Press Through the Dark Place

This week, I was able to reconnect with a friend from grad school that I hadn’t seen in over 4 years. As we laughed and caught up, she said, “Fran, you ALWAYS made the most out of whatever season you were in.”

That touched me to the core. Grad school was a hard time in my life. My scholarship program’s funding got cut (I went from having a full tuition scholarship with a stipend to NOTHING), I was pursuing my passion of working with kids only to have a gun drawn on me at work, and I worked 5 different jobs while being a student full time and pursuing two degrees.

Not many people know those parts of my story, but it’s sooooooooooooo AMAZING how God will use people in your life to remind you of everything you’ve overcome and to speak even the smallest words of encouragement at the right time.

I never thought that about myself, but I see how the description is fitting. It’s easy to lean to the flesh when times are hard. To become discouraged and feel overwhelmed. But when I stand in faith, I truly adopt a resolve that “if this is where God has me during this point in my life, this is where I’m supposed to be to learn/experience something for the next part of my journey.”

I’m by no means perfect, and sometimes I’m slow to take on that mindset, but it NEVER fails me.

I started this post because I saw this image and felt overwhelmingly thankful, but I pray it encourages you as well. Even in the darkest hours, God will send those small reminders. I pray that you press through, understanding that the dark hours are not meant to destroy you. Rather they are intended to strengthen you and accomplish a greater purpose.

I also encourage you to thank those people that have been lights in your life. I like that phrase, “Give people flowers while they are living.” You may have thanked them in your heart, but thank them with your words. Let them know they made a difference. Sometimes, that in itself is a light that can help to keep them going too.

Seeds of Faith:

Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

Philippians 3:12-14
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8
(Emphasis on verses 18-19; 37-39)
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Isaiah 41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

More Marriage Meditations

In honor of “Marriage Monday” I decided to share some thoughts from a recent conversation with one of my single friends….

My friend asked for some dating/relationship advice and I thought this part of my response was worth sharing:

Marriage is work, but it’s interesting to consider comparing your dating interactions to a job.

We all work some grunt jobs along the way, but a career is the ultimate goal.

Marriage is a CAREER, not a job. You want your marriage to be successful, to last. You may shift from job to job (dating relationship to dating relationship), but you want your marriage to be the fulfilling work you do until your dying day. You want to build something that will go from this generation, to the next, and the next and so on after that.

If you’re the person doing the “hiring” and you already see you have someone that’s not interested in doing the “work”, it seems to me that you’d want to keep that position open for a person with the same long term vision.

Don’t settle for a temporary person– one who has openly expressed that he/she is only looking for a short term position and not a long term tenure.

Don’t sell yourself short. Don’t cheapen your requirements. Hold the position open for THE BEST candidate.

In the end, you’ll thank yourself. I’m speaking from experience here.

Pinterest Experiments: The Peppermint Parade

Merry Christmas everyone!

I’ve been VERY busy this week and I’m happy to report another round of successful Pinterest experiments. We’ll call this the “Peppermint Parade.”

First up is the “Peppermint Dish” I found on Pinterest. Here’s a link to the recipe.

I started lining my springform pan and quickly realized that this one bag would NOT be enough. We paused the production for a Wal-Mart run.

After returning from Wal-Mart, I then realized that the new mints were a different color. I thought to myself, “I can make this work!” The result is the design you see below.

This took about 96 peppermints.

Per the directions, I baked the mints for 8 minutes and then let the plate cool. You REALLY do have to keep an eye on the oven. You’ll look one minute and it will seem like nothing’s happening. Then you’ll look again and the mints will be melted. It happens QUICKLY.

Next, I made peppermint blossom cookies. My inspiration was this recipe that I also found on Pinterest.

The recipe said to let the cookies set for 15 minutes. I noticed that the kisses were still soft, so I sped up the process by placing the cookies in the fridge.

After both elements were done, I arranged all of the cookies on the peppermint dish. I think this is too adorable. Perfect for the holidays!

I decided to give some cookies as gifts. Thankfully, I’d picked up some cute tins from the Dollar Tree and lined them with these napkins (also from the Dollar Tree).

If you want to make a cute holiday gift/dessert for display, this is a go-to combination. Very impressive with rather minimal effort.

Happy Holidays everyone. I hope you’re enjoying family, friends and good food today!

And it’s not too late, you can STILL go fix something!

Fran’s Fixings

This week I received my “Frosty Vox Box” from the Influenster Blogging Network. For full disclosure, I received this for testing purposes from Influenster. Now that the formalities are out of the way, on to the fixings!

This month, I’ve been working on Operation, “Empty Out the Deep Freezer” and it’s been going rather well.

Last week, I made Vegetable Beef Stew and Pan Seared Steaks. I had more meals planned, but with holiday parties and sporting events, I ended up only making dinner two nights last week.

So on to this week. I found some drumsticks in the freezer that I decided to thaw, but then I was thrown a curve-ball when Brandon said he wasn’t in the mood for BBQ chicken…. say what? How can you not be in the mood for BBQ chicken???

But back to the recipe….

With BBQ out the window I set myself to the task of identifying another recipe to use for the chicken. Thankfully, dark meat is pretty forgiving, so I knew I had that working in my favor.

Then arrives the #FrostyVoxBox.

When I saw the bottle of McCormick Gourmet’s Thyme I knew I found my solution. I’m a big McCormick fan, so I partnered the Thyme with McCormick’s Lemon Pepper grinder and went to work! Here’s photographic evidence:

My “recipe” was pretty simple. I set the oven at 375°. I didn’t measure the seasoning (gasp). I believe in adding seasoning until it looks right…. AGAIN, chicken is pretty forgiving, so while this may not be the best method, it works. Just make sure you coat each side evenly. I used a vaporizer to apply olive oil to each side, covered my Pyrex dish with aluminum foil then baked the chicken for 30 minutes. Then I removed the foil and baked the chicken for an additional 30 minutes. I served the chicken alongside collards, stovetop stuffing and rice. Nothing fancy.

My final review. Thyme is on my side. YES it is. 🙂 I look forward to using it in more recipes.

Now go fix something! 🙂

More Marriage Meditations

We attended a holiday party this week when another young couple asked us how we were enjoying married life after two years and when I responded, “I LOVE IT!” The couple said, “You’ve got to be kidding, most married couples hate each other after the second year.”

That made me really sad, but prayerful and thankful that Brandon does most of the things listed in this article without me ever having to ask. We’re definitely NOT perfect, but my prayer before getting married was that our relationship would be an example to this generation. Marriages CAN and DO work when God is in the midst and you’re REALLY committed to one another and the PROCESS.

YES, marriage is a PROCESS!

I think this generation has been disillusioned into believing that the best couples never disagree or butt heads or argue or feel disappointed by their spouse. Those things DO happen, but it’s in the OVERCOMING of those challenges/issues that we learn grace and forgiveness. In a weird way, those negative events can strengthen your relationship IF you let them. Just my experience/thoughts and observations from couples with 25 and 50 years in the game! #marriagematters #morningmeditations #TeamBHenry #thankful #happywife

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (NIV)