Such wise words!

Proverbs 17:9 (NASB-U)
He who conceals a matter seeks love,
But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.

I was reminded again today how important our words ~ or lack of them ~ can be!

Yum!

I've never really posted recipes on my blog which is funny because I LOVE to cook!!! I made this recipe today for lunch and it is so yummy I decided it was worth putting in print!!! :O)



Buffalo Chicken Soup
6 servings
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes

Ingredients
1 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 lb. deli-roasted chicken, skinned, boned, and coarsely shredded
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup coarsely chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 14-oz. cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
1-1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. bottled hot pepper sauce
1-1/2 cups mozzarella cheese (6 oz.)
1-1/4 cups crumbled blue cheese (5 oz.)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (2 oz.)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour (I used sweet rice flour)
Bottled hot pepper sauce (optional)

Directions
1. In 4-quart Dutch oven melt butter over medium heat. Add celery and onion; cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in broth, milk, and the 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce.
2. In bowl toss together mozzarella, 1 cup of the blue cheese, Parmesan, and flour. Add gradually to soup, stirring after each addition just until melted. Stir in three-fourths of the shredded chicken; heat through. Top with remaining chicken, blue cheese, and hot sauce. Makes 6 servings

Note: I used Buffalo Chicken Sauce instead of straight hot sauce and used Ranch salad dressing in place of the milk!!

I have biscuits in the oven to go with it and am waiting anxiously til lunch when I can sit down with a big bowl!

Don't Settle...Papa Has More for You!!!

The guy pictured here is the epitomy of everything you don't want your husband or prospective husband to be! So much so that my friend, Jackie Kendall, wrote an awesome book called A Man Worth Waiting For: How to Avoid a Bozo. It is a great book and my daughter, Rachel and many of her friends have read it. Of course, that jacks it up for most of the guys around here because now all the girls are busy evaluating their male friends and coming up with only one things to say...Bozo!! (We do try to assure them that time and maturity work wonders in the hearts of these young men and that one day there just may be a be-fitting suitor in the group!)

I have a friend who works at my bank who I have been building a relationship with slowly during our check cashing or check depositing encounters. Her name is Lauren and she is a stunningly beautiful girl! One day Lauren shared with me that she had just broken up with her boyfriend. Her mom was excited because she had never liked the guy in the first place, but Lauren was having a hard time. The Lord began to lay Lauren on my heart at various times and I began interceding for her and asking the Lord to help her learn to be content with His love and not continue to be satisfied with counterfeit lovers of her heart.

As I continued in prayer for Lauren, I felt Papa nudge me to give her a copy of Jackie's book. I was a little hesitant because I only have an over-the-counter relationship with Lauren, but I have learned long ago to obey when you hear that still small voice. So I packaged the book up with a note and gave it to Lauren the next chance I had with the assurance that I was not a stalker-patron! ;O)

Last night I ran into to cash a check and Lauren motioned for me to come to the side. She began to share how the timing of me giving her the book was perfect and how, even though she is not a reader, she had been devouring it! She said she had gotten back with the old boyfriend recently and things were spiralling downward quickly. She said he was definitely a bozo and the book confirmed so much of what she had felt, but didn't know how to verbalize. Lauren, through tear-filled eyes, shared how she had been crying for days and how the Lord had used the book to help give her the courage she needed to cut her bozo loose!

We hugged the best we could over the altar/bank counter that separated us and I assured Lauren I would continue to pray for her. I fairly danced out of the store and began to throw my arms in the air in praise as soon as I caught a glimpse of Rachel waiting for me in the car. She was slightly perplexed, but quickly rejoiced with me when I explained how Papa was putting the pieces together in Lauren's life.

Aside from rejoicing in the work that is going on in my young friend's heart, and being thankful beyond words to my Jackie for writing a book that is touching so many vulnerable hearts, I was thrilled that Papa had confirmed yet again that it was His voice I had heard and He had honored my obedience in stepping out! His word will never return void and His assignments will never be without the promise of future fruit! We may not always have opportunity to witness the fruit first-hand, but He always has a purpose in His requests of us!

So now I am waiting and praying to see what Papa does in sweet Lauren's heart! Won't you join me?

There they go...

Our 3 big kids are getting ready to start basketball and, unfortunately, have outgrown their basketball shoes from last year. Tim was going to take them on a trip to Dick's Sporting Goods and decided to take the 2 little ones as well so I could have a couple of rare hours at home by myself. Since this almost never happens, I was thrilled!

So they loaded up and were pulling out when I was hit with the words to a song by Kenney Chesney that go like this ~

There goes my life.
There goes my future, my everything.

It's true! Apart from my relationship with my Lord, they are the reason I get up in the morning and meet each day with expectancy! Those 6 people are my life!

So, I am off to workout during my me-time while asking the Lord to PLEASE keep those special people safe until we are all back home together!

Beauty in the Mundane!

Mundane ~ relating to the commonplace: ordinary...

Translated ~ laundry, cleaning, making beds, cooking...the list goes on!!!

We have had a crazy last 2 weeks! We have been in full birthday mode for so long that mundane is welcome! I find myself rejoicing today in the mundane...finding beauty in the smell of freshly laundered towels, a tidy bedroom, the sound of my washing machine and dryer doing their stuff, a home-cooked meal...

I just let out a deep sigh and realized that there is much contentedness in the mundane! Prov. 31:18 in The Message says, "She senses the worth of her work." I am convinced that is the root of it all! If there is not great worth in the mundane, then the extraordinary becomes the standard and who can maintain that for very long without growing exhausted!

Thank you, Lord, for the mundane that brings such joy!!! For in celebrating the routines of life, we can rest in the knowledge that godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. (1 Tim 6:6)

Living the Dream!!

I really am "living the dream". Not the American dream which is tanking fast, but MY dream...the one that was birthed in me so many years ago!!!

As a little girl, I am sure I had many aspirations and more than one future occupation! The one that always seemed to rise to the surface more frequently than all the rest, though, was the one that had me being a wife and a Mama! On December 1, 1990 my dream began its journey to fruition when I became Mrs. Tim Cash! Aaahhh...what a way to start!

Now some have said we started our family quickly, but when we're talking about waiting to fulfill a dream, the next 22 months seemed to take a lifetime. It happened, though! On October 11, 1992, as I held that perfect little bundle of pink close and stared into her eyes, the waves of a dream-come-true crashed over me and I wept with joy! I was living my dream and it was more wonderful than I could ever have imagined!

The last 16 years have added three brothers and a sister and the dream has gotten better and better! I wouldn't trade being a wife and a Mama for anything in the world! For me, no job, no fortune, no public or professional recognition could ever replace what being a Mama means to me.

So thank you, Rachel, for helping make my past dreams become my present joy and spur me on with renewed hope for the future! You have brought more joy to me than I deserve and have been the kind of daughter most people can only dream of! I love you, baby girl, and am so very proud of you!

Love you,

Mama

A perfect Mama moment!!!

Caleb ONLY wears boxers around the house. We can come in the house and within 30 seconds he has stripped down. It makes for lots of soft skin to rub, though, so secretly I like it!

A few minutes ago he crawled up beside me on the bed and snuggled. I rubbed his bare belly and kissed his cheek! Now this is where it gets good! He sighed and said, "Mama, you just make everything better! How do you do that?"

Gulp!

Love, baby boy...love! XO

My longing fulfilled!

A few months back, Tim and I had a night away at a B&B! It was in a lovely old house in Madison, GA with a screened-in porch on the back. On the porch was an old iron bed and it was heavenly to lay out there and listen to the rain and the crickets. I could picture a bed just like that on my beloved screened-in back porch, but I also know a bed like that is not cheap! A girl can hope, though, can't she?

Well, I did keep an eye out for a bed that would work, but never found anything quite right in my price range...virtually free! ;O) I was at peace that I may never have a bed like that on my back porch, but there was a tiny shred of hope hiding in the back of my heart!

Well, last weekend my very dear friend, Sheri, was having a yard sale. I drove in her driveway, parked in the yard and had no sooner gotten out of the car than I spied it! I am sure there was a heavenly spotlight on it and I imagine the sound I heard faintly in the distance was a choir of angels. It was beautiful, it was white and it was definitely in my price range! I pounced on it and immediately tore off the price tag. I told Sheri it was sold and I was thrilled! Sheri,being the amazing friend she is, would not let me pay for it! (I'll return the favour one day!)

So we disassembled the bed and put it in my car. A couple of days later I found a very nice used box springs and mattress for $50. Sheri's son and our other friend brought me the mattress in their truck and I already had the perfect linens to use on it! I got all this done before Tim got back from Arizona so I could surprise him.

So here is Papa's gift to me...just because! Not because I deserve it, not because I even needed it, but just because he desires to give good gifts...longed for gifts...to His kids!! Isn't it pretty?! :O)

She's 6!

6 years ago today Hannah Joy Cash entered this world with a bang!! She decided midwives were over-rated and Daddy was the only one she needed to catch her!! We should have know then that the Lord was letting us know we needed to buckle our seatbelts because life with Hannah would be an adventure!

Hannah has been just what her name implies...a joy! She is sweet, bossy, funny, smart, motivated and a VERY prissy girl! She loves all things glittery and pink and she embraces life with lots of passion!

We are so thankful the Lord saw fit to entrust us with this treasure wrapped in a little blonde fireball!

Love you, baby girl!! XXOO