good morning blessed ones!!! what's on your agenda today? for me, I'm starting with laundry and will probably finish with laundry. I let it build up and then do it all in a days time. I may have to stop that practice, because it's getting harder and harder to get it all done in a days time. but, we'll see. I think I had mentioned shredding 45 years worth of accumulated papers; well, that will continue today also. I burned up the old shredder, so the new one is arriving pretty early today, supposed to anyway. so we'll see. I have a ton a of junk to shred. have you ever shredded a lot of stuff? it looks like pillows when you get the bags tied up. hahaha not anything you want to have a pillow fight with though. what a mess that would be!!!
when I got up and looked outside this morning, it was so foggy you couldn't see across the road. it was actually frozen fog and really beautiful. many years when my dad was still alive and he and mom was living out in the country as the home place, my husband and I got up on a saturday morning and headed up to see them. this was before the days of having cell phones with decent cameras in them and I usually picked up my good camera before we left the house. that was my standard operating procedure for many years. this particular morning, I forgot my camera!!! we got started out and it was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. absolutely everything was covered in frozen fog and it glistened in the distance as far as the eye could see. at one point, I actually thought that this must be what heaven will be like. everything near and far glistened like it was covered with billions of diamonds. it was so funny in the fact that it stayed beautiful just like that from our house to mom and dads house, a little over an hour away. it was just a spectacular sight. I have thought ever since then, that it was divine intervention that I did forget the camera. I would have been fussing and trying to get the right pics in the view finder. as it was, I enjoyed it immensely and so did my husband. it was a spectacular event and it doesn't happen often. that's what this morning reminded me of. God is good all the time and sometimes He just wants us to enjoy what He puts before us. that morning He put that spectacular occurrence in place for our viewing pleasure and if I would have had my camera, I would have missed the whole experience. what has God put in place just for you to see?
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freezing foods is one of my main methods of preserving foods. plus when I grocery shop, if I see a good deal on something, I like to have room for what ever I find. I like to be as prepared as I can be at all times, not just now, but for the last 45 years of marriage. we've seen some lean times and always been able to fare pretty well, just by being prepared. I call it "shopping wisely". I always have a list, but I'm always flexible too. I stay flexible because I never know when I'll find a great deal. I grew up in a large family and my Momma always had a plan. I guess I got that from her. so I'm grateful I was paying attention to her.
one of my freezers started acting up last summer and we went to lowes and got a Midea upright, garage ready freezer, I think it was either 21 or 24 sq ft. it happened to be on sale at the time. I went to the dollar tree and got some of the really pretty and deep baskets and put 2 per shelf and it's been awesome. this specific freezer is for meat only, so I have a fish and seafood shelf, beef shelf, pork shelf, chicken and fowl shelf and then the door and huge basket in the bottom catches anything that doesn't necessarily have a home. one of my other freezers is going bad too, so we'll probably end up getting a smaller one, same brand, this year some time.
we have a freezer thermometer in each of freezers in the garage, with the base in the house and if one gets above a certain temp, the alarm goes off and then we can check it out to see what's happening. so if you don't have room for your freezers in the house, freezer thermometers are the way to go. it was a life saver last year when the other one started going bad. the temp got up to 40 degrees, not for long enough time that anything thawed or even started thawing. but it was scary. we got busy and went to lowes and then I got busier and got all my freezers cleaned out real good and organized, and have white boards on the door of each one telling what's in them. my husband can find anything if I need for him to get something for me.
a lot of time when I'm shopping if I find a good deal on lets say, ground turkey, I'll get several pkgs and when I get home, I'll make some into burgers and some into meatballs and pkg some in 1/2 lb pkgs and then they are ready for me to use as I need them. some of the items I get may already be in a vac seal pkg and I'm good with those, cause I just put them in the freezer as is.
the main thing is to be able to take advantage of a good sale and maximize your use of the food. I used to just stick big pkgs of meat in the freezer and then I'd have to cook it all because I had to thaw it all. so now, I pre-pkg meat that I bought in bulk before it goes to the freezer. I try to set myself up for success if at all possible.
I do the same with vegetables. I have a smaller 14 cubic foot freezer for veggies and have baskets in it too. if you can get baskets for your freezer, it really makes it easier to store stuff without getting everything jumbled. the baskets do take away some valuable storage space, but it's worth it to be able to know vegetables are separated by baskets. it's so easy to reach in and get what I need. plus, it's easy to keep tabs on what I need to replenish. so I can keep an eye out for veggies on sale and keep from getting too low in my stock.
I'll tell you something else too, I always pray that God will bless me with good sales. and He always blesses my efforts. so I would suggest to you to do the same thing. make a plan, but be flexible, watch for sales and ask God to bless your efforts to feed your family. I hope this is some ideas that may be useful to you or someone you know.
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giggle for the day:
Q - What is a computer’s first sign of old age?
A - Loss of memory.
😂😂😂😂
now I know what's wrong with me, I'm a computer. hahahaha
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picking up at Isaiah 34, there is coming a time when there will be universal judgement and calamity taking place upon all nations. all lands will become total wastelands with only wild animals and scavengers surviving. Isaiah is warning the people to seek the word and read from God's book, letting us know that His word is the only source of truth. God's word is sure and reliable and we can know the truth of what is coming.
Isaiah 35, this is a chapter filled with a future, hope and promise. God's people will be restored. sick will be healed, lame will be leaping for joy and the blind will see perfectly!! future, hope and promise!!! God is our strength and comfort!!! God is our path of safety and righteousness!!!! those who have put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ will be filled with joy and gladness!!!!!! I'm longing for that day!!!
Isaiah 36, this particular chapter shows us that we need to trust in God, not human power!! rely on God for deliverance. God always shows up with power and faithfulness for His people. trust in God always, and in times of crisis.
Isaiah 37, God promises to defend His people for His own sake!!! if you don't think God is powerful, read this chapter. His angel single handedly takes out 185,000 soldiers in a single night!!! who but God could do that???? we can trust in God when there is no one else to trust. God's name will be proclaimed loudly by all the nations on the earth.
Isaiah 38, this chapter puts special emphasis on God's power and mercy for healing and restoration. God hears real heart felt prayers. trusting in God even when the circumstances seem too dire. God responds to real heart felt prayers. in reality, He may not answer us in the way that we desire Him to, but His will answer and His answer to our prayers is always for the best. one of the things here is to be prepared for our eternity. are you prepared for eternity?
Isaiah 39, this is a warning to not get so wrapped up in earthly things that we become prideful. the things that we might call treasures, make no difference. are you putting treasures before your eternity? what about when your gone, what will happen to those treasures that you was so proud of? even things that in and of themselves are good, can become things of pride and a stumbling block for us. pride leads to consequences.
Isaiah 40, this chapter reminds us of the greatness of God and giving glory only to Him because of the hope and encouragement we find in Him alone. we are to find comfort and strength in our hard difficult times. God is a God of restoration and forgiveness!!!! Praise Him!!!! He is in control of it all!!!! no matter what the chaos around you looks like, God is in control. God created the universe and sustains it, He'll take care of you and me!! our life is fleeting, but we will have an eternity in His presence, or an eternity out of His presence, the choice is ours. we can trust God with our future, because He's been faithful with our past. He can be trusted!!
Isaiah 41, do you need encouragement? this chapter was written for all of us then, because we do need encouragement from time to time. God says, "Fear not"...... idols and treasures are powerless, there's not even any comparison to God. Gods people will be restored and they will have victory over their enemies. we will have victory, God will give victory!! trust God!! it makes no difference how many times we've failed, God's love endures and will carry us through!!!
Isaiah 42, here we see a servant, Jesus Christ, will bring justice to the nations, open blinded eyes and free prisoners. Jesus Christ will fulfill the very will of God thru salvation and justice. there will be a new song to sing. a song of praise to God for what He's going to do.
Isaiah 43, God will not abandon us, fear not, because God has redeemed us!!!!! He will not abandon us in our darkest hours. God will be with us when we are overwhelmed with difficult situations and encourages us to look forward to the new things God is about to do. we have a future of hope and renewal. God is the only true God!!!! trust Him in the face of uncertainty.
Isaiah 44, God is reassuring His people of His care and protection of them. then we see the foolishness of idolatry because they have no power or intelligence. God is our redemption and forgives our sins.
next time we pick up with Isaiah 45.
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I guess we'll make this do for now. I hope as we push thru our day today that we will be ever mindful of what God is doing in our lives. may we be found seeking after the heart of God in all we do. this has become my theme for this year, "seeking after the heart of God". you see, we're not perfect, we sin, we fall, we fail, we stumble, we make messes, but thru it all, if we are "seeking after the heart of God", He knows it!!! He forgives, He comes into our messes and turns them into messages!!! He comes into our failures and makes them victories!!! He offers redemption and salvation where ever He is. may we be found seeking after the heart of God today. blessings of "fear not" and victory be ours today!!
hugs and love, patty
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