A most blessed Thanksgiving

RE-POST FROM NOVEMBER 2007


"One will say, I am the Lord's; and another will call himself by the name of Jacob; and another will write {even brand or tattoo} upon his hand "I AM THE LORD'S"..." Isaiah 44:5


A few days before Thanksgiving I read Cheryl's post concerning our hands and how differently we might act if every time we reached for something or touched someone, we saw "The Lord's" written across our palm.
It got me to thinkin'.
So on Thanksgiving morning, after putting the bird in the oven, I wrote a note to myself across my right palm.
A gentle (or not) reminder of who I belong to.
And who I represent.
I had to choose how my hand was going to be used.
To bless or to curse.
To caress or to clench in anger.
The words in red were not only a reminder of how I use my hands.
It was a reminder of how I use my tongue.
Every time I saw those words in red, I stopped to think before I spoke.
To speak "the truth in love", or to hold my thoughts to myself.
To gossip, or to edify.

I won't always have "The Lord's" written across my palm.
A load of dishes and it is all but faded away.
But I WILL remember forever, the day "THE LORD'S", written in red, played a significent part of Thanksgiving, 2007.

Foreward to November 2008.....
This post is as appropriate today as it was last year around this time, if not more so.

Have a most blessed Thanksgiving, my friends, as we remember Him who is worthy of ALL our praise and thanksgiving.
All glory and honor to Jesus.

Love,
Cindy

PENNY PINCHER!!!!!

These are difficult times we live in, yes?
And I, for one, am looking for ways I can cut back, cut down, or cut out.
I have been looking for a way to wash my dishes without using store bought liquid dishwashing soap, and I think I have finally found one.
I saw this on another blog somewhere,(can't remember where, sorry) and they used a bar of "laundry" soap. Laundry soap, I believe, is soap without a lot of extra fat in it. Fels Naptha is considered a laundry soap and it is what I use to make my homemade laundry soap. "ZOTE" is also considered a laundry soap and since that is what I have on hand that is what I am using for my dish washing experiment.

My bar of ZOTE was bought at our little town's Mexican grocery store for a mere 99 cents.
It is a huge bar of soap.
What you do is put your rinsed off dishes in your dish pan, add hot, hot water and let sit for a couple of minutes. If you are anything like Joy, you put on your rubber gloves to protect your hands, and you get your dishcloth wet. Soap it up, like you would if you were washing your wriggling 7 year old grandson while he is fighting his bath...oh sorry....got carried away...
anyway...soap it up real good, and pull your dishes out one by one, wash them, set your rag down, but NOT in the hot water, rinse your dish, then proceed to the next dish, re-soaping when necessary.
Set your soap on a pretty ironstone dish and let dry till the next time.
I still have a bottle of the store bought stuff, tho I must say the dollar store dish soap has it's limitations...like really getting the dishes clean.....so my kids will want to use that up first.
But when it's Cyn doin' the dishes, I'll be using the bar of soap, and lovin' every minute of pinching pennies.

How are YOU pinching pennies in these difficult times?

PS...another tip I read was to take your bar soap(any bar soap) out of the wrappers and let the air at 'em. It hardens them up, and they will last longer.
REALLY!

HERE A LITTLE, THERE A LITTLE

I have a confession to make.
I am a Christmas fanatic.
I have the 24/7 Christmas music station on my radio as soon as Farmboy leaves for work.
And I have begun to take a few of my Christmas treasures up from the abyss of the cellar and set them in unobtrusive spots around the living room. Before you know it, the sugar houses will be on the buffet, and the nativity will be on the large bookcase.

This beauty was bought from Joy several years ago, and it hangs in a corner of my living room year round.
Next week I will replace the wreath hanging from her hand with a vintage Christmas ornament.
I love nearly everything about Christmas.
How's about YOU?

CHANGES

My days have been filled with much. We have had huge changes here on our farmette this last year.
Our 7 year old grandson has been living with us for over a year now, and from the looks of things, he will be here for a while.
Our 2nd oldest daughter, Gina, has been staying in our finished basement for over a month, waiting to close on a house she is purchasing. Along with Gina are her 2 huge rottweilers, who, tho friendly to us humans, would just as soon eat one of our 4 cats as to look at them! So, for the most part, the dogs are made to stay downstairs.
Our oldest daughter Giselle and her husband Jon, have moved to Montana for teaching jobs, and she is pregnant with their 1st baby. Our prayer is that when the baby is born in February, the cost of a round trip airline ticket (for me) will be affordable. Right now they are running $1200....NOT affordable.
Farmboy has had very little work the past two years, tho that has been picking up this last month, and for that we are very grateful.
These things, among many, many others that cannot be shared on a public blog, are the reasons that my blogging has been few and far between. I can't promise much more, but I am going to try to update weekly.
This is my favorite time of year...cool, crisp fall days, with Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the proverbial corner.
Meanwhile, I do my best to drop in on my most cherished blog friends, and pray you do the same!


He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him will I trust." Psalm 91:1-2

THIS is what keeps me going.
My hope, when all seems hopeless.
My strength, when I am weak.
My peace, when I am full of fear.

Love,
Cyn