Beth From Bynum

Pumpkin Crunch 1 box yellow cake mix 1 (15-oz.) can pumpkin 1 (12-oz.) can evaporated milk 3 large eggs 1 1/2 c. sugar pumpkin pie spice to taste 1/2 tsp. salt 1 c. chopped pecans 1 c. butter or margarine (to cut a few calories - I use 1 1/2 sticks instead of 1 cup of butter and I use margarine) Grease bottom of 9 x 13 pan. Combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, spice, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well, pour into pan, and sprinkle cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture. Top with pecans. Drizzle melted butter over top, and bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until golden brown. (My cousin Kayla from Florida sent me this recipe, and it is delicious, especially when it's warm and right out of the oven!!)

I never cease to be amazed at how God provides and how people think!  I was reminded of this yesterday when we were getting out of our car to go into Sam's Wholesale Store.  Rachel had decided to wait in the store while Eddie and I ran in, and we stepped out of the car just in time to see a man drop a 50 lb bag of dog food which he had been trying to carry with one hand!  Another man was getting into his car and also witnessed the spill.  We immediately asked the owner of the dog food if we could help him recoup some of the food, and he proceeded to tell us he was an Eagle Scout and knew how to handle the situation.  The other observer offered to give him some bags to put it in, but he kept walking toward his vehicle.  We all stood there waiting to see how the adult, Eagle Scout would handle the situation.  He put what was left of the dog food into his car, got behind the steering wheel, and drove off! After the shock wore off, I asked the owner of t...

Day 5 - Wow, I'm on day six but writing day 5.  I guess that makes me a day behind. Friday and Saturday of last week were spent on the campus of Auburn University photographing the Iron Man Competition of Civil Air Patrol.  There were 11 teams from our wing and a great group of cadets and senior members.  On day 5, I'm thankful for photography and a camera that allows me to capture people, places, and things. Photography has become one of my ministries.  I love taking photos and bringing joy into people's lives when they see themselves!!  You'd be surprised at the number of people who never have their picture taken.  I have some great shots that I will cherish for the rest of my life and hope to add more to that collection! Thank you God for the wonderful memories I have recorded through photography!!  May I continue to make more!!!

Day 4 - Today my "thanks" focus is on Music!  I'm so thankful for music and the piano.  I'm thankful for the ability to read music, play by ear, and express myself with notes and rhythm. It all started years ago when I was very young.  I can't remember my exact age but I was younger than five when I discovered classical music.  My Grandma Larpenter, who was not a musician or cultured in classical music, bought an "album" featuring the New Orleans' Philharmonic Orchestra and a local choir in which some of her nieces were singing.  I'm sure Grandma bought it just because her nieces were in it, but I discovered it on one of our trips to visit her.  She had a cabinet record player and I remember getting her to play the record for me.  It was "Handel's Messiah" and I fell in love with classical music.  The seed was planted. When I was almost 6 years of age, my parents bought an OLD piano from a man who was selling it off the back of ...

Day 3 - Today I focus my thanks on my church and church family.  Let me preface my words by saying in no way do I believe that the act of going to church saves you or will get you a ticket into heaven.  I am saying that it was in and through the church that I met Jesus, along with the guidance and prayers of my family.  It is through the church that I find love, support, acceptance, and encouragement. I've been attending the Church of the Nazarene all of my life.  In it's doctrine I've found beliefs that are biblically sound and ones that I agree with.  I think that is very important. When I say I'm thankful for the "Church" I am not only speaking of my denomination, but of all fellow Christians of various faiths.  The Church is the Bride of Christ, not merely a denomination.  I'm glad that when we stand before God, our judge, He will not ask what church we belonged to, but are we washed in the Blood of the Lamb and have we done our best to love and ...

Day 2 of Thanksgiving - Today I am thankful for my family.  I'm thankful for my husband who is such a great friend and provider.  He loves me for who I am and puts up with all my craziness!!  He loves God more than he loves me, and that is the most important thing.  He loves our girls and spoils them too much!  (grin)  I'm so blessed! I love and am thankful for my girls, Anna and Rachel.  God has blessed Eddie and me with two wonderful, God-loving girls.  Both have tender hearts for those who are less fortunate and love to serve.  They bring so much joy into my life, and I thank God for entrusting Eddie and me with them.  I pray that they will always love God more than anything else. I love and am thankful my parents who are the best parents a girl could ever wish for.  They love me unconditionally and always seem so excited when I call, even though I may have called them just 30 minutes before!  They p...

My blogging seems to have gone by the wayside these days.  Between school, piano, church, CAP, and living, it seems that blogging is somewhere far down the list.  I really hate that too.  Maybe with my new goal to blog something each day up until Thanksgiving, I'll get into the habit of writing again. From now until Thanksgiving, I'm going to try to write something each day that I'm thankful for.  Twenty-four days really isn't enough time to adequately cover everything that comes to my mind, but I'll try. DAY 1 -   I'm thankful for my Heavenly Father and the new life He has given me through His son, Jesus Christ and His strength, through the person of the Holy Spirit, who gives me endurance and power to continue on this journey.  I've learned that I cannot survive one day in this world without God and would not want to even try.  Each day He reveals Himself to me in new ways and shows me that His love for me cannot be measured....

(This is from a newsletter I get from a church.  I thought that it was cute and decided to share it with you.  Hope you're having a great week.  I'm happy because I have both my girls at home for spring break!!!) THE SAFEST PLACE Have you heart the news?  If you want to greatly increase your chance for a long life, you will be interested in the following statistics: 1.  Do not ride in an automobile or get in the way of one.  They cause 20 percent of all fatal accidents. 2.  Do not stay at home.  Seventeen percent of all accidents happen in the home. 3.  Do not walk around on the street.  Fourteen percent of all accidents happen to pedestrians. 4.  Do not travel by air, rail, or water.  Six percent of all accidents are the result of this type of traveling. 5.  Only .0001 percent of all deaths occur at worship, and these are related to previous physical disorders, such as heart attacks. So obviously, the safes...

Sonny, my little "boy" kitty, sure does love Cantaloupe.  The first time I bought a cantaloupe, I caught him standing on a chair by the table I had it sitting on, smelling it.  I thought that it would be fun to see if he'd eat it and cut him up a few chunks.  He gobbled it down and wanted more!  Cantaloupes are so expensive that I don't buy them often but did last week!  Here he is enjoying it! .

It's been one of those days that if I had to give it a title, I'd called it "Sad".  As a member of the female gender, I've grown accustomed to having "sad" days on a monthly basis, and maybe I can attribute today to that.  No matter the reason, it's just been a sad day. Eddie and I attended a funeral today for the brother of one of our church members.  This man was only 63 and left behind an invalid wife.  Her heart was broken, and I wish there had been some way I could have comforted her heart.  I prayed during the entire funeral that God will reach His hand of comfort on this family and bring grace, peace, and healing.  I know He heard my prayer. It's been rainy and dreary all day, which tends to make me feel a little sad.  I thank God for the rain because it is needed to sustain life.  The sunshine always makes me feel better and tomorrow it will shine again. I've not heard from my college girl in a couple days and tha...

(It's hard to believe that this happened 5 years ago!  Where does the time go.  This is too cute not to bring back for a revisit!) Well, they say you pay for your raising! I think that I paid in full for both mine and Eddie’s raisings this morning in church!! Let me give you a little background so that you can better understand the tail that is about to unfold. Anna, our 15-year-old daughter usually creates and runs the PowerPoint presentations for church on Sunday mornings. She was unable to be at church today because of her FTX, CAP training in Montgomery. Rachel has asked to fill in when Anna is not there and we’ve let her because she is able to do a good job. Well, I didn’t get a chance before the service to instruct Rachel on exactly when and what was to be done. That cause several mad dashes by the church pianist (that being yours truly) to the sound system to give instructions. By the time I sat down by Stephen, the 10 year old autistic boy I mentor during chu...

(I'm welcoming myself back to blogging.  Facebook has been so easy making me become a little lax in my writing.  I will try to do better!) DEADLINES . . . For 6-7 years, I served as our homeschool newsletter editor, publishing a newsletter bi-monthly.  A couple years ago, I decided that it was time to bless someone else with that job, I resigned.  Back in August, my arm was twisted into agreeing to join Civil Air Patrol  . . . (you guessed it) for the purposed of becoming the newsletter editor for our squadron.  What the two newsletters have in common is a "DEADLINE".  The funny thing is I should be working on March's newsletter, but I'm finding myself blogging.  (grin) Deadlines fill our lives.  There are deadlines to pay bills, to register for classes, to make reservations, to turn in taxes, and the list goes on and on, seeming with no end.  The sobering idea is that there is one deadline that will mark the end of our existen...