True Happiness

"God cares more about your obedience than your happiness" Warren Wiersbe

A lot of people say God just wants us to be happy. He does of course but it's not His priority for our life.I think He expects us to attain it through a different route than is commonly thought. True happiness and peace is the result of being in fellowship with Him. So I guess that means our obedience is His main concern since we can't achieve (true) happiness without it. After all, would you be experiencing the true meaning of happiness if you hadn't obeyed His call to repentance? And that was only the beginning of the "obedience = happiness" blessings.

I remember this song being popular back when I first became a follower of Christ, and I still love the words, maybe if just for the sake of reminiscing.

37 - And Counting

For my Steve - always in my corner, assuring me that you'll be here no matter what. Thanks for being my #1 fan, my comforter, encourager, buffer, my leader and "hang-out" buddy - and just whatever I need for whatever I/we are going through. You've made me your #1 fan, too! Another happy anniversary Honey.



And of course I have to add OUR song.
I guess we relate to this so much because being immature (and against counsel not to), we got married after only knowing each other for 4 1/2 months. I'm sure people thought we wouldn't last, statistics really are against it so we are against doing what we did, except for some situations. Shouldn't that be our view for all our mistakes? But in spite of ourselves, with determination and with the Lord's grace, for His own reason He kept us together.

God Has Blessed Our Love

As with many couples there's been a few times that we haven't always thought that we were there for each other, who hasn't had those rough waters, but when the fog clears it proves if we really are still willing to be there, and still willing learn how to hang on through God's grace.
His mercy has been the only thing that has kept us as the only ones for each other ever since we were 18 (37yrs). Never throwing in the towel on each other is indeed difficult without the help He has for some reason bestowed on us, and is a whole lot to be humbly thankful for. Having a life partner who is also a soul mate is no small blessing. We spent a lot of years figuring out compromises and tolerating quirks to make it work, so thanks for staying the course with me Steve, and thank you Lord for the gift of our marriage.




I like thinking about all the good stuff.


THE GOOD STUFF
Well, me and my lady had our first big fight So I drove around till I saw the neon light
The corner bar. it just seemed right so I pulled up.
Not a soul around but the old bar keep down at the end lookin' half asleep
But he walked up and said, what'll it be? I said the good stuff.
He didn't reach around for the whiskey. he didn't pour me a beer.
His blue eyes kinda went misty. He said you can't find that here.
[Chorus]
'Cause its the first long kiss on a second date, Momma's all worried when you get home late
And droppin' the ring in the spaghetti plate 'cause you're hands are shakin' so much
And its the way that she looks with her eyes and her hair.
Eatin' burnt suppers the whole first year and askin' for seconds to keep her from tearin' up
Yeah man that's the good stuff.

He grabbed a carton of milk and he poured a glass, I smiled and said I'll have some of that.
We sat there and talked as the hour passed like old friends.
I saw a black and white picture and it caught my stare. It was a pretty girl with bu-font hair
He said that's my Bonnie, taken 'bout a year after we wed.
He said I spent five years in the bar when the cancer took her from me.
But I've been sober three years now 'cause the one things stronger than the whiskey
Was the sight of her holdin' my baby girl
The way she adored that string of pearls I gave her the day that our youngest boy Earl married his high school love.
Its a new t-shirt sayin' I'm a grandpa, bein' right there as our time got small
And holdin' her hand when good lord called her up
Yeah man that's the good stuff.

He said, when you get home she'll start to cry.  When she says, I'm sorry, say so am I.
Look into those eyes so deep in love and drink it up 'cause that's the good stuff.

Eating / Testing Snow

I got a snow ice cream recipe from Sharleen, right when I was about to look into if it is okay to eat snow, in large quantities that is.

We all probably ate snow as a child (and a lot worse things than that) and were told to watch out for the yellow stuff. nowadays there is more pollution in the air but it is still fun to catch the flakes on your tongue or even grab a handful to melt in your mouth.

Most sites I visited said just be careful if you live around large cities or industrial sights. We live near the bottom curve of Lake Michigan, outside Chicago and a few nearby steel mills. So I tested the snow according to instructions on one site.

Fill a large bowl with freshly fallen snow, let melt, strain though a coffee filter fitted over a glass.
If you can't see any debris on the filter, check with a magnifying glass. In my case I could clearly some see tiny dark, and lighter, specs.
It may not be a good idea for folks in my area to eat more than small amounts of fresh snow at a time. But you can make your own judgement. After all, our immune system takes care of some amount of pollution every day, in our foods & water, breathing, etc... The FDA allows a certain amount of rat droppings/hair, as well as other items to be in our food when tested because they cannot keep it all out of our food supply, so I don't think a little pollution is any worse. I once watched a medical show describing all the yucky stuff we live with every second of every day, yet we have no idea because our immune system either gets rid of it or helps our body accommodate it. We need to be exposed to a certain amount of it in order to build resistance. Depending on your age, health, the amount of pollution in your area and your portion size, it's up to you. I think I will make the snow ice cream recipe as a fun thing to do. There are recipes all over the internet.

SNOW ICE CREAM made with fresh milk
1 gallon fresh clean snow
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups milk

When it starts to snow, place a large, clean bowl outside to collect the flakes. When full, stir in sugar and vanilla to taste, then stir in just enough milk for the desired consistency. Serve at once. Serves 4.

SNOW ICE CREAM made with evaporated milk
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1 gallon fresh clean snow.  - Slowly combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl until smooth. Gradually stir in snow until mixture reaches desired consistency. Serve at once.

Homemade Bread

Butter sandwiches for lunch.
That's like a ham sandwich without the ham.


Deliverance gave us some yummy wheat bread she made with crunchy bits of millet all through (it made the house smell heavenly).

I decided to make sandwiches for lunch so I could have 2 slices. Then I thought, "forget the meat, it might take away from the bread".

Stevie, my bread-lover, was happy to discover the warm "butter sandwiches" I invented, open face, with a cup of hot chocolate.