Follow your dreams........

It's been awhile since my last post. It's been busy, but we had a great vacation in the Smoky Mountains. We spent some time hiking, went to the Cherokee Reservation and just really enjoyed seeing God's creation. It was nice to have time away from work and responsibility, and coming back to that has been difficult. I did find this great book from Foxfire about Appalachian Cookery. It is full of stories and recipes of the people from the mountains when they cooked over fireplaces and then in wood fired ovens. Turns out the "new fangled" convenience of a wood fired stove wasn't as appreciated as one might think. Many women found it difficult to cook on and wood had to be added repeatedly to the fire to keep the heat constant. There are many fond stories of cornbread cooked over the fire in iron skillets. Sounds like heaven to me.

I haven't done much cooking this past week. We are still trying to get things settled in from our trip. Since we had an outdoor service for church today and a picnic afterward, I decided it was time for some sweet potato cupcakes. They are made with cinnamon and sweet potatoes and have cream cheese icing. Perfect flavors for fall. The recipe can be found on the Better Homes and Gardens website. I used my own cream cheese icing recipe, it has Almond bark melted and added in. I was given this recipe when I attended a cake decorating class given by Judy Ward, the Ohio Co. cake lady. Hopefully one day these will be on the Tea and Dreams menu.

Speaking of dreams......Being the big kids we are, we attended a magic show while we were Pigeon Forge. It was a great presentation, full of "bigger than life" characters who seemed to really enjoy entertaining. I was really impressed when at the end of the show, the magician began to share his story of " not giving up on your dreams and putting God in the drivers seat." He did a wonderful job of sharing his faith without being "preachy". As I thought about my life and my dreams, I realize how easy it is to try to be the one in charge of things. The whole fact of the matter is that the only way to truly be satisfied and have peace with where we are in life is to let God handle things. He will give us the "desires of our hearts." I believe that God is happy to give us our "dreams", but we must keep Him in front; in charge, so that our "dreams" are in line with His will. As we grow closer to Christ, our dreams and desires become what He wants, not what we want. So, never give up on your dreams. We all have different dreams related to different areas of our lives. Wishes, hopes, prayers....... Give them to God, and let Him have everything, you, your life and your dreams. It's all His anyway. He'll take care of the rest. Maybe one day we can share a great cup of tea over a table of good food at "Tea and Dreams"; maybe not, but until then I will praise God and give thanks for all the blessings and dreams he has given me.

Psalms 37:4-5 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Many Blessings,
Stace