Dear friends:
How about joining us for the day?
Even though I love schedules, my days are quite unpredictable and don’t always turn out as planned.
Daniel and I got up at 6 a.m. and had devotions together. We have a devotional booklet we use which includes an article for each day, along with a Bible reading plan. It covers many different topics and has been an inspiration to us.
After devotions we had a light breakfast which consisted of an orange, graham cracker cookies and salad. You read that right. I did have salad for breakfast! I am a salad fan all the way through and was delighted to have some of yesterday’s leftover salad for breakfast.
Daniel left for the shop at 6:45. I decided to make good use of my quiet time and work on this week’s column. I had some of it written when Austin (age 15 months) woke up. He loves being cuddled and rocked until he’s fully awake. I spent some time rocking him and singing to him. While doing so, I prayed blessings of protection on his life as he grows up, that he may grow to be a man of God.
Before long, Julia awoke and snuggled on the couch. Soon she was ready to start her morning routine. First she took a “BarleyLife” which is a green that is an excellent booster and helps a person stay healthy and strong.
Next I helped her get dressed and combed her hair and put on her head covering. After that we knelt to pray together, thanking God for his many blessings and asking him to care for our family and friends.
Next it was breakfast time. Homemade granola along with a cookie is at the top of Julia’s list of favorite breakfasts. Once her breakfast was past, we were ready to help each other tackle what we call our “morning work.” It consists of washing dishes, making beds, picking up toys, or whatever needed to make the house presentable.
Our “Mamma Julia” time is also of great importance to Julia. It’s a time for the two of us to spend time together doing something she likes, such as coloring, writing, playing pitch and catch, or reading a story. She thrives on having quality time together with Daniel or my undivided attention.
This forenoon I decided to work on my stack of mending which seemed to be growing incredibly fast. There were buttons to put on Julia’s Sunday jacket, hubby’s pants and a shirt for Austin that needed help.
I prepared a simple lunch which consisted of reheating mashed potatoes and gravy that I had made awhile back and stuck in the freezer. Along with that, I browned several deer burgers and served tapioca and hubby’s delight bars. Remember that recipe from last week? Daniel commented on it being one of his favorite meals. Wow, how simple, yet how fun, to watch him enjoy it so much.
While Austin took his afternoon nap, I decided to tackle the column. I did some writing until he woke up. After cuddling him a bit, he was ready to go play with Julia. I made another attempt to do more writing, but before long I decided I might as well put it away in hopes of later finding a quiet moment. I sat in front of my sewing machine in the living room once more and worked on one of my dresses while the children played.
As I glanced over to the living room, I couldn’t help but smile. If someone were to drop by now, they would certainly see that we are a real family that can make real big messes. Building blocks were all over the floor. Austin doesn’t put them into neat piles. Instead, he watches them with delight as he scatters them all over. Julia’s writing supplies were amongst the blocks, along with other toys Austin had gotten from the box.
I like the plaque my sister-in-law Regina gave me. It says something like “Please excuse the mess, the children are making memories.”
I sewed a while until Austin needed some attention. I fixed some food for him and decided to put my sewing on the side for the day and spend some time with the children. Julia and I helped each other pick up the toys. Before long, Daniel came home from work and asked how I’m doing. I told him about my day, including my incomplete column and dress.
“How about having me care for children and making supper while you have time to write in quiet?” Daniel suggested.
It sounded way too good to be true. Now here I am in the bedroom — with the door shut — starting over and working on another column, writing about my day. My dear little ones are in Daniel’s care. I hear dishes clanking. Obviously he is washing the dishes from lunch that I hadn’t done yet. And, yes, it smells like supper is on the way. Amazing, indeed.
I need to be running along. We plan to take our church youth singing to several nursing homes tonight and we need to be ready to go in an hour from now.
After going out into the kitchen, I was surprised to see that he had made pancakes.
“I didn’t take the time to use a recipe,” Daniel said. “I just dumped some things together.” To say the least, I was impressed. I thank the Lord for giving me a Godly husband.
You may want to try our old stand-by pancake recipe. I’ve made countless batches of this over the years. Although they have whole wheat flour and oatmeal, they are amazingly light as well as nutritious.
DELICIOUS
OATMEAL PANCAKES
2 eggs
1½ cups milk
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup oatmeal
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1½ tablespoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
cinnamon to taste (optional)
Beat eggs until fluffy, add wet ingredients and blend. Add dry ingredients and mix lightly, only until barely blended. Let stand several minutes. Drop or pour by one-fourth cup onto a greased skillet. Brown each side on medium heat.
