My Life- it's as fun as puttin' lipstick on a squirrel

So we are very near to finishing up our 30 Days of 7 foods in this house! If you are just joining us see my original post on why we are doing this! I look at food as a privilege now. Not a gimme...we are so blessed to walk in a farmer's market or grocery store and just fill a cart with so many choices! So just as I was planning what we would EAT for the 4th of JULY! no more chicken! hurray...I came across this picture from a friend. This is what my friend Tammy Jenkins said when she took the picture: " this is what I see here everyday, i usually don't take pictures but i think I am going to start showing you guys what I see everyday here in Bangula. She was on her knees looking for something on the ground. when I went to her, she cried out "momma". momma is an English word that they do not know, i wish i could down load the video. i put some money in her hand. enough to feed her for a week. it is only because you guys out there have given to us here t...

Do you ever get Bible-slapped? I do quite often and it's usually by complete surprise. God can be a Ninja of sorts when it comes to dealing with little old me. Here's what happened: Last week a struggle that I thought was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind me came up and hit me square on....you know the kind. You have all these great plans and then whammo life happens. Well this person is very near and dear to my heart and forgiveness has been an issue for oh...let's say my lifetime. 2 years ago I totally forgave this person. I worked really hard in a program called Living Waters offered by my church and we had nearly complete restoration in that relationship. (or so I thought) Well then this person faultered a bit. This person is a human just like me. They made a mistake. They are lonely, they are sick, they are tired...they tripped and fell. But you know what. They got up and promised not to "fall" again. And what did I do? What did I say to this person ...

I quit fasting for 2 glorious hours. And here is my reason. Fellowship. In January of this year the Lord led me to open my home to my friends, church family and many others. He prompted me to offer a meal. No strings attached. So I could sit down and eat and foster old friendships and create new ones! Since January we have a family come nearly every Saturday or Sunday evening and we eat the same meal. Spaghetti/meat sauce and a bombdiggity recipe for Garlic Parmesan Cheese bread that I found somewhere online. Some people bring a dessert. Some bring a salad. But most importantly they just come. We sit, we eat, we take time together! It's lovely. Some of you may wonder what is the big deal...well for many years , nearly 15 of my 17 years of marriage I did NOT open my home to others. Sure I would go to friends houses for cookouts, birthdays, baby showers. But most of the time I just stayed home. I suffer  suffered from Social Anxiety Disorder. I always cancelled at the las...

I am still hangin in there with the 7 food items folks! DAY 17 of FOOD. Progress is being made. I eat less and what I eat tastes wonderful. Like a gift from God. I have been doing a LOT of freezer cooking and our freezer is stackin' up girls! :) not my freezer...my Tupperware never matches It's been a bit of a frustrating week with Social Services/adoption stuff and trying to finally hatch a 21 year old Man cub who is fighting growing up tooth and nail. And it's hot here folks. I am talking 100% humidity and 90 . Yuck. That temp is good for one thing. Swimmin' and that's it.  not MY pool. I have a plastic kiddy pool But I have been on a bit of a hormonal roller coaster the last few days.... see my last post  ....it's not pretty! BUT....God granted me peace today in the back of a box truck. My wonderful "angel" from the farm called again to arrange for me to pickup some more peaches for the hungry. Well. honey . she rolled up that back ...

Well, we did an entire week of 7 foods and are now entering the second week .... observations. I am sick of chicken Avocado is no longer my friend spinach no longer tastes like dirt it's yummy I love olive oil organic apples do taste better! wow. what a spectacularly blessed life us Americans live with our 1000's of choices of food to eat EACH and every day. I will not bore you with food writings...we have not had anything exciting happen. But I can tell you this. I truly value a large plate of spinach with a touch of olive oil , salt and pepper. I am going up on my soap box again .....this whole fasting creates a clear mind thing may backfire on my readers! :) hang with me here peeps... Yesterday in Church I had the privilege of listening to my dear pastor Debbie Klima speak on God's heart for the poor.  Here is the video!   she gave us some great points God Values the Poor God challenges us to help the poor. Why should we help the poor? Because G...

Hello and good Saturday to you all! yes, I did miss a day. Friday was not so TGIF. But I made it through, My body aches with protest over only having 7 choices of food. One kind friend asked me, why do you torture yourself? It took a long drive home to come up with an answer and it came in the form of peaches. Mount Pleasant Farms I received a call from the kind friend above who shall remain nameless. She asked me if I was still feeding the hungry. Why YES I am! I am always hustling food and this super kind friend happens to have a Peach Orchard and she is a bit overrun with "too soft to sell" peaches and running her store and raising chickens and her large garden! One chicken lookin in, one lookin out!  Frankly I do love her life. :)  Sorry...I digress. Anyhoo...she called to see if I could take some "soft" peaches to feed to the homeless. I of course say yes. I always forget to ask how much..I just say YES! So off to the farm we go! What a lovely ...

Last night I watched this movie called : Food Inc.  Good ol' Jen Hatmaker mentioned it in her book 7 and I sat down and soaked it all in. Well geez that just ruined food for me. I am mad. Confused. AND I will do more research. you should watch it. I am so chapped I can't think straight. stepping off my soapbox now. I really got angry today. About the loss of an avocado. Those bad boys cost a lot! :) and one of ours molded. seems bulk shopping with these little stone fruits won't do. Bummer. I won't cry over one wasted avocado...but it did break my heart a teeny tiny bit. I cheated. I drank a big tall glass of milk. 2%. it was like love in a glass. I miss milk. I am a milkaholic. The date on the jug is nearing..and with only baby girl and big man cub drinking milk we are two peeps shy of killing the 2 jugs left. I had to take one for the team. I will NOT waste food. Too many going hungry. I probably should have thought this challenge through a bit...

O goodness gracious. My husband invented a lovely dish. We call it "Avocado/Chicken spread" or shove that in a baked potato and pretend it butter and sour cream spread. Or Cram it in the Pita (whole wheat) with a bunch of that spinach that tastes like dirt and pretend it's chicken Salad! whomp Whomp! My daughter is not participating in 7 with us. But ...she LOVES spinach and boiled eggs and she has been stealing my chicken off my plate. We may have a problem soon. :) Right when we were sitting down to enjoy this precious lunch a man pulls up to do an appraisal on our home. We are trapped in a HORRIBLE loan. I am ashamed we even signed the papers...but THIS is our chance to get back on track! WE have stuck with the terrible loan for 5 years. We have worked HARD for this moment...THE CHANCE...to refi is here. But dang, why did the dude have to show up on avocado/chicken spread day? Come on! So being the great southern belle I am. I quickly had the hubby put Silas on t...

Well the family survived day 2 of 7. :) We had a big blowup around lunch time and I will admit that at 12:10 pm yesterday I was ready to QUIT. DONE. Finished! But you know what. I went into my bedroom. I prayed. I repented. I apologized to my husband for wicked mean words I spoke. We accepted each other and forgave. and we ate. together. a very yummy lunch! :) So after nap time I woke up and found one email from our Bethany Christian Services Social Worker and one voicemail from her as well. Then the bonus. A voicemail from a social worker in Norfolk. Let me tell you that I love how God works. I LOVE HOW GOD works. We began our adoption journey in September 2011. We have been viewing MANY profiles of children available in the state of VA.  We have prayed. We have people praying for us! :) We have put our lives on hold in many ways preparing for this moment. And just when we were about to self-implode about spinach and chicken. BAM. God answers prayers. I really hav...

I woke this morning and walked in the kitchen. Oh yeah. NO coffee. Day one of 30 coffee-less days. To the computer I go...I sit and read God's word. I managed to watch with blurry eyes both of my bible study videos...I am currently doing a Psalm Study with Wendy Pope ! I also have my hand full of studying the Proverbs 31 Woman ! Very nice humor my Lord has! Breakfast was simple! Boiled Eggs, Wheat Toast and water...in a coffee cup! :) I had a delicious apple and really felt at peace. I feel like this is a great time to start surrendering. my WHOLE self to the LORD...inch by inch...I move closer! All household chores were complete by 9am! geez. not having coffee to sit with and creep on facebook sure saves me a boatload of time! :) and then it happened...my first meltdown. My favorite Quote from today: WHERE ARE my CROCS. snapped. just like that. total freak out. Went out the back door to hang laundry on the line P31 style...went to slip on my outside shoes (pin...

Good Morning, as our family prepares for church I am hugging a cup of Joe. Tomorrow Joe and I break up for 30 days. That goes for Miss Hazelnut creamer and good old Sugar Baby. all three. Gone after today. Stay tuned as I walk through a journey  of 7. Based on the book 7 by Jen Hatmaker  . Trimming Excess & pulling closer to the Lord at the same time. In the end I will probably be sweetly broken . This just in from the kitchen: Bryan (hubbie) what did you have for breakfast? me: nothing yet. Bryan: 7 starts today right? me: NO. Tomorrow. Bryan: silent. pushes toaster down and smiles...He will be enjoying an EVERYTHING Bagel...guess he better sit down and write his Dear John letter to Mr. Thomas's Bagels! heart break! more to come folks...much more. Just had to share that the fear has set in...tomorrow 7 begins!~ God Bless ya'll Tracy

This is a Blog Hop! take a hop around! :) And so it begins! the journey of 7.  Book Club met for the first time on Monday. Two are ALL in...one is pregnant so food will not be on her agenda, and one is on the fence. Two more ladies coming in the next 3 weeks. This will be a GREAT mix! Different women...different results! Here is the author's website: Jen Hatmaker As for me I shall commence month one of 7 on : drum roll please.......June 11. Gotta get my grocery list right. After much thought and prayer and reading...I went with the author's list of food items: here they are. Chicken Eggs Whole-Wheat Bread Sweet Potatoes Spinach Avocados Apples just when I was doubting myself and my choices AND my ability to do this! God sent affirmation. In the form of an email! From Harris Teeter! does He do that to you? Chicken- ON SALE buy 2 get 3 free! done! Sweet Potatoes- ON SALE...I love my God's sense of humor APPLES- ON SALE! love it! Spinach- My husband ...