Encouraging Words From Friends

I'm starting a new page to this blog...
  Encouragement and Blessings From Friends

Find it here:  Encouragement and Blessings From Friends

From time to time, I will be posting words of love from great friends.  I often read their Facebook or Instagram posts and feel inspired and encouraged.  So I asked if I could share these words with you.  :)

Here's the first post, from my sweet friend Amy Craig...

Encouraging Words From Friends

~

Post #1 "Words Can Heal, Help, or Hurt"

August 28th, 2016 by Amy Craig
   ~  Amy Craig Photography  ~

I've been a photographer since 2008. I can't tell you that I've never had a bad session, because I have. But I was thinking on my ride home from my session this evening just how second nature shooting is to me now. I really don't have to think about it. I used to struggle with shooting in manual in the beginning. I was constantly thinking about settings. Until I was fully knowledgeable. But now it's like breathing. We don't think about it. We just do it. A few days ago I was texting with a fellow artist. She was asking me advice on something and I simply said "Create". Just one word. Today she sent me her creation and it was awesome!!
So photography and my "create" texting conversation has me pondering two things. One, is just how powerful knowledge is. And two, just how powerful our words are.

1) If you're struggling in understanding something, anything, educate your self.
2) Take a few minutes to think about the words that come out of your mouth or flow through your fingers as you text.
Your life can change when you have deeper understanding.

And, your words can heal, help or hurt.

Vintage ~ Old Time Recipe Day!

I just LOVE old fashioned vintage cooking!  There is something special about finding a tried and true recipe from an antique cook book; a recipe that has been used by families for many many years.  These kind of recipes make me feel connected to a simpler time; a time where family always gathered around the dinner table.  Kids weren't on there phones, no hats at the table, and talk about school and work was the main topic of conversation. 

Years ago, I started collecting vintage cookbooks.  I love the feel of the old tattered pages, the smell of tradition, and the beautiful pictures and writings.  I also inherited many family recipes that were collected, some even from over 100 years ago. 

Recipe boxes from my great aunt. 

I'm a traditional girl with traditional values.  I try to have that kind of home.  Of course it doesn't always work out, and things get crazy, but I feel it's so important to try and keep some of those traditions that "just work." 

So we decided it would be so much fun to create one of these vintage recipes, once a week, and share them with you! Every week, I will add a new recipe post "Old Time Recipe of the Day." I will add them all to this page for your reference and hopefully together, we can find some great recipes! 

Let's get cooking
     Sweet love to ya!

******************************

Old Time Recipe of the Day #1

Cheese Timbales

Ragu Cheese Timbales Recipe

RECIPE DIRECTIONS

Great Italian Meals ~ The Easy Way from Ragu

~a vintage collection of Italian recipes 1950's or early 1960's

Food Photos...

"They were yummy!"

Advice:

Next time I make these, I would use less oil, about 1/4 inch

of oil total.  I would

also use half cooking

oil and half olive oil.

Happy Cooking!  :)

Quote of the Day

Hello! 
   It's a beautiful morning in the Laurel Highlands.  I have two new inspirational quotes for you. 

   I love creating quotes, with the hopes that it will help people.  I know how much they have helped me this past year.  It seemed like all I could do some days was search Pinterest for helpful words of encouragement. 

We have had some major life changes happening again and I really feel God moving.  I'm so grateful for all that is going.  ~Still so very much to pray for, as there is with all of us humans. 

   We all have struggles and most of our close friends and family don't have a clue what is going on inside hearts and minds.   I always turn to the quotes about being kind to everyone, "because you don't know the battle they are facing."  That is soooooo true and something that needs to be remembered daily. 

Quote of the day...

bonus quote...

   Photos and sayings by me S.E.

Have a blessed day and remember to be kind.  It really is the best way to witness, especially to a gentle soul. 

Sweetly,

Samantha

A Lesson From the Crab Apple

I just love crab apples!  I love their cuteness and the fact that the deer enjoy them for snack time.  I love their color, smell, and country charm.

When my kids were little, I taught them a lesson from the crab apple.  You see, crab apples are dull and often dirty when they lay on the ground.  However, if you take one and buff it just a little with your t-shirt, the apple immediately takes on a glorious shine! 

 See them?  They are dull, dirty, and defeated.

But then,

just a little love...

Shiny and new!  Clean and looking good!

I'm sure you can guess where I'm going with this one...

We are like crab apples,

yes,

we get dull and dirty by our

sins, our burdens, our fears...

But...

No matter how damaged, broken, or dirty we become in sin, GOD can

make us clean again!

We can be forgiven and cleaned up by His grace!

2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Psalms 51:10 - Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

***********************

  The other lesson I see here is about treating people with kindness.  People can be like crab apples.  You may see someone who is crabby or having a bad day, or someone who is broken, defeated, and just tired.  *It sometimes just takes one nice comment or a bit of encouragement and you can SHINE UP someone's day!  

It doesn't take much and you don't need to be a licensed counselor, just give someone a smile, a simple compliment, or a hand with a daunting task. 

Shine someone up today!

It will make you feel better too!

Sweet Love!

~Samantha

Why I'm Not a Happy Parent

That's ME!  ~squawking at my kids.

Why I'm not a happy parent...
 
   I now know why I'm not a happy parent, why WE are not happy with day to day life...

We live in a world of selfishness.

We live in a world of instant gratification.

We live in a world of "the next BIG thing." ~always looking to what is next, instead of being happy where we ARE.

We live in a world of "fast paced", "filled to the brim" schedules. ~feeling the need to ALWAYS be doing something.

I feel the guilt. The guilt that comes with not being able to give your children EVERYTHING you think they need. 

    The constant sea of emotions that comes with trying to keep your children HAPPY every second of the day, can crush parents like a tidal wave.

I am that parent; I feel that guilt, that frustration.  I deal with the questions, "why can't we..." on a daily basis.  The fact is, I screwed up.  I DON'T need to keep my kids "happy, happy, happy," every second of the day.    I don't need to take them to Disney every summer, or have a schedule with no free time to be bored.  KIDS NEED TO SELF SOOTH; TO BE CREATIVE AND MAKE THEIR OWN FUN!  They just NEED to KNOW they ARE LOVED!

I've learned this late, like "this morning" late.  I JUST CAN'T TAKE THE GUILT ANYMORE!!!" 

I try to show my kids LOVE every day; that is of course the MOST IMPORTANT. THERE'S NOTHING wrong with a full schedule or trips to Disney.  Those parents also feel guilt and frustration in other areas.  No one ever, ever says that "parenting is easy," and "I have got it all figured out."

I think we all agree on that.

So I'm gonna try, and fail, and try some more, to be a good parent, to get rid of the guilt.  That guilt does NOT come from God! 

As my kids grow older and older, I want to think that I'm training them and preparing them to be content.  Contentment is different than happiness. I really think that being content is WAY MORE IMPORTANT than being HAPPY.

God says...

Matthew 6:25-26

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6:32-33

32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

I just wanted to share my thoughts with you this morning and encourage you.  Get rid of the guilt!  Let LOVE be FIRST! 

Have a sweet day friends!

Sweetly,

Samantha

Great Teacher Gift

     Teachers work hard to help our children.  It's always a nice gesture to present an end-of-the-year teacher gift.  This year I decided to draw inspiration from the novel Tuck Everlasting, which was the novel my kid read this year in school.  This is one of my favorite books so I chose a quote, printed it, and using my paper craft skills, placed it in a dollar store frame.
       Here's how it turned out and the teacher LOVED it!...

Teacher Gift

Bargain Teacher Gift

The frame was purchased at Family Dollar for $2.50 ~ a great bargain! I used three layers of paper, hand torn and craft scissored, to create this look.  :)

Thank you TEACHERS, for all you do!

Sweetly,

SE

Mother's Day Walk

I always enjoy a nice hike for Mother's Day.  It's a chance to be with my family in the beauty of God's creation.  I bring the camera along in case I see any new bird species or little details in nature that I wish to remember. 

Here are some great shots from our walk...

Because He Lives!

I am saved!

Spring Beauty

   The glory of spring is almost here!  After long winters on the mountain, I really look forward to the season of spring and God's creation bursting forth with life and color. 
     Thank you Father God, for your amazing creations.  You are the true creator and artist!