PrayingIGo

Day by Day....gentle living

Dearest Readers,

Today was just beautiful as temperatures hovered in the 60's.  I threw open the front and back doors as well as a window upstairs.  Laundry churned quietly while I tidied up our dear old home. 

I took time to look through my cookbooks and finalized my list for Thanksgiving.  I am going to can some delightful Cranberry Apple Relish.  I made this recipe last year (Ball Blue Book) and it was so good that once is not enough!  I plan to make enough relish to last throughout the year.  I also will make some smaller jars (1/2 pints) for my Darling Girl.  We stand alone in our love for anything "cranberry".  Our motto...."That's okay, it just leaves more for us!" is spoken loudly as the men in this house turn their noses up at the tasty red fruit.

We will actually have two Thanksgivings, one with extended family and one just for our little family.  Our Darling Girl will work Thanksgiving in order to have Christmas Day off, so we will have a second dinner on Friday.  I found a darling napkin ring craft that I need to make.  I will post pictures and the link as soon as I finish. 

The latter part of the day was spent folding laundry and cooking dinner.  We have fires in both stoves now, as a cold front is supposed to bring our temperatures down into the 30's by tomorrow. 

Well, Dear Friends thank you for stopping by here at Honey Hill Farm....we are always glad for your company!

Yours kindredly,

Shan

Our Yearly Turkey Hunt- Is It That Time Already?

Good Afternoon Family & Friends! It is a COLD day here in NC. We rarely see these kind of temps. this time of year. (did I say that in an ealier post?) If I did, you can really see that I am amazed to see that we are at 43* at 5 in the afternoon in the middle of November. This is usually Jan. or Feb. weather in our neck of ther woods.

Anyway, the kids and I went on our "yearly" turkey hunt today. We started calling it a hunt when my oldest Dd (18) was in the 5th grade. I am always the one who cooks in the family. So it has been up to me to find the biggest turkey to cook for Thanksgiving day. It was dubbed "the hunt" because it usually takes going to 3-4 different stores to find a 23 lb. turkey.

This year, I found what I was looking for at the first store I went to. That was REALLY  nice. The turkey was priced at .57 a lb. That was a really good deal. I had to buy $35 (minus the turkey) to get it at that price, but I had to purchase other sale items anyway, so it worked out really well. I actually got 2 turkeys and plan on going back next week for 2 more to stock the freezer with. Let's just say that this old homesteader is preparing for the winter.

Wal Mart had some good deals this week. Real Land O Lake Butter for $2 a lb. Green Giant corn, beans and peas for .50 a can. So I ended up with 6 lbs. of butter and 30 cans of veggies. I think the butter should last for the next month and a half. The veggies should also last until March or April, with what I already have stored in the freezer. I would love to be able to get enough veggies (canned) to last until July. That's when (prayerfully) the corn and beans we usually plant would be harvested.

I still need to get a better system in figuring out the exact amount of veggies I would need to last from one harvest to another. That really depends on "how the garden grows" though. With the last two years being in a drought, I never know just what I am going to harvest. (thank The Lord for Wally World and veggies on sale at.50 a can!)

I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow. I am baking bread to sale at the local libray. I also need to get to the library and pick up a book. Then there is still school to do and a house that ALWAYS needs cleaning. (Thank you Lord for all that You allow me to do for my family.)

Well, I need to get off here and get ready for church. At least I don't have to cook tonight. On the way home from "the hunt" we stopped and picked up Chinese to bring home for lunch. They always put way too much in the boxes to eat at one sitting. So hence, it's Chinese for dinner as well!

Have a blessed evening in The Lord!

Amanda <><
II Corinthians 5:7

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Abe Lincoln, Thanksgiving and Divine Intervention

Here's something I found and thought it would be a great lesson for our children with Thanksgiving coming... {KW<><}...

In the White House, Abe Lincoln was pacing the floor of his office.  He felt more troubeld than he had ever felt before.  The fate of the Union was at stake.  He felt as if he were almost alone in his concern for the outcome.  Friends and aides appeared to be almost panic-stricken.  Abe felt that this was the most critical hour of the [Civil] war, perhaps the most critical hour in the entire history of the United States.

In desperation he left his office, went into this room and locked the door.  There he fell before a chair.  With his head in his hands, he wept and prayed.

Now, more than at any other time in his life he turned to God.  In deep anguish he told God that he had done all he could.  He pleaded for help.  There was nothing more that he could do.  He must leave the result of the battle in the hands of God.  He now knew that if his country was to be saved, it would be only because God willed it.

It was a heartbreaking hour of prayer.

When he unlocked the door and came out of his room he felt that a great burden had suddenly been rolled off his shoulders.  His intense anxiety and torturing concern had been relieved.  He felt a quiet and calm trustfullness...

On his desk was a copy of the Thanksgiving Proclamation.  He had proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a day of national Thanksgiving.  The nation had never before had such an annual Thanksgiving Day and he had decided that it was time the nation remembered in a special day what God had done.

Now he read slowly the proclamation:

We have been the recipients of the choistest bounties of heaven; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown.  But we have forgotten God.

We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

We have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

Tears slipped down his cheeks as he read these words, for he believed in them deeply.  It was because of this belief that he ordered the Treasury Department to engrave the words, In God We Trust, on American coins.

As he was sitting at his desk, thinking about these things, an aide rushed in and excitedly exclaimed, "There's good news from the battle at Gettysburg, Sir..."

But in spite of this great victory, his days were filled, dealing with generals, listening to the problems of many citizens, and handling endless administrative details.  For help he turned to God through the Bible and in prayer.

Almost daily now, he felt the need to go to his room to pray.  More and more, he became conscious of the work of God in the affairs of men.

Writing to a friend, Byron Sutherland, one day, he said,

I believe we are all agents and instruments of Divine Providence.  I hold myself in my present position and with the authority invested in me, as an instrument of Providence.  I am conscious every moment that all I am and all that I have are subject to the control of a higher power, and that power can use me or not use me in any manner and at any time as in His wisdom might be pleasing to Him.

One day, Mr. Chittenden, the register of the Treasury, asked him if he believed that God actually directed national affairs.  With a deep feeling of emotion, he replied,

The the Almighty does make use of human agencies, and directly intervenes in human affairs, is one of the plainest statements of the Bible...I have many evidences of His direction, many instances when I have been controlled by some other power than my own will, that I cannont doubt that this power comes from above.

~~~Reprinted from Honest Abe by Harry J. Albus.

Quote Of The Day

'Lets go back to basics and remember that all we really have to do is put a roof over our heads and meals on the table.  Beyond that our time can be better spent enjoying our lives, being with the people we love, creating things we love that dont harm the earth, and contributing something meaningful to the world.

Elaine St James

Simplify Your Work Life

And Now Theres More ....................

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all well and having a good week.

I went to see my doctor today who is absolutely lovely. Going to the doctors is not a chore for me as she is so supportive and such fun that I always come out with a smile.

I discussed how things have been and mentioned some other symptoms I have been up against lately and it seems I have chronic fatigue syndrome aswell which I gather is quite a common thing.

At least I am getting names and a diagnosis for all this - at times I have thought I was going mad.

I have to have some fasting blood tests to check for glandular fever / Epstein Barrs which I dont know a lot about but I gather they are connected to chronic fatigue so we will see where that all leads.

As always thank you to you all for visiting me and leaving such beautiful comments. I always appreciate your thoughts and prayers and am so glad to have such lovely visitors.

Blessings to you all

Janette