YOU CAN TURN YOUR HANDICAPS INTO REWARDS

Good evening!! I am back and I hope you haven't given up on me and will join me on this journey! It's Sunday evening again -- and it is count down for one special young lady and her man. The wedding is this coming Saturday and as I pray for them this week - I will also pray for me -- that I can make their reception (the food part) exactly what they wanted! Several of the ladies at church have offered to help and with them I feel everything will go great! Two of them have agreed to make one gallon Salsa each -- so tonight I took each of them all of the ingredients and the recipe for the Strawberry-Mango Salsa! I appreciate all of them so much!

It seems that every where you look, every magazine, many books, even the Tyler Paper is talking about getting fit and how important certain things are to our bodies as we grow older. I bought one of the magazines the other day because its headlines were "LOSE INCHES ALL OVER," "RADIANT ENERGY," AND "TONED ARMS IN 60 SECONDS." The magazine is the July issue of Prevention. The article starts on Page 96 - and it says "Defy your Age -- Live Agelessly!" I've not read all of it but I intend to. You also can go online at www.prevention.com/beyoungernow and find 40 menu options to start eating healthier, and you can actually track your progress. So I am going to look into it!!

Here is a neat story that my cousin sent me - I'm not sure if it is a Paul Harvey story or not - but it does sound like it! Worth repeating - for sure:

A DREAMER AND HIS DREAM


Let me tell you, Jesse hated this job. And you would too, I imagine, if

you had to do it. Jesse was a chicken plucker. That's right.

He stood on a line in a chicken factory and spent his days pulling the feathers

off dead chickens so the rest of us wouldn't have to. It wasn't much of a job.



But at the time, Jesse didn't think he was much of a person.

His father was a brute of a man.

His dad was actually thought to be mentally ill

and treated Jesse rough all of his life.



Jesse's older brother wasn't much better.

He was always picking on Jesse and beating him up.

Yes, Jesse grew up in a very rough home in West Virginia .

Life was anything but easy. And he thought life didn't hold much hope for him.


That's why he was standing in this chicken line, doing a job that darn few

people wanted. In addition to all the rough treatment at home, it seems that

Jesse was always sick. Sometimes it was real physical illness, but way too

often it was all in his head. He was a small child, skinny and meek.

That sure didn't help the situation any.


When he started to school, he was the object of every bully on the

playground. He was a hypochondriac of the first order.

For Jesse, tomorrow was not always something to be looked forward to.


But, he had dreams.

He wanted to be a ventriloquist.

He found books on ventriloquism.

He practiced with sock puppets and saved his hard earned dollars until he

could get a real ventriloquist dummy.



When he got old enough, he joined the military.

And even though many of his hypochondriac symptoms persisted, the

military did recognize his talents and put him in the entertainment corp.

That was when his world changed.



He gained confidence.

He found that he had a talent for making people laugh, and laugh so hard

they often had tears in their eyes.

Yes, little Jesse had found himself.


You know, folks, the history books are full of people who overcame a

handicap to go on and make a success of themselves, but Jesse is one of

the few I know of who didn't overcome it.

Instead he used his paranoia to make a million dollars, and become one of

the best-loved characters of all time in doing it!

Yes, that little paranoid hypochondriac, who transferred his nervousness

into a successful career, still holds the record for the most Emmys given

in a single category.


The wonderful, gifted, talented, and nervous comedian who brought us


Barney Fife


was


Jesse Don Knotts.



NOW YOU KNOW, "THE REST OF THE STORY"

Here is a quick and easy Fresh Peach Pie. It is really pretty light and could be made with Splenda to make it even lighter!

FRESH PEACH PIE

1 Pillsbury Pie Crust - microwave 6 minutes - or use graham cracker crust

Combine the following ingredients and cook until thick and it turns clear:

4 Tablespoons corn starch
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup water

Remove mixture from heat and add the following ingredients:

2 Tablespoons orange or peach Jello
2 Tablespoons lemon Jello
3 Tablespoons butter
1/4 tsp. almond extract

Peel 5 to 6 peaches and slice.

Brush pie shell with the above mixture and layer with peaches and sauce. Chill at least 2 hours.


My sister bought me a cookbook a couple of weeks ago entitled "Cooking with My Honey." I think she bought it for me because Maura calls me "Aunt Honey." It is a collection of recipes by the East Texas Bee Keepers Association. One of the first quotes is "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." ~ Proverbs 16:24. How true that is - how many times are we careless with our words - words we speak about someone, to someone, or just in idle talk? How many friendships have been destroyed by careless words? The tongue can be a wicked companion and it is so harmful that God through James warned us about it. In fact the first 12 verses of chapter 3 warns us about it. James said that "it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." So we all need to be conscious of what we say and how we say it. I hope each of you will go back and read James 3 again -- just to have a reminder of how deadly the tongue can be!

Our preacher used his words beautifully tonight in his sermon. Honestly when he started I thought "Oh no - not another lesson from Leviticus" - and even though I appreciated the lessons he has taught - I was just not ready for another. But this one was somehow different -- I think he brought it back to our lives more vividly and it was a great lesson!!!

Well - have a great week! Think of something nice to say about even someone you really don't like. Is there someone in your life that is a bully, very seldom has anything nice to say, and is quick to criticize whatever you do? Then start praying for that person -- because for some reason he or she is a very unhappy person and wants everyone else to be too! Remember we are told to pray for our enemies and love them!! Hard to do - but it can be done! I am going to try and write more this week -- sometimes it just doesn't work out but I do have lots more recipes to share!!