Happy Birthday to Kelly with a Psalm & a Recipe

Today my oldest granddaughter is 32 years old! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to KELLY!!! The last time she visited me, we had a nice, soft rain one evening that came down for a long time. We sat outside the French doors of my bedroom and Kelly read Psalms out loud for 30 minutes or so to me and Donna. So it was about a year ago when Donna was here at the same time as Kelly. And a good time was had by all!

The beautiful 23rd Psalm has been a favorite of so many people for generations of time. Not only is it beautiful lyrically, but the meaning has lifted many of us in difficult times. So I'm going to repeat it here for Kelly's sake and for all of us who might need inspiration toward a brighter day.

23rd PSALM

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green
pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths ofrighteousness
For His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort
me.You prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the
Lord

Forever.

What more can a shepherd do for his sheep? He gives them everything they need, just as God gives us our every need. He provides for us. And He comforts us with His protection and direction. We are anointed daily with blessings. And we are given hope with the promise of dwelling in His house and having fellowship with Him forever! I wish all of these spiritual blessings for Kelly and for all of you.

Now I want to give you a recipe for Olio Nuovo and Lemon Cookies. The recipe is from the McEvoy Ranch Cookbook. The Olio Nuovo is one of their limited edition olive oils, but you can use the olive oil of your choice. They also grow lemons and this is a recipe using fresh lemons. They may also be flavored with orange. Simply substitute navel orange zest, orange oil, and orange juice where appropriate. These cookies are reminiscent of Mexican wedding cookies or Russian tea cakes. If you don't want to bake all the cookies at one time, freeze the balls of dough on a cookie sheet and transfer to a plastic bag. They'll keep for about 3 months. The frozen cookies will go straight into the oven, but may need a few more minutes of cooking time.

Olio Nuovo and Lemon Cookies

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup olio nuovo (or your favorite olive oil)
1/8 teaspoon pure lemon oil (Boyajian brand recommended)
4 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 large baking
sheets with baking parchment or silicone baking sheets.
2) Sift together the flour, sugar, and baking soda into a
medium-sized bowl. In a small bowl, stir together the
olive oil, lemon oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Add
the wet ingredients, then stir until the mixture comes
together into a uniform mass. Using your hands, roll
the dough into balls 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter, and
place them on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them
2 inches apart.
3) Bake the cookies 1 sheet at a time until cooked through
and very lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Transfer to
a wire rack and let cool completely. Store in an airtight
container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

I hope you'll try this lovely recipe and enjoy some taste you've probably never had before in a cookie. Let me know how you like them. And one more time:

Happy Birthday to Kelly! I love you very much!

Blessings...Mimi

The Story of David & Goliath

IN A TIME long, long ago, in a little town called Bethlehem far, far away, there lived an Israelite of the tribe of Judah named Jesse, who had 8 sons. Three of his older sons--his firstborn Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah--were in the army of King Saul of Israel, but David, his youngest son, was watching his father's sheep. One day, Jesse gave David grain and bread for his brothers, and cheese for their captain, and sent him to find out if his brothers were doing well.

When David arrived in the camp of the armies of Israel, he saw before him two armies arrayed for battle: the Israelite armies stood one mountainside, while the Philistine armies stood on the opposite mountainside with a valley between them.

Suddenly, a giant Philistine came striding into the valley that lay between the two mountains. His name was Goliath. He was over 9 feet tall and dressed for battle. He wore a bronze helmet on his head, and bronze armor on his body and legs, and a coat of mail. He carried a bronze javelin between his shoulders and a heavy spear with an iron head. A shield bearer walked before him.

Goliath stopped and began to shout: "I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us!" Twice a day for 40 days, Goliath had come out to challenge the armies of Israel.

The armies of Israel were so afraid of him that they stayed in their tents! But when David heard his challenge, it only made him angry, and he asked: Who does this Philistine think he is, defying the armies of the living God? And King Saul was told that David would fight Goliath. But King Saul spoke to David, saying, "You are not able to fight with this Philistine because you are still a youth, and Goliath has been a man of war from the time of his youth."

Then David told King Saul that he used to keep his father's sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, he went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth. And when it attacked him, he caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Now David said to King Saul that God had delivered him from the paw of a lion and the paw of a bear, and He would also deliver him from this Philistine. So David, who had killed both a lion and a bear, said that he would also kill this Philistine, because he had defied the armies of the living God.

King Saul said to him, "Go and the Lord be with you!" Then King Saul gave his armor to David, but it was much too big for him. So David took his staff in one hand and his sling in the other to go out to meet Goliath. He stopped at a brook that flowed through the valley and picked up 5 smooth stones and put them in his shepherd's bag.

When Goliath saw the youthful David coming to fight him, he said: "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And he cursed David by his gods, threatening to feed him to the birds and the beasts.

Then David said to Goliath: "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." Then David said: "This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all of this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands."
~

Then, as the Philistine walked toward David to fight and kill him, David hurried and ran toward the army of the Philistines to meet Goliath. He put his hand in his shepherd's bag and took out one of the smooth stones. He put the stone in his sling and quickly slung it. It struck the giant Philistine and sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. Then David ran and stood over Goliath, pulled the Philistine's sword out of its sheath, and cut his head off with it.

So David prevailed over the giant Goliath with a sling and a stone, which killed him. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they began running away, leaving their tents with all their belongings behind. And the men of Israel and Judah ran after them and chased them out of the valley, but returned and plundered their tents.

David loved God and believed that He would keep him safe. And so the Israelites overcame their enemies and all the earth knew that there was a God in Israel!

~

Blessings...Mimi

Spiritual Perception

"Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." Romans 8:5

I promised you a look at F. LaGard Smith's book Meeting God in Quiet Places: The Cotswold Parables. I encourage you to get your own copy of the book. LaGard is allowing me to summarize the chapters and is sending me a copy of the DVD. I think that is very generous!


The point of the book is to take something in the natural realm and compare it to something in the spiritual realm--parables surrounding us in everyday life. In the first chapter, LaGard helps us understand our spiritual perception by looking at the natural hearing perception of animals.
~

Does the length of a rabbit's ears help it hear? Dogs don't have long ears and they have acute hearing. Watching rabbits reminds us that rabbits are doing what rabbits do, but they are also being what rabbits are--animals. God tells us as His children to DO and BE a person that pleases Him.


Now I want to quote LaGard directly: "In much the same way (as the electronic sound waves that create what you listen to on the radio or television), there is also a spiritual dimension which surrounds and permeates our material world. Think of it as the realm in which angels exist--and Satan. It is in this unseen world that the Holy Spirit moves and in which spiritual warfare is taking place. The spiritual dimension is the arena of prayers and miracles. It's the world of the supernatural, the transcendent--a trysting place between the human and divine."


And now I hear you saying, WHAT?!!! Because you probably hadn't realized that the angels of God and the angels of Satan are fighting for your soul every moment of every day! The choices you make are not only choosing what you'll wear and where you'll go, but whose side you're on: God's or Satan's!
~

In some ways, it is to Satan's advantage to be moving in a material world, appealing to the lust of the eyes--what we see, the lust of the flesh--what we touch and feel, and the pride of life--what we own and what we do. But most of us have learned that these things are disappointing in the end and do not fill us with what we most crave: love, peace, and happiness. Making choices out of our own wisdom is often choosing short term, when knowing what God wants us to be, and choosing on that basis is long term and fulfilling.

Going back to LaGard's analogy of the rabbits who use their ears as an "early warning system," did your "ears" go up when I mentioned that Satan is out to claim your soul? You have been given ears to hear and a heart to understand, but you must take time to be aware of the spiritual dimension around you in order to save your soul!

Blessings...Mimi