I often seek peacefulness in my surroundings; quiet, candlelit solitary times which revive me physically and mentally. Some people say that the way to tell if you are an introvert or an extrovert is how you feel around lots of people; an introvert may genuinely enjoy people but is revitalized by being alone but an extrovert is energized by lots of company.
I am an introvert. Even after many years of practicing hospitality, having and raising many children and, in short, mingling with quite a number of human beings, I still find myself seeking that oh-so-important time alone. I love it! But I struggle with feeling like there is something wrong with me because I am still "this way" after all these years. Somehow, I think I should be more "broken in" and relaxed about noise and chaos and crowds by now! What is my problem?
After "contemplating" this (versus finding someone to talk to about it :), I realize that I am created this way for a purpose. God has made everyone different and this, too, is His will and plan. Although I must battle the natural inclination to be selfish with my time God made me like this and He said, "It is good"! And I find great peace in knowing that.
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Encouraging Christian women to live in such a way today that their influence will be known for generations to come.
About Me
- Jill
- Christian, married to my hubby Doug for 25 years, proud mother of eight amazing children ages 22 to 2.
"The finest of all the fine arts is the art of doing good and yet it is the least cultivated."
T. Dewitt Talmage
T. Dewitt Talmage
Books I like to Reread
- Woman Power by Dr. Laura Schlessinger
- The Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schlessinger
- Tha Narnia books by C.S. Lewis
- Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey
- Created to Be His Helpmeet by Debi Pearl
- The Schwarzbein Principle by Diana Schwarzbein M.D.
- The Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
- The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian
When Mother Reads Aloud from Favorite Poems Old and New edited by Helen Ferris
When mother reads aloud, the past
Seems real as every day;
I hear the tramp of armies vast,
I see the spears and lances cast,
I join the trilling fray;
Brave knights and ladies fair and proud,
I meet when mother reads aloud.
When mother reads aloud, far lands
Seem very near and true;
I cross the deserts gleaming sands,
Or hunt the jungle's prowling bands,
Or sail the ocean blue.
Far heights, whose peaks the cold mists shroud,
I scale, when mother reads aloud.
When mother reads aloud, I long
For noble deeds to do-
To help the right, redress the wrong;
It seems so easy to be strong,
So simple to be true.
Oh, thick and fast the visions crowd
My eyes, when mother reads aloud.
Seems real as every day;
I hear the tramp of armies vast,
I see the spears and lances cast,
I join the trilling fray;
Brave knights and ladies fair and proud,
I meet when mother reads aloud.
When mother reads aloud, far lands
Seem very near and true;
I cross the deserts gleaming sands,
Or hunt the jungle's prowling bands,
Or sail the ocean blue.
Far heights, whose peaks the cold mists shroud,
I scale, when mother reads aloud.
When mother reads aloud, I long
For noble deeds to do-
To help the right, redress the wrong;
It seems so easy to be strong,
So simple to be true.
Oh, thick and fast the visions crowd
My eyes, when mother reads aloud.
MIRTH
Mirth is God's medicine. Everybody ought to bathe in it. Grim care, moroseness, anxiety-all this rust of life ought to be scoured off by the oil of mirth. It is better than emery. Every man ought to rub himself with it. A man without mirth is like a wagon without springs, in which everyone is caused disagreeably to jolt by every pebble over which it runs.
Henry Ward Beecher
Henry Ward Beecher
Easiest Lucious Coconut Cake Recipe
(Disclaimer-I rarely saw a cake mix box in my home growing up and I tend to sneer a little at using one now. This recipe, however, has become the delightful exception because it is best with a light boxed-mix cake.
I found this recipe while scanning cookbooks in a bookstore. It was so easy I didn't have to write it down which was a good thing because I wasn't carrying a pen and paper. It is from The Cake Doctor cookbook which uses only cake mixes in their recipes.
Anyway, this one has become a favorite-not just because it is moist and light and coconutty but also because it is at it's very best if it is made ahead and allowed to chill for a day or two.
We served it with fresh pineapple slices on the side this past Sunday and it was fabulous!-Enjoy!)
Ingredients:
1 White or yellow cake mix
Icing:
2 Cups white (granulated) sugar
2 Cups Sour Cream
2-4 Cups flaked Coconut
Before baking the cake mix the 2 cups granulated sugar with the Sour cream. Stir thoroughly-chill for at least 30 minutes so that all the sugar will be dissolved in the Sour Cream. It will also thicken slightly. After 30 minutes-stir in the coconut and chill again until the cake is baked.
Bake cake (this is wonderful for a layer cake so I always do two or more layers). Cool.
Spread icing/frosting on cake and between layers. Be generous! This is a gloppy frosting and very moist.
Once the cake is frosted it should be chilled until eaten for a minimum of 24 hours. We have never been able to wait longer than that. The moist frosting permeates the cake and transforms it into a delectable treat.
I love to prepare this cake prior to Sunday dinner (a day or so before) and put it on my glass cake pedestal, covered. Since it is wintery cold outside I keep it in the garage to save space in the fridge. I don't see why this cake wouldn't freeze well too.
Yummy!
I found this recipe while scanning cookbooks in a bookstore. It was so easy I didn't have to write it down which was a good thing because I wasn't carrying a pen and paper. It is from The Cake Doctor cookbook which uses only cake mixes in their recipes.
Anyway, this one has become a favorite-not just because it is moist and light and coconutty but also because it is at it's very best if it is made ahead and allowed to chill for a day or two.
We served it with fresh pineapple slices on the side this past Sunday and it was fabulous!-Enjoy!)
Ingredients:
1 White or yellow cake mix
Icing:
2 Cups white (granulated) sugar
2 Cups Sour Cream
2-4 Cups flaked Coconut
Before baking the cake mix the 2 cups granulated sugar with the Sour cream. Stir thoroughly-chill for at least 30 minutes so that all the sugar will be dissolved in the Sour Cream. It will also thicken slightly. After 30 minutes-stir in the coconut and chill again until the cake is baked.
Bake cake (this is wonderful for a layer cake so I always do two or more layers). Cool.
Spread icing/frosting on cake and between layers. Be generous! This is a gloppy frosting and very moist.
Once the cake is frosted it should be chilled until eaten for a minimum of 24 hours. We have never been able to wait longer than that. The moist frosting permeates the cake and transforms it into a delectable treat.
I love to prepare this cake prior to Sunday dinner (a day or so before) and put it on my glass cake pedestal, covered. Since it is wintery cold outside I keep it in the garage to save space in the fridge. I don't see why this cake wouldn't freeze well too.
Yummy!
I'm Thankful for...
- My two and a half year old who loves to cuddle
- Lavender hand lotion
- My husband who works hard to provide for us
- Giving thanks to the Triune God and knowing He hears, loves and rejoices over us
- older children who insist on doing our Thanksgiving meal "the way we've always done it"
- candles to light on a dark evening
- capable children who help do the piles of laundry!
- piles of laundry reminding me of how many children I'm blessed with!
- clean sheets on a freshly made bed
- snow!
- the smell of biscuits baking made by my fourteen year old daughter
- crackling fires to sit near
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