A Cowboy Family Reunion…Horseshoes, Broncs, and Troughs of Food

October 4, 2014February 1, 2022 / vanityallisvanity / Leave a comment

Green Chili Pork Loin

Today is a family reunion of biblical proportions. It’s my husband’s side of the family. It’s been years since the last one and I’m so looking forward to it.

I love this side of the family. So many colorful characters–all of them, the product of generations of Texas and Arizona cattlemen and cowboys.

We were instructed to bring “a dish” to share and so I pondered, what to bring, what to make? This is not an anemic gourmet crowd–for them, it’s all about comfort food, and troughs of it.

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Fall Weather Is An Excuse to Bake…and Yes, to Eat

October 3, 2014October 18, 2014 / vanityallisvanity / Leave a comment

We all have gifts. One of mine is cooking and baking–especially baking.

Food (in all its amazing combinations) is a marvel, isn’t it?

We have so many choices when it comes to cooking at home or eating out. The possibilities are endless.

In His creation, God could have made us to subsist on one single food for survival, in which case we probably would not have needed taste-buds. But God, in His infinite love for us, made many bountiful things for us to enjoy.

Exhibit “A” is this three-layer German Chocolate cake. Yum!

Thank you, Lord, for all your many blessings.

German Chocolate Cake

This is the Day the Lord Has Made!

October 2, 2014October 18, 2014 / vanityallisvanity / Leave a comment

This is the Day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. — Psalm 118:24

Morning Glory

What is the first thing you do in the morning when your legs swing from the mattress and your feet hit the floor? If you’re anything like me you have a routine–the methodical dance of the ordinary–repeated day after day after day, ad infinitum.

But I wonder, how many of us take even a brief moment to look up, stretch our arms out wide, and cry out to the God of the Universe:

This is the Day That the Lord Has Made, I Will Rejoice and Be Glad in It!

Don’t mistake this powerful verse as an expression of feelings. It’s not an emotional appeal or an indication of your level of happiness–it is rather, a call to action! Our feelings and emotions can deceive us and often do. Psalm 118:24 is a spiritual (not of the flesh) acknowledgement that no matter what the day brings, we can be assured that it is the Lord’s Day and because He made it, it is therefore good, very, very good.

We are, after all, royalty. We are children of the King of Kings and therefore have absolute assurance of comfort and hope, unlike the enemies of God (or those that do not belong to Him).

It is a fact that if we start our day with the Lord, we are squarely in his Will and our spirit is in a right place.

So I encourage you to rejoice at each new morning and be glad for the Day our Lord has made.

Maranatha! (Oh, Lord Come!)

What Can We Learn From the Ant?

October 1, 2014October 18, 2014 / vanityallisvanity / Leave a comment

God’s smallest creatures, gathering for Winter

Ah! It’s October 1!

As usual, with a cup of Joe in hand and my dogs by my side, I stepped outside a little after 6 a.m. But this day, God had an unusual surprise waiting for me to discover.

The sun was just peeking over the horizon. The air was crisp, signaling that Fall is almost finally here and Winter is soon to follow.

As I sipped my coffee and praised God for the lovely weather, something caught my eye. I looked down and noticed a few black ants moving about on the patio, circling and darting about a recently deceased green worm. Yuck, right? Well, it was what these ants did next that captured my attention and got me to thinking about how awesome and amazing our God is. These ants (God’s creation) worked together brilliantly and began to drag and carry the worm off, presumably to the ant den (see image below).

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