Oppurtunity~

We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.  ~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce


What is your New Year's resolution going to be for 2011?  I don't make them for myself, but it is fun sometimes to hear other people's .  I guess I always thought I had enough trouble keeping straight about what I'm doing today, much less the rest of an entire year! I like the quote above.  Especially the part about the blank pages.  When I was a little girl, I loved to go in the art supply store, and just stand in the aisle with all the paper.  The BLANK paper.  It was intoxicating!  All the opportunities!  If I'd had the chance and the finances at that young age, I'm sure I'd have kept Hobby Lobby in business myself.  A blank space just begs us to put something in it.  So far, 2011 is blank. Not one evil thought , action, or deed, fills its spaces.  It would be wonderful if it could stay that way, but the problem is, I'm sure that someone is already working on a way to spoil the freshness, and we have no control over that.  What we can control, is what will we bring to this new year?  Will we improve or poison it?  Will we take the opportunity offered of the blank spaces, to bring joy and love to it?  Or will we cover our blank pages in something harsh and negative?  I'm starting today.  Not with a resolution, but with hope that every day I make my part in this new year the best it can be.


Here's to blank spaces~ Ruby Jeanette

The Jonquils~

Just
Over the
Next hill,
Quietly resting,
Underneath the ,
Icy ground,
Lay the jonquils.


Bulbs ,
Unscathed by
Long winter days,
Bearing the promise of
Spring.


Thinking of Spring~ Ruby Jeanette

Believe~

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge-  myth is more potent than facts-  hope always triumphs over experience-  laughter is a cure for grief-  and love is stronger than death.  ~ Robert Fulghum

What do you believe?  I don't mean the things you tell people you believe.  I mean when grief, and death have stripped you down to the very bare of who you are.  When your world has fallen so far from the way you knew it.   When a person you love has been stricken with some terrible disease,  or someone you love is suddenly taken from you.  What do you believe then?  It is easy to say, in times of personal peace, "Oh , I do believe in hope!"  It is easy to tell others in a time of prosperity,  "I do thank God for what HE has given me."  When I was very young, I was quite sickly.  As I grew older , maybe ages 9 through 14, I was very healthy.  How easily I forgot !  To be grateful for health!  When we are young we take for granted these things.  When I was about 14, I got desperately ill. I got diagnosed with mononucleosis, and could never seem to get over it.  By the time I was 16, the doctors did not know what was wrong with me.   I saw doctor, after doctor, and it was finally decided that I was just a mental case, and maybe I just needed anti -depressants.  Let me tell you, you find out so much about yourself, and what you actually believe in a time like that !  I found out I don't believe in fate.  But I do believe in God's will.  I don't believe in perpetual happiness.  But I do believe in joy.  I don't believe in pity.  But I do believe in compassion.  I believe in hope.  I believe in eventual triumph.  I don't believe in asking "why?"  I do believe in asking "why not?"  God has granted me no exceptions from suffering, but HE has granted me strength, and hopefully, grace in the face of it.  I can't be happy all the time, but I can have lasting peace.  So, if you are experiencing a time of personal pain, or hardship, try to remember what it is that you really believe, and remind your self every day:It came to pass, it didn't come to stay. 

Here's to finding out~ Ruby Jeanette

Warthog Cupcake Recipe~

Cupcake Recipe for Humans~
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup self -rising flour
1/2 cup baking powder

1.Beat butter and sugar together until light and creamy.
2. Add one egg and beat well.
3. Add the other egg with a spoonfull of flour, and beat.
4. Sift the remaining flour and baking powder together.
5. Mix lightly into the creamed mixture.
6. Put big spoonfuls into ten cupcake pans.
7. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees.
8. Turn out onto a cookie sheet to cool.
9. Decorate with some frosting.
10. Serve to your very favorite people.



Cupcake Recipe for Warthogs~

4 scoops of sugar, use any scoop you can find- sand shovels work great
5 scoops of butter- if you don't have butter, use chocolate syrup
2 eggs- some warthogs like to remove the shells first
7 scoops of flour- see who can get the most flour on their nose
Add anything else you can find in the pantry: pickles, peanut butter, mustard.  Brussel Sprouts taste especially nice.


1. Wash hooves.
2. Tell your friends they can help.
3. Put sugar in the bowl, add butter. Go play tag with your friends.
4. Remove any stray teddy bears you find in the bowl.
5. Throw eggs into a bowl- throw as many as you want, but the warthog that gets two in the bowl first is the winner.
6. Add the flower- buttercups, dandelions-wait a minute-we mean"flour', of course!
7. Put the mixture into cupcake pans.  Warthog Little League pitchers are very good at this.
8. Lick bowl. Lick the measuring spoons. Lick the countertop.
Lick the recipe book.  Lick your friends.
9.Cook cakes until you can't wait any more.
10. Eat cakes quickly before they are stolen by your teddy bear.



Just for fun~ Ruby Jeanette


Taken from the book Warthogs in the Kitchen by edwards and cole

Glow- worms~

We are all worms.  But, I do believe I am a glow -worm.  ~ Winston Churchill

Have you ever felt like a worm?  Maybe you said or did something totally beneath you.  Maybe someone did something, or said something to you, to make you feel like a worm.  People can say the most terrible things to each other.  Even worse, they say and do the most terrible things to themselves.  That is really the most damaging of the two.  When another person hurts you, the hurt does not seem to last as long, but when we hurt ourselves, it never really goes away.  I think that is probably why the verse in the Bible says, " and the second is like unto it.  Love thy neighbor as thyself. "   Did you know , if you don't love yourself, it is practically impossible to love anyone else?  We taint others intentions, and thoughts through our perception of our own self worth.  But , here is something else to consider. We are all worms.  We have fallen in sin, but we have been redeemed!  That makes us glow -worms!  Don't look down on yourself, and fall into the pit of self -blame, and self -rejection.  JESUS paid on the cross, so we didn't have to feel like worthless, ordinary worms.  So, GLOW ON!

Here's to glowing brighter~  Ruby Jeanette

The Best Day Ever....

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

 Whew!  We can all breathe a sigh of relief now, Christmas is over!  I'm not a Scrooge by any stretch of the imagination,  but if you have children you can't help but be glad that it is done for one more year.  So we have a brand new year rolling in upon us, very soon.  It's amazing to think it is the year 2011!  That sounds like the stuff of science fiction, the 21st century, no less.  I don't make New Year 's resolutions as  I think it's best to try to improve your life every day, and not just make a statement about your intentions at the first of the year.  It's really only between us and God where we need to make improvement anyway.  But, I love the whole idea of the fresh slate.  Really , though, God grants us one of those anytime we need it, and not just when a new year, or a new day, rolls around. That's an awesome thought!  With Christ, every day truly is the best day in the year!  So make up your mind, that from this moment on, you will thank God, for every new moment, new day, new year, and do your best to make each one the best that you can, with His help!

Here's to a clean slate~  Ruby Jeanette

A Special Day~

Christmas is a special day ,
To spend with all your friends,
The family comes , the food is great,
The laughter never ends.

And although these things are wonderful,
And good memories surround,
Let us always keep the Reason ,
That Christmas is around.

So join your friends and family,
And say a special prayer,
To thank the Reason for the Season,
That you all have gathered there.

Christmas is a special day,
So let us all remember,
That JESUS loves us , all year through,
And not just in December!


Have yourself a Merry little Christmas~  Ruby Jeanette