Grayton Beach State Park, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ~ Lamentations 3:22-23
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Good riddance to 2020!
But I don’t think we should dwell on the negative highlights of 2020. Instead, let’s each of us look back and focus on the positive. It’s what God would have us do, and we all have reasons to be thanks-filled! Jesus encourages us, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33)
Paul tells how to live with worldly troubles, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8) and in Titus 3:1-2, “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.”
Imagine what 2021 would be like if all of us who claim to harbor the indwelling Holy Spirit would practice these few things! What a wonderful world this would be! (that’s not scripture, that’s Sam Cooke 😊)
It rained all day today, and I kept thinking of that old, silly Stephen Foster song, O Suzanna. You know . . . it rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry. The sun so hot I froze to death. Suzanna don’t you cry . . . Me and my crazy brain!
At one point, in the afternoon, the weather broke for a few minutes and we went out to walk for a bit – umbrellas in hand (just in case). We were gone a whopping 16 minutes before the rain fell and we were safely ensconced back inside once again. At least when we walked back in, it was to the salivating aroma of pork and sauerkraut!
The washer and two dryers are outside. : )
Pork, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and . . . asparagus for dinner. Yes, you read right. Asparagus. Kind of an odd choice, but I was supposed to make it yesterday and forgot about it. Believe it or not, balsamic asparagus is not too bad with sauerkraut. 😊
After our early dinner, we tried our luck with the weather once again, only this time, we drove to the beach parking area, and discovered the sun peeking out between two layers of clouds. We had a wonderful walk, enjoying the roar of the ocean and even some wildlife. We were on our way back when the sky began spitting on us again. I confess, we did use our umbrellas for a few minutes, although I still managed to get soaked when a rogue wave caught me from behind and washed me nearly up to my knees!
No. Really. A river comes right through and into the Gulf here. : )
and then they flew, squawking, at each other!
It was quite entertaining for us! Only one stayed behind.
Back home, Blaine was watching the bowl games, and OSU pulled out a great win over Clemson – 49-28. Lots of highlight reel footage in that game, not to mention the guy from Cincinnati who took a flying leap right over the standing form of a Notre Dame player! I could tell when the OSU game was going well, even though I was behind closed doors in the other room watching movies. 😊 So now, with OSU’s win, my brother David’s dreams have come true – he gets to watch OSU and Alabama play on January 11th, and his team wins no matter what!
PORK AND SAUERKRAUT (Blaine’s mom’s recipe)
2-3# pork roast (any kind except tenderloin)
1 jar Vlasik sauerkraut
1 large tart apple (Granny Smith), peeled and chopped
2 T. brown sugar
¼ C. BBQ sauce
5-6 whole cloves (or ½ t. ground stirred in)
Place roast in the crock pot. Mix next 4 ingredients and pour over the roast. Lay 5-6 whole cloves together on top in a “nest”. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Serves 4-6
HINT: My roast was pretty large (3 ½#), so in order for it to be “fall apart” consistency, I kept my crock pot on high for 7 hours this time.