After Thanksgiving Recipe

Well, Thanksgiving is over and we will be looking for recipes for the leftovers for several days, if not weeks. My recipe won't help there but it just might help you get through the rush to come between now and Christmas. Hope you enjoy!!!


A GREAT RECIPE...

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Talk to God about what is going on in your life. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today. I am thankful for ______________.

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli , almonds & walnuts.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You are not so important that you have to win every argument. Agree to agree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. GOD heals everything - but you have to ask Him.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch!!!

22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

25. When you are feeling down, start listing your many blessings. You'll be smiling before you know it.

Have a wonderful Holiday Season. I'll be "seeing" you ASAP.

God Bless,
Mimmy

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

It has been over a month since I've posted and I'm terribly sorry. There has been much to do and I've had some health set backs. However, I could not let Thanksgiving go by without saying:

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Hopefully, it will be more than just a holiday for you, but a time when we can all make an accounting of our blessings and a time when we can share with others. In our family, after we have all stuffed ourselves with the wonderful food God has blessed us with and that my sister prepares, we go around the table starting to Daddy's left and ending with him and tell those we love something for which we are thankful. We usually don't make it very far before most of us are wiping tears and once Daddy has expressed the blessing for which he is most thankful he leads us in prayer thanking our father for ALL that he has given to us.

This is a memory that I treasure greatly and I always spend some time choosing the blessing that I want to share. It must be something special. Something that will let my family know how much I appreciate them and all that they have given to me.

Now, since I will be out of town tomorrow, I want to thank my blogging friends for your patience, love and care and for all the encouragement you have given to me. May God bless you throughout this Holiday season with a true sense of Him and a reminder of all the wondrous things with which He has blessed us.

God Bless,
Mimmy




I’m Thankful For...
Colossians 3:15

I’m thankful for the world God made,
The beauty and creatures therein.
I’m thankful God knew man would fall
And had a plan to redeem from sin.

I’m thankful Jesus came to earth
Lived and died and rose again,
So if I’ll walk within His light
I a home in Heaven will win.

I am thankful for the Bible
That tells us all of Jesus’ love,
And tells us all what we must know
To help others to a home above.

I’m thankful God gave me a family
Who believe in Him and His grace,
Who help me walk the narrow way
Who cheer me while running life’s race.

I’m thankful for three grown children
And the grandchildren they’ve given me.
I pray they’ll all find their way back home
Before we face eternity.

I’m thankful for my dear husband
And the support he’s been to me,
As God in His wondrous knowledge
Sent us grandchildren, one, two, three;

To share our home and the love there,
To do the very best we can,
To prepare them for the days ahead
When we’ll all take our final exam.

I’m thankful that I live in pain
So much that others must push my chair,
‘Cause it’s always there to tell me
That others have many more cares.

I’m thankful for my great church home
Who has never left us in need.
All we must do is say the word
We soon know that they did heed.

I’m thankful that God has given prayer
So that I can thank Him for all,
The wondrous things I’ve mentioned above
And many others both great and small.

For if I had to list them all
In this Daybreak I’m also thankful for,
Our editor would at the very least
Let me write for this work no more.

Joyce K. Smith
November, 2008

Lest We Forget

Dear Friends,

It has been a long times since I have used this, the old fashioned letter format. Because I think this is an art that we are about to lose, I've decided to use it for this post. Computers have made communication so quick, easy and yet, sometimes impersonal. There is something lost in an e-mail that is there in a letter. Trying to explain that is hard for me. The only apparent difference is that words are no longer on paper, they are on a screen. It is very exciting to get a letter in the mail because I know someone has taken the time to sit down, get out their favorite stationary, and take the time to "write" me a letter or even just a note. I love it.

There are many things in our lives that we have lost because of technology that has made our lives so simple. We want everything instantly. Looking back on my youth, I can remember all of us gathering in the kitchen and making several batches of different kinds of cookies at Christmas time. The kitchen would be an absolute mess, we would all have flour all over us, and occasionally, we would burn a batch. Now, making Christmas cookies, for a lot of us, consists of going to the grocery, buying either a roll cookie dough or package of pre-cut cookies. Then, if they are around, we bring the youngins into the kitchen and slice or break apart our cookies, put them in the oven, and eat them all in one sitting because you can only get about 18 decent sized cookies out of one roll.

Now, please don't think that I am belittling anyone who bakes cookies this way. That's my recipe of I don't just go to the store and buy them. However, I do miss the days when there was flour all over the place and tons of cookies waiting to be enjoyed. You could smell them in the house for weeks.

A lot of memories have been flooding my mind recently and the following e-mail has brought to my mind even more completely how many things we can lose in our ever so busy lives. It is so very hard to choose what is important and what is urgent. These choices have also been weighing heavy on my heart and I am finding it harder and harder to find the time to blog as often as I would like.

The relatively few of you who follow my blog have been so faithful and being gone a week has made me feel, inappropriately guilty. Knowing you as I feel I do, I know that you understand and will be there to read this. It may be a week, or even two, before I'm back. Recently I've had to be in some pretty strong antibiotics that have played havoc with my system and are making it even harder for me to accomplish those things that are really important. Please understand that this is not goodbye. It is not my intention to give up blogging all together. It is just to cut WAY back until probably after the first of the year.

This is the e-mail that I spoke of above. Many of you may have seen it but it is worth sharing again. Life is so fleeting and we have to grab every bit of it we can.

Thank you so much for hanging in there with me. As Arnie says, "I'll be back."

With love and prayers,
God Bless,
Mimmy

P.S. For some reason I was not able to put in paragraph indents, etc., so this is not my normal letter format. I guess block will have to do. Oh, well, a letter is a letter.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck (written after she found out she was dying from cancer).

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, 'Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.'

There would have been more 'I love you's' More 'I'm sorry's.'

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute.look at it and really see it .. live it and never give it back. STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!! Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.

Nerve Blocks

Within the last six weeks, I have had two nerve blocks in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain in my lower back and right leg. Thankfully, they have somewhat worked. The pain in my leg is not nearly as bad or persistent as it once was, but pain at the injection site is not much fun. It seems to hang on for a good while after each injection. Of course, when I'm having the block done they give me what I call "joy juice". I don't feel much and remember even less.

In thinking about this, I've begun to wonder what would happen if I had a "spiritual nerve block". Those thoughts led to this:

"Spiritual Nerve Block"

This day was like many others
Full of work, family and friends.
Same things that were done the day before,
The day before that, to no end.

Some folks say that I'm in a terrible rut,
I must say that I truly agree.
Today is the same as yesterday
Tomorrow will most likely be.

Maybe I'll try something new to me.
Something that maybe is wrong.
It won't hurt to try it once in a while.
Who will know if they don't go along.

There's this pang that I have, it's called conscience
"Can I hide it", I ask quite aloud.
Another voice hollers around me.
"Sure I'll help you, it will make me feel proud."

He continued that I'll need a nerve block.
To halt this old conscience inside.
"It only will take just a minute.
There's no pain. No, I never have lied."

So I trusted this voice I was hearing
He gave me a shot of "joy juice".
Told me I'd feel like a million,
The old conscience would be of no use.

After I had the procedure
I found that this voice was quite right.
All of the things I had wanted
Came quite easy, most generally at night.

There was however a problem
Even though my conscience seemed dead,
So did all of the rest of me,
No kind thoughts in my now vacant head.

There were voids in me and I now wondered
If I ever would fill them again.
This life I had chose seemed empty.
It was not what I'd thought, this thing sin.

So I sent for this voice to confront him
And to ask him to be on the level.
He said to me, "Quite impossible.
"You see", he said, "I am the Devil".

"When I gave you the nerve block you wanted,
All the things that filled up your soul,
Went right out the door with your conscience.
You'll just have to choose quite different goals."

In the back of my heart I remembered
Something I'd been told back in my youth.
God never leaves us on this journey.
I knew it, it must be the truth.

So I fell to my knees and I asked him
To forgive me and let me come home.
At once I was so very happy
And knew I'd try never to roam.

My words to you are very simple
If you you might want a nerve block,
Tell the Devil to just go and leave you.
Get on your knees and have a great talk.

Mimmy, aka Joyce Smith
October 21, 2009

"Just because I said so."

(Matthew 23:1-6) Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. "Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. "For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. "But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. "They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, (NKJV)




Do not do what they do…

Do as I say and not as I do
We often have heard people say.
But are these words the very words
We need to lead us on the right way?

It seems to me as I look at these words
That it probably really depends,
To whom we are listening utter these words
And the heart out of which they do wend.

These verses we read are the words of our Lord
As he spoke to the multitude there,
Of how they should listen to those who did sit
On the seat from which God’s word was shared.

But they only should listen to what they heard read
Ignoring what they daily saw done,
The Pharisees did their works to gain praise,
Making laws that were quite burdensome.

They loved all the power and all of the show
They loved all the glory from men,
The outward acts they did in the streets
Covered up a dark heart full of sin.

So if you must do as someone else does
Be sure that your model is true,
And follow the deeds of the Glorified One,
Who ever did as He says we should do.

God Bless,
Mimmy aka Joyce Smith
October 16, 2009

"Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matthew 5:16

A Little Light Story

Once was a man traveling all alone
On a road he'd not traveled before,
He had no place to stay for the night
And no place to help keep him warm.

He came on a cabin deep in the woods.
He entered a room dark and black.
He took from his pocket a box of matches,
Lit a candle that was deep in his pack.

The room was brighter than had been before.
But he needed a strong candle stand,
So the wax that would run from the candle top
Would not put sore burns on his hands.

Then he found in the bottom of an old curio
A lantern with three mirrored sides.
When he put the candle inside of the door
The light almost blinded his eyes.

He set about with some sticks from outside
To build a fire in the stove used for cooking,
Soon the cabin was warm but then he saw
His candle was losing light for looking.

He hurriedly searched the cabin once more,
Found a lamp that used oil to burn.
It appeared to have a new wick and fuel
To give the light he'd need until morn.

Let us look now at this story of light,
The many light sources it had.
First the box of matches in a pocket found
Lit the candle that made the room glad.

Then came the lantern to hold the candle,
The mirrors made the room shine.
Next sticks in the stove to warm up the room
So the man wouldn't shiver and whine.

As the candle burned low to soon be no light
The oil lamp with new wick inside,
Took over the job of providing the light
Showing him everything that's inside.

This is a story of our various tasks
And tools needed to help the light shine,
So as we begin this year 2009
Please decide which tool you’ll say, "It‘s mine.".

Will you be the matches in book or in box
Or the candle that lit up the room?
Will you be the lantern or a mirror inside
Or sticks that helped warm things so soon?

Will you be a lamp with a wick and some oil
To provide light the whole night through?
Or will you just sit in the dark of the room
Thinking there's nothing for you to do?

Remember if you're just a tiny match stick
Or an oil lamp burning just fine,
You have to find your part of the light
If your light shines to lead home the blind.

God Bless,
Mimmy aka Joyce Smith
October 14, 2009

Sidetracked

This will be very short and maybe not too sweet since I'm writing off the cuff. Hope you all are having a wonderful seek so far. You will be in my prayers as we go forward in our walk.



Good Intentions

I had such good intentions
When I got on here tonight.
T'was going to do a daily post
It was going to be quite nice.

But then I got on google
Searching for a pic I need
For a Christmas present
That will be quite nice indeed.

It appears that I can only
Do one nice thing in a day,
I'm sure you know I don't mean that
Just needed something to say.

So I'm going turn turn the lights off
Tuck myself into my bed.
My plan's to write tomorrow
Of all that's in my head.

But if my good intentions
Should someway get side-tracked,
Please don't you forget me
'Cause someday I'll be right back.

God Bless,
Mimmy