Carrie's Corner

This is something I have been pondering for a bit.  I confess that I don't believe I'm doing a very good job of fulfilling my ministry.  I've let too many things get in the way.  Here are some of my issues: 1).  What other people think of me 2).  I'm not qualified 3).  The opportunity hasn't presented itself 4).  The timing is all wrong 5).  I'm so busy, busy, busy..... 6).  My family has needs I could list other things, but you get the idea.  Do you resonate with any of those "reasons"?  I thought so. Usually when I realize I'm struggling with something, I find I'm not alone.  Let's get honest here:  These are just excuses.  Yeah--you heard me-- EXCUSES !  When I exchange the word   reason   for  excuse , then I start to sound a bit whiny and my justification starts melting away. Look at what  2 Timothy 4:2-5 says:  "Proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or n...

I hung up the phone.  My mind raced with what to do next.  I needed to find David and he was coaching little league football at a park.  We had only been married a couple of months and we weren't expecting this dreaded news quite yet.  This time it sounded serious.  Of course it had sounded serious before.  I hopped in the car and headed to the park a few miles away from our apartment.  I found David and told him the news.  My mom had told me I needed to get home as soon as possible.  My dad had taken a turn for the worse and might not make it through the weekend.  David agreed I needed to go.  He still had to work on Friday, but he said I should go ahead and he would come Friday evening. Fortunately, we only lived about an hour away from my parents' home.  That hour gave me time to think and to pray.  My dad had been fighting cancer for six years and it had been a tumultuous journey.  I was only in high school...

I was thrilled to have new carpet when I moved into my home several years ago.  My previous home had ugly, charcoal-gray, commercial grade carpet, but with more kids coming along and messing it up, my husband and I decided to wait to replace it until they were older.  We never did replace that carpet.  We found ourselves fixing up that house as best as we could to sell it while my husband's company transferred us to Houston.  When we found the house we wanted to buy, I was excited for the bright new floors that would come with the bright new house.  I was excited about it all being new! New appliances, new floors, new walls with no nail holes, new counter-tops, new everything!  Oh my!  I had never lived in a brand-new house and I had grandiose ideas of how to keep it all "perfectly" clean! Enter children.  And children's friends. And pets. And a husband.  Six months after moving into our new house with all of its newness, I found myself dis...

I'm not a computer person.  I know how to turn one on, turn it off, post a few things on social media and Hey!  I even have a blog!  But if my computer crashes, gives me an error message, or comes up with some other new venture to explore, I'm usually asking my kids or hubby for their help.  Oh, I've journeyed into trying to fix some issues myself, and I've even occasionally been successful, but I always know I've gone too far when the message pops up, "would you like to restore to default settings"? Duh.  Of course I would.  Oh--but wait--will that get rid of that other program I just installed?  What about my latest downloads?  What about my favorite screen saver?  Did I remember to save that paper I was just working on?  Will I be able to find my websites?  I had them saved in my favorites.....oh crumb!  What do I do?  DO I STILL HAVE ALL MY PICTURES????? Here is the definition I found in the dictionary:   ...

Today is an interesting day.  One year ago today, David went in to have surgery to repair a hernia.  Though the surgery was not a huge deal, his blood pressure was discovered to be at an unsafe level.  The surgery was actually supposed to happen in December, but because of the blood pressure issue, the surgery was delayed until it could be lowered to a safe level.  The news was unexpected for us both.  Outside of some minor injuries and illnesses, David has not been one to have health issues.  We both scratched our heads, wondering what could have brought on this sudden rise in his pressure.  Though his level was brought down to a safe level for surgery, it was still higher than what it needed to be.  This caused some concern for us as he headed into surgery that morning, one year ago. All went well with the procedure and we returned home, loaded with pain medication, ice and whatever other essentials he would need while recovering.  A ...

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...