The Youngs

  Have you ever seen anyone sitting on their front porch, maybe in their rocker, and wondered how they have time to do that?  Well I sure have and felt envious!  I sometimes feel that my rockers will be rotten before I am able to that!

  Most all of us lead stressful lives with more things that need to be accomplished than there is time for.  I once believed that when my children were grown and gone, I would always have a clean house, time to work on hobbies, etc....boy was I wrong!

  I believe that our problem has many facets:  We say yes to more things than we really can do, sometimes because we think no one can do them as good as we can and we want it done right! We want to see things accomplished faster than ever before, and perhaps we all want too much, which leads to more stress and that brings on many health problems, as research is finding out every day.

  Just this week, I began to feel myself on the verge of a giant "meltdown"!  I work "part-time", which is about 32-35 hours a week, with only about 10 minutes a day to sit down...at age 52 I am finding out how worn out that makes you.   From the beginning, this week just seemed more overwhelming than usual...there were a lot of errands to do on Monday, Tuesday I had pomised our daughter Becky to go to an old theater to see the 1920's version of "Phantom of the Opera", and Wednesday we had Trunk of Treats at our church, which is a great outreach to the area...yes, I decorated a trunk too...does it seem like my week will settle down?  Well, no, because my sister, who lives in Florida, will be here on Friday with her family, whom I dearly love to have, and seldom get to see...I am also working for a friend of mine Friday night that owns a large catering business...When will I get my house cleaned and ready for company?

It was then the Lord reminded me "Just take each day at a time. You only have to be concerned with today."

  How often do we really get so caught up in all we have to do that we totally forget that God is there to help us in that housework, our job, the shopping...for the moms it might be those diapers to be changed, hungry mouths to feed, and stopping that child from giving the cat a bath in the toliet!

  God sent something very simple as a reminder today as I rushed home to get things ready for church...let me explain:  My 6 year old grandson and I have a habit of watching for herons as we drive across several lakes each day, and so I do it when I am alone as well.  Today, just when I was nearly to the top of my stress level, I saw a great blue heron wading into the edge of the water.  He was not in a hurry, although no doubt he was hungry and maybe there were babies somewhere to be fed, nests to be repaired...  But he raised his long legs and slowly and gracefully and unhurridly, stepped out into the water.  I felt like God was reminding me to stop, take a breath, and place my cares, once again on Him.   Why was I so worried and rushed?  He was waiting right there for me to ask for His help!

  God gives us many verses in the Bible to confirm this.  He tells us to "Be still and know that I am God".  "Cast your care upon Him for He careth for you".  He reminds us to look at the birds and the flowers, how they are fed and clothed without worry.

All through His Word we can find that reminder that He is concerned about every detail of our lives and is our strength when we feel we cannot go on.

  So our evening went well at church and we were able to reach out to many in our area that perhaps do not know this great and wonderful God that so wants to have a relationship with us...and maybe my house will be clean when my sister and her family arrives...maybe it won't...maybe they will have to put their own sheets on their bed, or clean their own bathroom...and you know what?  That would not bother them in the least!  They are somewhat like God in that respect...they just want to spend time with me!

  So remember this, God is there always ready to help you in the even most remote area of your life...but you must take the time to "be still" and ask Him!

Til He comes!

Dianne

 Strawberry Pie:

1 baked pie shell or graham crust
3 qts. fresh berries
1/2 c water
1 c. sugar (or 1/2 to 3/4 c Splenda)
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Bake shell (if necessary). Place perfect berries in pie shell and crush the remainder, adding to the water. Mix sugar and corn starch in a saucepan until well blended, then add the crushed berries and water. Heat to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly, until mixture is clear. Remove from heat and add butter and lemon juice. Once mixture is cool, pour over berries in shell. Serve with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream. (I add a bit of sugar or Splenda and a few drops of almond extract to mine!)

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 Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Torte
 Prep: 50 min.
Bake: 20 min.
Cool: 10 min.
Stand: 10 min.

2-2/3 cups toasted slivered almonds
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 15 square crackers)
1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
8 eggs, separated
3/4 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel
1-1/3 cups sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese , softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2/3 cup finely chopped pitted dates or raisins
1/2 cup chunk-style applesauce
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel

Directions
1. Grease and flour three 8x1-1/2-inch round baking pans; set aside. Process or blend almonds in small batches in a food processor bowl or blender container, covered, until nuts are finely ground but not oily. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Stir in crumbs, baking powder, 1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, and 3/4 teaspoon orange peel; set aside.

2. Beat egg yolks and 2/3 cup of the sugar in a small mixer bowl with an electric mixer on high speed for 6 minutes. Stir in pumpkin and vanilla. Fold in nuts.

3. Wash beaters. Beat egg whites in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until soft peaks form (tips curl). Gradually add remaining 2/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Fold 1 cup of the egg white mixture into pumpkin mixture. Fold pumpkin mixture into remaining egg white mixture. Spread evenly in prepared pans.

4. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until light brown. Cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool thoroughly on racks.

5. For the filling, in a small bowl beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add the brown sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice; beat well. Stir inthe dates and applesauce. Set aside. For the whipped cream, in small chilled mixing bowl beat the whipping cream, 2 teaspoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon orange peel with an electric mixer on medium speed just until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

6. To assemble torte, split each cake layer in half horizontally. Place bottom of one split layer on a serving plate. Spread with about 2/3 cup of the Apple-Date Filling. Repeat with remaining cake layers and filling, ending with top cake layer. Spoon Sweetened Whipped Cream on top layer. Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 4 hours. Makes 16 servings.

Make-ahead tip: Wrap baked cake layers for freezing and freeze up to 3 months ahead. Thaw before using. Prepare Apple-Date Filling, cover, and chill up to 2 days ahead.