4 Down 6 to Go

No time to post much other than a photo these days. But, I wanted to show you what I'm making the grandones for Christmas. I'm making corn bags! Their mom can heat them for one minute in the microwave and they can take them to bed to be warm and cozy as they drift off to sleep. They will love it!

When they were really little I used to put a 2 liter bottle of warm water in bed with them. We stopped doing that when they became old enough to take the lid off! Ah, yes! They are grand!

 Well, now 4 down and 6 to go! I really like the camo one. I better get busy.  I can't share on my Facebook because a couple of my grandones are also my "friends".  :)

What Do You See?

When I look at these vegetables I see salsa, jalepeno jelly, tomato sandwiches and cucumber salad. I might work on some jelly and cucumber salad tomorrow night when I get home from work. I don't want anything to go to waste!

Barn-Raising Chili Sauce

My grandmother, Tessie, used to make the BEST EVER chili sauce.  We had it at almost every meal we ate at her house. It was something that was served on the side with meat. Mainly it was served with a Sunday roast.  We loved it!  Tessie kept all of her recipe's in her head....at least I don't know of any that were written down. It was a dash of this and a pinch of that. Her house always smelled like wonderful food! 

We loved going down in the basement with her on a hot summer day. It was so cool down there compared to outside. We often played and watched her canning jars and jars of jelly and chili sauce....and probably lots of other things that are lost to my memory.  While I loved the basement, it was always hard for me to go down there because of the steps. They were old wooden steps with no back on the risers. The only way I could go down was to scoot on my bottom.  To this day, at age fifty-six, I am still afraid of steps without a back on them. I am always tempted to sit down and slide on my bottom. Now, wouldn't that be a sight?!

I don't think anyone has Tessie's recipe for chili sauce. But, my sister Rene' found one that tastes very similar - it's called Barn-Raising Chili Sauce. I plan to can some of it any day now when our tomatoes are ready. I thought you might like the recipe too. This is an easy recipe and can be made a batch at a time and just kept in the fridge. I've even made it using Rotel instead of canned tomatoes and the green pepper....it was WONDERFUL....but we like spicy food.  This can be used in many different ways.... but my favorite is to put it on meat. It makes me think of Tessie.

Barn-Raising Chili Sauce

1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes with juice (I will be using fresh tomatoes from our garden)

1 med. onion - chopped

1 green pepper - chopped

1/2 C. sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 C. vinegar

Mix all ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Cover and cook over low heat for two hours or until thickened. Refrigerate to store. Makes 1 pint. Serve hot or cold. Good over beef, pork or even chili rellenos.

I was looking for a photo of a barn to post with this....and thought of this one.  Pat painted it (paint-by-number) on our honeymoon back in 1972.  I painted one too and will post it closer to our anniversary in August.  It's a funny story you will love.We had a fun beginning.....and it's been a very happy life. I thank God for His blessings.

The Church

For about ten months in 2010, my husband was interim pastor at a church in Joplin. It was a great little place with kind, generous people who had been through a hard time of it. Attendance was way down, with a good portion of the membership leaving for one thing or another. Down far enough to wonder if the doors should be locked up and the building sold.  But, in one last ditch effort to keep the church going, my husband's aunt called to see if he would consider pastoring the church. There's no way we could have said no to Aunt Ersie. She was crying.

So, we were there on Sundays and Wednesdays, preaching the Word and offering what encouragement we could. Last October we thought we had found a permanent pastor for them.  He seemed perfect, exactly what they needed to get the church going in full swing. But, after an unforseen conflict and squabble about money, he was out of there within two weeks of arriving - purely his own doing. Pat offered to come help if they needed him, but they were able to find someone who lived close by and he filled in until they called another pastor.  I don't know how long this new pastor was there. Possibly only a month or two.  And, I don't know what happened, but he suddenly resigned Sunday morning, May 22nd during morning worship.

Sunday evening, May 22nd, while a few people gathered before evening worship, this happened....



(I wonder if these two guys know they are sitting in my pew??)

Last night we got a call.  It was Aunt Ersie. She called to ask if Pat would come help the church again. 

She was crying.

We'll be there Sunday. It would seem that my husband will be pastoring a pile of rubble. But, the church stands strong - because if you remember, our God is a ROCK. And, the church is people. Not a building.

Our God is a ROCK

Even before the tornado struck our beloved community of Joplin, there was plenty of heartache to go around.  Perhaps you noticed it yourself, long before the now infamous Sunday evening disaster.

Heartache is the way of life - it is no respecter of persons.  No matter your age, gender, nationality or religious affiliation, heartache finds all of us at some point in time.

In weeks prior to the tornado, I knew of someone who was going through a tremendous time of trial and heartache. The load was brutal and it seemed each day brought more pain, more tumultuous circumstances than any human could possibly bear.  While this family seemed struck down, they were not struck out.  Their hearts were broken, their arms were weak and their knees were feeble, but their God was strong in them. Because, He is a ROCK. It was only because the strong arm of the Lord lifted them UP above the fray that they were able to see with eyes of faith.

And, so it is with some of us. The news weighs heavy as the death count goes up. Each morning brings a new mourning as the numbers become names and faces of people we love, and know, and work with, and live with. We grieve over our beloved citizens whose lives just seemed to blow away with the wind. Here one minute. Gone the next.

Our hearts are broken to sure! Our arms are weak, and our knees so feeble we can barely stand. But, our God is a ROCK.  And, just as the psalmist wrote in Psalm 61:2, we join him in crying out, “From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” And, so it is that we are able to see with eyes of faith.  We see that despite our unbearable heartache, our God is FAITHFUL.

When my friends went from one heartache, to the next, they began singing this song with a strong voice, changing the words only slightly to fit their brutal reality:

“Great is Thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness,
Mourning by mourning new mercies I see:
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!”

Thomas O. Chisolm & William M. Runyan –
“Great is Thy Faithfulness” 1923

Some day in the distant future, our mornings will come more frequently than our mournings.  Through it all, our God will still be faithful.  Because, He is a ROCK. And I thank Him, that He is higher than I, as He lifts me up with His strong arm.

I’m praying for you, dear Friends. Trust God.