"Isaac just ate, and he's in a good mood if you want to Facetime," my son Jamie said on the phone. Of course! I love to see my little grandson! Face to face is better, but when he's 500 miles away, Facetime is a blessing! Almost-11-month-old Isaac smiled beautifully at me, showing his dimples. He tends to be rather sober, so I was glad to see him happy.
"Can you put him down so I can see him in action?" I asked, so they went into the den where I watched my heart speed-crawl across the room, select a ball from his pile of toys, discard it and survey the coffee table for more possibilities. He held on and walked around it, then went to his father and pulled up. Suddenly he let go and was standing alone! Jamie was as shocked as I was! He'd never done that before!
Baby years go so fast, I was happy to be privy to this milestone! I visited my sister, who is ten years my senior, on Sunday. I wanted to ask her about some family history I was a little fuzzy on, and she started talking about when I was born. Being 85, she likes to reminisce and told me about walking down the lane from school, kicking the dust with her shoe and singing about the beautiful trees, sky and clouds.
"Come in and see your baby sister," she heard as she entered the front door, to which she said in surprise, "What baby sister?" My mother held the small, pink bundle of me and put me in her arms. She hadn't had a clue! As she described the baby sweetness, soft blonde hair, and soft skin of my newborn self, I got a mental picture that seemed to fill a memory gap for me. There were no pictures of me as a baby, but I felt I had just received one.
My sister remembered the hard times of long ago, and the house Daddy built of slender logs where I was born. Somehow my folks raised eleven children, and like the Duggars, I suppose we all worked together. A few days ago I watched a Walton segment where the family had undertaken getting a neighbor's apple harvest in for much-needed money. The exhausting task took the cooperation of everyone picking apples, but they we so gratified to have managed it!
It made me think of a time when some of our children were teenagers still at home and our neighbor's shed burned down. Much of the debris had been cleared, but there was still some residue and cement blocks on the slab, for which our friend was offering $500 to anyone who would clean it up. $500 would come in handy, so we decided to do it. Who knew it would be so hard? We fell into bed at night only to tackle it again the next day, but we finally got it done! I don't remember what we did with the money, but I'm sure it was put to good use!
Thank God for families, our dearest possession on earth. He is so faithful to provide, protect and care for us, in good times or bad. The children (and grandchildren!) are His reward!
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Friday, September 26, 2014
Sight Unseen
"This is one birthday she'll never forget," I said after visiting our soon to be eight-year-old granddaughter at the hospital. She had been hurt on a four-wheeler and had to have her leg put into a cast today by an orthopedic surgeon. We were getting a bite to eat after leaving her room as she was readying to go home.
"I don't remember my eighth birthday," I said, "but I do remember being eight!" One reason I remember that age is because that's when I had chicken pox!
"Well, I remember my eighth birthday," my husband mused. "Or was it my ninth. Anyway, I sat on the porch all day waiting for the mailman to bring something my mother had ordered for me from Montgomery Ward catalog--a pocket watch!" He said he treasured the watch for years.
Ordering things through the mail was evidently a frequent and favorite activity of his as a boy. He has told of sending away for spy rings, secret codes and other prizes kids treasured back then. The funny thing is, he is still doing that today! Ever so often, something will come addressed to Howard, and to my question, "What have your ordered this time?" he usually says, "I don't remember ordering that!" as he unwraps a pen, notebook, or some gimmick from a credit card company.
The few times I have ordered things from a catalog I have been disappointed. I would much rather buy something in person, especially clothes, which never fit otherwise! Sometimes even the color of an item is wrong, not looking the same shade as the illustration. And objects that are so appealing in the offer are nearly always smaller than they look in the picture.
As our birthdays are reaching ever greater heights, we find ourselves thinking more about heaven. What will it be like? Our imaginations fail us as we try to comprehend our heavenly home. I Corinthians 2:9 tells us, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
Trying to visualize heaven is like an unborn baby trying to imagine what life outside the womb would be like. Like the song says, "I can only imagine." We are not told much about heaven, but we infer from David's words when his child died that loved ones are there. He said as recorded in 2 Samuel 12:23, "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."
Jesus promises in John 14:2-3, "...I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." That is all we really need to know, for we can trust the Bible, the letter written to us from God, who does not do false advertising!
"I don't remember my eighth birthday," I said, "but I do remember being eight!" One reason I remember that age is because that's when I had chicken pox!
"Well, I remember my eighth birthday," my husband mused. "Or was it my ninth. Anyway, I sat on the porch all day waiting for the mailman to bring something my mother had ordered for me from Montgomery Ward catalog--a pocket watch!" He said he treasured the watch for years.
Ordering things through the mail was evidently a frequent and favorite activity of his as a boy. He has told of sending away for spy rings, secret codes and other prizes kids treasured back then. The funny thing is, he is still doing that today! Ever so often, something will come addressed to Howard, and to my question, "What have your ordered this time?" he usually says, "I don't remember ordering that!" as he unwraps a pen, notebook, or some gimmick from a credit card company.
The few times I have ordered things from a catalog I have been disappointed. I would much rather buy something in person, especially clothes, which never fit otherwise! Sometimes even the color of an item is wrong, not looking the same shade as the illustration. And objects that are so appealing in the offer are nearly always smaller than they look in the picture.
As our birthdays are reaching ever greater heights, we find ourselves thinking more about heaven. What will it be like? Our imaginations fail us as we try to comprehend our heavenly home. I Corinthians 2:9 tells us, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
Trying to visualize heaven is like an unborn baby trying to imagine what life outside the womb would be like. Like the song says, "I can only imagine." We are not told much about heaven, but we infer from David's words when his child died that loved ones are there. He said as recorded in 2 Samuel 12:23, "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."
Jesus promises in John 14:2-3, "...I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." That is all we really need to know, for we can trust the Bible, the letter written to us from God, who does not do false advertising!
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Old and New
Tonight we were watching an episode of The Waltons in which John Boy bought his mother a much-needed washing machine. She certainly didn't expect it and had been content to go on washing clothes on a rub-board, but she was overjoyed with the surprise. It was the old style washer, probably with a wringer.
It reminded me of the time my dad surprised my mom with her first automatic washer. He thought she would be pleased when she came in and saw it installed. No way! She was very upset because it wasn't a wringer washing machine--the kind she was used to. (Mama got used to it though, and never looked back!)
I must be my mother's daughter, because I felt the same way about a color TV. Early in our marriage, Howard worked for an appliance store and sold the beautiful color models every day. He could get a good deal on one for us, but for some reason I protested. A color television? An unbelievable luxury! Why should we have one? Black and white was good enough for us, I reasoned. Of course I loved the beautiful set in the maple console that he brought home!
I never thought I would embrace the computer, but now I couldn't do without it. Other electronics like the iPad and iPhone held little interest for me, but now I can't imagine life without them! I remember when phones with cameras came out a few years ago. It seemed an unreachable possibility to have one or know how to use it. Now they are so simple that I love to take pictures and put them online!
Changes come so thick and fast nowadays it's hard to keep up! The children who are raised with such things take it for granted, though. I heard of a father who told his daughter that he didn't have a computer growing up. "Then how did you get on the internet?" she asked in surprise.
I admit I do love old-fashioned things. Antique furniture, the cozy comfort of a fireplace and rocking chair with a fringed afghan thrown over it, old dishes, and log homes. But sometimes we settle for less, thinking that we don't need or deserve something better. We make the mistake of setting our sights too low and just get in a rut of familiarity.
It is easy to do that spiritually, too, just getting by with the status quo or basic knowledge of Christianity and lifestyle. But we are encouraged in the Bible to go deeper in our relationship with God. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you, Jesus said. Draw nigh unto Me and I will draw nigh unto you.
When Jesus was talking about bringing the new message, the gospel of Jesus Christ, to the world, He said that new wine can't be put into old wineskins, Matthew 9:17. The people had to accept something new, and change their way of thinking and living. Then in Matthew 13:52, He talks about "a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." (Knowledge of both the Old and New Testament is beneficial for our Christian growth.)
We need to keep growing in God! "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day," Proverbs 4:18.
It reminded me of the time my dad surprised my mom with her first automatic washer. He thought she would be pleased when she came in and saw it installed. No way! She was very upset because it wasn't a wringer washing machine--the kind she was used to. (Mama got used to it though, and never looked back!)
I must be my mother's daughter, because I felt the same way about a color TV. Early in our marriage, Howard worked for an appliance store and sold the beautiful color models every day. He could get a good deal on one for us, but for some reason I protested. A color television? An unbelievable luxury! Why should we have one? Black and white was good enough for us, I reasoned. Of course I loved the beautiful set in the maple console that he brought home!
I never thought I would embrace the computer, but now I couldn't do without it. Other electronics like the iPad and iPhone held little interest for me, but now I can't imagine life without them! I remember when phones with cameras came out a few years ago. It seemed an unreachable possibility to have one or know how to use it. Now they are so simple that I love to take pictures and put them online!
Changes come so thick and fast nowadays it's hard to keep up! The children who are raised with such things take it for granted, though. I heard of a father who told his daughter that he didn't have a computer growing up. "Then how did you get on the internet?" she asked in surprise.
I admit I do love old-fashioned things. Antique furniture, the cozy comfort of a fireplace and rocking chair with a fringed afghan thrown over it, old dishes, and log homes. But sometimes we settle for less, thinking that we don't need or deserve something better. We make the mistake of setting our sights too low and just get in a rut of familiarity.
It is easy to do that spiritually, too, just getting by with the status quo or basic knowledge of Christianity and lifestyle. But we are encouraged in the Bible to go deeper in our relationship with God. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you, Jesus said. Draw nigh unto Me and I will draw nigh unto you.
When Jesus was talking about bringing the new message, the gospel of Jesus Christ, to the world, He said that new wine can't be put into old wineskins, Matthew 9:17. The people had to accept something new, and change their way of thinking and living. Then in Matthew 13:52, He talks about "a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." (Knowledge of both the Old and New Testament is beneficial for our Christian growth.)
We need to keep growing in God! "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day," Proverbs 4:18.
A Berry Good Morning!
"What would you like for breakfast?" I asked my husband this morning. "If I had some blueberries, I would make blueberry pancakes," I ventured. He settled on eggs, bacon and toast, but I couldn't help but think about the blueberry pancakes I made when our children were growing up.
Blueberries weren't as common then in south Mississippi, our part of the country, so I would buy a box of blueberry pancake mix occasionally. The berries were packed in water in a small can inside the box of mix. I remember using the purple liquid to make blueberry syrup for the pancakes.
As blueberries became more locally grown, we picked huge, grape-like blueberries at a neighboring farm. Such a fun activity and outing for our grandchildren! Later on, we had our own blueberries growing on bushes outside our back door. Oh, the cobblers, muffins and pancakes then!
When hurricane Katrina hit, our friend had about 30 gallons of blueberries in her freezer. Her insurance covered the loss of food due to the long-time power outage, allowing her to collect hundreds of dollars for the ruined blueberries!
At today's prices, she would have been reimbursed even more! But blueberries, a super-food, would have been worth it. I should eat more of them since they are touted as an anti-aging, brain food!
Isn't it remarkable that God created some of the most nutritious foods to be bright and attractive to the eye, insuring that we would eat them? Apples, oranges, strawberries, tomatoes, squash, and on and on are delicious and healthful.
Man has processed, manipulated, and imitated so much of our food today we wonder what we are eating. Nature's way is best. Artificial sweeteners are dangerous, margarine and fake butter are bad for you, oils are suspect, and wheat has been modified until it is no longer what it used to be.
Now I read that a little real butter (much tastier), is healthier and benefits eyesight, skin, and brain. Lard is the new gourmet cook's choice. (I could have told you that from the excellence of pies and fried chicken my mother used to make which could not be equaled in flavor, crispness and texture!)
My only dilemma now is that I don't have a big family around to enjoy all the good food I could make for them! Leftovers are a major problem around here, especially with my tendency to save every tidbit in the cute,tiny containers from a plastic storage set. Refrigerator cleaning day keeps my garbage disposal busy!
Thank you, God, for the plenty and excess you have provided! Help us to choose the healthy foods you made, and give me strength to abstain from too many blueberry desserts!
Blueberries weren't as common then in south Mississippi, our part of the country, so I would buy a box of blueberry pancake mix occasionally. The berries were packed in water in a small can inside the box of mix. I remember using the purple liquid to make blueberry syrup for the pancakes.
As blueberries became more locally grown, we picked huge, grape-like blueberries at a neighboring farm. Such a fun activity and outing for our grandchildren! Later on, we had our own blueberries growing on bushes outside our back door. Oh, the cobblers, muffins and pancakes then!
When hurricane Katrina hit, our friend had about 30 gallons of blueberries in her freezer. Her insurance covered the loss of food due to the long-time power outage, allowing her to collect hundreds of dollars for the ruined blueberries!
At today's prices, she would have been reimbursed even more! But blueberries, a super-food, would have been worth it. I should eat more of them since they are touted as an anti-aging, brain food!
Isn't it remarkable that God created some of the most nutritious foods to be bright and attractive to the eye, insuring that we would eat them? Apples, oranges, strawberries, tomatoes, squash, and on and on are delicious and healthful.
Man has processed, manipulated, and imitated so much of our food today we wonder what we are eating. Nature's way is best. Artificial sweeteners are dangerous, margarine and fake butter are bad for you, oils are suspect, and wheat has been modified until it is no longer what it used to be.
Now I read that a little real butter (much tastier), is healthier and benefits eyesight, skin, and brain. Lard is the new gourmet cook's choice. (I could have told you that from the excellence of pies and fried chicken my mother used to make which could not be equaled in flavor, crispness and texture!)
My only dilemma now is that I don't have a big family around to enjoy all the good food I could make for them! Leftovers are a major problem around here, especially with my tendency to save every tidbit in the cute,tiny containers from a plastic storage set. Refrigerator cleaning day keeps my garbage disposal busy!
Thank you, God, for the plenty and excess you have provided! Help us to choose the healthy foods you made, and give me strength to abstain from too many blueberry desserts!
Monday, September 22, 2014
The Rite of Switching the Wardrobe
On one of these cool mornings we've been having, I reached for a pair of warm, fleecy sweat pants to wear around the house. Finding only summer things in the drawer, I remembered storing the other warm clothing. It is 48 degrees this morning, so I think it's time to switch them back. My closet also needs to be rearranged so I can access sweaters, jackets and fall clothes.
Even though we've been back here for 7 years, I'm still in the south, where we could wear summer clothes all year long by just adding a sweater or jacket. After living there nearly forty years, I'm still startled by the precise change in seasons here. Fall is right on time, the summer was short, spring too fleeting, and winter will be pushing fall out of the way before we know it.
One change I am looking forward to is when the leaves start to turn. They are looking a little faded now, but in a few weeks I know there will be a riot of glorious colors, even rivaling the colors of spring. I read that Indian summer days with their brief warm spells contrasting with very cool nights are responsible for the depth and intensity of colors in the leaves. The earth is getting a new fall wardrobe, rivaling anything we can buy at the clothing store.
In speaking of the future, the Bible tells how the earth will grow old like a garment and be changed. Psalm 102:25-26 says, "Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed."
Verse 27 assures us, "But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end."
Even as the beauty of autumn eventually gives way to the dead of winter, we look forward to the glories of spring. Paul tells us in Romans 8:18, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us," speaking of future glory.
He says in verse 22 that the whole creation groans and travails. And, in verse 23 that we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the redemption of our body.
We used to sing a song in church, that while maybe not grammatically correct, was still right in its theology. It went, "I tell you, the best thing, I ever did do, was to take off the old robe and put on the new. The old robe was dirty, all tattered and torn. The new robe was spotless and never been worn. I tell you, the best thing, I ever did do, was take off the old robe and put on the new!"
Now that's a change of wardrobe!
Even though we've been back here for 7 years, I'm still in the south, where we could wear summer clothes all year long by just adding a sweater or jacket. After living there nearly forty years, I'm still startled by the precise change in seasons here. Fall is right on time, the summer was short, spring too fleeting, and winter will be pushing fall out of the way before we know it.
One change I am looking forward to is when the leaves start to turn. They are looking a little faded now, but in a few weeks I know there will be a riot of glorious colors, even rivaling the colors of spring. I read that Indian summer days with their brief warm spells contrasting with very cool nights are responsible for the depth and intensity of colors in the leaves. The earth is getting a new fall wardrobe, rivaling anything we can buy at the clothing store.
In speaking of the future, the Bible tells how the earth will grow old like a garment and be changed. Psalm 102:25-26 says, "Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed."
Verse 27 assures us, "But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end."
Even as the beauty of autumn eventually gives way to the dead of winter, we look forward to the glories of spring. Paul tells us in Romans 8:18, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us," speaking of future glory.
He says in verse 22 that the whole creation groans and travails. And, in verse 23 that we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the redemption of our body.
We used to sing a song in church, that while maybe not grammatically correct, was still right in its theology. It went, "I tell you, the best thing, I ever did do, was to take off the old robe and put on the new. The old robe was dirty, all tattered and torn. The new robe was spotless and never been worn. I tell you, the best thing, I ever did do, was take off the old robe and put on the new!"
Now that's a change of wardrobe!
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
It's Fall, Y'all!
I love the golden colors of the fall season! The cooler weather of the past few days has motivated me to begin decorating with these splashes of color, especially nice when the skies are grey, and even better in the soft rays of autumn sunshine!
I had been waiting for the pumpkin shipments to come in at my favorite store, absolutely the best place in town to buy them. They are bigger, have more "personality" with the long stems and often quirky lop-sidedness, not to mention cheaper. A huge one and a medium-size one sat on my patio bench for a couple of days until they found a home in my garden wagon.
Going down into the basement for fall flowers I had stored, I found not only that, but farm baskets, one holding a stuffed, calico turkey wearing a straw hat, and two others, one in which I plopped a floppy scarecrow on top of a still-new burlap coffee bag. Another smaller scarecrow stands stiffly astride the side of the other burlap-draped basket on the porch.
In a storage closet I found a straw pumpkin to fill with the orange and yellow mums from the basement, and a pinky-orange, ceramic pumpkin that looks cute on the dining room table with fall leaves peeping out under the green-stemmed lid.
A yellow, potted chrysanthemum was already on the porch steps, but I needed a few more flowers to add color. We were happily surprised to find a couple of pots at close-out prices, and another of just the right size and rusty-red color to complement the pumpkins.
It just occurred to me what is missing from my fall vignette. A bale of hay! Maybe I can get a small, decorative bale today. I can put it in the wagon with the pumpkins. I noticed yesterday from the road they are not as visible as I would have liked, so we'll see how the hay helps.
We rejoice with the coming of each new season God has given us, but I think fall is my favorite one. I think of the poem I memorized in high school by Emily Dickinson that goes: "The morns are meeker than they were, the nuts are getting brown. The berry's cheek is plumper, the rose is out of town. The maple wears a gayer scarf, the field a scarlet gown, Lest I should be old fashioned, I'll put a trinket on."
Must be the reason I like to decorate!
I had been waiting for the pumpkin shipments to come in at my favorite store, absolutely the best place in town to buy them. They are bigger, have more "personality" with the long stems and often quirky lop-sidedness, not to mention cheaper. A huge one and a medium-size one sat on my patio bench for a couple of days until they found a home in my garden wagon.
Going down into the basement for fall flowers I had stored, I found not only that, but farm baskets, one holding a stuffed, calico turkey wearing a straw hat, and two others, one in which I plopped a floppy scarecrow on top of a still-new burlap coffee bag. Another smaller scarecrow stands stiffly astride the side of the other burlap-draped basket on the porch.
In a storage closet I found a straw pumpkin to fill with the orange and yellow mums from the basement, and a pinky-orange, ceramic pumpkin that looks cute on the dining room table with fall leaves peeping out under the green-stemmed lid.
A yellow, potted chrysanthemum was already on the porch steps, but I needed a few more flowers to add color. We were happily surprised to find a couple of pots at close-out prices, and another of just the right size and rusty-red color to complement the pumpkins.
It just occurred to me what is missing from my fall vignette. A bale of hay! Maybe I can get a small, decorative bale today. I can put it in the wagon with the pumpkins. I noticed yesterday from the road they are not as visible as I would have liked, so we'll see how the hay helps.
We rejoice with the coming of each new season God has given us, but I think fall is my favorite one. I think of the poem I memorized in high school by Emily Dickinson that goes: "The morns are meeker than they were, the nuts are getting brown. The berry's cheek is plumper, the rose is out of town. The maple wears a gayer scarf, the field a scarlet gown, Lest I should be old fashioned, I'll put a trinket on."
Must be the reason I like to decorate!
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Growing Up Strong!
My five-year-old granddaughter Maddie has promoted herself from the nursery/kindergarten department at church to the youth group! "I go to Youth now," she announces after accompanying her dad to one of his services with the teenagers. "It is cray-cray!" she exults, picking up a teen phrase for "crazy."
She also knowledgeably chimed in with a comment during a class her mother was teaching for older kids. Her mom says, "Life doesn't happen to Maddie, Maddie happens to life!" A pretty good description of this little bundle of enthusiasm. She has been turned on to God early in her life. His seed is in her.
I was reminded of something I heard recently. The other day I was looking at a watermelon at a roadside stand. "Are these melons good?" I asked. "I liked one that a friend got here last week." The melon she had served at their house was delicious!
"Yes!" he replied. "Now, they are seeded," he told me. "Watermelons with seeds taste better than seedless." I bought one, partly because it was a small, round melon, and not too big for our family. It was good!
I read a recipe for chicken and noodles in a magazine a few days ago. I was surprised that it recommended using bone-in chicken pieces, served that way. "These are the most flavorful," the author commented. I usually stew the whole chicken, or just use white meat, but this was a quicker method, browning drumsticks and thighs before stewing to develop flavor. "And don't skim the fat," he went on, "flavor is in fat." I will have to try it!
I find bone-in roasts taste better, too. And pork chops with the bone are much better than boneless ones. My husband grew up in a meat market, and he always told me the bone adds flavor.
Maddie may be small, but her zippy personality is full of flavor, sweet and pungent, like the melon! And she is being taught the word of God. The Bible says in Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is quick,(alive)and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
Our life blood is formed in the marrow of the bones. Scripture teaches that life is in the blood. Thank God for the blood Jesus shed for our salvation, including the salvation of our children and grandchildren. May they always have the backbone to stand up for Jesus! I believe Maddie will!
She also knowledgeably chimed in with a comment during a class her mother was teaching for older kids. Her mom says, "Life doesn't happen to Maddie, Maddie happens to life!" A pretty good description of this little bundle of enthusiasm. She has been turned on to God early in her life. His seed is in her.
I was reminded of something I heard recently. The other day I was looking at a watermelon at a roadside stand. "Are these melons good?" I asked. "I liked one that a friend got here last week." The melon she had served at their house was delicious!
"Yes!" he replied. "Now, they are seeded," he told me. "Watermelons with seeds taste better than seedless." I bought one, partly because it was a small, round melon, and not too big for our family. It was good!
I read a recipe for chicken and noodles in a magazine a few days ago. I was surprised that it recommended using bone-in chicken pieces, served that way. "These are the most flavorful," the author commented. I usually stew the whole chicken, or just use white meat, but this was a quicker method, browning drumsticks and thighs before stewing to develop flavor. "And don't skim the fat," he went on, "flavor is in fat." I will have to try it!
I find bone-in roasts taste better, too. And pork chops with the bone are much better than boneless ones. My husband grew up in a meat market, and he always told me the bone adds flavor.
Maddie may be small, but her zippy personality is full of flavor, sweet and pungent, like the melon! And she is being taught the word of God. The Bible says in Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is quick,(alive)and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
Our life blood is formed in the marrow of the bones. Scripture teaches that life is in the blood. Thank God for the blood Jesus shed for our salvation, including the salvation of our children and grandchildren. May they always have the backbone to stand up for Jesus! I believe Maddie will!
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