Perspective on friendship

So there are some friendships that will stand the test of time- you can disagree you can wonder what the heck they are thinking, but at the end of the day the pure love and acceptance found with these friendships are bar none the highest quality you will ever know. Isn't that  what we all want? We do not want a friend that preys on our heartaches in order  to feed their own ego, nor do we want a friend that preaches to you about how you need to live- or how those you love need to live up to their standards. A friend loves at all times- those are the kind of friends I want- there is research out there that suggests that childhood friends will be with you for life weather you like them or  not- hmm. Maybe that is technically true, but the discovery that I have made is that the bond that going through trials and trusting The Lord as you walk through them- THAT is the unbreakable bond-friends that pray together stay together . I am blessed with lots of friends- but the highest caliber of friendships live right under my own roof.

The Secret of the Patty-Pan

     Hey  Moms! Are you looking to increase your child's fiber,  vitamin and mineral content? Then the White Patty Pan Squash is the way to go! Just one cup of this mild flavored veggie has 589 mg of Potassium, 43%,  vitamin C, and  4% of  vitamin A, Calcium, and Iron. Here is my tip:

      Peel the squash carefully, especially if it is a large one, the skin tends to get a little tough the bigger the squash is. So now you just dice it up. Put it in any recipe, along with the onions when cooking. It cooks up and turns clear, no one even notices that its in there. Especially if it is a potato recipe, it blends right in with all the potatoes, and you just increased the fiber and nutrient value of the food you cooked.

     White Patty Pan Squash has a very mild flavor; you can Google recipes that make white patty pan the star, but if you have picky eaters, this is like having a little secret arsenal of nutrition in your back pocket!! It will take on the flavor of whatever it is cooked with!  Happy cooking, moms!! 

    

Love,

Ruth

P.S. I only mention this because we have an overabundance of Patty Pan squash grown in our back yard garden this year, and I have been "experimenting" with it  in several recipes, and not one person has noticed the almost "invisible" vegetable's presence in their food. I have a family of 8, and it is difficult to please everyone all of the time, so when I have a a success like this one, I notice and take note (and pass it on).  

On Pursuing PEACE

 I cannot believe that it is already the end of September. What a wonderful journey the past months have been! I started off determined to go and find PEACE at first it was a true quest. It was HARD. I am not lying. I could think of circumstances and "what if" them to death. My imagination would take me to very dark places. Here are some tips that helped me along the way:

1.  Be supportive. My pastor encouraged me to be supportive no matter what. (Even if I did not agree, find ways to be supportive) So I did. At first it was really hard. I would find myself wanting to argue at every turn. 
2. Feed your mind. What I mean is to have tunnel vision. Take time to do this the right way. It is not enough to "think on these things" you know, the honorable, praiseworthy things, no. There is a little more to it- some ACTION. I feasted on looking at scriptures, edifying posts, ANYTHING  that my eyes looked at, read, ect, had to be edifying. It was a rule for me to scroll past negative stuff. I posted a LOT of edifying stuff, (not all of it was for you, many times I was posting to remind myself).
3. Sing Sing sing ! Now you would think this was easy for me, being that I am a singer, and a worshiper. But there are so many distractions- busy schedules, the regular noise of a day, other priorities. Taking time to sing from my heart, weather anyone heard me or not, filled my heart and soul with more peace than can even be imagined. 
4. Let Go! Ok so mistakes were  made. So what??  So life is not perfect.. Whose is??Someone said something that was irritating , and of course this happens even now.. and yes, I still make mistakes, I am human. BUT accepting that I am human was part of the process of letting go. God's mercies are new every single morning. If you need to repent, do it; and if not, whatever it is that is weighing you down,  shake it off and go be who God has called you to be. Holding on is such a crippler.
5. Serve! I have many opportunities to serve every day, that is the nature of my job, I am a caregiver. But  seeing serving as my mission, changed the way I did my work, it changed the way I lived at home ( well, most of the time ha ha!)I volunteered more this year than any other year. Served my husband's leadership team, cooked for several potlucks for his stuff, volunteered at church, and even a little at school, when I could, I made it my mission to BE A BLESSING.

I could be super spiritual and say prayer, praise, and pleasing our heavenly father are the keys to personal PEACE, but I am not. You know why? It takes work. It takes determination. You have to roll up your sleeves and say "Hey "self", I am pursuing PEACE, so get on board". And some days, "self'" drags along unwillingly. Press on friend! The more you pursue it, the more you will be blessed by it. 

"Turn from evil and do good, seek PEACE and pursue it" Psalms 34:14

Love and PEACE to all,

Ruth

Just One Word

This year I heard this great idea to choose just one word to describe what sums up the goals/ resolutions made for the new year. So with much persistence I began to encourage my family to look upward (to God), look outward, and look inward. I asked them to really pray about it. I am so proud of the results! The next step is to write the words in large letters where they can be seen every day as a reminder. I will be finding ways to be creative with this step! So, here are the words chosen by each member of the House of Hidalgo: 

Rick's word is covenant.(He says the covenant with God "a concentration and separation to God that is vital to his faith")

My word is peace. ( I chose peace because I worry a lot and I want to change that - peace fits every area of my life. )

Anthony chose the word experiment. (He means in regards to culinary experimentation - he is very interested in studying culinary arts and wants to taste everything!)

Joshua chose the word progress. (He wants to progress in every area of his life- he is excited about the growth process that will take place as he progresses.)

Samantha chose the word Forgive.(This is an awesome word for Samantha because she really values all her relationships with both friends and family and wants forgiveness to be a part of her life.)

David chose the word victory.( David is in basketball, and wants to experience victory in his game and he also wants victory in everything he does; he sees victory as success!)

Chenaniah chose the word responsibility.(It did not take her long to find her word, she is challenged everyday with more and more responsibility and she wants to get better at it at home, school, and play.)

Luis just could not pick JUST ONE WORD; and that is ok; after all he is five. He chose a phrase which means everything to him in every area of his life- if we want to see him straighten up and try, all we have to say is this little phrase: never give up!  He sees everything this way - we read him books and he figures out quickly what is evil and what is good. We add to this never give up learning and growing, Luis! 

So our family chose Just one word (for the most part) this year and I really hope we help each other stay accountable to  our word (s).

Whatever your goals and resolutions are, my prayer is that you remain steadfast to them  and really try! 

Let's make 2014 AWESOME!

I will post our visual aides to this project after we make them!