Are You Magnanimous?

My husband recently introduced this word to me:

Magnanimous – Noble of mind and heart.  Generous in forgiving.  Above revenge or resentment.  Unselfish.  Gracious. (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 1982)

To be magnanimous is to possess nobility of character that transcends circumstances and offense.

To be magnanimous is to rise above and beyond sinful and human tendencies and choose to be godly.

To be magnanimous is to strive for perfection of character, reaching for God’s goal of our heart’s refinement.

Sometimes I do not feel very magnanimous. Sometimes I am not very magnanimous.

However, I want to be magnanimous. 

I want to be noble, through and through.  I want to please my Lord.

All of us love magnanimous people, but how willing are we to be magnanimous?

Are we willing to seek nobility of mind and heart, no matter the cost?
Are we willing to forgive generously?
Are we willing to be above revenge and resentment?
Are we willing to be selfless?
Are we willing to be gracious, especially in tough situations?

May God help us to be magnanimous!

Broccoli Salad

This salad is delicious.  It has a lot of good texture and good variety.  It is slightly sweet, tangy, and crunchy.  A sweetened dressing, bits of onion, bacon, and cheese blend together well to create a unique salad.

When I served this salad, there was some wonder as to whether people would like it.  However, after just one bite, my family loved it!

I am not a lover of raw onion, but in this salad, I like it – just make sure to dice the onion small. 

Broccoli Salad
printable version here
8 slices bacon
2 heads fresh broccoli, chopped
1 1/2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/8 cup sugar
2 t black pepper
1 t salt
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 t fresh lemon juice

Cook bacon.  Dice or crumble into small bits.

In a large bowl, combine broccoli, cheese, bacon, and onion.

Combine red wine vinegar, sugar, black pepper, salt, mayo, and lemon juice to create the dressing.  Pour over the salad.

Cover and refrigerate until serving time.

Recipe from allrecipes.com

Distressed? Are You Thinking OR Praying?

I am currently studying Stressed-Less Living by Tracie Miles with Melissa Taylor’s Online Bible Study.  I’m joining in on their blog hop this week…

Psalm 107:19
”Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He saved them out of their distresses.”

Stress.  It causes us to think… a lot.  Sometimes our minds and hearts are overwhelmed with the burdens that we carry.  Sometimes our thoughts just.won’t.stop!  The negativity floods in and crowds out all that is good.  We have a hard time focusing.  We can’t be productive. We feel like a pressure cooker that is about to burst.

This is not how we should be living life. 

Psalm 107:19 encourages us to cry out to the Lord in our troubles, not to dwell on them! 

Cry out to the Lord,
and He will save you from your distress!

He may change your situation or He may change you.  Either way, it is a win!  Only God can save our souls from vexation and burden.  He can give us that peace that passes all understanding.

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. Phil. 4:6-7

How are you handling your troubles?  Have you cried out to God?  Are you trusting Him?

The other day I was heavily burdened.  I cried out to God, and I experienced Psalm 107:19.  He saved my soul from distress!

If the stress of life is weighing you down, turn to God.

He is faithful.  He will help you!

A Fun, Homemade Gift for a Toddler

Recently my friend’s daughter turned two years old.  We wanted to do something for her to let her know we love her and were thinking about her on her birthday.

This gift is a fun and cute way to express your best wishes for a toddler, and it is pretty much guaranteed to be used!

In a bowl mix various goodies that are appropriate for a toddler.

We mixed:

• Goldfish crackers
• Dried cranberries
• Pretzels
• Kettle corn
• Annie’s bunny crackers (chocolate chip)
• Jelly beans (for color and fun!)

We put the mixture into a transparent treat bag, along with some special (packaged) peanut butter crackers.  Then we tied the bag with a cute, pink ribbon.

Have fun.  Be creative.

Give a gift that will be sure to please a toddler!

My Breakfast Skeleton

Mornings can be tough, especially if you don’t know what you are going to serve for breakfast!  I don’t like to serve cereal every day, so I made a basic skeleton for myself.

Monday – cereal

Tuesday – eggs, potatoes, toast, and/or fruit. Usually I serve breakfast scramble or hashbrowns with boiled or broiled eggs or just eggs, toast, and fruit.

Wednesday – baked oatmeal.

Thursday – omelets. I’ve got my oatmeal packets ready for my son who doesn’t like eggs.

Friday – pancakes.

Saturday – oatmeal or cereal or leftover pancakes, since I am usually grocery shopping in the morning. 

Sunday – usually some sort of meat (bacon or sausage) with pancakes or English muffins and/or eggs and fruit. This meal needs to be hearty since we are away from home for 4 or 5 hours for church.

Having a breakfast skeleton is a blessing!

I have something already planned, and if I want to make something else, like those yummy cinnamon biscuits pictured above, I can! 

Motherhood: It’s About Relationship

As moms we do a lot for our children.

We make their meals.
We pick-up after them.
We drive them to practices and classes and outings.
We clothe them.
We answer their many questions.
We tie their shoes.
We train their hearts.
We sacrifice our time and energies for their sake and interest.
We teach them how to live life.

We are on-the-go for the sake of our children!

Sometimes we may feel like an octopus (or like we need to be one!) or like we are spinning many plates, trying to give each attention before it falls.

In the midst of all of this, it is easy to lose sight of what motherhood really is.  It is easy to feel weary and to lose vision.

Motherhood is about relationship.

The primary underpinnings of motherhood have to do with who we are with respect to our children.  Motherhood is about giving of ourselves, our hearts, for the sake of another person.

When we are able to remember the reason for motherhood, we are able to handle the responsibilities of motherhood with much more grace.

Our intent should be to know our children and have them know us, just as God wants for our relationship with Him.  The endless serving and continual interruptions will seem less burdensome if we can keep our relationship a priority.

We should endeavor to win their hearts.
We should endeavor to be gentle.
We should endeavor to be patient.
We should endeavor to exhibit joy and love and all of those wonderful gifts of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5.

Truly, motherhood is about relationship.

Do not allow your RESPONSIBILITIES FOR your children to snuff out your RELATIONSHIP WITH your children.

Seek to know them.  Seek to preserve the unity and bond between you and your children.

“Early to Rise” Update

This is my third week trying to get up early.  Here were my wake-up times:

Monday 6:30 a.m.
Tuesday 6:50 a.m.
Wednesday 6:30 a.m.
Thursday 6:15 a.m.

As I mentioned on my Facebook page, I have been trying to get up at 6:30 a.m. and would like to move that back to 6:00 a.m.

Today I was able to get up at 6:15 a.m., thanks to God’s initiation and grace!  I woke up at 5:35 a.m. due to a coughing child and couldn’t sleep well after that. I REALLY did not want to get out of bed, especially since I had gone to bed late last night and am juggling some great emotions in my life right now.  HOWEVER, I thought of Andy Traub’s encouragement to be in charge of my day and take advantage of the early morning hours, so by 6:15, I was “up and at ‘em”.

Now that I am up, I am blessed.  I have quiet in my home.  I am able to focus on reading and writing, activities that require peace and a lot of myself.  I do not regret getting up early. 

Having trouble waking up early?  Andy Traub encourages you to make it cost something if you don’t get up. Tell a friend you will buy her lunch that day if you don’t get up.  Allow your spouse a special outing or tell your spouse you will take care of the kids all night.  Do something that raises the stakes!

I guarantee that you will not be disappointed if you wake up earlier.  You will enjoy the peace.  You will enjoy the lack of interruptions (in general).  You will enjoy being productive.

Try it… Wake up earlier.  You’ll like it.

Homemade Hamburgers

These burgers are nothing short of “Yum!”.

Typically you may think of making burgers just by slapping the ground beef into some decent-looking patties and grilling them on your grill or stovetop.  These are a bit different, adding some egg yolks and breadcrumbs to help hold the burger together and a bit of flavoring to add some zest.

When you bite into these burgers, they are nice and tender, not tough! 

Homemade Burgers adapted from “The Art of Doing Stuff”.  Original recipe found here. printable version
2 lbs. ground round
4 egg yolks
1 small onion, minced
2 T ketchup
2 T spicy or dijon mustard
a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup – 1 cup of Italian bread crumbs
1/2 t pepper
1 t salt

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix gently to incorporate your ingredients.

Form into patties.  This recipe will make between 8 and 12 patties, depending on how big you make them.

Fry or grill to your liking.

Dress your burgers and enjoy!