Being 62, I have read Psalm 23 more times than I can remember, but until this past week, I can honestly say that Psa 23:3 that says, “He restores my soul” had just been words that reminded me of another attribute of our Lord, but it truly had never meant so much to me as it did this past week.

This morning as I was getting ready for the day and thinking back over the last week, particularly, last Saturday, I sat there and thought to myself, “what a difference I felt today, as opposed to last Saturday”.

Last weekend I did something that I really could not believe I did. It was something that the world would not look on as really a “big sin” or would even not even look upon it as anything done wrong, but the minute I opened my mouth and let words out of my mouth that should never have escaped, I knew that what I had just said, even the thoughts that went along with it, had greatly saddened the Lords heart. It was hard to admit that it was plain and simple, sin, that had now caused me anger at myself and heavy conviction of what I had done. All weekend, I tried to push the feeling away. I thought maybe if I talk it out with Randy, that would make me feel better. Surely he would have words to make me feel better. When that didn’t work, I thought, well, I will confess it to God and knowing that He is always “faithful and just to forgive” I thought well, that will do it. I will be rid of the shame of the sin, but that didn’t work. I tried to stay busy, going back over it in my mind, time and time again, I was going to bed thinking about it and it was the first thing on my mind upon waking. Finally Sunday night, I knew what I had to do. First thing in the morning when the store opened at 10:00a.m. I had to call the lady and apologize for my actions. Words cannot tell you how hard it was to do that. Knowing I had to do it to make things right, I struggled all night, knowing this was before me. It was truly a time of regret, knowing that if I had just “walked in the Spirit” and displayed the fruits of the Spirit, I would not be having to do what I was having to do to have peace. It showed me how sin can truly separate you from the peace of God and we must be willing to suffer the consequences of our actions, when we are disobedient to the Lord.

With the focus on ourselves in todays world, we feel that we can be restored and renewed by going to a spa or going for a massage or doing something we feel would pacify the void in our lives because sin has truly separated us from the “peace that passeth all understanding” which we receive from the Lord.

Before calling the lady at the store, I ask the Lord to give me words and strength as I knew I could never do this without Him. He was faithful to me in making that phone call. It was amazing how I felt when I hung up. Each day since Monday has brought more and more peace and today, as I was sitting there, I began to realize that I truly felt “restored” in the Lord and knew that even though this was a hard lesson, it will always be a reminder to me that when I am tempted to do something that is against the “laws and commands” of the Lord, I will stop and think about how it feels to be separated from that wonderful relationship I have with God and the peace that fills my heart when I”walk in the Light as He is in the Light”

Today, ask the Lord if there is anything that is keeping you from being able to know that perfect peace. If there is, “go, leave the alter and go ask forgiveness from the one you have sinned against”.  Your Soul will be Refreshed and Restored.

YUM!!!!! Taken from Food Network Magazine, my neighbor, Nancy, left a copy of this at my front door the other day. Since sliders are a favorite of ours and since not only are they so good, but actually a “cute” food to eat, they are just fun to make.

1 lb of 96% lean ground beef

9 small whole wheat hamburger buns, split, divided (we like the small Hawaiian bread buns instead)

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teas ground chipotle chili powder

2 slices pepper jack cheese, cut in quarters

Toppings: barbecue sauce, lettuce, tomato slices or pickles (maybe a little chopped jalapeño pepper?)

Tear one hamburger bun into pieces. Place in food processor or blender container. Cover, pulse on and off to form fine crumbs.

Combine bread cubs, beef, garlic and chili powder in medium bowl, mixing lightly but thoroughly. Lightly shape into eight 1/2 ” thick mini patties.

Place patties on grill over medium hot coals. Grill, covered 8-9 min  (gas grill 9-10 min) until instant-read thermometer registers 160, turning occasionally. If you don’t have a thermometer, you will know they are done when you are soaking wet from standing over the grill outside in the 100 degree summer heat.  Evenly top with cheese during last minute of grilling.

Place burgers on bottoms of remaining eight buns. Top with desired toppings. Top with top of bun.

Several of you have told me that you are having trouble finding recipes on this new format, so “due to popular demand” am going back to the old format. When you are looking for a certain recipe, there is a magnifying glass in the upper right hand of the page. Click on that and it will give you a space to write in the recipe you are looking for. Hope this helps.

Once again, thank you so much for reading the blog. I am spending a little more time at the moment working on finishing my first cookbook. It is my goal to have it finished by the end of this year.

Blessings to you, Trudy

You have probably noticed that you haven’t seen a post on the ole blog for me in about 2 weeks. There is a very good reason for that. We have had out of town company which took me a few days to recover from having a 3 mo old, a 3 yr old and a 10 yr old in the house. Now I love grandkids as much as the next baby boomer grandmother (but please call me Honey Nonnie instead of Grandmother, just not ready to go there yet) but as sweet as these little darlings are, there is just an evil side to them that makes you just want to stand up and cheer as you watch the car back out of the driveway.

We came into the house and just stood at the doorway and didn’t say a word. We listened and just continued to stand there a minute in a daze. For the first time in 11 days, it was quiet. Not just quiet as when they are taking naps, but total silence. It truly was a Hallmark moment. We looked at each other and really couldn’t decide what to do next. Did we just want to go sit down and enjoy the silence? Did we want to dive in and de-babize the house as in picking up raw crushed macaroni off the floor, or pick up all the shoe horns that had been brought out of Randy’s closet? Did we want to begin to throw out the rest of the frozen chicken nuggets that would not be eaten or all the half drank cans of soda sitting there in the fridge? Would the toys in the bathtub be ok if we left them for a day?

We decided to just sit and rest. After all, it had been a while since we had had 3 grandchildren in the house for that long all at the same time. The TV was actually smiling that it wasn’t having to show 39 episodes of Sponge Bob today. We could actually watch what WE WANTED!!!

Before we sat down on the couch, we did notice that there were toys under the cushions and actually retrieved a Piggy balloon from the fireplace. There was money in the computer printer and pink fingernail polish on the flowered couch. Guess the 3 yr old decided that there weren’t enough flowers on the couch, so he added his touch to the artistry. The couch looks great with the new hot pink flower. Adds so much to the red flowers beside it.

Don’t get me wrong, these precious little “gifts from God” are so sweet, when they are sleeping. The naps just don’t last as long as we wanted.

We have now adjusted to our “normal” week when it is just Randy and I in the house. It’s odd that we look back at the week and now only remember the precious times of sitting on the couch holding the 3 month old and trying to get him to smile. Or walking with the 3 yr old down the street listening to him yell out at his pretend friends up in the trees, all the while collecting “pinecones” from the magnolia trees. The memory of the 11 yr old asking if he could make a pallet in our room so he could sleep in there. I loved that, because it will not be too long before he will be wanting to be as far away from “grandparents” as possible.  So we cherished the talks we had with him while taking him to get ice cream, just by himself, is priceless. Just like childbirth, you forget the energy and patience it takes to have kids in your house. We choose to remember the things that give us sweet memories.

After all, the raw macaroni was a great exfolliator for our feet. Think we will just leave it on the floor.