Perhaps a Great Gift of Time...

As I left my house the other morning, I saw a whole family...dad, mom, and three kids...

all out taking a bike ride together, smiling and enjoying each other and life in general!

Can I just say that, amidst all the chaos and uncertainty of these times, I think the families of our country have received a great gift...a chance to see what life with each other could be, how deep our relationships could be, when everything superfluous is removed from our daily activities.

So many of us have stopped--out of necessity--and looked for ways to make our time at home fun and special. Most families are spending the majority of their time every day together, thinking ahead and planning different and fun ways to connect!

Yes, we can find the bad in our current situation--we always can. And, I am not making light of the seriousness of this pandemic. But, we can always find things that cause us to fear. We can contemplate and dwell on motives and reasons for these situations that will invoke doubts in our hearts..Sure. But today, I choose to see the good!

Seeing them all out together made me stop and wonder just how long it has been since families, like that one, have set aside everything on a Saturday morning and just taken a bike ride together, the whole family. How long since we set aside work responsibilities, all the sports practices and games, all the extracurricular school activities and personal hobbies, and just loved each other?

Time translates to love in any language. Giving my time says to another, "I care enough about you to stop everything I am doing to just be there and listen."

I pray that, with the reopening of America, our 'normal' will not be quite the same.

We will not forget these precious days with family! May the Lord grant each family the ability to see the gift of those who live in our home in the next few days or weeks ahead before we resume the busyness of every-day life!

Our Time = Our Life

I Kings 3:4 "And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar."

Think how LONG it must have taken King Solomon to sacrifice 1,000 burnt offerings?! I cannot imagine. Our time is our life, therefore the most precious thing we possess. This is the greatest thing we can give back to God.

Solomon must have set aside many hours to sacrifice to God. When was the last time we set aside any time for God, let alone hours?

Thank you, God, for this convicting reminder to set aside time in this fast-paced life we live, to be still and know that You are God!

This is a thought that I shared a long time ago and enjoyed reading it once again as a great reminder for my own life.

An Easter Lesson from my 9-year-old...

Hmmm...wafers or cake layers...you guess?

Every year, I make our annual tri-color Easter Cake with home-made fondant (which is SO easy, by the way) or a thick cream cheese or buttercream icing, a nest made of toasted coconut and some mini Cadbury eggs inside the nest. We love it--it's a fluffy and delicious recipe from scratch, and it looks so pretty.

Here is our cake from last year...

The picture below is of our layers from this year. Impressive height, don't you think? Ha ha!

When they came out of the oven I was tempted to toss them all and start over. But, my 9 year old daughter was very proud of them!

She is slowly getting old enough to help more and more; and be more adventurous on her own. Yeah, they got totally over-mixed. I knew it and prayed as they went in the oven. But, they came out just as flat as I knew they would be.

But you know what, I don't think God wanted them to rise and be fluffy. I think he wanted this perfectionist mama to learn yet another lesson from my kids!

God reminded me that we don't just toss it because it's not perfection. He doesn't, and I'm so glad!

She had SO much fun in the kitchen with me. Listening to Disney Princess music, laughing, spilling flour all over the place, and mixing...mixing...mixing...that batter. She did most of it all by herself, she was so excited. It was HER best!

God just wants our best! So, He challenged me as I looked at those humble layers--Helen...take her best and be satisfied, be proud and encourage her to keep being her best self!

So, the next time we are tempted to expect others around to measure up to what "We Think" their best should be...remember the Easter Cake! Look at them, encourage them, praise their victories no matter how small they seem, and take their best...right where it's at!

So, we just added lots of cream cheese icing and strawberries, I let her do all the candy decor this year (Kit Kat with a pretty ribbon bow to hold it all together for the win) and celebrated her personal victory!