Defender and Commander

When studying and doing lesson prep this week, I was reading in 1 Samuel 17: 37-54. Remember the scene? David a teen-ager, called by God, getting ready to face the giant in the land. I encourage you to read the scripture so you can recall the situation - what trust was displayed!

 I hope some of the insights I gained are a blessing to you.

Each time we are facing a distressing situation – we should call on the LORD of Hosts and we will see how He is our defender…just like young David did. We are not to take the battle into our own hands – God wants to act on our behalf! When He does: His power is displayed, His people are saved from the enemy in the territory and the outcome is amazing!

Isaiah 54:17: “No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.” YES! Now that's encouragement for all who are in Christ! You mean that we don't have to constantly defend ourselves? That's right. And that is freeing, too.

Here are several principles from the David and Goliath encounter that will help us when we feel overwhelmed.

It’s inevitable that we will face "giants" like anxiety, fear, doubt, animosity, intimidating people and enemies. Measuring the giants we face against the greatness of God, is the key to overcoming. To David, the giant was an opportunity to know God better... he did not let Goliath become an obstacle to his faith. We must remember not to fight the giants with someone else’s solution. Remember: Saul’s armor didn’t help David. Look to God alone for your armor. Ephesians 6: 10-18

Let's not run away from our problems; instead ask Jehovah Sabaoth to go to battle for us.

Verbalize your confidence in God. Prayer is conversation with God and He doesn't mind hearing our petitions and declarations so, say it out loud!

Remember who you are. David had just been anointed by Samuel in the previous chapter and therefore knew his position and his purpose. Do you? If not, you can.

Remember who God is. He is the Commander of the awesome armies of heaven and will go to battle for believers who reach out to Him in faith. When the enemy of our lives comes at us hard, God goes to battle, every time!

Here is my declaration today - and yes, I said it out loud! 

I trust You, Lord and I do so because your Word says: Psalm 84:12 

“O LORD Almighty [Jehovah Sabaoth], blessed is the man who trusts in you.”

Making it Right

So many times we get things wrong. What we do in response to a wrong action, word spoken out of turn or even a harsh look makes all the difference. Today, I went to lunch with my daughter and her little family at a very popular restaurant in the Houston area. Everything there is usually just great. This time they got my order wrong. Honestly, it really did not bother me too much because my expectation was positive - I was sure they would just apologize and make it right and offer a small discount. Well, I was half-correct.

I asked to speak with the manager but he never showed up. I decided when there was no genuine offer of an apology or discount or anything that I would just wait until the meal was all done & paid for and then quietly go speak with the manager on duty. I don't like it when people are mean and I don't like it when people make a scene. Thinking of Proverbs 1:7b, "only a fool rejects wisdom and good advice" - I decided to just introduce myself, tell them something nice about their establishment and let them know I thought it was important to communicate about my negative experience...hoping it would encourage a positive response. YES! It did! Both managers were present as I relayed my thoughts, they both thanked me and then offered me a gift certificate as a way to express their apology in a tangible way. I told them that I had no intentions of taking the voucher - but they insisted, so I accepted. How nice it is when things are handled in a positive way, making it so much easier to get on to the next thing.

This week in our Bible Fellowship class we talked about "Encouragement" and how it has several meanings, all important, and how they vary in intensity. Remembering the words of the Hebrew writer; from chapter 3, "encourage one another each day" helps me stay focused on the outcome that I want, ultimately what God wants for us all - instead of something more surface level. Encouragement that brings a course correction can mean the difference in behavior and eventually keeps us out of problematic situations...even keeps us heading toward a full life with our God.
Good Stuff!

Holiday Pumpkin Bread

My daughter requested this recipe post; this is for you, Sarah!
My family LOVES it when I make this during the holiday season...well, so do our friends. I often will make mini-loaves and give this as gifts, as well. I do hope you'll try it and that you'll serve it with love at your Thanksgiving table.

Ingredients

4 C unbleached flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ginger (and 1/2 tsp. ground cloves, optional)
3 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 C canola (vegetable) oil (try using applesauce instead for a “no oil” recipe)
4 eggs
2 1/2 - 3 C pumpkin, cooked and mashed - water drained out (canned will work, too).
note* 1/2 C water may need to be added if the pumpkin has very little moisture

Directions

In a large bowl, place 1st 7 ingredients, combine well.
In a medium bowl, mix together the next 4 ingredients.
Incorporate the mixtures from both bowls. This forms a sticky bread dough. Unless you have an amazing mixing machine that can deal with larger quantities, use a long handled flat spoon or strong spatula to mix. Electric mixers usually have difficulty with this because of the consistency.
Fill coated loaf pans 2/3 full. You can do any size and you can also line the bottoms of loaf pans with parchment paper for easier removal after baking. Bake at 350 in a preheated oven, middle rack. For small loaves: 35-40 minutes, for medium: 45-50 minutes, for large: 55 minutes to an hour.
You can also make these in muffin tins with paper liners and frost with buttercream frosting or confectioners sugar icing for a different treat! (reduce baking time to approx. 20 minutes)

Weekly Tip From Home

As the Fall weather approaches, I look for recipes that are tasty, nutritious and warm. Today I am posting a recipe from my Grandma Hull. She made the old-fashioned dumplings and dropped them in soups. Try this easy recipe and use instead of rice or pasta in your soups. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.

Dumplings

Ingredients
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup milk

Directions
Stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in medium size bowl. By hand, cut in butter until well blended and crumbly. Stir in milk to make a soft dough. Now, you have two choices: You may flour a clean counter top and roll out the dough and cut small triangles or just skip this step and drop by spoonfuls into boiling soup. Reduce heat on the soup (or stew) once you add the dumplings)- cover and simmer 15 minutes without lifting lid.

Enjoy!

Weekly Tips From Home

The BEST Pumpkin Pie, ever!

Once you have tried this, you will never go back.
Ingredients
2 1/2 - 3 C fresh pumpkin (cooked/mashed well) and liquid pressed out
For variety: (this is my favorite way: mix your Pumpkin with mashed Butternut squash, equal parts)
Note: you may use can pumpkin but fresh is always preferred - and mixing any of the winter squash varieties with pumpkin works very well when making breads or pies.
2 eggs
3/4 C Organic sugar
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. clove
1 1/4 C evaporated milk (can)
1 pie shell (deep dish) - or a pie pan with your own pie crust, pressed in (unbaked)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a bowl, combine: all ingredients very well. Pour into the baking pan.
Put this in the oven for about 55 minutes - middle / top rack, center.
It is fine to cook two pies at once - half-way through cooking, rotate pans so they cook evenly.
TIP - to avoid the crust browning too much... take small strips of foil and gently cover the crust only, around the pan edges. Remove the foil during the last 10 minutes.
Once done, remove from oven, let stand at least 30 minutes (pie will “finish” as it cools). Cut into 8 slices, serve with real whipped cream on top!

Weekly Tips From Home

Oatmeal Apple Crisp... Just in time for Fall

INGREDIENTS
5 - 6 granny apples (green) or mix sweet and tart apple varieties - peel and slice
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C lt. brown sugar
1/3 C flour
1/2 C quick oats
4 Tbsp. butter (soft but not liquid)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a glass pie pan.
In a bowl, combine: apples, cinnamon, sugar, and half the salt. Put into the baking pan.
Mix together: oats, brown sugar, flour and remaining salt. Blend in the butter with this mixture with a fork or by hand - make sure it is well combined.
Put topping mixture over apple mixture and bake in the oven for 45 min - to 1 hour.
Cool for 20 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream, while warm.

TIP
Making Dinner Easy
Sometimes we need simple ideas for dinner but we still want it to be wholesome and home-cooked. I started making "oven-sandwiches" years ago when we were a very busy family but I needed a way to fill hungry teens. You can use all natural (nitrite free) sliced meats; these are getting easier to find now and the cost has come way down over the years. Use various varieties and combinations of cheeses to change these up... think about your favorite sandwich shops and what you like to get there - then, create your own!
Here is what I do - open up sub-bread, put lots of shredded or sliced natural cheese on both sides, heat under the broiler for just a couple minutes - add on various sliced meats and seasoning like cajun, put it back in the oven to heat up a little more... once it is hot from the oven, top with lettuce, tomato and anything else such as pepperocini or black olives.
Serve with fruit and chips. It's easy and it's dinner!

Weekly Tip From Home

This post is inspired by my only daughter who is married and also a mom of a toddler. She's a lovely daughter, good wife to her husband and great mommy! She was telling me today about how their son, my only grand-baby, is getting "picky" about eating. Man, I remember those days. I recall doing lots of talking with other moms when mine were young and reading about children... everything from eating habits to discipline. One thing stuck out; when children eat, look at their diet over a period of several days, not just one day. Make sure it is balanced with proteins, carbs, fresh foods and grains. I remember my pediatrician saying something like, if they eat a good variety over several days time and they are well hydrated, then everything is probably just fine - they phase in and out of preferred foods. So - got picky eaters that just like cheese? Ok. Steam some veggies and put cheese over that! Alternate foods they are usually fond of. And, try one new thing at a time...and don't give up. The first time you get some vanilla soymilk, they may not like it. but the second time, they just might. Peaches on Tuesday and apples on Wednesday. Picky toddlers eventually turn into teen-agers that NEVER stop eating! It will happen. Most of all, try to enjoy those endlessly busy days... you can never retrieve a day that has already gone by.