Last Day For My Giveaway!!!!!

Just reminding you that today at 5:00 p.m. is the cutoff for my giveaway.  What?  You don't know anything about my giveaway?  Well, I am giving away a gorgeous set of Ganz cross measuring spoons!  So, click HERE and leave a comment and you will be entered to win these spoons.  Leaving a comment on THIS POST will NOT enter you to win the measuring spoons, so click on the link to be returned to the original post about the spoons!  I will be announcing the winner tomorrow!

Oh, and one more thing.  GO CARDINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Twenty-Six

Today, my sweet husband and I have been married twenty-six years.

We have had easy days, and hard days.

We have had good days, and some not so good days.

We have had days with plenty of money to spend, and days with no money to spend.

We have thankfully had many more days of health, than sickness.

We have received two of the greatest blessings we could ever have asked for in our children.

I cannot imagine my life without my husband.  He is a blessing to me.  And I pray that we have many, many, many, many more years of health and happiness together! 

My Spaghetti Sauce

One of our "go to" meals is spaghetti.  We love it, seriously, and we eat a lot of spaghetti.  Spaghetti is pure comfort food, and if you've always used spaghetti sauce from a jar, let me tell you how EASY, and inexpensive, it is to make it yourself.  Don't be afraid.  You can do it!!  Come on, I'll show you!

I'm pretty sure you know how to get to this part.  Fry up 2 pounds of ground beef, and boil your spaghetti noodles according to package directions.

 Fry your hamburger until it is no longer pink.  This wasn't quite done.  Then boil your noodles until al dente.  And just in case your mama never told you, splash a little bit of olive oil into the water before adding the noodles.  Helps to keep them from sticking together.








Once your hamburger and the noodles are done, add two cans of tomato sauce to the hamburger.  I use Always Save or Best Choice brands.  I've used the more expensive brands but really, I can't find ONE IOTA of difference.  So save yourself some money and buy the store brand!

Once the tomato sauce and the hamburger are mixed together, you have a blank canvas to create your own spaghetti sauce.  You can make it your own.  Hot and spicy, mild, sweet.  Whatever you like.  Here's what I use:

Minced garlic, garlic powder (we really like garlic), oregano, Lawry's Seasoned Salt, and, the secret ingredient that makes my spaghetti sauce out-of-this-world-delicious, brown sugar.  That's right.  The brown sugar mellows out the sharp tomato taste.  And the sweet brown sugar and the tangy garlic and oregano, mmmm, mmmm, MMMM!  YUM!!  Trust me on this one.

Now I know you want to know measurements.  Because when someone tells me how to make something, I always want measurements.  But I don't measure anything when I make my spaghetti sauce.  I just start shaking things in, and then tasting.  When it comes to adding the brown sugar, I would start with one tablespoon and then add to taste.  I probably put in at least two tablespoons, but we like our spaghetti with a pretty strong hint of sweetness behind all that garlic goodness. 

Doesn't that look DELICIOUS!!!  So, the next time you're looking for something quick and easy to fix for supper, make homemade spaghetti!  It's fast, it's easy, and it really is DELICIOUS! 

Much Better

Thank you so much to each and every one of you who prayed for me these past few days.  I am happy to report that my neck is feeling MUCH MUCH better.  I still have a little "twinge" once in awhile, but for the most part the pain is GONE. 

Isn't it amazing that the God who created the universe still hears the prayers of His children?  And that His mighty hand still reaches down and touches us with His healing power?  I am so blessed!

Prayers For Healing Please

Girls, I have a prayer request . . . for myself.  Last week I woke up one morning with a horrible "crick" in my neck on the right side.  It was pain-ful.  After a couple of days it went away, so I didn't think much about it.  Day before yesterday it hit me again.  I've tried heat.  I've tried massaging my neck.  I've tried moving my head slowly from side to side to try to gently stretch the muscles.  But just when I think its feeling better, it hits me again.

I have no other symptoms.  No cold, no fever, no headache, nothing but a really, really, really sore neck.  If I move it the wrong way, well, oh my, the pain is sharp.

So, would you please begin to pray for my neck?  I know that God is a healer, and while most of the time I think of "healing" to mean healing for cancer, or healing from an accident, I KNOW that God is more than able to heal this old stiff neck of mine.  So would you please agree with me right now for healing, in Jesus name.

Thank you gals so much for praying!  I don't know what I would do without my bloggin' buddies!  I love each and every one of you, and I want you to know that pray for you too!

Fresh Anointing Power

Following is a copy of a old devotion by David Wilkerson, who passed away last spring.  If you are feeling down in your spirit.  If you are wondering why this trial just won't pass. If you are sick and tired of the enemy wreaking havoc in your life, then YOU need to read THIS:

FRESH ANOINTING POWER by David Wilkerson

God allows your trial because He wants to make you “devil-proof”! That does not mean you will not be attacked again but you will be trained to stand! It is all part of His preparing you for greater service, greater anointing and expanded usefulness in His kingdom.  Furthermore, the Lord is trying to strengthen you against the devil’s wiles. He is raising up a body of believers who have faced the devil, who have been strengthened against him, and who know his devices and are not afraid of him! God is saying, “Once you understand why you are going through this, you will have taken back all the ground you lost. You will be in control again—by the power of the Holy Spirit!”  Once Elijah’s trial was over (see 1 Kings 19) he would never run again. He now had a sense of direction and he was reassured in his spirit. You see, God was about to send him to nations to raise up kings, leaders and prophets!  God told Elijah: “Go, return on your way...anoint Hazael as king over Syria...anoint Jehu...as king over Israel. And Elisha...you shall anoint as prophet in your place” (1 Kings 19:15-16). Elijah had been given fresh anointing power. He was in control again!  “So he departed from there” (verse 19). Elijah came out of the cave to do God’s will! He did not have to shed a river of tears. No, he simply had heard the Word of the Lord!  Beloved, the only hold the devil can have on you is fear. And you must shake it off in faith! You have to say, “I am not going down. God is going to give me a fresh anointing from heaven—He is going to use me!”  Do you believe that God is not finished with you—that He is teaching and training you for better things? He wants to speak to you in your cave of despondency. He wants to tell you what to do and where to go—and He wants to bring you out!  So get up out of your despair and shake off the bondage of fear and depression! Depart from your cave. You will discover that the moment you get up and walk out, the anointing will flow!

I don't know about YOU, but I needed to be reminded of this today.  I need to be reminded of just who I am IN CHRIST!  I needed to be reminded that the enemy has NO authority over me and my family.  We need to speak those things which be NOT as though they are, and give the devil his marching orders in Jesus name.  We have no power over the devil on our own.  But thank God, Jesus left us all the power we need.  At the name of Jesus every knee must bow, and the enemy must flee!  So today, pray for that fresh anointing power to fall in your life and in your home.  God has a plan for you.  A good plan.  Do not let the enemy steal that from you.

Praise the Lord!!!

I'm Back!!!!!

Wow!  I can't believe our week in Mexico is over and we are back to real life.  To say we had a BALL would be an understatement.  The weather was beautiful (except for our last day at sea when Tropical Depression Lee decided to make an appearance). 

I am so thankful that my two sisters and I got to spend an entire week together.  We have never done that before, and we have all agreed that we need to spend time together MUCH more often.

If you've never been on a cruise, I highly recommend it.  It is extremely relaxing, and the beach in Cozumel, Mexico is beautiful. 

Thank you to everyone who prayed for us while we were gone, and thanks to God for keeping His hand upon us.