Encourage When You Can

Monday, I spent the entire morning in a dentist chair getting work done in preparation for some crowns. I came home with my head pounding and my bank account much poorer. Wasn't a great morning and it wasn't looking much better for the afternoon.

The first thing I did when I got home was to check my voice mail, much to my concern I had a message from my mom, I say concern, because I am the one who usually calls, mom generally doesn't call unless something is wrong, AND I had just talked to her on Saturday.

Called mom back to see what was up and to my surprise she just wanted to tell me she had been thinking about all the trips we had taken together through the years and she wanted me to know how much she appreciated being included. "I wanted to make your day" Kind of an out of the blue call, but one that lifted my spirits. I spent the rest of the afternoon remembering those excursions myself, it was a lovely distraction from what was going on.

Mom joined us on our trip to Italy (we were stationed overseas at the time)

Day trip to DC, that's my oldest son in the stroller, and my sweet hubby

Florida with her grandsons (two of those little guys are my sons)

Another trip to Florida with our family

The point of this post....a bit of encouragement can go a long way, it can change someones day. My mom had no idea what was up with me that morning, but the call was right on time. I have been so focused on fighting my own little battles in recent weeks that encouraging others hasn't even been on my radar. It is now, the call from mom was a reminder to me of how necessary encouragement is from others... I can think of at least a half a dozen people that could use my encouragement today...and BONUS...when I start to encourage others and remind friends of God's truths, I get to hear those truths too!!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus   Philippians 4:6-7

Weekend Away

It doesn't happen all that often, but occasionally my husband's schedule will work out so that he has a four day weekend.  He flexes his schedule, so he has a RDO every other Friday and if the Monday after the Friday RDO also happens to be a holiday he gets four days off. For those that might be wondering, RDO simply means "regular day off" His place of employment loves to use acronyms.

We decided to take this time off and celebrate husbands birthday. We originally had pretty ambitious plans, we were going to New York to do some sight seeing. We had even made reservations at the lodge on Staten Island, but the closer the time came to go, the less peace we had about going. It was kind of funny, I had reservations about making the trip but was reluctant to say anything because I knew husband wanted to go...little did I know he was having the same thoughts.

We decided to "regroup" We would still go away but we would abbreviate the trip and stay much closer to home. We ended up where we always end up...Williamsburg... it is one of our favorite destinations (when we go it's always off season) Our plans were simply to relax, shop a little, walk a little, and try some meals at the local eateries.

It worked out well. We were able to keep the cost of the excursion to a minimum....and we didn't have to spend an entire day in the car driving to our destination. From my viewpoint it was a perfect getaway and the guy celebrating the birthday....well he couldn't  agree more

Picture Perfect...Not Quite

I am always taking photos of the grands....no occasion needed. As I have mentioned in the past, getting  a group shot of all four children is pretty challenging, I have not figured how to get them to look and smile for the camera at the same time. It seems near impossible...but I keep trying just the same.

You may remember the photo shoot we tried on the stairs at my house last year. Seemed like someone was either crying, spitting up, pulling hair or otherwise distracted. It was a fun memory....really it was!

Well I had all four grands at the house again yesterday. Everyone seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Maybe we could try a photo of all the kiddos again on the stairs. My oldest grand daughter and grandson thought it was a great idea. " Grandma you could hang this year picture right beside the one from last year"....(I have that one hanging in my hall)

My thought was, let's see what happens and then move on to another activity...nothing ventured, nothing gained.  Although it didn't turn out perfect we did have fun. ( and of course during the process of taking the photos, someone was either crying, pushing, grabbing or being otherwise distracted)

Perfect Peace

This is a scripture that spoke to me tonight. It's a reminder to me to stop looking at my circumstances, my problems or the world's problems in general and focus on the Lord instead and what his word says. It's a promise that says there is peace available to me, and not just any peace but perfect peace. Maybe you need this reminder tonight too.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock   Isaiah 26:4

Warm Goodness For A Cold Day

We love all kinds of soups during the winter. Paired with some bread and a salad and you have dinner. The bonus for us is that most recipes make enough soup for us to freeze for another meal to be used at a later date...I love that part. A friend made this soup for me a couple of years ago, she got the recipe from another friend...bottom line, we have no idea where the recipe came from. It is perfect for a cold winter day like today and it's so easy to make.



Italian Beef and Bean Soup
1 pound ground beef
2 cloves garlic
1 cup sliced carrots
1 medium zucchini sliced and quartered
1 14 1/2ounce can Italian style tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
2 cans beef broth
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups fresh spinach

Cook the ground beef and the garlic, add the carrots (I slice the carrots and precook in the microwave a bit to soften) Then add remaining ingredients except spinach and zucchini and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. I then add the zucchini, cook until soft and then add the spinach. I use baby spinach and pull it right from the bag ( I also use more than 2 cups because we like spinach) This soup is very forgiving, you can adjust to suits your tastes. This recipe serves 4-6 people

Psalm 103