"But the very hairs of your head are numbered."

I've been doing a lot of traveling lately; a marriage retreat, the AMEN (Adventist Medical Evangelism Network) annual conference and other places. It seems every where I go, I've had this same question posed to me; "Aren't you (fill in the blank with any random name)?", or "Aren't you related to.....?".  Each time I smile and say, "No, I think you're mistaking me for someone else."  I can always see it coming.  A person, who is completely unknown to me, is smiling or waving from across the room.  When I give them that common courtesy smile (I try to always smile back and be friendly), and not a,"hey, I haven't seen you in years!" smile, they come over and ask the inevitable question.  When I finally convince them that I really DON'T know them, they proceed to tell me how I look JUST like (blank)!  I could be their twin sister! This has been going on since my college days. I've come to terms with the fact that I have a pretty common face. These confused individuals are usually just a tad embarrassed that they have been waving at a complete stranger.  By now, I'm used to this and really don't mind; it's an interesting way to meet new people.

As I have been thinking about these incidents, it has made me very thankful that my Heavenly Father doesn't confuse me with anyone! I never have to say,  "Father, I think you have me mixed up with someone else. My name is LeShel." He knows my beginning and my end.  He know my name and the number of hairs on my head.  And right now, He is in heaven pleading my case.  Amen!

Get In the Kitchen!!

If you are anything like me, you have an abundance of recipes that you have pinned on Pinterest, yet have never used them.  I can see you smiling and shaking your head right now. Well, enough is enough!  It's time to use some of those recipes!

I'm starting out slow and easy.  My first one was my pin for "Southwest Chopped Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing" This recipe is courtesy of thegardengrazer.com.  I realize this is basically a jazzed up taco salad without the chips, but hey, I needed to start somewhere!

Now, like most people, I dive into a recipe and then start looking for the ingredients.  So, the salad was made, the dressing...uh...not so much. Since I was missing the main ingredient, cilantro,  I decided to go with my own salsa ranch dressing.

This is a really good, quick, filling salad.  It has corn, black beans, yellow bell pepper, green onions, grape tomatoes and romaine lettuce.  You can never go wrong with corn and black beans in a salad.  I think the cilantro lime dressing would really set it off. I think on my next go around, I'll try it.  So this is just to inspire you to dive into those recipe pins and try some.  You may be happily surprised!

                                         

Goodbye and safe travels….

The last group of my family is leaving today.  It's hard to be so far apart from them, but I realize that I have to let them go so they can come back again!  I'll be praying that angels carry them safely to their home.  Goodbye for now…

What does family mean to you?

For us, family means love, laughter and someone to always have your back.  Dear hubby and I were blessed to have various family staying with us for the past 9 weeks.  Oh, don't feel sorry for us, we were loving it!  To us, family means lots of laughter, plenty of hugs and kisses, deep conversations on all sorts of topics, and a whole lot of support.  We've had family here to help us pack, move and unpack all our stuff (and trust me, that IS a job!); to organize our new house, clean our old house, start our yard work, walk the beach with us, and to share many memories with over great meals. We've started making new memories in our new house, and they all include our family.  Yes, we are blessed with a beautiful home, in a gorgeous setting with a river and marsh view, filled with plenty of wildlife. However, our biggest blessing is the family that we have been able to share it with for the past 9 weeks.  Oh how blessed we feel!  So, what does family mean to you?