I made a Mermaid cake for a friend’s little girl today. She showed me a picture and I did my own thing. I used premade Wilton fondant which I flavored with clear vanilla and colored it this crazy pink color. I used Wilton Rose and Light Rose for all the pink. I made a water fall from white fondant and Wilton Aqua. I marbled the water so that it would look a little more interesting. And I used golden yellow for some of the sea sells
I used white and pink fondant to make the “pearls” all around the base of the cakes. I marbled some of the pink for that, too. And I used small white “pearls” for bubbles in the water.
I used a shell motif candy mold to make the star fish and sea shells out of fondant.
The cake is white and has white buttercream between the layers.

The T2CHK Fall and Winter Ezine is here!  Head on over to the T2CHK site and check it out! 

Included in this issue:

28 pages full of information on these topics: Devotional: The Lord is My Portion; Pastor Appreciation Month: October; Fall Reflections; Preparing Your House for the Winter; Homeschool Curriculum Review: Mystery of History; Bread Making; Homemade Tortillas; Best Sewing Tips; …more!

OK, I did manage to get the choir music ready, and I also managed to get all the food ready for the 19th century picnic we went to on Saturday last. Come to think of it, its that picnic that wore me out. And I did manage to get my articles in for the T2CHK Ezine, just under the wire.  It should be on the site soon.

We’re studying Ancient Egypt in school.  Getting ready to prepare our chicken mummy.  I am using a game hen, actually. Can’t see any reason to spend $6 on a big bird and mummify it. The game hen was $1.98.  Plus, what would we do with a big old hen after it is mummified?  Easier to bury a game hen.  So today the children will name their mummy and think up a history to go with it. They will design and build a sarcophagus.  Then tomorrow (what ever day that is) we will begin the process of mummification.

I just realized that today must be Thursday because I went to church last night. Duh.

Oh, and I got all the fabric from the T2CHK fabric swap yesterday!  Yay!  All the fabric is beautiful. I can’t wait to use it. I’ve already got some pillows in mind for three of the pieces and some quilting projects in mind for the others.

A friend sent me a cd of the Antrim Mennonite Choir, it is absolutely beautiful.  My children have asked to hear it again and again. I ripped it to my computer so I can listen to it any time I like.

I’ve got lima beans and ham in the pressure cooker right now.  We’re going to lunch at Church today and that’s going to be my offering to the potluck meal.  I wasn’t going to go, its a lot of trouble to cook and get everyone ready, takes a chunk out of our day that we really don’t need to have taken. But DH wants us to go and says people miss us when we’re not there.  How can you say no to a bunch of sweet old people? (DH = sweet but not included in that group of old people.   See, I know he reads here….  LOL  Hi honey!  :)   )

OK, the day isn’t started yet and I am tired. More vitamins. Whew.  I can’t do any more online Bible studies or take on any more mentees until I get some energy back. I’m actually glad that the pile of things I had to do last week is done.  I won’t be taking on anything else til I feel like myself.

Continuing on with studying the Mind of Christ…….

So far we have determined that the mind of Christ is …
Set on the Spirit and peace - Romans 8:6
Single-minded - 2 Corinthians 11:3
Lowly - Philippians 2:3

Today I am thinking about how the mind of Christ is pure.

“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Romans 8:6

The natural state of the Christian, what Watchman Nee called the Normal Christian Life, is one that is filled with the Holy Spirit and growing continually in Christ Jesus. There’s a lot out there that can make it very difficult to maintain purity. The computer you are reading this ois a major source of temptation for some people, maybe you are one. TV, computer, magazines; they all make temptation seem bigger and harder to avoid.

T.W. Hunt said, “In order to overcome the temptation toward impurity you muct want to be pure. Until that desire becomes your passion, you will be overwhelmed by the impressions flooding into your senses.”

So our desire for overcoming must be great, and if it is God will provide a way for us to avoid those temptations that bring along impurity of thought and life. In fact God has provided a great way to avoid impurity….. ” I will set no wicked thing before my eyes.” Psalm 101:3. Overcoming temptation has to be decided on and acted on before the temptation ever confronts us.

Often when we think of avoiding temptation and those things I mentioned before like TV, computer, etc., we think of men and how they are bombarded with pornography. But since my audience is almost exclusively women, I want to take a moment to speak frankly about temptation and women.

There are a lot of times you are tempted throughout the day and you may not even be aware of what is going on, you may be shutting out the voice of the Holy Spirit, because you aren’t in tune with His voice or because you don’t think its all that serious to be tempted. After all, you’re not looking at pornography, you’re not stealing anything and you’re not having an affair. What else could tempt a woman on the computer, much less tempt her to sin?

There are a ton of blogs out there where women are innocently sharing their day and their victories or struggles. But there are a ton of women out there reading who are tempted to be envious or jealous. There are some really interesting fictional novels out there with heroines who have commendable character traits and good story lines. But there are women who read them who become unsatisfied with their own husbands and their own lives. They want to recreate their life to reflect something they see in a fictional novel and it causes conflict in their marriage. And those women think, “if he could just be like that man in the story I read”…..

The Psalmist wrote that he would not put any wicked thing before his eyes. In refusing to even put that wicked thing where he could see it, he was protecting his mind so that it could continue to grow and reflect the mind of Christ.

If something becomes a source of temptation for me, if something tempts me to be jealous, anxious, envious….. then for me it really is wicked and I need to avoid it.  God has shown us that the safest way, the best way, to maintain our purity in the face of temptation is to avoid it.  In fact, in many areas of His Word, God tells us not to just avoid temptation but to flee from it! 

If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, [even] the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;  He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.  But godliness with contentment is great gain……

But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.  1 Timothy 6:3-5, 11

What is there that you need to flee from today?

To listen to this video, you will need to scroll down to the bottom of this page and turn off my playlist music first.

Yes, its Fall but it sure doesn’t feel like it here in Middle Tennessee. Its supposed to be in mid-80’s today!

There are already a few trees turning color down the road, but all of mine are still dark green and show no signs of knowing that today is the first day of Autumn.

I have a few friends who are talking Christmas! Be default I have to think about Christmas about this time every year, sooner even. I have been working on music for the Christmas pageant since late August. But as far as the holiday aspect, decorations, shopping, etc., I just can’t think of that right now! I love Autumn and I want to thoroughly enjoy it as the gift from the Lord it is before I move on to something else.

The garden is about done for the year. We didn’t have much of a garden this year, it was just too dry. It was really pretty in June, but in some ways the fall garden is my favorite garden. I love the colors, the seed heads on the plants and the variety of insects and critters that come out to investigate.

Here are a few pictures of my late garden……….

We’ve got four or five of these beautiful garden spiders around the yard right now.  I lived in this house as a child, and my Mother and I used to go around the yard and look at the spiders in the fall. The chidlren in the neighborhood thought we were very strange indeed! But I was raised to love nature and appreciate the beauty in God’s creation. For that I am thankful and I’m happy to be able to pass that along.

“Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…” Philippians 2:3-5

There has been a lot of talk in the past 30 years about self-esteem and its effects on the lives of individuals. Lack of self-esteem is said to be at the root of all kinds of emotional and social disfunction. It is said to be healthy and normal for a person to esteem themselves above others. The saying, “Looking out for number 1″ is totally accepted in our society.

God calls us to think differently. The mind of Christ thinks differently. And since we are called to have the mind of Christ, we are commanded to esteem others over ourselves.

What that means first and foremost is to have a right understanding of how great God is and the huge, immeasureable difference between Him and ourselves. This correct positioning of ourselves under God, and the correct view of ourselves, sets the right stage for our relationships with others.

In relation to other people, it means that we take others into consideration and put the welfare of others before ourselves. It means that the things we do for others are not done for glory or reward. God isn’t telling us to stop looking out for our own interests, but to also look after the interests of others.

Study Questions:
The mind of the natural man is “a reprobate mind” (Romans 1:28) and a “carnal mind” (Romans 8:7). What has to happen to our minds in order that we may begin to think with the mind of Christ? (Romans 12:2)

In following Christ’s example to be lowly of mind, how should we approach life? (Acts 17:11; 20:19)

Time to get busy baking…..

I’m baking winter squash muffins today to go with our beef stew. Its a break from the traditional cornbread. These muffins aren’t very sweet, just a tad of maple syrup in them so they go well with savory foods. And they also have a small amount of garam masala in them, so they have a sort of curry/cumin/clove thing going. Dependingon what kind of garam masala you use, it can make the muffins a bit on the sweet/spicy hot side. That makes them good to eat with stew. I found the original recipe at justbento.com and just tweaked it a bit for our tastes. The muffins are delicate, crisp on the outside, very tender and fragrant on the inside.

2 T garam masala (or just use a combination of curry, cumin, cloves, red pepper, cinnamon)
2 T maple syrup
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup milk (any kind)
1 cup flour, whole wheat is really good in this and keeps the muffins from being so delicate
2 cups pureed winter squash
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
Preheat oven to 375*F
Sift the soda and baking powder together with the flour.
In a medium bowl, combine allt he wet ingredients with the spices.
Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture, blend well. Spray mini muffin tins with oil.
Fill the tins 3/4 full of batter. Bake in the 375*F oven for 18-20 minutes.

The beef stew I am putting together is a wonderful concoction that makes the whole house smell warm and inviting. It has turnips, rutabagas, carrots, onions, bay leaves, fresh thyme, garlic, parsely and beef. I usually thicken it with flour but sometimes I use tapioca.

First you dredge the meat in flour and brown it in oil. Then you add about a quart of boiling water to the pot and add the garlic. This cooks for about 2 hours. After that, you add the vegetables and herbs and salt and pepper. This cooks til its all tender and you taste for and correct the seasoning.