This is a family favorite and we have it almost every Thanksgiving for the past few years. It has been requested this year for Christmas as well. I have also tried out making them in cupcake pans for individual servings and they turned out great. Continue reading “Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake”
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. – Matthew 6:6
I’m sure we have all heard or read this verse at some point in our lives. It has been my desire to have a ‘secret place’ to pray. After reading ‘The War Room’ this desire became more intense. While I do feel it is important for my kids to see me praying, sometimes I just need my own little space.
Yesterday morning was one of those times. It was a bit cold in the house so I decided to turn on a heater in the bathroom before my shower. My plan was to have some quiet time while the bathroom warmed up a bit. I was sitting on the ottoman beside my bed trying to read my devotional when DS3 popped in. He had a million and one questions, maybe more than that, and he was super excited about Christmas.
Well DS14 heard little brother’s excitement and decided to make some noise of his own. His room is right next to mine so it just added to the disruptions. I was able to settle down the little one and send him back to his room for a few minutes. However DS14 was up and at it.I had to take a few minutes to get him calmed down and settled back into his bed.
I checked the bathroom and it was still a bit chilly for my liking so I attempted my quiet time again. I prayed about a few things that had happened the night before and asked God to show me what to do. I also went through my prayer journal and reviewed some of my previous requests. One of them was to be able to create a little space for myself, a prayer closet of sorts, where I can find some peace and relaxation.
I don’t know for sure if it was the Holy Spirit or just my imagination, which would have had to have been influenced by the Holy Spirit, but an idea popped into my head. I know it sounds crazy but I kept hearing the words, ‘pray in secret’, and some visions flashed in my head. I saw what needed to be done. Every obstacle was no longer an obstacle as I had seen the solution to fixing several issues, even the issue from the night before.
My faith and energy was renewed as I finished up my prayers and quiet time. I hummed a little tune as I showered and got ready for the day. I worked with a purpose to finish our morning tasks so I could set about making the vision become a reality.
Well, at nap time, it happened. I was able to rearrange some furniture in the laundry room to make room for our pantry cabinets. The pantry cabinets had been in my closet as we had no other place to put them. They had previously lined a wall in my bedroom when I had one of the smaller rooms. When we switched rooms a month or so ago I had planned on making a portion of my closet into a quiet area but the cabinets had taken up more space than expected.
Once the cabinets were out of the closet I had more space but some more things needed to be rearranged. I wasn’t sure how to do it but I had faith that it was going to happen. My dad helped me to carry in a desk from the porch. My brother had brought me the desk when we had switched rooms as I had all intentions of using it at that time. This poor desk had gotten wet and didn’t look as nice as it did before but I intended to use it anyway. We brought the desk in and left it near the closet door.
Then came the measuring and trying to decide where to put it and what would need moved. My closet is kind of a catch all for many other areas of the house. I have a filing cabinet that holds cleaning supplies, some paper supplies, and some files. There are a couple of shelves that hold other various items like my crafting tote, my sewing box, and my sewing machine. And another that holds the surplus of items that are bought at Sam’s club.
Not too mention that I have totes upon totes overhead that hold our party supplies, party decorations,camping/overnight supplies, extra bags, etc. And of course my clothes and shoes have a place in there as well. It is not really a huge space, even though I had once thought of converting it to a small bedroom, but it holds a lot of stuff. Last week I had went to my closet to hide for a bit as I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and needed a place to clear my head. Well, that wasn’t the place but after spending a few minutes in there I was motivated to declutter and organize it. This was a good thing as it made this project so much easier.
It took about another hour to finish the rearranging and moving stuff around. After taking a stroll through the house and shed to ‘shop’ for things I was able to pull it together. There are still a few more things I may add but I don’t want to clutter it up as I want to be able to relax and just ‘be still’.
I will be writing another post in the next day or so to show you my ‘war room’ and what I’ve put in there. So until then I pray that you may be able to find your own little ‘private space’.
See My War Room for how it came together.
This is an alternate version of the Milk Chocolate Fudge Continue reading “Butter Pecan Fudge”
We’ve all heard the saying, ‘If Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy’. This can be so true. As a mom and the keeper of my home I know that my attitude can really set the mood for our home. I try to start my day with a little ‘quiet time’ so that I can get myself in the right state of mind before starting my day. Sometimes things get to me during the day and I have to go to my room, or my closet, and ask God for an attitude adjustment.
I keep a journal where I write down my prayer requests and prayer requests for others, I also go over this list and try to remember to thank God for the work He has already done and the blessings that He has bestowed on me, my family, and my friends. I write down the things I am thankful for, even if it was a small thing. These help me to remember how grateful I am to serve such a wonderful creator.
I have been trying my best to write a thank you to God every morning. Again, this isn’t always something big but it is something that I am truly grateful for. So when my morning or day doesn’t seem to be going just right I can go back and reflect on these things. I find that even the littlest things are a great encouragement to me because they remind me that God is looking out for me in so many ways and that He sees everything that is going on in my life.
When I start my day with a grateful heart it makes the day go so much better. It makes for a happy Momma which will help to make for happy kids. Just think about the last time you woke up grumpy, or didn’t get enough sleep. Maybe one of the kids was sick and slept in your bed kicking you all night long? Maybe you came to the kitchen, that you know was clean before you went to bed, to find it a dirty mess? Maybe your husband left his dirty and horribly stinky socks in the floor right beside the hamper, again? Maybe your car broke down and needed to be towed to the mechanic, again?
There are so many ‘maybes’ that could happen and just maybe you would be ‘justified’ in feeling grumpy or agitated. If you let the grumpies or the agitation take over then you are not setting a good mood for your house. Your mood can and will rub off on those around you and before you know it there will be nothing but chaos.
So right now just take a couple of minutes to think of something that God has done for you. This can be hard to do at first because many of us are so accustomed to praying only when we need to ask for things from God. I thank Him for my family, sometimes we have our difficulties but I am so grateful that they are here. I am thankful for the home we have, it may not be the best or fanciest home around but it does its job. I thank Him that He makes sure we are provided for. I thank Him for the friends He has brought to me that have helped to encourage me on my journey. The list can go on and on but these are just examples.
Think about how wonderful it is that He looked down and saw YOU among the many millions of people on this earth and He saw your needs. Whatever it is, however big or small, just remember that He saw it and He thought about YOU and He took care of it. Sure there were probably other people with bigger or more urgent needs but He took the time to take care of YOUR needs at that very moment.
How great is that? How wonderful is the God we serve? He is great and mighty. He is so awesome that He would even look down on us and see our needs. He is so perfect and He only wants the best for each and every one of us. HE can use everything for good… that tow bill may have been the money the driver was waiting for so his daughter could have dental work done.
Changing your perspective can make a BIG difference in your attitude. Focus on being thankful that you have a home to come home too, food to eat, and a family who loves you instead of the messes and inconveinces.
So if we want to honor Him and show Him glory then we need to start at home. No matter how bad the morning is, no matter how bad the week has been, no matter how hard the year was we need to be grateful. When we choose to have the attitude of gratitude it will show in our lives, it will show in our faces, it will also start to rub off on those around us.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. – Colossians 3:15
This recipe came from one of my favorite cookbooks. It is a winner every time I make it although we have made a couple of changes to it. Continue reading “Red & White Pasta”
Pollywog's Place Blog 