Category Archives: Blogs

Tuesdays In Other Words

This week, Elisa is hosting “In ‘Other’ Words” at her site, Extravagant Grace. She has chosen a quote from the Anne Ortlund’s book “The Disciplines of a Beautiful Woman.” This week’s quote is:

“But remember, for all your adult life you’ll be a woman. And how you live your life as a woman, all by yourself before God, is what makes the real you. Nothing on the exterior can touch or change that precious inner sanctuary, your heart, his dwelling place unless you let it. And God, who loves you very much has tailor made all your outer life, your circumstances, your relationships, to pressure you into becoming that beautiful woman he’s planned for you to be.”

~ Anne Ortlund ~

So here is where I went for “in other words.”
~
Titus 2: 1, 3-5 ~
“You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.
“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their
husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”
10 – 15
“….so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
~
I’m just beginning a study with some women at my church on Titus 2. We are using the book Feminine Appeal – Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Motherby Carolyn Mahaney. Here are some quotes from the 1st chapter of the book to follow-up on this passage from Titus.
“Our conduct has a direct influence on how people think about the gospel. The world doesn’t judge us by our theology; the world judges us by our behavior. People don’t necessarily want to know what we believe about the Bible. They want to see if what we believe makes a difference in our lives. Our actions either bring honor to God or misrepresent His truth.
….As verse 10 [in Titus 2] says, we can “adorn” the gospel with our lives. To “adorn” means to put something beautiful or attractive on display – like placing a flawless gemstone in a setting that uniquely shows off its brilliance. The gospel is like the most valuable of jewels.
…Make no mistake, by adorning the gospel, we are not enhancing or improving it.  The gospel cannot be improved! But by cultivating the feminine qualities listed in Titus 2, we can present the gospel as attractive, impressive, and pleasing to a watching world.”
~
The truth that is presented in Titus 2 for us women is a dependable model of what God has planned for women to be in this world. What is truly beautiful is a women who adorns the gospel inside and out…
~
For more Tuesdays In Other Words click over to Extravagant Grace.

Fun Monday ~ Bedside Table?

 Make sure you scroll on down to the next post for my Bloggy Giveaway which is going on all week…

Our hosts for Fun Monday this week are the Lurchers. Here’s their assignment…

So continuing in the spirit of “being interested in people”, I would like to know, or see, what’s on, in or under your bedside table! So open those draws and bare your soul to us! Is there anything special there that has a story or a memory that you can tell us about? Books that you keep there to delve into from time to time? Trinkets that you don’t know where else to put? Let’s see!

My condo here in Southern California is nice and small. I had to find a very little bedside table that would fit next to my bed and still let us open the doors to the armoire. So not much room for clutter but let’s see if there are any surprises in the drawer of the night table…

 

On top the current reads. On the bottom shelf a basket filled with additional books I want to get to soon. If I was in my home in Washington for this Fun Monday I’d have a lot more fun stuff to reveal like notes from my kids when they were little. Costume Jewelery from my mother-in-law’s stash. Old goodies that have never gotten cleaned out…

 

We’ve been in our condo for a little over a year. I haven’t had enough time here to find surprises. My tabletop has my current reads; Pilgrim’s Inn by Elizabeth Goudge, My ESV Bible, Taste & See a devotional by John Piper, Ancient Christian Devotional (A year of Weekly Readings),  A notebook to write down anything noteworthy. The last thing on my table top is a coaster that we got in Ventura at Anacapa Brewing Co. for my coffee cup when my Dear brings me coffee in bed on Saturday mornings. In my drawer there are a couple pens, lip gloss, hand lotion, and sermon notes that end up in my Bible that I clean out and put in the drawer.

 

Here’s a photo showing how close the armoire door comes to the table.

I hope you enjoyed your visit to my little corner of the condo. Head over to the Lurcher’s for more Fun Monday. You’ll find the participants in the sidebar…

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

 

Bloggy Giveaway Carnival ~ January 28th – February 1st

 

Carnival_button_4

 

Welcome to my bloggy giveaway. This time around I have a piece of jewelery from Cookie Lee that I am giving away. It’s great for the Valentine Day season that is upon us. Here are some photos.

 

 

The heart pendant is reversible with the black center on one side and silver scroll on the opposite side.

 

All you have to do to win this necklace is to leave a comment and a valid email. The close of the contest is on Friday at noon.  I will use a random number selector to pick a winner from all the commenter’s. I will announce the winner on my blog by 5PM Friday the 1st of February. You do not need to have a blog to enter. Please only enter once. I am opening this contest to the United States, Canada and Europe. My past winners have both been from the East Coast. I live on the West Coast.

To see many more giveaways click on over to Shannon’s Bloggy Giveaways. I’ll have the link available at 8 AM Central time on Monday morning…

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Walking for Donuts? Is that what Lovella had in mind?

Dear and I decided to walk along the main road outside our neighborhood today so we could check out Calleguas Creek after the rains we’ve had all week. The sun was shining and the skies were clear.

 

This creek is generally pretty dry with maybe a trickle once in a while. The rain storms we’ve been having have made the creek flow strong and constant. (This photo was taken after the last rain storm, not today, but the creek looked just like this today with bluer skies)

We continued up the road.

 

The grade you see in the distance is what Dear has to travel everyday to get to work.

Oh no, look what I see, a donut shop. But here we are on a healthy walk…

 

On the way back to the Condo I got a shot of the Creek on the opposite side of the road.

Now where did that come from and how did it make it all the way to my condo?

I’m hopeless people!  Not only were my walking numbers way down this week (6108 avg.) I rewarded myself for my dismal efforts with a donut! Not a little donut either.

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend…

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

What Color Crayon Are You? ~

I saw this Saturday fun at Kathy B’s site and decided to play.

You Are a Blue Crayon

Your world is colored in calm, understated, deep colors.
You are a loyal person, and the truest friend anyone could hope to find.
On the inside, you tend to be emotional and even a bit moody.
However, you know that people depend on you. So you put on a strong front.Your color wheel opposite is orange. Orange people may be opinionated, but you feel they lack the depth to truly understand what they’re saying.
If you decide to play let me know, too! Happy Saturday…

Show & Tell ~ Napkin Rings

For Show and Tell today I’d like to share some of my napkin rings. I’ve always enjoyed using cloth napkins and napkin rings when we have friends over. I have some of my collection with me at the condo in California. Some of the rings I collected before Dear and I were married. We bought two matching antique silver ones when we were in England together with a Christian Rock Band Tour before we were married.

 

The ceramic white and blue are Dansk rings that I picked up at Goodwill. The pearl ones I got at clearance from Target. The dark bronze swirly ones were a gift from my son and his wife for Christmas. The silver with the scrolled design are antique sterling silver ones we bought in England in 1974. The snowflake ones I bought at K-Mart Christmas clearance 90% off. The 4 seashell ones are antiqued pewter that I bought before we were married.

 

It’s always fun to change up my table settings with all these great bargain napkins and napkin rings.

For more Show and Tell head on over to Kelli’s at There’s No Place Like Home.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Recipe Round Up ~ Snackalicious Super Dishes

Recipe_round_up SupersnacksmallJust in time for this year’s Super Bowl on February 3rd, Pensieve is hosting Snackalicious Super Dishes and Rebecca Writes’ January’s Recipe Round Up in one lip-smacking, crowd-pleasing carnival and YOU’RE invited!

Here’s my contribution. A wonderful Chili from one of my favorite cookbooks!

 

Mount Rainier Chili (serves twelve to fourteen)

Ingredients:

1 pound Great Northern white beans, rinsed and picked over
2 pounds boneless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups onion, chopeed
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 – 4 ounce cans chopped mild green chiles
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1- 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
8 cups chicken stock
1  12oz. can beer
3 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded and divided

sour cream
salsa
fresh cilantro leaves chopped

Soaking time overnight. Place bean in a large, heavy pot. Add enough cold water to cover by at least 3 inches. Cover and soak overnight.

Place chicken in a large, heavy saucepan. Add cold water to cover and bring to a simmer. Cook until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and cool. Remove skin and cut chicken into cubes.

Drain beans into large colander. Heat oil in same pot. Add onions and saute over medium-low heat until translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, green chiles, cumin, oregano, cloves and cayenne. Saute 2 minutes. Add beans and stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until beans are very tender, stirring occasionally, about 3 to 4 hours. Add additional water if necessary. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and bring to a simmer before continuing.) Add chicken, beer and 1 cup of cheese. Stir until cheese melts. Ladle chili into bowls. Serve with remaining cheese, sour cream, salsa and cilantro leaves to sprinkle on top.

This is a wonderful white chili from one of my favorite cookbooks from the Junior League of Seattle, Simply Classic. I recommend this cookbook highly because every recipe I have made from the book has been wonderful.

To see more recipes head over to Pensieve’s here.

Know & Tell Friday

Question 1
What is your favorite fairy tale?

I think my favorite fairy tale is Snow White. It might have been the first one I saw when I was little and it made an impression on me. I also like the 7 Dwarfs.

Question 2
If you could be guaranteed a spot on the reality show “Survivor”, would you go?

No, I really would not want to expose myself to the elements in that way. I’m past my physical prime and I wouldn’t want to be without my hormone pills. 🙂 I also wouldn’t want to be at the whim of the producers manipulating and exposing me in a bad light.

Question 3
Meanest thing you ever did to a sibling??? I know…. what kind of question is this 🙂

This one is easy for me. I would hide in the closet or under the bed and when my older sisters would come home from dates I’d grab at their legs from under the bed or I’d grab their hand when they reached in the closet for their nightgown! Made them scream bloody murder every time.

Question 4
Best Fashion Era… 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s or now…

I think the 60’s were great. I loved the classic Jackie Kennedy look.

 

Question 5
Have you ever skipped to the end of a book before you finished reading the book?

Maybe once. It is not a habit of mine to do that. If the book drags on at the end I might skim through to get to the end.

Bonus Questions (I found these questions through a website, and boy are these challenging…)  ~

Question 6
What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year? ~

To be able to move back to Seattle. ~

Question 7
What is one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God? ~

Talk to Him like He’s real and my best friend.  ~

For more Know and Tell click over to To Know Him.

Thankful Thursday

I’m thankful that God chose me, that He forgives me, that He loves me, and that He continues to lead me and protect me.

I am thankful for our new evening Home group that encourages me and gives me the opportunity to encourage.

I am thankful for learning about other people and cultures in bloggy world. It opens up the world to me in ways that I never dreamed of before.

I’m thankful to be able to pray for people all over the world.

I am thankful that Jesus laid down His life for me and brought me out of darkness into His light.

I am thankful that God fills me with joy!

I Thessalonians 5: 23-24 ~ “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”

For more thankful posts head over to Sting My Heart.

Winter Flowers in California

The theme for this week! 

January 23 – 29. Wildflowers in Winter, a winter image of a flower in your area.

 

Bird of Paradise (Camarillo, California)

I live in the city and wildflowers are out of easy reach for me. These Birds of Paradise seem to grow with absolutely no effort around here. They pretty much bloom all year long from Winter to Fall. The Hummingbirds love to come and visit these. I’m still trying to catch a photo with that little bird visiting. This one is just outside my bedroom window. Today it’s pouring down rain here and this splash of color caught in a bit of sunlight is cheering me up.

  The Bird of Paradise is one of four plants in the genus Strelitzia.  The plant most often referred to as the Bird of Paradise and the one pictured above is the orange flowering Bird of Paradise, Strelitzia reginae.

For more winter flowers around the world visit Wildflower Morning.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.