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The strongest bridge awarded to Caleb.

When I was a young girl I would visit my uncle and aunt who lived in Nebraska. They would take me to a restaurant  that served these little dough balls full of ooey~  gooey goodness. They called them Runzas~a meat filled roll .

You can make the dough homemade ~ but frozen rolls will work too.

Dough~
1 1/4 cup of warm milk
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 3/4 cup flour
1 pkg. yeast

Put warm milk in bowl and add yeast~dissolve well. Add oil, sugar. salt.  Slowly add flour. I use my Mix Aid. Knead into a nice dough. I let this rest while I cook the meat mixture.


Filling~
2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion
1/2 head of chopped cabbage~ or slaw mix
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
cheese slices

Brown meat and onions until half done~then add cabbage~and salt and pepper. Finish cooking until cabbage is translucent. Drain well and put in fridge to cool. The dough does not like hot meat.

Roll your dough into small dinner roll size and fill with meat mixture when cool ~ add some cheese~ and wrap them up nice and neat. Place seam down on a greased cookie sheet.

Let  them rest and rise for 30 minutes.
Cook 35 minutes in a 35o degree oven.

Glaze butter over the top.

As I finished packing away Christmas and organizing my basement I came across my dad's painting stuff. He has several pictures that were finished. I know because he had signed his name~Nation on the bottom. Some were completed but had no signature. Some he left unpainted. Maybe I will finish them for him. Losing my dad this fall has been a major heartache. To be honest~ there have been some hard days in 2011~ broken dreams and promises.

 I know many of you are also facing some giants in your life too. Some have lost loved ones, some have lost jobs, some have faced the  heartache of divorce.  I am praying for a couple of my blog friends who are facing cancer and illness. My heart is heavy with you.

In the Valley of Elah was a giant who ranted and raved with threats and vile promises. This huge mouthy giant who strutted along grassy slopes swinging an enormous club was ready to attack. Goliath~ a nine foot tower of a man who was the pride of Philista. He wore massive armour~ a bronze coat weighing 200 pounds, a solid iron spear,  and a heavy bronze helmet. This giant of a man was a terror to the children of Israel. For 40 days he had frightened them ~promising them destruction and doom.  The children ~ paralyzed with fear had resigned to their tortured fate at the hand of the giant.

But on day 41~the sun came up in the morning. A young handsome teenage boy stepped into that valley of fear~ fresh from the presence of God. Just an ordinary boy~ who was not perfect or without blemish. He being the youngest of 8 was the baby of the family. He refused to believe what he saw. Instead~ he believed what he knew in his heart~ the giant was going down. Goliath did not only meet David that day~ he met the almighty Lord of Heaven and earth. And that giant fell. Giants always have to fall in the presence of God.

We stand on the threshold of a new year~ a new beginning!  If you are like me~ maybe old enough to know that life sometimes is just plain hard~ you face 2012 with mixed emotions. Personally I am thrilled that I made it through 2011~ I wasn't sure I would.  I am excited about a fresh start. I love a new calendar and it is already filling up with Hannah's wedding plans and her move to Washington. The calendar holds the possibility of some new dreams and unmarked possibilities. But to be brutally honest with you I am sure it will hold a giant or two. In the unknowns there holds a pocket of fear in my heart where questions and doubts thrive.

The good news is that God knows what lies ahead and it is no surprise to Him. This reason alone empowers us to face every tomorrow with hope.  Everything we may face will pass through His hands~with his permission. He has already set into motion the defeat and fall of every giant we may face in the coming new year.

God is the same yesterday ~ today~ and tomorrow. He is the giant slayer. The days are saturated with the memory of Goliath's fall. We can trust that God is on our side as we face the giants in our life.

Happy New Year~ 2012

Do you ever read this verse and say~ "God where are those wings?~ I mean I have been waiting but I am not soaring." I so feel like Clarence ~ only in a different sort of way.  There are times when our strength is just not enough~ when our wings feel molten and heavy. In fact ~ right now I can't even find my wings.  I have walked through some real difficult days in 2011.


Yet when I look back over my reaching towards half a century of life~my that sounds old. I have walked through some pretty tough days before. Life is just plain hard. I like what Beth Moore says. You ever been in a place in life where storms hit from every direction? She says it gets so bad that is shows all over your face and your hair too. I hate it when that happens~ but I am there.


When I look back at those difficult times in life I don't see sorrow. I see sweet peace and joy. Why? ~because it was during those toughest times in my life I see God holding me. 


God's promise through Isaiah~ my all time favorite book of the Bible~ is that when we are weary~ we will soar like eagles. How is that even possible when I can't find my wings? 


 My friend who has battled cancer says~ "The underlying promise is that our wings will be lifted and the wind will catch them underneath. It's not our strength that causes us to soar, but He lifts you and me up and out our our weary places-in His might. 


I may have lost my wings but I have not lost my faith. I will continue to put my trust in God during difficult days. I need God to lift me out of my weary place. How about you?


Do you feel exhausted today? Do you feel faint? Do you feel like a failure? Do you feel alone? We can put out trust in God to lift our wings and give us power ~ as we depend on Him each and every day.

It is not hard to look around and see what our young men are struggling with~ Dads are so important. My baby is our boy and it seems like only yesterday he was playing with Buzz and Woody and now he is driving a car. You turn around and they have started growing into a man all while you were not looking.

The role a father plays in his son's life is not matched by any other relationship. I will never know what my son will face in his life~ the temptations he will have to overcome~ the hardship of having to support a family as the man of the home. But his dad does.

This book is excellent and thought provoking. Not only does Dr. McDonnell use Biblical wisdom but he also applies that wisdom in light of the day and age we live in along with the latest research. He hands out some practical advice that is sure to help any dad with helping his son become a man.

At the end of each chapter he adds a Thought and Discussion section to put into practice the wisdom that he has written about. This book helps with the hard things like the birds and the bees and how to teach him to treat  authority and his wife one day.

We just never imagine our little boy being a husband one day ~but he will and the training starts now. This book is a great tool to help any dad prepare his son to be the man God intends for him to be and to develop a relationship with him that will last a lifetime.

Thank you Bethany House for this book to review