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Showing posts from August, 2015

a legacy of love and faith

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My grandpa, we all called him Papa,  loved to tell stories about days gone by.  According to his tales, he was quite sought after by the girls during his college days.  But there was something about one girl that was different.  Ruby Jean caught his eye and captured his heart.  And so on June 13, 1947 they pledged to to love one another for better or worse, in sickness and in health, with every single breath.  They hadn't hardly two pennies to rub together between them, but lots of love for one another and for their Father God.  Always a winning combination.   I loved spending time with my grandparents growing up.  Summers on the lake fishing and riding bikes and eating my grandma's delicious strawberry pie.  My Papa was not perfect.  He could be stubborn and get frustrated at times but as I think back over his life I remember the way he laid down his life for others in love.  He offered to sacrifice his life for our country during WWII. He worked hard every day to

love has to be a choice

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My boys love to watch movies.  We have enjoyed some great films together this summer.  During a recent movie my younger son looked at me and said, "I love a good battle."  Our hearts are drawn towards stories where, through struggles and battles, good triumphs over evil. There is a real war.  A war that has been waged since the beginning of humanity.  It is a battle for God's creation.  It is not that the enemy desires people.  He actually has no care or concern for any man or woman.  No, his lust is against God alone.  And so he goes for God's heart... he goes for His children.   For God created us to be in relationship with Him.  It was the original plan and purpose.  As a father to his child, so we were to God.  There is intense pain in a parent's heart when their child chooses to walk away from them.  There is such immense grief when you see your child hurt, in pain, grieving, going the wrong direction, not realizing their potential.  How much more in th

real food for big families: cantaloupe salad

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I have had a few people lately ask me questions about how I feed my family.  So I thought I would try to share some of our favorites on this blog.  My goal is feed my crew with real food, keep it simple and not spend a lot of money.  This cantaloupe salad is very refreshing and perfect for summer.  This night I paired it with BBQ chicken legs and baked beans.  I bought the chicken drumsticks from our favorite local chicken farmer and covered them with Wegman's Organic BBQ sauce.  The baked beans are from a can.  Yes, I said from a can.   While I try to make most of our food from scratch sometimes it helps to have some quick sauces and cans of sides available. Cantaloupe Salad 1 1/2  cantaloupes peeled, seeded and cubed   (save the other half for snacking) 3 tomato chopped 2 avocado pitted, peeled and chopped juice from 2 lemons 2 t honey 1/2 T dried parsley 1 drop cilantro essential oil 1 drop cumin essential oil 1 jalapeno chopped (i like large pieces of jalapeno a