I only know.....

I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned;
I only know at His right hand
Is One Who is my Savior!

Among Dark Hearts

My son-in-law is pastor of a church in West Virginia. He has a blog (see a blog post herein of an earlier date). The following is a recent post of his that I find exceptionally worthy to pass along to you, my readers.

Among Dark Hearts

You have got to check out this short excerpt of a piece of writing from Bernard of Clairvaux. He wrote it somewhere around the year 1125. It is amazing how clearly and relevantly it comes across after 900 years. Check it out!

"Churches are full of people who are fairly miserable because they are still bound to earth, and not free in spirit to soar with the joys of heaven. And as for good character and godly living - it seems that the quality of Christian character goes down as our numbers increase.

For now, it must be so. You and I must live among others who fill up the church and whose hearts are truly dark. Run from any 'Christian' who lives to please his flesh, as if you were fleeing from the worst danger. For fire is prepared for all those who lead little ones astray. Do not let your profession of faith - 'I am following Christ' - turn out to be a mockery.....

Do not be led out of your place in Christ, I tell you. Instead, remain true to God and you will know the true working of grace, which gives strength within."

Posted by Shane S.

I am not in agreement with most of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, of which Bernard of Clairvaux was a monk, I find this statement of his to be so true today as it was during the time in which he lived.

Reflections on Memorial Day

As we think on Memorial Day and what it means to be an American, I thought of the following song and wanted to share it with you all. Yes, I'm proud to be an American and I am so thankful for those who have sacrificed to make our Country great!

God Bless the USA

I Am Not Skilled to Understand

Listen/watch this youtube video and receive a wonderful blessing. Leave a comment to bless others after you listen/watch. Thanks.

I Am Not Skilled To Understand

On the edge of frugality

Let's think of some ways that you can exercise your frugal personality and also perhaps help this old Earth a bit.

Reusing aluminum foil and plastic zip/fold-over bags has always been a great way to stretch your pennies. Just be sure you don't reuse the bacteria that clings. Yep a few cracker crumbs or something can be "sudsy-water-washed" out and you're o.k. A bologna sandwich baggie washed out might be trickier and remember you don't want any of the bacteria to travel with the foil or baggie when you reuse it.

I cut tops off the bottles of lotion and use a small-blade plastic scraper (spatula) to get the lotion clinging to the side and very bottom out. I then put it in a small margarine tube (w/ lid) and use it all. Jergens stress lotion is particularly thick and hard to get all out unless you do this.

Any cooking water is great to save to use for soups, sauces, or veggies. (Now you may want to draw the line on collard greens or turnip greens ?????) You save this vitamin rich and flavorful broth in Coolwhip container or (square is better if you have it) other containers and place it in the freezer to use later. Veggie water or meat broth (chicken, ham, fresh pork, beef) is great, and you can use the water from cooking potatoes or pasta as well. You can use it for soups. If you don't add salt to the initial cooking, this liquid can even be used to reconstitute concentrated soups that you purchase. The meat broths can be used to cook fresh veggies as well as the base for soup. These veggie and meat broths make great liquid bases for your sauces and gravies as well.

I don't save liquid from cooked fruit. Usually it takes such a little and I usually add sugar so the fruit is cooked pretty "low." These liquids left over are simply great to "eat out of the pot" or pour over a bit of ice cream. Now if you cook your own preserves or jams from fresh fruit, and if you somehow end up with more liquid that your preserves need, you have an absolutely wonderful syrup to pour over your waffles or pancakes.

Pepperidge Farm and Arnold breads are close to $4 a loaf now. So ever-so-often I go by the outlet and stock up. It costs $1.89/loaf there. Usually though, they have a "featured" bread or so on the counter that is going for $1 a loaf. Also, on Tuesdays they give 10% off to seniors. (just another perk for going grey) So every three weeks or so, I run by and buy our bread They have crackers at about $1 box as well as cookies. Sometimes they have Godiva coffee. I bring it home and place it in a plastic bag, and place it in the freezer. Yesterday I got a pack of 8 Pepperidge whole wheat hamburger buns ($2.89/pkg) for $1. Really nice buns.

When I save my "bread bags," I make sure to shake out all the crumbs. I then "roll" them. Later, when I need a baggie, I can then peel one off and they take less space to store.

In Him there is hope

Found on the web and thought it worth sharing. If you can't read the small print in the pictures, try to enlarge.

Vindication of frugality

Through the years I have received "the look" that said, "Really!" when talking about things I did around the house. Some things for example:

• Catching the water potatoes were cooked in during draining to use in soup, gravy, or for cooking other veggies in.
• Catching the water pasta was cooked in during draining to use in soups and gravy.
• Taking old towels and cutting them down into wash cloths and hemming the edges. Or making a smaller towel to use as a hand towel out of a bath towel.
• Remaking clothes to fit smaller bodies.

Now I have been vindicated! I was reading "Nature's Place," a free magazine distributed at Food Lion grocery stores. There is a mini article that I will quote below:

savings, al dente
Has a large pot of pasta water ever seemed too heavy to hoist? Don't laugh - mericans cook around a billion pounds of pasta a year, and besides muscle, we use lots of energy and water to do it.

So here's some welcome info: you can cook pasta in about half the water called for. Save energy and water (and your strength) by using three to four quarts for a pound of pasta. Gradually add it to boiling water, stir until water returns to a boil, and cook to your liking, stirring occasionally. Besides tasty noodles, you'll end up with thick pasta water you can add to sauce. Even better, use whole-wheat pasta; it's nutritious and results in flavorful water for sauces and pestos. (Selected Sources. "How Much Water Does Pasta Really Need?" by Harold McGee, New York Times. 2/25/09, "How to Cook Pasta," www.savvyvegetarian.)

Now the funny thing about this whole article is simply that I always felt that the amount of water called for in the directions to boil your pasta was too much, so I have NEVER used as much. Yes, my water was kinda thick, but that was so much better for my later uses of it.

So get cracking, folks, and save your strength using less water and save your pasta-water to use later. You'll be glad you did. You'll be being frugal - by not wasting ANYTHING - and you'll get every smidgen of good out your food products.

Rethink what you are throwing away! Save the water any veggie is cooked in. You can use it in soups, sauces, etc. You'll be glad you did.

And while you're thinking pasta, you might want to look at The National Pasta Association website.