Show Us Your Life at Kelly's Korner

Today for Show Us Your Life, at Kelly's Korner,  we were asked to share our testimony.

I was blessed to be raised in church.  Our preacher at the time, J.D. Brogden was my favorite pastor and one Sunday after his sermon I felt God tugging at my heart.  I remember standing there nervous and then I walked the aisle.  I was 7 years old.  It was in April of 1971.  Preacher Brogden baptized me the following Sunday.

I remember after I got saved that my Sunday school teacher gave me a white Bible. I would stay in my room and pretend to teach the Bible.

Unfortunately, our family moved around and our family got out of going to church and  we missed the opportunity to be taught in the Word.  In my sophomore year God brought my friend Denise and her family into my life and I began going to church with them.  I wished that my testimony would have been that I stayed in church my whole adult life but that isn't the case.

I still read my Bible all through high school and afterwards but not until we had our second child did I really become convicted of how I had forsaken God and that I needed to get back into church and my sons needed to be raised in church.

Fast forward to 1997....I went through a hard divorce.  This trial brought me closer to God than I had ever been in my life.  I spent my time in the early mornings at my kitchen table praying and reading God's Word.  I cannot tell you how thankful I am that God never left me. He never gave up on me and I am thankful for second and one hundred chances with God!!

It was also during this time that God led me to my first Beth Moore Bible study.  I had NO clue who she was at that time.  The church we started going to was doing , To Live is Christ, the life of Paul.  God used Beth to give me a new love and desire for God and His Word.  I have never been the same.  I am still a work in progress but I am so thankful that Jesus died for me and you and that I get to spend eternity with Him!!

God is faithful and trustworthy and you can trust your heart and life to Him.  He is all that we need!

Thank you Kelly for giving us this opportunity to share our testimonies!

Blessings to all of you !!  Have a great weekend!

Randomness

Just checking in. :)

Nothing to exciting happening here , just normal day to day stuff but it has been a week.  I am happy that I have had a lazy Saturday evening.  My day started at 4:00 a.m. to get  showered and ready to babysit my great nephew.  He and I had so much fun.  We played for an hour in the floor of his bedroom with all his toys.  At one point he gave me a big smile and gave me the biggest hug and told me ...love you. :)  Making memories.  Moms and dads, play with your children and don't worry so much about the house and other things, they grow up so fast!

The heat wave has kept us inside.  It really is just awful BUT on the positive side, our grass is green again and we are expecting more rain next week. Thank you God!

I made another batch of chicken salad.  The family loved it and the second batch is better than before.  I forgot to add the celery again but used celery salt. You can also add onions or mom used to add chopped pecans but I left that out.  That is what we are having after church tomorrow.  That and farmers market tomatoes and I am making veggie squares.

My great nephew's birthday is next week.  He will be 2.  I can't wait to celebrate his birthday with family.  I have NO idea what I am going to buy him but we are going shopping after church.  I have several ideas but haven't settled on anything.   The picture above is little man's birthday last year.


Speaking of birthdays...we started talking and planning my birthday.  I know what I want to do and we are praying that it will work out.  I found a new place to go and I am really excited about it.  I will share with you later.  :))

As summer is getting closer to winding down, I plan on enjoying every bit of it.  Fall is my favorite season but as I get older I don't want to rush time away and  I want to enjoy each day and season.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

In the Kitchen with Mom

Well, before I get started on this post,  I need to say that my computer has bit the dust and as of right now I cannot post pictures. :(    Makes me really sad because I love photography and I had just taken a lot of pictures to share with you.  I am praying that my brother can fix it or that I can get a new one.

I decided to write a post anyway without pictures.

A few days ago I went to visit my parents and mom needed help finishing her famous chicken salad.

I was ready and willing to help and I tried to watch her closely to get the recipe BUT mom doesn't measure anything and I was just happy to at least know what ingredients she puts in. lol

Her recipe:


Boil a Hen or chicken. (she prefers a hen)  You may season as you wish or add an onion to the pot and usually an hour to two hours depending on the size of the hen or chicken


Cool and debone


She chops the chicken in her food processor  (I don't have one and I used my big knife to cut my chicken to a smaller consistency.


Seasonings(this makes it the best)  Marjoram, Tarragon, Tumeric, Dried Basil, Onion Salt  (measure a little at a time and keep tasting it until you like it. :))


She mixes this in a big bowl and with her hands. 


2 stalks of celery chopped


Mayo (again, add the amount you like)  Mom's salad is creamy but not overly creamy and thick


That is it.   


I made it for the first time today and it was really good but not as good as mom's chicken salad.  :)

Grab some fresh bread and a slice or two of a farm fresh tomato and slap some mayo on the bread and the chicken salad and a glass of sweet tea. Heaven.

I hope your Monday has started off good!!  To end with some good news:

13 people from our church are in Guatemala on a mission trip.  Today they had their first VBS and 250 kids attended and 34 made decisions for Christ!!  To God be all the glory!!!   With God ALL things are possible.

Girls night and Greek Salad

Tonight it is just us girls for dinner.  My friend Georgia is making her famous Greek salad and we are grilling steaks and baked potatoes and french bread. The french bread is for dipping in the salad. So, so good! I thought you would like the recipe. Greek food is  popular in Tennessee.

Spartan Salad:


3 Roma tomatoes (adjust it to how many you are making this for but 4 of us ate this salad)
1 cucumber
half of a medium sized onion

Feta cheese (you can crumble this into the salad OR cut it up in blocks and drizzle w/ olive oil and sprinkle Oregano)
juice of a whole lemon OR lemon juice concentrate, you may need more than 1 lemon depending on the amount of olive oil you use.)
salt to taste
Sprinkle with Oregano

It is back in the 90's this week and I am not cooking a lot in this heat but this meal is so easy and quick.  I hope you try it and like it. :)
 
Have a great evening!

A Perfect and Relaxing Day

Up early this morning to drink a few cups of coffee and spend some time with the family and afterwards my friend G and I headed to a friend's pool to swim all afternoon. 

One good thing about the hot weather, warm pool water. :)   I floated on my float most of the day.  Beside our friend's home is a huge garden full of big tomatoes and okra, green beans and corn and who knows what else.  We were told we could pick all the tomatoes we want and green beans.  It is fun living out in the country.  Swimming and being able to view that big garden brought a smile to my face.  Fried green tomatoes will be on the menu some time this week.

We ate our lunch on a screened in porch and the furniture was a yellow color. It looked like something you would see at a beach house. Loved it.   After lunch, more swimming.  Just a lazy day that we haven't had in such a long time.

One funny note:  The neighbors behind our friend's house.  Two women decided to blow up a pool and put it on their deck and sunbathe in it. Good idea BUT  it got crazy when they decided to break out the beer and then a big exercise ball. I promise they were working out on the deck in 90 degree heat. Who does that? We were like,  oooookay.  ;)

Swimming wipes me out and makes me hungry.  I am so happy that I don't have to cook tonight. Number 2 son is bringing home dinner for all of us. I am going to eat a grilled chicken salad and afterwards study my Sunday school lesson and probably go to bed early. 

I can't thank God enough for a delightful Saturday!!

Reminds me of a verse in 1 Timothy 6:17...."God richly provides everything for our enjoyment."  He provided today and I am very thankful.

Y'all have a great Saturday!

Thankful

I am thankful to God for the rain today!  Our area needed it so badly and I am hoping we get enough rain so my grass can return to a nice shade of green instead of the brown color right now.

I heard the thunder roll in and I had to sit on my swing for a bit.  Then the smell of rain came before the showers.  As soon as the rain started pouring it was time for a nap. Don't you enjoy taking naps on a rainy day?!

After debating on what to do today, I cleaned the house, went to the grocery store and came home and heated up leftover chicken alfredo for lunch and watched Blind Side for the second time.  I love this movie. It cracks me up to see all the SEC football coaches but even more that the mom dislikes Tennessee. lol 

Happy that it is the weekend.  My mom is making her homemade chicken salad.  If I can get the recipe out of her I will share it. It is truly the best I have ever eaten.

We plan on swimming this weekend and just hangin' out at the house and going to church. I would love to head to the mountains but it is bumper to bumper in Pigeon Forge. I think most people who normally go to the beach have come to the mountains due to the oil spill.

I am heading out to my swing but before I go I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend! 

R E L A X A T I O N

This has to be the quietest 4th I have ever had in my life.  Usually we shoot off fireworks and have friends over but it was just the 5 of us this weekend and we loved it!

Saturday we watched the Wimbledon final...GO Serena!!!  Spent ALL day in our jammies and waited for my son to get off work and we ate dinner.  Later that night we played Phase 10 for a few hours and after all these years of playing Phase 1o the brother FINALLY won!  He was excited.  Me, not so much. lol

I think we went to bed after 1:00 am.  We stayed around the house and began our grilling out around 10:00.  We grilled a rack of baby back ribs and I am not exagerating, the smell was heavenly and the smell was reaching all around to the front of the house. Insert BIG grin.    They were so, so good.  We made our own rib rub and bought hickory chips and they were so good. We also grilled out hamburgers and dogs,  along with potato salad and baked beans and corn on the cob and I didn't make a dessert. The family may not recover but then again they did have this:

We watched the men's Wimbledon final this morning as we were basting the ribs.   We finally switched over and watched a movie, Star Trek.. I can't wait for the second one.  

It has been so nice to be at home away from the crowds and relax. 

As of today, I am counting down to something I said I wouldn't mention for awhile and it is 60 days and counting........  SO excited!!!

Just for fun and to get away from the countdown I will throw in a pic of my great nephew from VBS 10

I hope your 4th has been fun!!!  Blessings to you in the new week!

Saturday Menu

We made another trip to the Farmers Market and I bought all kinds of goodies!

I bought 10 ears of peaches and cream corn.

We will eat some tomorrow night except that I am making fried corn out of some of it for tomorrow.

I bought white , half runner green beans. We snapped them and they are soaking overnight in the fridge.  I will cook them tomorrow along with new potatoes.

Along with that I am making cornbread and I am going to slice tomatoes. 

I am also making a salad I haven't made in a few years.  I call it Wilted Lettuce and for those who may not know what that it is, here is the recipe:

2 bunches of leaf lettuce(rinse and pat dry)

5 pieces of bacon (cut up and then fry)

a bunch of green onions or scallions(cut up)

1/4 vinegar

2 tbsp sugar

water

salt and pepper

I cut my bacon up before I fry it and after the bacon is done, drain it on a paper towel.

After washing the lettuce and patting it dry, tear it up and place in a big bowl.  I sprinkle sugar on the lettuce. Maybe a tsp.  Add the chopped scallions and cooked bacon.

Dressing:

Heat the bacon grease (from the bacon you cooked) 

Add vinegar and salt and pepper and water(3 TBSP) and sugar(2 TBSP)

Bring to a boil and pour over lettuce.

It is so good and actually, I can eat this and wouldn't need anything else but I do have other people to feed. lol

That is our Saturday Meal. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

A Delight and a New Study!

I went to Lifeway this morning to buy Priscilla Shirer's new Bible study, Jonah.  

"Navigating a Life Interrupted"

The back of the book says:

"They shock us; they compel us to change. You can't escape life's interruptions, but you can change your perspective on them. Dive into the study of Jonah and discover that what you see as an interruption may truly be God's divine invitation to a life so much bigger than you can imagine."

Please let me encourage you, if you haven't gone through one of Priscilla's studies, I hope you begin now. She is a gifted and powerful teacher of God's Word.  You can purchase  the videos for this study on Lifeway's website, HERE.    Download the video and watch them at your conveinence and at your home in your jammies. :)  What a   perfect way to have Bible study.

ALSO:

I came across a delight while buying my study.  A chip and dip platter. I got it for 75% off and in 66 days I will be using it for our first SEC football game of the season!!

Considering we have a new coach and new players and all the other drama my beloved VOLS have gone through over the year, I think this verse is perfect for them this season. :)

Plus:

It is perfect for anyone going through a difficult time.  God is in control and He is working behind the scenes in your life and all will be worked out for His honor and glory in your life and mine. :)