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Blessed by Breakfast: Blessings

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I have cooked all my life.

prepping for soup

prepping for soup

I know–you are thinking that I’m exaggerating but it is true.  I was the smallest and youngest kid in our Polish community–which made me the BEST at washing out the small mouth canning jars!  I would scrub out blackish green gunk that was stuck to the bottom and sides of the Mason and Kerr jars.  It was not the most romantic job on the farm but those big, round, women loved a clean jar and I felt like I was making a huge difference by the way they smiled as they inspected, then complimented my work.

measuring the apples for crockpot apple sauce

measuring the apples for crockpot apple sauce

So when I say I have cooked all my life, maybe I could amend that to; I have been around food preparation until it was my time to do the cooking which for me, turned into a creative outlet.  I still love how the texture of the inside of a pepper is so different than the inside or planting 8 different kinds of basil in my garden.

I enjoy cooking for my family meals and I especially enjoy eating together–the time after dinner when we are all talking and laughing about the days events or planning new memories.  I try to look at it as an opportunity to offer my family the gift of health.  I feel blessed to be able to have food and a place to cook it.  I don’t have the fanciest pots, pans and bakeware but I make due with what I have.  I will admit thanks to Sandy S. who when we were looking for a house said “I hope you get the kitchen your cooking deserves.” her words set the intention for my kitchen.  When we moved we found an awesome house–with a great kitchen!  I wish now that I could cook for Sandy again in this kitchen :-).

crockpot meatloaf--my most viewed recipe!

crockpot meatloaf–my most viewed recipe!

I feel blessed when my fridge is full.  I feel blessed when my pantry is full.  I feel blessed when I make a new, healthy breakfast–that tastes good.  I feel blessed that my kids have enough food to eat.  I am blessed to have clean water.

my favorite summer salad with basil, spinich, feta and fruit

my favorite summer salad with basil, spinich, feta and fruit

I know–again with the hyperbole and the gratitude about food . . . but I feel so strongly about my body being blessed by the food that I put into it . . . the first chapter of my book is:  Blessings.

My family went crazy over these muffins!

My family went crazy over these muffins!

We say grace in our house before each meal and I see the kids crossing themselves before snack.  We give thanks.  We have our traditional prayer of “Bless us oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive, through Christ our Lord.  Amen”   We also take time to pray for those in our lives–now we are praying for my friend Karen.  We lift them up as a blessing to us and give thanks for the gift of having them in our life.  This attitude towards breakfast, lunch and dinner becomes a vehicle for gratitude, grace, and blessings.  It feeds our soul not just our bodies.

the cabin kitchen--where the magic happens--this is the ENTIRE kitchen

the cabin kitchen–where the magic happens–this is the ENTIRE kitchen and yes that is MORE basil!

This is how it is now–we have evolved to this over many, many years of defining for ourselves what our family “looks like”.  I’m sure it will continue to evolve in joyful thanksgiving.

cookbook coming soon

The first chapter of my book:  Blessed by Breakfast will be about blessings, grace, and thanksgiving.  If you have a prayer that you would like to share–I would LOVE to hear it!  Please just put it in the comments below, so that we can learn from each other new ways to begin our meals with a blessing.

Be Blessed in your journey of breakfast, lunch and dinner–may your food nourish your body and spirit.

 

His Grace is Sufficient (Dana’s Day)

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You know the late-night phone call you’ve been dreading? We all have one (or more). Well, we got that call this week – at midnight. Several dropped calls, texts, and update calls, and 30 minutes later, I had taken the fastest shower known to mankind, packed a small bag of toiletries, grabbed the lunch box of healthy snacks our son had thoughtfully packed and my husband and I were on the road for a 3 hours car journey to the unknown.

danagracepost

The call wasn’t entirely unexpected, when viewed in the light of day. Just not wanted, nor thought to be imminent. That’s why my husband, who suffers from insomnia, had taken a tablet to help him sleep that night. That tablet is how I came to be the designated driver. Do you typically drive when your husband is in the car? Some women do. My husband prefers I don’t. I prefer I don’t.  He makes me nervous!  Anyway, we do what we have to do, right? So I drove. Armed with a large coffee and a packet of pretzel M&Ms, we set off. My husband almost instantly falls asleep and I instantly fall into a state of ceaseless prayer.

We arrived at our destination safely, with nary a yawn and not even one sleepy moment, at 3:30am. (You should stop now and have a moment of open praise and worship, then write it in your diary. It may never happen again.) We spent the next 24 hours with friends and family. No sleep to be had. We then headed back to our home. It was during that last 2 hours of the journey, when I was again driving so that my poor exhausted husband could sleep, that the phrase from the Bible, …”My grace is sufficient…” kept coming to mind. I had to look up the whole verse today.

II Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” KJV

I couldn’t have survived the past 36 hours without the grace and power of my Lord. His grace truly is sufficient.

Dana

Linking up I should be mopping the floor, Craftastic Party, motivation monday, create with joy, Busy Mondays, mindful mothering, and with Ann, The Better Mom, Rediscovering Domesticity, Titus 2 Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday, Titus (2)sdays, Gradituesdays, Heart and Home, Whatever Works Wednesday, Wisdom Wednesday, Show and Share Wednesday, Saturday Show and Share.

Taking the day off!

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Editorial Note:  I started to write this last weekend.  MLK Day came and went . . . we did take the day off and it was awesome.  I didn’t get my cards out yet but I did take some time to slow down and listen to my soul.

Today is MLK Day!  We will be taking the day off–no school, no errands, minimal cooking . . . it will be the Sunday that I didn’t have today.

I like to keep things on the simple side–but commitments creep in . . . all of a sudden I’m busier than someone with a REAL job!  I sit back and wonder how my calendar went from blank to filled in?  How did I let this happen?  Month after month . . .

January is almost gone, I’m just getting the Christmas decorations put away, my holiday cards will go out on Tuesday of this week (the first time in 4 years!), and my goal is to have a system for taking care of the bills that come in–keep, file, pitch . . .

My word for this year is intention.  I’ve written about it here and here.  I’m stopping.  I’m practicing being still (Psalm 46:10).  I want to look at my life with intention–look at my time, look at my relationships, figure out what I want my life to look like.  What do I want to BE.

I feel sort of lost . . . I moved out of my parents house when I was 17, following in the footsteps of my brothers.  I moved from the frying pan into the fire.  The next 10 years were spent in a weird survival mode and at the end I was still feeling lost and my life had little meaning.  Then I met a guy, got married, started having kids . . . still feeling lost–how can I be a good wife and mother?  Still not knowing who I was–I know what I did–living a cause and effect existence.  Now, 20 years later–I’m still scrambling to find my purpose.  My entire life has been in survival mode.  To merely survive is not my intention.  I want to thrive.  I want to feel alive–I want to feel passion!

I have been searching my soul, wondering why?  I think I may have made some progress . . .

I felt like I had nothing so I needed to fill it with something!

I filled my life with alcohol, made horrible choices in whom I spent my time with, found that Burger King will always be my friend, and if I kept stuff . . . a semi trailer of stuff!  that if I kept SOMETHING, than I wouldn’t have nothing.  (I think that breaks a grammar rule.) If I kept toxic people in my life that is better than being alone, when I was skinny people used me so if I’m fat maybe they won’t!

I don’t want to BE THAT person anymore.

How will I move this forward?  I can’t be the only one who has found themselves in a place that they would rather not be in.  I know what I need to do–but I don’t want to–it’s hard, painful and full of unresolved memories, heartache and conflict.  I need to take one disappointment at a time and make peace–forgive.

I must look at everything in my home and ask “does this add value to my life?”  I must look at every relationship and ask–“how does this serve my purpose?”  I must stop and know that I am loved in a healthy way . . . and now it is time for me to love me–in a healthy way.  Powerful questions to ask myself.

Does a Richard Scarry VHS video that is not longer available in any form worth saving?  Do I need all of my fabric?  What does it all mean–this hanging on, to stuff.

I’m not sure what it means but I know what it is doing–all the stuff–the bookshelves lined with books I’ll never read, recipes I’ll never make, patterns I’ll never knit . . . these things have kept me in the past.  In a place I once was or once hoped to be.  I’ve never lived in the now–I have spent my entire life waiting, to grow my hair, to be loved, to get married, to have kids . . . the list never ends.

I’m not sure if it is menopause or I’m just so tired of trying . . . trying to be someone else. Trying to make everyone happy.  Trying to find peace outside of myself–I’m looking out rather than looking in.  Maybe menopause is supposed to make us “pause” and reflect.

As I experience transformation in my life, in the lives of my kids, in the books I read to my kids–I now see it as a omnipresent element in growth–I see it in everything from the Bible to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . . . we are all destined to become something greater than where we are now.

Have you figured out your passion?  intention?  destiny?

Be Bless as we are gentle with ourselves . . . waiting for grace.

I’m linking up to Motivation Mondays, Mindful Mothering, The Better Mom,  Multitudes on Monday, Mercy Mondays, Titus Tuesdays, heart and home, God Sized Dreams.