~
There's JOY in the Kitchen ~
~When we realize that ~
Happiness will never come to those who fail to
appreciate what they already have. Most people
make the mistake of looking too far ahead for
things close by.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * *
A NOTE FROM ME TO YOU:
This has been a rather different sort of week
for us. I don't know when I have ever received so
many 'bad' reports from people going through
major trials and illnesses. At one point, I
thought, "yea right, Thanksgiving - what do
we have to be thankful for?" Kind of sounds
like a "Baa Hum Bug, doesn't it?"
As you visit the various chat rooms, it is
easy to become overwhelmed by many things.
Whether it is the very rude person who came in
and spouted disgusting words on the screen, or
the one who came in desperately pleading for
prayer because of some terrible thing that had
just happened to them. Then there is the daily
newspapers we receive with headlines blasting
wars, murders, thefts, and everyother kind of
unimaginable event. You put your paper down and
walk to the mail box to retreive your many bills,
and these aren't even the Christmas gift bills
yet! That is a whole 'nuther ball of wax, as you
fight the crowds to find some impossible gifts to
buy with your 'good looks'.
Funny aren't we? With such a powerful, loving,
almighty God, we so easily forget His presence
and create for ourselves a vacuum of hopelessness
in the very season we are to exclaim with
exstatic joy the birth of our Glorious Savior. We
have the greatest HOPE in the universe. To that
person who cries out in panic for prayer. . . .
God didn't tell you to carry their pain - Jesus
already did that. He didn't tell you to give them
a solution. . . it is already written in HIS
Word. Remind them of what His Word says - we
forget so easily.
To that one who rushed into your life full of
anger, hatred, obsenities and strife. . . .
forgive them. You were forgiven. You are loved.
Share your hope. The bills - they will always be
there. Repent if you have not been a good steward
with what has been given you. Ask God for wisdom.
Who told you to do all those things that you
are doing this Holiday Season? Tradition?
Commercials? Fairy Tale books? "Martha,
Martha, you worry about to many things."
Ever asked yourself why you are doing what you
are doing? Is it for the praise of men? Is it so
that you won't be rejected? Nothing is greater
than laying all our burdens down for the King of
Kings to take up. He understands our fears, He
knows we struggle with pride. That alone is more
that we can be thankful for, that we are forgiven
and loved desperately by a loving and
compassionate God.
Love to you all!
JoyfulArt
Give the greatest gift of all to your family,
friends and to your risen Savior.
GIVE THANKS!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Luke 10:40-42 But Martha was distracted
with much serving, and she approached Him and
said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister
has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to
help me." And Jesus answered and said to
her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and
troubled about many things. "But one thing
is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part,
which will not be taken away from her."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
LETTER FROM ONE OF OUR OWN
Hi Shannon -
(Please share any or all of this with the
others in Sarah's Tent. Thanks. By the way - I
really miss the chats!)
Thought it was about time for us to send you a
greeting from Ghana!
We have spent the last couple of weeks trying
to get used to living here. Life here is
definitely a lot different. The climate and the
culture lets us know that we are not in Omaha!
The first thing to hit us when we stepped off
the plane was the heat. Hot and humid. The
airport is in the capital city of Accra, which is
on the coast. We have found out that the humidity
along the coast is a lot worse than in Kumasi.
Ghana is turning out to be a very interesting
place to be. Most of the people we have met have
been wonderful. We have bumped into a few shady
characters trying to take advantage of the
"brunei" (white people). But we have
been warned about them and have been on guard.
We are living in a huge flat. I think this is
the most living space we have ever had. Just no
storage space like a basement or attic. We have
electricity most of the time. Once and a while it
goes out - but only for about 20 - 30 minutes at
a time. Although on Saturday it went out about
five times. Thank goodness there is a lot of
sunlight available so we can see what we are
doing. We just can
't cook at those times because we have an
electric stove and we can't open the
refrigerator. We are finding that water is also a
sometimes thing. A couple of days this past week
we woke up to find that we had no water. That is
why we have a water barrel in the shower room. We
are learning to take "bucket baths".
The only time we have hot water is when we boil
it. (Yes, that means we have cold showers. Not
too bad once you get used to it.) We have to do
this every time we want to wash dishes. We also
have to purify the water before we can drink it.
If we didn't we would find ourselves spending a
lot of time in the WC (water closet). (We are
beginning to learn "British").
In order to eat any fresh fruits and
vegetables we need to soak it in a mixture of
water in bleach. This is to kill the parasites
that could (and probably are) on the outside.
The fruit here is wonderful! We have had a lot
of bananas, pineapple and watermelon. We are
starting to try some of the more native fruits
also. Shopping here has been a real experience.
There are one or two grocery stores; but very
limited in selections. We usually have to go two
or three or four places to find everything we
want - and then there is no guarantee that we
will get everything.
There are small stands lining almost every
street. This is their version of a 7-11 or Quick
Shop. You can find almost anything and everything
for sale on the side of the road. We even passed
a place that had caskets lined up ready for sale.
Buying meat is also an interesting experience.
I've never had to go across a pasture to get to
the meat store before. We are talking
"fresh" meat. The ham that we bought
was still warm. I've told John that he can expect
to have his meat well done while we are here as I
am not sure about the sanitary conditions of the
meat shop.
We have had the opportunity to worship with
the deaf in Kumasi and in Adomrobe. Both have
been very humbling experiences. In Kumasi the
deaf worship in a borrowed schoolroom. The room
is 15 feet x 20 feet, has a dirt floor and the
only source of light is one door and two windows.
The people in Adomrobe worship in a similar
setting. In Kumasi John has been working with the
deaf men who are going through the TEE
(Theological Education by Extension) program.
They are eager to learn more about their faith so
that they can tell others about Jesus. One of my
tasks while here in Ghana will be the job of
"translating" the current TEE materials
for use with the deaf in Kumasi and then in
Adomrobe. It has been a challenge to understand
their sign language. At least for me. It is more
like Signed Exact English. I can understand most
of it but a few things escape me.
In Adomrobe we will be starting a confirmation
class. As of yet, no one there has been confirmed
and because of this no one is able to receive the
Lord's Supper. One of our goals is to have some
of the people in Adomrobe either confirmed or
close to it by the time we leave. Their sign
language is very different from Kumasi, so it
will take a little more time to learn the basics.
Their sign language seems to be more of a
pantomime.
Well, that is about it for now. Keep in touch.
Oh - we will be using a different email address
while we are here. We decided that while we are
here we will be trading email addresses with the
man who is going home on furlough. He will be
using John's email address and we will be using
his. You can find it at the bottom of this email.
So, feel free to send us some email anytime!
Blessings,
Dacia (Derienke was her old AOL name)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Dalton J. Noack djnoack@africaonline.com.gh
------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ps 4:5-7 Offer the sacrifices of
righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.
There are many who say, "Who will show us
any good?" LORD, lift up the light of Your
countenance upon us. You have put gladness in my
heart, more than in the season that their grain
and wine increased.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Thanksgiving Proclamation
(Submitted by Justaservn)
1863
"It is the duty of nations as well as of
men to own their dependence upon the overruling
power of God; to confess their sins and
transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured
hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy
and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth,
announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by
all history, that those nations are blessed whose
God is the Lord.
We know that by His divine law, nations, like
individuals, are subjected to punishments and
chastisements in this world. May we not justly
fear that the awful calamity of civil war which
now desolates the land may be a punishment
inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to
the needful end of national reformation as a
whole people?
We have been the recipients of the choicest
bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these
many years in peace and prosperity; 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
multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, 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. Intoxicated with unbroken success, 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.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that God
should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully
acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by
the whole American people. I do therefore invite
my fellow citizens in every part of the United
States, and also those who are as sea and those
who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart
and observe the last Thursday of November as a
day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent
Father who dwelleth in the heavens."
~ Abraham Lincoln ~
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
You can't consistently perform in a
manner that is inconsistent with the way you see
yourself. ~ Zig Ziglar
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A THANKSGIVING POEM
Submitted by Justaservn & HOME RN97
Twas the night of Thanksgiving, but I just
couldn't sleep
I tried counting backwards, I tried counting
sheep.
The leftovers beckoned-- the dark meat and white,
but I fought the temptation with all of my might.
Tossing and turning with anticipation,
the thought of a snack became infatuation.
So, I raced to the kitchen, flung open the door
and gazed at the fridge, full of goodies galore.
I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,
pickles and carrots, beans and tomatoes.
I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,
till all of a sudden, I rose off the ground.
I crashed through the ceiling, floating into the
sky
With a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie
But, I managed to yell as I soared past the
trees.......
Happy eating to all---pass the cranberries,
please!
Author Unknown
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
ANNOUNCEMENT
We will be starting the Run with the
Vision chat the Tuesday evening following
Thanksgiving. It will be at 8:00 eastern time in
the Run
with the Vision room. It will be a great time
of fellowship and encouragement.
(Run with the Vision is a special chat time
set aside for staff people, both men and women
who would like to meet and support one another in
their calls and transitional times.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lev 22:29 "And when you offer a
sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, offer it
of your own free will.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When you don't have a good reason for
doing a thing, you have one good reason for
letting it alone.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Postcards From God
By Bob Moeller Libertyville, IL
(Submitted by NFleis106)
Timely reminders you haven't been forgotten.
It was 10:00 a.m. the day before Thanksgiving.
In just a few hours the doors to our inner-city
church would open, and we would host our urban
neighbors, many of whom were Native Americans, to
a free Thanksgiving dinner.
I was making last-minute preparations when I
heard a loud knock at the front door. Another
interruption, I thought as I trudged toward the
door. When I opened the door, I was greeted by
two delivery men from Sears.
"Will you sign for this?" one of the
men asked as he shoved a clipboard my way.
"Sure, what is it?"
"A freezer," he answered.
"We didn't order a freezer."
"Someone did," he said. With that,
he and his burly partner pushed past me and
wheeled a full-length deep freeze up the steep
steps and into our church.
As I studied the invoice, I discovered a
sister church had purchased the appliance for us.
That's strange, I thought. They never told us it
was coming.
My mind returned to the Thanksgiving dinner.
Within a few hours, the first flakes of snow
started coming down. In Minnesota in late
November, that can mean anything from a dusting
to three-foot snow drifts. On this particular
day, it meant the worst. By 4:00 p.m., the flakes
had turned into a major- league blizzard. The
timing couldn't have been worse. By that late
hour, all the food for our dinner had been
prepared--a dozen turkeys, nearly a hundred
pounds of mashed potatoes, and scores of
piping-hot pies.
But we had no one to eat any of it. All our
food and effort was about to go to waste.
That's when we remembered the gift we had
received only hours earlier. We wrapped the food
and carried it upstairs to our new storage
freezer. One week later we held the postponed
dinner and served a hot Thanksgiving meal to a
church packed with grateful neighbors and needy
friends.
Looking back, I realize we received more than
an appliance from a department store that day. We
received a postcard from God.
What's a postcard from God? It's one of those
providential, serendipitous events that appear in
our lives and ministry--a reminder that God has
not forgotten us. For me, it's like receiving a
short note that reads, "Dear Bob, I was
thinking of you today. Just thought I'd let you
know. Love, Your heavenly Father."
The ways in which he sends these timely
postcards are as unpredictable as they are
amazing. The net effect seems always the same: to
encourage and strengthen us, often when we need
it the most.
I've noticed several characteristics in the
postcards I've received from God. Perhaps these
observations may help you recognize your own
E-mail (encouragement mail) when it arrives.
Lord bless all of you and Happy Thanksgiving!!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ps 95:2 Let us come before His presence
with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him
with psalms.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Thanksgiving Tree
(Submitted by PrasHm)
Several years ago on one of these lists, one
of the members posted about their family's
tradition of making a Thanksgiving Tree. The tree
is sometimes made out of paper and hung on a wall
or door or, I suppose, you could use a real tree
with lots of branches. Anyway, members of the
family write things they are thankful for on
cut-out leaves and hang them on the tree for many
days leading up to Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving,
the leaves are taken down, scattered on the table
as decoration and family members take turns
reading them sometime around the meal.
This year I did better than most years and got
my tree and first leaves up by the beginning week
of Nov. I thought I might share some interesting
things I have on my tree as I hung up the leaves.
We will have almost 150 leaves this year with 5
of us doing a leaf each day. To give you a verbal
picture, our tree trunk and limbs are cut from a
grocery bag and our leaves are made of red,
orange, green and tan construction paper. Across
the door is a sign: "In EVERYTHING, give
thanks! Our 1997 Thanksgiving Tree" Anyway,
here are some things my family is thankful for.
I am thankful for: salvation, Jesus' death on
the cross, my family, friends who pray for us, my
parents who always show that they love me,
sufficient food and clothing, a good job, school
work (I almost fell over!), that my parents love
me enough to discipline me (another shocker!),
our youth pastors, our on- line friends, all the
girls God has sent to our home, a family that
cares for one another, a baby sister.
As we prepare for all of my family here in the
next couple of days, I wish each of you the
opportunity to take inventory of those things
that you are thankful for. I wish you many leaves
on your Tree of Thanksgiving and wish each of you
to know that you have a place on our tree. I am
thankful for the prayers many of you have prayed
in our behalf, the support and encouragement we
have found here, the love that has been manifest
to us. Our lives would be poorer if you were not
a part of them.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and may God
richly bless each and every one of you.
Rev. Kathy Rateliff; Doula, childbirth &
cord blood educator Administrator, Titus 2
Shepherd Ministries - Titus 2:1-8 http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/4172
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
POT LUCK!
POT LUCK!
Pumpkin Pie Cake
Submitted by PrasHm
1 box yellow cake mix
1 1/2 sticks butter (melted)
1 large can of pumpkin
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
13 oz. can of condensed milk
(I used evaporated.)
Mix cake with butter and set aside. Miz all other
ingredients together.
Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan. (I baked it in 2
round 9" foil pans.) Take
cake mix and spread over the batter. Bake at 350
degrees for 1 hour.
*To spread the batter, I placed it in a pastry
bag and went around in a
spiral on top of the pumpkin mixture. It turned
out beautiful.
Chocolate Angel puff rice pudding
1 1/2 cups rice, cooked
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 6-ounce package of semi-sweet chocolate
morsels, about 1 cup ( save a few
for top )
2 eggs, yokes
1 cup milk
Preheat the oven at 325/o. Combine cooked
rice,1/2 cup milk, sugar, salt,
and spices into a sauce pan over a medium heat
stirring constantly until
boiling. Remove from stove and add chocolate
morsels stirring until melted.
Beat in egg yokes one at a time, stir in 1 cup
milk. Pour into a casserole
dish and bake 40 minutes. Remove from oven. Stir
pudding to distribute rice.
Prepare meringue by beating the 2 egg whites,
gradually beat 1/4 cup sugar,
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar together for stiff
meringue. Drop by spoonsful
around pudding. Reduce oven to 300/o. Place
pudding back into the oven long
enough for the meringue to brown. About 15
minutes.
Chocolate Covered Cherries
by BAMcCaslin
2# powdered sugar
1can (Eagle Brand) sweetened condensed milk
1 stick oleo or butter
1 t. vanilla
10 oz. jar maraschino cherries
parafin
Drain jar of cherries. Let drain overnight. Mix
first four ingredients.
Refrierate overnight. Roll fondant into small
balls and insert cherries.
Place on cookie sheet in refrigerator and leave
overnight. In a double boiler
melt 2 large packages of chocolate chips and 3/4
slab of parafin and dip
fondan
covered cherries in chocolate.
For even MORE recipes, click on these!! More
Recipes and Once-a-Month
Cooking (OAMC)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A complaining spirit is first a caller,
ten a guest, and finally a master.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
~ PRAYER ~
Please send prayer request to C.O.P.E.
Ministries (Christians Online Praying by Email)
in care of Mama Brrr@AOL.com
DON'T FORGET TO LET THEM KNOW YOUR PRAISE
REPORTS!! ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ BAMPRAYER@aol.com
For special prayer JUST for marriages. This is
a ministry from Born Again Marriages. If you
would like to visit their web page. . . click
here: BAMWEB
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CHUCKLES
A local florist just went out of business, but
it was his own fault. He kept getting his orders
mixed up. One woman received flowers sent by her
husband, who was at a business meeting in
Florida. She was perplexed by the message on her
card: "Our deepest sympathy."
But she was not nearly as surprised as the
woman whose husband had just passed
away. Her card read, "Hotter here than I
expected. Too bad you didn't come
too."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
For your Exploring Pleasure,
(If you have discovered a web site that
you think others would be interested
in, please let me know, and I will put it in our
newsletter. Just click & drag
the sight from your Favorite Places and drop it
into your letter.)
NEW:
We
Give Thanks - A Keepsake Book
I'll bet you can find something to add to this!
Kentucky
Christmas</A>
What a treat!!! Take a look and be patient while
it loads - it's worth the
wait!
LAST WEEK:
I
Almost Slipped! - Rev. David Wilkerson
...interesting newsletter at this site...
Splashes
of Joy in the Cesspool of Life
Ever hear of Joyful Journey? Take a look!
This site was suggested to me by Tcmah96 (Trish)
in the chat room on Monday
night. I think it's a wonderful site and a
wonderful program! Check it out.
Angel Tree -
Help Needy Children
___________________________________________________________________
Joy In The Kitchen is an extension of Sarah's
Tent An online ministry devoted to gathering
together God's silent warriors, the wives of
pastors and ministers of all denominations and
cultural backgrounds, as well as their families,
for fellowship, support, laughter and prayer. Isa
51:1-2 / Isa 54:2-3 / Heb 10:24-25
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