What can you do right now that is towards your dreams and goals?
I know someone who has written out choices for names, menu ideas, started experimenting with what they might want to serve in a restaurant type business. They are not sitting around waiting until the mother load đ° drops in their laps to just open it.
I created a name in 2010 for my dream. I had the logo designed by my daughter. I created a social media presence and it is 2023 and still in a process of getting to where I want it!
I live in town but dream of owning a small place in the country for cattle and a horse. I started with being homeless when I moved here to renting in 5 months to owning in 3 years. I started with chickens at my second rental home and now have ducks, chickens and a goat! One day I will have a place or be connected with a place to have the other livestock as well.
I also want to travel and camp all over places. I watch videos and learn how to cook, what items I need for traveling like that. I have been purchasing items a little at a time.
I am building an outdoor Dutch oven and kitchen are. I watch videos and gather and build one piece at a time.
Never sit on your bum and let it all pass by.
Also donât get your undies in a bunch when you see someone else step out to do your dream! All that says is IT IS POSSIBLE! It doesnât say well I canât now because they did it first!
The Holidays are upon us. We are all thinking and planning out all of our menus and traditions. Some are creating brand new ones for their families.
I asked for some help from blogger groups on social media to share some traditions with yâall. I absolutely love learning about different cultural or regional traditions. I hope you enjoy reading these and I would love for you to share yours with me as well.
Due to food allergies and diet preferences, my family modified our Thanksgiving meal from the traditional to a vegan and gluten-free version 10 years ago. Instead of turkey, I made a lentil loaf or pan seared tofu cubes. Instead of tradition stuffing, I switched to a gluten-free stuffing but that was expensive so I switched again to wild rice. Instead of a green bean casserole, I make fresh green beans sauteed with onion and garlic. Instead of creamy sweet potatoes with marshmellows, I roast a whole bunch of vegetables. Sometimes I add butternut squash soup. This year may may do a butternut squash lasagna. By Jacquelyn Van Sant
In my family, we really enjoy yams that have candied pecans and toasted coconut on top. No traditional marshmallows for us. By Amanda Davis
We do a traditional thanksgiving (turkey, ham, dressing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, bread, etc.) but we do chocolate gravy + biscuits on Christmas morning and a fish fry at my grandmaâs Christmas that we celebrate on New Yearâs Eve đ By Whitney Eddy
In Texas, we do tamales with sides on Christmas Eve. Yum! Thanksgiving is traditional but simple, and Christmas Day I change up every year. I make cinnamon rolls and bacon on Christmas morning though. By Yvette Lewis
My family is Polish Catholic. We grew up with a traditional meatless Christmas Eve and passing around the blessed communion bread before our fish feast. Then we always went to midnight massđ although I am no longer Catholic i still love this tradition! By Jamie Taylor
We replicate my grandmother’s best cakes. She passed years ago when I was in high school, but she used to make wonderful cakes on Sundays. She would have my aunts do the work when she couldn’t get around easily anymore. If they weren’t right, she’d make them throw them out and start over. And she’d only used we’ll known brands. The mainstays we’re her German Chocolate, Carrot and her Butter Pound cakes. By Ria Sides
Hm…we have a friendsgiving celebration because we live far from family. It’s become a little tradition of our own. By Eric Nevins
Thanksgiving:DEEP-FRIED Turkey (if possible)Stove atop is a must-haveGreen bean casserole âThe Godfatherâ marathon plays on tv non-stop the way âA Christmas Storyâ is played repeatedly on Christmas. Once the Dallas Cowboys game starts, Iâm told to stop making fun of them unless I want to watch the game from outside like when I first married into the family. My in-laws are funny. By Jerry Dugan
My family has roots in Minnesota, up by Leech Lake, where wild rice (not actually rice at all) grows, so that’s always been a staple of our Thanksgiving & Christmas meals. My mom always makes a Bundt cake that never actually makes it to the dinner because everyone snacks on it throughout the day. Deviled eggs are a must! And the canned jellied cranberry sauce. One time, I tried to be awesome and make my own. You would’ve thought I ruined the whole dinner. Lol. By Magan Dotson Martin
My family has always made chocolates to give to friends. Three of my sibs have always gathered in my mothers’ basement to make theirs–about 300 pounds all told. Since Mom hasn’t been involved for several years, they also make it for her gift list. They can’t do that this year because of COVID, but they have complicated plans to make certain things at their own homes and somehow trade so everyone they give to will receive a somewhat normal assortment. By David Guion
I cook with a fair amount of Bourbon and Craft Beer during the holidays. My Orange, Cranberry, Honey Bourbon Glazed Turkey and Craft Beer Crockpot Mac & Cheese are two of our family favorites. German Stollen, GlĂŒhwein and Jaegermeister are also holiday staples. I cook a pretty mean Portuguese-Style Roast (beef) too. By Joe Chadburn
Now I will share my family traditions with yâall â„ïžâ„ïžâ„ïž
Thanksgiving traditions for us are pretty traditional for this area. We usually are at my mom and dads. We have Turkey, cornbread dressing, scalloped potatoes, broccoli cheese casserole, mashed potatoes if we donât have scalloped, chicken and noodles, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and whatever extra we do that day. We always eat about 1pm. Most of the time my brother and parents try to hunt that morning and that evening. We are not big football watchers so that is not a standard tradition around here for us lol. Growing up we put the Christmas tree up the next day. I use to do the same but now I put it up whenever Iâm in the mood lol. It might be the first week of November or this year idk when. Itâs been hard getting into the Holiday mood this year. Iâm working on it. Yesterday I got all my Christmas decor out of storage. So today I will clean house and get ready for the mood to hit đ€Ș
Christmas traditions…growing up we always went to my Aunt Nonnies on Christmas Eve. Honestly I donât remember much on the foods except my grandma nanny always made cheesecake for Holidays. Itâs a jello cheesecake that is light and fluffy. Mmm I will add the recipe link below. My aunt passed away when I was 16 and that changed things up for us. My mom now has Christmas on Christmas Eve since we are grown with families. We get to continue on the traditions. So back to growing up!!! We would get up early Christmas morning and have muffins. We had blueberry đ« muffins fresh out of the oven. We always had our Christmas stockings and gifts. I think we also got to open a gift Christmas eve. Just one though. We would do our Christmas at home and then go to my grandparents house for a huge Gilman family Christmas.
Skipping a head to my own traditions for my family. The kids and I (after divorce) have our Christmas whenever was easiest for us. I always tried to work around other schedules so there was no stress. I still do the same now that they have their families. We do snack style foods. Little smokies, cheese ball, cheese, chips and cheese dip, fudge if I get it made lol, one time we made little pizzas…
Last year we did taco themed. I think they like the snack style better. We may mix it up and have small amount of other foods and snacks. Oh and I try to either fix blueberry muffins or cinnamon rolls. We always do 4 things that never change.
1. We always have communion with sparkly grape juice đ„€ or Christmas punch
2. We always read the Christmas story in Luke.
3. Each kid gets a movie for Christmas. When the kids were at home we did that the night before our Christmas. We would have a movie marathon and watch their movies that night. I miss that đą. Treasure your traditions and memories.
4. Each kid gets a Christmas stocking. I mean grown kids and the little ones. đâ„ïž
Those are things we donât waiver from. The day and the foods can always change up but itâs important to hold down traditions and memories to pass on to your children if they choose to use any of them. â„ïž. There are things that absolutely have to change when your children begin to have families of their own. For example I canât wake up at my moms and eat blueberry muffins that morning like I did as a kid âčïžđąđ. Life grows and changes and traditions can change and be passed down. đđ„°.
I hope you have enjoyed this blog. Please send me some of your traditions.
When I was at conference this year I shared with the ladies 2 situations about domestic violence that was in homes.
One was a home filled with meth and addiction. A very sad situation that even when there was intervention the cycle continued.
The second was about a couple who loved God with all their heart. They stood on a stage in front of church members who loved them and got engaged, then had a wedding filled with ministers and loved ones. They loved each other with all their BROKEN hearts. Anger, bad self images, jealousy, confusion, fear and strife grew stronger than their faith and love. Verbal, Emotional and Physical violence became a habit. Anywhere from throwing things to threats and manhandling.
Donât think this only happens in low income, drug addicts, and ânon believersâ homes.
This couple didnât survive. They now both thrive in their own walks and God has taken their broken hearts đ and mended them in His way and timing.
Donât wait until it gets to the point of breaking apart what you have or who you are. Get help, reach out!
Most of all safety is your first step. Then get help from Godly men and women who will speak truth, give accountability and LOVE beyond the shock factor and LOVE you through your brokenness to a mended heart â€ïž.
It doesnât have to end in divorce but if it does donât you walk around in shame like I did for so long.
God still will mend God will still love God will still forgive
Courage There are so many situations in our lives that take courage. I think one of the most courageous moments in my life was leaving the man I loved more than life itself. I married in 2016 and shortly after our wedding it became apparent that we had a toxic relationship situation. The very first heated argument we had became physical real fast. I have to say that I loved him and I believe he loved me. I believe people love out of their own hurts and what they know. I however didnât love myself enough to see that love wasnât enough. I stayed and did this crazy cycle we had going on for 11 months. A month before our anniversary things escalated beyond anything I could imagine. I then realized that this was not only destroying me, but him and his ministry. Yes I said ministry. It takes a lot of courage to tell this story but I know God wants it told. So many behind church doors need the courage to make a change and get help. So I am sharing my story. So one month from our anniversary, I put on my courage and drove away leaving him standing there crying and saying once again how sorry he was. I believe he truly meant that. However he knew he went too far, I knew he went too far. I thought in my heart as I drove to Oklahoma to be with my children, this will be all right. I thought we will get help. I wanted to be somewhere I felt safe and get help for each of us.
Over the weeks and months to come I had to have courage to get out of bed and face the day knowing things were not going to be all right. I started my cleaning business here in Oklahoma as I kept hoping for a miracle. God blessed it so much that I was full time in 3 months. Long story short is, we divorced. He met another woman and life goes on. Now I walk in the courage to hold my head high and know God has great Big plans for CASSIE! I have made some pretty big decisions lately that has taken a lot of courage. If you keep following me here on Instagram or my blog, you will get to read all about them.
ââBe strong. Take courage. Donât be intimidated. Donât give them a second thought because GOD, your God, is striding ahead of you. Heâs right there with you. He wonât let you down; he wonât leave you.ââââDeuteronomy⏠â31:6⏠âMSGâŹâŹ Dream Catcher 3:20Eph 3:20 Cassie Gilman
Sitting here looking at my memories on Facebook. Wow Gods brought me a long ways since 2017. I had planned a trip down to Texas to see my husband, in hopes of reconciliation of some kind. Then when the hurricane hit and flooded Houston it caused a shortage on fuel down there. I was not able to go. It sent things into another whirlwind of anger and strife. My head was spinning with grief and confusion.
I remember back to this season of my life. Many mornings, nights or maybe even just randomly in the middle of the day, being on my face crying so hard. I was grieving so hard that I didnât even recognize my own voice or cries. It scared the heck out of me. I thought this grief would never end. There were moments I literally thought I was going to die from it.
Though my marriage was not restored, CASSIE was!
The grief didnât stay. The tears didnât stay. Now I still have moments of sadness and tears but nothing like the season I was in 3 years ago.
I have learned to be well ME!!!
I am still finding my way and BECOMING the CASSIE God created me to be.
Itâs exciting It can be scary lol but Itâs exciting
There are things happening that are great big BRAVE things in my life. I canât wait to share them as they take place.
But most of all, the fact I didnât quit is a great big BRAVE in my life.
Whatever your facing today, this time next year will not look the same.
If you are hiking up a rough and rocky hill, you have to stay focused on whatâs ahead of you. If you are climbing over rocks and dangerous terrain and are looking behind or focusing on other distractions, you will more than likely stumble and fall to the bottom. If you take a tumble down hill, you usually will end up with wounds and have to start your climb all over again.
What is a refocus?
: to focus again. : to change the emphasis or direction of. had refocused his life. intransitive verb. : to focus something again.Dec 16, 2022
https://www.merriam-webster.com âș …
I have lost my focus in a major way. The last few years has been a struggle for so many people. Somehow I managed to allow the distractions of the world around me to make me lose my footing and have bounced around rock to rock until I hit the bottom of my hill.
Yesterday I woke up and I heard very loudly REFOCUS! One thing I know is if I am walking through something so are others. I called a friend last night and said âWhy am I so angry all of the time?â She said âyou are restless and not content with where you are!â She is right, I am not content with where I am. I have lost my focus and allowed hurt, rejection, disappointments⊠to rob me of what brings me peace, joy and contentment. One of those very things is blogging. There are a few other things that are part of my purpose in life that I stopped doing. Somehow I connected my passions to my pain. The things I was doing that brought me such joy was what I was doing when the most painful walk I have ever walked through took place.
I prayed last night and asked God why am I so angry all of the time. This morning I woke up to this photo below. I took this from a Facebook page and yâall should follow them. Link is included.
Click on photo to follow creator
Why should I allow my life to continually be damaged and lose focus over others choices to not obey God and His word! I have been so angry and even when I thought I was past it, major life disappointments and stress would trigger that anger again. The pain and anger is where my focus has been. Anytime I have gotten my eyes off of Him and my purpose, He has always gently picked me up and sent me back up my hill!
Isaiah 43:18-1918 âForget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Philippians 3:13-14
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 26:3English Standard Version
3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Hebrews 3:1 âTherefore, holy brothers, partners in a heavenly calling, keep your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.â
Will you join me in refocusing your life?
Thank you for taking time to read my blog and my journey through my life!
Right now there are so many thoughts, emotions, questions and concerns in our lives.
I believe we are being shaken as the body of Christ, Families, Nation and even the world.
In order to wake us up and pull us into His safety, the shaking has began.
We must unite together as His children and run into His arms together. We need each other.
As He begins shaking His children into awareness and action, the shake will ripple into the darkness. There will be exposure in His light!
Walls of injustice are going to crumble. His light thatâs shaking the atmosphere will bring more of His children into His arms while exposing the enemy behind his veil.
We must stay hidden in Him. He will expose His bride as a restored, United, Body that no one can deny His glory.
This battle will not be won in words of ârighteous angerâ marches, protest or debates. This battle will be won in His might and His power. No one will be able to say look what we did. All eyes will be upon His Bride and will know the glory of God swept through this Nation and spread across the world.
Cassie
Dream Catcher Eph 3:20
#mendingfencesnhearts #aboveandbeyond
Dream Catcher 3:20 Inspiring others to catch their dream and run with it! IF YOU CAN CATCH IT YOU CAN DO IT!!
