Shalom In The Wilderness
"I will make a covenant of peace (shalom) with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods." Ezekiel 34:25
Thursday, March 14, 2024
The Use of Water - Barbara O'Neill
Saturday, March 9, 2024
Root Cause - The Health Effects of the Root Canal Procedure - FULL DOCUM...
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Larry Randolph - "2024 - The Year of Contradictions!"
Thursday, February 29, 2024
Dr. Bryan Ardis on The Shocking Truth About Nicotine
I highly recommend this video. So much information to research and verify, but if even half of it is true it is so helpful and hopeful!
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Healing - Equipping and Activating The Saints Part 1 - Ian Andrews
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Commitment (Repost)
For some reason I see several people have been re-reading my post on "Commitment" from 10 years ago. Since it is still relevant--maybe even more so today--I thought it might be a good time to repost it. The only change I would make is to say Country Guy and I have now been married 57 years. We are still committed. 😀
Commitment first posted January 20, 2013
Have you ever noticed that 'commitment' seems to be a dirty word these days? I was thinking about the number of people who live together without getting married this morning. Those people appear to be unwilling to make a life-long commitment and that's what marriage is supposed to be. The Bible calls marriage a covenant. It's to be a physical example of the spiritual truth of how Christ loves the church. We certainly are not giving a very good impression of that are we?
Have you ever studied the history of blood covenants? In ancient days, animals were cut in two and each half laid opposite the other on a slight incline, so that the blood ran together in a little stream. Two parties made a deal and then walked between these animals in the blood path to say "let this (that has been done to these animals) be done to me if I do not hold up my end of the bargain". That is serious commitment, don't you think?
Country Guy and I will have been married 47 years in April. That sounds like an amazing length of time to me considering that when I think about how old I feel before I remember how old I am, I think of myself as about 45! :o) We believed when we got married that we were making a covenant for the rest of our lives. It has not always been easy--of course, if Country Guy would just shape up, it would be easier--Just joking!
Since it was a serious commitment, one we didn't enter into lightly, we had no choice but to stick together and work things out. We believe that we were to honor the commitment we spoke in the words "for better, for worse, in sickness & health, till death do us part." Just repeating those words give an indication that all things won't be rosy. There is a warning inherent in them. It is the commitment for life that gets us through those times we would like to avoid and makes us stronger in the process.
It seems to me we have become a nation of wimps because we've forgotten our covenants, or broken them when times got tough, or never made them to start with. We've chosen to do what feels good to avoid the trials that bring growth.
I once read a book by Gary Thomas entitled, Sacred Marriage. In it, his premise was that God didn't create marriage to make us happy, He created marriage to make us holy. In the covenant of marriage we are given a perfect opportunity to learn to prefer others, die to self, love unconditionally, and to practice all those other commandments Jesus gave us. If we are committed for life we might as well get to learning how to do those things because the problems are not going to go away!
I believe that's what we're missing today. We all want to be happy, but the Bible says our goal is to be holy. Let's think about what our lack of commitment says to those who don't read the Bible. In fact, I believe if we are serious about this Christian life, we need to look at our entire lives to see if they are true representations of what Jesus did for us, and if not, to ask Him to help us become a true disciple--doing what He did, living as He lived. How much that surely would please Him!
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
A beautiful sunrise
We recently spent some time in Florida. One morning as I went out to walk on the beach the sky was exceptionally beautiful!
Thursday, February 1, 2024
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
French Onion Chicken Soup
I tried a wonderful new soup recipe that I saw in The Epoch Times newspaper a couple of weeks ago. I condensed the instructions so they are easier to follow. This is a time consuming soup--mainly because the onions must be watched and stirred as they are cooking for 35-45 minutes, but it is very worth the effort.
French Onion Chicken Soup
For the Soup:
3 pounds yellow onions (4 large or 6 medium)
6 T. Butter, divided
1 tsp dried thyme
2 dried bay leaves
2 1/2 tsp salt, divided, plus more as needed
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 medium carrots
3 medium stalks celery
3 cloves garlic (or 3/4 tsp garlic powder)
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or thighs
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 T. Dry sherry (I used Marsala wine as substitute)
1/4 c. Flour
6 c. Chicken broth
For the cheesy toasts (optional)
1/2 baguette or loaf of Italian/French bread
2 oz. Gruyere (or Swiss) cheese (about 1/2 heaping cup)
- Peel, and thinly slice the yellow onions (about 10 cups)
- Melt 4 T. of butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onions, dried thyme , bay leaves, 1 1/2 tsp salt and the pepper. Cook stirring often and scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to prevent burning until the onions are soft and amber brown, 35-45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, peel and slice carrots and celery into 1/4 inch slices. (About 1 to 1 1/4 C. each) Mince the garlic. When onions are done add remaining 2 T. butter to the onion mixture. When melted, add carrots/celery/garlic and cook stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.
- Add wine and sherry to mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally until mostly evaporated, 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle with the flour and cook stirring constantly for 1 minute. Continue stirring as you pour in the chicken broth.
- Season the chicken breasts (I use chicken tenders) with rest of salt. (If breasts are thick, butterfly them by slicing longwise through thickest part.)
- Add the chicken in a single layer on top of onion/carrot/wine mixture. Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a lively simmer. Reduce heat as needed to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, 15-20 minutes.
Prepare cheese toasts:
Arrange oven rack 3-4 inches below broiler unit and set oven to broil. Cut baguette crosswise on a bias into 1 inch thick slices (about 8). Place in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Grate the Gruyere cheese. Sprinkle the bread evenly with the cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- When chicken is well done, remove and shred with 2 forks, return to soup mixture. Remove bay leaves. Add more salt/pepper if needed. Ladle into bowls
- Top each bowl of soup with a piece of cheese toast.
- Serve immediately.
Soup can be refrigerated 4-5 days or frozen for 3 months.
Monday, January 29, 2024
Friday, December 8, 2023
Chevrolet 2023, A Holiday to Remember.
Thursday, November 23, 2023
Find Your People | Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors (Official Music Video)
Sunday, November 12, 2023
Louise Eggleston Quote on Removing Cancer
This morning I rediscovered a little booklet by Louise Eggleston, God's Blueprint for Health, Happiness and Triumphant Living, which had been tucked into a drawer and forgotten. Below is something she said on page 10 that I think needs to be pondered by every person.
She was commenting on one of the phrases from I Corinthinians 13:4-8, "Love is never irritated or touchy."
She says, "Holding a hurt in you, unforgiven and not blotted out of your memory, is the root cause of every form of cancer and arthritis. A cancer patient is always a nice person, very sensitive to others attitudes, easily hurt, but he/she never fights back, or tells others about his/her hurt feelings; never returns any evil to the one who hurt him/her, but he/she has not forgiven it and asked God to blot it out of his/her memory. Even in the last hour of life, a cancer patient can be competely cured, if he/she will confess to Christ in him/her, and ask Him to blot it out of his/her memory and send love and forgiveness, or some simple act of Kindness to the one who hurt him/her. We have proved this over and over, so we can stake our lives on its Truth."
Wednesday, November 8, 2023
What A Beautiful Fall Day!
I took a walk to the pond yesterday afternoon. How beautiful! The reflection was so perfect that you can look at the photo upside down.