Turning on the light

Have you ever been sitting in your bedroom with the lights out and then someone comes in and flips on the lights?  You get that "AHHHHHH I'm blind! Oh the pain!!" feeling for about 10 seconds.  Normally you try to hide your eyes or duck back under the covers or scream at the child/husband who did it :-).

This past week I was sitting around and began to think about that concept and churches.  How the lost world is the dark room or darkness and we are the light (Matthew 5:14).
You can walk into a dark room and just flip on a light and it will accomplish the task of dispelling the darkness. But, it might just make people hide under the covers or run away.  And it will probably tick them off in the process.

Or....

You could slowly turned on the light, with love, compassion, and patience, waiting for their eyes to adjust.  Exposing them to truth at a pace that they can handle as the Holy Spirit moves in their lives and changes their heart.
What if, when you slowly turned on the light they knew, that you loved them and because of the relationship you had built with them, and that was the reason that you were doing things differently? What if the pace that you turned on the light allowed them to see God in a new way..... in a new light?

The message of the gospel does not change just the approach.


~Just a thought~
~LL

This meal is a family favorite.  Pay no attention to the name "Holiday Spaghetti" because this dish is great year round.  It is a super easy meal.  This is also a favorite of mine when I need to take a meal to someone. I just double the recipe, keep one for my family and take the other.  It freezes well too :-)

PREHEAT over 375

1 cup minced onions

1 lb. hamburger

2 tsp. salt

4 Tbls. sugar

3 1/2 cups stewed tomatoes 

1 can tomato soup

1 lb. spaghetti noodle, cooked and drained

Brown hamburger and onions.  Add salt,sugar,tomatoes,and soup.  Mix well. Add to the noodles and mix well. Bake in casserole dish sprayed with Pam for 25 min.

Helpful Hints:

~You can make with macaroni noodles

~When making casseroles or soups I use bagged frozen onions. They let you skip a long tearful step :-)

~Buy hamburger in bulk.  Brown all of it and then freeze it in 1-2lb portions.  Thaws in no time!  Great for quick meals like spaghetti, tacos,sloppy joes etc.  

~LL

A little change

When my husband and I got married we received one gift that stands out to me as a favorite.  It was a cookbook.  I love cook books!  I check them out at the library, buy them, read them online.  All the while dreaming of a life where I could cook GOOD.  But let's face it, I am no Gordon Ramsey.  I may act like him sometimes in the kitchen but I certainly do NOT cook like him.  That is why my favorite cookbooks are the ones full of normal food.  Full of food that anyone can cook at anytime.  Full of ingredients that I actually have in my cabinets.  The cookbook that we received when we got married was given to us by my mother-in-law.  It is a cookbook that is handwritten full of family favorite recipes. What better way to start off a marriage than to have all of your new husbands family favorite recipes.  This cook book is still (11 years later) my favorite.

One day a little while back, one of the girls said, "Mom, when I go away to collage will you make me one of those cookbooks full of OUR family favorites."  Choking back the tears, I smiled and said,"of course".  (Sniff Sniff it is closer than I want to admit)

So I wanted to add a new element to my blog.....Family Favorite Recipes.  I wanted to start posting the different recipes that we use and love so that I can eventually pass them on. Hopefully it will be fun and a  great new way to share a little piece of me.

~LL

Mother's Day

I couldn't think of a better place to share this Mother's Day picture movie than here.  We made this for the 3 Mother's that we have in our lives.  These 3 women (more affectionately known as Nana, Milla, and ZuZu) are not only amazing Grandmothers/Mothers but amazing women as well. It is am honor to have them in our lives and it is an honor to call them all Mom.

Nana, Milla, ZuZu,

We love you!  And we are so thankful that God allowed us to be in each one of your lives.

Happy Mother's Day