Christmas Memories

The Good Old Days

Christmas in the kitchen

was mothers favorite room

where she would do her cooking

from morning, way till noon!

She was so very happy

with all the things she'd cook,

cookies, pies and puddings

all from grandma's book.

Some of it for stockings,

and some for Christmas day,

most of it for neighbors

that she would give away.

~Gertrude Rudberg~

******

Memories of looking back

at days gone by...

each of us has them tucked away

 in our hearts, don't we?

I was blessed with the love of a

 grandmother and a great-grandmother.

On my fathers side of the family

I had many precious years with my grandmother Maxie,

who was 97 when she passed away

just this fall.

Grandma Maxie was full of spirit and life!
 ******

 On my mothers side of the family

I have sweet and precious memories

of my great-grandmother Helen McKenzie.
 Granny is how I know and remember her.

She was beautiful and such a lady.

I pray that the Lord would mold me
with character traits of both of these women
as well as the beauty of my own dear mother.

Granny was my mother's mother.

My mother's mother passed away

when I was very young with breast cancer.

My mothers side of the family was Italian,

and I am thankful for the women in my life
who taught me how to be a lady.
Who were ladies themselves
and graced their homes
with love, laughter, joy and tender mercies.

 

For the next couple of weeks,

I would love to share with you some

of my days gone by

with the memories of those women in my life

who made an impact on my heart,

and share with you

some of their recipes

that were baked around the holidays.

I was blessed to have inherited

cookbooks from both sides of the family

that were delicately put together

with their loving hands.

What a treasure I now have in my possession.

******

This year I plan on making Pizzelles.

These delicate snowflake like cookies

were a favorite of mine growing up.

My Granny would spend hours

sitting on her stool in what we would now call,
her "retro" kitchen

making these delicious cookies.

These cookies take time to make,

and I know there was love poured

into the batter of these delightful Italian cookies.
The name pizzelle comes from the
Italian word pizze for round and flat.
In some parts of Italy,
the irons would be made with family crests on them
 which would be passed down to each generation.

****** 

Recipe for Pizzelles

12 eggs

2 cups of sugar

1 dash of salt

2 Tablespoons vanilla

2 Tablespoons lemon

3 1/2 cups flour (sifted 3 times )

2 cups butter (4 sticks) melted
1 teaspoon anise seed (I do not add this)

******

Cream your eggs & sugar together.

 Add the butter, vanilla and lemon until creamy.

Fold in the sifted flour and pinch of salt.

You will need a pizzelle iron to cook

these delicious waffle cookies on.
Trim the lace off the edges of the cookies,
this is best done while the cookie is warm to the touch.
Keep on a cooling rack until cooled and crisp.

The time and love you pour

into these cookies will be enjoyed

by all who are blessed enough

to receive them.

******

When gift giving, these cookies look beautiful

 stacked and wrapped

with clear wrap, then tied with a 

beautiful Christmas bow.

Enjoy! And share the goodness with others.

May we as ladies grace our homes with the
Christ of Christmas,  showing our love,
as God manifested His love 
in giving His great Gift to the world.
Let us willingly give of ourselves
to our family's, loved ones, neighbors and those in need.
With Christ in our hearts,
Christmas will have a softening,
sweetening influence that will tug
at our heartstrings of love
and cause us to share with others Jesus Christ,
our Christmas gift.
" Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift."
( 2 Corinthians 9:15 )
******

Precious Heavenly Father.
Only by accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior,
will You be the center of our lives.
One must come to Bethlehem's manger
and walk with Christ to the cross
in confession of sin
and acceptance of Your grace
to have exceeding joy.
Woo us to Thyself,
I pray in Christ Name.
Amen. 

~ Joy in Jesus ~
Debbie 

A Song of Praise & Thanksgiving

Blessings to you my sweet friends!

As you celebrate Thanksgiving

I pray there is a song

of praise in your heart

and on your lips.

~~**~~

Psalm 100 is a Psalm of thanksgiving,

but this Psalm also teaches us

WHY we should give praise

to our Great God.

~~**~~

" Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands."

" Serve the Lord with gladness:

come before his presence with singing."  

Verses 1&2 ~ teach us that God is the Creator.
What better time ~ than Thanksgiving ~
as we gather with family & friends
to have a heart that is willing 
to serve others, and in doing so
let it be with a joyful noise
and singing in your heart
to the Lord.  
~~**~~

" Know ye that the Lord he is God:

it is he that hath made us,

and not we ourselves;

we are his people,

and the sheep of his pasture."

" Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,

and into his courts with praise:

be thankful unto him, 

and bless his name."
~~**~~

Verses 3&4 ~ teach us that God is our Owner & Leader.
I am thankful that I did not have to "make" myself,
because I would have done a pretty lousy job!
God is perfect, and He is perfect in His ways,
including ~ creating us.
What a comfort knowing that 
we are the sheep of His pasture.
It is God who looks after our every need and care.
Therefore~ let us enter His gates
with a thankful heart,
a truly thankful heart,
and honor Him with all that we do.

~~**~~

" For the Lord is good;

his mercy is everlasting;

and his truth endureth to all generations."

Verse 5 ~ teaches us that God is our

Sustainer ~ Savior & Successor. 
What a Savior!!
  ~~**~~

The Lord is faithful to His people
and we can trust in Him completely.

We should sing our praises

with a joyful shout!

When our hearts are full of thanksgiving

we will not be passive with our praises.

We will want to shout joyfully

unto the Lord, our Savior,

who has saved us by His mercy
which is, as the Bible says, "everlasting."

~~**~~

True biblical praise focuses on who God is.

What He does is the result

of who He is.

May we not only see what God does,

but who He is,

and sing songs of praise

with a thankful heart, blessing His name.
~~**~~
Have a beautiful & blessed Thanksgiving!

Thank you Heavenly Father,
for the love You grace our lives with.
Thank you for Your many provisions,
love, care and concern in our lives. 
Fill us with a joy that reflects Christ in us,
bringing honor and glory to Your name.
Amen.

~ Be Lovely~
Debbie 

God forgave my sin in Jesus' name

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.

This is my Jesus, my Lord, and my Savior.

He is worthy of all my praise.

~**~

As Thanksgiving approaches

I cannot help but give praise
with a grateful heart to my Jesus

for the salvation that I have

through His shed blood, for my sins.

God forgave my sin in Jesus' name,

therefor~ I want to freely share Christ with others.

~**~**~

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time
to share God's goodness with others,

and I find this time of year unfolds

many opportunities for us to do just that.
My desire is to be sensitive to others
as these opportunities arise.
 I want to go and share the Gospel that others may believe,
and have the same hope
that I have found through Christ,
so they too may be heaven bound.
In a hurting world we don't have to look far
to see the many needs around us.
Lord, make us to be beautiful
witnesses to others.

~**~**~**~

The most important gift we could share is the Gospel.

For He is worthy!

~**~**~**~**~

This Thanksgiving, may we all see the needs

around us and share freely

the salvation message of hope
by letting the Gospel sound forth!

And with thankful hearts

let us praise the Lamb,

who is worthy of ALL our praises.

~**~**~**~**~**~

God Forgave My Sin In Jesus' Name/Freely Freely

~ Composed by Carol Owens ~

God forgave my sin in Jesus' name 

I've been born again in Jesus' name

and in Jesus name I come to you

to share His love as He told me to.

Chorus:

He said freely, freely, you have received,

freely, freely give

Go in My name, and because you believe

others will know that I live.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~

Our Precious Heavenly Father.
We have so much to be thankful for,
especially the salvation we have
through Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Give us a passion for others.
 Fill our hearts with love
so that we may see the needs around us
and share freely the Gospel of hope.

Let us not be ashamed

for You are worthy.

~**~

~ Be Lovely ~

Debbie

Please Pray For A Dear Blogging Friend, Denise

God allows us the privilege to hold one another

up in prayer.

May I ask you to pray for a dear blogging friend?

Denise, over at Just Me being Me

is going through some tough times right now.

She either has or may be having

open heart surgery and needs our prayers.

God's Word tells us in the book of James

to pray one for another.

~**~**~

"Confess your faults one to another,

and pray one for another,

that ye may be healed.

The effectual fervent prayer 

of a righteous man

availeth much."

~ James 5:16 ~

God tells us to "ask in faith."

"But let him ask in faith,

with NO doubting,

for he who doubts

is like a wave of the sea

driven and tossed by the wind."
~ James 1:6 ~

~**~**~

Let us go before the throne of grace

and hold this dear sister up in prayer.

Let we ask in faith, believing

that our GREAT God

will hear,  answer and heal Denise. 

Bless you!

~**~**~

Our Gracious Heavenly Father.

We come before Your throne

and lift up to You

our dear friend and sister in Christ,

asking that You would place Your 

healing hand upon her.

Touch her sick body,

comfort her,

and give her Your peace

which passes all understanding.

Amen.

~ Be Blessed ~

Debbie 

Friendships Through Blogging

"The only way to have a friend is to be one." ~ Emerson ~

~**~

"Hello" only lasts for a minute,

it's a short, brisk, queer little word.

But, say! there's a lot of cheer in it:

It's like the first chirp of a bird

in spring, when the hilltops are greening,

right after the cold and the snow.

I think when it comes to real meaning,

there isn't a word quite like "hello!"
~ Unknown ~

~**~

Hello! My dear friends here in my blogging community.

"Blessed be the Lord,

for He has shown me His

marvelous kindness."

~ Psalm 31:21 ~

My heart has been greatly blessed,
and the Lord has graced me with His kindness

through the friendships I have made
and come to love

through blogging.

You dear ladies amaze me with your sweet lives

and the love you so graciously give.

Emerson, said it well,

"the only way to have a friend is to be one."
And that, you have all been! :)

~**~

I believe that is true even with our blogging friends.
To have a friend, we must be one.

That is the very reason I am writing this post.

For the past few months

I have been extremely busy

taking care of my parents and their many needs

leaving me with very little time to stop by

and say "hello"
or even be a good friend.

~**~

Until life slows down

I am planning on taking a break

from my blog.

I really have no idea how long I will be away.

I know I will not be posting,

but you may see me around the neighborhood

from time to time.

Of course ~ I will be in  my dear

Stephanie's neighborhood,

as she inspires my heart
 and right now, I need it.

~**~

BEAUTY HINT NO.2~Said Mrs. 

Browning, the poet, to Charles Kingsley,

the novelist. "What is the secret of your

life? Tell me, that I may make mine beautiful also."

Thinking a moment, the beloved

old author replied, "I had a friend."

Charles Kingsley knew of friendships, didn't he?

I want to thank you dear ladies for your friendship
and for gracing me with your kind visits
when I have not been so faithful.

You have made my life beautiful.
Sweet blessings to each one of you
and Lord willing, I will see you soon!

~**~

Our Precious Heavenly Father,

thank you for the friends You bring into our lives.

Help us to show ourselves friendly

in ways that bring honor and glory

to You and You alone.

Give us the spirit of loveliness

so we may pass it on to others

for Your name sake.

Amen.

~ Be Lovely ~

Debbie

The computer is the bridge that connects our hearts and lives