Fruit Cobbler for Dummies

When I was younger, so much younger than today, 

I needed much help with baking and simple recipes for dishes that my new husband
could actually recognize, once made. And if recognizable, actually edible.

One evening, a month into our marriage, a friend came to our tiny apartment bearing 

a blueberry cobbler that was buttery, full of fruit, moist, and crunchy around the edges. 

Perfect.

I thought she had slaved over it for hours. Nope, and she wrote it down for me that instant.

It was easy-peasy, dummy-proof and I have used ONLY this cobbler recipe, ever since.

I am the dummy that needed cobbler intervention.

Fruit Cobbler for Dummies

1 stick of butter, cold

1 cup of regular flour

1 cup sugar (I use 1/2 cup)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup milk

1 tbsp. vanilla extract (optional)

1 pint fresh blueberries/blackberries (washed) or 5 pitted/sliced peaches

1/2 gallon of vanilla bean icecream

1. Turn oven to 350 degrees. Put stick of butter into 8" X 8" glass pan (to double recipe: use an 8" X 10" pan), then put pan into oven to melt the butter. This takes about 5 min.
2. While butter is melting, whisk flour, sugar and baking powder together. Add milk (and vanilla) whisk till lumpless.
3. Take pan from oven, and pour batter into center of pan, right over melted butter.
4. Spread fruit evenly over top of batter. DO NO STIR. Leave as is.
5. Return pan to oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, and remove when top is golden brown.
6. Let cool for 10-15 minutes.
7. EAT IT UP YUM!

The land will yield its fruit;
you will have all you can eat.
~Leviticus 25:19

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Can I be Trusted?

As I was spending time in the book of Jonah this morning,

I knew I was to go read Proverbs 31, too.

So, I did.

Verse 11 stopped me in its tracks.

Her husband can trust her, 

and she will greatly enrich his life.

Trust.

My husband should trust me.
Trust ME.

Wow. It's something I never really pondered very often.

I mean, we HAVE been married 22 years,

I have never cheated on him.

We have 2 daughters,

I make sure that they are dropped off/picked up at school every day.

I am not always the best cook, the most prompt laundry lady,

or even the nicest person (especially if I'm PMSing),

but I'm here when someone needs a hug or a smile.

Sure.

I guess I can be trusted.

I mean, I am home every day, and I don't go out partying with my girlfriends, 

I don't smoke or get drunk.

I go to church, sing with the praise band, read my Bible, pray for Mark every day.

I try to keep the house presentable.

Somewhat. Usually.

I am cordial to his relatives, 
accommodating to his friends.

Hey! 
I even send goodies along to work with him 

so the other guys at the office know that he has a sweet wife.

Yeah, but...really,

Do I waste time on the internet and Face Book

when I should be doing something that Mark asked me to do, again?

Do I anticipate my family's needs and have their clothes, toilet paper, 
and good food on hand when they need it?

Instead of making sure dinner is ready,

am I at a friend's house helping her by moving furniture around?

Do I lie or embellish the truth when he asks me 
how much I spent on something

and I'd rather not tell him?

Do I use the last morsel of the food money 

for the week to buy a tchotchke for the house?

Am I budgeting the paycheck, he works very hard for,

on things he would approve of?

When that not-necessarily-handsome, but overly-attentive guy
at the gym smiles and chats with me, do I give him cause to think
I'm not committed to my own marriage?


After he's walked away, do I give that guy a second thought?


Even if Mark and I are not getting along that day?

When my daughters and I are the only ones in the house:


~am I the same penitent woman then, 
as when I am nodding in humbled agreement with the sermon at church?


~is my management of our home worth imitating?


~are they being taught commendable womanly traits?


~am I honoring their father with words of devotion and appreciation?

The second half of Proverbs 31:11 says, if I am trustworthy,

I will greatly enrich his life.

Enrich   -verb

1. to supply with riches, wealth, abundant or valuable possessions, etc.

2. to supply with abundance of anything desirable.

3. to add greater value or significance to.

4. to adorn or decorate.

5. to make finer in quality, as by supplying desirable elements or ingredients.

Lord, I want to supply my husband with abundance.

I desire to add value to his life.

Let my life be a decoration for his soul.

Use me to supply the missing elements in my husband's heart.

Make me trustworthy.

For more encouragement, come meet other home makers at the party at
Raising Homemakers.

Restoring Your Husband's Shining Armor

Today, I am so blessed and honored to have my dear friend,

Alicia, from Confessions of a Snowflake, as my guest!

I have known Alicia for about 11 years.

She is a Real Life friend and a Blogging Friend.
We traveled to and from The Relevant Conference together.

Alicia's blog was the first one to inspire me to blog, and here I am.

She is witty, wise and challenges us as women 

to become better wives, moms, friends, followers and servants of our Lord.

If you need a place to go, that when you leave it, your heart has been touched,

her blog is the place to go.

Go say hi and tell her Leslie sent you.

Take it away, Alicia:

Restoring Your Husband's Shining Armor

Even though they are centuries old, knights are a part of our culture.  Volumes of books are written about them.  Little boys imagine being one and little girls dream of being rescued by one.  New brides often speak of finally finding their knight in shining armor.

What happens when that armor gets rusted or damaged?

Every marriage experiences its share of troubles.  For women, this can be especially difficult.  It’s hard to accept that your knight in shining armor is just a man.  It doesn’t fit into the accepted image of knighthood.

Accept his Faults

No one is perfect.  But for some reason we expect husbands to be.  So when he burps at inappropriate times or leaves his clothes on the floor, we get upset.  We can’t accept that he might be any less than our idealized version of him.

Living with a person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, we see that entire person, the good and the bad.  As wives, we need to love our husband for who God created him to be.   Marriage is about learning to accept your entire spouse, not just the shining armor.

Forgive and Forget

People hurt people.  It happens anytime two people are in a relationship.  Our knights aren’t immune to this.  They say things that hurt.  They forget anniversaries and birthdays.  They make commitments without checking schedules.

We have to be willing to forgive, even if they don’t ask for forgiveness.  Forgiveness isn’t about making them feel better.  But it does help us feel better.  Then we have to be willing to forget and move forward.  It’s the only way to help restore that shining armor.

Remember the Commitment

Underneath that shining armor, husbands are really just men who have the same temptations and struggles as other people.  People make bad business decisions. People become addicted to drugs, alcohol and/or pornography.  People have affairs. Unfortunately these things happen.

It’s hard to overlook those deep hurts.  It’s hard to love in the midst of the pain.  It’s hard to forgive.  But we can’t give up on our knights. 

Vows are made before families and God.  Remember that marriage is about that commitment and not the current circumstances.  It’s not easy.  But marriage isn’t easy.  It takes hard work and determination.  It involves looking past the damaged armor and seeing the man inside.

Believe in Restoration

Don’t give up on your marriage.  It is possible to revive those old feelings of love and trust.  But we have to be willing to try.  We have to be willing to put aside our hurt feelings and respond with kindness and compassion instead of irritation and annoyance. 

We also need to believe in our husbands despite the dents in his armor.  Renewed commitment can buff out the dents.   Forgiveness can help it shine again.  And love can help us accept the man inside the armor.

"Thank you, Leslie, for letting me be a guest poster at your blog today.  

I pray that it will be an encouragement to you and your readers."

Alicia, the Snowflake

Her blog again? Click here.

Top image credit: Maggie Loves Hopey

Ungrateful

Hello, Lord.

We need to talk.
Something has been bothering me for quite some time now.
I need to air some grievances and address the injustices that my circumstance has caused me.


This is hard for me to talk to You about because I love to think that I impress people 

with my supreme homemaking abilities.


Okay, here goes.


It's about this house.

Others think that I always have the house immaculate and exquisitely decorated, 
the floors scrubbed, 
everything vacuumed and in its place. 
I don't quite know where they got that notion?
Perhaps because most pictures I take are staged?

But You and I know, 
that in reality,
I have piles of dirty laundry, waiting to be washed and dried.
Baskets of clean linens waiting to be ironed.
Socks waiting to be paired.
Hangers waiting to be utilized.
Someone's always staining something, which then becomes my chore.
My dilemma.
They just toss it in the pile, and I'm supposed to take it from there.
Exemption for them, affliction for me.

And since you're listening,
I also thought I'd mention something else.
I hate cleaning the bathroom, Lord.
It's gross. 
Why does my family's poop have to stink?
Why must their body waste leave me with a toilet to scrub? 
A shower to scour?
A sink to wipe?
Toothpaste splatters on the mirror to scrape off?
Hair in the corner, behind the door?
Yuck.
Just yuck.

Have you seen what's happening here, God?
It's unbelievable!
What about all this stuff on the counter, Lord?
What is wrong with the drawers?
Are the drawers broken?
Are their hands broken?
Can't they see the clutter and disarray?
How is anything useful when it is scattered amongst all the other paraphernalia?
Why can't they just put things where they belong?
How come they treat their things like this?

See this dust, God?
What a nuisance.
Couldn't you have just not invented it?
No matter how many times I wipe it away, it always comes back.
It just settles there, taunting me, waiting for the feather duster.
So, I dust it. 
So, what does it get me?
As soon as the feather duster is out of sight,
the particles make an even more voluminous comeback, 
only to start the cycle of
mockery once again!


Not fair.

And another thing!
These children you gave me 
never make their beds when they know that it pleases me,
nor do they come the first time I call, 
nor have their dishes land squarely in the dishwasher 
when they are through eating 
IN THE LIVING ROOM!
Selective hearing I've heard it called.
Honestly, where did they learn this behavior?

Since You're interested, let me ask You something else.
Why does everyone walk by the dishwasher when it needs to be emptied?
One would think they'd take the hint when I open the door!
Instead, they shuffle by, on their way to another destination that
is somehow more important at that moment.
Like the coffee maker for some caffeine,
the sink for a glass of water,
or the fridge to find a bite to eat,
as if that's more important than serving ME!

My life would be so much easier if I didn't have all these obstacles.

You surely know that

I could get so much more out of life!

My days, 

my months, 

my years 

would go much more smoothly 

if I weren't constantly interrupted by 

dirt, 

debris, 

and 

disorder.

So, Lord, I now ask you...would it be too much 

if I even occasionally 

got a little bit of cooperation,

a smidgen of appreciation,

a whisper of praise?

A speck of love?

A fraction of gratitude?

Well, would it?

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What's that?

Did you say something?

How often do I say thanks?

To You?

But haven't you seen the messes?

You've seen MY mess?

Are You blind to the turmoil this dirt causes me?

You came to clean MY dirt?

My heart?

My sin-laden soul is now spotless?

I have let my pride keep me from thanksgiving and praise to You?

Lord, I agree that I have a fading memory,

and I love to neatly forget Your mercy.

I conveniently fold and stow away Your grace.

I scrub out the remainders of Your salvation.

You don't care about the condition of my house, 

as much as You care about the condition of my heart.

Dirty dishes or dirty mind?

Cluttered counters or improper motives?

Messy martyr or sympathetic servant?

God, remind me of how wonderful You are and restore the joy of my thanksgiving!

Make me grateful, I pray.

Amen.

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