Blessings & Thanksgiving

The past few days have been pretty eventful for the Savage Girl. Now, my idea of eventful and yours might totally be different, but I love my life and that is all that matters! Sometimes I wish I could push “pause” and be able to soak it in more, but I know things must continue forward. Pressing rewind sometimes can cause emotions to rise so I believe we need to keep moving forward down the road of life because something better might be waiting around the corner and you will not know about it unless you seek to discover it. If you are in a constant rewind reliving the past how can you ever move forward?

Tonight after thinking, reflecting, and “rewinding” a little about everything that has occurred over the course of the last week I can truly say that I’m blessed and thankful. Keep in mind I am not dwelling on these things…I am just expressing the reasons why I have blessings and thanksgiving this week! 

Family. This past weekend I got to spend Easter weekend with my parents. We traveled to Gainesboro, TN and enjoyed dinner at The Bull and Thistle. Then on Sunday we enjoyed Easter lunch and a little quality time together. Mama and I took a walk on Sunday despite the weather. We were a sight to see with our jackets and umbrellas walking in the rain on the back roads around the Boles community and the family farm, but I would not have traded my day for anything!

Friends. You do not have to see good friends and be 100% in contact with them on a daily basis for them to be called "good friends". It is nice to get random phone calls just because they were thinking of you for whatever reason. With good friends you can pick up exactly where you left off and it is as if you never were out of the picture. Good friends can feed and clothe you. Literally they can do this by providing you with a place to stay, food to eat, and clothes to wear. Then sometimes good friends feed and clothe you figuratively by their actions, strength, and courage. It might be a smile, an encouraging word, a gift, or a reaffirming word saying that you matter. A fellow Christian sister recently shared with me that sometimes you just have to put on your “heavenly attitude”. We do not need to be the “mean girl”…we need to be the person God wants us to be despite the past and if a good friend is really a “good friend” then they should want both parties to be practicing forgiveness, godliness, and contentment. I am also thankful for new friends that have been brought into my life this week. I love building friendships and strong relationships both personally and professionally.  

Work vs. Career. I have a job that I love. Sometimes it is “work” because it is either physically or mentally tiring. This week I have been working on our budget at work, so needless to say I have been crunching a few numbers and this has been “work” for me, but I am thankful for having I job I love! Other times my job is my “career” like in the past few days. This week I got glimpse of the future for our community and I was reminded of the reason I love giving back and serving in my community. We can change the world. It doesn't matter if we are “kids” or “grownups”. What matters is that we all work together and it will go faster…look at the Kid President!  

My goal for my career is to improve the quality of lives of local citizens.  I am usually reminded of my “career” in fun moments...like learning to weave the bottom of a stool with fellow workshop participants, reaching over 200 “likes” on The Heart of Tompkinsville Foundation Facebook page, and helping to decorate our downtown. Weird you might say…I’m sure you are asking why did you think of your career in these moments? Well, these things were fun and I have happy memories that take me back to previous months in my career when the planning and development stages were occurring. I was reminded by the people I am serving in the community that learning is lifelong & can occur at any age if you want to learn. Learning can come in many forms! Learning inspires people to constantly be thinking about improving themselves and the others around them through citizenship and personal development.

The Downtown Decoration Committee that I am chairing had to think “outside of the box” to actually create a vision for our Spring decorations. With a little of this “outside of the box” thinking the idea of maypole inspired decorations was discussed, planned out, and put into action. I believe these simple decorations downtown can help get others in the community get excited and fired up about our future locally that local leadership is currently trying to create and discover within our local community which in turn would benefit all citizens.Have you got any ideas Summer decorations?    

Movement. I have a couple of different ways that I relieve stress and both of them use movement. First, I enjoy working out at the pool at our local Family Wellness Center doing water aerobics. This week I have been able to get some “movement” action 6 times within the past week. YAY! It’s all about priorities and goals. Have you set any lately? Second, I enjoy expressing my words on this blog. Somehow typing moves the thoughts out of my brain so that I can make room for more important things…like the things I have been trying to focus more on lately. I want to thank those of you who read my blog and have expressed to me such kind words of encouragement! Thank you.

Fellowship. I few months ago I was asked to join a book club. I am not an avid reader like my sister Anna who is a librarian, but I knew that this group of ladies would help and challenge me in multiple ways and be a source of encouragement & Christian fellowship. So far they have yet to let me down! This month we read Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly. Everyone stepped outside of their comfort zones when our April hostess suggested the book, but after our book club discussion this week we were all pleasantly surprised of the knowledge that was gained and found when reading someone’s opinion and recount on a moment in American history. We all concluded that history read today as an adult is so much more entertaining than when you got grades for it in school!       

Family. Friends. Work vs. Career. Movement. Fellowship. For all these things I am thankful and blessed. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7. 

In closing, I was reminded of what my name meant this week, so I thought I would share it with you. I know this Savage Girl needs reminded of this from time to time so here you go...lucky for me I have a constant reminder of it since it is my name! :) 

Southern Chocolate Cream Pie Tutorial

No southern girl should be without this easy standby recipe in her kitchen. My mother passed it down to me and I thought I should pass it down to you! Tomorrow at church we are having a fellowship meal after services and I thought “Why not a “Chocolate Cream Pie?”...thanks to a friend yesterday I was reminded about chocolate pie and I could not get my mind off of it! So this afternoon I got busy in the kitchen preparing for tomorrow and this is the result. Too bad that you cannot smell or taste this yummy dessert right now because it is heavenly! You can click here for the recipe without photos.  

 

Southern Chocolate Cream Pie

2 cups milk

3 eggs, divided

1 ¾ cup sugar, divided

6 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 teaspoons vanilla, divided

 

1 tablespoon butter

1 9 inch deep-dish pie shell

1 teaspoon cream of tarter

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prebaking a piecrust is also known as “blind baking” and you will need to do this to your crust, so prepare the deep-dish pie shell by using fork to lightly prick the bottom of the pastry.

 

 Bake the frozen deep-dish pie shell until golden brown in your 350 degree oven.

Separate eggs. Don't know what this means...to "separate" means to take two bowls and gently crack egg to separate the egg whites into one bowl and the egg yolks into another bowl.  

Stir together 1 ¼ cups sugar, flour, and cocoa powder in a heavy saucepan.

Blend in milk and egg yolks.

Cook until thick. Stir constantly.

Remove from heat. Add vanilla and butter. Mix well.

 

Pour into pie shell.

 

Combine egg whites and cream of tartar in mixing bowl.

Beat egg whites. Gradually add ½ cup sugar.

 

Beat until egg whites are stiff. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Beat well.

 

Pile meringue on top of pie.

Bake at 350 degrees F until golden brown. Enjoy!     

On a side note, fellowshipping together and enjoying hospitality can include food just like my pie above, which is the gift of sinfully good nourishment. Eating together fills our bodies with not only good food but also friendships. A mealtime is a perfect time to share with others and show service. The bible teaches us that one of the greatest gifts to give people is our time and we share our time through fellowshipping and bestowing hospitality. “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’ ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.’” Mark 12:28-31. In Galatians 6:10 we are told to fellowship with fellow Christians, “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith”.

Let me know if you try this recipe at home. I want to know how it turns out. I promise it is not as hard as it may seem!

Happy fellowshipping!

Good friends+good laughs+good food=good times

I enjoy having company over to my home occasionally because of the good times it creates! This weekend I invited a few good friends over for a girl's night. Basically it was a night to catch up and have a few good laughs. Let's just say there are some things you cannot erase from your mind. LOL. You cannot have a girl's night without some good food...so I made one of my favorite soups "Taco Soup". Cannot wait until the next one!