I was busy yesterday, but not so much with work. With only one boss right now, and a very self-sufficient one at that, I had very little to do. But I'm glad about that because I had volunteered to fix dinner for a friend who has recently been diagnosed with CML (chronic myeloid leukemia) and before she could get treatment, was rear-ended (picture the back of the car pushed into the front rear-ended) and now is recovering from a broken sternum, broken ribs, and a compressed vertebrae. Besides bruises. Anyway, I volunteered to cook dinner - and I love to cook. MY problem with cooking is that if I am fixing for others, I can't fix enough stuff! And, of course, I have to keep enough and make enough that there is plenty for us to eat as well.
I tried a new very easy recipe for a roast. A chuck roast at that! You take the roast and put in a crockpot. Add one can of soda. Add one jar of chili sauce. Add two cloves of garlic (I used minced). And let it cook for 6-8 hours. Mine cooked for 8 hours and it was so tender! It had a mild flavor to it but nothing overshadowing the taste of the meat, which I like. Besides the roast I had mashed potatoes, green beans, deviled eggs, and sugar-free cherry cobbler (another easy recipe - 2 cans SF cherry pie filling, 1 box of yellow cake mix, 1 stick of butter). I used sugar free because my friend's hubby is diabetic. Anyway - put the cherry pie filling in the bottom of the crock pot (use a small crockpot for the one can), pour the cake mix on top of it (dry), and add one stick of butter (I cut it up and spread all over the top). Put the lid on the crockpot and turn on high for right about two hours. It is so yummy. Anyway - there you have it. Two quick and easy recipes. And it took all day to pull it together. LOL
I love to cook and was glad to be able to pull it together for my friend. My plan B was to go to the grocery and get fried chicken (YUM), and find things to put with it. A lot less work, yes, but because I love to cook, enjoyed the entire day of running from my desk to the kitchen and back again. We ate ours after we delivered the food to my friend and it was good. Especially the cherry cobbler. I had fixed a separate batch for us. :-) I intend to take some over to my neighbor sometime today.
Oh, I forgot. I also put together eggs ole' for them. I had meant to bake it, but my oven has died. And the repairman can't be here until Thursday morning. So I couldn't bake the eggs ole' but put it in a pie pan and took to them with directions on how to bake it. I suggested they bake it last night so that they could just heat it up today. Then 'dessert' for breakfast - we enjoy it at most meals even - unsweetened applesauce...with a sprinkle of cinnamon - and then throw in about a tablespoon of raw sunflower seeds. It gives it crunch and makes it seem like a dessert. Yeah, took some of that too. I told you, once I get started I can't stop!
I'm not telling you all this because I want kudos for fixing a meal for a friend, I'm telling you this cause I love to cook and I went crazy yesterday making things! See, it IS a good thing I work cause if I can find a reason to cook (other than just cook for us) I will be figuring out all kinds of things and trying new recipes! And I don't have to cook dinner from scratch for us tonight - just have to put in microwave the leftovers and we have dinner! (made you hungry yet?)
I started a new book yesterday morning called 'The Power of Hope' by Dutch Sheets. In opening the book I found that my little sister had given it to me back in 2018 as she had written in it. Isn't it interesting that we obviously were going through similar things then as we are now... for the introduction alone spoke to some things I've been feeling. But I like what is written on the cover of this book.... 'Let God Renew Your Mind, Heal Your Heart, and RESTORE YOUR DREAMS'. My dreams have been shattered so many times that I have given up hope for any of them. I don't know why I grabbed this book off the shelf, and I would say I haven't read it before (even though my sister gave it to me in 2018) but probably placed it on the shelf, being busy with other books.
What caught my eye as I flipped through the reviews was this by Lou Engle - "Darkness shall not prevail, for God holds your history in His hands and He will not fasten your soul to a dead-end vision!"
We need to get rid of the 'common cold' of the soul, which is discouragement and loss of our dreams, and focus instead on what HOPE does. The 'common cold' of the soul. Yes, I pulled that from the book in the first chapter. Not going to elaborate on it today as I've written much about cooking in this space. But think about it.
What dreams have you had that you let go of over the years? What things did you hope for that never came to pass? It hurts to think of them sometimes, doesn't it? I know it does me. I had dreams, I had hopes, and many came to pass, but many more that I wanted, did not. Have not.
But I can't dwell upon them or I would become a sad old woman, and I refuse to be that! So what do I do with those broken dreams; the ones that never came to fruition? The ones that gave me excitement and hope to plan for...only they never happen?
I give them to Jesus. Yep. That's how I survive. I can't share a lot of my dreams... people just wouldn't understand, even though who think they know me best. Some can imagine what they could be, after all, I'm usually pretty vocal when I'm not liking things.... but ... no one knows me like Jesus does. He knows every broken part of my heart. He has seen every tear that has fallen. He has heard every sob that has ever escaped. He knows me best.
And He knows you best as well. Even if you don't personally know Him, or that you have walked away from Him to do your own thing, He knows you. Inside and out. He knows your fears, your heartaches, your disappointments, your broken dreams.
Rather than continuing to hold them in, why don't you take a minute and just talk with Jesus and speak how you are feeling? He already knows, but He's ready to listen to help you get it out. Stop putting on a brave, sometimes very hard, front. Just tell Jesus. Let me help you get started....
"Jesus, you know this dream I had about...(fill in the blank).... it didn't happen. Yeah, it may be my fault it didn't happen, but my dream still didn't happen, and it hurts. Please help me move past what I've been holding in. Give me Your peace about my life, and help me find a dream that I can start again, to hope again. Hope. I have given up on that word, but if You give it to me, I will have look to it again. Thank You, Jesus, for not giving up on me, or my dreams."
Keep dreaming, keep hoping, never give up.
Blessings!
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