How Do I Know What to Pray?

Sometimes I don't even know what to pray. How do I know what the will of God is in a given situation? I know from Jesus' words that I don't have to be afraid to ask. I can trust that He has my best interests at heart. God is wanting to give me good things in my life and my children's lives. I wouldn't give my child a dirty rock instead of a tasty, hot, baked roll and I am just a messed up human, so shouldn't I expect God wants to do good to me and mine?

 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"  ~Matthew 7:7-11

The dilemma is WHAT do I ask God to do?
Sometimes I seem to contradict myself and worry myself sick that I could be praying THE WRONG THING. How then in confusing circumstances do I know what to pray?
Do I pray for someone who is terminally ill to be healed? Someone who is clearly hurting and ready to go to heaven, or that God would be glorified and many come to Him because of that godly person's death and clear witness? Do I pray for better circumstances for my child when I see they are clearly hurting or or straying, or that whatever it takes they would be where they should be? I have come to the point in my prayer struggles that I feel can be persistent in praying what I think is the will of God, and make my requests to Him, like the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18, but I don't have to worry if I know His will perfectly, because.... 
He knows His own will! I can just pour my heart out to Him and He will work on changing me first. He can do exceedingly MORE than I ask! 

 
"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." ~ Romans 8:26-28

At times I feel I should be like the woman in Jesus' parable that never stopped asking until she got her answer, at other times I feel I've pestered petitioned Him enough and I must keep giving the situation to Him every day if need be until it is resolved in His timing, and in His way. How many times have I looked back and said, "Thanks Lord, that You did NOT answer my prayer! Your way was so much better!" I can make my requests known to Him and rest, because He will guard my heart and mind and give me peace.

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?  ~Luke 18:1-8
  
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." ~Philippians 4:6-7

Strawberry Crepes

We had crepes for breakfast! 

  Crepes are a nice, thin little pancake that you can fill with savory or sweet ingredients. You can make these strawberry filled ones naughty, nice, or somewhere in-between. By that I mean you could use yogurt and unsweetened berries if you are trying to be super good. Sweetened berries, whipped cream & powdered sugar if you are bent on blowing your diet. We LOVED the sort of in-between ones I made today which had cream whipped made with a very small amount of sugar and vanilla & unsweetened berries piled inside. I put the extra unfilled crepes between waxed paper and stored them in the fridge.

Blend together with a mixer:

• 1 ½ cups milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tab. sugar (possibly could leave this out)
• 1 Tab. oil
•  1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 cup flour 

Heat a small skillet over medium heat with a small amount of oil or butter. Remove the pan from the burner and put 2-3 Tablespoons of batter in the pan swirling the pan quickly to coat the bottom.

Set the pan back on the burner and cook until the edges are brown. Brown only one side. These are so thin they will be cooked on the topside without flipping over.

Loosen the edges and invert your pan over a plate with a paper towel and there you are! 
A wonderful little crepe! Real whipped cream that you whip yourself is the best. ENJOY!

 I saved you some.

If You Ever

If you ever need a friend. If you ever need a listening ear. If everyone else's lives seem perfect, 

you can talk to me. 

Or find a true friend, maybe an older person whom you trust to confide in, ask advice from. Talking to Jesus is best, but sometimes you just need a friend besides Jesus, or maybe that's being Jesus in the flesh and bones on earth to someone...being there for them in heartache. Nothing you could tell me about your family would shock me, because as a friend of mine said, "Satan doesn't need any new tricks, 

he just uses the same ones down through time."

Sometimes I wonder if that's why we don't have perfect families. We are supposed to be able to empathize with others. Jesus is our high priest, and the bible says: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin." ~ Hebrews 4:15

So He sympathizes with us in our weakness and He knows we are far from perfect, and so our families are far from perfect. We shouldn't pretend we are perfect to our kids or the world. Who is going to reach out for encouragement if every one of us looks like we have it all together? We are to strive for personal holiness without becoming holier-than-thou. Thank You, Lord, for my imperfect world that makes me long for You even more. Thank You, that you allow daily turn-arounds.

"I will praise the Lord at all times;
my mouth will continually praise him." ~ Psalm 34:1

Christmas Candies: Homemade Tag-a-Longs, Reese's Bars, Divinity, Coconut Bon-Bons, Toffee, Tea Cakes & Chocolate-Covered Cherries

Christmas Goodies like these have always been THE gift to our favorite families. 

Everyone has their favorite. Bon-Bons are probably mine. I can remember Momma sometimes also dipped the Bon-Bons in melted butterscotch chips or cherry chips. This year I did almond bark and chocolate-covered ones. The toffee was a new candy for me to make this year. I followed the directions to sprinkle chocolate chips on top and let them melt and spread the chocolate. It didn't work out so well. The chips didn't melt right even when I popped it into the oven. So if there's  next time I will melt the chocolate and pour over the set toffee. It's still yummy.

Here's the link for the "Better than Lofthouse" Tea Cake recipe  which is my great grandmother's recipe. 

Chocolate-Covered Cherries directions are here.

The Tag-A-Longs are just 2 Ritz crackers with peanut butter spread in the middle, then dipped in chocolate. I like to mix chocolate almond bark or milk chocolate with semi-sweet chocolate.

Recipe for Bon-Bons will be here.

Reese's Bars recipe is here.

I did not use it, but this is the Toffee recipe from Pioneer Woman's site. I wanted the brown sugar one that I can't find. My recipe will be here eventually. It's only 1 c. brown sugar, 1 cup butter, dash salt.

Homemade Reese's like Bars

These are wonderful and can even be made a little healthier. Less butter, more peanut butter. Less sugar and sneak in some oat or flax flour. My guy said he notices when I make them healthier, but I notice that he eats them all up anyway. ;)

There's only 4 ingredients in the original recipe:

• 1 c. butter, softened
• 1 c. peanut butter
• 1 pkg. from a box of graham crackers, crushed
• 2 c. chocolate chips (I like to mix semi sweet & milk chocolate)   

Here's a link to other candy recipes I make.

Bon-Bons- A Coconut and Pecan Dream!

This is my favorite candy to make at Christmas. 

 I have started messing around a bit to make them less sugary by putting in some flour in place of some of the powdered sugar, also I don't try to make the dough too stiff, I just place the bowl in the fridge for awhile, roll them into balls and then freeze the balls before dipping in chocolate or almond bark. I make the "dough" or centers ahead of time, store in the freezer and then dip them as we have Christmas functions to attend. After dipping leave them in a cool, to room temperature place, and the centers will be gooey.

To make the centers you'll need:

• 1 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 1/2 sticks Butter, softened, but not liquid
• 2 cups Bakers Coconut (It's nice and moist)
• 2 1/2 cups Pecans, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• Powdered Sugar and Flour to make a dough (original recipe says 2lbs. sugar. This is too sweet for me)

Mix all together and chill, covered, in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Roll the dough centers into small balls and place on waxed paper-lined cookie sheets and freeze. Once the balls are hardened melt your chocolate. I use semi-sweet and milk chocolate for the chocolate dipped ones and almond bark for the white ones. The swirl is melted almond bark that was put in a pastry bag and piped on with a plain pastry tip. When I dip chocolates I use 2 forks. Don't spear the item to be dipped, just throw it in the melted chocolate and fish it out by scooping up with one fork underneath. Tap, tap, tap the fork on the side of the pan to let all the excess go back into the pan and then use the other fork to scrape the ball off onto waxed paper.

Book Tree

This cute little tree is just a stack of open books, a little packing tape, paper wads, an empty tape roll, or sections of sturdy cardboard tubing.

Gather the books that you want to use. Large to small. You may be able to take it apart later, but probably not without some damage if you have to use the packing tape at the back, so pick books that aren't treasures to you. I may make a permanent tree with a rod or dowel down the center next time. I gathered greenish books.

Start with a sturdy roll of of tape, empty or not, and place your largest book open, face down, on top of the roll. My first thing was a roll of book mending tape. You could probably use a large wad of paper here, but whatever you use it needs to be sturdy to hold all the weight you will add. Add books and wads of paper or sections of sturdy cardboard tubing, under the spine areas as you stack to give support and height. You can experiment with turning each book slightly. As you add to the stack the tree will take on a life of it's own and get personality. It will likely tilt and you will have to add paper wads or exchange books to make it go the way you want. Use a little clear packing tape at the back as needed. Decorate with a little garland and a topper. The last touches are what really make you see that it's a tree!