LLast week while we were in Mountain View I took a picture of a flowering tree that inspired this acrylic painting. It looked like an Easter card to me so I placed some of Jesus' last words on it in Photoshop. Hope you enjoy and hope you experience this weekend the peace that only Jesus can give. Love, Dianne |
YYou will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12 |
MMy grandfather took his family, circa 1915, from Calico Rock in northern Arkansas to Hot Spring County in the south central part of the state. The trip took three weeks by horse and buggy. I had never seen this part of northern Arkansas until this past week and it is incredibly beautiful. I accompanied my husband and a couple of other Renewal Ranch volunteers on an expedition that I will tell you about another day. We took all the RR guys and went to Mountain View, AR. From there it is about 17 miles on up to Calico Rock. We arrived there, Sunday, March 18th and returned on Friday, the 23rd. I will write more about the trip later but wanted to show you the pictures I took along the way. Heavy rain was being forecast for Tuesday through Thursday so I decided to get a lot of my sightseeing done the first full day I was in Mountain View. I made the trip to Calico Rock and was so far up in the mountains there was no cell phone service. I might not have gone by myself if I had known I wouldn't be able to phone out. But, oh well, God was good and I had an awesome trip. |
| |||
© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. |
MMy loropetalum bushes are blooming like mad and oh so beautiful! |
WWow! When I read that today, it hit me full in the face. We talk of planting seeds concerning farming and gardening. When we have a need, we plant a seed out of our need into a certain ministry or church to bring about growth in certain areas of our lives. But to be the seed--that is a whole 'nother ballgame. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Jesus used this parable to teach the disciples why He would go to the cross, give up His life, and trust God for the outcome. He truly is the great seed. However, I would like for us to consider, to ponder being the seed. We know the Bible teaches that to be first, we must be last, to be the master of all, we must become the servant of all--all of these seemingly upside down, inside out teachings of Jesus threw the Pharisees into a tailspin. In our own lives are we willing to die daily to those things which would hinder us in our Christian walk--dwelling on being mistreated, bitterness, grudges, being misunderstood when we are trying to do our best to help someone, greed, _____________ and you and I can fill in the blank or blanks. Am I willing to be the seed that falls to the ground, is covered and dies so that it can bring a harvest of plenty? Jesus was willing. Thank God He was willing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the art lovers or artists wannabees out there, I am hoping that you will watch the video below. There are lots of good instructional videos out there but I just really, really enjoyed watching this one. Seeing the artist make something beautiful from mistakes she made reminded me of just how much God can do with this one human soul, if only I choose to die to self. You will also see where I got the idea for today's post. Hope you enjoy! So sorry! The video keeps "popping out"--not showing up, although it shows up in the editing mode--I will just provide this line to it-- Here is the link: This is actually a link to my Pinterest page of art journals videos and the video I referred to is the very first one. |
LLo, the winter is past. The rain is over and gone. Blossoms appear in the land. The time of the songbird has arrived. The cooing of the mourning dove is heard in our land. from the Song of Solomon |
AAndrew Murray said, "...............too little time is given to waiting on God. Is he not willing to put things right in His own divine way? Has the life of God's people reached the limit of what God is willing to do for them? Surely not. We want to wait on Him: to put away our experiences, however blessed they have been; (bolding mine) our conceptions of truth, however sound and scriptural we think they seem; our plans, however needful and suitable they appear; and give God time and place to show us what He can do, what He will do. God has new developments and resources. He can do new things, unheard-of-things, hidden things. Let us enlarge our hearts and not limit Him." |
 |
| One of our graduates, Seth, and me. He drove three hours to come back for Josh and Barry's graduation. |
 |
| Friends, family, RR brothers pray over our new graduates. |
Let's chat for a moment. I have changed my mind about something. The headers--until I reach $1000 dollars (all proceeds until that time will go to Renewal Ranch) I have chosen to make your new header for whatever amount you would like to pay--yes, even $1.00. 2. Remember the loaves and the fish--God can take a small amount and multiply it if I don't limit Him. 3. The guys and their families are worth any amount of sacrifice that I am willing and able to give. My email address is in the sidebar so please feel free to email me for more information. |
WWhen we look at this picture a story is portrayed--we know the precious little guy is waiting in line, we know there is a need, we see the hunger in his eyes, but we really don't know what the hunger is for or if it will be satisfied. It is a tangible photograph of my soul--like him, I realize I have a need. He is waiting for something. I am waiting for His timing, His Bread, knowing it will satisfy. I am hungry and I long to be filled. To me this little guy epitomizes the essence of the following scriptures. They are my favorites for capturing the hunger David felt for his God. Ps 27:4-6 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD. In this scripture I see my need to examine myself. Has there ever been a time in my Christian walk when I longed more to dwell in His house, when I yearned more to behold His beauty, when I was more anxious to seek Him and His will for my life? Ps 42:1-6 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. After reading this scripture, I must ask myself, "Do I understand what it means to "pant" for God in this way? Is my soul thirsty to meet with the living God? Oh, God, it is so incredibly sad to read about David remembering leading the procession to the temple and how they were dancing and singing and shouting before you--how happy they were--! Corporate worship, Lord, corporate hunger for you. When writing the above passage, David was not with a festive throng. He was alone crying out to you, remembering former, happier times. Oh God, please help me not to waste these days when I have access to you and your house of worship so readily. Please help me never take for granted the freedom I experience in this country to worship you.
Where there is danger, protect them. Where there is a lack of Your written Word, fill that void. Where there is desire and hunger, let them know that others are thinking about them, praying for them, longing to share this corporate hunger for You with them. And please Father God renew my hunger for you in a way that I have never experienced before--a new hunger, yes, Father, that is what I desire-- Ps 61:1-4 Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Ps 63:1-5 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. Ps 84:1-2 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. As for the little guy in the picture above, he and the other children waiting in line did not have any shoes. He realized his need and was willing to wait his turn. Yes, they were waiting in line for shoes and their little feet found rest. May each one reading these words today experience a corporate hunger and a corporate worship together. To have the accessibility to push a key and worship with friends from all around the world, Lord, is terribly humbling and uplifting at the same time. David did not have access to that BUT he had access to the Lord of all the universe and it was for Him he hungered. Lord, we are hungry. Come and fill us with Yourself. |
Oh my goodness, was this ever good. Let me tell you what I did.
I googled a few items that I had--I was low on groceries so I thought I might find a chicken spaghetti recipe that would hook up with the supplies I had on hand.
Sure enough, there were several recipes that looked promising but none that I had all the ingredients for.
So............. I decided to make my own and I'm so glad I did. I will definitely make it again.
And it was enough to feed an army. We (just two of us) ate a meal and froze enough for two extra meals from this single recipe.
It would be easy to cut in half, I think.
First
I sauteed in butter and white cooking wine,
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow onion
1 purple onion
I let them simmer until they were on the soft side but not mushy--
boiled three carrots--this was an afterthought so they are not in the above picture
I removed them from my big skillet and added extra virgin olive oil, white cooking wine and one can chicken broth to cook four large chicken breasts--
After cooking the chicken thoroughly, I took a cup of the (mainly) chicken broth from the breasts and added to the water where I was cooking my angel hair spaghetti (a 1lb package).
Watch this carefully because it is very thin and cooks really fast.
You do want it to get done because you will not be baking this dish--
After chicken is done cut it into small bite-sized pieces,
mix together 1 can mushroom soup,
1 can cheddar cheese soup,
1 tsp Lawry's seasoned salt,
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper--this is optional but it is what "made it" to me--
black pepper to taste (we like a lot)
1 1/2 to 2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese--more or less to your family's liking
Mix all of this together in the large skillet that you cooked chicken in,
cover and let sit for a couple of minutes to melt the cheese--
I didn't need to do this but if it is too dry after mixing, you can add small amounts of the leftover chicken broth until you get the consistency the way your family likes it.
READY TO SERVE.
I didn't have any green bell peppers or I would have added those also.
This may be one of the best dishes I have ever made in my life.
A few days ago, I told you that I was excited about my 1000th post and was going to give away a blog header design today. Well, it is here--today is the day to leave a comment if you would like to be eligible to win the design. But I had a method to my madness and I will share that now. We are turning men away right and left from Renewal Ranch because of lack of space to house them. (Renewal Ranch is a home for men with addictions to drugs and/or alcohol who want their life restored through Jesus Christ--this is accomplished through a six-month long intensive Bible training, teaching and memorization plan) You can read more about Renewal Ranch and see some of our videos HERE. One of the younger volunteers, a lady named Wendy, decided to do something about it. She decided to raise $100,000 to go towards the building of a new bunkhouse. Now, I can tell you right now that makes NOT BUTTERFLIES, but big huge eagles fly around in my stomach. What faith!! Here is Wendy's idea and I think it is an awesome one. She is trying to recruit 100 women who will commit to trying to raise $1000 each. I thought about it a little--I have NEVER attempted to raise that kind of money. And it didn't take me long to decide that I had to at least try and leave the results in the hands of our great, big God. So here is ONE of the things I am going to do to try to raise my part-- I have 100 days to raise 1000 dollars--Think I can do it?? We'll see! I will try my best to give you a beautiful look. If you would like to be eligible to win, today is the day to leave a comment! If you wish to comment but do not need a new header, please inform me. Thank you. Comments for this page will be open until Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m. Central time. My post from a few days ago was a little confusing so I will be including those who expressed a desire for a new header who commented that day. I hope all of you think that is fair. SweetBlessings, Dianne |
This beautiful wedding picture is of Dustin and Kimberly who got married December 30, 2011. Dustin is one of our Renewal Ranch graduates. Kimberly is beautiful and looks so much like a young Ashely Judd. This picture actually does have something to do with the next post--it is so exciting--I have butterflies in my stomach! I mean Dianne has butterflies in her stomach-- I did not take this picture. I wish I had but Dustin's mother gave me permission to use it. Thank you, Sherri. |
