Bruce was still asleep and I tried to be as quiet as I could so as not to wake him. The day before he had received some crippling news about a situation that had overtaken our lives. After dealing with a lengthy issue, the final deathblow had been delivered in a most cruel way.

My heart ached for him.

As I made a pot of coffee, I heard the smallest, sweetest voice. I looked up from the kitchen to see my daughter sitting on the bottom step of the staircase.

She was holding a little book of Bible songs that we had been singing everyday for months. She was singing, “Paise Him, Paise, Him, Paise Him…”

You know the song, “Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him in the morning, Praise Him in the noontime. Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him till the sun goes down.”

Tears starting streaming down my face. Bruce and I were two broken individuals that were powerless to make right a messed up situation. All we could do was to fall back to the basics–Praise God. Praise Him all day long. Praise Him despite the circumstances. Praise Him for just being God. In fact, that is what worship is—it is the act and choice to praise God for Who He is.

Sometimes as ministry wives, we get so overwhelmed with the burdens of ministry. We try to fix situations that are not ours to fix. We try to nurse wounds that we are helpless to heal. We retreat in hurt and anger from those who hurt our families.

It’s in those moments, I invite you to fall back, or even better yet, fall to your knees and praise God.

I made a choice that day. I chose to find something, even if it was small, to praise God for everyday.

• Thank You for opening doors no man can shut.
I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Rev. 3:8

• Thank you for being close to me. I praise You for the gift of my salvation!
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit Ps 34:18

• Thank you for hearing me. Thank you for rescuing me.
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. Ps. 34:17

God promises to hear you. So, why not let Him relish in your praise!

Gwendolyn has experienced a lot of “firsts” this last week. For starters, she now wants to diaper her baby dolls and wipe their runny noses.

Thanks to Grammy and Granddaddy she had her first gummy candy, which just happened to Bob the Tomato. She didn’t quite know what to do it as it kept slipping out of her mouth. Now she keeps asking for Bob! Thanks, Grammy.

And the best experience of all was our trip to the beach. Wearing her fancy crocs from her cuz’s Isaac and Jude, she loved the sand and the water.
Enjoy!

In case you wondered if there would ever be a new post at The Daily Kick….then let me assure you we are still here and kickin’. For serious bloggers, the excuse of ‘being busy’ won’t cut it, but first and foremost I am a wife and mom. After a short break from my blog, I will be posting with more regularity…so keep checking back!

Here a little sneak peak of our trips to the Strawberry Festival in Plant City. Each year there is a big competition between the Catholics and the Assembly of God to see who has the best strawberry shortcake. The Catholics do a biscuit and the Assembly of God does a shortcake. Sorry, Catholics but our vote goes to the shortcake! So good.

In the last several weeks, her vocabulary has grown and she is now putting words together. Hope you enjoy the short video of some of Gwendolyn’s first phrases. Enjoy!

My baking skills are really not as good as I would like for them to be.

I dream of baking adorable cake pops that made Bakerella famous. I want to be Martha Stewart in the kitchen, minus the criminal record, whipping up the most delicious treats.

My sister Melissa, www.thedemingtwins.blogspot.com sent me a recipe for Pumpkin Cookies.

I can testify that this recipe is FOOL PROOF!!

I added the vanilla to the cookie batter at the wrong time. I added the dry ingredients at the wrong time and in the wrong way. And to add insult to injury, I left out the vanilla in the icing.

After all this, I was a little reluctant to taste the cookies. However, they were delicious…which means had I actually followed the recipe correctly they would have been mind-blowing good!

If you want to test your baking skills, here’s the recipe!

Sift together and set aside:
2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt

Cream:
1 c butter
1 c sugar

Add to butter mixture:
1 c pumpkin
1 egg, beaten

Add dry ingredients to creamed and stir gently.  Add 1 tsp vanilla.
Drop by teaspoons onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Cool, then ice.

Icing:
Cream 3 TBSP butter, 4 TBSP milk, and ½ c brown sugar in saucepan.  Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Cool.  When cool,
add 1 c powdered sugar and ¼ tsp vanilla.  Ice cooled cookies.

Makes about 2 dozen.

Let me know how they turn out,
Heather

I found this recipe in Cottage Living magazine. I make it every fall. It is so easy and so good!

Pumpkin Spice Bread

1 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 plus 1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup plus 1 1/2 TBSP. canned pumpkin
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan. Sift together first 5 ingredients.
Combine sugar, oil, and pumpkin in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer until smooth. Add egg, beating until well blended. Gradually stir in dry ingredients, beating at low speed until blended. Transfer batter to loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 5 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Remove from pan. Serve warm.

What do you CRAVE this time of year?

Click on Encouragement for Your Daily Kick to find out how CRAVINGS can actually be good for you!

The Daily Kick has a guest blogger! You will want to read the following letter my sister, Caroline, wrote to the editor of the Paris (Texas, that is…) newspaper.

Dear Editor,
Sometimes my days are measured in small achievements, the laundry, the dishwasher emptied, a dinner cooked, or even children bathed and fed.  I have a five month old baby and a three year old son.  But today, I took my children and stood on Clarksville Street as the procession of U.S. Marine Sgt. Jay M. Hoskins passed by.  I was moved to think of his widow, expecting their second child.  How will her days be measured, knowing that no one will come home at five o’clock?  In small achievements or in just surviving another day, minute, or second?
What can be offered for such a sacrifice?  Like so many citizens of Paris, my presence was all I could offer today.  But, I believe my one small achievement on this particular day was to teach my sons to show honor and gratitude to the memory of one who has offered his life for my personal freedom.
Thank you, Caroline W.

Such a great reminder that we need to celebrate the real heroes in life and as equally important that we teach our children the great value we place on our freedom. Freedom comes at a cost.

What have you done to honor those who have sacrificed for your personal freedom?

What creative ideas do you have for teaching your children the importance of honoring “the real heroes” in life?

Let me know your thoughts!
Heather

I HEART these photos. Thanks to our dear friend and amazing babysitter, Hannah, who shot these photos.

My sweet baby girl is growing up! I look at her and think where has the year gone? I gotta end this post….or I’ll soon be in tears.

I HEART my sweet Gwennie B!

Yesterday was a big day for Gwendolyn. She got her first official haircut. Really, it was just a trim but it still counts.

The stylist looked at her hair and suggested a short bob. She “layered” the top for movement. I thought it was pretty funny that the stylist was giving it that much thought!

There was not nearly as much crying as I anticipated. Afterwards, Gwendolyn thought she needed to grow out her bangs so that next time she can get the “Posh Spice” haircut. Isn’t that the plight of every woman…..what to do with the bangs?