Worry

God’s got this & why Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays

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Do you ever get down hearted? Just worried & concerned about your family, your finances, your health? Not to mention loved ones around you. It’s the holidays, y’all.  I don’t know about you, but sometimes it seems those are the times we get anxious. We also have a lot of reasons to miss those who have passed on.  I know I miss my mama & grandparents more than ever this time of year.  On another hand, it’s so easy to get caught up in a friend’s well being, or how about the world around us? I promise, I stopped watching the news on t.v. awhile ago. It’s just too much, sometimes. For one thing, it’s depressing. So many terrible things are happening all around us. The shootings, drugs, and just in general how people are turning away from God. It makes you think everyone is bad & wonder where is God when you need Him? If you are like me, you pray & you wait. Then, when things just don’t work out, like I think they should, I start to doubt. I doubt my prayers. I doubt my thoughts. I doubt how things are playing out in my life. I wonder if the Lord is even listening? Or if He has time, with all the other foolishness all around, to even care about my problems. That’s when I have to stop myself, dead in my tracks, & remember Who, the God I pray to, is.

The God I pray to is the same God that created Adam from the dust of the ground. Just made a real, living, breathing, human being straight out of dirt. (Genesis 1:26)

He’s the One who promised Abraham & Sarah a child in their old age. And you know what? Issac was born. (Genesis 17:19)

He’s the One who had never let rain fall on the Earth & promised Noah, if he would go out and build a boat, he would save him. Noah didn’t even know what rain was, but since God said do it, he did & boy, I bet he was proud he did. (Genesis 6: 13-22)

God is the One that promised to send a savior, and then sent Jesus. Not in a big braggadocious, royalty like way. But to a common, every day mom & dad. (Luke 2: 4-7)

The Lord raised people from the dead, made people whole that could not be healed by anyone else on Earth, put the stars in the sky, and made a donkey talk. (Numbers 22: 28)

For one second, I should never think He ain’t able to help me. Sometimes, I have to remind myself Who I am talking to. Because He can do more than I could ever think or imagine. All He needs from me, as a Christian, is to believe He can. Then, He will.

Matthew 21:22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive

The same God that can create a universe out of nothing, can answer my prayers. Just knowing that should make my faith big. When I get to feeling things are hopeless, I think about how the Lord has a way of working things out in our lives. We may not understand what is happening, at the time. However, the Lord has always provided for me & my family. Even when I didn’t know what the outcome would be, He was right on time. He will do the same for you. Don’t ever doubt it. Things are going to happen to us. We are going to have to deal with things, we wish we didn’t. However, with God, you never have to worry.

Isaiah 54:17 says:    

No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.

 

It does not say weapons (problems) will never form. Problems will arise. However, God will not let them prosper (continue). Our job is to keep a Christ like attitude about it, pray about it, & wait for God to work it out.

I love this saying:

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week. Are you ready for the big day on Thursday? I know we are so excited to be with family and friends over Thanksgiving.  This is one of my most favorite holidays. My daddy called me last night & we planned what we were going to have for breakfast that day. Y’all eating is very serious with us. I just cannot wait to get all my people in my house. Those guys are pretty important to me. And I love, love, love being in their company. Family, friends, & eating too much. My favorite. I hope you have a truly wonderful Thanksgiving. As for me, I must be going, because I should be washing clothes.

Behind these sweet smiles were some cold girls!

Parade time! We love a parade!

Miss Neenee enjoyed her birthday cookies. Since she loves to cook, it was only fitting she had cooking themed cookies.

Look how cute! These were made by Meg Makes and Bakes. They tasted as good as they were pretty!

On an unrelated note, I almost had bread crumbs for breakfast instead of oatmeal the other morning. Darn those same looking containers. And my old eyes.

 

photo credit: Amazon, Pinterest

 

 

If you are looking for good news, you will find it here!

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I have some good news for you today. If you have been going through some rough and troubled times, don’t worry. They won’t last forever.

I have a sign, in my office at work, that says:

Everything in life is temporary. So if things are going good, enjoy it because it won’t last forever. And if things are going bad, don’t worry. It can’t last forever either.

This is a wonderful reminder of God’s care for us. In Psalms 130, the psalmist seems to be in a dark place. It seems he filled with desperation & is searching for relief. It seems he is pleading to the Lord.

Psalms 130:1 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications. (NKJV)

Have you ever been in such a state of mind that you just pray and beg the Lord for some sort of answer? I know I have. There have been times in my life that have seemed pretty bleak. Trusting in the Lord was the best thing I could ever do. Sometimes it’s hard to see how things are going to end up. But when you put your faith in God, things just tend to have a way of working themselves out. Even when things are in the Lord’s timing and not mine.

Psalms 130:5-6

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
And in His word I do hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
More than those who watch for the morning—
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning. (NKJV)

So if you are waiting in the darkness of problems and struggles, just know daylight’s a coming! You can have the reassurance the Lord will take care of you. His love and mercy is with us always.

Psalms 118:29 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. (NKJV)

Y’all. My daughter fried chicken and made homemade French fries last night. I’m not sure how you are raising your kids, but if they can’t whoop out some from scratch buttermilk biscuits at the age of 13 or 14, you are doing it all wrong. Maybe we just got really lucky with this gifted little cook of ours. But Lord have mercy, it’s the devil on a waist line. This weekend, she made a double decker, from scratch, cookie cake for my oldest daughter’s birthday. It was chocolate chip with homemade chocolate cream cheese icing. Now let’s get this straight, I’m not telling you all of this to make you jealous or to get her married off. I am just wanting you to know there is hope in our future of youngun’s that’s coming up. Because you know what? She has the nerve of trying to go to high school in August. That’s a lot to put a mama’s heart through. Excuse me while I hush up my cryin’.

I hope you have had a good week so far. During the cold months, here in northeast Mississippi, I made statements such as, “You won’t hear me complain one time when it gets hotter than blue blazes outside. I’m not saying a word.” So that’s what I am doing right now. Not saying a word about it being humid as all get out & melting you down to a puddle, just by walking outside. And if I have checked my calendar correctly, it is May. So, Not. A. Word. Until next time I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of rambling & a few thoughts about Jesus

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Fried green tomatoes just like my Mama Boyce used to make us. Don’t tell me we wasn’t raised right.

 

 

Since the summer has decided to pass by, without any warning whatsoever, I thought it would be perhaps a good time to  mention school starts back at the end of this week.

As in THE.END.OF.THIS.WEEK.  

I will just leave that right there. Do with it what you will.

However, with my disbelief of why the kids should be starting back to school so soon, Miss Neenee is quite excited. Per her usual, she has pinned me down to every last detail. Such as, when we are getting the last bit of her school supplies (and when I say the last bit, I mean, we have a back pack & lunch box & the 8th grade supply list  is RIDONKULOUS), and when we will shopping for school clothes. She is so much of the planner. Just like her sister. They LOVE to plan and have everything figured out. I’m the more of flying by the seat of my pants type gal. A fountain of forethought & follow through I am not. Which thoroughly irritates the fire out of them. I don’t mean to. But deadlines & plans & being prepared, just not me. That gene skipped me somehow, because low & behold my beloved mama was a planner, as well.

 

We have been talking about the sermon on the mount at church. Well, Bro. Brad has been talking about it & we have been listening. But y’all. I have been studying & reading on it this week. Some really good stuff in there. I love to study on real words that Jesus said. I know & believe the entire Bible is God breathed. I just feel comforted to listen to Jesus’s teachings, always.

One of the things Jesus talks about, in this sermon, is worry. With everything that goes on these days, it’s so easy to go down the rabbit hole of worry & being fearful. We worry about our kids, money, family, friends, our jobs, our health, our family’s health, our country, our country’s leadership, etc. and so on. My grandmother was a worrier to a fault. She would worry. Then, when there wasn’t anything to worry about, well, she’d worry about that! She was a wonderful person. She just lived a life of unfortunate circumstances & things happened to her, that was out of her control. (Just like the rest of us.) When you are dealt a crummy hand, it’s easy to lose heart & begin to doubt & worry.

However, Jesus reassures us that we never have a need to worry.

Matthew 6: 25-34

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[g] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (ESV)

Y’all, let’s not let worry consume us. Let’s not look back & think of all the things we missed out on because of worry. Things like joy, happiness, and restful nights sleep are at the top of the list for me. Everybody has problems & things they wish they didn’t have to deal with. However, we need to be prayerful & let the Lord work in our lives. He will if you let him, ya know?

Thank you for stopping by to visit with me today. July is but a fleeting memory. I’ve always heard time goes quicker, as you get older. And by George, I am a firm believer of this. I am also a firm believer that Mississippi, dead of heat summer is comparable to the torments of hell.  Thus, my firm belief of doing my best to live a life that keeps me from those type situations.  I hope you have a blessed rest of the week. As for me, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

Made this dress for my grandbaby girl. She looked like an angel when she came walking into church Sunday!

photo creds: pinterest, topcovers4fb.com, curiano.com

6 things to help you get rid of worry for good

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I hope this finds everyone doing well.  We have been having some rain.  And too, I have found a new way to waste my time.  I have been watching too many tornado videos online.  Have you seen the one of the guy on the interstate that is like right there at a tornado?  I mean he could have probably reached out & touched the thing??  It was the one in Rochelle, IL last week.

TOO MUCH for me.  I am confident when I say, if my Mama Boyce were here today, in the times of youtube tornado videos, well, let’s just say she probably would not let me watch them.  She was terrified of tornadoes.  She & my family were in a tornado one time & to say they lost everything is an understatement.  We stayed with my grandparents, during the day while Mama & Daddy were at work.  Also, we were there after we got off the school bus.  And every moment in between, if we wished.  We lived right beside them.  Since that awful event, every time it thundered, we were at the storm house.  Peanut butter & crackers & a water jar in hand, we would make the walk to the edge of the yard to the storm house.  My Papa Clyde would go in ahead of us & scare out any mice, rats, snakes, lizards, or whatever had set up shop since our last visit.  Spiders & cobwebs were expected.  However, since we were not a bunch of barbarians, my Papa Clyde would run out all of the before mentioned like it was his job.  If for some reason we were not at their house, she was on the phone calling.  Wanting to know when we were going to be at the storm house.  This was a serious deal with her & everybody had just better go along with it.  She was a worrier.  She loved all of us & worried we would not make it to safety in time.  However, we don’t have to live in a land of fear & what if’s.

Here are some ways to take worries out of our lives:

  1. Give them to the Lord. Straight out of the shoot, let the Lord handle everything. I Peter 5:7  casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
  2. Pray. We should not do anything without talking to the Lord about it. All day long. All night long. The Lord never gets tired of hearing from you. I Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing,
  3. Forget about it. Time thinking about the negative, robs us of time to enjoy the good things in life.  I can’t help but sing the Frozen song in my head when I think of this one.  Just “Let It Go”. Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 
  4. Remember we cannot control all situations. The devil is on his game looking for whoever he can to cause trouble with.  Don’t play the blame game & think you could have done something differently to deter a situation.  Sometimes you just can’t.  I Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
  5. Be thankful. Who has time to worry if you are using that time wisely? We should be thanking the Lord for the good things in our lives, on a regular basis. There is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS something to be thankful for.Psalms 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
  6. Trust the Lord.  Proverbs 3: 5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him,And He shall direct[a] your paths.

worry

 

The sun is finally poking it’s head out, this afternoon.  I am very glad to see it.  Speaking of someone poking their head out, last weekend Mr. Sweetie Pants came to spend the night.  His dad picked him up on Saturday.  He went non-stop the whole time he was at the house.  When asked by his grandfather to please quit pulling the cords on the blinds on the living room window, he reassuredly replied,

“It’s ok Pap.  I know what I’m doing.”  Well, he is 3 years old you know.

Much of the time he was there was spent with him reassuring us he knew how to do things, him actually going ahead with what he was doing, & then blaming Miss Neenee with it all. And ya’ll after he left I was one worn out Grand!  The next day, just in time for lunch, here he comes back.  He runs back to the bedroom where I am.  He pokes his head around the corner of the door & says,

“Grand, I’m back.”

I would not trade these days for nothing.  But for now I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

George Strait on my Pandora. It's the little things.

George Strait on my Pandora. It’s the little things.

photo credits: http://www.gitacoaching.blogspot.com, http://www.lovethispic.com

Nobody likes a tough biscuit-what to do when you are spoken to through a cooking show

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On Saturday I watch 2 shows on Food Network. One is The Pioneer Woman.

The Pioneer Woman & her sweet family

The Pioneer Woman & her sweet family

The other is Trisha Yearwood’s show, Trisha’s Southern Kitchen. I love these 2 ladies on these show. They make food that we eat. They are funny, down to earth, & people I would be friends with in real life. The Pioneer Woman, Mrs. Ree Drummond, & I have a connection.

She has a house full of kids & so did I.

She is not ashamed of cooking with butter & sugar & neither am I.

She has a very cute husband & so do I. 

She lives in the country & so do I. 

I think she is the awesome sauce of everything & she doesn’t have a clue I exist.  (That’s not weird at all, right?)

She put the icing on the cake on Saturday’s show. She proclaimed her dislike of bananas. I told my kids, “See there I told you we were kindred spirits!” I do not like bananas. My family, however, does. So, when I make dishes with bananas, I have to ask,

“Well, is it fit to eat?”

Because obviously, I am not doing a taste test on it.

Trisha & her sister Beth

Trisha & her sister Beth

A little later, I was watching Trisha’s show, though, & they said something that spoke to me. She & her sister were making Strawberry Shortcake. One of them said,

“Yeah, you can’t work the dough too much, because it’s like making biscuits. The more you work the dough, the tougher the biscuits. And nobody wants a tough biscuit.”

Kneading that biscuit dough made me think of life’s situations. When you are overthinking what someone said or dealing with a frustrating problem, the more you lull it over & keep it on your mind, it seems the tougher the problem becomes.ROCKING CHAIR

Matthew 6: 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
Meaning worry gets you nowhere. So, why waste your precious time on it?
Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Live each day to the fullest. Spend your time on what is at hand. Most of the things we worry about never happen or happen like we think, anyway.

The more time and energy you give to it, the tougher it gets on your well-being & spirit. Nothing will worry you to a frazzle any quicker than keeping unnecessary things on your mind. Lulling over things just makes things much tougher than they have to be. The outcome is no peace of mind & contentment for you, my friend. Like eating a tough biscuit.

What’s the answer, then?

When you run into a hard situation in life, address it, pray about it, and then move on. Don’t dwell or lull over it. Get your mind on something good.  Think happy thoughts! I need to practice what I preach. Sharing with you about it helps me remember what’s important. It helps remind me I don’t want to be eating tough biscuits all my life. So, that means I need to quit lulling, so much, all together. Hey, I’m trying.

One year for Christmas, my father-in-law gave all of us kids & the grandkids this scripture in a frame. He signed his name to it, so that we could always remember he was passing along some great truths to us.

Philippians 4: 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

I am so glad you came by to visit with me today. You know, we had some snow last week. Yesterday, I talked to a fellow co-worker that put it all into perspective. He said, “I don’t know why everybody runs to the grocery store for bread & milk. Just give it a day or two & it (the snow) will all be gone.” It’s easy to say all this whilst only a few short days later, we are having 60 degree weather. No, I have never heard of anyone dying from not having milk or bread on hand. On the other side of that, I don’t want to be the first one to. Oh the wonderfulness of living in the South! So, what do you do when you are spoken to through a cooking show?  Well, you blog about it silly! I hope you are having a great day wherever you are. As for me, I should be going, because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: Food Network, Serious Eats, LOL Wall

A Lesson in Prayer

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prayerDo you ever have times when you talk to God all day long? Or maybe all night long? I know I have done both. It is always a good idea to talk to God. Then, give Him a chance to talk to you by opening up His Word. Whatever you have going on, like my Miss Neenee, you will find life is more bearable with the comfort of the Lord with you.
With it being the end of school, there was some testing done a week ago. It is the first year my daughter has taken achievement tests. Her teacher prepared them, basically all year long, for these tests. Then, the week before the actual tests, they did practice tests. That was just so they could get used to what the tests looked like, how to answer, etc.,. They were, however, graded on these.
The weekend before the tests were to take place, we had an action plan. We bought her favorite Special K cereal with Red Berries , at the grocery store. This way, we could get up & not be rustling around in the pantry wondering what was for breakfast every morning. Next, I washed her clothes & put some outfits together. I made her lunch before I went to bed. This would take some stress out of our morning routine. Last, I promised her I would wake her up at least 15 minutes earlier each morning. That would give her extra time to get ready & hopefully not be so stressed out by the time we left the house.
On the 1st morning of the tests, we ate breakfast & got ready in record time. We were in the car ready to go. As we started driving to school- it all started. The wringing of hands, the worried look, the silence. I asked her what was wrong. She said, “I’m not going to do good on these tests.”
I said, “Why do you think that?”
She starts wailing, “They are going to be hard. Like stuff I don’t know ,hard. I just know it’s going to be bad.”

If any of my children are like my grandmother, this one is it. We called my grandmother Mama Boyce. She was somewhat of a worrier. When I say somewhat, I mean Lord have mercy, the biggest worry wart ever to live on the face of the Earth. She had passed away before my daughter was born. However, her genes did not miss my girl.
I told her, “ You made advanced on the practice tests. You are going to be fine.”
“Yeah, but what if I’m not?” she returned.
“What you do is pray about it before you take the test. Then, pray during & even after the test. Because you know you can pray anytime, anywhere.” I explained.
“Humph.” she said, shrugging her shoulders. Then more silence followed. We got to the spot where I drop her off. We said our goodbyes & I reminded her to pray.
That evening when I got home she said, “You know, that test today was not that bad.”
I hugged her up & asked her, “Did you pray?”
“Yep” ,she said, “all day long.”

I am so thankful you came by to visit with me today.  I hope you have a wonderful long weekend.  We will be grilling & spending time with family.  But for now, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes!