Frosty Faves!

It's Friday.

And it's been a wicked bitter-cold week here in the eastern part of New York State.  BRR...........yesterday on the way to work my car temp said -5 degrees F at the school parking lot....way too cold for me. But hey...we don't have snow!  But it sure is frosty outside.......

I think it's a good time to reflect back on this cold, mid-winter week and find some blessings.....FIVE FAVES that God blessed us with........and then link up with other writers of this "giving thanks" exercise hosted by the gracious Susanne.

FIVE FAVES

Carla on the Johnny Mark Trail
Grafton State Park

Faith on the Johnny Mark Trail
19 January 2013

• WINTER HIKE!  Yes, one of my best friends (Carla) and I hiked last Saturday.  It was Winter Festival at a nearby state park but we just wanted to hike one of the deep woods trails. It was so much fun!! We started out by a small lake where it was VERY windy and cold. As we hiked further into the woods, it became sunny, warmer and there was no wind.  I actually worked up a sweat. Winter hiking is rather new to us and I found that because it was sunny with temps in the mid-30's, I didn't mind it! And my back felt GREAT!  Hiking in snow has its challenges but the "naturalist" in me really appreciated the time spent in God's creation surrounded by His beauty and the company of a very good friend. We both were craving active time in nature with a good hike.  It's a blessing to have a friend who enjoys hiking as much as I do.....!

• ORGANIZED SPICES!  On Sunday I had some time to do a little housecleaning and organizing.  I decided to go through all the spices in the kitchen (the baking and cooking ones) and get rid of anything that was outdated and find one spot for all. I alphabetized them front to back and left to right and then made a "map" and taped it to the inside of the cupboard door.(yup...I'm a tad bit "OCD"! :) ) It felt great to get this done and to see which spices I needed to replenish. Because I am now on a kick where we are buying hardly any processed foods, I have to use more spices in my meals for flavoring. I have found some really good ones for things like chicken stew(herbs de Provence)Vegetarian   soup (tarragon, ginger or sage) and other new recipes.  And hopefully, this will help my husband to find things more efficiently when it's his turn to cook! It's such a blessing to have a free weekend afternoon to get caught up on chores like this and because it was starting to get really cold out, I wanted to get caught up on some indoor tasks.

image taken from simplytall.net

• FLEECE ROBE!  I love my blue fleece robe. Once it's April, it is much too warm to wear, but it sure comes in handy on these frosty winter mornings. It's the first thing I reach for when the alarm rings at 5:30 a.m. and it wraps me in its plushness and warmth as I make my way down the dark stairs to the coffee that is brewing and it feels great right after my shower...........it's such a blessing to have warm shelter and clothing.....I don't ever want to take those things for granted.

image taken from taste of home website

• HEARTY SOUP!  The above soup recipe can be found by clicking here to a back post.  I made this soup in the past week and it was great for a cold winter evening.  It's quick, low-fat (meatless) and easy to prepare.  It's great with honey biscuits made with flax meal or with piping hot garlic bread. We've had both. Just add a small plate of raw, fresh berries or other fruit and you have a complete meal for busy evenings.  Try the recipe.....it'll warm your body and fill you up. It's a blessing to be able to cook wholesome, easy foods for busy work-week evenings!

image taken from joyful java blog

• SCRIPTURE!  Wednesday I had my small group ladies over for our meeting on Lesson 2 in the Live Intimately: Lessons from the Upper Room study book.  Wow. One of the Scriptures we were talking about was when Simon Peter was talking with Jesus in Luke 22: 31 & 32 which states:

"And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail;  and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."

And it hit me when I was preparing for the study that JESUS PRAYED FOR SIMON PETER.  Now, I've read those verses many times over my life but for some reason it just struck me this week that JESUS PRAYED FOR ONE OF HIS DEAREST FRIENDS!  Can you imagine Jesus saying that to you??  He cared so much that HE prayed for His friend whom He knew was going to deny knowing Him.  Yet He prayed and served Peter in a humble manner on His last night on earth.  It's amazing.  It's grace. And we need to be more forgiving towards people who betray us or hurt us.  It was a very productive meeting and all 5 of the members were here.  I am so blessed to be able to lead this group of friends and share God's Word with them.  We all learn from each other and it's a  true blessing to have friends to lean on and to encourage.

That wraps it up for me.  We have at least 3 more days of bitter cold temps according to the weatherman here in eastern NY.  I hope to get some reading done this weekend as well as some projects I have going around the house.

What blessings can you discover from the last week?? please share!