❤✡Operation Protective Shield✡❤

The Below is from my Friend Veronica Varallo onFacebook!!

Canned Strawberry Honey Jam

I have had enough of Winter!  Snow continues to fall almost every day and my Spring Fever is in full go!  In order to get me through those February gloomy days in Ohio, I decided that this week I would dust off my water bath canner and put it into use.  Nothing makes it feel more like summer than hearing those jars “pop” as they cool on the counter top.

So, in my quest to break the winter blues, I decided to buy strawberries from the grocery store and begin my experiment for the perfect strawberry jam.  As most of you know, we are trying to make most of our food from natural ingredients.  We are trying to eliminate as much white flour and white sugar from our diet as we can.  If you have ever made homemade strawberry jam, you know that for about every…

Hi! How are you?” The woman smiled as she took the seat beside me. She had to lower herself slowly, squeezing her ample bottom into the seat, filling all available space.

Positioning herself comfortably, she plopped her enormous arm on our common armrest. Her immensity saturated the space around us, shrinking me and my seat into insignificance.

I cringed and reclined towards the window.

She leaned towards me and repeated her greeting in an upbeat, friendly voice. Her face towered above my head, forcing me to turn to look at her. “Hi,” I replied with obvious loathing.

I turned away to stare out the cabin window, sulking silently about the long hours of discomfort I was going to experience with this monster beside me.

She nudged me with her meaty arm. “My name is Laura. I’m from Britain. How about you? Japan?”

“Malaysia,” I barked.

“I’m so sorry! Will you…

‘The Lord…said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth.”‘ Jeremiah 1:9 NIV

The people God calls usually start out feeling ill-equipped and insecure. Indeed, if you jumped up and said, ‘No problem, Lord, I can handle that,’ He wouldn’t call you at all. You say, ‘But I’ve made no mistakes.’ Everybody falls; the winners are just the ones who get back up again. ‘The Lord delights in a man’s way, He makes his steps firm; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord holds him with his hand.’ (Psalm 37:23-24 NIV) When Jeremiah told God that he had neither the competence nor the confidence needed to do the job, God said to him what he says to us: (1) You are not going in your own authority. ‘…You must go to everyone I send to you…’ (Jeremiah 1:7 NIV) Who’s sending you, sponsoring…

A simple gesture. A simple hello. A simple smile. If all genuine, they make a difference! They leave a lasting impression and have the power to bring hope! Just a the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. Will you be someone’s good Samaritan today? You have the power to make a difference.

Luke 10:33 – But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

1 John 4:10-12 – In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

1 Peter 5:6 – Humble yourselves, therefore…

He was scary. He sat on the grass with… his cardboard sign, his dog (actually his dog was adorable) and tattoos running up and down both arms and even on his neck. His sign proclaimed him to be “stuck and hungry” and to please help.

I’m a sucker for anyone needing help. My husband both loves and hates this quality in me. It often makes him nervous, and I knew if he saw me right now, he’d be nervous. But he wasn’t with me right now.

I pulled the van over and in my rear-view mirror, contemplated this man, tattoos and all. He was youngish, maybe forty. He wore one of those bandannas tied over his head, biker/pirate style. Anyone could see he was dirty and had a scraggly beard. But if you looked closer, you could see that he had neatly tucked in the black T-shirt, and his things…

Now that you have all  read about Elizabeth’s book “Black Coat With A Silver Lining”, entered the giveaway (INTERNATIONAL) and had a look at the Scavenger Hunt, I think it’s about time that you learn and get to know Elizabeth, the author behind the inspirational book!!

~ Bio ~
As a teenager, Elizabeth was overjoyed when she received a typewriter for Christmas, and conveyed her passion for words in the form of poems and short stories. As a mom, she loved telling her three young children tales of monarchs and princesses, palaces and fortresses, and ogres and villains.
Born on the tropical island of Cuba, Elizabeth came to the United States with her family at the age of ten as a political refugee. Her life experiences, with their distinctive challenges, saturate her words with depth. Most of the stories she writes on her blog, she has…