Compassion in Tanzania

Fancy Brunch

Last night Mr. Steady and I were laying in bed chatting.  He asked what plans we had for Easter and I responded, "I wish there was someplace that still served brunch."  Now I know I don't need to explain the difference between men & women to you but....men and women view food and food experiences very differently.

Mr. Steady responded by reminding me that most places serve breakfast all day and I could probably order off either menu I wanted.  I launched into a homily which he has heard probably 72 times in the years we've been married about my fond remeberance of Sunday brunches as a child. 

Source

Dayton's best kept secret in the late 1980's-early 1990's was the Magnolia Place on one of the upper floors of Miami Valley Hospital.  Yes, the hospital.  It's hard to get friends and family to join you for Sunday brunch at the hospital.  But once they did, they thanked you immensely.  I think my mom accidentally found out about The Magnolia Place when my grandfather was admitted.  After that we went to the hospital for brunch several times a year.  Always for Easter and Mother's Day.  They had a carving station with ham and roast beef, a Belgian waffle station, an omelet station, each manned by men with giant billowing chef hats.  I remember the plethora of desserts, puddings served in stemmed glasses with a cloud of whipped cream on top, orange and apple juice fountains (this was well before anyone had ever heard of a chocolate fountain).  It was pure elegance to an elementary school girl who lived on a farm and ate tuna salad on toast on the off-Sundays.  A bank of windows streamed in delicious sunlight and we sat in our Sunday best (I'm certain even though I was in 6th grade my mom still made me wear lace anklets and black patent leather shoes that my dad had rubbed with Vaseline until they shined the night before), dining on white tablecloths, stuffing ourselves to our heart's content.

THIS is the experience I had in mind when I mentioned brunch to Mr. Steady.   He said, "Brunch is just for people who sleep in too late but can't wait an hour for lunch so they go out, order breakfast at 10:30 and say 'Oooooo, I'm faaaaaancy',"  And if you know Mr. Steady in real life, you do not need much of an imagination to hear him saying that last part in his best Southern belle voice.

I got lost in a fit of giggles.  THIS is why I love this man so much, he makes me laugh like no one else can.  Even if he will never understand a girls need for a true proper brunch.  We laughed and laughed over this in the dark.

I am SO glad I married this man.  Now I'm still in search of Easter brunch.  With white tablecloths and stemmed juice glasses please.  My man needs some fancy in his life.

Randomness

I bought this the other day.  It smells like my deodorant.  Now my hands constantly smell like I have had them in my armpits. 

This post has all but gone completely by the wayside.  I am 10 weeks pregnant and the only thing I've been intentional about lately is not getting sick, sleeping way too much, and making sure the boys at least have access to food.  That is changing today.  Back on the horse.

I discovered this the other day.  I have been drinking the lemon flavor since I discovered Sonic.  I don't think I will ever go back.  This is deliciousness plus deliciousness combined.  I am currently sipping on my second one of the week.

I found a big blob of blue toothpaste on my bathtub (why do they make kid's toothpaste blue?  It seems no matter the flavor, it's blue) the other day.  I didn't even inquire. 

I just heard that Laura Ingalls and Steve Urkel are going to be on this show.   I will admit I have seen this show a few times here and there but never followed it.  This might be the season I have to see it.

Our curriculum for next school year arrived from here, here, and here this week.

We were eyeball deep researching and learning more about this all week.

I had over 600 read emails just sitting in my inbox so I cleaned it out and now I only have 11 in there.  At least something in my house is cleaned up, even if I'm the only one who sees or knows.  Cleaning from the couch - when all you can do is all you can do.

Today's Tidbit of Helpful Information: Practical Prayer Strategies

Practical Prayer Strategies

by Jill Marbach

1. Keep a journal for prayer, reflection on what God has been teaching you, etc.  Be creative and make it meaningful.

2. Find a place where you can have your quiet time alone so that you can talk out loud.  This may help you keep your mind from wandering.

3. If you are tired, do not lay down and try to pray.  Try kneeling or pacing.

4. When people ask you to pray for them, pray for them at that time.  Then get a piece of paper an write down the person, the request, and the date.  You can write it later in your journal.  Ask the person a few days later about it.

5. Keep a list of "treasures" at the back of your Bible.  Think of a few key times when God has answered your prayers in a supernatural or simple way.  Write these down and then when you are lacking faith in a prayer, you can refer to this list and remember God's faithfulness.

6. Write down the day you pray for something, what the request is, claim a passage of scripture with it, and then continue praying for it until you see God answer.

7. Try to think how you personally can incorporate prayer throughout your day.  For example, pray as you are walking to class, while you are waiting in line for lunch or at the bookstore, etc.  Talk to God about how your day is going, thank Him for what He is doing in and through you that day, etc.

8. Use world prayer cards.  Operation World, world maps, etc. to help you pray for the world.

9. Read through a Psalm a day and then reread it and pray it back to God by replacing all the "He" and "God" words with "You".

10. Put up "prayer points" or motivational verses or quote next to your mirror or in your car or on your refrigerator.

11. Do personal studies on prayer so that you will build Biblical convictions on it.  Look up verses on prayer and meditate and memorize them.  Study famous prayers in the Bible.  Study Jesus' prayer life - when and how did He pray?

12. Pray that God would make you into a man or woman of prayer.

I am in commando declutter mode around here. I have been clipping and saving little bits of helpful information throughout my married life....and that's it. Just saving them. Sometimes they are in my nightstand drawer, a folder, the junk drawer, the cookbook, etc. I know a great idea is to store them in a household binder but I am not even remotely interested in adding ANYTHING else to this house right now. So in an effort to rid my house of these little bits and bobs of paper, I'm going to post them here, like a cork board...my own Pinterest, if you will.

Today's Tidbit of Helpful Information: Praying for Non-Christians

What to Pray for Non-Christians

1. That God draws them to Himself

• John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him..."

2. That they seek to know God

• Acts 17:27 "God did this so that men would see Him and perhaps reached out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us."

3. That they believe the Scriptures

• 1 Thessalonians 2:13 "And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God..."

• Romans 10:17 "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."

4. That Satan is bound from blinding them to the truth

• Matthew 13:19 "When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown with his heart..."

• 2 Corinthians 4:4 "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is in the image of God."

5. That the Holy Spirit works in them

• John 16:8-13 "When (the Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment...He will guide you into all truth..."

6. That God sends someone to lead them to Christ

• Matthew 9:37, 38 "Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.'"

7. That they believe in Christ as Savior

• John 1:12 "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."

• John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever heard My word and believes Him who send Me has eternal life and will not be condemned: He has crossed over from death to life."

8. That they turn from sin

• Acts 17:30, 31 "...(God) commands all people everywhere to repent."

• Acts 3:19 "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."

9. That they confess Christ as Lord

• Romans 10:9-10 "...if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

10. That they yield all to follow Christ

• 2 Corinthians 5:15 "And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again."

• Philippians 3:7-8 "But whatever was to my profit I not consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ..."

11. That they root and grow in Christ

• Colossians 2:6-7 "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthen in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.


**Author unknown to me

Book Reviews

You all know I love to do book reviews...it combines two of my favorite things a) books and b) telling people what I think.  Bwahaha!

If you are a blogger, if you love to read, AND you like free things, I want to tell you about one of my favorite book review programs: Booksneeze. 

Booksneeze is owned by Tommy Nelson Publishing and runs their program differently than others (I truly love them all).  You can only request one book at a time and cannot request another until Booksneeze has received and reviewed your review  In addition to posting on your own blog, you must also post on a book purchasing site such as CBD, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.

There are some really fantastic offerings coming out this month so it would be a great time to sign up to be a book reviewer.  Just visit the website, click on the green "sign up" button on the blue banner, fill out your information and you're all set to go!  Happy reading!

Winner of "Courageous" DVD

The winner of the DVD is

Comment #18 TEllison

I used Random.org to find the winner.  TEllison, there is no identifying information on your Blogger id so please contact me at coveredandpraying (at) sbcglobal (dot) net to give me your full name and mailing address.

If I don't hear back from TEllison by February 15, I will use random.org to pick a new winner!  Congrats and thanks for stopping by, everybody!