I’m thankful for a lot of things: the gift of salvation, God’s provision and faithfulness, seasons, etc. One overwhelming theme, though, is my family. I have a terrific family.

I was raised by parents who truly love the Lord and seek to follow Him, even if it makes us “weird.” (“For you are…a peculiar people…”) This is a tremendous blessing! As grandparents, we are confident that the things they teach our daughter, their granddaughter, are healthy and righteous. They support our decisions for our family, even when they don’t fully agree with us. All blessings!

My mother-in-law loves the Lord, as well, and is also supportive of our family’s decisions.

My husband seeks to honor God, and to lead us to obey Him. He works diligently to provide for us. He faithfully works, so I can stay home and care for our home and for Ariel. He is patient and understanding with me.

Ariel has a sweet heart and an encouraging spirit. She is quick to seek forgiveness when she causes offense. She is also quick to stand up for what is right, even against “peer pressure.”

And our newest blessing. Our smallest one is expected to make his (?) appearance at the end of May or beginning of June.

Filed under: Personal and Blog News, Spiritual Journal by Rachel
[Comments (0)]  [link]  [TB]

As Thanksgiving approaches (here in the U.S.), many people will be preparing for their first Thanksgiving Dinners at home. If you find yourself inclined to panic, try these tips:

1. Schedule your meal preparation. Beginning with the longest-cooking item on the menu (for most people, probably a turkey), count backward from the time you hope to eat. If your turkey will take six hours to cook and you want to eat at 6:00, you will need to have it in the oven by noon. Write this down! One by one, add each remaining dish to your list. (Don’t forget to allow time for preparing the stuffing and stuffing the turkey.)

2. Be sure you have appropriate serving dishes and utensils. I like to make note, on my schedule, of what dishes I will use to serve each menu item. If you need to buy or borrow something, this will leave you time.

3. Buy enough turkey. A good rule of thumb is 1 pound per person. (Although there is more meat per pound on a larger bird than on a smaller bird so, if it’s a very large bird, you can get away with a bit less.) In general, expect it to take 15-20 minutes per pound to roast a turkey at 350 degrees, plus 25% if it’s stuffed. Theoretically, it takes a day to thaw a frozen bird in the refrigerator for each five pounds. It has always taken longer for my turkeys to thaw, so I recommend giving it an extra day. (It’s not fun trying to prepare and stuff a half-frozen bird!)

4. If you are inviting guests and they are helping provide the food, don’t delegate any critical part of the meal to someone you aren’t confident will actually show up. Ask this person to bring an extra drink, dessert, etc. – something you could do without if necessary.

5. If you want a really moist turkey, cook it “upside down” – that is, breast side up. It does not come out as pretty this way but if your family usually carves it before bringing it to the table, this doesn’t really matter. With a smaller turkey, you can start it breast side up and flip it after an hour-and-a-half or so; with a really big turkey it just isn’t feasible to flip it.

6. Don’t get too stressed cooking the meal to enjoy it! If it’s late, it’s late; you’ll still eat.

Filed under: Holidays, Kitchen, Cooking, & Recipes by Rachel
[Comments (0)]  [link]  [TB]

She also rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household, and a portion for her maidservants.

There are three parts to this.

1) She rises early.  She is up in plenty of time to make the necessary preparations for her household to run smoothly for the day.

2) She prepares meals for her family.  (In those days, this would have taken all day.)  There are a lot of things we can do to begin preparing for dinner for our families early in the day – getting a crockpot meal in, pulling meat from the freezer to thaw, cooking bread or rice to go with the evening meal, etc.  Not to mention that we should be making sure our families eat healthy breakfasts!

3) She takes care of her servants.  We might note that, although she does not do everything herself (she has servants!), and just oversees some things, she is clearly involved in the tasks of running the household, as shown in this verse.  She provides food for the family and servants.

Filed under: Family and Femininity, Spiritual Journal by Rachel
[Comments (0)]  [link]  [TB]

I just recently discovered this service and, wow, is it awesome (especially for homeschoolers and/or other avid readers)!  You list books (they don’t HAVE to be paperback, but most are) that you have and are willing to pass on.  When someone else wants one that you have, they request it from you, and you mail it to them at your expense (usually about $1.60).  For each book that you send, you earn one credit, which can be used to request someone ELSE’S book, which they send you at THEIR expense.  When you post your first nine books, you get a free three book credits.

I thought for sure no one would want what I have and/or no one would have what I want, but I have been pleasantly surprised.

If you decide to sign up, please consider using my nickname (A2JC4life) or email address (A2JC4life @ hotmail.com – without the spaces, of course) as a referral.  I will get an extra book credit.

Filed under: Homeschooling, Just for Fun by Rachel
[Comments (0)]  [link]  [TB]