Yes! I admit it!

I'm an amateur! I stink at this whole blog design template thing. I will keep playing on it when I have time. HA! Time doesn't grow on trees around here...

I promise not to leave it with painful combinations of flouresent colors.

A helpful home remedy

Well, it's the season of snot, and sore throats in the Northern Hemisphere. I thought I would put my favorite home remedy here for anyone to try. For sore throats and especially for coughing that needs to be broken up, I make oregano tea. I got the idea from the book Home Remedies: What Works: Thousands of Americans reveal their favorite home tested cures for everyday health problems. This book is from the makers of Prevention Magazine. They asked their readers to send in their favorite home remedies, and then checked them with doctors and scientists. So you not only get the remedy, but the reason why it would work, along with safety guidelines. This is my favorite cough remedy, and I've added a couple other things to it.

Pour boiling water over 1/2 tsp or less of dried oregano. Watch it while stirring, and as soon as the water is a nice yellow color, strain the leaves out. I use a mesh strainer, although I have also put the oregano in a coffee filter and wrapped it with a twist tie. Do not over steep it till it is dark yellow. YUK. Add honey to taste.

This really helps to sooth the throat and also keep the fluid "Coughable". I used to get bronchial infections, and sometimes bronchitis every year with my colds and flues, and now I use this to keep it loose, and I haven't had a secondary infection since I started doing it.

Now for my own additions: If you have anise, (Tastes like lichorich) it gives a wonderful throat numbing sensation, and I have also added bay leaves crunched up for a mentholy type of feeling. But the thing that does the trick is the oregano. Both of my additions, in my opinion, greatly improve the flavor.

When one of my kids gets sick, I make this, and all of a sudden I hear fake coughing from every one else cause they want some too. It helps with that TICKLE THAT DRIVES YOU NUTS AND KEEPS YOU FROM SLEEPING!!! AAAAUGHH!! You know what I mean.

The other thing I must do to avoid those pesky sinus infections is a bit more extreme, but it works as well. If you don't mind feeling like you are drowning yourself deliberately.

Happy Cold Season!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my faithful readers! We will be eating our feast tomorrow with a missionary family here, and I am making a couple of pies and flan. Last night we had hot cocoa, cider, and everyone put something in the Thanksgiving box. This is a box with a slot, that we will put things we are thankful for throughout the year, and around Thanksgiving, pull it out and put the things in a scrapbook. This will be the first year we do it officially, although I've been putting stuff in the box periodically. I want the kids to look back at the year and see how we can be thankful in any situation.

Which brings me to my own thankful list. I could do the long one, involving all the members of my precious family, every good thing that happened to us this past year, every thing I have that I enjoy. I'd be remiss not to include every single unpleasant thing that happened to us also, because God not only says He can make good come out of "all things" in the lives of those who love Him and are called to His purpose, but He also commands us to give thanks in every thing. So I can include the "junk", because of the grace He provided in it, the good He will do with it, and the lessons I learned about Him from it.

But instead of all those things, I'm going to just say I'm most thankful for my Lord Jesus. Without Him, all those things in life are vanity. He brings purpose to not only my blessings, but also my trials, and He brings confidence and peace in the face of my fears. I can trust Him with my eternity, my immediate future, my family, and even my failures. I've been eaten up with the need, the hunger to know Him better, to be His friend. He's been mine, that's for sure!

I've always thought that Thanksgiving is the perfect context to introduce the Christmas season, Let's carry that spirit into our celebration of Christ, and not forget His mercies to us!

"Mommy, Mommy! Come see!"

"ONE OF THE GOBBLES! HAS BABY GOBBLES! THEY'RE SO CUTE!!!!!"


Rebecca, on the growing turkey family on the ranch.

Veteran's Day

Tonight I was watching a moving tribute to America's veterans, and my daughter walked in and started watching with me. She asked me, "What are those crosses for? They're very beautiful!" (Yes, she does talk like this, at five years old. "Very beautiful" is one of her favorite things to say.)

I took a while answering. I don't like her to see me cry. Finally I just dove in. "Those crosses are markers where they bury the bodies of soldiers. The soldiers had to go fight and stop people who want to hurt America. Those people hate that we can chose to do what we believe is right, and they want to make us worship their God, or kill us if they can. The soldier's job is to stop them, and they are fighting, and getting hurt, and sometimes they get killed. When they are killed, their bodies are sent back in a coffin with a flag on it, and they take it to this graveyard. They fold the flag up and give it to the soldier's family, and then they put the soldier's body in the ground."

She sat in silence as pictures flashed across the screen. A young boy not much older than she was, wearing a suit, receives a folded flag from white gloved hands. A young woman lays her head on her husband's coffin. A weeping couple at their daughter's funeral.

"Mommy, why are they crying?"

I said, "Honey, they lost someone they love, because that person was a soldier who was killed. It makes me cry too."

She looked at me, "If it makes you cry, don't watch it!"

"The Bible says there is a time to laugh, and a time to cry. And it also says we should weep with those who are crying. Sometimes it's good to know something and be sad. Then we can pray for someone or try to help them."

She watched the rest of it with me. It wasn't a conversation with earth-shattering revelation. In the interest of keeping it G-rated, I didn't give much more information, but information that was important. I think she understood enough though. While I was tucking her in bed she said, "Mommy? Can we pray now for the soldiers?"

Yes! Let's pray for them, past, present, and future! I don't have the words to express my gratitude to them for their gift of love and sacrifice. I thank God every day that each generation of Americans has seen heroes like this, giving freedom to the next generation. God bless them, protect them, and give them victory today!

Veterans-Day-Tribute - Get Video Code

Wooo Hoooo! Home again!

We had a great trip! Our van even got some R&R with the mechanic and she is running smooth and high on new shocks and struts. Mexican roads have never felt so good! Wind blew much fine, red dirt into our house and I'm sweeping, wiping, and sneezing it up while unpacking, so the next few days will be pretty busy taking care of that.

I LOVE BEING HOME!

Missions Conference

We were able to attend our home church Mission's Conference this past week. I love my church! My husband was saved there, and this was where we started our ministry. I love being in any missions conference, but there is something really special about being in the conference at our own church, and being able to give to missions, being a part of what God is doing with our church. Check out the link on the side bar for Lighthouse Baptist Church, and see our church programs and ministries!

Faithful Love

The silver beard was wet with tears,
As cloudy eyes looked up in grateful praise,
The father who through lonely years
Had waited for this, the day of days.

The father knelt in a dusty path,
Clutched a sobbing, filthy vagabond against his breast,
The boy had come expecting wrath,
He should have known his father loved him best.

The only thing the boy had brought
When he had gone out full of wealth and pride
Was a broken heart, repentance wrought,
But this heart his father could not have deigned.

To be loved so well by One so great,
Love that waits, and grieves through long nights alone,
Love that is patient, will never abate
Waiting, ready to forgive the lost and erring son

Thank you Father for waiting for me,
Thank you for waiting though rebellion and strife,
Hating the sin, but wanting me free,
To love you again, to serve you with my life.

Father, take me and use me I plead,
The least in Your house is more than I can ask,
For I am famished, poor and in need,
Let me please come home, give me the lowest task.

What is this robe? This ring?
This celebration? Am I forgiven? Is it true?
I’ll never ever cease to sing,
I‘ll always serve, and praise, and honor You!

No, I was not corrupted!

I am being asked if I faltered over the temptation offered me, which I talked about in the previous post.

No, I did not. It broke my heart, but I was strong.

And I think Ryan did shaow with me at the end of the day.

The Crafty One

I love Jalapeño Potato Chips. The ones you get in the United States are BLAH, but here, there is this zing, and a nose-tingling spicy bite as well. I gain four ounces every time I think about them. We were surprised to find little beggars at our ankles every time we break open a pack. Never ones to withhold goodness from our children, we have kids who will sit happily with tear-filled eyes eating spicy salsa, chips, or Mexican chili candy. (On a side note, why is it "too spicy, Mommy!" when it's something they don't like???)

My husband will come in with a bag he bought and tourture us for several days not eating it, and not letting us eat it, because it's his. Then he will open it, and contend with four beggers and one wife who will not beg, but sneaks a longing look at the bag periodically. He usually leaves a little over half the bag for us-he's generous.

One day a little more than a year ago, he was not feeling generous for some reason. there was the green potato chip bag sitting at his desk, half eaten. My mouth began to water as he was getting ready to go out and work with someone, but the last thing he said to me was, "Don't touch my potato chips!" Then he left. I'm not sure what possessed him to do something so cruel, as he's not normally a mean person, but you know, we all have our bad days. So I went about my day, determined to ignore the salivating I experienced every time I looked at that open bag of chips.

I guess I was not the only one. Becca is four now, but at this time, she was only two and a half. She was already trying out ways to manipulate us. Suddenly she came running in to where I was, panting effectively, eyes wide. She said, "I scaowed Mommy!" (scared, for those not fluent in toddlerish.) She had no solid reason for being "scaowed", no unusual noises, nothing going on, and finally I asked her, after much fruitless searching for the cause of her fear, "What do you want me to do about it?"

"I want Daddy!"

"Well, Daddy's not here right now, but he'll be back tonight." Here I was thinking, Aw, that's so cute, she wants her Daddy.

"I could eat Daddy's chips!"

I was a little stunned at this, then gave a shout of laughter, which broke down her little game. She was ready to go for broke. She gave me a hug looked at me earnestly, and said, "Mommy, we could shaow!"