Biblical Womanhood Giveaway

Biblical Womanhood is having giveaway! The giveaway is for an Apron from Marie-Madeline Studios (pictured above) For more details on how to enter go to Biblical Womanhood Blog and check out the January 28th post. The giveaway will be open through Monday (the forth of February) of next week. And the the winner will be posted on Crystal's blog next Tuesday.

My Lord Thy Will Be Done

Photo taken by my sister. 1/13/2008

My Jesus as Thou wilt;

Oh, may Thy will be mine;

Into Thy hand of love

I would my all resign:

Through sorrow or through joy,

Conduct me as Thine own,

And help me still to say,

My Lord, Thy will be done.

My Jesus as Thou wilt;
Though seen through many a tear;
Let not my faith or hope
Grow dim or disappear:
Since Thou on earth hast wept,
And sorrowed oft alone,
If I must weep with Thee,
My Lord, Thy will be done.

My Jesus, as Thou wilt'
All shall be well with me;
Each changing future scene
I gladly trust with Thee:
Straight to my home above
I travel calmly on,
And sing, in life or death,-
My Lord, Thy will be done.

~Unknown

A Precious Promise

For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee.

Psalm 84:11-12

>Reverse English<

Isn't the English Language interesting? :)

~Flammable means the same as inflammable
~ Goods that are sent by ships are called cargo, while goods that go in the car are called a shipment
~Valuable means the same as invaluable
~Copyright is what takes away the right to copy.
~Ravel means the same as unravel
~A house can burn up as it burns down.
~We drive on parkways and park in driveways

"They had just moved in; their boxes lay in the living room, still unpacked." This means that the boxes were not yet unpacked. "Do you still have unpacked boxes in your attic, waiting to be unpacked?" lol!

Trust and Hope in God in all Circumstances of Life

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. Jeremiah 17:7

~Lemon tree blossom, taken 1/12/2008~

Do not look forward to the changes and unknown of this life in fear; rather look to them with full hope that, as the arise, God, whose you are, will deliver you out of them. He is your Keeper. He has kept you hitherto. Do you but hold fast to His dear hand and trust in Him, and He will lead you safely through all things; and, when you cannot stand, He will bear you in His arms. Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow. Our Father will either shield you from suffering, or He will give you strength to bear it. He will be with you and keep you by His mighty power no matter what circumstance of life you may be going through right now as well as in the future. whether small or great a problem the Lord cares for you and will be with you through it all.

-Francis De Sales (slightly revised.)

Katydid

We found this katydid in our house a month or so ago, (I have no idea how it got inside.) It was such an interesting looking insect, lol! (not that I've never seen one before but anyway....)

Isn't it amazing how it’s wings were created to look just like leaves?

Katy :)

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful:

The Lord God made them all.

-Cecil F. Alexander

:::Maple Pecan Cheesecake:::

I made this cheesecake for my younger sisters birthday the other day. I had only tried making baked cheesecake once before, so I was glad that it turned out. :)

:::Maple Pecan Cheesecake:::

Pastry

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

3 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg yolk

Filling

1 1/4 cup pecan halves (chopped)

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

4 large eggs

1/4 cup light corn syrup

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon imitation maple flavor

Extra pecans for garnish (optional)

First prepare pastry dough: In a bowl mix the flour, butter sugar and egg yolk. Shape into 2 balls wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400 F. Press one ball of dough onto bottom of 10" by 3" spring form pan; keep remaining dough refrigerated. Bake the crust 8 minutes; cool in pan. Turn oven down to 350 F.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl prepare filling; with a mixer beat cream cheese until smooth; add the sugar, eggs corn syrup, flour, salt and maple flavoring; beat two more minutes until well mixed. Stir in chopped pecans.

Press remaining dough around side of pan within 1 1/2 inchesof top. Pour the cream cheese mixture into crust.

Bake cheesecake for 45 minutes. Turn off oven; let cheesecake remain in oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven; cool completely in pan. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled. Remove pan before serving. Arrange pecan halves on top of cheesecake and around the edge of plate if desired.

Enjoy! :)

Random Kitchen Hints

~ Are your bananas ripening too fast? Use the extra overripe ones to make banana bread. We do this often with overripe bananas, banana bread is always a welcome treat.

~To evenly coat greens with dressing, place them in a plastic bag and toss.

~Here's a great tip I got from my Grandma: to prevent potatoes from boiling over add a small pat of butter to the boiling water. I have done this quite a few times and it works wonderfully.

~Place washed greens in freezer for 10 minutes, it will increase crunchiness.

~Tomato Paste hard to get out of the can? Use the can opener to open both ends, then simply push the paste right out quickly and easily.

~When baking french bread if the top crust is still white even though the bread is done, turn the oven on to broil for one to two minutes, until the top is browned, then remove from the oven.

~Cucumbers soggy? Soak them in salted ice water for 30 minutes to make them extra crisp.

Scripture of the Day

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

The Anvil-God's Word

Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away. Mark 13:31

Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith's door,
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;
Then looking in, I saw upon the floor
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.

"How many anvil have you had," said I,
"To ear and batter all these hammers so?"
"Just one," said he, and then with twinkling eye,
"The anvil wears the hammers out, you know."

And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s Word,
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, through the noise of falling blows was heard,
The anvil is unharmed-the hammers gone.

-Author Unknown

~A Cup of Tea~

I don't know about you but I love a good cup of tea! especially on a cold Winter evening. My favorite kind of tea is without a doubt Peppermint. What's your favorite kind?

~A Few Facts About Tea~

~There are many kinds of tea but they all come from the same basic plant, called Camellia Sinensis. The differences between teas comes from different ways of processing, growing conditions, and geography.

~Herbal teas are made from roots, stems, herbs and seeds of a various of plants. They do not contain tea leaves from the Camellia Sinensis plant, so it's not a "true tea." Most herbal tea does not contain caffeine.

~The plant Camellia Sinesis that produces all types of true tea can grow to over 30 feet high, but most tea plantations keep the plant trimmed to about waist-height so the leaves can be picked easily at harvest time.

~Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world after water.

~Tea is grown in a total of 36 countries around the world.