Wordless Wednesday- Autumn

 

Antidote To Depression

I want to share a devotion I received from Nancy Campbell this morning in my emails.  You can read more of Nancy's writing at www.aboverubiees.org

ANTIDOTE TO DEPRESSION

"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost" (Romans 15:13).

I read recently about Dr. Northoff, a medical researcher and psychiatrist, who is researching the neurochemistry of hopelessness and why so many young people turn to suicide.  

One survey revealed that 20 percent of 140,000 Chinese high school students have considered suicide. Most of these victims have no hope because they cannot see into the future. They cannot see the end of the tunnel, only a dark hole. He believes this is due to a dysfunction in part of the brain.

This may be so, but God, who created us in the beginning, knows what is necessary for us to live in victory and joy. The antidote to depression is hope, and our God is the God of hope. Our hope is found in Him. Hopelessness can trigger problems in the brain, but the brain can also be made whole as we learn to trust in the God of hope. (Proverbs 13:12).

Myriads of people take comfort in the words of Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." The Hebrew word for "expected" is tikvah which means "hope" and many translations say, "To give you a future and a hope."

It is hope that gives us a good outlook on life, and often, it is what keeps us alive. I think of the Jewish people, who for nearly 2,000 years, were scattered to the four corners of the earth, going through persecution, pogroms, herded into ghettos in the countries where they lived and eventually suffering Hitler's holocaust.  

Through all these years, they never ever gave up hope for their land of Israel. There were times in history when Jerusalem was by called other names, but they never forgot their city they had never seen. Every year at Passover, they recited in hope, "Next year in Jerusalem."

In 1886, Naftali Hertz Imber from Bohemia wrote a poem which in 1948 became the Israeli national anthem. It is called HaTikvah meaning "The Hope." The translated Hebrew words are...

As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart,
With eyes turned toward the East, looking toward Zion,
Then our hope, the two-thousand-year-old hope,
will not be lost:
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

These words were written before there was any dream of Israel becoming a nation again, but hope kept the nation of Israel alive as they waited for the promise.  

Many years ago, while walking through the bush in Australia, Colin and I met a Jewish couple. Colin immediately began witnessing to them about Jesus and they became our dear friends. The guy was a Russian Jew and the wife a Persian Jew, both having made aliyah to Israel. The gentleman shared with us, that although living in Communist Russia and never having  heard of the land of Israel, he always longed and hoped for his homeland that he didn't even know existed.

Hebrews 6:11 NASB inspires us "to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish." The Amplified Version explains the actions we need to take in order for hope to work in our lives, "We do (strongly and earnestly) desire for each of you to show the same diligence and sincerity (all the way through) in realizing and enjoying the full assurance and development of your hope until the end."

The word "sluggish" is nothros and means "a sluggishness which makes a person unfit for activities of the mind or spirit." That's a picture of depression! What saves us from this kind of state? Hope!

Hope in God who puts hope into our soul as we look to Him and trust in Him. Psalm 31:24 tells us that when we put our hope in the Lord that He will put courage and strength into our very soul!   

  

Teach your children from a young age how to put their hope in the Lord, rather than getting into the habit of dwelling on their problems.   

  

David's mother must have instilled this into her son. David confesses in Psalm 71:5, "For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth." Read also Psalm 78:4-7.

I can't let you miss out on this Scripture, Psalm 146:5 says, "HAPPY is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose HOPE is in the Lord his God." We are reminded again that hope is the antidote to despair. When we put our hope in the Lord we will be happy.   

  

This particular "happy" in the Hebrew is esher and is only ever used in the plural. It means "doubly happy!" Don't you love that? Proverbs 10:28 says, "The hope of the righteous is GLADNESS" and Proverbs 16:20 reminds us that "Whoso trusteth (hopeth) in the Lord, HAPPY is he."

The meaning of hope is to be constantly looking, waiting and expecting something good to happen. This is the way God created us to live. This is what keeps us in health and happiness.

Hope in His "exceeding great and precious promises" (2 Peter 1:4).

Hope as we go through trials. Hope is what enables us to endure our trials. (Romans 8:28 and Hebrews 12:2-3).

Hope for a glorious future-eternal glory forever and ever. Our hope goes beyond this life. Our true hope is for eternity.

To be encouraged in your soul, read the Scriptures at the end of this devotion.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

www.aboverubiees.org

PRAYER:

"I thank you, Father, that you have destined me to live a life of hope. Help me to get into the habit of knowing that you are working out everything for my good, even if it isn't to my liking. Fill me daily with your Holy Spirit so that I will go around my home ABOUNDING IN HOPE. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

I am ABOUNDING in hope today!

Read these Scriptures about hope.

Hope in God. (Sometimes The King James Version translates the Hebrew word for "hope" as "expectation" or "trust."

Psalm 4:5; 9:10; 13:5; 25:2; 26:1; 28:7; 31:6b, 14, 24; 32:10; 33:18, 21-22; 37:3-5; 38:15; 39:7; 42:5, 11; 43:5; 50:10; 52:8; 56:3-4, 11; 62:5-8; 71:5, 14; 84:12; 86: 2; 91:2; 112:7; 115:9-11; 125:1; 130:7; 131:3; 143:8; 146:5; 147:11; Proverbs 3:5-6; 28:25b; 29:25; Isaiah 12:2; 26:3-4; Jeremiah 17:7, 13, 17; Lamentations 3:22-26 and 1 Peter 3:5.

Hope in God's "exceeding great and precious promises."

Psalm 119:42-43, 49, 74, 81, 114, 116; 147, 165-166; 130:5 and Romans 15:4.

Hope as we go through trials.

Job 13:15; Psalm 22:4-5; Romans 5:3-5; 8:24-25; 1 Corinthians 13:13 and 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

Hope in a glorious future.

1 Corinthians 15:19-22; Ephesians 1:18-20; Colossians 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:10

Titus 1:2; 2:12-14; 3:7 and 1 Peter 1:3-5, 13.

http://bit.ly/WomensEmailDevotional  

Always Fun!

 

I hope I never get too old for my bubbles!

(Linking to http://angelwingsandapronstrings.blogspot.com  Go see Trish for a special blessing.)

Wordless Wednesday

 

Monday Memo

Sometimes it doesn't take a lot to be delightfully creative.

*Disclaimer:  unfortunately I did not create this gorgeous plate.

Babies and Big Boys

http://thebeehivecottage.blogspot.com/2011/09/part-1-of-heidis-baby-shower.html

Oh my gosh, this makes me want to give a baby shower.  Go see MaryJane at The Beehive Cottage and see all the pretties she did for her daughter's baby shower.  I visit her blog all the time simply for fru-fru inspiration!

Speaking of babies - yesterday I spent the day with my 4 TLC's and the youngest one, Thomas Langlois Crossman said to me with a big smile,

"Mémère, I'm your boy. My mom says I am a big boy but I will be your baby boy just for you."  

Oh, be still my heart - he is the cutest thing ever.  TLC #4  is 2 1/2 and has his Mémère wound around his little finger for sure!  I tell him his mother is right, he is a big boy but he will always be Mémère's baby.  I think he has gotten the idea.

Wordless Wednesday

Sunshine Acres and Muffins

It is getting closer and closer to cooler days here in Arizona - we have had a very HOT long summer.  I could not wait any longer and made a pot of chili this week in honor of coming fall days

If you have read my blog you know that I worked for 12 years in a Christian children's home called Sunshine Acres.  Well, they are now on Face Book and have a video of the founder, the late Vera Dingman known fondly as Aunt Vera.

With cooler days ahead and in memory of my days at Sunshine Acres I want to repost a wonderful muffin recipe.

My Famous Muffins (repost)

When the Lord gave me my first son, Jason more than anything I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom.  Being a single woman I had to make a living for us though and the Lord made that possible by taking me to Sunshine Arcres Children's Home.  While there I adopted my second son, Anthony and two years later I met the man who would become my Precious Husband.

During my years at "The Acres" I would often invite some of the other single ladies and grandmas on the place over for coffee and muffins.  Today I am sharing a recipe that has been around for years but worth repeating here.  Grandma Merle was the grandmother of Judy Dingman who was the founders of "The Acres" daughter-in-law.  Are you still with me : )  Anyway, Grandma Merle would always say, "Oh boy, we get to go to Dorothy's for her famous muffins!"   Such special memories I have of all the people and especially the children of Sunshine Acres.

Dorothy's Famous Muffins

(Better known as 6 Week Muffins)

5 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups boiling water
2 cups All Bran Cereal
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
4 eggs, beaten well
1 quart buttermilk
4 cups All Bran Cereal
2 cups raisins

Mix 2 cups All Bran with boiling water and set aside.  In large bowl with lid mix margarine and sugar and add eggs, beating well.  Combine dry ingredients and mix in.  Add buttermilk and the other 4 cups All Bran along with wet All Bran.  Mix well and stir in raisins.  Bake 20 minutes in greased muffin tins at 400’.  This mix keeps in the fridge for up to 6 weeks.  Make as many or as few at a time as you want to.

Try this recipe out and invite a neighbor that needs a lift.  In no time people will be talking about your "famous muffins" too. 

Linking up to http://www.blessedwithgrace.net/   http://everydaymomsmeals.blogspot.com/  http://mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com/

Monday's Memo

. . . and beauty dances

I've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful.  ~Author Unknown


Beauty... when you look into a woman's eyes and see what is in her heart.  ~Nate Dircks


You can take no credit for beauty at sixteen.  But if you are beautiful at sixty, it will be your soul's own doing.  ~Marie Stopes

Taking joy in living is a woman's best cosmetic.  ~Rosalind Russell

Do I love you because you're beautiful,
Or are you beautiful because I love you?
~Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Cinderella

As we grow old, the beauty steals inward.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.  ~Kahlil Gibran

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

It's Simple

It's simple.  Precious Husband loves me.  Simple as that and yet so amazing to me.

A few years ago we stayed in a little hotel near the beach in San Louis Obispo.  In our bathroom was a little orange rubber duck.  Sometimes it doesn't take much to make me smile and this little guy made me smile.

As we left the hotel the next day Precious Husband tracked down the housekeeper and asked for a duck for his wife.

It's simple, he loves me.  How blessed I am with my Precious Husband and my own little orange duck.

Books Books Books!

Monday I began the chore I have put off forEVER - cleaning up the enormous number of books I own which seem to multiply like rabbits.  Tuesday I continued the labor of love and today I hope to finish the job.  

My office, my library, my sanctuary and refuge is my favorite room to come to but not when it gets so cluttered and books are stacked ten deep in piles all around my chair.  My chair is the only chair in the room and that is because this real-estate is mine alone and there is no one to blame for the mess but me.  Precious Husband's office is pretty much a mess all the time but the big difference is that when he decides to clean his real-estate he can do it so quickly - amazing to me.  

This cleaning challenge this takes me days because honestly I am slow and I get so easily side-tracked.  I pick up the stack of my mom's journals and read through the one dated 1975 and read about what she was doing the year after Daddy died.  I read about what we did together to prepare for my wedding in '83.  I am glad she journaled because I read about things I have totally forgotten.  She quit keeping her journals because I think she feels her life is a little boring now - that is sure a shame.

I pick up a book and to my delight realize that it is one of my very favorites and that I have two.  In the box it goes to share with someone special that will undoubtedly be blessed with it like I am.  I sit in my chair and leaf through another book that I had forgotten I had and also forgotten how good it is.  Yes, these are all reasons I am still in the process of over-hauling my books.  It will feel so good when I do get done - maybe today : )

If you need a good book I do love to share.  I will even bring a chair in for you to sit and take your time.  We could have tea - I would like that.

Wordless Wednesday

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday - Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bars

Chocolate-Caramel Cookie Bars (Martha Stewart Living November 2009)

This is a cookie recipe I made the weekend we had the 4 TLC's.  They are quite rich and most certainly chocolatey. The combination of sweet and salty is just right.  They would be a great addition to a ladies tea party I think.   

Ingredients

• For the Crust

◦ 4 1/2 ounces (9 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for parchment

◦ 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

◦ 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

◦ 1/4 teaspoon table salt

• For the Chocolate Caramel

◦ 10 1/2 ounces milk chocolate, chopped (2 cups)

◦ 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

◦ 1/4 cup water

◦ 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter

◦ 1 cup heavy cream

◦ 1/2 teaspoon table salt

◦ 1 tablespoon sea salt, preferably fleur de sel

•

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the crust: Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on all sides; butter parchment, excluding overhang. Beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add flour and table salt, and beat until just combined.

2. Press dough evenly into pan, and bake until lightly browned, about 30 minutes.

3. Make the chocolate caramel: Place chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, washing sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals from forming, until amber, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Add butter, cream, and table salt. Bring to a boil, stirring until smooth. Pour over chocolate. Let stand for 2 minutes. Stir to combine, and let stand until cool, about 10 minutes.

4. Pour mixture over crust. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight. Run a knife around edges; lift parchment to remove whole bar from pan. Sprinkle with sea salt. Trim edges, and cut into 16 bars.

On a more personal note Paul and I are off the sugar and trying to undue the damage we did with our cruise to Alaska, trip to Kentucky and simply being undisciplined for too long.  When we changed our eating habits we both felt better and we really must get back to it.  So no more Chocolate Caramel Bars for us but hope you enjoy them if you give the recipe a try.

Linked to http://www.blessedwithgrace.net/ today for lots of great recipe ideas.

Monday's Memo

A Sure Way to a Happy Day

Happiness is something we create in our mind,

It's not something you search for and so seldom find.

It's just waking up and beginning the day

By counting our blessings and kneeling to pray.

It's giving up thoughts that breed discontent

And accepting what comes as a "gift heaven-sent."

It's giving up wishing for things we have not

And making the best of whatever we've got.

It's knowing that life is determined for us,

And pursuing our tasks without fret, fume, or fuss.

For it's by completing what God gives us to do

That we find real contentment and happiness, too.

-- Helen Steiner Rice from Sunshine of Joy

 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. 

Philippians 4:8

What is it Wednesday

With Precious Husband retired now we often hit the thrift stores in search mainly of books.  We are both pack rats for sure and we really do need to get a little control over this but anyway . . .

Because we are pack rats we often look around the house, shake our heads and wonder what in the world the poor kids will do with all this stuff.

With this in mind I am once again going to try to give my kids some info on our belongings so that they will know what they want to do with our junk treasures someday.  To toss or to keep that will be up to them.

Today's what is it is an aluminum serving tray created by the Forman Family.  This tray was a wedding present given to my parents over 63 years ago.  

The past memory tied to this serving tray is of my mothering carrying a meal in to my father who was bed ridden with a flue bug or something.  She would make him what they called back then, "milk toast".  This was just bread toasted and torn into pieces and covered with warm milk.  Yuck, but my father liked it when he was not feeling well.

My father seemed to get "the flue" regularly each year otherwise he was always healthy.  Owning a dairy and having no hired help for many years I believe his flue bug was a forced vacation for him.

Because he was healthy otherwise this tray was not used much and remained on a shelf in the linen closet most of the time.

Now, the tray is mine and has a prominent place in my kitchen.  It is used quite often to serve Precious Husband coffee and goodies and even more fun is using it to serve hot chocolate in the yellow teapot to have "coffee with Mémère".

I hope someone will want to take Mémère's tray and continue serving their family with lots of love like my mom did and I do.  

Do You Like Pecan Pie?

Our youngest daughter and I share a love for pecan pie and always look forward to Thanksgiving dessert for that reason - pecan pie!  So when I saw this recipe for cookies I decided to give it a try cause it sounded delish for sure.  Sure enough these cookies are the best - especially if you love pecan pie like I do.

With the 4 TLC's here all weekend I went into baking mode and made English Toffee Bars, Oatmeal Toffee cookies (not a keep) and a cookie from Martha Stewart along with my classic chocolate chip cookies for Precious Husband.  This was all in addition to homemade vanilla ice-cream Sunday night.  Needless to say I am returning to my sugar-free lifestyle for a while as a result of this weekend.

Give these cookies a try and see if you don't think they remind you of pecan pie and bring fond memories of past Thanksgiving dinners.

English Toffee Bars

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

• 1 cup pecan halves

• Toffee Topping (recipe follows)

• 1 cup Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Chips

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Combine flour and brown sugar in large bowl. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until fine crumbs form (a few large crumbs may remain). Press mixture onto bottom of ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Sprinkle pecans over crust. Prepare Toffee Topping; drizzle evenly over pecans and crust.

3. Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until topping is bubbly and golden; remove from oven. Immediately sprinkle milk chocolate chips evenly over top; press gently onto surface. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. About 36 bars.

Toffee Topping: Combine 2/3 cup butter and 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar in small saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Continue boiling, stirring constantly, 30 seconds. Use immediately.

Linking to Lisa at http://www.blessedwithgrace.net/  for more cooking ideas - she has a great blog.

Tuesday's Prayer

"Use me then, my Savior,

for whatever purposes and in whatever way you may require.

Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel;

fill it with your grace."    D. L. Moody

And may I add Lord, fill it with your peace.