Markham County Park, Sunrise, Florida
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ~ Romans 15:5
A pretty uninteresting day for us – again. It hit 90 today! And there were precious few clouds dotting the sky. We walked around Markham Park early this morning and watched about a dozen doggies playing in their dog park which was pretty entertaining. And we looked for iguanas, but didn’t spot any.
In the afternoon, we did our hiking at an indoor mall that was beyond belief – Sawgrass Mills, with over 350 stores! Didn’t buy a single thing, even though we looked around. There were hundreds and hundreds of people in here, or I would’ve taken a picture. We were always surrounded by so many people, you could hardly get around! The other strange thing, was that many were dragging rolling suitcases. We don’t know if that’s how they shop here because it’s easier and safer to carry your bags, or if someone had a sale on luggage we were unaware of.
We also went to a local WalMart because there just weren’t enough stores at Sawgrass. 😊 We made shrimp pizzas for dinner. Yummm—-mmy! (recipe to follow, but forgot the picture)
However.
While it was a fairly uneventful day, we received a great blessing from the Lord today! Before I share what it was, you need a little background information.
In order to get campsites in Florida, you have to reserve them eleven months – to the day at exactly 7:00am – ahead of time, otherwise, they’re all booked. That means, Blaine made our reservation for Markham Park back on March 22, 2018 during our first day staying across the Mississippi River from New Orleans.
Our next stop after Markham was supposed to be Jonathon Dickenson State Park, which is 10-15 minutes from his sister who lives in Jupiter, Florida. He managed to get us in two days later, which left two days for him to find us a parking spot between Markham and Jonathan. Are you with me so far?
In order to fill those two days, he was able to make reservations for two days at Kissimmee Prairie (where we had the rattlesnake slither through the campground?). But Kissimmee is the wrong direction from Jonathan. Since then, he’s occasionally tried to get those two days somewhere in Jonathan, but to no avail.
When we arrived here in Markham, we asked repeatedly about two extra nights here to extend our stay. Every time we asked, which was about every-other day, they had one, but not two. We tossed around ideas about what to do for the open night, but down here, WalMart doesn’t allow overnights. I’m not really surprised. With everyone wanting to be in Florida, and not enough open spots, WalMart’s parking lot would quickly turn into a no-frills campground every night! And none of the rest of our thoughts proved fruitful. We accepted the fact that we’d be heading to Kissimmee. And that’s okay. We really liked it there, rattlesnakes and all. 😊
Today, on our way to the mall, we stopped at the office again and I went in to ask one last time. There was a girl on the phone, so I was waiting. Another woman came out to help me and I asked about the two open nights. She said there was nothing available, but then asked if we were already staying in the campground and I told her yes (“I thought you looked familiar.”), and she asked where we were staying and she looked again. Much to my shock she said, “Well, you could stay there for those two nights.” “What?!? Really?!? That’s great!!!” Then she told me that it would cost us 40 cents a night more than what we originally paid because of a new ‘penny tax’, and my sarcasm just couldn’t be contained as I said, “Well, then forget it.” We both laughed. And I was on cloud nine as I raced out to the Jeep to get the credit card from Blaine who, of course, was shocked as well! I told the woman that she was an answer to prayer and she reached across and squeezed my hand and said, “I’m glad I could help.”
WOW!! Is our God wonderful, or what?!? This is the kind of God we love and serve. One Who even cares about the small stuff!
SHRIMP PIZZA
1# large shrimp, peeled and deveined and cut in thirds
¼ C. small curd cottage cheese
¼ C. Miracle Whip
1 ½ T. balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. fresh basil, chopped (or dry equivalent)
1 T. olive oil
1 T. Cajun seasoning
4 flatbreads or individual pizza crust
1 C. feta cheese
½ C. roasted red pepper, chopped
1 C. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, OR grill over low heat.
Combine cottage cheese and Miracle Whip in a small bowl. Stir in the vinegar, garlic and basil. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Sprinkle shrimp with the Cajun seasoning, then sauté just until pink. Set aside.
Spread a thin layer of cottage cheese mixture on each piece of bread, getting as close to the edge as possible. Sprinkle on the Feta and then the shrimp. Top with the red pepper and cheese.
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until the cheese melts and begins to brown, or place pizza directly on the grill until hot and crust is crispy on the bottom.