, OUCH, OUCH as I step on my own toes.  Then when nothing happens we take matters into our own hands.  We figure we can help God out!
Can I get an amen!  I know it to be true in my own life, so I'll just speak for me!

This spoke to me on so many levels, my kids, my housing situation, my marital circumstances.

You know I'm as honest as I can be on my blog, so I'm just gonna confess it now...I already confessed it to God anyways, I'm not trying to hide from anyone.  I STOPPED praying for my husband LONG, LONG ago.  Yep, sure did.  Saw nothing new happening, don't know where he is now, no idea if the Lord is working on his heart, so I stopped.  Why pray for something or someone that is not changing?  Yet God has something else in mind.  I must continue to pray whether I see something happening or not.  1000 years is but 1 day to God.  I long for relationship, companionship, love, you know all that stuff that comes with marriage.  I want it.  I don't believe I was one of those God intended to remain single, but in this season that is just where I am.  I don't know what God's plans are.  I don't know if He will ever allow my husband to come back.  I don't know if I will get word from his family that he has passed away one day and thus God opens the door for a new relationship.  I don't know what He's going to do or how He's going to do it, but I do know He's up to something.  I do know that my happiness should never come at the expense of obedience to the Word.  It's hard at times, because the easy road would be to divorce, court, and remarry.  However, God has not opened that door for me.  He has not released me from this marriage.  I don't know if He ever will either and honestly, that's a hard road to travel.  In the end, I know He is using this time to speak to my heart and retrain my thought process and transform my life.

Will I feel this way a week from now?  Probably not, but I know God will continue to lead me back to this until it becomes so ingrained in me that it literally becomes natural to me.  He wants me to do just as Psalm 37:3-7 says; Trust in Jehovah, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.  Delight thyself also in Jehovah; and He will give thee the desires of thy heart.  Commit thy way unto Jehovah; Trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass.  And He will make thy righteousness to go forth as the light, and thy justice as the noon-day.  Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for Him...

I know one day my heart will reflect that of the Father, until then I am striving for it.
Jesus You Are...

Weary...Depression...Blessings...

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Galatians 6:9

Sadly, this is where I find myself today.  Among the praise, the provisions, the blessings...I find myself weary with our housing situation.  We still don't have a deadline and I am ever thankful for that.  We still have a roof over our heads and that is a blessing all on its own.
I'm one of those people that likes to have all my ducks in order and the limbo setting is nerve racking to me.  One of those, if I at least knew we would have a home to move into soon, then I'd have at least one answer.  I could move my mind to something else.

I know God hears me, I know the answer is already done in heaven and must come forth on earth.  I'm in the phase of wondering "how long"?  Everything just seems to be in limbo and I don't do well without stability and routine.  I'm wondering if I am out of the Will of God because I have no peace, only chaos and uncertainty.

I'm also dealing with some depression.  I feel it creeping in slowly.  I've been doing my best to think of the months in numbers and not names, but then someone reminded me that this is November and with that came the realization that we are coming up on the 1st Thanksgiving without my mom and then just weeks later the 1st yr. of her death.  I'm dreading it all and I'm wishing these months would just vanish away for this year.

With all of that going on, we have been blessed beyond measure in the last few weeks.  People from all over have blessed us with prayers, finances, and kind words.  I am so thankful for each of them.  This is what the body of Christ is supposed to look like!!!  To see the outpouring from so many has been mind boggling.  I can't even grasp a full understanding of it all.  Thank you just seems so inadequate to express how I feel.  My heart is overwhelmed.  Yet, I praise God for each of you!!!!

Ok, off to kinda think of some gifts for my sisters for Christmas.  I'm thinking lap quilts with some of the scraps I have around here or maybe matching napkins and placemats.  Any ideas?

Thankful Thursday

   I'm going to take each Thursday in the month of November to share what or who I am thankful for, after all, this is the month of Thanksgiving!  I didn't originally come up with this idea, but got it from my dear friend .  She is a sweetheart and I thank her for allowing me to use her idea.

She was/is thankful for her Titus 2 mentors.  While I didn't realize that my mother was my Titus 2 mentor until AFTER she had gone home to glory, I'm still thankful, nonetheless.

  This time around, I have to say that I am most thankful for God and the spiritual growth I am experiencing at this point and time in my life.  I'm thankful that my heart is soft to receive all that God is showing and teaching me.  My freedom to worship Him, openly praise Him, and speak of His goodness means more to me than life.  I can't imagine the persecution our sisters and brothers in Christ face in other countries, having to hide out and meet in secret just to read His word or worship.

I pray I never take these things for granted.  It saddens me that we literally have a church on every corner here in America and yet many choose not to go and worship, many go and choose not to live according to His word, and yet there are some that would love to have the opportunity to worship freely and have choices in which church they would attend.

I've been a Christian for about 13 years.  I'm thankful for my salvation, but I'm excited to finally see some spiritual growth in my life and the lives of my children.  I pray that it accelerates, as I want to know more and more about My God and grow deeper in my walk with Him.  Boldness for the sake of Christ is what I'm searching for.

What are you thankful for this first Thursday in November?

Wednesday Night Bible Study

I wanted to post this last night when we got home from church, but the late hour and the fact that I was going to be getting up at 4:30 to take Ari to work (only 5 hours of sleep), was a factor I chose not to contend with! ;-)

1 Samuel 15:22-23 And Samuel said, Has the Lord a great delight in burned offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness (insubordination) is as iniquity and idolatry.  Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.


How many times have I quoted this scripture to my children when they were little?  So many times I can't count it on my fingers anymore.  After last night though, I wondered if I had the explanation of this scripture for myself and for them would things had been different in my youth and would it had saved my children some heartache as well?!

Rebellion- is the refusal to obey or obey completely and it is equal to the sin of witchcraft (playing around with cults and demons).  It opens you up to the demonic realm.

WWWWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!

Yes, that's exactly what I was saying while I wrote that down last night.  I'm a scary person by nature.  The demonic and cult realm scare me.  To me it's like drugs/alcohol and they scare me.  With drugs/alcohol you aren't in full control of yourself.  To me, that's what the demonic and cult realm are like.  Then it scares me because if I'm foolin' around with that, then that means I'm not on my Daddy's side...He's not living within me.  And truth be told, I want Him all up in my mix!!!!

But then I just sat there in shock, horror, shame, regret, etc.  When we disobey God, we invite the demonic into our thoughts, lives, and relationships.

To think that insubordination means to refuse to come under legitimate authority is as idolatry and idolatry is ANYTHING you are using to replace God.  Well, by this point, my spirit within me was really heavy and I began to repent and ask God to show me specifically where I had allowed the door of my life open to the enemy and his minions.

The example given was as follows:  A man walked up to the pastor and told him he wanted a divorce from his wife.  He realized that now he had married a demon and he wanted out.  The pastor said he knew this man well and the situation and had counseled him previously.  He turned to the man and said, you refuse to come in line with your Spiritual Authority, you've opened the door of your home, marriage, and family to the evil one and now you want out?  I say to you today, repent, get in line with your Spiritual Authority, and see if your home life does not begin to change.

When the husband refuses to come under the authority of God, he invites demons into his home and family.  The he doesn't want to live with what he's invited in.  Children may reflect the demons that the father has allowed in by being out of order.  Wives may also reflect those demons.  You don't just walk away from that, you get your house in order.
Sadly this made me think about my own home and made me wonder.  I won't go into detail, but I will say I can pinpoint the exact time period and what was going on when things began to get out of order and it had to do with my husband.

Speaking of which, I'm asking for sincere prayer for this man.  I have had no contact with him and don't know where he is.  However, one of his sisters contacted me and though they don't talk and she claims to not know where he is either, she did share some concerns with me.  He is deeply, deeply involved in a cultic religion.  This sister once lived in great sin and recently (about a yr. ago) gave her life to Christ and began to make a turn around.  He basically told her to go and continue in sin because her life was so much better then.  When she refused, he got extremely upset with her. She did say that he fears dying alone as his father did.  When I say his father's life and his life are a mirror image at this point in time, I'm being very honest.  That grieves my heart.  I know God's desire is that none of us perish and yet we all have free will.  But when I think back...this man knows Truth.  He received/accepted Christ and was baptized.  So to hear about a change in him such as this, is very disheartening.
Satan deceives so that he can get us to disobey, thereby, unlocking the doors of our lives to him.  I'm afraid that this is what has taken place in his life and I saw when it began to happen.  I'm saddened that I was not more spiritually mature to discern then what was taking place.

So the question that was put before us and I now put before you is:  What have you partially obeyed or completely disobeyed that has allowed the enemy entry into your life or the lives of your family?  Repent and ask God to rid your life of the demonic influence.

SOOOOOOOO MANY PRAISES!!!!

I don't even know where to begin.  The MIRACLE we are praying for has not happened yet, but all things God does are miracles.

We have baby guineas!!!  Out of the 30 something guineas we had, we only ended up with 2 males and 1 female.  The female laid eggs earlier this summer, but one by one they all disappeared.  Then we noticed about 30 days ago that she laid more.  I figured we'd just see what happened.  A friend came to pick up Ari for work this morning and she noticed the chicks!!! To our surprise, God's creation.....we have 16 living chicks.  WOO HOO life is so amazing no matter whose it is.  You would have thought we had won the lottery the way I was jumping around outside!!! ;-)  They are the cutest things.

The donations through Gleaning The Harvest in the last 24 hours has overwhelmed us!  We can't believe that so many that we don't even know have blessed us in such awesome and mighty ways.  Plus a dear friend stopped by and blessed us with some much needed resources yesterday while we were at church!  Today we are headed out to buy each a pair of shoes for the winter and a couple of items of clothing to prepare for the winter!  This is totally awesome!  I'm paying bills and buying food. 

It really is the simple things in life that absolutely mean sooooo much!!!!

I also cannot forget the thousands of prayers going up on our behalf!  God's children are amazing.  

Ok, then the family that Ari is now working for asked how much it would take for us to get to Wednesday night Bible study.  She then said not to worry about IF we could go, we would only NOT go if something else happened to keep us from going, and gas would not be one of those things to stop us because her family wants to make sure we have gas to get to church every Wednesday night!!!!  Can you believe that?  WOW!!!!  AAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

because we have no phone right now, she wants to get us one so we can at least have it here in case it's needed!!!!  

NOW tell me...is there anyone greater than GOD????  

There is NOBODY GREATER THAN HIM!!!

And we are STILL praying for that miracle!  HE'S ABLE!