~
There's JOY in the Kitchen ~
~When we realize that ~
It was before you all the time.
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A weekly newsletter from Sarah's Tent, an
online ministry tailored towards Pastor's Wives.
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Isa 51:1-2 / Isa 54:2-3 / Heb 10:24 ,25
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A Moment In Time
By JoyfulArt
Awaking with the sound of birds outside of my
window, I laid there on my bed under a gentle
cool breeze drinking in the fresh newness of the
morning. For some reason I had awakened alert and
refreshed this morning, unlike many where I could
barely get myself out of bed.
My desire was to be an ordered person, taking
care of personal things in the morning, reading
the Word, eating a decent breakfast and beginning
my day with my "head on straight". With
the shower completed, hair combed and makeup
actually on, I went downstairs and poured water
in my coffee pot for tea.
My eleven year old son had asked me if I would
awaken him so he could have tea with me in the
backyard if I got up early today. So tip toeing
into his room, I sat on the edge of his bed and
rubbed his back. The quiet richness of the
morning was just too precious to speak louder
than a whisper, and I wanted to drink in every
second of this rare moment. Instinctively my son
threw back the covers and fell into the swing of
quietly putting on his clothes as though
anticipating some delicious secret event that
only he was going to be privy to.
Standing in the kitchen together we stirred
the honey into our cups and poured the hot water
over the delicious herbal teas we had selected
from our private "stash". Once outside
we sat on our bench and breathed deeply, smiling
and entering into a sort of oneness with all of
nature. Sitting there I noticed four huge trees
in the back yards behind us. Each was being
touched by the same wind that was blowing that
morning, yet each had a different sound and
rhythm in response to that wind.
My son was speaking to me about his world and
the things that interested him when I noticed
something floating just beyond his lap. It was a
long legged spider attached to a strand of web
being carried by the breeze that was blowing our
way. Pointing to it we both drew up and pressed
against the wall of the house to avoid being
landed upon by this unwelcome visitor. The web
floated past us carrying it's guest into the
grass beyond our patio.
There were a few flies that began to bother
us, and I was puzzled by their presence as there
was nothing to attract them that I could see.
Standing up and stretching my son glanced down at
my feet. "Mom!" he exclaimed,
"There is half of a mouse under your
chair!" "Gross!" I moaned,
instructing him to go get something to throw the
mouse into, a sort of payment by our big black
male cat, the worlds greatest mouser. He was
always good at working to pay for his 'keep'.
It struck me then that God was speaking all
around us through the creatures that we were
keeping company with. "Son," I asked,
"If God were speaking to us through the
things we've seen this morning, what would He be
saying?"
His eyes turned toward the big trees and he
sat silently for what seemed quite a while, taken
away by his wandering thoughts. The morning was
as hypnotic to him as it had been to me! He
sighed and replied, "Well, I guess God would
be telling us that we are all different and react
to His Holy Spirit differently!"
I was pleased, he was catching on so well! I
wondered silently what the floating spider might
'mean' as well as the dead mouse. As my thoughts
wandered, my son chatted happily and freely. It
struck me that I was missing the most precious of
moments, and that was the love and trust of my
son as he shared his deepest thoughts. So caught
up was I with 'interpreting' the signs about me,
that I was oblivious to a most wonderful gift
from the Father Himself...my son.
Later as I taught in church, the things I'd
seen that morning came back to me along with an
understanding of what the spider could have
represented. There was a need to illustrate the
ease with which we get caught up in unrighteous
behavior, and that we should avoid it as it
silently comes our way to land in our lives. The
flies that were attracted by the dead mouse
symbolized the enemy, who after all is the
"Lord of Flies". When something in our
lives dies, like our First Love, the enemy is
sure to be attracted to the stench that will
emanate from within us. The flies representing
bitterness, frustration, anger, irritations,
ugliness, or in other words, the works of the
flesh.
God is amazing to me. He is not limited in how
He speaks to me, and loves to speak to me in the
language that I'm the most familiar with. Being a
visual and creative person with artistic talent,
I delight that He chooses to illustrate His word
in such magnificent ways. The fact that my child
so readily heard the voice of God through the
breezes thrilled me as well. I rejoiced in that
very special moment which had been under my nose
the whole time. I had but to step into the moment
to receive this sweet gift brought to me by my
First Love, Jesus.
~ ~ ~ ~
The best things you can give children,
next to good habits, are good memories.
Sydney J. Harris
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Sent in By LGMtwin in response to JITK
Issue # 17
I was touched by your thought to "take
time for your family". We have always MADE
time for our family through vacations (which we
really couldn't afford) outings, picnics, lots
and lots of talks and playtimes together. We have
been told that we shouldn't do so much since we
certainly couldn't afford it. But we felt it was
important as a family to do things that our 3
children would enjoy and remember always. We were
always ready with lots of hugs and I love you's
& kisses. Even today I smile as my 22 year
old son calls and says I love you mom, and when
he sees me gives me a hug and kiss even in front
of his friends. My 24 year old daughter sits or
lays on my lap just to get extra loves. The
reason I say all this is because 7 years ago our
oldest daughter then 20 was murdered. We know in
our hearts that we always showed her lots of love
and affection. We have no regrets of what if we
had only told her a little more that we loved
her, or had more quality time.
I say all that to say this, you can't love
your family too much, you can't say I'll do this
or that another time. (there may not be another
time) your can't love and show your spouse too
much how much you love them. Children need to
know that their mom and dad love each other.
Sometime is nice to go up and hug someone and say
I Love you for no reason at all...
GO LOVE YOUR FAMILY
no regrets
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Behold, children are a gift of the Lord.
Psalm 127:3a
~ ~ ~ ~
DON'T BE FOOLS; BE WISE: MAKE THE MOST
OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY YOU HAVE FOR DOING GOOD.
Ephesians 5:16
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
POT LUCK!
Sent in by Lambiee Obtained from the Disney site.
Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes
4 cups diced seeded tomato
3 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
3 tbsp. minced green onions
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. coriander seeds, crushed
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups hot cooked vermicelli (about 3/4 lb.
uncooked pasta)
Combine first 9 ingredients in a large bowl,
and toss well. Add the pasta; toss well. Serve at
room temperature. Yield: 8 servings (serving
size: 1 cup).
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
CALORIES 188 (13% from fat)
FAT 2.8g (sat 0.4g, mono 1.4g, poly 0.6g)
PROTEIN 6g
CARBOHYDRATES 35.3g
FIBER 3.1g
CHOLESTEROL 0mg
IRON 2.2mg
SODIUM 83mg
CALCIUM 26mg
Other Recipe Sites: Doffycook's
Nethome
For even MORE recipes, click on these!! More
Recipes and Once-a-Month
Cooking (OAMC)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Children are God's apostles, day by day
sent forth to preach of love and hope and peace. Lowell
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NEEDING PRAYER?
Contact Sarah's Tent at SarahsTent@aol.com
, and not only will we pray, but your request
will be sent to the proper prayer chains as well.
Just be sure to send your praise report when God
moves o
n your behalf!!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
FAITH WALKS OUT WHEN EXHAUSTION WALKS IN
Dewayne Parish
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
PARTING THOUGHT
by JoyfulArt
Have you ever experienced moments of
confusion, or lapses of memory? Has the thought
come to you that perhaps it is just a symptom of
growing older? You notice that you are not as
strong as you used to be and don't have the
energy or enthusiasm you once had. Desires that
used to beat clear as a bell within your heart,
now seem dull and unimportant. Perhaps you are
struggling with doubt and unbelief, leading to
despair and depression?
Things that you once loved to do are now
almost overwhelming to even think about, they
seem like just 'one more thing' to get done. How
about this, have you found yourself dozing at the
wheel of your car, or nodding off at stop lights?
Do yourself a favor, and slow down. You may be
experiencing extreme exhaustion, not old age!
Your life and the lives of your loved ones could
be at stake due to you plowing through life
beyond what your physical body can handle. Did
you know that deaths in traffic due to falling
asleep at the wheel are second only to drunk
drivers? What price are you paying - and for
what?
Deut 30:19
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today
against you, that I have set before you life and
death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose
life, that both you and your descendants may
live; (NKJ)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Pattie's Web Picks for the Week
Kid-Friendly Sites:
http://www.wwjd.com/
What would Jesus do? This web site is dedicated
to just that: the question that's on the bracelet
of children, youth, and adults across the nation.
The site contains testimonials, devotionals,
postcards, a game, a contest and more. The CO
newsletter gave this site a 4-fish rating, and I
would have to agree, it's an awesome site!
WebSideStory's
Top 1000 Children Sites
(http://www.hitbox.com/wc/world.100.ChildrenProducts.html)
This site claims to update its 1000 sites every 4
hours. All I know is, it would take me at least 4
hours to go through half of the sites listed
here!!!!!!! (In the first 300, many are related
to Beanie Babies.) Here are a few I did find that
are kind of fun, and so you might want to check
them out:
Schoolhouse
Rock Downloads
(http://www.cwonders.com/cwonders/shr/download.html)
I grew up on Schoolhouse Rock so this was a fun
place to visit. I didn't download any of the
songs or anything, but they're available.
Paper
Projects
(http://www.ptialaska.net/~bundyd/paper.html)
This site has a bunch of fun projects to do with
paper (for example, origami) and other related
sites. This might be good for those "I'm
bored" days.
TrippyHippy's
Coloring Book
(http://trippy.shano.com/colors.phtml) Coloring
book pages and links to similar sites. This might
be another good "I'm bored" or rainy
day activity for the summer.
The
Page at Pooh Corner
(http://chaos.trxinc.com/jmilne/Pooh/) and IRENE'S
WINNIE THE POOH PAGE (http://www.fuzzyfaces.com/irpooh1.html)
Southern Baptist boycott notwithstanding, I still
love Winnie the Pooh! Here are two great Pooh web
pages. The first one has history on the real
Christopher Robin and A.A. Milne, so it might be
more for Moms and Dads than for little ones. The
second has around 200 Pooh graphics available to
download. I liked both sites and look forward to
visiting them again soon.
If you have any web sites you would like to
recommend, please send them to PattieRWR (Pattie)
We'll be happy to write reviews for the
newsletter!
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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