Savor 7 {11/25/12}

Savor 7 Saturday turned into Savor 7 Sunday for me this week.  
I'm joining Lisa over here as we count our blessings and savor them...

Scripture:  

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.  

Psalm 118:1

Storyteller:  Have you ever met Joy at Grace Full Mama?  Her blog is truly a joy to read! Head on over there and take a look see.

Social:  With this being Thanksgiving week and all, you would think we would have had lots of social stuff to include.  Not so.  We spent this week here at home instead of traveling.  Though I love seeing everyone and spending time together, it was really nice to have a quiet day with just us. 


Silly:  My favorite little man turned two on Thanksgiving day!  It's SO funny to see the changes in just a few days.  He's getting so big so fast!  This is a shot of him at his birthday party...

Snapshot:  Here we have our very first Gluten Free Thanksgiving Dinner.  Now that all of us are doing our best to eat gluten free (some are doing better than others) I had to try and make the adjustments!  The stuffing and pie crust were the biggees..

Sips:  I'm still enjoying Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Spice...I know I'm on borrowed time with them, but I did notice that a few stores are selling the pumpkin spice coffee grounds.....hmmm mmmm...

Sweets:  One of our favorite dishes this week was our Cranberry Pear Relish.  We love it so much I made a second batch yesterday.....

So, that is my story in a nutshell this weekend after Thanksgiving!  How about you - what are you savoring?

Have a Blessed Week!!

♥Lori
Linking up with Lisa at Savor 7 Saturday

Sunday

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 118:1

 
Linking up with Jumping Tandem

Stay...No, Go!

It's been over four years she's been here.  Last week she got her paperwork to finally go home.  

I'm so incredibly happy for her I can't stand it, but at the same time, everything in me is screaming "No, Stay!  You aren't really leaving are you?"  

She has grown so much.  Her faith is so big now.  She blesses my heart.  I've learned so much just watching her handle this season of her life. 

I know how much I'll miss her, but then I think of her son who is 10 now.  He's been four years without his mama there.  Four school years started and ended.  Four holiday seasons.  Four years... I just can't imagine it.  They talk daily.  She is incredibly involved in the daily goings on.  But she's not there.  

She told me yesterday that her son is super excited to introduce her to all of his friends, because they don't believe that she's real...four years will do that...

My flesh screaming "Stay!"

My heart is saying, "Go! Go home!  Be a mama to that sweet boy...in the flesh...right there, for the daily hugs and kisses, the teachable moments, and all that goes along with it.  

Go my friend, Go..."

♥Lori 

Honored to be Linking up with:
Five Minute Friday
Fellowship Friday 

Cold & Flu Season Strategy

Oh Man!  It's that time of year...cold and flu season.  With kids in school and crazy everyday schedules, the probability of contracting something goes up...way, way up.

Given the "crazy" of the last 8 weeks, it's nothing short of a miracle that my family has only had minor encounters with colds and viruses.  I am tremendously thankful for this.

Prayer.
I have spent more time praying - especially over the kids as they head off to school each day.  I find myself praying God's protection over their whole being - that no flu, virus, bacteria or accident would come near their temple.  God's Word declares in Isaiah 54:17 that...

"No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord."

I'm taking this very seriously! 

I also credit our good health fortune this fall season to a few home remedies that I have worked diligently to maintain on a daily basis.  Here they are...

Vitamin C.  And lots of it.

When one of us is feeling "something coming on" I start the vitamin c and zinc.  A nurse friend informed me last winter that at the first sign of a cold, take vitamin c and a zinc lozenge several times a day.  So we do.  Nobody likes it, because the taste is less than pleasant, but it seems to work.  We do this several times a day - like 3-4 times a day until the symptoms subside.  Let me just add here - this has to be done at the first sign of symptoms...don't ask me why, but it does.

Elderberry Syrup.

I'm not sure where I first found this idea, but I've used it sporadically for a couple of winters now.  But this fall I decided to go all in and keep the kids and I on it daily.  About 2 tsps. in the morning. No biggee.

Then, when someone feels "something coming on" I bump it up to the Echinacea-added variety and increase the number of doses a day to say 3-4.

Here is my recipe for Elderberry Syrup...again, I'm not sure where I got it from, and I've tweeked it a bit, but if you search Elderberry Syrup you will get a ton of different options.

Apple Cider Vinegar.

This is something new I discovered.  The wonders of ACV!  I have personally added this to my daily routine, to combat headaches.  I am very prone to sinus headaches, and the ACV is known to thin out the mucus so that it doesn't clog up the sinuses and cause the headaches and infections.  I take about 8 ounces of water with 1-2tsp of ACV and some agave once or twice a day.  It seems to help as the headaches have definitely been less frequent.

A couple of times this fall, colds have tried to set in and I've given the kids the ACV a couple times a day and they seem to be better in a few days.

I've also been giving Anna ACV every morning - to help combat the skin issues she deals with, so she's been getting the added benefit as well.  Here is a site I found that lists the many health benefits of ACV - Natural Healing Home Remedies.  

These along with plenty of rest, lots of hydration and exercise has been what has helped keep us healthy this fall.

How about you?  What are your cold/flu preventative measures?

♥Lori
**Please note - I am not a health professional, only a Mom trying to keep her family healthy without frequent trips to the doctor's office.**

 
Honored to be Linking up with:
New Life Steward - WIP Wed 
Women Living Well

Elderberry Syrup

Ingredients:

 

1/4 cup dried Elderberries

2 Tbsp dried Rose Hips

2 Tbsp dried Echinacea (optional)

¾ tsp dried Ginger Root OR ½ Tbsp fresh Ginger Root, grated (store in freezer)

1 Cinnamon Stick

1 cup Filtered Water

1/4 cup Raw Honey

1 – Put everything but the honey in a small saucepan.

2 – Bring to a boil, then let the herbs simmer uncovered for 20-30 min. 
The water will reduce by half at this time.

3 – Pour the mixture through a mesh strainer in a bowl. 
Press the mixture to squeeze out any extra juice.  Discard the herbs.

4 – Let the syrup cool in the bowl until you can touch it.

5 – Add 1/4 cup of raw, local if possible, honey and stir well.

6 – Store in a glass container in the refrigerator.  Should last up to two months.

Yield:  Approximately ½ cup, so doubling is a good idea if you’ll use more in a short period of time.

Dosage:  Children take 1-2 tsp a day  =>  when sick, 2 tsp

               Adults take 1-4 tsp a day  =>  when sick, 3-4 tsp

**Note: I am not a health professional, only a Mom trying to help her family stay healthy with out frequent trips to the doctor's office. **

Quiet

I don't often get quiet.

It's hard you know? With the hustle and bustle of life and kids and work and church and everything that pulls for our attention.  

It's hard to get quiet.

But when we do, the effects are tremendous.

In the quiet we can...
...rest 
...listen to that still small voice
...hear what is being said

These are all things we are limited in doing when we are caught in the hustle and bustle of daily life.

Daily life isn't bad, it's just got that element of crazy.  

And it's hard to hear.

I want more quiet.

I'm learning to work it in to 

my schedule more often and more effectively.

How about you - how do you build more quiet into your life?

♥Lori 

Honored to be Linking up with:
Five Minute Friday
Fellowship Friday 

Balance of Intake & Outflow

It's quiet here tonight. Everyone is at church - Chris is on security and the kids are all at Youth Group.

I probably should have stayed for Bible Study. That probably would have been the right thing to do.
But I just feel so full right now.

So much so that if I take in one more teaching my brain may explode.  In the last month I've attended Quitter with Jon Acuff, a Deliverance seminar at church, watched the keynote speakers from Allume on video, attended a full weekend of guest speakers at our church last weekend which also included a Women's Breakfast attended by 170 women! That doesn't include my Hello Mornings, Bible in 90 Days, Reading / Lesson Prep for Life group next week, a book review, and 31 18 days of Practice, all of which I tried to keep up with in October.

I'm tired.  And I'm full.  And I just couldn't take in one more teaching right now.

Do you ever feel that way sometimes - full?  Like if you hear one more teaching... Or worse yet, if you don't get some of it out, you'll positively explode?

I know we're supposed to study and increase in knowledge, etc...

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15

I get it.
 
But is there a point at which enough is enough already? 

At what point should we consider our tank full and begin to release that which has been released to us? 

I'm at that point I think.  I have put or rather, God has poured so much into me recently that I am needing to get some of it out. 

"And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh."  Ecclesiastes 12:12

It is wearisome in some ways.  Isn't it?  Do you ever feel that way?  Filled to overflowing and yet struggling to get it out at the same time? 

Am I saying study is bad? Oh no I'm not. 

What I'm searching for right now is the balance of intake and outflow. How much to take in and what/when to release it.

That's it...it's balance.  My scales are out of balance. I need to spend some time processing what I've taken in so that I can release it. I need to process my notes from the various events, finish that lesson, write that book review, and move forward in a continual motion - inflow and outgo.  

I don't feel I can take anymore in, because I'm so full. The remedy to that is to pour out that which I have taken in. 

Of course - it's a process.  Oh my.  
I've been so busy I couldn't even see this simple truth. 

♥Lori

Honored to be Linking up with:
New Life Steward - WIP Wed
Women Living Well

Roots that go deep

Please note: This is not our land, but I did take the photo this fall...

When we moved to our house 7 years ago, the landscape looked very different than it does today.  The main thing missing is a huge old evergreen tree that stood in the front yard...all of the front yard.  My man and I wanted that tree gone from the day we moved in, and the next year, we did it.  We took it out.  It was not healthy, so it was a good thing to remove it.

But what I didn't comprehend was the root system.  I had no idea how shallow those roots ran.  Chris put a chain around that big old tree and hooked it to his truck and "pop" out came this huge tree.  And I thought, "Wow! That huge tree can thrive all these years on that shallow root system....amazing!"

Today I thought about that.  I want to be like that tree and then again, I don't.  I want to grow big and tall in the things of God, but I want my roots to go deep, not be all shallow.  I want to know that the least little tug or pull isn't going to uproot me or my family.  We see this happening.  This is the longest we have lived in any one place since we married almost 18 years ago.  Nomads we were...moving 9 times in 8 years I think...I'll have to check that fact with Anna...they were her first 8 years.

But at the same time, I find myself wanting to be movable like that tree - ready to move, when we hear the Voice of the Lord leading us here or there.  I don't want to be so stuck - so rooted that I miss what He has for us, even if that means moving, again.

He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.  Psalm 121:3

♥Lori 

Honored to be Linking up with:
Five Minute Friday
Fellowship Friday