Family

Family-all together for the first time in 2 years!

Delighting in God

Psalm 37 says : "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your ways to the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass."

I have been pondering and thinking about this. I don't think that this means that God will give us every desire we have-as long as we are delighting in Him. Oh, we have lot's of desires...a new car, computer, better job, more friends... None of these things are wrong, in fact I think God delights in blessing us with these things. I think that part of this is actually as we delight in God, our desires turn into HIS desires.  Delighting in God also produces the willingness to count all things as loss for the sake of knowing Christ. 
I know for a fact that God does want to give us the deep desires of our hearts. Since He knows the plans that He has for us (Jer. 29:11) I think He gives us some of the yearnings and longings in our hearts-just so we can find our delight and fulfillment in Him, then He blesses us. It's all part of a plan to get to know Him better. What do you think? Just a thought I had...

So, together, let's keep seeking Him and delighting in Him! It is such a privilege and honor to serve the God that we serve. I wouldn't trade in a million.

Emily

Those who Hope (trust) in the Lord...

Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. 

They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, 

they will walk and not be faint.

                                                           Is. 40:31

Trusting God...

Trusting God can be a huge work-out. Not in the sense of getting on the treadmill and running, more like bench pressing I think. Brace yourself, take a deep breath and lift that heavy bar up over your head. Lower it-and start over again. That moment when you raise your hands and say "I surrender Lord, I trust you to lead and guide me." Sometimes it can be running though-running the race and finishing well. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Tim. 4:7) 


Finding that all consuming passion to serve and trust God doesn't happen at once. I find that as soon as I think "I'm strong-I can bench #150" God tells me it's time to move to #175 and #200...and I still have so much to learn. I think in the past year God has taught me so much about Himself. In ways that I could never have imagined. I find myself delighting in Him, and He in me. Isn't it an awesome feeling when you know God is pleased with you? 


Since moving in with my cousin, I have been stretched (and still am) in ways that I could never imagine. There have been times when I have wanted to pack my bags and RUN home to my little family. These feelings have been coupled with the realization that has made this whole experience so amazing. I KNOW God wants me here. It's that test of faith still...why? My life verse for the past 1-1/2 years has been Jeremiah 29:11 "For I KNOW the plans I have for you" saith the Lord "plans to prosper you and not harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." How can you not get excited when you read this PROMISE. It doesn't say "Oh, I think I know what your life will be...yeah maybe this or that...still not sure though". It says He knows. Oh, how I rejoice in this knowledge. 


So, in closing-in the times of life when the clouds of doubt and fear billow around you-remember this. God delights in you, rest in that knowledge and that He does know what He is doing. He has plans, marvelous, wonderful plans. Trust in the Lord. He will not let you down. Rest in Him. He is good. 


"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will bring it to pass." Ps. 37:4-5


I hope that this might have brought some encouragement when/if you read this. Tonight I was feeling simply worn out and exhausted from a very tiring day- not just physically either. I felt like writing-mostly to relax and write what I was thinking...and this is what the Lord brought to mind as I was praying so I penned the words. My prayer and trust is that "my song through endless ages will be-Jesus led me all the way." -Emily

10-17-2011

“Oh, the fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement of knowing God on earth!”-Jim Elliot

Pumpkin Pie

" 'Tis the season to bake pie.." 
Who doesn't like a good old piece of pumpkin pie? I usually always hunt for the best "new" recipe when I am baking or cooking. This time I decided to stick to basics and use my Grandma's recipe. After all...aren't grandma's supposed to be the best bakers and cooks??? ;) So, yesterday I used Annie's pie crust recipe and Grandma's pie filling recipe.

Here you go:

Foolproof Pie Crust
4 Cups of Flour
1 TBS Sugar
2 tsp Salt
1-3/4 C Butter-softened


Mix until the butter and flour are a nice crumbly texture. Set aside.


In a smaller bowl combine:


1 TBS Vinegar -Apple Cider is best
1 Egg
1/2 C Cold Water


Mix well and stir/knead into the flour butter mix. If the dough is sticky-you can add a little flour. The greatest thing about this recipe is -YOU CAN'T RUIN IT! If it's too wet-add flour, too dry-add a little water. It's the best! You can divide into 6 balls and roll out for the crust. If you don't use it all, you can freeze the left-overs and use another day. =)



Grandma's Pumpkin Pie


1 Large Can of Pumpkin
6 Eggs
2 TBS Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
1-1/4 C Sugar
2 TBS Vanilla
2-1/2 C Evaporated Milk


I dump all of this into one bowl and mix it up! Pour into 2 pie crusts. Bake at 450* for 15 min then reduce the oven temperature to 350* and bake for 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it. I used two different sized pie pans-one took more than 30 min-one took less. 

Enjoy!

Melody

I took Melody out for a date today. I took my camera along...here are a few of the MANY photos I took of her. Isn't she precious????