Terrie's Tender Touch

Encouragement. That is such an important part of a parent's role in training and raising up children. You know, you need to encourage your kids to try to do things they are convinced they can't do on their own - like walking, going potty, talking, reading, obeying. There are so many ways we can encourage our children, sometimes it can be a kind word, a smile, cheering, coaxing, even disciplining is a form of encouragement if done properly and used appropriately. We all want to make sure that we instill a good dose of confidence in our children so that they will be willing to try to do the hard things. The important thing is to make sure we are building them up to prepare them for their futures, and not just puffing them up by making them think they can do something they are not prepared to do. I Corinthians 8:1 teaches, "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." We may fill our children’s heads and make them think they can do something because they have a head ...

I am a Christian. On May 9, 1985 I bowed my head and my heart and personally trusted the Lord as my Saviour! So many things changed about my life on that day - for one I thing I became conscious of the Lord in every part of my life - I thought about Him all the time. I was grateful for my gift of salvation and of the sacrifice that was made for my soul...and I found myself wanting to please Him. I hadn't been saved too long before I realized that the way I was dressing was probably not especially pleasing to the Lord. Now I know many women get a mental picture that the Lord wants you to look like the old school nuns, but that is not the case at all! I was reminded of that fact again this morning as I was reading my Bible. I was reading from Exodus 28:1-2 which says, "And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s s...

Today's post will complete my trio of meal mess-ups. The other two posts regarding dinner have not really been my fault - with one of the meals just being not one of my husband's favorites, and the other being spewed upon. This meal mess-up was indeed my fault. I have mentioned how much I enjoy cooking, and that I even like to try to create my own version of recipes after tasting something I like at a restaurant. This dinner disaster was a result of one of those attempts. I LOVE Chinese food! Hands down it is one of my favorite types of food - a comfort food for me indeed. My husband knows me well enough to know that if I am feeling under the weather I will probably want Wor Won Ton Soup. For many years I lived in San Jose and had a neighbor that has become a life long friend. She introduced me to several recipes of foods I love, and some I had never tasted. One of the foods she introduced me to is Curry, tomato, beef chow mein - its kinda like spicy, Chinese spaghetti - so de...

In yesterday’s blog I mentioned that there had been a few times when dinner just didn’t happen the way I had intended. As I was thinking about my dinner fiascos I remembered one evening in particular. One of the joys that we share when our family is all together is humor – we all like a good laugh – but in truth when my kids are all together they are hilarious. On the evening that I am remembering we were all sitting at the table for dinner. In our home we always had our meals together, sitting at the table with the table set, and the food set on the table “family” style…well, I had just set our supper on the table, when my kids starting “cutting up;” our oldest son had just taken a drink of water when one of his brothers caught him off guard with something funny that he said, and as he laughed he choked on his water and it came spewing out of his mouth (and nose) all over our meal! As I viewed our ruined dinner I thought, "now what?" and then had a rush of emotions from...

From the time I was a young girl I enjoyed cooking. I remember a few occasions when my meal either didn’t turn out right, or was ruined, or just wasn’t what was expected. I remember as a newlywed bride I prepared a meal for my new husband that had been a favorite in my home as I was growing up. It was an Irish version of macaroni and cheese made with Velveeta – I love it to this day – but it is NOT one of my husband’s favorites. The recipe for this macaroni and cheese was one of my grandmother’s and since it had bacon and tomatoes, it was served as a casserole or stand alone meal. I grew up with four brothers that had very healthy appetites, and so I always made a 9 x 13 pan and served them a plate full; when I set the plate of what I had typically served my brothers my husband looked at me and asked “what is this?” He quickly informed me that macaroni and cheese was a side dish – not the main meal! I was disappointed but I never served it to him that way again until my children ...

It's a Wonderful Life is one of my favorite movies. I know it is old and my kids always thought it seemed depressing...poor George Bailey never got to fulfill his dreams, he was falsely accused of misappropriating funds, his absent minded uncle "lost" their tax money and he was going to be stuck paying for it; his house was a constant "work in progress" with the ever agitating loose finial on the handrail - what a life! I see it from a whole different prospective - he had a wife that loved him, a job that made a difference in his community, and in spite of the fact that he was falsely accused - we see that God knew the truth and made sure that all of his needs were met. While I know that this was a fictional story- I find it somewhat amazing that a Hollywood production had a few things right.  There are many truths that we should all learn from this timeless film. 1. God, the true Judge knows everything! While we all say we know that God is omniscient (al...