Category: General

Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday of the whole year because it lacks major commercialization and gives us a family day to spend together remembering all the blessings God has poured out, many 0f which we have either long since forgotten or easily taken for granted.

I have not always been thankful for thorns in my side as St Paul writes.  My son hasn’t always been the easiest child to live with, but I am so thankful for how much God has matured him into a young man this year.  He truely desires to be a godly light in the dark places he finds himself and has a passion for listening to godly manhood audio CD’s from Doug Phillips of Vision Forum.  Without an earthly Dad to influence and encourage him, this is quite a miracle and but more importantly a great blessing to me.

I am thankful my brother-in-law has begun taking an active interest in Stephen’s military career and is giving him sound counsel as he prepares for his commissioning in May and assignment in the Signal Corp of the US Army.  Last year, I was thanking God my son-in-law came home safely  from Iraq and dreading Stephen’s potential deployments.  Now I am able to rest in Gods’ sovereignty and loving care for my son.

I am so thankful for my sister, Terry’s, faithful friendship, hospitality, encouragement and generosity to both myself and my children.

My daughter Mary has had the opportunity to further develop her musical skills this year after I had Duane’s “collectible” high school clarinet rehabbed.  She is involved in not only the school concert band but in a Girl’s Swing/Show Choir as well as weekly piano lessons and practice.  The school Christmas Concert and performance is coming December 17 and her older sister Laura and new husband Brandon will be able to attend.

When Laura got married last year on Jan 3, I really wondered how I would hold up without her father at my side to say nothing of  her  cross country move to Tennessee.  Now, nearly a year later, I can see that God has developed her into a very godly wife to Brandon and they have grown so much together, I can hardly wait to have them home in a few weeks for the Christmas holidays.  Yes, I am thankful for cell phones and skype so we can talk almost daily.

Managing The Urban Homemaker without Duane has been a major challenge to me this past year especially when I lost the entire data base of fifteen years,   right before Christmas, last year.  I struggled with not knowing how to do any of the technical computer things , fill-in-the-blank, and got down on myself.  Now, I can look back and see the faithfulness of God to provide a gifted computer guy, Marc, to carry us through the  hardships and step-by-step into a new system.

I am thankful that I was able to replace the badly rotting steps at my back door with a superior porch made of synthetic material made to look like wood so I won’t have to ever seal or stain a wood surface.  Besides it looks beautiful.  On top of that, I now have a patio beside the stairs between my house and shop under a shady walnut tree to enjoy the beautiful summer outdoors.

I am thankful that Mary and I were able to go to Florida to visit my 88 year-old folks for a week last June and enjoy their company and the Florida sunshine.

I am so thankful for all the new friendships I have been able to make through my Norwex business.  I have had so much satisfaction to be able  to move forward in this area.

This Sunday, a bunch of ladies in my town and I are going to travel to Montrose to watch the Nutcracker ballet.  I am so thankful they thought of including me in their plans.

I am humbled to have the opportunity to teach a parenting of teens Sunday School class based on the book Age of Opportunity by Ted Tripp.  We have had a hilarious time of fellowship and learning each Sunday morning, again I am having the opportunity to develop more friendships.  Our class has lovingly renamed our class,  Age of Opportunity, Growing Parents Gods Way. I hope some of you get the “play on words” and can appreciate it.

God has been so faithful to provide for me in small and large ways in the last year when I despaired of being able to be financially solvent.  He is such a great provider and faithful husband.

So many new doors have opened for me after loosing Duane, but it has not come without months of physical, emotional, and spiritual pain and grieving.  In the last two to three months I feel like I can jump out of bed each morning and embrace the day, I couldn’t do that last year.  Healing comes, memories sweeten, my recognition of God’s lovingkindness and goodness has grown exponentially through the painful loss of my husband.

I despaired of ever producing a catalog again.  I agonized over the countless calls and requests from people wanting a new copy of The Urban Homemaker catalog and now it is done, at least for a few months until it is time to revise it again.

My daughter and I are in the process of planning and building a new website to encourage a new generation of homemakers in their high callings.  We are excited that God keeps opening new doors of ministry.

I know there is so much more I could write.  God is a God of details (and I am not) so there is lots of I have overlooked and not mentioned.  Perhaps, as the day goes on, more things will come to my mind and I can revise my little essay.

Take time to think of how God turned difficulties into good this past year, how he has not forsaken you even if and when you forsake Him.  He is a Great and Mighty God.

Today, my children and I are gathering together to spend  Thanksgiving with friends to ask the Lord’s blessing, to praise his name, to rejoice that He is on our side, He will always be triumphant, His word never changes and is always there to guide and direct us, He delivers us from tribulations as He refines us into pure gold.  May His name be praised forever and ever AMEN!

Ed Note:  It has been nearly 20 months since my husband Duane passed away.  At last, with God’s help and a terrific printer, Rita Lang, Catalog #40 and Recipes is ready!

Download Catalog #40 Here Now

Please write to me with your comments:  marilyn@urbanhomemaker.com or post a comment!

The following excerpt was in our paper last week under the “You Said It Column.”  These are comments phoned into the paper.  No names are used.  This is from the Sunday, Nov 8, 2009 edition of the Grand Junction Sentinel.

“Let me get this straight:   We’re going to pass a health care plan, written by a committee whose head says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a Congress that doesn’t understand it, but exempts themselves from it, signed by a president who also hasn’t read it, and who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes, overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and, financed by a country that’s nearly broke.  What possibly could go wrong?”

Food for thought for today.  Be sure to call your Senators and Congressmen with your thoughts.

It’s not too early to plan the big Thanksgiving Feast. Be sure to get out your recipes and buy as many ingredients ahead of the big rush as possible.  Even if you aren’t hosting the Thanksgiving Dinner, you might want to cook a turkey yourself, just for your family, just for the leftovers.

First of all set a beautiful table:

You might be surprised at what gorgeous centerpieces children can create from simple items such as gourds, pinecones of various shapes and sizes, nuts, acorns, mini-pumpkins, oak leaves, Indian corn, ribbons, turkeys, pilgrim statues, candles, napkins, doilies, dried grasses, and whatever else you may have in hand that fits into the theme of harvest and Thanksgiving.

Many of these items may be found while walking around in your neighborhood or a park. Older children can teach and supervise the younger children. Teaching practical life skills to children is the foundation of priceless traditions and memories. Try to make it a point to take lots of pictures. They will make timeless additions to student notebooks or family photo albums.

Homemade gravy making is the foundation of a very tasty and successful feast

1. The secret to homemade gravy is to make a delicious stock/base by simmering the giblets and neck in 2-3 cups of water while the turkey roasts, and saving ALL the drippings and browned crusty bits on the bottom of the roasting pan. Canned chicken broth or commercial gravy mix is a poor substitute, so resolve not to be tempted to compromise these steps.

2. Pour all the turkey drippings from the roasting pan into a large measuring cup (at least 2 Cup measure) and allow the grease to separate. While the drippings are separating, pour 2-3 cups of water into the roasting pan and bring it to a boil by placing the pan on two burners on your stove top. Using a wooden spoon, stir up these browned bits so they “dissolve” into the water.

This step is essential to wonderful tasting, beautifully browned gravy and makes cleaning up a roasting pan a much easier task. Reserve 4-8TB (1/4- 1/2 Cup) of the turkey grease once it separates from the drippings.

3. After the roasting pan has simmered with water and turned a deep brown color, combine this liquid with turkey drippings (not the fat) and the broth from simmering turkey giblets so that you have 5-6 Cups of liquid. I use my 6-Cup blender as a measuring cup.

4. Then combine 1/4-1/2 Cup turkey fat (or butter) with 8-10 TB flour (whole wheat pastry preferred) until it gelatinizes, or thickens in a large sauce pan. Keep stirring over medium low heat for about one minute.

5. Now, VERY GRADUALLY, pour the liquid from the turkey giblets and the roasting pan into the fat/flour mixture while you stir it continuously so as to not have any lumps. Stir continuously until the entire mixture thickens. Adjust the liquid if needed so you have a nice pourable gravy. Add 2-3 tsp salt or to taste. Save leftover gravy serving leftover turkey, or  for soup stock, or open face sandwiches, etc!

Dear friends,

I don’t normally like to post on political topics, but mandatory government health care is such a major intrusion on our freedom and our finances I can not in good conscience remain silent.  Since Duane and I have been self-employed for about 17 years, we have had to seek out alternative “health insurance” or Christian mutual care ministries where the members share the costs.

Currently I am a member of Samaritan’s Ministry, where I send my monthly share directly to the member whose need qualified.  The cost of this sharing system is dramatically lower than commercial health care policies and offers the added benefit of fulfilling the biblical mandate to “bear one another’s burdens.”

The current legislation recently passed by the House, a  requirement to buy government-approved insurance would be a violation of the religious freedom of people of faith who want to express their faith through health care sharing. Requiring them to buy health insurance would be an unreasonable burden that would make it very difficult for them to continue practicing their faith through health care sharing.

I have MANY other objections to the current House version, but please contact your Senators today and tomorrow regarding your concerns about mandatory government health care.

Denver is in the middle of about a two day snow storm.  My son’s college is shut down for today. Things have come to a halt in the Denver Metro area.

Here in Paonia, the Western side of Colorado, we have about 1-2 inch blanket of snow on the grass, cold temps and partly cloudy skies.

No snow day for us.  But I’m pretending to have a snow day this afternoon, after all I feel a little jealous of my front range friends and relatives.

I have a cup of hot cocoa and I’m thinking about making Honey Glazed Chicken for tomorrow night’s dinner.

My neighbor, friend, and book keeper, Renee, is having it tonight.  It is one of my favorite recipes and I don’t even remember the last time I had it.

All you need is a chicken, honey, curry powder, lemon juice, and an oven.

Here is the link for the recipe, it’s nice and easy:

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Sometime ago, I developed a 12 Week Holiday Timetable which was designed to help me and others start planning ahead for the holiday season.  Although we at The Urban Homemaker, don’t advocate complicated or expensive holiday celebrations, we wish to encourage you and your family to focus on the true meaning of the holiday season.  The timetable helped me systematically begin my holiday gift making, card writing, holiday baking, gift wrapping and memory making in an orderly way.

Sheri Graham, homeschooling mom of five, adapted my timetable into an an ebook based on my 12 Week Holiday Timetable.     The 12 Week Holiday Planner for Christian Families by Sheri Graham is filled with practical and useful charts, planner pages, recipes, crafts, the Jesse Tree Devotional and other useful information.

Sheri says, “My desire in putting together this eBook is to provide a tangible way for you to plan out your holidays so they are enjoyable, less stressful, and more filled with the things that really matter.”

The Planner includes:

• Ideas of what to do weekly for the 12 weeks
• “Sheri’s Tips”- tips to make your holidays meaningful, shared throughout the ebook
• Christmas Craft and Gift Ideas
• Memory Making Ideas for the Family
• Ideas for Baked Items to Share/Give Away
• Ideas for Meals to Freeze for Use during the busy Weeks
• Decoration Ideas
• Supplies to stock up on ahead of time or when on sale
• Ideas for a Holiday Baking Schedule
• Kids’ Gift Idea List
• PLUS!!! “The Glorious Coming: A Jesse Tree Celebration of Advent” – Jesse Tree devotionals
• Much Much More!

Testimonials from women who have used the Planner:

Dear Marilyn,

“I purchased Sheri’s book last year as a result of her phone seminar with you and I absolutely love it.  I used it every day last year and I plan to use it every year from now on.  We did the Jesse Tree and it was a special part of our holiday season.  More than anything I appreciated how Sheri’s book constantly reminded me to slow down, observe the wonderful joys of the season and of my children and to focus on what Christ would hope we would focus on.  I highly recommend this book.  Love love love it.”Shae

Dear Marilyn,

“I found it very helpful to have a plan to go by instead of scurrying around wondering what to do next.  By the time December rolled around, we had everything done and were able to just have fun.  We had time to take in all sorts of Christmas plays and made crafts and just had time to talk.  It felt like and old fashioned Christmas because we kept the TV off for most of month, thereby eliminating a lot of the commercialism.  We popped popcorn and ate apples by the fire just like Almonzo in  Farmer Boy.  It was really magical.”  Lindy Sellars

Dear Marilyn,

“I really enjoyed this tool. I used the charts the most.  I enjoyed writing down all those ideas for Christmas in one place.  I didn’t have to search for slips of paper or reinvent the wheel, so to speak.  This year, I noticed that I already have some good ideas down on paper.  Also the very best thing, is that my Christmas card address list is all in one place with just a few new addresses to add.”   Jamie Payne

CLICK HERE TO CLAIM YOUR PLANNER