Under His Wings

My favorite picture of my Grandma and me. I was about 17 or 18. I'm the one on the right side end. That's another memory. My grandma took me to Benza's barber shop in J.C. to get my brother and my hair cut. We always got B-B-B Bats candy(made by a local candy company) 15 years ago today (3/20/96) a big void was made in our family. My wonderful Grandma, Mary Anna Corwin, died of liver disease. We spent many days with her at her farm house in the country. It was so peaceful there! She took us many places. My favorite place was CFJ Park in Johnson City to ride on the carousel. there's not much left of that park anymore, but the carousel was just refurbished. I'm planning on taking my kids there this summer to ride it. We went to the mall, Mc Donalds, and to visit friends and family just to name a few activities. Grandma was part of all our family picnics and holidays. My favorite holiday tradition was when Grandma made her Cod Fish balls (deep frie...

Here is the video I promised. I'll take this opportunity to share the meaning of this song to me. The first time I sang this song in church, I had just found out I was pregnant with my oldest son (13 years ago...YIKES). I thought the word labor would make me giggle as I had not shared the news with my church family our news yet. I ended up bawling! I have a tendency of doing that as I have shared a few times on this blog. Because He Lives and The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power are 2 other ones that have caught my emotions off guard while singing them. We moved away and attended a different church for 6 years. In that time, we had the ordeal of losing our baby girl. When I was expecting our last child, we bought a house back in the city we started out at. We returned to our old church. The Grace song came to the attention of our pastor. I said I had sung the song before, so I was asked to sing it again. Now the song had a more powerful meaning to me. I did get through it that ...

Just as prayer meeting was going to start, the lights went out. They came right back on, but soon after they went out. It ended up being for 2 hours. A 35+ mph wind had come through the area and blew down some power lines. The kids group was meeting upstairs. It ended up being a good thing. They would have had to try to find their way upstairs in the dark. That would have been more scary for them. Most of them were taken home. Tim came home with our 2 little ones. Elijah and I stayed behind. It would have been easy for everyone to go home, but our speaker, Bruce, thought it would be appropriate to keep going. I didn't mind. I felt there was a reason we were there. When something like this happens, church is the best place to be (other than home with family) Bruce talked about grace. He had some great reminders about this special subject. I had just heard one of my favorite songs It's All Because of God's Amazing Grace (another of those tear jerking songs when I've san...

Sometimes my common sense goes right out the window. Last week I purchased what I thought was a great deal on unshelled pecans. They were only $1.49. I found it was more trouble than it was worth. First off there was a problem with the self pay register not giving me back the right change leaving the nearby cashier and I very confused. I decided I wanted to make some banana nut muffins with them, so I attacked the pecans with a hammer. I was quite the happy camper seeing the chopped results, but very upset to discover when I tested the batter that I didn't get all the shells out of the nuts. I remembered thinking that yes, our dental insurance has been improved this year, but I really don't want to test it! This was just the last straw from a mostly bad day. My husband came home from a night out with our oldest son and tried my creation. "What's up with these shelly muffins?" he asked. Hmm, Shelly Muffins, that sounds like a good character name for one ...

I have been craving Beef Vegetable soup with pasta rings for a LONG time! It was a family tradition as I was growing up. Both of my grandmas made this yummy soup. I sure do miss them!!!!!!!! I purchased some beef on sale at a local grocery store. I found the rings on sale a few weeks ago. One of my dear friends bought me a stock pot for Christmas, so today I was ready to experiment. The recipe I based my soup can be found here http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1648,134173-243199,00.html Here's my version Beef Vegetable Soup with Pasta Rings Beef Coating 1 lb. beef chunks (I used round roast cut up in little pieces) 1/4 c. flour 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. pepper 1 tsp. garlic powder Cut beef into small chunks. Put flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder into zippered plastic bag, add beef, shake to coat. Soup 1 tbsp. oil 3 cans of beef broth (I only had 1 can of broth, so I just added 2 cans worth of water) broccoli stalks finely cut baby carrots, sliced if desired add any other vegetables if de...

December 29, 1999, will be a day I will never forget. It was the day I gave birth to my second child, Gabrielle Renee. It was a beautiful, but scary day. We had known since August that she had a fatal condition called Anencephaly. My dr. wanted me to end the pregnancy. He saw no need to carry the baby when she had no chance of surviving. Her brain and skull did not form. There was no surgery or procedures which could save her. Tim and I stressed to him that we felt we had no right to end her life. What if the doctors were wrong? What if God chose to heal her? As it turned out, God didn't chose to heal her, but He did give us 14 1/2 special hours with her. Her neonatalogist thought she may only life an hour. She surprised us all. She was able to be fed 3 times. She was alert, but quiet. The only time she made a sound is when the nurse was giving her a bath. We all laughed about that. My parents were there to share in the special time too. That meant the world to me! I got to thinkin...

Picture this...3 excited children waiting patiently for Daddy to show up with the movie camera. Soon the bright lights appear blinding those 3 anxious children as they dash down the stairs to their awaiting mom, grandparents and most years great grandma. Later in the day, the smell of ham permiates throughout the house. The family gathers around the kitchen table that has been moved to the living room. Pistachio salad, olives and pickes and soda are among the Christmas menu favorites. Fast forward 30 years.... those parents along with the 3 children now adults in their mid 30's to 40 with 3 grandchildren gathered around a now smaller table in the living room. Some of the same favorites are on the table along with some new ones. The gifts are opened now in the early afternoon instead of early morning. The conversations are now focused on childhood memories and thoughts of the future. It was so wonderful having my parents, brothers and I together today for Christmas. It is...