Wordless Wednesday - Cloudy Day

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Seeds for thoughts

I've a dozen ideas bouncing in my head
Bits and peices I've heard or read

Thoughts are competing for my time
Poems looking for words to rhyme
Wanting to blossom into something grand
If only I could lend a hand...

Seeds for thoughts wanting explored
Pictures taken of things adored
Friends to greet on blogs here and there
Why is it I've not enough time to share?

Grandchildren calling, they need a ride
Quickly I set my blog aside
But to this fact I am resigned
Thoughts needing written lurk in my mind

They will not be still; they must be said
Those many ideas bouncing in my head.
And if your a blogger just like me
You understand our destiny.

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How was your Christmas?

My mother sits here holding her great grand child. Her grandson, my son, sits next to her. Her great grand son is full of affection and innocence. He is quite contented to sit in his great grandma's lap and she is quite happy to have him. :-)

We enjoyed the day with family. Love and laughter filled the air. We enjoyed dinner and we munched on my mother's cheese spread and crackers and the peanut butter cookies I made while my daughter and her guy did their usual outstanding job of preparing dinner.

The cookies are super simple to make.
I avoid many desserts because of how unhealthy sugar is, so when my daughter asked me to bring a dessert I opted for cherry pie and peanut butter cookies. The pie was already in my freezer and I can whip these cookies up in less than 1/2 hour.

I switched from white sugar to brown to improve the nutrition and then added cinnamon because it helps the body regulate its sugar.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Blend 1 cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon with 1 egg. Once thoroughly blended, mix in 1 cup of peanut butter. Drop balls of batter on to a greased cookie sheet. Dip a fork in flour and criss cross each cookie ball. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool before removing from cookie sheet.

Peanuts contain reservatrol.

"Of those who included peanuts in their diet, test results showed a marked decrease of 21% in cardiovascular disease risks." For more about peanuts and a recipe for your own peanut butter read here.

After we left my daughter's, Mom and I did a little sight seeing of Christmas lights and sang Christmas carols in my car. She has had a stroke, which has left her unable to talk but a few words, but some how her ability to sing is still intact and I love hearing her sweet soprano voice.

I've had a little time to reflect on the season realizing that I am unable to leave a gift for my mailman in the mail box this year. I have 25 grandchildren now, and am unable to shop for each of them. I have made a point in talking to each of them and letting them know that my finances are short and I still love them dearly. I remind them that we need to celebrate Christ's birthday. As I look at each of them, I cannot help but realize God truly loves us, as He gave His son for you and I. I could not part with any of mine and He gave the only one He had!

It was not an immediate gift. He really got to know His son. It wasn't like an unwed mother tearfully giving up her child at birth. He never left His son. He was a part of His daily walk and His teachings. He sent a dove to tell the world how proud He was of him. He was not angry or unacquainted with Him. He was not a father to abandon His own like some deadbeat fathers/mothers who don't take the time or effort to send in the child support. He LOVED, truly loved His son. He instilled in Him multiple gifts and wisdom. His son did not detour from the path He gave Him. Jesus was His only son, and He unselfishly gave His son's life that we may be free. Now THAT's a gift!

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Thankfully Thursday - Promises

As a child I often heard Mom ask something of Dad. When he did not perform the requested task and "promised" to do it at some future time, Mom's response was "Promises, promises, promises.."
Dad would also ask Mom for certain things, like cherry pie for example. She might respond that she would make it for him on the upcoming week end and he would in turn say "Promises, promises, promises..."

There are some promises which are sacred and are truly promises. They are meant to be kept and never broken. God made a promise to Noah in Genesis 9:8-16 that He would never destroy the world again by flood. As a reminder of His promise we have the rainbow.

While listening to a pilot's testimony on Family Life radio, I was surprised to learn that rainbows are formed in circles. The actual rainbow has no beginning and no end and flows continually, as a promise should. It does not have an ending date, like an expiration. It is similar to our wedding rings representing a continuous link of love between man and wife. A rainbow represents a timeless promise and a continuous love.

I found a profound poem written by John Keats. In "Lamia" the poet Keats laments the science of rainbows feeling that rainbows are not something science should be trying to explain away:

Do not all charms fly
At the mere touch of cold philosophy?
There was an awful rainbow once in heaven:
We know her woof, her texture; she is given
In the dull catalogue of common things.
Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine –
Unweave a rainbow

Rather than worrying about how a rainbow comes about, I rely on God's word and know that He is the source. I appreciate that His promises can be trusted, and do not have to understand the colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and then violet. Is the sequence of colors important, or the fact that God does not lie and we can trust His promise?

"I solemnly promise you and your children and the animals you brought with you - and these birds and cattle and wild animals-that I will never again send another flood to destroy the earth. And I seal this promise with this sign; I have placed my rainbow in the clouds as a sign of my promise until the end of time..."

The beauty of His words and His sign are something to remind us of His love and the meaning of giving a promise.

Stay well and God bless.

picture sources: rainbow, wedding bands

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