summer

What to do when you are going through a tough time & it’s hot

/ kstrick7 / 2 Comments

Have you ever gone through a hard time? No one is immune to problems & struggles. Sometimes they can be waiting around every corner you turn! Attitude determines a lot of how you handle what is happening around you, or to you. We have to look for the good in everything.  If we can’t find anything good about a situation, then it’s still okay. We just need to be patient. It is necessary, that we all understand, nothing stays the same. If things are not to your liking, if they are going really bad, & I mean REALLY. BAD, it will pass. Nothing will stay the same forever. Just as if things are going wonderful & over the top. Enjoy it. It won’t last.

So, what do you do? Problems are tough. No one enjoys going through difficult things. However, here are a list of things, to hopefully help keep on your mind, as you push through to get to the other side.

  1. God is Good. (Matthew 19:7)
  2. God’s got this. (Proverbs 3:5)
  3. Jesus loves me. (Romans 5:8)
  4. Not today Satan. (James 4:7)
  5. The Lord is able. (II Corinthians 9:8)
  6. At the end of the day, God’s in control. (James 4:15)
  7. God will provide. (Hebrews 11:40)
  8. God is going to sort it all out. (Romans 8:28)
  9. God is faithful. (I Corinthians 1:9)
  10. There’s nothing that’s going to happen today, that me & the Lord can’t handle. (I Peter 5: 7)

When things go wrong, it is so important to do our best, to keep things in perspective, It’s easy to let things get the best of us. Sometimes it’s easy to get down & think things are stuck & never going to get better. That’s just not true. Everything changes. So what do you do in the mean time?

  1. Pray
  2. Count your blessings.
  3. Talk to someone, you trust, about what’s going on.
  4. Put things into perspective, by remembering one of the above phrases.
  5. Press on, don’t stop, & know things will get better.

Something that helps me, more than anything is to remember what I am thankful for. It  keeps me humble & grounded. And remember, what the Lord promises us:

Psalms 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all. (NKJV)

If you focus on the Lord’s truths, you will always be on the right track. He will never leave us with it all to deal with.

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (NKJV)

I also love some advice a dear friend gave me one time. I was going through a rough patch and confided in her. I asked her how she made it through some of the things that happened to her in life. She just laughed & said, “A lot of prayer & a lot of Paxil.” I love this advice. No, I’m not advocating taking drugs. I’m just saying sometimes we need help. And if we have to take a pill, to cope with life, for a time, well,  so be it.  There’s worse things we could do. Don’t forget, in the end, everything is going to be alright. If it’s not alright, it’s not the end.

Y’all. Whoever said, “Oh, I can’t wait for summer!”, back when it was cold, all I can say is here you are. Summer is yours to love & enjoy & make your dreams come true.  I hope it is just delightful wherever you are.  Because when I say, I will take winter any day over this hot, humid, mess, nobody is rolling their eyes now, are they?  Y’all, it’s not even the dead of summer, yet. I kid you not, we have a heat advisory out until 8pm tonight. 8:00 at night. It’s so hot, the kids can’t go out and play. It’s so hot, you melt in a puddle, walking from your house to your car. It’s so hot, that we, as Southerners, remember at this time of the year, why we are working so hard to get to heaven. Hopefully, where there is air conditioning.  Because we have heard tell the other place does not. And we ain’t in on such as that. Until next time, I will be going, because I should be washing clothes.

I am so proud of these young ladies for teaching at Vacation Bible School this year. They are some pretty good kids!

This sweet lady turned 90 years young yesterday. She has been my neighbor,  the one I sit beside at church,  & my friend, for a long time. As Miss Neenee would say, she’s our girl. We love her so much!

There ain’t no cure for the summertime blues

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It’s summer time, y’all! Seriously, one minute it’s 68 degrees & the next my glasses are fogging up every time I get out of my car. What happened to spring? That guy sure didn’t hang around long.

With it getting hotter outside, I start to think about how we decide to dress. I mean, the hotter it gets, the more people start wearing less and less. It won’t take long before you have to keep your kids’ eyes covered the whole time you are in Walmart. It begins to be rated PG-13 pretty dadgum quick. With that said, I wanted to share with you some things, I believe helpful in our quest to stay Godly.

We are studying I Timothy in our Sunday School class. I can’t find a better place to commence with our look into God’s Word about how we are expected to dress.

I Timothy 2: 9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, 10 but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. (NKJV)

The apostle Paul is talking about how a woman is to represent herself in the church.

Peter had something to say about how women should dress, as well.

I Peter 3: 3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— 4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. (NKJV)

I don’t believe Paul or Peter is saying we should be drab in the way we dress. They are talking about vanity. Dressing in dullness, could be considered a vain display, as well. They are trying to drive home the fact we should be more worried about our hearts that an outfit that calls attention to us.

I have 2 ladies that I follow, that are a great example of modesty. Cyndi from Grace & Beauty is one. You can check her blog out by clicking here. 

Also, Tania from 50 is not old is always dressed so cute. You can check out her blog by clicking here. I know you will admire them, as much as I do.

I hope you are having a blessed week. Yesterday at lunch, I went to the store & bought a bathroom scale & 2 bags of candy. I’m not really sure what that says about me as a person. However, this is my life right now.  ANYWHOO, I hope you stay cool this week. As for me, I should be going now, because I should be washing clothes.

Who knew it was the weekend already? Happy weekend, y’all!

photo credits: http://www.cargocollective.com, http://www.pinterest.com

 

What to do when you encounter a mountain lion (angry person) & SUMMER

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Hey y’all! I hope you have had a great day. I ran across a blog post of mine from awhile ago. I don’t know about you, but does it seem the world is angrier than it’s ever been? I know I can hardly drive down the road without somebody around me experiencing road rage. People at stores hardly smile. It seems like people are just in a bad mood about something. This blog post is a little lengthy. But I think it covers, very well, what to do when you encounter a mountain lion (angry person). Because we all encounter these creatures from one time or another. To read the post click here.

We are having a very eventful summer. Miss Neenee is practicing basketball & cheer. Plus going to camps. I got this snapchat earlier. Apparently, her discontent of getting up at 5 a.m. is not hampered by her excitement of being with her buds.

We had Vacation Bible School at church Saturday. It was so fun! The kids’ enthusiasm was awesome. They are definitely “On Fire For God” (which was our theme).

For more on this visit our Facebook page here.

I’m so glad you stopped by to visit with me today. We are into full swing with summer. What are your plans? I would love to hear about them. Until next time I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes.

For goodness snakes no! & things that happen when you buy dirt and containers

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My people ready for summer.

My people ready for summer.

Mr. Sweetie Pants ready for summer.

Mr. Sweetie Pants ready for summer & looking all dapper for church.

When it gets to being the hot part of the year, y’all, I have so many things I think back on.  Sipping red Kool-Aid on my Mama Boyce’s car porch ( as she referred to it).  Playing outside in the yard.  Catching lightning bugs.  Eating too many strawberries out of my Papa Clyde’s strawberry patch.  Swimming in the branch at my Mamaw & Papaw’s house.  And going to the garden at both sets of my grandparents’ houses.

My Papaw & Mamaw Austin were very well versed in growing gardens.  They worked so hard to make sure we had our freezers full for winter.  I remember one steamy summer morning, I was about 7 years old.  The daily plans included, going to the garden.  My Papaw had already been to the barn, that morning, to milk the cow, feed the mule Kate,  & other farmish related duties.  When he got back to the house, he perhaps made mention that one of the barn cats had had kittens.  Well, don’t you know that perked my ears up real quick.  Then, y’all I started with the begging to go see them.  Goodness Gracious why would they expect me to wait around whilst there were things at the barn that I needed to be looking at?  Mamaw said it was time to go to the garden anyway, so off we went.

The barn was situated right beside the garden.  So, once we made it down there, it didn’t take long until I had worried Mamaw down to a frazzle & she said I could go in the barn to search for the newly born kittens.  However, she wanted me to wait for Papaw to go inside with me.  Being the obedient & always minding child I was, I started to sneak off to the barn by myself.  Papaw was just taking too long.  I walked up through the dirt rows & when I about got to the end, I heard Mamaw holler.  I turned around & looked & Papaw was beating the ground with his hoe.  Right in the spot where I had been walking.  Well, needless to say, he wasn’t just beating the ground for nothing.  There was a black racer snake that was chasing me up the garden row.  I didn’t even know it.  My Papaw had come in & killed it to protect me.  Even when I was being disobedient.

Now, does that not sound like the Lord?  Even though we may be on a path He told us not to go on, He still watches over us.  Even when we don’t deserve it.  That’s called grace.  The dictionary.com simply gives this definition of grace:

favor or goodwill.

The Lord takes care of us when we have done nothing whatsoever to deserve it.  I have heard it called “unmerited favor”.  That’s what the Lord does for us.  He steps right in & protects His children whether we know it or not.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  NKJV

The Lord is really good at working behind the scenes.  As a matter of fact that’s where He does some of His best work.  So, today, if you feel like you are going through a hard time by yourself, you aren’t.  The Lord is always there watching over us & keeping us from harm.

Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
The righteous run to it and are safe. NKJV

James 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” NKJV

So, we have done our little version of a garden this year.  It’s a container garden on our back deck.  Because who doesn’t want fresh vegetables?   I reckon we do.

We started out planting. This is the peppers.

We started out planting. This is the peppers.

This is just when we got finished planting. There are tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, & herbs.

This is just when we got finished planting. There are tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, & herbs.

This was the cucumbers one day this week. These guys have grown right before our eyes!

This was the cucumbers one day this week. These guys have grown right before our eyes! Don’t that beat all?

And what about these? We may be fancy gardeners, yet.

And what about these? We may be fancy gardeners, yet.

I am so glad you came by to visit with me today.  Summer has come in full force here in northeast Mississippi.  We are going to reach the high 90s this weekend.  Along with that comes humidity & mosquitos!  It will be so hot we won’t be able to let our kids go outside & play.  Y’all, it will be hotter than blue blazes.  There is no wonder there are so many Christians in the South. 🙂

Hope you have a blessed day.  Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

And here is a random picture of my brother & mama, just because I miss her.

And here is a random picture of my brother & mama, just because I miss her.

You think it’s hot here 

/ kstrick7 / Leave a comment
Two boys & a bucket of water

Two boys & a bucket of water

It’s funny. We know summer comes every year. But when it starts getting scorching hot, ya’ll, we act so shocked. Like,

“Lord have mercy, where in the WORLD did this come from?”  

The heat, the humidity is just atrocious.  Thank the Lord, I have lived in the south all my life & ya’ll, I will tell you, you never get used to the heat. You just survive it. Just today I talked to a man, that lives in Texas.  He said OUR heat was stifling. And he’s from Texas!  Is Texas not hot??  And we DID say after all of the cold this winter we would not say a WORD, a WORD, I tell you, when it got hot.  But, here we are.

I love the church sign I saw once, in the dead of summer, that simply stated

“You think it’s hot here…..”  

What would we do without the temperature showing up in our cars?

What would we do without the temperature showing up in our cars?

Well, that’s true. There is a place that’s going to be hotter than Northeast Mississippi (Yes, we are from the North.  And we are o.k. with that.) in June that’s why we do everything we can to avoid it.

Galatians 5 talks about the fruit of the spirit. Not fruits, plural but fruit singular as in meaning one. It means you have to be ALL of it. Not just a part.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (NKJV)

19706052-apple-representing-the-fruit-of-the-holy-spirit

Let’s back up a little & see what we can do to avoid an eternity of “hotter than a $2.00 pistol” surroundings:

Galatians 5:19-21

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,[c] fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders,[d] drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (NKJV)

When my all my kids were still at home, I had all of these listed & posted on the front of the refrigerator.  Since our most sensitive & highly classified topics came up in the kitchen, of all places, one of them would bring up a situation. It could be from what was being worn to school, to how someone was handling a certain situation, or maybe how someone was acting.    I would point to the refrigerator & say ,

“Do you see it on this list?”  

With that, they would know the rest of the story.  Lots of good conversations came from having that list out where we could see it all the time.

I am so glad you stopped by to visit with me today.  Don’t forget this weekend is Father’s Day.  If your daddy is still living, make sure to visit or call him.  It’s the right thing to do.  We will be having Sunday lunch at my house for our Daddys.  I will be sure to post some pictures later.  Also, see below for my pet peeve of the week. Until then, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

Thanks for the lesson Gary.

Thanks for the lesson, Patrick.

photo credits: Facebook, 123RF, junk gypsy

 

 

Peanut butter fruit dip! A great dip for for summer

/ kstrick7 / 1 Comment

This is a wonderful fruit dip- blogged by the whitedish.  It would be wonderful to take with you to any picnic you may be attending this Memorial Day!  Just be sure to stock up on fruit when you make this.  You won’t want to stop until you have eaten it ALL!  Peanut butter fruit dip! A great dip for the summer!.  Just wanted to post this right quick, because as you know, I should be washing clothes…….