Friday, March 16, 2012 - Boomerang

As the day for me to start working 8:00 - 5:00 drew near, I remembered how much money our family spent eating out the last time I worked full time.  I had been too brain-dead to think about what to eat after a long day and too busy catching up on laundry and housework on the weekends to figure out meal plans and shopping.  Not wanting to spend all our new income on food, I searched and prayed for how we could eat well and cheaply with our new schedule.  Julie put me onto eMeals.com (www.eMeals.com) recommended by Dave Ramsey.  Her sister-in-law Sarah, a working mom with a baby and a two year old, found the site to be immensely helpful and I love it!  No, we love it - the recipes are delicious and we usually have them on the table by 6:00 p.m.  For a nominal fee the site provides the recipes for the entrees, suggested side dishes, and best of all, the complete shopping list and estimated cost for the store where you shop.  I know I sound like a commercial, but so far, soooo good.
    When I received this week's 7-day menu plan, there, on Day 5, was an original recipe by an acquaintance who passed away 12-14 years ago.  Jerry Overton, from Vina, AL, was an excellent cook who created recipes left and right. He hand wrote three of his original recipes for me when Tom and I were at his church for revival. His "Upside Down Pizza" is one of our favorites: so much so that I've included it in every personal cookbook I've made and given to friends and young brides. Jerry's recipe left a tiny town in north Alabama and now finds itself online to a wide audience and back to my kitchen. Boomerang effect. Whatever blessings we throw out there come back to bless us; whatever we dish out to others eventually comes back to our plates.

"It is possible to give freely and become more wealthy, 

but those who are stingy will lose everything." 

"The generous prosper and are satisfied; 

those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed." 

People curse those who hold their grain for higher prices,

but they bless the one who sells to them in their time of need.

If you search for good, you will find favor;

but if you search for evil, it will find you!"

Proverbs 11:24-25

Lord, you know how immature we are and that we need motivation to do the right things. Please help us become more selfless so we do what You do just because You do it and it pleases You.  For now, though, while we're like little children, thank You for this boomerang effect that helps us learn to stay in Your will and love the truths in Your Word.  Guide us to be gentle, loving and giving. Thank You for Your generosity to us.

In the Name of Jesus, our Good Shepherd Who taught us to dish out godly character