Bread Crumbs, NOT!

I received some garden zucchini this week and got ambitious. A zucchini tomato casserole recipe looked great so I got out all the ingredients. Since my husband is a carnivore, I added some ground beef to the mixture. When I got down the bread crumb topping, things got dicey. It's a good thing I tasted the crumb/butter/onion concoction before I sprinkled it over the top of my beautiful dish. It wasn't bread crumbs in the container. Someone used the container for spicy, and I do mean HOT, barbeque rub. What the hey, I sprinkled a little on top anyway, a very little. Added just the right amount of oomph. Husband liked it. Score!

A little unexpected discombobulation is a good thing once in a while. We readjust, make do, suffer or gain, but it breaks up boredom. I for one, love a little shaking up once in awhile.  

How are you shaking things up these days?

Fearless Anna

Fearless Anna

     "Live life to the fullest!", "Carpe diem!". I hear it all the time. I sometimes wonder how people do that when they have problems,  have a mortgage, a difficult job, etc. Everyone has something. I'm a generally happy and grateful l person, but I sometimes get irritated at the mantra 'live every moment'.

    I saw it in action on the 4th of July weekend, watching my two-year-old granddaughter.

     On our Independence day celebration she was very brave. She wandered too close to some of the fireworks her dad was doing, but mostly she obeyed. The most fun thing for her were the sparklers. She loved them. Her dad lit one after another for her. She held them way up into the sky and as soon as they went out she dropped them to the ground. When she wasn't doing sparklers, she was oohing and ahing over the fireworks display down the hill from our house in the park. When we all finally went inside, she sat next to me and asked if she could play a game on my phone, and then she promptly fell asleep, her head on my shoulder. A few minutes later her father picked her up and carried her to the car.
     It occurred to me how she enjoyed the day. I know part of it is her personality, but also I think the fact that she has no fear gave her freedom to just enjoy. Anna has wonderful parents who keep her healthy and safe. Her face reflects the love that is in our family. She's not afraid to try new things because she has the assurance that her mom and dad are watching her. All her needs are met, and so she is free to wonder at the sparkling fire before her.

     How many hundreds of times in the scriptures does it say, "Do not fear?"  I want  to be like fearless Anna. - to live in a an abandoned way knowing that my heavenly Father has me safely in the palm of His hand - to hold life's miracles in awe before me, and to drop and discard things that no longer matter. I'd love to be able to live in such a fearless way, and then drop off to sleep at night without fear, having spent and poured myself out in the miracles and challenges of everyday.

     What a life - to wake up to every day, knowing that we are blessed, secure, and loved and that when it's ove, He will carry us to heaven. Anna made me think of  that scripture "I will lie down and sleep in pie peace, for you Oh Lord are with me.' (Psalm 4:8)

     Thanks so much Father and thank you Anna. Yes, we can go do bubbles now. 

The Next Thought

 Just sharing a poem about perspective. I like to encourage us to look at life through love colored glasses. It all starts in our thoughts.

 The Next Thought
Sometimes our thoughts are darkness
And shackle us to sorrow.
The manacles of things that happen
Bind us from tomorrow.

It's the next thought that matters
In the moments of our days,
The fleeting jewels of time we're given
To walk in Father's ways.

It's the next right thought that fuels
The next right word we speak;
That power over which we set
The course of life we seek.

The thought, word and then the deed;
One moment changes all.
We build a life with thoughts
And kingdoms rise and fall.

What can you look at differently, through love colored glasses today?