Author Archives: Nannette

About Nannette

Wife to The Sweetheart, Mom to the Fantastic Six, Nana to six of the cutest littles on the planet, Author, The Daniel Fast, A Devotional. UPCI ministers.

Bisquick and Me: An Impossible Recipe!

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bisquick “I sure wish my stove came with a ‘Save As’ button like Word has. That way I could experiment with my cooking and not fear ruining my dinner.”    ~Jarod Kintz

Today’s lesson, class, will be instruction for all newlyweds on what to do with that box of Bisquick in your pantry. We will also learn what NOT to do with it.

My dear mother taught me and my sister many things growing up. She was a meticulous housekeeper. She was brought up well by her own mother who was a fanatic when it came to a clean house. The American idiom truly applied to Yvonne McCammon: She was so clean you could have eaten off of her floors. Period.

Every Saturday morning, rain or shine, we went straight to our bedroom that we shared, after doing the breakfast dishes, and started on our room. Now, mind you, it wasn’t dirty. We weren’t allowed to get it dirty. But nevertheless, we had to take everything off of our dresser, and nightstands, then dust and clean each knick-knack. The bottom of the closet had to be cleared out, swept, put back together and our beds changed, room vacuumed and windows cleaned.

It sounds like torture, but the room was small and we didn’t have that much. With the two of us working together we were done in no time. Let me back up a bit…there were four of us “kids”, all two years apart. My sister is the oldest then adorable me, and the two bratty brothers, or at least they were then! Rhea, I liked to call her Marcia when we were growing up, and I was Jan and the boys were Peter and Bobby. It made for a lot of fun especially when they left Marcia in charge and Peter and Bobby started their usual trouble. Poor Marcia, it’s a wonder she survived. But survive she did and I love her dearly!

I am digressing, but I want you to remember that for a later post! So Mother taught us how to take care of the house very well and all four of us are great housekeepers to this day! None of us can stand a dirty bathroom, which is a real pet-peeve! And to my credit I have passed that on to my own children. But I never really learned how to cook very well before I married because I was too busy cleaning. And The Sweetheart came into the picture at a very young age. I fell madly in love. Well, I did! We dated three whole years and were married when I was a mature eighteen. Ahem.

Not quite two years later precious little Kyle Douglas comes into the picture and I still am not Betty Crocker material but I am trying. I am more like Erma Bombeck! She once said, “Seize the moment! Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart!”

So I borrow recipes from Mom, my sisters-in-law Sue and Dixie, mother-in-law, and my wonderful next-door neighbor Kathy. She taught me how to grill and make sauces and salads and saved my life many a weeknight.

But I was always wanting to impress The Sweetheart and do something all by myself. So I was periodically experimenting with recipes and sometimes they worked but mostly they flopped.

One night I was sure I had nailed it. My brother J.D. was over for dinner, Kyle was now about three years old and I was excited to bring out this new dish I had created from the back of a box of Bisquick. I knew I had followed the recipe exactly; I had the oven turned up from the faithful 350 to 400 and had baked it for the time specified. Nothing could have gone wrong. We all set down, in the dining room.

I was that sure.

I had a nice tossed salad with all the toppings prepared. I even had dessert!

I sat everything on the table and gathered everyone in. Finally I went and retrieved the Cheeseburger Pie out of the oven. Hot and bubbly, it sizzled as I gently sat it down on the homemade quilted potholder. Everyone “oooh-ed and aahh-ed” as I cut into the juicy, beefy goodness. Kyle kept asking what it was and saying how “hun-gee” he was. I was so excited; it was going to be a memory-making night!!

“Me first, me first!” Kyle said as I passed around the plates. J.D. warned him to wait a minute because it was so hot and that we hadn’t prayed and thanked God for our food. Of course Kyle had to be the one to pray too.

Finally it was time to dig in. Now, little three year old boys are so sweet and innocent. They love their Mommy’s unconditionally. They always want to please and would never hurt your feelings. Kyle was the light of my life. Matter of fact, he was the sunshine of all of our lives; he was the first grandchild on my side of the family so he was definitely the center of attention. His uncles and aunts adored him, no doubt. We all hung on his every word. So when he had something to say we all looked to him with eyes wide open and waited…

Kyle had taken a big bite of cheeseburger pie and was kind of turning it over in his mouth. I had gotten up to go get something out of the kitchen and had come back just in time to see the look on his face. The Sweetheart and J.D. were concentrated on Kyle, intent on not taking their eyes off of his expression. What was going on?

Kyle answered it for us all… He finally swallowed big, opened his mouth and said, “This is SCHLICK!”

The Sweetheart and J.D. had tried their best to keep their composure and were not going to say anything.

What I had forgotten to tell you was that this young bride didn’t realize she was to drain the grease from the hamburger FIRST…yeah, that’s pretty gross…so Kyle was right, it was SCHLICK!

I sat down, looked at my plate, which was by now swimming in grease, and decided to forego my first bite. The guys, unfortunately, were afraid of hurting my feelings and were eating like nobody’s business!! Troopers they were too, trying to pretend nothing was wrong with it. Right. I got up, grabbed their plates and the pan before the tears started to fall and hurried everything to the kitchen. I had messed up again!

There was to be no dinner at the family table tonight. We were going out! I would never make that mistake again, I am now obsessive compulsive about it. I don’t just drain grease, I shake it, pat it, and shimmy it until every single drop is squeezed out! I’m not about to sit a casserole in front of my family that can swim its way back across the table again. But I have been the subject of many jokes through the years, much to my chagrin.

So, my advice to young housewives? If you are going to use Bisquick, definitely stick with the pancakes or strawberry shortcake. You can’t mess that up! And never, ever, I repeat, never make, eat, or even try the Cheeseburger Pie. It’s just too Schlick!

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Treasures in Clay Jars

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“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” 2 Corinthians 4:7.

The Israelites used clay jars and pots to hold just about everything around the house. Some held everyday necessities such as flour and grain and in others they stored their cooking oil, which was an important staple in the pantry. Other bigger jars held utensils and tools. Some were for carrying water. But they weren’t always used for the most pleasant of tasks. There were the unmentionables too.

Clay pots and jars were breakable, they were expendable and they were easily replaceable.

They cracked, and they still used them. If they broke they could still use the shards for writing utensils.

Even the Dead Sea Scrolls were found stored in clay jars!

The scribes that copied the scrolls were dedicated to such accuracy that even if there was one mistake the entire scroll was thrown into the fire.

They could not allow for that manuscript to be found and read and compromise the Word of God to be copied incorrectly later. When a scribe had completed one accurately, they then stored it in a clay jar.

So why did the Lord choose something that to us seems so cheap, fragile and crumbling to hold something so valuable? Because of exactly what it says in verse 7, “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”

Spilling out the treasure

 

If He had put it in a fancy treasure box overlaid with gold then the focus would have been on the vessel and not what was inside!

We don’t want them to be impressed with US but with the real TREASURE that is inside. He chose a simple jar of clay to house the glorious LIGHT of the Gospel.

[Tweet “Our true beauty doesn’t come from the outward appearance but from the Holy Spirit dwelling IN us.”]

The first century clay jars and pots hid their treasures and contained their necessities, but our treasure is for the entire world to see!

A jar of clay is not very sturdy, if it falls over it will probably break. That shows how dependent we are upon God. It is HIS power, not our own, that we must rely on. We are not these fancy jars that cannot break just HOLDING clay, but we are cracked and vulnerable jars that are MADE of clay. And yet we are holding God’s richest and most glorious treasure!

“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:27-31.

The enemy thinks that he can put cracks in our jars and cause us to stumble and fall. He thinks that will weaken our resolve, but the Apostle Paul says, “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10.  When our clay pot gets pushed around, bumped, bruised and cracked what happens? What is inside comes pouring out! When we are “hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down”, we spill out the very presence of Jesus Christ and fill the room with His aroma! We then draw attention to Him!

But if we are never pushed, shoved, or knocked around, then the treasure just sits there. It is never shared. It stays hidden. The temptations and trials that come along in our lives do not mean we have been abandoned by the Lord or that He doesn’t love us. Quite the contrary! I don’t believe the Lord puts things on you but I do believe He can make something good out of them. It is because He BELIEVES in YOU as His treasure holder who spills out His presence that He allows these things in your life!

Sometimes the problem is that we can become whiners when trials come and the stuff that we spill out of our jars doesn’t look like Christ, it doesn’t smell like Christ and it sure doesn’t taste like Christ. It’s because we’ve never learned, or we’ve somehow forgotten, that we are clay jars FILLED with Christ!

Instead of being a cracked jar leaking a TREASURE that points others toward Him, we have simply become whiney “crack pots”!

Who wants to be around a grouch?! Who wants to surround themselves with a know-it-all? Someone that isn’t teachable? Someone that is constantly complaining and finding fault? Someone that has to be in charge all the time and have their way?

God is not pleased.

The pressures in life that crack our jars only prove to make us stronger! And those cracks then cause that light to seep out and shine so that others might be impacted and changed by our lives. The jar isn’t what we should be occupied with. It’s what’s inside that really matters!  “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.  Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-10.

God Himself, living within us, and bringing life wherever we go! He is our treasure and we are not to keep Him to ourselves. The Gospel was meant to be spread. And those cracks in our jars were meant for that Gospel to seep out and that LIGHT to go into the entire world.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.” Isaiah 60:1. So we are called to be children of LIGHT in a world of darkness and the LIGHT of God is in us, in jars of clay.

Thank Him for our cracks!

God trusts YOU with His treasure. He didn’t leave Paul, Peter, John, Matthew, or any of the disciples here for the End-time to usher in last day revival! He left YOU! He trusts YOU! You can’t afford not to share your light! We have a responsibility and we must go out and do our part. There are people in your world waiting for you to let your light seep out of your cracked pot and let them see Jesus in you.

Will new life come to someone this year because Jesus has been seen in your life­­ through a broken jar of clay?

Kingdom2

 

Sharing with Friendship Friday , Family Fun Friday

 

 

 

 

Take Off The Cape!

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superman The reason some of us strive to be superhuman is that we are forever trying to live up to the expectations of certain “key people” in our life. We can’t say “NO”! Is it hard for you? Come on, try it! Say it with me, “Nooooooo!” Now that wasn’t so bad for the first time was it? Maybe you will learn that it is okay to actually not have to be Superwoman or Superman all the time.

Give yourself a break for crying out loud! There was only One person who saved the world and you’re not it.  A good friend recently told me I needed to do this myself…..Take off the cape!

It began with our parents; we wanted to please them at a very young age. We came home with our report cards, always seeking the perfect A. All A’s was the ultimate goal. Even though our parents said they wanted us to be happy and to “just do your best”, we still felt that drive to over-achieve. It was in our nature. Whatever we did we felt like maybe it wasn’t good enough.

Then it was other teachers, peer groups, supervisors, professors, husbands, wives, co-workers, and on and on it went. The pressure was always building to be perfect and take on more and more. There is still a drive to become superhuman, to be all things to all people. It can be overwhelming!

Maybe you are able to leap tall buildings and you are faster than a speeding bullet, but if you are not taking care of yourself you are no good to anyone.

Women are especially bad about this because it is in our nature to take care of everyone else first. That is a good attribute to have but if you don’t love yourself first, and take care of YOU, then you cannot possibly take care of anyone else. You can’t give what you don’t have!

Of course first and foremost, in taking care of YOU, that quality time with God goes a long, long way in giving you peace of mind, self-control, security and happiness! Then you have got to make some time for yourself, even if you have to schedule it in!

You may first just try tucking the cape inside your shirt. Train yourself to say, “NO!” Sometimes you just have to set limits. You cannot be all things to all people all of the time! There is a reason why on an airplane they tell you to put the oxygen mask on yourself FIRST, and not on your child! If the plane was going down and you put the mask on the child first, you might not have time to put it on yourself and the child would be left without anyone to take care of them. But if you put it on yourself first, you would then be able to put the mask on the child as well!

Sometimes we need to take a look around us and regroup. It is good to be taken care of by others who care about us. We need to learn to receive because we are letting the one who is helping us know that their love is worth something. It doesn’t mean we are weak and frail at all! We have been the giver, now let someone else bless us in return. Take off the cape!

You are doing your best to pray for your family, your children, your friends and co-workers. You are concerned about others around you, their health and finances, and you pray for their children who are away from God and struggling to make it on their own. The Bible even tells us to: “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2.

But there is a limit to how much you can take on! You cannot fix everyone’s problems. Don’t try to be Superman or Superwoman! God doesn’t expect you to save the world! Let Him take care of that. I have a secret for you:  He is much better at it anyway. He has it all in control and you know what? He can do it without you! Did you know you can actually lay your head on your pillow at night, give your burdens to Him and not have to WORRY? “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you!” 1 Peter 5:7.

If you are taking on too much and feeling overwhelmed, reach out! Find a friend, co-worker, pastor, pastor’s wife, someone who can listen and help. Sometimes just sitting down and talking helps.

At home, set limits! If you have teenagers make sure they are doing their share! The biggest mistake a parent can make is to not teach their children responsibility!

Your kids should know how to do a load of laundry and wash dishes! It won’t hurt them, no matter how much they whine about it. Teach them how to cook, how to clean. Even your boys! They may live on their own one day, and then what will they do? Besides that, you should not be walking behind them every minute picking up after them; they should be pulling their own weight. Take off the cape!

In your social life you have to give a little as well. Woman want to feel needed and admit it, we also want to be “liked”. We have a tendency to want to do things our way. Just because others may not do things the way I would do them doesn’t mean they do them poorly. I need to step back and delegate and then let go! Give them their wings! This gives you the chance to do other more important tasks and keep your sanity in the process.

Did you know even Superman was vulnerable? When he took off his cape he had to have close human contact just like us! He needed to be comforted, loved and he needed intimacy.

What would it be like to take off that cape….forever?

Look around and see who it is you are really trying to please and seeking approval from all the time.

Where in your life are you trying to be Superhuman?

Ask yourself what you are trying to prove?

Let go of that need to please, lay down that load and quit trying to be everything to everybody all of the time.

Start trying to just please God first, love your family, take time for YOU and give yourself a break.

What a weight lifted! What a relief!

You only have one life so do it now….take off the cape!

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