In the waiting room

But they who wait upon the Lord will get new strength. They will rise up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weak. Isaiah 40:31 (NLV)


I'm doing Grandma duty this week - hanging out with my daughter and her family until the new baby decides to make an appearance. Someone (AKA Grandma) needs to be here to stay with the 7 others when the time comes for mommy and daddy go to the hospital for the delivery.

But waiting for the new baby is a lot like watching a pot of water on the stove - you know it's going to boil eventually, but it just won't boil as long as you watch it. LOL!

It means that I don't have time for my usual morning routine of writing. It's hard to blog with little ones crawling on me at 7 AM. And of course, even though I'm so close to finishing my third novel, everything is on the back burner as long as there are little ones around.

But don't be fooled - I'm not complaining. The "wait" isn't bad at all since I love spending time with my grandkids. Today we're making paper conversation hearts and playing with Play Doh while the older ones are doing their home-school class work. Tomorrow? who know's - I'm sure we'll find some equally fun things to do.

No so when I'm waiting on the Lord for answers to prayer or guidance or healing, etc. I get impatient, frustrated and depressed,, the longer I have to wait. The difference is that it's fun to spend time with the grandkids, but not so fun to wait on the Lord for things to happen. Perhaps it's because when I ask the Lord for something, I'm in pain or needing an answer ASAP. Not so fun!

Yet it's during those times of waiting on him that my trust muscles are strengthened. I grow emotionally and spiritually. As I lean on him, I learn what it is to rely on his strength rather than my own. And I do survive - even thrive - when I thought I couldn't go another step or wait one more moment. In his time, the answer I seek is birthed in my life and I am better for the waiting time.

Lord, help me to embrace the waiting time as I learn to lean totally on you. Amen.

Sharing your faith with future generations

“Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”” Matthew 28:18-20 NLT

Being a writer is important to me. It's a way to share my faith and my story with my family, friends and those I've never met. So when asked to share about my writing with a group of women at a luncheon, I wanted to encourage them to become writers too. No, they may never write a novel, but anyone can leave a legacy of their faith with a few words strategically placed for others to find. Who knows how your words will impact another person and teach them important lessons about Christ?

1. Photos. We all have them. I inherited a large boxful when my parents passed away. Many of them are meaningless to me: nameless faces in unknown places. I'm not sure what to do with them since I feel uncomfortable tossing them out.  

However, the ones I do know, I am in the process of labeling so my children will know who they are and how they fit into their family tree. If I know something about their faith, I'm including that as well - little stories, memories I have of them or quotes that I remember to inspire and encourage my grandchildren in their faith Sticky notes work well so I don't have to write directly on the photos or to create labor intensive scrapbooks.

Another thing I would recommend is to make a list of 50 "facts about me". Or to write out your testimony - when you first met the Lord, how knowing him has changed your life, some examples of answered prayer. Select a personal photo to go along with those writings. It's an ideal way to share your personal faith for your family and place them in a special box or folder.

2. Recipes. I inherited my mom's cookbooks and recipes. Many of those bring back childhood memories and become topics to write about to share about family traditions, about how we celebrated Jesus as a family, etc. Again, including photos with these particular foods or events will help to bring the writing alive and can be a memory maker or teaching tool. connecting one generation to the next or in sharing the gospel.

3. Diaries or letters. Do you keep a diary or journal? Keep one that details the important inspirational or faith-related happenings of your life. This is a great way to share your story of your relationship with Christ. As your children and grandchildren read these, they will learn what made you tick and why Christ was so important to you. If you are into technology, you might keep an online blog to preserve your faith stories for all to read. Include a photo in the front of the diary as well to put a face to the faith stories!

These are just a few ways anyone can become a writer/teacher to share their memories as well as their faith with family and future generations.

Father, help me to impact family, friends and future generations through my words and show me new ways to share those words each day! Amen.

Blue Ribbon Babe

“Follow the pattern of true teachings that you heard from me in faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. Protect the truth that you were given; protect it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” 2 Timothy 1:13-14 NCV

I'm so proud of my granddaughter - I
 hope you'll forgive me if I brag on her a little today.

At almost 13 years old, Eve is an accomplished seamstress. She enjoys sewing for herself, as well as for her sisters. Eve can even look at things and duplicate them without a pattern. She recently joined 4-H, just in time to enter some things in the local county fair. She won a first place ribbon for an outfit she made for her baby sister as well as a 3rd place ribbon for a skirt she made for herself. Way to go Eve!

I think one of the reasons I feel so proud of Eve and her sewing talents is that I helped to teach her, way back when she was 8 years old. We were visiting her family in Florida and I needed to borrow my daughter's sewing machine to fix an article of clothing. Eve was curious about the machine and wanted to learn how to use it so of course, Grandma had the privilege of introducing her to sewing. After I finished with the machine, I helped her to cut out and sew two aprons - one for herself and one for her sister, Abby. After that, she was hooked!

Once she learned to read, she was able to follow directions on the patterns by herself and now she can make almost anything. When I visited several months ago, we cut out 4 summer sundresses for Eve's new infant sister, Lily, and we spent several hours sewing together to finish them.

It's important to take time with our young people - to teach them skills they'll need to survive in the adult world, and to help them develop their individual talents and abilities. Equally important is to teach them the eternal truths of the Gospel. They need to know how to protect those truths in their hearts, especially today when Christian values and Biblical teachings are being attacked on all sides.

Father, with the help of the holy Spirit, help me to always be ready and willing to teach those around me - not only practical skills, but spiritual lessons as well. Amen!

Masterpiece

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10 NLT

I have a confession to make - I'm a scrapbooking tool junkie....

If you ventured into my office/craft room, you'd see shelves from floor to ceiling full of paper, templates to make all sorts of shapes and 3-D embellishments and ribbon. One plastic dresser is full of different sized punches and another contains rubber stamps, markers, pencils and paints. Other dresser drawers contain fabric, brads, beads and whatnot for every occasion.

Each of my tools and supplies was purchased with a specific purpose and project in mind - carefully chosen to create just the right look for that special someone. Since many of those tools and supplies can be pricey, I usually choose carefully and use coupons!

Sure, I have a few superfluous supplies laying around - things I just had to have because they were on sale or because I saw a "really cool" card design which used that one special item. But for the most part I use everything I have here in my craft stash frequently. Since I've been creating handmade cards for over 10 years now, I have most of the things on hand that I need when I sit down to craft. But I am always on the lookout for new gadgets to make my crafting more efficient or more fun.

Best of all I love sharing those tools with my friends and grandchildren!

My wonderful Creator has been crafting my life for way longer! He has all the tools He needs on hand to create a masterpiece.

- He adds dabs of joyful colors here, dark shadows there - all designed to highlight His glory and power in my life.

- He carefully chooses from His pattern stash to provide life experiences along with God-ordained mentors which prepare me for tomorrow's challenges.

- He has all sorts of cutters to trim away excesses - those things which add unnecessary bulk and distractions.

- God stamps His image in my heart and embosses His promises on my mind as a constant reminder of His hand with me.

Everything I need - every lesson, every promise, every help along the way - all these things He freely gives me so I might live a life that glorifies Him!

Thank You Father for caring so much that you choose just the right tools to craft my life into a masterpiece fit to be used for Your glory! Amen.

Who’s an April Fool?

Ok, I know April fool’s day has come and gone, but it was kinda fun this year….

No, I didn’t play any jokes – at least not intentionally. I was baby sitting for my 2 grandkids in Maryland and handing out money to my d-i-l  whose birthday was a joke on her mom 37 years ago. But it was a good day nevertheless.

Six year old Avery is in Kindergarten and is such a cutie. We started talking on Friday afternoon after his parents left. I made a statement and in typical six-year-old fashion he asked, “Why?”

“Why?” he asked again after I gave him the answer.  After my third reply and yet another, “Why?” I couldn’t help myself; I started laughing out loud. I don’t remember my own children going through the “Why?” stage, but I guess they did. It just tickled my funny bone to hear Avery do it with such a serious expression on his little face.

While I giggled, he looked at me as if I suddenly sprouted bunny ears. Then a grin spread across his face and he said, “Grammy, you’re making April Fools!” 

Saturday evening, Avery told me Mother Nature was making April Fools because  it was snowing with thunder and lightning outside. I guess so! We ended up with 4 inches of wet yucky white stuff on the ground which the forecasters did not predict. Every bit of it melted away by Sunday afternoon so I could travel the back roads home with no problems.

Once home, I began to get caught up on the weekend mail and noticed an interesting story on the front page of the northern NY newspaper where I used to work. The paper comes out once a week on Fridays (which just happened to be on you-know-what day this year LOL!) The lead story showed a photo of SOMETHING with a head and several humps swimming in the Oswegatchie River. An Oswegatchieness Monster perhaps??????

What a great story. The writer hooked his audience right from the beginning with an outrageous, yet believable story about a trucker passing through town who saw this thing on the river as he crossed the bridge.  The trucker photographed it with his cell phone and then called the local paper.

After the interview, the trucker climbed into the cab of his truck and told the news editor, “I’ll be driving slow and looking into the river again…. just in case.”

To which the editor laughed and replied, “I happen to see gullible readers who read this story all the way to the end before realizing it’s April Fools Day.”

Got me again!

Frugal Baby Food

Babies are wonderful! As I sat here this morning missing my new grand baby, I decided to do the next best thing - write about babies!

When my children were small, we pastored a small town church which couldn't pay my husband a large salary so it became an adventure in creativity to find ways to make ends meet. Around that time, I bought a cook book called "Feed Me, I'm Yours," by Vicki Lansky (first published in 1975, newly revised in 2004 so it's still available) with all sorts of healthy recipes and helpful hints on feeding my babies. That book became my child care"Bible" and by the time I passed it on to my daughter to use with her 5 little ones, the cover had fallen off and pages were oil stained.

One of Vicky's suggestions was to cook the family's vegetables without salt so they could be pureed for baby at the table using a baby food grinder. The baby food grinder I used (back in the good old days LOL!)was available in the baby section at the larger department stores for about $5. It was plastic tube with a hand cranked grinder mechanism on the top. Food was inserted into the tube and forced through the grinder. It was completely washable and easy to use.

Now the same manual food grinder costs $14.99 online. There are also electric baby food grinders available at $29.99, though you could probably purchase a small electric food processor or smaller containers for your regular electric blender for less that would do the same thing rather than buying a "baby" food grinder.

So EASY! My babies ate the same veggies and later meats as we did so it saved me the expense of buying jars of baby food.

After the meal, Vicki suggested pureeing leftover veggies and freezing them in a plastic ice cube tray. The tray created perfect baby-sized portions that could be popped out of the tray after freezing, labeled and stored in a freezer bag. When I needed a meal for my babies, I could pop out a variety of "cubes" and heat and serve.

Vicki Lansky also offered ideas for healthy finger foods and even recipes to make baby biscuits for teething. I found this recipe which was adapted from her cookbook at another online baby food site:

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/teethingbiscuits.htm

Teething Biscuit Recipes - Try These Banana Bread Sticks

Ingredients:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup mashed banana
1 3/4 cups flour (white, whole wheat, or a combination)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
Combine ingredients and stir only until smooth. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour or until firmly set.Cool, remove from pan, and cut into sticks. Spread sticks out on a cookie sheet and bake at 150 degrees F for 1 hour or longer until the sticks are hard and crunchy. Store in a tightly covered container.

Adapted from Feed Me I'm Yours by Vicki Lansky **Freezes Well**

The folks at Wholesome Baby Foods also suggested making teething biscuits from your favorite healthy breads ( like carrot, pumpkin, zucchini or apple bread) by baking the bread as usual, then slicing, cutting the slices into sticks and returning them to the oven to bake until hard and crunchy. I wish I'd have known that trick when my children were small!

Even after my children grew up, I loved making the recipes in Vicki's book - especially the craft recipes for play dough, finger paint and other crafty recipes which I adapted for my children's ministry.

So what resources have you used to live "green" or frugally as you raise Baby? I'd love to hear from you!

Surviving Sam

Surviving Sam

Being a long-distance Grandma is no fun. But then maybe if I lived closer to my little ones, I might not survive all the heart stopping action of daily life with my 5 grandkids down south.

Take Sammy for instance. He’s a sweet little guy with attitude – but he has one special talent. He’s a baby Houdini. No matter how tightly his parents buckle him into his car seat, he finds a way to escape.

He can’t manage the child-proof buckle yet because he doesn’t have the motor skills, although I’m sure he knows how to open it if his hands were just coordinated enough. No, Sammy rutches and squirms until he wiggles his way out.

On a trip to the local WalMart last week with his mom, Sam managed to get out of his seat and open the back of the family van WHILE IT WAS MOVING. Aaaaaahhhhhh! That’s a Grandma’s heart attack waiting to happen. It still makes my heart flutter just to think about it and I wasn’t even there.

Fortunately the Lord must remember what it’s like to be a mischievous 2 year old and He protected Sam. My daughter was able to get the car stopped quickly without dumping Sam out the back end. Thankfully, he understood how upset his mom was and stayed put in his seat the rest of the way home.

My daughter is a good mom, very careful to childproof her house and to watch her children closely. Sammy just seems to be able to think faster than she can. Car seats, locked doors, windows – he’s got them all figured out. Look out MENSA, here comes Sam.

Another day last week Allissa had put the two younger children to bed. A little while later, Abby started screaming. Mom thought her three year old was just upset because Sam had climbed out of bed and wouldn’t let her alone. Thankfully she went to check on them.

Sam had managed to climb onto the other bed which was right under the window in that room. He figured out how to open the window and had jumped out. It was dark, but a light shone on that side of the house. Abby was screaming in panic for Sam to come back.

With an alligator infested canal behind their house, the dark night is no place for a two year old alone. Everybody panicked. Dad ran out the front door and was looking for Sam within a minute after he “escaped.”

Josh flagged down a neighbor’s car as it came down the road, warning him to watch for Sam and to go slowly to avoid accidentally hitting him. Thankfully, when Sam saw the headlights, he ran around the side of the house right to his dad.

Heart attack number two – and that’s just in one week! I’m so glad God gives us children when we’re young, because at my age, I’m not sure I could survive Sam.

Three year old logic

What a joy to have my little grandson visiting for a few days over the July 4th weekend. It's always a fun thing to see life from a three year old perspective.

Being a light sleeper, I try to remove my dog's collar at night because he likes to shake his head to hear his tags jingle.

The first morning Avery was here, he saw me fastening Oreo's collar back around his neck in order to take the dog outside. I told my grandson I was getting ready to take my dog out for a walk and asked if he wanted to come too.

He nodded and asked in the wonderful way that only a three year old can, "Grammy, put Oreo's seat belt on?"

Family Trees

Saturday night is our church Mother and Daughter Banquet and I will be speaking. Yikes! I've been working hard on the devotional message on "Legacies" which led me back to my roots.

One of the neatest things I inherited from my parents was a thick genealogy book on the Ruth Family. Through that voluminous tome I can trace one branch of my family tree back to 1717 when Joseph Ruth, a Swiss-German Anabaptist immigrant left Europe and landed at the Port of Philadelphia.

His son, Henry Ruth, born somewhere around 1690 in Europe, purchased a farm in the southeastern PA area around Salford. What amazes me is that most of my family still lives in that area of PA.

Henry had a son - John Ruth, born in 1725, who became a weaver. John's son, Henry, purchased a farm of 145 acres which was valued at $755 - a far cry from real estate in that area today!

This Henry had a son Jacob Ruth, who followed in his grandfather's footsteps to become a weaver. Jacob had no sons, but he did have a quiver full of daughters - 7 of them! Poor man...I wonder if that's what drove him to an early grave? Might make an interesting story someday...

Jacob's daughter Amelia was born in 1812 and married a man by the name of Shoemaker. She died at age 29 birthing a son, Jacob in 1841. Jacob's daughter Hannah, born in 1866 married a Swartley. She named her son after her father Jacob in 1895.

In 1930, Jacob had a daughter - my Mom - who married my dad and of course, they had me. The Ruth Genealogy book was published in 1972, so though I'm listed in the book, none of my children are.

Now, I know, the last thing you wanted to read here today was a long list of "begats" so I'll stop with the names. But the really cool thing as I looked through the book was the number of preachers listed in the family - not necessarily from my particular branch, but in some of the other family lines descended from Henry Ruth. Most of them are Mennonites and most lived and worked in the Southeastern PA area.

I feel so blessed to have received such a legacy of faith along with their strong work ethic and values. To be in ministry myself and be passing on this faith of my ancestors thrills my heart.

But the truth is - all of us who claim to be followers of Christ have a strong "family" history filled with examples like David, Abraham and Moses. We are part of Hebrews chapter 11, the faith chapter, living our lives according to His plan and passing on a legacy to future generations.

Consider these powerful words from the song "Future Generations" by 4 Him:

"I won't bend and I won't break,
I won't water down my faith
I won't compromise in a world of desperation.
What has been I cannot change
But for tomorrow and today
I must be a light to future generations."

Jesus loves me...

I love being a Grandma!
These are 4 of my wonderful Grand Kids singing Jesus Loves Me to cheer me up - and believe me, It worked!

What? No Play Stations in Heaven?

I love those deep conversations with my grandkids.

Jack is 6 years old and loves Jesus. I'm not sure what prompted the conversation last week, but as we sat at the kitchen table he asked if he could play games on my computer. While he played one of his favorite games, he turned to me and began talking about heaven.

"When I get to heaven I'll be able to play with my Play Station whenever I want to. And if I ask Him to, Jesus will play with me." He was sitting there grinning from ear to ear, very serious about the whole idea. Jack loves to play with his Dad, but they don't get to play as often as Jack would like.

I didn't have a chance to respond to that because we were interrupted. But his mother told me today Jack brought it up again. "When we get to heaven, is God going to destroy the whole earth and make a new one?" he asked, worried about where he would live in the event of world wide destruction.

His mom tried to give him a 6-year-old version of Christ destroying the old earth and recreating the new heaven and earth. After reassuring him we would have a place to live, he grinned and said, "Good. I'll be able to play Play Station all the time."

"No, Jack," said his mom. "All of your Play Station Games are fighting games and there won't be any fighting in heaven."

"Aw, Mom..."

Dear Jack, I guess you'll just have to find something else to do with Jesus!

We're home!

We're back - arriving home about 11:15 last night following a whole week with the grandchildren in Florida. What a great trip.

We were up early last Tuesday to make it to the airport by 5:30 am for our 7:00 flight. Since we flew out of a smaller local airport, security wasn't so daunting. It is so amazing to me that it only took a half a day, even with layovers to travel 1000 miles!

Yes, we had flown before, though it had been over 35 years ago so it was a real treat.

It was much like the changing of the guard at the Orlando airport as my son-in-law brought his mom and sister to the airport for their flight home at the same time we arrived. Three year old Abby was so upset that they were leaving until she found out her daddy was bringing us back with him!

Of course the best part of the trip was spending time with the grandchildren and holding the new baby. Katie is such a good baby - I guess it's because with 4 other siblings, she got used to the commotion even before she was born. We had to watch 2 year old Sam every minute because every time the baby cried, he would go over to her and try to pick her up.

Besides just hanging out, we did get to the ocean for a day so I brought home lots of shells and a little sunburn. We also got to see a lot of alligators around the area where the grandkids live (though not up close!) though they tell us there is at least one living in the canal behind their house.

Anyway, it's back to life as usual. I'm thankful for the memories of the last week and now am motivated to start saving for the next trip.

Thanks to so many of my online friends who e-mailed to say they missed me!

The icing on my Easter Cake!

What a beautiful Easter Service we experienced yesterday, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.

The most inspiring part of the service for me were the words of the song our ensemble sang from the mini-cantata, Because He Lives:

Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Sin has been defeated the enemy has failed.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Sin has been defeated, The Lamb has prevailed!

The Easter Message, coupled with the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit and the fellowship of believers, it was a blessed day.

But I think the frosting on the cake came this morning as I met a new friend online from Bangladesh. He shared photos on his blog of a large crowd of believers standing with hands raised and joyous expressions on their faces, celebrating Christ's resurrection at an early morning sunrise service in his community. No doubt many of them walked a long way in the predawn to get there. I sensed how important of a celebration it was for them.


As I looked at those photos, I felt as though I was one with them, my heart singing praises to the Lord: "Sin has been defeated, the Lamb has prevailed!"

Meet my friend Author Delia LAtham

Hi! I'd love for you to meet a good friend of mine - Author Delia Latham.

We met two years ago while writing for an online e-zine. I was checking out the bios of my fellow writers and noticed Delia had published her first book, Almost Like A Song, with the same publisher as mine so I contacted her. Since we were both married to pentecostal pastors and had adorable grandkids, we had a lot in common and developed a friendship. We ended up exchanging books and I've been a fan ever since!

Delia is a master at creating plots with unexpected twists and turns, making her Christian romance novels so much fun to read. Several months ago, I was privileged to preview her newest book Golden Eyes published by Vintage Romance Publishing, which is due to be officially released March 30th. Believe me, it's a "must read!"

Pssst - I have it on good authority, it's available now at Amazon! I can't wait for the 30th and am planning to order my copy now!!!

Golden Eyes

A man’s eyes are the windows to his soul … if he has one.

Deep in the darkness of a Depression-era night, a man addicted to alcohol commits an unspeakable crime to obtain it. His vile action impacts the lives of two entire families, and over two decades will pass before the horrible wrong begins to be made right again.

Two young women – strangers to each other – unknowingly enmeshed in a Pandora’s Box of secrets that could prevent them from finding happiness with the men they love. Two adoring mothers who know more than they are willing to say. A newsman with a story he cannot tell. What is their connection, and who is the golden-eyed stranger who moves in the shadows of their broken lives?

Excerpt:
The old cuckoo clock on the shelf in the front room struck midnight. It’s persistent chirping irritated Jack Kelly’s already frayed nerves as he paced back and forth across the small room.

“Shut up! Shut up!” he growled beneath his breath, casting an anxious look at the crib in the next room. When no signs of disturbed sleep were forthcoming, he breathed a grateful sigh of relief. The last thing he needed right now was a squalling infant to further vex the burning demon within him. He had promised his wife he would not spend a cent on liquor. New babies meant new expenses, and those things must come first.

So far he had kept his promise; he’d had no choice. Every penny he earned with his hoe, day after blistering day in the cotton fields, was swallowed up in scratching out a meager existence. There never seemed to be a penny extra, to say nothing of the few dollars a bottle of whiskey would cost. With the addition of this new offspring, who knew when he would be able to quench the gnawing demon of thirst that drove him insane? He had to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. The arrival of more children would only make that job harder, and it was obvious Annie did not intend to stop at one pregnancy.

Another glance into the small bedroom revealed no unwelcome stirrings from the crib. A bright moonbeam, however, lay across the bed, and Kelly’s tormented gaze fell on the lovely face of the woman he had married. He had considered himself a lucky man when she said yes to his proposal, despite her goody-two-shoes, Bible-thumping parents. If he loved anything on this poor excuse of an earth, he loved Annie. She was a perfect wife.

Their home might be barely more than a shack, but it sparkled, and she was a real wonder in the kitchen. He could not remember her voice ever raised in anger, even when he had fallen through the front door, dog drunk, a week after she married him.

Kelly’s fevered mind wandered to his conversation with the poor fish in the cotton field. Had it only been eight or nine hours ago? It seemed an eon; every moment without the drink he craved was an eternity.

Poor fella don’t know how lucky he is. Only has to worry ‘bout that pretty little gal and hisself. I bet he could buy a bottle of whiskey if he wanted one!

With the thought, an idea was born, full-blown and itching for action. He actually stopped pacing for a moment, shocked to the core by the undiluted vileness of the seed taking root in his mind. He stood staring at the crib against the far wall and shook his head as if to toss out the evil thought.

“You’re crazy,” he whispered. His heart pounded painfully against his chest; little beads of sweat dotted his forehead and chin. “You’ve done gone stark, starin’ mad!”

And perhaps he had, for suddenly he found himself across the room, gazing down into the hand-me-down crib. He was horrified at the darkness within his imagination, yet knew full well he hadn’t the strength of mind or will to resist its powerful pull.

One more almost desperate glance at his wife’s face … if she would only wake up he would have to forsake this notion, and perhaps he could rid himself of the unforgivable intent. Indeed, Annie did stir a little and drew a deep sigh, almost as though she heard his desperate mental cry. But hers was the sleep of utter exhaustion and she slumbered on.

A few moments later, Kelly slipped silently out the back door of the little shack, clutching a tiny pink bundle in his arms and blinking back the tears of shame and self-loathing that sprang unbidden to his eyes.
********

You can contact Delia at her website: http://www.delialatham.com/ And be sure to check out her blog: http://www.themelodywithin.blogspot.com/

Also, for one lucky blog reader, Delia is giving away a Golden Eyes tee shirt and electronic copy of the book at the end of her blog tour! Just be sure to leave a comment on my blog today. For more chances to win, visit these blogs and leave a comment as well

Mar. 20 – Cynthia Hickey – http://www.cynthiahickey.blogspot.com
26. Mar. 24 – Pamela James - http://www.pammer.blogspot.com/
27. Mar. 24 – 28 – Tracy Ruckman – http://www.pixnpens.blogspot.com/
28. Mar. 25 – Christa Allen - http://cballan.wordpress.com/
29. Mar. 27 – Melissa Meeks - http://forstrose.blogspot.com/
30. Mar. 31 – Gina Conroy – http://portraitofawriter.ginaconroy.com/
31. April 20 – Marian Merritt – http://www.marianmerritt.com/
32. April 27 – Margaret Daley – http://www.margaretdaley.blogspot.com/

I have baby pictures!

I just love digital cameras and computers. Here are the pictures of our new grandbaby!

Katelyn Rebekah was born 3/12/08 at 7:57 pm. She weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. She has lots of dark hair.

I hope her mommy is giving her that kiss for me!

Allissa just got home from the birthing center at 2 am Thursday morning andby 8 am everyone was up wanting to see their new sister. So here's their first family photo.

I have a new Grandbaby!

Katelyn Rebekah was born at 7:57 pm last evening, weighing in at 7 pounds and 2 ounces. She was 19 3/4 inches long with lots of dark hair.

Mom and baby are doing well and Praise the Lord He worked everything out around the birth. My daughter lives an hour and a half from the birthing center with nothing between her house but swamp and farmland. There is no maternity unit in the hospital in her town so she had to travel the distance to the birthing center.

Because she had quick labors with her other 4 kiddos, the midwife was concerned about the long commute. Alllissa found out that if she went into labor, she could notify the state police office who would gladly provide an escort complete with flashing lights and sirens. What fun!

But, thankfully, she didn't have to cause a scene because the baby was born at the birthing center following her visit yesterday morning. The midwife wisely had her stay for a few extra hours and little Katie cooperated.

So welcome to this world Katie! I'm so glad you're here safe and sound. Can;t wait to see you when we come to visit in a few weeks.

I'll be sure to take lots of pictures then and share them with all my online friends!

Real Food For Thought

Though I usually share children's church lesson ideas and such on Wednesday's, I was so encouraged by yesterday's lesson I wanted to share it today!

All last week, I prayed for an object lesson I could share with my group of 14 students. I wanted something related to Easter, but couldn't find ANYTHING that wowwed me. Friday night came and I still didn't have a lesson, so I prayed. Saturday we visited my son and his family in MD and I still couldn't think of anything, even though I used the travel time to pray and develop ideas.

Saturday night on the way home, God finally broke through my foggy brain with a great idea. Thankfully, it was one I had used before so I wasn't flying by the seat of my pants... Passover! I had purchased a coloring book on the Story of Passover several years ago and have used it several times to teach a lesson about the Passover celebration.

During Holy Week, Jesus was in Jerusalem. He had a passionate desire to share the Passover feast with his disciples one last time because He had much to teach them. But Passover is just a word to most of the children I teach so I decided to SHOW them what it was all about - after all, God uses visual aids all the time to teach us.

Beginning with the story in Luke 22:7-10 of Jesus directing His disciples to find a place to prepare the Passover meal, I shared how it was customary to thoroughly clean the room to be sure there was no leaven in the house. Before class I hid a piece of white bread under one of the chairs and had the children find it.

Next I passed out plates and cups of grape juice to each child, talking about the wine in the feast representing the blood of the lamb used to paint the door post so the death angel would pass over the children of Israel.

We played "Fear Factor" encouraging those who wanted to taste all the foods of the passover feast as I brought out each one and shared what it represented:
- The parsley dipped in salt water representing the tears of the Israelites as they prayed to God in their slavery and the parting of the red sea
- The lamb bone representing the lamb that was slain in order to paint the doorposts with its blood. It was eaten quickly and nothing was left til morning in their hurried preparations to leave Egypt
- The egg representing the strength of the Israelites and the new life of freedom God was opening up for them.
- The bitter herbs to show the bitterness and strife of slavery
- The apple-nut mixture representing the mortar used to make the bricks and
- The unleavened bread, baked quickly because they didn't have time to let it rise.
(Since I have a lot of boys in the class, they thought it was great when I brought out the horseradish for the "bitter herbs.")

I shared how each item was an object lesson to the people of Israel to help them remember what God did for them when He brought them out of Egypt. Because Jesus wanted His disciples to remember, He shared the Passover meal with them. But He also had new lessons to teach them too - the lessons of Communion which I will share with them next week.

God ALWAYS comes through! The kids learned the meaning of Passover and were able to see, taste and experience reminders of how God took care of Israel in the difficult times. I can't wait to teach next week's lesson!

Thoughts on three year olds and birthday cake

Yesterday was a special day - our grandson Avery turned three years old. Since his parents are working, they decided to have his party tomorrow. That means Birthday Cake!



I love knowing where things originated, so I googled Birthday Cake and found some interesting info.

There are several ideas on the origin of Birthday Cake. Some attribute it to the Germans in the middle ages who baked sweetened bread dough shaped to resemble the baby Jesus in swaddling clothes. These were made during the Christmas holiday season to celebrate His birth. The Germans also made a special cake for Kinderfest (the birthday celebration for a young child) and a special sweet layer cake called Geburtstagorten.

Others believe the idea of birthday cakes originated with the Greeks and Romans. The Greeks baked round cakes sweetened with honey which were taken to the temple of Artemis, goddess of the moon. The Romans however, loved to party and celebrated all sorts of birthdays including those of their families, the cities where they lived and even their emperors. Their special cakes were made of flour, grated goat''s cheese, olive oil and honey for sweetening.

Leave it to the English to add some fun to the birthday cake tradition by baking small objects into the sweetened cakes. If you found a coin in your cake, you were supposed to be blessed during the coming year. If you received a thimble, you might just end up an old maid...

Does your family have a favorite recipe for birthday cake? When my children were small, I made their cakes from scratch using a yellow cake recipe.

One-Two-Three-Four Cake

1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

Cream shortening; add sugar, beating until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add flavoring.Sift together dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Mix well and place in greased and sugared bundt or tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until done.
***
For some added fun, I used to cut the finished cake half and placed the halves end to end to create an "S" shaped caterpillar, decorated with frosting, gum drops, licorice legs and a pair of wiggly eyes.

My daughter now carries on the tradition of creating special cakes for her children. This past year, Jack got a cake decorated with blue icing and frosted spider webs because he loves Spiderman. Eve asked for a guitar shaped cake. That one was fun!



Well, since Avery is only three, I don't think we'll be putting anything in his cake! Actually, I doubt it will even be real cake since he likes ice cream better than cake. Carvel, here we come!

The Pleasure of Puddle-Jumping

My grandson is a "puddle-jumper."

There's nothing he likes better in this whole world than finding a nice puddle to stomp through. It doesn't matteer that he gets soaked with chilly water up to his knees. It doesn't matter if the water is muddy or clear. It's still water!

I think if he had been a little Israelite boy when they crossed the Red Sea, he would have jumped in before the water receeded completely or before the Lord had a chance to dry off the path and run through the puddles to the other side...

Thanks Lord, for the simple pleasures of life.

Finally...Wedding Pictures!

It has been a whirlwind weekend including 2 funerals and the wedding, but I am home now and as promised - here are a few pictures from the wedding.




"Come On and Kiss de Girl" - To the music of the Little Mermaid, Tara and Justin share their commitment kiss. You can see a little of the dresses for the bridesmaids - she had 6 and her mom made every one of the girls dresses, including the bride's gown. They did all the decorating too - I really like the arch in the background at the church.




Here is a closeup of the happy couple.




My hubby's mom and dad were able to attend the wedding - Tara is their 4th grandchild to get married. Our 3 children are older hand have been married for5, 10 and 11 years already. (Now I am starting to feel old...LOL)