I have been MIA for a few days – but not by choice.  The site was down due to server issues – or at least that’s how I interpreted what my IT gal said.  All I know is that it wasn’t working, but now it’s back! How’s that for a YIPPEE!?  I’m back just in time for the last day of the month!  There are moments that it feels like January was a long month, and other moments when it feels like it whipped by and I feel like I want a do-over. Since THAT obviously can’t happen, I’ll choose to focus on it being a really good month and do whatever I can to make February just as good.

 

Verse of the Day

January 31, 2019

He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.

—Joshua 4:24

 

Thoughts on the Verse of the Day

God brought the Israelites miraculously through the Jordan River during the flood season because of his love and grace and to fulfill his promises to them. But he was also making an important statement about himself and his people. He always wanted Israel to “reverence” him. In addition, he wanted Israel’s enemies to quake with fear. They did. And God won a great victory for himself and his people because of his faith.

www.verseoftheday.com

 

 

 

Food for Thought

It feels like Virginia has taken the evil that New York passed last week, said “hold my beer” and took their evil further – when I didn’t even think that was possible.  Thankfully sanity prevailed and the proposed bill to allow abortion up to the moment the mother is pushing the baby out of her body did not pass.  As if that weren’t bad enough, the governor of Virginia has proposed the idea to allow a baby to be murdered AFTER it is born, if the mother changes her mind about having it in her life. THIS IS AN ATROCITY to surpass previous atrocities!!! Demons are dancing while heaven weeps. May God have mercy on us as a nation for allowing the evil that has invaded our midst.

 

 

Appreciate Your Social Security Check Day – All of our lives we work very hard to make ends meet and make something of our own portion of the world. And throughout that time, we contribute to a fund that pays us from the time of our retirement, until the time we pass away. At least that’s how it was intended. These days though, people are no longer able to retire between the ages of 62-65 and are working well into their 70s in many cases. The Social Security has never been enough to support someone through their retirement, but now it’s barely supplemental if we are fortunate, and it does look like at some point it will dwindle away to nothing, at least if the world keeps on going the way it is economically. If you are drawing Social Security, appreciate it, for those of us who have a lot of years to go may not have it when we reach that age!

 

Backward Day – Backwards Day? What’s that?  Well, I thought you’d never ask.  Backwards Day is just that – a day when you do everything (or as much as you can without your boss or the law getting upset with you) in the opposite order than you usually do!  This is a popular day with kids, and some schools actually have a spirit day that is designated to being backwards – they wear their clothes backwards, they walk backwards (be careful of the stairs if you do this one though!)  I’m not one to wear my clothes backwards – at least not on purpose, though I have been known on occasion (RARE ONES!) to find my shirt tag in the front if I got dressed in a hurry.  I do think though that it would be a good day to eat dinner backwards – starting with dessert, followed by the main course and the salad.  Now I just have to figure out what’s a worthy dessert! start. Are you starting to get the picture!?

 

Inspire Your Heart with Art Day – Day – Have you ever seen a beautiful piece of art – it could a painting, a sculpture, an intricate quilt, or maybe a delicate carving – that just makes you feel wonderful when you look at it?  We’ve all had that experience at one point or another, I’m sure – I know I have anyway.  Today is Inspire Your Heart with Art Day and I encourage everyone to look around you and see the beauty and artistry all around you, no matter where you are or what you are doing.  I know that we have at least two incredible artists who read this page – my wonderful mother-in-law – SR – and my dear friend – KV.  When I look at work that the two of you have created, I have to smile – there isn’t a choice because your work makes me feel good.  The painting you see here is of my Tibbi Girl and KV painted it for me from a photograph I sent to her.  This is one of the most beautiful gifts I have ever received. It holds a place of honor in our home and will be a lasting reminder of what a wonderful and amazing member of the family this beautiful creature was to us.  I’ve always envied people who are artistic and wondered why God blesses some people to be artistic and others not so much (I can make a great stick figure, but there doesn’t seem to be a call for that very often.).  The best art of all though, is the beauty in the world around us that the Creator of all artists put in place. God himself made the best art we could ever imagine, and which mankind has since the beginning of time been trying to emulate on canvas, stone or wood.  No matter how you appreciate art today, in whatever form it takes to inspire your heart, do it with enthusiasm and a sense of awe.

 

 

Food Celebration of the Day –

National Hot Chocolate Day – Have you ever wondered what is the difference between Hot Cocoa and Hot Chocolate?  Apparently hot cocoa uses only powdered cocoa, while hot chocolate uses milk or milk chocolate. I didn’t know that!  I also did not know that the first hot chocolate was Mayan, served with chili peppers.  I’ve had Mayan Hot Chocolate, and though it has a hint of a bite to it, it is delicious!  Honestly, except for the sugar that we use to make Hot Chocolate, it is actually quite healthy.  It has antioxidants and health nutrients in it.  Perhaps making it with natural sugars instead of processed sugar would reduce that negative and make it healthy all the way around!?  I have some wonderful memories around Hot Chocolate.  When I was growing up, we would go visit my Grandma K.  I remember sneaking into the kitchen when she got up in the mornings, and while the rest of the household slept a bit longer, Grandma would wrap me in a warm quilt, get me settled onto a chair at the kitchen table, and make fresh, from scratch hot chocolate.  We would sit and whisper to each other, swapping stories and giggling, while nibbling on crisp buttered toast and sipping mugs of hot chocolate. Gosh I miss those times – I’m getting all misty eyed as I write about them. I want my grandchildren to have those memories too, so whenever they come to visit, I make sure I have my own cocoa mix made up and the first thing they get when they wake up in the morning is a mug of hot cocoa to sip at while I fix breakfast.  We also have “tea” parties, featuring hot chocolate instead of tea. Someday I hope they carry on this tradition with their own grandchildren, and maybe tell a story or two about having it at our house when they were little.

 

I am positively making myself a mug of hot chocolate tonight and giving a silent “I love you and miss you” to my Grandma K in heaven.  Sweet memories will be with me this evening. Before I can get there though, I must go to work! For those stuck out in the cold, stay warm!  It’s chilly here, but I hesitate to call temperatures in the 30s as chilly after what so many people have been going through! Stay safe and inside!  I have to run! God bless you and I’ll see you next month! (hehehe)

 

Celebration list sources:

www.verseoftheday.com   www.brownielocks.com   www.holidayinsights.com   www.thenibble.com   www.foodimentary.com