Where did the time go?

Where has the time gone? I just realized that, besides the post from December 29th, I haven't posted anything since the end of November! Horror! I'm such a terrible blogger! Really, it is amazing how fast time goes by. My family was here for the Christmas holiday, and it was wonderful. Before they got here, I had to tell myself not to be too excited, because then, the time would fly by and soon I would be standing in the driveway waving goodbye to them. As the children were opening their presents, I looked around at everyone and realized how fast the year had gone by. It was just last year that my dear hubby and I were at my sister's house for Christmas. I felt deeply impressed to savor every moment and to enjoy even the down times. They are all memories. Cooking and cleaning with dear hubby before family arrived; spending time listening to my niece and nephews telling me stories about all their animals; cooking in the kitchen with my mother; looking at seed catalogs with my sister, and cleaning house with my dear hubby after everyone left. That's what I've been doing instead of blogging. And I've enjoyed every minute of it!

In the morning, when I do my devotional and spend time in prayer, I ask the Lord to show me how to let my light shine for Him. I praise the Lord that He answers my prayers even when I least expect it.

Every year, my dear hubby's clinic does their Christmas dinner at a local restaurant. This year we enjoyed talking with co-workers and others from the corporate office who we don't see too often. One of dear hubby's co-workers, who sat across from us at the large table brought a friend to the dinner. Near the end of the evening, the friend came to speak with us. She said she had to come over and meet us, because she had been watching us all evening, and could see such a peace about us, that she couldn't wait for a moment to introduce herself. Later, as everyone was leaving, she returned to say how happy she was to have met us, and asked us to pray for her. We assured her that we would do just that. I know nothing about "Kim" or her life, but you can be sure that she is part of my morning prayers from now on!

Thank you Lord for that peace and for living in dear hubby and me so that our lights shine, even when we don't even realize it.

Request for Prayer

My dear hubby has a test coming up this Wednesday. It's not just any test, but a board certification test that takes all day, and he has been studying for months. He's praying for the Lord's peace, yet I know he's been stressed about it because he's been sick with a cold for the past couple of days.

This weekend, I thought about how I've been praying for him all along, and then it struck me. Why not ask my new blogging friends to pray with me? So I'm asking everyone to remember him in prayer this week and especially on Wednesday. Whenever you remember, offer up a prayer that he will have peace about the test, and that the Lord will give him success. I appreciate it so much, and I know he will appreciate it too!

Oh, and by the way, if you ever need me to pray for something specific, it would be my pleasure. Just let me know!

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
1 John 5:14 & 15

Kitchen Taste Test

For the past couple of weeks, I've had a taste for pecan pie. I figured I'd make one for Thanksgiving, but it needed to be vegan based on my guests and my dear hubby. I found a number of recipes and settled on this one from Mountain People's Market Co-Op and Kitchen

2 1/2 cups pecans
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup barley malt syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1tbs arrowroot powder
2tbs tahini

I added 1tbs vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a food processor, mix until smooth all ingredients except for the pecans. Then add pecans and process until the nuts are chopped and mixed with the other ingredients. Pour this into a pie shell and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

I didn't add all the pecans because I didn't want them all chopped up. I have a VitaMix and that thing will make them into dust! So I mixed in some chopped ones by hand after I blended everything else together. I'd never used barley malt syrup before, so I was a little leery (I'm a hesitant vegan), but it was pretty good! It isn't as sweet as a regular pecan pie, but that's okay with me. The texture is pretty thick. I think next time, I'll add more pecans to the VitaMix to give the pie a little more bulk.

So in the end, this taste test turned out positive. I give it a thumbs up!

Remembering God's blessings

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I found this quote in my devotional this morning:

"We are the constant recipients of God's mercies, and yet how little gratitude we express, how little we praise Him for what He has done for us" (Steps to Christ, p. 103)


Let us never forget to thank the Lord for His mercy. I'm going to spend time today, reflecting on all the richness in my life, and to write some thank you cards to people who have allowed God to use them to be a blessing to me lately. What are you going to do today to praise Him for what He's done in your life?

At my sister's suggestion, I tried Smilebox to do a slideshow of my Madagascar pictures. My big sister always helps me out. Thanks Annie!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Gee, thanks for the welcome!

Thank you everyone for making me feel so welcome to the community. I may not be as blog savvy as my sister, but I'll try to keep up. As for the Madagascar pictures, more will be coming!

Share Him trip to Madagascar

Thought you might like to see some pictures of my Share Him trip to Madagascar. It was a trip of a lifetime! We along with a number of other couples ( I think there were approx. 42 people total)held evangelistic meetings at multiple sites in the capital city of Antananarivo. On the last Sabbath, we had a huge baptism. It was breathtaking! Then we spent time in South Africa at Kreuger National Park. I wish I could post all the pictures, but there are over 200 and I really don't want to bore you too much!

My Help Comes From The Lord

My father passed away two weeks ago Monday. It was a long hard process to go through, but through it all, my dear hubby continued to read Psalm 121 to me. We are working on memorizing it during our Adventist Youth meetings at church. It has brought such peace to think of the words of this psalm. I am deeply saddened by my father's death, but I feel God's peace and that's just what I need.

I'm now in step with the rest of the world!

This is my first entry in my new blog. Why did I decide to start one now? My dear hubby is studying for board reviews and I was bored. My sister is the blogger extraordinaire and I needed to keep up...I don't know, it was just something to do. I hope it's of interest to someone. I'm going to try to post my thoughts and activities. Let me know what you think!