Sandra Byrd's Blog, page 10
June 18, 2018
Chocolate Covered Cherry Dump Cake
We love dark chocolate covered cherries around here, so when I came across this recipe, we knew we had to try it. Whipped it up (and it’s SO simple!) for Father’s Day, and it was a big hit.
For the complete recipe from a tried and true site (Taste of Home) click here!
Grab Bag Giveaway
To enter the grab bag giveaway, please leave a comment telling me of an unexpected treasure in your own life! Winners will be drawn using random.org and notified via email! Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize or another winner will be selected. Open internationally! Void where prohibited. This giveaway is not sponsored or endorsed by Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
May 21, 2018
Sleeper, Creeper, Leaper
I wrote about my little fig plant in The One Year Experiencing God’s Love Devotional – and now, it’s beginning to bear fruit. Read on, then comment to be entered in the drawing!
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Well, it seems I could hardly have a garden of biblical plants without including a fig tree! It’s not hot here very often, and fig trees mostly grow in desert climes. Plus, I must admit, I was a little worried that if it did not produce fruit I might think it had been cursed (see Mark 11), and I didn’t want that in my garden!
However, we love figs with goat cheese, and we love fig jam. So, during a stroll through my favorite nursery last year I saw a fig tree for sale and stopped. Okay, “tree” is a hopeful, positive spin on what I’d spied. It was a slender stalk in a pot. No foliage. Nothing that looked like it might grow and produce fruit. I read the tag, and it promised that another fig lover had propagated this plant to grow in our area. Not only would it fruit, but the promise was for twice-a-year fruiting!
I could not resist. I bought it, and my husband planted it.
By the end of that first season, the plant had two hands’ worth of lush, green palms. It had grown about six inches. I remembered the gardener’s adage: first year, sleeper; second year, creeper; third year, leaper. So, my tree’s hopeful little display of forward motion was sure to be multiplied in the years to come. I believe! In three or four years, I’ll be making fig jam—twice a year!
Isn’t that very much like the model for many precious things we hope for and hold dear? It certainly seems to be how we begin a new endeavor. We start with a slender stalk of desire, but it’s an idea or desire with potential. God is an experienced gardener, and he has “propagated” me for the climate in which he expects me to bear fruit, and he tends me as I grow. Our projects and endeavors, our prayers, are well known to him ahead of time! It’s okay if you start out weakly. Remember—first year, sleeper. Just start. Before you know, whatever it is you’ve undertaken together, you’ll be creeping, then leaping. You’ve been designed for success!
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
John 15:5, NKJV
From The One Year Experiencing God’s Love Devotional. Copyright 2017. Used with permission.
Leave a comment on this post with the plant you always wish you could grow for your chance to win a copy of The One Year Experiencing God’s Love Devotional! If you already own a copy, I am happy to gift it to anyone you like!
This giveaway is open to US residents only. Winner will be selected using random.org. Winner will have 48 hours to claim prize or another winner be selected. Disclaimer – This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Facebook.
May 8, 2018
Royal Weddings and Honiton Lace
This month the world is celebrating a royal wedding, and women around the world wonder, “What will her dress look like?”
Although others had been married in white, white wedding dresses, with lace, became popular with Queen Victoria. Why did she choose lace? One reason: she wanted to promote the lace industry of Honiton. My book, Mist of Midnight, explores that lace industry, and India, and a mysterious hero and a heroine who is a stranger in her own land.
To celebrate the wedding, I’m giving away two copies of Mist of Midnight. To enter? Simply leave a comment on the companion article to this one, Lace Makers, and let me know, below, if you’re planning to watch the royal wedding, what tea and treats you’ll be sampling while you do so! Already own a copy? No problem! If you’re the winner, I’m happy to gift a book to anyone you’d like!
Winner must be a newsletter subscriber and will be drawn by Random.org from names of people who comment on both blog posts!
Disclaimer – This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Facebook.
April 23, 2018
Happily Ever Afters
I’m so excited to be able to offer, in conjunction with Quaintly & Co., this month’s exciting giveaway. It’s one of their Quintessentials Boxes filled with many full-sized products to savor and enjoy as you celebrate the royal wedding.
Please refer to the Rafflecopter form for the official rules before entering! If you’re selected as a winner, please share a photo of your prize on social media. Don’t forget to tag me (@SandraByrdBooks) and Quaintly & Co. (@LoveBritishLifestyle)!
Can’t wait to see if you’re a winner? Do you want to purchase a box as a gift or a subscription for yourself? Visit Quaintly & Co. and use the code 10OFF at checkout to get 10% off the first monthly box OR a single purchase! Although the royal wedding boxes have already shipped, the beautiful box below is just an example of what you can expect to find each month from Quaintly & Co.! (Must be an active newsletter subscriber of Sandra Byrd to win.)
Disclosure: Giveaway gift box donated by Quaintly UK.
Calla Lily Tea Sandwiches
These delicate sandwiches are sure to be a hit at any shower, Mother’s Day celebration, or to nibble on along with some special tea as you celebrate the royal wedding!
April 10, 2018
Pennies from Heaven
Like many of you, I grew up hearing the little chant “See a penny, pick it up, all day long you’ll have good luck.” I did pick up pennies then, even when I was a little kid, tucking them into my pockets where they were soon forgotten.
When I became a Christian and came to understand that there is no “luck,” but there is the will of a loving, sovereign God, I did not give up my penny-pinching, penny-picking-up habits. If anything, they increased! American pennies, thankfully, still include the words “In God We Trust.” Each time I plucked a penny from the floor of a grocery store, or the wet pavement outside of my car, it reminded me In Whom I Trusted. I’d spend my days praying, and he’d respond in my heart and mind, through the Word or worship music or sometimes . . . with a delightful glint of copper. Call me crazy, but it signaled to me that he was paying attention. “The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us” (Psalm 115:12, ESV).
How happy I am that I had not selected found quarters as an affectionate nod from the Lord—when people drop a quarter, they stop to pick it up regardless of luck! A gentle nudge to my heart taught me that yes, when you look for only big blessings, large interventions, significant and positive changes in circumstance, you miss most of the blessings. Most blessings are small, things that we and others might even forget or overlook, like a dropped penny.
A close-in parking spot on a wet day. A friend who asks you to walk with her. A new recipe. A chance for renewed health. A fine waived. A child’s enthusiasm. I began to open my eyes, not for pennies, but for the small blessings that God dropped into my days, nearly every day, to speak my love language, the one that says, “I am here. I have remembered you. I will bless you.”
The big gifts, rare as they may be, are from him. But so are the small ones, and if I look for them, I will see them all around me, all the time, as a constant reminder of his love.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17
From my devotional, The One Year Experiencing the Love of God, published by Tyndale House Publishers. Please leave a comment, below, to be entered into a drawing for a copy of the book!
April 4, 2018
Living Last Supper
Last Friday, I attended a “Living Last Supper” at my church. Twelve men, each representing a disciple, donned their robes and held a pose from the DaVinci painting while one by one, they came to life and discussed how they’d followed Jesus till the end—or not. When the man who played the role of Jesus entered the room, you could somehow palpably feel that he was Christlike. He emanated love, acceptance, and welcome to everyone, as well as peace and good character. I thought, what would it be like to be Jesus to everyone in the room?
And then I realized, I can be.
I can emanate love, acceptance, welcome, peace, and good character to everyone I encounter, not in my strength, but through the strength given to me (1 Peter 4:11). It’s not a role limited to dramatic renditions; instead, it’s one we each took on when we assumed the name, Christian. Allaboutgod.com says, “They were called ‘Christians’ because their behavior, activity, and speech were like Christ Jesus.”
I left the performance profoundly blessed but also challenged.
On Easter Sunday, our family sat just a few rows behind the man who had played the role of Jesus. I watched, gratified, as he was kind to his daughter and affectionate with his wife. He had taken on the role of Jesus, after all, and I wanted that to go well beyond Friday night’s moving service. It had. I left that service, too, profoundly blessed, but challenged once more. Can I be like Jesus well after the mountaintop experiences God leads me to, later, during the times when I don’t think everyone is still watching?
Perhaps that’s what it means to live out the name, Christian.
November 13, 2017
Rhonda’s Red Chili
This is a wonderfully versatile recipe – feel free to add or subtract from this base according to your family’s tastes! We used ground beef and ground pork as the meats, and our chili powder blend included cumin, ancho chilis, smoked paprika, oregano, and fennel. Delish, and even better the next day!
From Rhonda LeClerg’s Kitchen
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground sausage
(Note from Rhonda: kielbasa is also a good addition!)
1 onion, chopped
1 can chili beans
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can beef broth
1 can tomato sauce
1-2 tablespoons chili powder
(to taste)
Brown the meats and saute the onions together in a large pot and drain off the fat.
Return meat and onion to the pot and add all the rest of the ingredients. Let simmer for 30 minutes (or cook on low all day in the slow cooker). Add more chili powder as needed.
– From The One Year Experiencing God’s Love Devotional, March 18, page 81.
Win 1 of 10 Copies of The One Year Experiencing God’s Love Devotional
Tyndale House Publishers has generously offered to give away ten copies of my new devotional, US winners only. I hope you’ll enter to win one for yourself, or for a friend! Please answer this question in the comments, below, to enter: What do you hope for in 2018?
