Stop, have a break…. have a cup of tea

Woman, you’re up before the sun appears,
Chin up, you know you’re blessed.
You raise your hands, you cast your cares
To Him, who knows what’s best.

You begin in the kitchen,
Then scurry to the garden
Then you load some in the washer
And spin ‘em in the dryer.

You work your hands
And scrub some pans
You hustle and bustle
Oh, what trouble!

Stop, have a break
Heaven knows, you can’t do much
Drop everything
Or you will crash.

So bring out the best china
And sit in your “butaca”
Open a book and read some stories
While munching sugar cookies!

Recommended books: http://users.churchserve.com/pa/obadiahministries/teatime.jpg
http://www.sheppro.com/images/bookcover_tea_moms.jpg

Recommended cookies: Sugar Cookies available at SM groceries. (Tita Myrna, thank you for the lemon sugar cookies.... from Denmark! )

Health benefits of green tea: http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa011400a.htm

Daisy's Daily Assignments

My husband and I require our children to do chores around the house. With my kids, getting children to do chores regularly and completely can be a problem.

It is a good idea for us parents to teach our children at an early age that all family members must work together to make the household run, and that each person must do his or her share of the work load.
Chores are beneficial for children - even very young ones. Being responsible for doing chores teaches children many important skills such as cooperation and responsibility. Chores also teach children about fairness and commitment. The skills and values learned by doing chores will benefit children throughout their lives.

For the love of Quilting

My quilting days are going
From all the days of sewing.
All my squares, blocks and patches
And all my pretty stashes
All moving and going
From all days of sewing.
My quilting hoop,
For almost 20 years of trusty service
My quilting magazines and books
My needles, shiny threads
Roller cutters and special scissors.
My bestfriend thimble,
I recall, my fingers nimble
on tiny stitches bind three layers
On quilt tops and coasters.
My quilts, they all have a story
From my eldest son down to my youngest girl
Each one has one.
Many hours were spent, many gifts were sent
All labored with love
For that is what they’re meant
To give warmth, on chilly nights
To hug one dear very tight.
All little bits of fabric
Sewn into a beautiful, cozy blanket.
All sewn into a quilt
Where all memories are built.
I remember I gave one to a couple
And another wall hang to a dear friend
Oftentimes they are such blessings
Far better than material things!
I made all patterns of blocks and applique
Trapunto and Bonnet Sue.
But now, I’ll give them a rest
And put some precious ones in my treasure chest.
Of hues of green and baby pink
Oh I will forever think
That someday, when I’m old and gray,
Quilting was one that made my day!

"Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber". Proverbs 31:19

Beef Stew

Beef Stew... Aaahhh. The thought of it makes my mouth water. This was a sought-after, reinvented recipe from my foster mom, Janet Crouch, some 24 years ago in Hoopeston, Illinois. This one works well if you're a busy mom. Just invest in one of those crock pots (slow cookers) with a ceramic base. Dump in all the ingredients before going to work and forget about it. Then for lunch, your home will be saturated with the sweet aroma of sumpteous, homemade stew!

1 kilo lean beef cutlets (preferably from the femur or the tibia part)
4 pcs chorizo bilbao (from a can of purefoods bilbao or Spanish sausages) cut into diagonal slices

1 pack of chopsuey mix (composed of ready made cuts of carrots, cauliflower, cabbages,sayote, etc)
2 large bulbs of white sweet onion, peeled and cut quarterly
1 med pack ginisa flavor mix
1 tsp. Chili powder
freshly cracked pepper
A handful of cherry tomatoes
A handful of cherry potatoes (unpeeled and cleaned well), cut in halves

a can of button mushrooms, drained and sliced thinly

4 cups Water
1 tbsp. butter

If using a slow cooker:
Arrange the meat at the bottom of large slowcooker, followed by the chorizos/sausages, the cherry potatoes, then lay over the rest of the chopsuey mix then the onions, then tomatoes last. Crack a handful amount of pepper and ginisa flavor mix on top of the casserole. Pour in the water and pop in the butter. Turn on the slowcooker for a minimum of 6 hours on low heat or 3 to 4 hours on high heat. Do not touch until cooked. Serve immediately.

If using a pressure cooker:
Tenderize the meat first with 3 cups water (or more) for 30 to 45 minutes using the pressure cooker. After 30 minutes, exhaust and open the pressure cooker and check if meat is tender. Proceed with cooking the stew on the same pot. Do not take out the tenderized beef. Pour in the rest of the ingredients mentioned above until vegetables become tender for about 20 minutes. Avoid turning or tossing the vegetables while cooking.

Serve hot with crackers, buttered toast or rice . Good for 4 hungry people. Approximate cost Php. 600

She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day’s work for her servant girls. Proverbs 31:15

Everyday, I See Your Glory

written October 27, 2007
desert experience

picture taken at Sipalay, May 2007

I see Your glory
in my children’s eyes
in chirps of birds
sing lullabies.
I see Your glory
beyond the skies
in all my days
I sing You praise!
I see Your glory
at flowing streams
in answered prayers
and in my dreams.

I see Your glory

in the rain

or in a bible story

indeed You reign!
I see Your glory
when tears deploy
rejoicing comes
my heart enjoys!
I see Your glory
when flowers bloom -
The air is bathe
in perfume.
I see Your glory
at sunset bay
the horizon
resplendence display.
I see Your glory
in my hand
it traces the future
for all is planned.
I see Your glory
on the cross
You have redeemed
What was lost.

I see Your glory

at resurrection

may I walk

my life's reflection.

I see Your glory

in my heart

all the love

that You impart.

I see Your glory

everyday

may You be pleased

as I obey.

Jed on Scooter

Meet Jed, my son who just learned to ride Pop's scooter. With him is Daisy with her bike.

The right way to peel Castañas

It’s only October and I can smell Christmas in the air! Christmas is not Christmas without Poinsettias, ham, queso de bola, lechon…. and castanas!
Castañas (or chestnuts) is a favorite of my family. We buy them cooked from grocery stores so we don’t have to roast them. Chestnuts are very high in starch. Most people will only eat a few at a sitting but my family just can’t stop once we get started.
However, through the years, I have found a way to peel them without much hassle. Here’s how:

1. Quickly strike each nut with a mallet. Your goal here is to create a small slit across the rounded side of your chestnut. Beware, unsliced chestnuts can explode causing not only a safety hazard but a big mess to boot! (Tita Nena, thank you for the tip).
2. Toast cooked castañas in the oven for 5 minutes or 3 minutes in the toaster
3. Spread into a basket lined with a towel
4. When peeling without the use of a mallet, simply pop the nut with the fat side facing you (see picture). It should be no trouble if your nuts are fresh and newly toasted
5. Be sure to peel away the outer shell and the inner brown skin before eating your chestnuts.
6. Serve roasted chestnuts while still warm for best taste.
7. Remember to always store unused fresh, cooked, and/or roasted chestnuts in the refrigerator

While you are at it, here's Nat to sing you the Christmas song.... Enjoy!

My daughter's encouragement

My daughter's short love note... after I was discouraged about my exams.

A letter to my siblings

On the horizon....His grace abound!

September 2007

So you have heard the news? Yes, my major setback over 3 weeks ago, by God's grace, I survived! The thought of me not passing the local nursing boards was a big disappointed. I almost gave up. Doubt and shame besieged me and could not believe that I failed. "I worked so hard for this!", I said to myself. I also started to compare myself with people I know who were not serious with nursing, yet passed the board without sweating for it! This reality shattered me to pieces. At some point, I stopped analyzing the scenario but questions continued to bombard my thoughts. I asked God all sorts of questions, big ones. "Is this the end of the road for me?" I was hopeless, depressed and deeply discouraged.
I had to go....very far from here. I meant to seek for answers for I was overwhelmed with questions. This was not only a major set-back, but I was faced with a battle head-on. With a bleeding heart, I threw in a couple of blouses, a swimsuit, my bible, the "Promised Land" book, my journal and pen on a long 5 hour bus journey to Dumaguete. Six days of retreat and isolation, I likened myself as that of the Israelites in Eqypt. God impressed in my heart that I was "enslaving" myself to hard work, not realizing that I was putting off God's will and plan for my life. I was planning for myself, I was determining my days! I failed to see God as I was busy doing my own agenda. I blinded myself by becoming too engrossed with nursing as the answer to the difficulties in life! I was looking at the things that are seen and not the unseen because everything was smooth as I was going through this stage of my life. There was provision, determination and success, which I thought was of God's finished path. My anticipation was high. I would then give my children better options and start earning more, have a great ministry and dreams will come true. I really thought that uprooting and off to a land with greener pasture was the answer. But I was rebuked lovingly by God. God comforted me in my retreat. He impressed in my heart that He was actually delivering me from enslavement when I failed the exams. It took this kind of a major event to make me realize that He is uprooting me from my "own" ambition. He helped me tore down "kings" in my life. It was a tough battle. God's deliverances are often unconventional and it was beyond my comprehension. I believe that out of this becomes a better, stronger person in me, a new thing is birthing out of me. The Scriptures teach, "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,' declares the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts'" (Isa 55:8,9). Again, we read, "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things that are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God" (1 Cor 1:27-29).
“God's people must learn to obey, regardless what is required, and regardless how unusual or meaningless it seems”. This is a humbling lesson; and it is an essential lesson. God does not have to justify Himself and give me a reason for why He requires what He does. I was to learn not only obedience, but also that God does things His way, according to His good pleasure. I have to realize this the hard way. I have to be taught discipline and “waiting upon the Lord”. All this requires….. SIMPLE OBEDIENCE. No thrills , no fuss. Simple, wholehearted, flawless, obedience. It is easier said than done but that is all there is to it.
As I am about to cross my River Jordan, I continue, moving on in faith to claim what God has promised me and my family to possess. I welcomed God’s loving rebuke and know that it was for my own good. Nothing was wasted. Instead, I gained much more in His knowledge and strength. This is not the end for me. God has a finished path for me. My destiny may have stumbling blocks and hurdles along the way, but that’s okay. I know how it is like to be bruised and wounded. They all have a purpose. I am assured that God replaces them with comforting words that will train me to be a better athlete as I continue on with the race. Philippians 3:13 & 14 [NLT] ”Dear brothers and sisters, I am not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us from heaven”.
I’m taking the exams scheduled on December 1 and 2. This time, God is in charge! I will leave behind the past, embrace the present and faithfully, look expectantly to the future for He reigns sovereign over my life.
His grace abound in the present, Thank God and let go as I continue living one breath at a time. May His perfect will and plan be accomplished under heaven for me and my family! May this experience of mine bless and encourage you. I love you very much! Shalom.

Crying......

I learned.... that Sometimes crying is the best response.