Thursday, February 18, 2016
Run Don't Walk to Heaven
Eldis is no ordinary woman. She's a mom, grandmother, friend, sister, wife, encourager, songwriter, piano player, drama director, fun-loving gift from God. She survived a double mastectomy from breast cancer, surgery for a brain aneurysm, widowed after 50+ years, raised seven kids (three of them adopted) and I won't attempt the number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, there are many! In short, there are many, many people who love this lady, including me. She's been one of my spiritual supports for Godly growth and a mentor to me about love; God's love. I've seen her many times like John the Revelator "caught up" in God's love repeating the same phrase over and over "God is love, God is love!"
I left the Independent Baptist Church I grew up in after worshipping there with Eldis and her family for 42 years. I joined First Baptist Chatsworth with my family, incidentally or not, the same church where Eldis grew up. I am thankful for my years at Mt. View Baptist. My move left some people scratching their heads wondering why I made such a drastic change from an uber-conservative church to Southern Baptist (also conservative).
The answer is simple. Whether it was self-inflicted or a very present demonstration, I grew up with an "unhealthy" fear of God. Watching Eldis, I grew to realize God is not "out to get me" for something I did or didn't do (not going to church on Wednesday night). He gave his only son, Jesus, so I might have life more abundantly. If I accept his sacrifice, apply it to my life and live for and through him, he is faithful and just to forgive my sin. Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. I've learned fear is respect and acknowledgment, reasoning together, not shrinking in the corner or coming to church because you fear what God will do to you if you don't. I interpret Godly fear similar to the way God wishes us to respect our parents, after all, he is our Father.
First Baptist Chatsworth has fostered the Eldis creed in me. When I walk thru the lovingly comfortable double doors I can feel the spirit of a younger Eldis chanting to me "God is love, God is love!" I am forever grateful to this extraordinary woman that held to her belief when others didn't fully understand. The basis of Eldis' faith is Jesus Christ and his love for her, mine is too. We will never outlove him.
As I watched this sweet family gathered around her hospital bed, laughing until they lost their breath, I marveled. Their faith impresses, to say the least. I only hope to possess this attitude when it's time to surrender my parents to their Heavenly Father. After a laughing frenzy, when Eldis regained her composure, she looked at me and said, "Tammy, I've always thought that God wants us to run to him happy when it's time instead of him having to drag us by the hair of the head saying (in the gruffest voice she could muster) "I SAID COME ON!""
As always Eldis, I think you're right!
Philippians 2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
***I had to edit this post to include a fond memory. Eldis was the first and last person to serve me ground beef gravy for breakfast. She subs ground beef for sausage in her gravy. Her family loves it! I had never heard of ground beef gravy let alone tasted it!. Eldis says, "You have to get creative when raising seven kids on a budget!" I didn't like it 35 years ago and still don't but I'm sure it's still a staple at the Smith house!
Love me some Eldis,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
Monday, February 15, 2016
10 Time-Saving Tips for Making Pink Popcorn
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| OUR BEAUTIFUL PINK POPCORN! |
Ever made pink popcorn? Me neither. But, now I have. I'd be doing you an injustice if I didn't share my 10 Time-Saving Tips for making Pink Popcorn that I learned by trial and much error. First, a bit about me. I have two personality traits that annoy even me.
1) I think I can do ANYTHING! Really, I can. I mean I hope someone don't ask me to lock myself under water and try to get out like the Great Houdini, but short of that, I.can.make.pink.popcorn. How hard can it be?
2) I can't say NO. If there's a need, I think I'm the answer. Sometimes it's just better to say "No, I really don't know anyone who can make pink popcorn." and go on about my day...unless it's for a great cause like the American Cancer Society and Pamper Your Princess Day and the person who needs the popcorn is a long-time friend! Because what Princess don't deserve a mouthful of delicious, sugary, dreamy pink popcorn!
Anyway, I'm schooled in the art of pink popcorn making so it's only fair I share the 10 time-saving tips my mom and I learned. Btdubs, my mom gave me the two horrid traits so she's always my project recruit! Ready to make some popcorn!
We tried several recipes. We found the best one here at Domestic Dreamboat. Her recipe coats 24 cups of popcorn perfectly and is DELICIOUS! After much trial and error, here's our 10 time-saving tips for making pink popcorn.
1. The way NOT to do it. Microwave in a Pampered Chef Rice Cooker with oil, butter, food coloring, popcorn, Karo syrup and sugar. The rice cooker is in the trash. Burnt it up! Don't try the microwave method in a glass container, does not work either. This is what you'll get...
2. Give your air popper a rest every batch (24 popped cups). Your air popper will wind up in the trash heap if you don't, burnt up just like the microwave popcorn.
3. Give your microwave a rest every batch (24 popped cups). Your microwave will wind up in the trash heap if you don't, burnt up just like the popcorn. Yes, we lost this microwave too!
8. We used Wilton Pink Icing Color. Worked well but it's difficult to measure. We had varied colors of pink popcorn which weren't really a problem....see #9.
9. We used Wilton Color Mist to supplement color (just spray it on);
a) to color some of the white popcorn we added, and
b) to add more color if our pink mixture just wasn't pink enough for princesses!
10. We produced 80 princess bags of pink popcorn in 4.5 hours containing about 1 1/2 cups of popcorn each! We made four batches of the pink popcorn recipe adding plain white popcorn every batch. We found one of our batches (after compression of pink candy syrup and the addition of 6-12 cups of white popcorn) filled 20 bags. Our time includes trial and error and success and we are not slow studies either.
A blown up air popper, a burned out microwave, five brown paper sacks and two exhausted old ladies were sacrificed making pink popcorn but no animals were harmed! I told my friend if anyone wanted to know who made the pink popcorn, please don't mention our names (we can't make anymore)! lol Pink Princess Popcorn was a great one-time experience. I hope the Princesses enjoyed every minute of it! Contrary to what this blog might imply....We did!
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| She's smiling but can't keep her eyes open! |
Resting in pink,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
Sunday, February 7, 2016
When You Come to Church Looking Like a Bag Lady
When you come to church looking like a bag lady should anyone care?
My recent cashier at Dillard's most certainly would!
My mom and I were shopping the clearance sale at Dillard's Department Store last week. The cashier chatted like we were old acquaintances. Somehow, our conversation turned to tradition. She raved on about her nieces and nephews doing things backward, nothing in the old traditional ways. She shared. We listened.
She disgustedly disapproved of living together unwed, children out of wedlock and the audacity of her sister inviting her to a nephew's wedding with these important issues ignored! I’ll add here that I don’t consider these topics tradition. God doesn't approve this behavior because it is contrary to his word. I am following the conversation until she says, "And what about the way women come to church dressed like bag ladies? Didn’t their mother teach them how to dress?" Yep, she's a flaming traditionalist.
Ms. Cashier didn’t know me from Adam or Eve's house cat. She had no way of knowing shoes are a huge obstacle for me. Dressing like a Philadelphia lawyer does not come easy for me. This is where I looked off, mind racing, feeling unworthy and disengaged from the conversation. Politely, I never commented on her question.
I’ve owned the same black jumper for almost 30 years. I LOVE that old, faded, holed-pocket jumper. My safe, trusty knee-high boots are the perfect accessory! My mom HATES my jumper. She threatens to burn the dress. Her twin sister offered to buy me a replacement if I’d throw it away and never wear it again. My old black jumper is the most comfortable dress in my closet. I feel good about it and think it's stylish too! I've kidded them about being jealous and envying how good I look in that tattered old plain jumper. Of course, my mom probably thinks I need a mirror! I understand mom and others and the traditions they've been taught like; Easter requires a new dress.
What people don’t understand about my black jumper is I’ve worshiped Jesus corporately in that dress more than any other article of clothing I own. Jesus has wiped away my tears that spilled down my cheeks, curved under my chin, and rolled down my neck to land softly on the cotton fabric turning it an unfaded black. I gratefully wore the jumper with both of my pregnancies. I am so thankful I can wear this dress with my knee high boots hiding non-traditional feet, looking somewhat stylish and feeling somewhat normal. I can walk into the church with this ugly dress on, unassisted, because of what Jesus did for me. When I walk into the church looking like a bag lady, I’m not thinking about my clothing. I'm thinking about worshipping a King, my Savior!
Leviticus 19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.
When you come to church looking like a bag lady, OWN it! I wear my unattractive black jumper unconcerned about outward appearance because:
- a redeemed soul carries more valuables inside than a Coach purse
- a satisfied soul shines more brilliantly than diamonds
- a thankful heart turns more heads than Prada shoes
- a happy countenance is beautiful without Chanel makeup
- a praising tongue says more than a Vera Wang gown
God is my designer 365,
Tammy
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Kids Do Say The Smartest Things!
Lisette Epperson is my granddaughter. My only grandchild currently. I have the blessed priviledge of keeping here during the week. I was a working mom when both my daughters grew up. I changed my mind about women in the workplace long before "Sette" was born but after being Granmom to her daily for the past two years, I so wish I could have spent this much time with my own kids. Anyway, I digress. Kids do say the smartest things. I'm blogging these to keep a personal record of some of the stuff my Sette says.
See our bucket heads in the pic? Lisette saw her bucket immediately putting it on her head calling it a hat. I said "I need a pic." She said "Let me take your picture." I gave her a quick lesson in iPhone photography and my picture above was her 5th attempt. I got cracked up watching her position me in the phone screen! Not a bad job. Her hand to eye coordination is amazing at 26 months.
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My mom's favorite pasttime is arguing with Lisette. I usually ask mom not to argue when she does but yesterday, I was driving failing to catch the conversation in time to prevent a small argument. Lisette decided to stop it by saying to my mom, "Don't aggravate me!"
Enjoying every minute,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap (or Granmom)
Friday, January 15, 2016
Pink and Black Minnie Mouse Birthday Party
Lisette turned "two"odles recently! The theme of her celebration was a pink and black Minnie Mouse Birthday Party. Here's what we did and you can too...
MOUSE EAR CUPCAKES. The polka dot liners came from eBay. The black fondant was purchased on Amazon. I used a bottle lid to cut the rolled fondant into a round disk for ears. The bows were bought pre-made at JoAnns. Be sure to dry your fondant ears by laying them out on wax paper so they will stand up on the cupcake. Wait until the cupcakes are almost ready to serve before inserting the ears into the cake. If you don't, the ears will absorb the moisture from the cake and the frosting and become limp so they won't stand up. (Trust me! I experienced this firsthand.)
LOLLIPOP PARTY FAVORS. Pink and White Swirl Lollipops were bought from candywarehouse.com. The sticker pattern was bought and downloaded from ETSY. I printed them on label paper, cut them out and stuck them to the pre-wrapped lollipop and arranged them in a white and black letter box with some pink tissue paper, all I had on hand. They were a nice decoration for the table and the kids (and adults) loved them!
MOUSE EAR CUPCAKES. The polka dot liners came from eBay. The black fondant was purchased on Amazon. I used a bottle lid to cut the rolled fondant into a round disk for ears. The bows were bought pre-made at JoAnns. Be sure to dry your fondant ears by laying them out on wax paper so they will stand up on the cupcake. Wait until the cupcakes are almost ready to serve before inserting the ears into the cake. If you don't, the ears will absorb the moisture from the cake and the frosting and become limp so they won't stand up. (Trust me! I experienced this firsthand.)
THE FOOD. We served a good mix of sweet and salty. The party was at 3 pm which is a good "snack" time. No need to serve sandwiches because it's just after lunch and before dinner. Potato chips with dip, Pretzels drizzled with white chocolate. Mix pink food coloring with white chocolate for the pink chocolate. Fruit with "pink" dip. Mix one 8 ounce container of strawberry cream cheese with one 7 ounce container of marshmallow creme. Keep it simple and serve water to drink. We also made the birthday girl a LARGE cupcake of her own!
THE TABLE. Lisette's Mom arranged the streamers over the table. The polka dot balloons were ordered on Amazon. A local florist filled the balloons with helium for 60 cents each. My Mom and I made the birthday name banner. We will design a custom one for your birthday here.
The LARGE Minnie Mouse Lisette received as a present just hours before the party proved to be the "piece de resistance" as the table centerpiece! Minnie fit perfectly into Lisette's rocking chair.
THE FUN TOUCH. Mickey and Minnie Mouse Ear Headbands purchased on Amazon! We all had fun wearing them. Lisette's birthday was in November. We visited the Magic Kingdom in December and wore our ears!
Fun, inexpensive party! Oh and I embroidered Lisette's birthday shirt that said "She's Twoodles!" Her Mom paired it with a pair of black and silver polka dot leggings. Cute, cute! Check out Lisette's Easy and Inexpensive Frist Strawberry Birthday Party too!
Please leave a comment with your inexpensive pink and black Minnie Mouse Birthday Party ideas. Everyone would love to know!
Celebrating,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
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