Above it all…

Sometimes it’s easier to keep your gratitude attitude with a little change of perspective.

Instead of being

“under the circumstances”

or

“in the middle of a mess”

sometimes it’s a good idea to get above it all…

 

 

 

…and to remember

that’s where you really belong.

Ephesians 2:6 (Amplified Bible)

And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together

[giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere

[by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

 

my continuing gratitude list #701-#715

 

-God ministering to and through His people on Sunday morning

 

-cards and a gift certificate for two nights at the beach, (I LOVE the beach!),  in appreciation from our church

 

-a blustery day and just a few more minutes snuggling under the covers

 

-berry cobbler with a hot cup of coffee (for breakfast!)

 

-making bread

 

 

 

 

-family dinner with the cousins

 

-a good report at Mom’s doctor appointment

 

-her bill at the assisted living center went down

 

-a great evening walk with the Hubs

 

-a huge flock of geese honking and flying overhead

 

-a tram ride

 

-the Hubs and I ministering to a hurting couple

 

-being free to mark our ballots and cast our vote

 

-visiting a friend in a care facility and being able to pray not only for her, but her roommate too

 

Gratefully yours,

Elizabeth

 

linking with the gratitude gatherers here~

 

Click here to enter my giveaway for

Beth Moore’s book Jesus-90 days with the One and Only

Hear and open…

 

Still following,

Elizabeth

happily linking here~

  Remember to Click Here to enter my giveaway for Beth Moore’s book, Jesus-90 days with the One and Only

I simply remember my favorite things…Friday’s Favs…Budget pantry organizing…

If you’re looking for a “Fancy Nancy” pantry makeover, this isn’t it. 

But if you’re looking for an inexpensive way to make a messy pantry, cleaner, neater, and a bit more organized, maybe this will help.

My kitchen is a wee, little galley style kitchen. 

Thank God it has a pantry or I’d be in a world of hurt.

The pantry is probably only 18 inches deep but as wide as the kitchen is.

When you open the pantry door you face the wall.  To the left and right are deep shelves.

Let’s just say, it was very easy to lose things in the back of those deep shelves…

like ancient cans of creamed corn, and we don’t even like creamed corn so how in the world did we get a can of it?

I have no before pictures…but it was all too often messy and unorganized and held LOTS of stuff.

I would straighten it up fairly frequently, but decided it was time for a more drastic makeover that would hopefully help to keep it organized!

 

So first I took everything out…including the shelves.

I stripped the old contact paper off the shelves and put new clean, white contact paper on.

I gave the pantry a fresh, clean coat of white semi gloss paint.

I’ve seen a lot of beautiful pantry makeovers on blogs, but I wanted to do this as inexpensively as possible.

Some of those fancy organizing baskets are beautiful, but can cost over twenty dollars each.

  I also wanted containers that are easy to clean.

I went to Wal-mart and spent under $30 on white, plastic baskets.

Once the paint was dry, I put the shelves back in and started organizing.

I organized the shelves into the following categories ~

~the top shelves on both sides contain items used infrequently such as large serving trays, etc.

~small appliances

~spices and dry mixes, all neatly organized in small baskets

~drinks (coffee, unopened juice bottles, drink mixes which I put in a basket)

~baking items (in containers or baskets)

~breakfast (in containers or baskets, separated by cold breakfast and hot breakfast items)

~a shelf with a basket for containers of pastas and rice, and another basket for all oils, vinegars and syrups

~snacks (all in containers and or baskets)

~canned goods and unopened condiments (in a basket)

I labeled all of the baskets with computer labels that can easily be removed and changed as needed.

The best part of the pantry is the wall mounted hooks for my pots and pans, thanks to my handyman son-in-law.

I have a little rolling shelf that tucks away perfectly between the pantry shelves

and holds my canisters of flour, sugar and brown sugar, and my favorite bakeware and soup pots.

I’m lovin’ having my pantry clean and organized.

I’ll let you know how long it stays that way!

 

Happy Friday Everyone!

Elizabeth

Click here to enter my giveaway of Beth Moore’s Jesus-90 days with the One and Only

Happily linking here-

Also linking to THE NESTER for 31 days to a less messy nest!

Creation’s praise…

 

 

The cell phone beeps

It’s the weather app.

Warning me of high winds and rain

and snow in the Cascades

That night I fall asleep to the sound of rain beating on the roof and drumming on the windows

and the creak of the branches in the old growth trees outside

whipping wildly

and I pray that none of the huge giants that surround our house

come crashing down

In the morning it’s still raining and the wind is still

whipping wildly

And out the window I see the grand old firs, and the massive red cedars

waving their branches in exuberant praise

clapping wildly

to their Creator

and the autumn leaves

from the birch and the oak and the maple

join in and twirl and swirl in a dance of colorful, extravagant worship

and something in me wants to join

in the extravagant dance, the exuberant clapping, the beautiful song

of creation

worshipping our Creator

saying

Worthy, worthy, worthy

of all glory, honor and praise

is He

 

Still following,

Elizabeth

 

happily linking here~

this week’s simple pleasure

hearing the autumn storm rage outside while being safe and cozy and snuggled in my house~

To enter my giveaway for Beth Moore’s Jesus~90 days with the One and Only

Click here

It’s a giveaway of Beth Moore’s Jesus~90 days with the One and Only…

It’s been quite a while since I’ve had a giveaway…

and what better to give on a blog called

just following Jesus

than a copy of Beth Moore’s

Jesus~90 Days with the One and Only!

It is a beautiful book with daily scripture readings as well as journaling type prompts for each day.

 

I’m going to give you lots of ways to get a chance to win…

~become a follower if you aren’t already

~leave a comment

~grab my blog button and put it on your sidebar

~do a blog post about the giveaway and link back here

(If you do the last two, be sure to tell me about it in your comment.)

So if you did all four of the above your name will be put in the drawing four times!

Be sure I have a way to contact you if you win.

Winner will be announced two weeks from today!

I hope YOU win!

 

Still following,

Elizabeth

Grace…

 

Romans 5:15 Amplified Bible
But God's free gift is not at all to be compared to the trespass

[His grace is out of all proportion to the fall of man].

For if many died through one man's falling away (his lapse, his offense),

 much more profusely did God's grace and the free gift [that comes] through the undeserved favor of

the one Man Jesus Christ

abound and overflow to and for [the benefit of] many.

Still following,

Elizabeth

Sharing pictures of His grace here~

 Chatting at the Sky

Eye exercises…

My baby brother was born with crossed eyes.  I remember when, as a wee little toddler, he had to have corrective eye surgery.  He came home from the hospital with a patch on his eye and his little arms and hands all bandaged up to keep him from touching it.  Afterwards, he had to do eye exercises to strengthen his eye muscles.

This gratitude gathering is an awful lot like those eye exercises.  It’s a retraining of the “eye muscles”,  if you will, to see the abundance of blessings all around us in our daily life.  Many of us are born with defective vision…eyes that are prone to see the things that are wrong in our lives, the things we lack.  It’s not too late for some eye exercises.  Start gathering gratitude.  It’s good for your eyes.

 

My continuing gratitude list #690-#700

 

-BEAUTY- FULL fall days

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-the neighbor trimming the huge fir trees- for free!

 

-while baby sitting baby granddaughter she slept 12 solid hours each night she was here!

 

-good books

 

-a need met for youngest daughter

 

-daughter in a car wreck…but not hurt!

 

-Yo-cream (YUMMM! and sharing it with baby granddaughter FUN!)

 

-Yummy fresh veggies and turkey sausage sautéed and mixed with whole grain pasta and parmesan cheese (YUMMM!)

 

-date day with the Hubs…a gorgeous drive in the country

 

 

 

-Saturday morning Skype call with my daughter and oldest granddaughter and only grandson

 

-a long overdue pantry clean out-done!

 

Gratefully yours,

Elizabeth

join the gratitude gatherers here~

the Cross…

Hebrews 12:2 (New Century Version)

Let us look only to Jesus,

the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect.

He suffered death on the cross.

But he accepted the shame as if it were nothing because of the joy that God put before him.

And now he is sitting at the right side of God's throne.

Still following,

Elizabeth

 

I simply remember my favorite things…Friday’s favs…I love my Kitchenaid mixer!

I’ve had a white 325 watt Kitchenaid mixer for about 15 years now.

For the past couple of years I’ve had my eye on a shiny red one with MORE POWER! (insert the Tim the Toolman grunt here)

When I saw the Kitchenaid professional series with 575 watts of power at Costco for almost $100 dollars less than most other places it was tempting…

when they had an instant rebate for another $30 off on top of that it was VERY tempting.

When the Hubs asked if I would like it for an early Christmas present…

well, need I say more?

Just in time for the holidays and those big batches of yeast rolls, cinnamon cranberry bread, sugar cookies, gingerbread………

MORE POWER!

 

Happy Friday Everyone!

Still following,

Elizabeth

I’m linking here~