So much to share! I’m popping in with some various links, ideas, and news!

Rise and Worship Album

We’ve listened to this album countless times since Joshua brought it to our attention early this year. Refreshing, convicting, artfully done, worshipful, Christ-honoring. I want to fill our home with this kind of soul food.

An idea for children’s artwork

Children go through (sometimes lengthy) stages of wanting to create various types of art. What to do with all the masterpieces? You hate to throw them away, but can’t line all your walls with coloring pages held up by painter’s tape, either. (Side note: Painter’s tape does work well for temporarily hanging art work.)

I have ended up stashing the artwork papers in a “file” (using that term very loosely) and then going back to the collection on various occasions. Does someone need a letter sent to them in the mail? Or a birthday card? Do big brothers need a care package? We pull out the stash and look through. Such cries of delight as my young ones find treasures they had forgotten about. They select the perfect one, we write some words on it, and voila! Ready to go! Now to gather up the artwork spread out all over the floor…

History Recommendation
In my February Patchwork Post, I recommended a history book. Unfortunately, I will have to retract that recommendation, since the denominational and doctrinal ideas ended up being just too distracting from the history we were setting out to learn.

Now THAT’S a fish!
Sammy has been fishing as much as he possibly can, lately. Here’s a 4 pound bass he caught while out with his Uncle Tim. (Uncle Tims are just the best. Everybody needs one– and we are blessed with one on each side of the family!)

Annalise, on the other hand, was not so thrilled with the fishing experiences over the summer. She actually caught a fish but did NOT want her picture taken with it.

How to kid-proof a screen door

The screen door on our back porch needed to be replaced. Kids and screen doors don’t go well together; you may have noticed! Joshua and I brainstormed ideas, and this is what we came up with– protecting each side of the new wooden screen door with vinyl lattice. It has held up beautifully for a few months now, and it gets constant use.

Anniversary

As is typical for us, it took all summer for us to finally get out and celebrate our June 5th anniversary — 22 years of marriage. God has been immensely good to us; we are humbled and grateful.

I see so much heartbreaking stuff going around– women holding men in disdain, asserting themselves, belitting men, talking about how strong and independent they are as a woman and how it’s not their job to pick up his dirty clothes… I could go on, but you know what I’m saying, because I’m sure you’ve seen the posts, too.

When you love deeply and share life together, and consider one another, and hold hands through the tough times, and pray and cry together, and bite your tongue when necessary, and raise your flock together, and appreciate the little things…. dirty clothes and all the other petty stuff doesn’t matter. At all. Twenty-two years later something beautiful has emerged that you never dreamed of on that wedding day.

As I saw one sweet young bride wisely say, “Let’s normalize lifting up our husbands!”

Here is my one piece of dating advice: seek for a man who truly loves and follows after God with his whole heart.

Meal Idea: Kielbasa & Veggies with Cornbread

I’ve been making a new meal lately, and Steve loves it so much I decided to share. It’s easy to prep and comes together quickly.

First, make cornbread (must use this recipe) and get that in the oven.

Instead of a recipe, I’ll just tell you how to make the sausage part. I love making meals without a recipe, which is very rare for a non-intuitive cook like me!

Pull out the baked potatoes you saved from another meal earlier in the week. Chop the potatoes up into bite sized pieces. Slice up one horseshoe shaped roll of kielbasa sausage, along with some various sweet peppers, and onion.

You will probably need to use your biggest skillet for this, and if it’s cast iron that’s even better. Fry everything in butter (adding a little oil if needed), season with salt, pepper, and whatever spice mixtures you have that sound interesting (like a Grill Mates seasoning, for example). Cook and season for several minutes, adding butter as needed along the way. When the sausage and veggies are somewhat blackened and crispy, serve it up with the warm cornbread and enjoy!

Truth in Time- our new ministry

Our new ministry— one that has come about only by the hand of God– is launching. This is in conjunction with our other work here in Illinois. Steve blogged about it here. We are excited, nervous… and we are not naive. The evil one doesn’t want truth to go forth. Therefore we must also be courageous. We plan to go wherever God opens doors, and joyfully proclaim the message that “the Lord of history is the Lord of today.” ♥