What did my grandmother, and mother think?

I just spent four days watching my grandson, Jonah in Washington State while his mommy went to visit his daddy at a school in Philadelphia.

How does one keep up with an almost two year old? I don't know how I did it, but I did!! Watching Jonah play for the few days I was with him made me start thinking. What did my grandmother think of me when I was little, or did my own mother have the same thoughts as I did while watching my own little girl.

When my mother and father went away for the night, my siblings and I would stay at my Grandma's house. I remember her as always stern but her food was good and she made us feel at home and we enjoyed being at her house. Did she think we were cute while we played or pretended in games? One day I will know what she thought as I see her in heaven and ask all those questions I wanted to ask long ago.

My own mother watched my daughter while I attended undergraduate school. I know from talking to my daughter my mother taught her how to count change and shop in a grocery store. I know there were many other things my mother taught her grand- daughter but how did my mother feel watching my daughter pretend and play games? Did she have the same feelings as I did watching Jonah? Again, these are things I may ask my mother once I get to heaven.

What made the biggest impression the last few days - is loving my grandson is easy and watching him play, jabber, and just all around jump around with his toys, playing with the bouncy balls, and other antics - this all made me smile. What made me smile the most was at night I would read to him and then sing "Jesus Loves Me this I know." When I sung to him, he would close eyes and just cuddle. Nothing better than those cuddles.

God has so blessed us with children who have children and watching all these children grow is precious as an adult. One we need to cherish and hold true to our families. I thank God he has blessed me with so many grandchildren and even though some of those grandchildren live in different cities, I love each one with tenderness and the hope each child will grow in God's love and accept the wonderful gift he has in His son, Jesus Christ.

In keeping with a recent posting, I did something new for this grandson. I made him a peanut butter sandwich for the first time in his life and he loved it. So here is a ramped up version of a grilled PBJ sandwich. If you've never tried this, you need to try it at least once.

Grilled PBJ

2 slices any type of bread
Peanut butter
jam of your choice
butter

Spread one side of your bread with peanut butter and place in a skillet with a bit of melted butter in it. Top with the other slice of bread that has been spread with jam. Brown one side at a time. When you get ready to turn the sandwich, melt a bit more butter in the pan and flip the sandwich. Eat hot.

The phone call that changed my life....

Have you ever had a single phone call change your life? I had a phone call 30 years ago changing my life forever. About this time of the year, I tell the story of how my life changed for the better based on the phone call I received February 8, 1982.

The call came at 4:00 in the afternoon and I was home alone doing what I did every day at this time, thinking of supper and what to make. The caller was from the Oklahoma Children's Baptist Home and getting a call from my social worker was common because she would call every once in awhile asking how I was doing. This phone call started out like any other call with the social worker. I let her know I wasn't working and I was thinking of what I would fix for supper. She paused then proceeded to tell me, "You are now the proud parent of a little baby girl." I sat there stunned to say the least!!! I said, "What did you say?" She reiterated again that I was now the proud parent of a 1 month old little girl. I started screaming, "Are you kidding? Are you sure? Me??? How? What? When? where was this little girl?" The caller said she could call back when I was a bit calmer, but at this point, I didn't want the caller to hang up! Like any parent, I wanted to know if this little girl had 10 toes and 10 fingers, what she looked like, how long was she, and how much did she weigh when she was born.

After writing down all the information (I knew I wouldn't remember anything she told me so I had to write it down), the caller wanted to know if I had a named picked out for this little girl - all I could think of was Sarah Elizabeth because both were Biblical names and both women waited until they were older when they had their children. I didn't even hesitate with the name and I didn't even consult my husband at the time about the name. The name just seemed like the right one and it seemed so fitting. The caller said they would start calling the little girl Sarah right away and have her name on all the paperwork ready for us when we picked her up.

The caller had one other thing to tell me, "We need you and your husband to pick up Sarah on Wednesday at 1 in the afternoon." At the time, we lived in Lawton and driving to Tulsa was a 4 hour drive. Basically, I had one evening and 24 hours to get ready for a newborn baby. What was I thinking??? Was I really ready to have a little baby come into my life? Panic attacks don't usually happen, but I found myself having a panic attack and I called my mother to give her the news.

The first thing she said she did was cry for the birth mother for giving up her little girl so I could have a newborn baby and the second thing she said she did was cry for me because I finally had a child - one I had prayed for since the beginning of my marriage 10 years earlier. My mother calmed my fears and reminded me I grew up the oldest girl in the family and had cared for all the smaller siblings my mother had. (There were 3 smaller children eventually in our family so caring for them came naturally.)

The adoption agency said this little girl was the prettiest baby they had seen in 10 years and she definitely was coming into my home. I remember holding her for the first time, tears streaming down my face looking into her quiet sleeping face being overwhelmed with instant love. The love that only comes between a mother and her child.

I am so thankful and grateful to the Lord above for his gift to me. Sometimes I'm overwhelmed God gave me the desires of my heart to have a baby and nurture that baby into an adult. I now see the love she has for her son and am constantly reminded of God's initial gift to me.

Just last year this beautiful daughter found her birth family and she now has a pair of twin sisters and a brother whom she has met and learned to love. She also has met the wonderful woman who was selfless in giving me the opportunity to raise a daughter who is beautiful inside and out. I'm thankful God has given her the gift of a birth family as well as an adoptive family. Happy Adoption day Sarah!!!!!

One of Sarah's favorite things to eat growing up was my banana bread so this is the recipe I'm sharing today.

Sarah's banana bread
1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
2 eggs
cream the above ingredients until light and fluffy

Add 1/2 cup sour cream and 2 cups flour. When blended, add 3 mashed ripe bananas and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Bake in a loaf pan for about 45 minutes until the center is done. While still in the pan, brush the top of the loaf with 2 Tablespoons melted butter 3 Tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Remove the loaf from the pan and when cool, slice, spread with butter and eat. Very yummy....

Resolved, Resolution -

Resolution - the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc; the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute, firmness of purpose.

Have you ever made a resolution and stuck to it? My husband and I saw the movie "Courageous" where four men resolved to make changes in their lives impacting their families and walk with the Lord. We both were moved by the movie and checked out the website.

On the website, there was a Bible study geared towards men and women called, "Honor". My husband leads a Community Group for our church and we've been following a classic type of Bible study where we discuss and ask questions about the pastor's sermon from the Sunday before. We've been doing this for several years but when we saw the "Honor" Bible study, we thought, "Wouldn't it be a good idea to see if our group would be interested in changing our format and going through the study."

After ordering the leader's kit and reading the study booklets, we discussed changing our Bible study with our group to follow the movie and "Honor" format.

For me, there is a booklet included in the study called, "The resolution for Women." I've been reading this book now for about a week and am so impressed with its content I decided to write about it on my blog.

The first resolution in the book reads as follows: "I DO SOLEMNLY RESOLVE to embrace my current season of life and will maximize my time in it. I will resist the urge to hurry through or circumvent any portion of my journey but will live with a spirit of contentment." (The Resolution for Women, page 6)

Wow! I was immediately reminded I need to embrace my current season in life and felt God was speaking through his Holy Spirit to change a few things in my life.

1. I need to be more flexible in my lifestyle, changing as my life changes

2. Being "retired" means I don't have a schedule to follow and I don't have to "Hurry" through my life. I need to enjoy it

3. I need to work on being content with what God has given me

I'm looking forward to see what other "gems" God will give me as I journey through this Bible study. I also believe God has been prompting me to finish my book, "Shelter from the Storm" this year. Writing, I want it to be perfect and edit as I write, but usually go through and edit the whole thing. I need to write without editing and once its completed, then edit the finished product.

Finally, I'm claiming 2 Corinthians 9:8 as I journey through this next year and "resolve" to accomplish the goals I have set for myself.

Coming up with a recipe for this post has been difficult so I'm resolving to try a new recipe every month to expand our culinary tastes. This is a new recipe I tried out last night. It was a hit with those who ate them and my husband ate his share - 4.....

Garlic butter biscuits

1 cup Biscuit mix (buttermilk baking mix)
1/2 cup shredded mexican cheese (cheddar and jack mix)
1/2 cup milk

Mix and drop by small spoon fulls onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 for about 8 minutes until the biscuits are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and while still hot, spoon on the following mixture:

3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/8 teaspoon dried parsley leaves.

This will make about 12 small biscuits and they are yummy.