Carrie's Corner

Do you ever wonder what God is doing in your life?  Do you ever stay silent because you don't think you have a right to say anything?  After all, you're not perfect--you don't have all of the answers.  You can't even keep your own life straight and organized!   Oh yeah....and did you miss reading your bible a few days or not take the time to pray?  Why---you really should stay silent.  Besides--if you do say something, you might be seen as prideful or self-promoting. Do you question your ability to really know when God is speaking to you?  Do you wonder why God closed this door or that, but you've yet to see what other door will open?  You know you haven't lived a perfect life.  You know that if people only knew the real you---you know---the things tucked away in the closet of your mind--the things you hope no one ever finds out--that those same people might not accept you? Those deep secrets really have a...

It's another chicken recipe, one of my favorites from my childhood.  We didn't have this dish very often, but when we did, I devoured it and begged for more.  When David and I got married, he told me didn't like casseroles with any kind of "cream of......." anything in them.  My silently rebellious side didn't let that stop me though!  I would usually make this dish when we had company and it always got rave reviews--even from David! I've tweaked my mom's recipe a bit--not because Mom's recipe was bad-- because it wasn't,--but to suit my own tastes and general direction of trying to eat a bit healthier.  I've included my mom's original recipe so that you can choose whichever recipe you'd like. "Tweaked" Chicken Divan Recipe ( My version) 3 C. fresh or frozen broccoli florets 3 C. Cooked chicken breast 2 C. homemade creamy soup (directions below) 1/2 C. mayonnaise 1/2 C. plain Greek yogurt 1 Tbsp. lemon juic...

Cooking today inspired me to share with you some of my family's favorite recipes.  I'll just start off with two today and add more as I think of them.  These are both pretty basic recipes and you can easily change them to suit to your taste.  The first one is Chicken Soup, followed by a French bread recipe.  You'll have to remember that some of my recipes make enormous amounts, but I do feed 6 people and three of those people are growing boys!  It should be easy enough to adjust the recipes down if you need a smaller amount. Chicken Soup 1 Tbsp. olive oil (or any oil you prefer) 1/2 of an onion, chopped top half of of a bunch of celery, chopped with the leaves 4 med. carrots, peeled and chopped 3 cloves garlic, chopped salt and pepper to taste 1 Tbsp. Thyme 1 Tbsp. Herbes de provence 2 Bay leaves 12 bone-in chicken thighs--skin removed 10 C. water Chop onion, celery and carrots.  For the celery, I just take a bunch, cut the top half off with...

How do you raise kids who are God-fearing individuals who will the love the Lord their whole life? I don't know. Disappointed in my answer? Yeah...me too. My mom always used to say that spending time on her knees before the Lord did a whole lot more than anything else she ever tried. With a young adult in my house, a couple of teenagers and a preteen, I truly understand the wisdom of those words. Like many parents starting out with their first child, I had grandiose ideas of what my child would or wouldn't do. If I only followed the guidelines, applied the formula and threw in a bit of common sense, surely I would have a compliant, obedient child. Wrong! No matter what book I read or method I tried, I was still netting the same result. I wasn't completely surprised. It seems to be in my family's nature to not follow the rules. Child rearing proved to give me the same challenge. For example, I was determined that none of my children would suck their thumbs...

I'm a rules girl.  Well, mostly.  Something in my personality has always pushed me to follow the rules.  If the teacher said do it this way or that, I did.  No questions asked.  I'm the annoying driver who comes to a complete stop at the stop signs and uses my turn signal, sometimes even when pulling into my own driveway! I've been teased about this by own family and so I have made a conscious effort to pull into the driveway without using my turn signal.  Yep--I actually have to concentrate harder to NOT use my turn signal than to use it.  I know God has a huge sense of humor though, because he brought a maverick into my life and then decided I was to marry him.  David thinks rules are simply guidelines.  You can imagine the drama that has ensued in our marriage with the "rules" girl and the "I make my own rules" boy! Something interesting has happened in our 24 1/2  years of marriage though.  This maverick has rubbe...

I'm not much of a blogger...that's obvious.  For me, writing has always been an outlet, but this summer, I found myself unable to write and unable to comprehend.  I won't go into details, because those details are not important, but suffice it to say that God decided I needed some more work.  Like a hermit, I retreated back into my own world.  Those closest to me knew what was going on, but I found myself unable to share. Sometimes when God works in your life, it is a wonderful thing and leaves you breathless at how amazing he is and how powerful he is.  You marvel at how intricately he weaves circumstances together and you feel so blessed to even be touched by him...but then sometimes when he works in your life, you are left wondering when the lesson will be over, when the pain will end and when all things will be resolved. So...I've been in the desert for a while.  I believe I'm coming out on the other side now...but occasionally the hot dry climate p...