Ya know I see so many people using store bought chicken broth on these cooking shows … seems sorta silly to me. My friend Jill used to jar up quarts and quarts of all kinds of broth to use in recipes. Jill, if you are reading this, would you please tell about all that broth you used to make and can? Anyway, this is how ya make chicken broth.

I would make it if we were having baked whole chicken. Then I would just take the leftover baked chicken and the bones with the meat on it and just put it in a pan and cook the meat off. But you can use any chicken parts. I do make mine a little different then most people. I put the chicken carcass in a roasting pan and bake it for about 3 or 4 hours on low, about 300 degrees. I leave the lid off and it sorta thickens. So, anyway, you add enough water to cover the carcass. Then add more water as it cooks down. And then I put in a few carrots and a few stalks of celery to season it and lots of onions and garlic. Salt and black pepper and herbs. Sage is good. Well, anyway, you bake all of this in the oven. Most women cook it on top of the stove. Then when it is done, you strain it. Put a big bowl or pan in the sink and put your colander or drainer in the bowl. Then pour the hot broth through to strain out all of the bones fat, etc. and the carrots and celery, etc. So then you have a clean broth to use in any recipe. Take the good meat chunks and put them back into the broth, or just save them for a casserole. Also to strain out the fat, you can set your pan of broth out on the porch if it’s cold or in the fridge. The fat will rise and coat the top of the broth. When it is hard, just skim it off and use the fat to make biscuits or to fry potatoes in with some oil.

Now this sounds like a lot of work. But ya know in the old days, depending on the season, the Mothers were in the kitchen, anyway. So it was natural to just have something in the oven all the time, anyway. As Mother was putting away the leftover baked chicken dinner and doin’ the dishes, it was normal to just add water to the roasting pan and stick it back in the oven to make broth for another meal. As she thought of it, she added herbs, etc. Maybe she had a relish plate on the table and had odds and ends celery and carrots left over. She just threw them in her broth.

Anyway, after the broth is done, just put it in jars or plastic containers. Put in like 2 cups to use in place of 2 cups of store bought. Jill canned hers and I froze mine. Or like Cindy was saying, just make a chicken soup out of it right after you eat the baked chicken. But I just wrote my recipe down to let you know that you can make the chicken broth very easily.

When all my children were home, I would feed them a lot of homemade pancakes for breakfast. Then if I had some leftover batter, I put it in my yeast bread to have for supper. One meal was usually incorporated into the next meal. Leftover mashed potatoes always made potato soup for the next day. Often I would make extra mashed potatoes to use for potato pancakes for the next day. You just add an egg to the mashed potatoes, stir them up good, and then fry them in a hot skillet. I do cheat on mashed potatoes. I use the fresh potatoes but if I think I need more, I add instant. The family doesn’t know the difference. Those poor souls have eaten things they have sworn they have never eaten. Well, if it looks good and has plenty of salt in it, they like it.

When our first son Jimmy got married to Aleksondra, he was nearly shot. Aleks would spend all afternoon making a wonderful meat sauce for Jimmy’s meat. And Jimmy would sit down to eat it and say, “Where’s the ketchup?” He didn’t know that anyone lived without ketchup. Aleks would just have a million fits over that. Jimmy then tried to never ask for it again. Aleks now doesn’t allow ketchup in her house. Jimmy, being a Hultquist, tries to keep the cook happy.

Aleks is such a good cook. Jimmy used to follow her all over the kitchen as she cooked. She would wear the long tie-around skirt with the knot at the waist. Barefoot, of course. Very sexy … no wonder Jimmy wanted to kiss her in the kitchen. Aleks doesn’t allow anyone in her kitchen. I got to go in once but I knew I was makin’ her nervous so I try to stay clear. One time as she was taking something hot out of the oven, Jimmy decided to tickle her. I can’t believe he did that! Anyway, she screamed bloody murder and put the pan down and came after Jimmy. Boy, he didn’t do that again!

Jimmy is very politically correct and educated, unlike the rest of us hillbillies in his family. He is the typical oldest son. But every now and again, Jimmy’s upbringing comes out. Like about the second year of their marriage, he brought his poor unsuspecting bride home for Thanksgiving at our house. She knew the family but didn’t understand us as she was raised on the East coast. We in the Midwest — big difference! So anyway, it was a rather cold, cloudy day when they pulled into the driveway of our house. The ground was wet and it was cold. As Jimmy arrived, Dan (17 at the time) and David (19) pulled Jimmy from the car and wrestled him to the ground in the mud. Aleks was in SHOCK! I was in the house with Jim and my guests, as they came in, told me what the boys were doing. I was so busy, I didn’t even go outside and Jim was very matter of fact about it. Like “What else is new?” And poor Aleks is screaming the whole time, “Jim, get up — you are a married man.” My sister-in-law comes in and tells me, “Connie, it looks dangerous and the neighbors are gathering. If you don’t stop it, they will call the POLICE!” Jim says, “Aw, they’re just havin’ fun.” Finally they stopped and they all came in for prayers and a nice Thanksgiving dinner. Jimmy came in with a big smile on his face like he had a lot of fun. The boys always thought Jimmy was too educated so they enjoyed roughin’ him up. Sorta breakin’ him in so he wouldn’t be such a stuffed shirt. We enjoy seeing Jimmy with his hair tousled and a little mud on his shirt.

One holiday — I can’t remember, I think it was another Thanksgiving — Papa Jim’s back was out but he didn’t tell anyone. John wanted to wrestle with Jim. So John came up behind Jim, put his arms around Jim’s chest, and lifted him up in the air. Jim’s feet were about a foot off the ground as John is tall, anyway. But I looked at Jim’s face like “Oh no” and Jim had this worried look on his face. All of a sudden, this peaceful grin came over Jim. As John put him down, Jim says, “Oh, thanks, John you put my back back in place.” We thought that was hilarious. Jim felt so good after that.

Another time — well, about 3 years ago — Dan, then in his early 20s, was pretending to be Groucho Marx? And he was standing there talking to Jim and jumped into Jim’s arms. I held my breath as Dan outweighed Jim and was taller, too. Jim stands there holding Dan like all was well. I said to Dan, “Dan! Dad isn’t as young as he used to be.” Dan rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, Mom, I just thought of that as he held me.” My gosh! The man was about 62 at the time and 3 years from dyin’. But he loved holding Dan as he always had.

But those boys wrestle something terrible. Johnny says he can still take ‘em all. But that’s his story ya know. Johnny, at 31, is getting older and Dan, at 24, is getting stronger so I don’t know what will happen this Thanksgiving.

Dear Mothers,

It is such a cold windy day here today. I have Baby Olivia Rose, 3 months old. I just rocked her to sleep. She is peaceful in her little bed. I think I will make Potato Soup this morning after I write. It’s a good day to write and to make soup. Later on I want to tell you how to make your own chicken broth to use for different recipes. But this morning as I was rockin’ Baby, I was thinkin’ about the Lord. And I thought of how He loves our faith and how it touches His heart.

Last night as Aunt Toot and I visited on the phone, Toot says, “Connie, just keep prayin’ for Betsy (Mary) — she will come through.” And this is true ya know. We can’t give up until we see His glory.

Ya know every time the kids are home, and it’s after dinner and we are visiting in the living room, they want to get out all the Family notebooks of pictures. Some of the pictures Papa has in those albums, I keep thinkin’ “Man, I need to throw that picture away — I look like death warmed over.” One picture in particular that I wanted to throw away, John took out of the plastic to show me. “Mom, I love this picture of you with us kids.” I said, “Oh, Johnny, why do you like that?” He said, “Oh, I just do. Next time I come back home when I have more time, I want to take that picture and have it enlarged.”

Oh, that picture told a million stories as I looked at it. I was standing in front of the sweet magnolia tree. It was in full bloom. I was holding John as a baby and Joy was hanging onto my leg. Jimmy stood beside me. The spring winds were blowing our hair. We stood beside the house I had bought for 150 bucks down and 135 a month. Man, what a story. It was the worst time in my life and yet I had decided to not give up. My blouse was white with red roses and my slacks didn’t match. But the Lord had someone take my picture. I thought it was my worst day and yet the Lord saw my faith. And the things of this world are not like the things of heaven. He chooses the foolish things of this earth to confound the wise. And in our weakness, He is made strong. What the world calls great the Lord says is filthy rags. But the Lord celebrates faith and is drawn to it. The angels are drawn to the fragrance of faith. The Mother of Prayer and intercession entertains heavenly messengers. They love her and rest in her presence. Her tears are caught and put in golden vials. His Word is written on her heart and her words and prayers are engraved in His heart. The world doesn’t call her a trophy but the Lord calls her a champion of faith. She draws the comfort out of the Holy Spirit and His presence is in her midst. And as I was drawing each breath from Jesus those many years ago, someone took my picture.

What will Johnny do with that enlarged picture? Someday he may put it on the wall of his house. And in 30 years, maybe he will say to his children and grandchildren, “This is Grandma Hultquist. What a life she had!” But the most important question they will ask is “How did she come out?” As older Christian moms and dads, they will say, in other words, “Did she stay the course? Daddy, did Gramma Hultquist endure to the end?” And I can hear John say, “Yes, she endured to the end and she didn’t give up on God.” I can hear him laugh as I see John telling his grandchildren about Aunt Mary who drove Gram crazy. But Gram wouldn’t have Mary acting that way and she called down heaven on Mary. And Aunt Mary will be there to say, “Had it not been for Mama’s prayers, I wouldn’t be who I am today. Mama didn’t give up on me; she stayed the course. She ran the race and didn’t look back.” And it all depends on what I do today and every day by faith so that I can hear this conversation as I look down out of heaven. And if I give up now, I could see a much different picture. John would have to say, “Mama was so sweet but when Mary turned on her, she died of a broken heart. The life went out of her.”

Strongholds of Faith

And ya know each time God gets ready to move on our situations, the devil attacks us to try our faith. Our faith stirs up the heavenlies and seems to alert the demons to attack us. But the attack is nothing. It’s only smoke and mirrors. The devil deceives us and tells us to give up … that God isn’t working … but in truth He is. We take a big stick and smack Satan’s beehive. We wake him up with our faith. Anytime you go to attack the fort of evil, it is gonna start to fight back. But it is nothing — just deceptions and lies.

Satan fights with lies and condemnation. He tries to weaken us soldiers of the cross, telling us, “Your battle will be never ending.” Also “Your battles haven’t been won yet and therefore never will be.” And yet the Lord calls us to wait upon Him. To wait it out and to not become discouraged.

Waiting on faith means to wait upon God as a waitress waits upon tables. Faith is an action word, not a hunk of magic stone that sits there and doesn’t move. Waiting upon God in faith is like this. Say you are believing the Lord for a husband to come home. You surround your day with faith moves. You start the day out with the thought, “Today my husband will be home. What nice meal can I plan on fixing for supper?” Waiting on God means in this situation that you give the burden to the Lord. You are resting yet moving in faith. You are making a place in the closet for him to put his clothes when your marriage is restored. Because if you aren’t moving in faith, you will move in bitterness and fear. You will sit and imagine evil, still thinking you are just waiting on God. But in reality what you are doing is building a stronghold of wickedness.

Baby is crying.

Love,
Connie

Dear Mothers of the Light,

Yesterday our Mary was to come over to see me and never made it. Her boyfriend told me that she was missing me so. And my heart cried to see her. This morning I prayed and my heart longed so to see Mary — to hear her voice and feel her presence. And the Lord quieted my heart. I listened to some mountain music. Then I picked up Baby Olivia and rocked her in my rocking chair. I put down an old quilt on the chair and rocked with Baby in the chair that Papa had bought for me for our 25th Wedding Anniversary. I rocked Baby but my heart had no song to sing to this little baby. As I cried so to hear Mary’s voice and feel her presence.

As I rocked, I thought of the old time Mothers and how they loved their homes. How they found comfort in their babies and their work at home. They quieted their hearts as they rocked in their chairs and counted their blessings of home and family. And the Lord spoke to my heart about the marriage covenant. To stand for it for Mary and not let go. Not to beg and plead with God, but to quietly abide in faith. His word says “What God hath joined together let no man separate.” Mary and Brandon are Christians half baked but believers, anyway. And me and God are a majority!

Papa was my covenant husband. Now he is in heaven and I am on earth. But to me, he is still my husband and always will be. My work is now to honor Jim for the rest of my life. It breaks my heart that Mary has dishonored Jim’s and my Lord. But someday Mary will be my comfort. Jim comforted me and was used of God to give me double blessing back for what the canker worm had eaten. My Mary will take this message of the Marriage Covenant to a broken generation. Yes, long after I am gone. I plant precious seeds in Mary’s heart as I am weeping. But I will doubtless come again rejoicing bringing in the sheaves. I must set my eyes upon the prize of the high calling of Jesus Christ. I must set my face as a flint and not look back. I will not be confounded. (Isaiah 50:7) And in the modern English Bible, it says we set ourselves to endure hardship and the Lord will help us. But Mother abides and is comforted by the Lord as she honors and respects her husband all the days of her life. Yes, the young widows can remarry but they must always bring honor to their husbands the children’s daddy for all of their lives. You just have two husbands and you have to honor both of them all of your life.

The Marriage Covenant is so Holy and has been such a stabilizer to me. Papa had torn up my world in the beginning but he put it back together in such a peaceful way. Better than before, he put all the pieces back just right. And in this I am confident that Mary will be healed, too. And in the end, she will be a comfort to me and to so many other Mothers. And as I sit in my old rockin’ chair and rock the Baby and pray, I am going to count my blessings and abide satisfied in Him. And my conscience doesn’t condemn me as I raised Mary at my knee to know my God. And this Word will not return void. It was sent out to do a great work as I planted many seeds into Mary’s heart. And I must stand still before Him and see His Glory! I stand still and know that HE is God.

Love,
Connie

Dear Mothers of Faith,

Ya know we can pray and pray and we get the victory? I have had so much victory lately. But ya know our Joy can get so full. I am like a balloon so full of JOY, I haven’t known what to do with it all. The Bible speaks of a JOY you cant contain. I am there. But the Lord tells me that when you capture or take over spiritual land, then you have to learn to abide on this land. To set up housekeeping upon this Promised Land. It’s hard as it is a new land acquired by faith. And it takes faith to live on it. You sorta plateau off.

In order to keep the victory you have won, you have to learn how to live on it. If you don’t learn to live on it, you will lose it. Like when I got the miracle of a healed marriage. It was hard to kinda go into that land of Deliverance. It was a miracle that I kept that land and inhabited it. Little demons were behind every rock, it seemed, trying to scare me out of the land. Jim was healed and working every day. And every morning after Jim went to work, the devil would say, “He ran out with the checkbook” or “You better check your purse; he has taken all of your grocery money.” And on and on went the accusing spirits. But one day I got up in the morning and before Jim went to work, I gave him all my money and the checkbook in case he wanted to run out. I had to call the devil on it. Of course, Jim was healed and for the next 26 years did nothing but bless me and make sure I had money in my purse and that all the bills were paid. My miracle had come, but could I live in the Promised Land? On the Land of “Healed Marriage” and a “Saved Husband.”

See, like the old pioneers of the middle 1800s who were seeking freedom in a new land. They had to get the land and inhabit it. And the first pioneers settled the land for many others to come to a safe new land. But Mercy! The first families who came had to endure Indian massacres and many hardships. They who got there first had to build not only their own homes but schools and churches and stores and roads. They had to find a way to long term live on this land. And to make a place where their children could grow up and have a safe place to raise their children. Many of you who are first generation Christians face this. And some of your parents and grandparents had the faith to take the land but didn’t have the faith to maintain it and bear fruits of righteousness on it. Some of your mothers got saved but never built a home for you to bounce off from. Their faith wavered and they limped along. This is where we as mothers now need to learn our lessons well. We need to make sure that we take the spiritual land from Satan and abide on it. But not only to abide but to build a testimony that will strengthen our own children when they fall and want to give up their Promised Land.

Often as John and Christine faced hard times, they would say, “Well, if Dad and Mom made it with practically nothing and they had six kids, I guess we can make it with one kid.” And boy, it’s hard goin’ when you are a first generation believer that set up housekeeping in a wilderness. And ya know the aunt that mocked me as a young mom now mocks my own children and grandchildren. We will always have the unbelievers about us chiding us. “You can’t make it. That’s impossible. You are sure to fail.”

When I bought this house seven months pregnant with two little kids already for 12,000 bucks? Mercy! My aunt walked in here and said horrid things. Jim was here long enough to get us moved in and he left us for his life of crime. Man, I could have given up. I went by myself to the hospital to have my baby and brought her home alone and took care of her alone. It was the coldest day of the year and the furnace went out. And the folks helpin’ me kept cursing me and tellin’ me they would never help me again. They had told me to give up on Jim and I wouldn’t so they were tryin’ to make me sorry. I wasn’t!

So you acquire the Promised Land by faith. And by faith you live on the Promised Land.

Many times as we pray, we will feel the spark or the anointing fall. But sometimes we don’t catch it. Or if we do catch it, we can’t hold it or maintain it. And the anointing drops come like rain and can come again and again and fall like mercy drops on our heads. But we aren’t good catchers ,,. or we aren’t good land for good seeds. Our hearts are hard with unforgiveness and the drops of God’s mercy can’t touch us or seep deep on our souls. But we must have a vision of our Promised Land.

When God tells us that we are being blessed, we must enlarge our tents. We must begin to walk by faith and make spiritual roads and schools. We can’t just take over the land and inhabit it but we must begin to build upon it and set down boundaries to keep the enemies out. We must become bulwarks and stalwarts to protect, like walls, our Promised Land. We have to stay focused upon our purpose and each day add another brick to the foundation of our dreams of our new land.

And we as Mothers must keep our focus first upon our own husbands and our own children. And as we stay focused, we will become a home built upon a hill for the world to see. We become examples and our children and our husbands are strong. And we build testimonies for the weaker family members to fall back on. And we build line upon line of God’s Word into our families. And we teach how to teach our children in Home School. And we start a new land and a new revolution one family at a time. One day at a time. One slap in Satan’s face at a time. And what stops us from entering the Promised Land and from maintaining it? Fear — only fear. Only the lies of Satan. Only the deception. Only the unbelievers who say it can’t be done. But we must build homes made of “All things are possible with God.” As we focus upon home and family, we walk out what is going on in the heavenlies. Jesus the church is under God and God the Father is the Lord of all. We fall into place as we keep our eyes upon the blood covenant of Marriage. We are stabilized as we keep our eyes upon the work God has set before us as Keepers at Home.

Love,
Connie

Dear Mothers,

Ya know when Dan worked in NYC before moving to Oregon last week, he worked in a neighborhood restaurant close to Christian Joy’s apartment. Their specialty food was comfort foods. Stuff like biscuits and gravy and cornbread and greens. Down home hillbilly food like bean soups and potato soups. And the New Yorkers love this restaurant. It’s a very popular place to go. Dan told everyone there, “This is food I grew up on.”

Last night I made ham gravy and biscuits for supper and a baked potato. I just got out my big cast iron skillet and poured a bit of oil in the pan. Then I fried up some ham and then I put in about a fourth cup of flour and smashed it in with a big enamel spoon. Then ya just pour in a scant 2 cups of milk and go to stirrin’. Let it bubble and thicken. Put in salt and pepper. And that’s the gravy. That’s how I made it for Wild Man. For biscuits, you just put 2 cups of self rising flour in a bowl and then throw some shortening in — about a fourth cup. And work the fat into the flour with your fingers until the flour looks like cornmeal. Then throw in a scant cup of milk and make a dough and then pat it out on a floured table. Then cut the biscuits out with the top of a tin can. Or use a biscuit cutter, or a glass or something round at the top. Be sure to have your oven preheated to 450 degrees. Quick breads need a hot oven. Put the biscuits in a greased pan and bake about 15 or so minutes until they are brown.

But they say the Mothers during the Depression era saved their families from starvation because they knew how to make biscuits and gravy. Just always make sure you have flour in the house and some shortening and your family will never go without. You can make gravy and biscuits with no milk or meat. You can just use water instead of milk. You could flavor the gravy with onions if you have no meat. Or use some cheese if ya have that. I know Wild Man loved creamed peas. That’s just the gravy with a can of drained peas in it to go over the biscuits. And cornmeal is easy to come by, too, and cheap. You can feed a lot of family with a pan of odds and ends vegetables and a pan of fried potatoes and a big pan of cornbread. Even if you only have two slices of bacon, you could fry that up and add it to the fried taters.

The old time Mothers usually canned up a lot of stewed tomatoes in Fall, and they added these tomatoes to the gravy or to any vegetable dish. Some old timers love just plain macaroni with stewed tomatoes over the top. You could fry up onions and green peppers and put this in, too. Add a bit of butter if ya have it.

All of these ideas are comfort foods. Just cheap foods that have gotten many people through Hard Times. Kept them off the street?

Wild Man Food

Between taking care of Baby and running about, I was gonna write down some food ideas that Wild Man ate. He would take a big bowl and crumble up leftover homemade bread. And over this, he would put milk and sugar and ate it like cold cereal. Sometimes he put fresh fruit in it, too. This would taste awful with store bought bread. But with dried out homemade bread, it is good. Well, he and I both did this with leftover cake. In the old days, I would put milk on Jello and stir it up real good.

Another Wild Man food is this. He liked plain gravy with chopped up boiled eggs in it. He always told me, “I could eat this stuff at least once a week.” He called this Creamed Eggs. I would fix him potatoes with this, too, and a vegetable. Papa loved mashed potatoes with any kind of gravy on it.

In the summer, he would eat radish sandwiches with fresh radishes from the garden. He put salad dressing on it, like mayonnaise, but never Mayo — he hated it. A popular sandwich from the Depression era was baked bean sandwiches with a slice of fresh tomato and an onion with mayonnaise. This is my favorite sandwich on homemade bread in the summertime. In the Depression era, if you didn’t have meat, you ate a lot of beans for protein. Also I love chicken sandwiches with Granny Smith apples with mayo.

And I always had a pot of coffee on for Jim when he got home from work. He enjoyed just plain coffee — none of that fancy Hickory Nut or whatever coffee. Jim wanted just plain comfort foods. If he was eating something the boys didn’t like, he would say, “Aww, you boys are a bunch of sissies.” But our boys do love the comfort foods, too, but not as many kinds as Jim did.

As I write this (with a hundred interruptions), I think of the words in Proverbs about how Wisdom cries in the streets and calls to the foolish to learn wisdom. And to me, this place where Dan worked was a call of wisdom to the NYC folks. To come back to the simple things of life. Ya know the comfort foods mainly take flour, eggs, and milk and some kind of fat like lard or oil. Not much meat but some, and a lot of vegetables. The Old time Mothers were experts at making many happy meals with just a few ingredients. They were expert bread makers and their biscuits were light enough to fly away. Their pie crusts were delicious and just made from flour, lard, and water, salt, and back yard rhubarb and berries, or apples, etc. Homemade noodles are just flour and eggs and a bit of butter and salt. All of these foods are cheap to make and so comforting. Potatoes of all kinds are cheap to come by and such a comfort to eat. I know Wisdom calls us sisters of the kitchen to get busy and learn to make plain foods.

Best close as Baby will be cryin’ in a minute. She is just takin’ a cat nap! MEOW.

Love,
Connie

Dear Mothers,

A new lady on the letters group was telling me that she was believing the Lord for her husband’s hernia situation. I have testified of Jim’s hernia healing years ago but I am gonna tell it again.

About 3 or 4 years ago, after the fire, Jim did a lot of remodeling. And he moved a lot of heavy furniture by himself. The boys, of course, came over and helped, too. But Jim would get impatient and moved the piano by himself many times. Also my big hutch back and forth and across the room a lot. Well, back about 24 years ago, a doctor said Jim needed a double hernia operation. Well, Jim had this done at the hospital. But the doctor said the operation didn’t go well and it would probably all come loose and it did about 10 years later. Jim wore a man’s girdle and this would press the muscles in where they should be. But with him moving the piano and all, no girdle could keep that muscle in.

Well, so one night, Jim comes to bed and he said seriously, “Connie, I am really hurting. That hernia on my right side is bad — really bad.” Papa always called me Honey. So when he called me Connie, I knew it was serious. Well, immediately I knew something had to be done. Well, we didn’t have any money for a doctor. So I said, “Baby, I will stay up all night long and pray for you. I won’t got to bed until I know you are healed.” I had planned on wrestlin’ that demon of sickness all night long if that’s what it took. So we said our “Good-Nights” and I laid my hand on the hernia and started to pray. And immediately — I mean right now! — Jim’s leg flew in the air and the bed began to shake. It was wild! And I said to Jim, “What happened?” And he said, “You didn’t hear that POP?” I said “No” and Jim says, “I was healed. Jesus healed me. The hernia popped back in.” And after that, he was perfectly healed and never had to wear the girdle or anything again. He never had any trouble out of either hernia. And in the night, I woke up and praised the Lord for the healing again and the bed shook again. Now this was the power of the Holy Ghost. I can’t heal anyone. And why some folks get healed like that and others have to have an operation, I don’t know. I am just tellin’ you this true story to encourage your faith.

And one time, Jim came in the door with a bad headache. I heard him come in and met him in the living room. He told me, “Connie, I have a terrible headache.” Well, I called fire down out of heaven and Jim felt a shock and he was healed. As I gave the testimony to my relatives, who don’t know the Lord from a raccoon, Mary comes up behind me. She says, “Mom was prayin’ for Dad in the living room and the power of God almost knocked me over and I was in the bathroom.” I didn’t even know that Mary felt the Holy Ghost hit her until I was giving the testimony. And I turned around to Mary and I said, “You felt the power of God hit you in the bathroom?” And she said, “Yes, I did.”

My children have seen angels. When John was a child, about 4, an angel picked him up and put him in his bed. Mary has seen many angels before. And, of course, Jim has, too, and a lot of demons. But Jim is seein’ all kinds of angels now in heaven. Wow, I know he is enjoyin’ himself. I can’t wait to go, too.

Also, one time when I was about 23 and Jim was about 29, he had a big yellow boil under his eyelid. It was bad and the doctor was going to lance it. I was just learning about laying hands on the sick that they would be healed. Wild Man and me were playin’ badminton in the backyard. Anyway, I just went over to him and laid my badminton racket on his eye and claimed healing. I was just tryin’ it all out. And the boil popped and he was healed and he never had any more boils that I can remember.

But I pray for folks all the time. Most of my prayers are not answered. But every now and again, I hit the jackpot. So I guess I am worth putting up with. I don’t ever know when the Holy Ghost is gonna hit me.

The Waymakers

I talked to Christian Joy on the phone yesterday. She is something else! She is really encouraging me to make a homemade book. Christian Joy doesn’t claim to know the Lord but she is very creative. She designs clothes in NYC. She is the most creative woman I know. And her mind is so spiritual. She just squeezes creativity out of me. She tells me rare truths like, “Mom make a book you would love to read, not one you think others would like to read.” I guess I gave her a book I made years ago. I have forgotten it, though, but she loves it and it has dried herbs pressed in it. I can sorta see her dream for me but I can’t hardly grasp it. She says, “Mom, just make the book and I will take it to a publisher here in NYC. Don’t worry about binding it. Just make the pages and I will do the rest.” It’s hard as Jim has only been gone for 7 months. But I ain’t gettin’ any younger. What with doin’ all that Jim did, and all that I have to do with the children I care for and all, it’s kinda hard to think of a project like this.

I tell Christian by faith and to all who will listen, “I am a rich widow and I am gonna start a REVOLUTION.” Tall words for such a little woman. But I have a BIG GOD. And IF this is His will, then, hey, who’s big enough to stop God? Christian Joy tells me, “Mom, you would be popular in an underground society.” And I said, “Well, I would be there with good company as that is where homeschool started — it never started in the church!” And certainly Jesus Christ and His disciples were not mainstream. But what we hear in our silent prayer chambers from God will be shouted from the mountaintops.

He speaks to you women in the wilderness. Mother’s broken heart is open and He is able to enter her soul. She is always hungry for the things of God as she is always spiritually hungry. The bread of this world doesn’t satisfy her soul. She is a seeker, a visionary. Calling on the fire from heaven as she has no place else to go. Mother lives in the wilderness outside the church gates. She runs from the world, tired and breathless, looking for His face. Calling upon His rich anointing. Because nothing less then the fire will do. Nothing less then the anointing will work. Nothing less then the unseen hand can move her. She drinks from the rivers of heaven. From the brooks that never run dry. When she isn’t at the river, she dreams of the river. She tries to drink of the world’s rivers and oceans. And the water satisfies for a season. And each day, the thirst for His water of Life becomes a calling and a crying in her Soul. And through her exhaustion, she is weak yet runs to the River of Life to be filled with His anointing.

I hear many Mothers like Elisabeth and Mary crying in the wilderness. Mothers who have found out that this world has nothing to offer. And unless we call to God out of the mainstream, we cannot hear His true voice. As we press the outside walls of the world and all of its foolishness, we can hear His voice. As we stand alone to hear a voice and a message that has not been heard before, we will see His glory. As we press on as the world tells us, “You must absolutely STOP!” we will see His glory. As the devil tries to kill our HOPE as Mothers — but we won’t stop believin’ — this is where the glory is. This is where the glory starts.

As we fall off the earth with our faith, we enter the Kingdom of God were all things are possible. This is where the laws of sin and death don’t apply. This is His Kingdom where the laws of sin and death have been broken. We are sons and daughters of God here. This is where we died with Him and rose again to walk in newness of life. For we are crucified with Christ; nevertheless we live. And the life we now live, we live by the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave His life for us. Sin and death, action and reaction, cause and effect live on earth. Not in His Kingdom.

Waymakers & Pioneer Spirits

Trailblazers don’t press on locked doors because they want to open it for the other believers. They don’t forge through a dark, dangerous forest of trees because they want to guide the body of believers. They press on to unknown territory because they can’t help it. Their souls are so weak and hungry, they know this world is not the answer. So they kick doors down to look for something to eat. They throw up their hands and know in their hearts that no matter what happens, this world has no food for their exhausted hearts. The Lord tells the shepherd, “If you love me, feed my sheep.” Well, the shepherd must find the spiritual food first. And as the heart hungry look for their Savior, it is automatic that they will guide and feed His sheep.

The waymakers don’t look behind them as they run like gazelles up the mountain. They run out of desperation. They run out of a need to see their children know Him. They run out of love for the family. They must see His glory or die tryin’. They run like chariots of fire until they feel His anointing. Until they feel the spark out of heaven and they know that they know that God heard them. They won’t rest until His glory comes.

The pioneer spirits run and seek and knock and hammer at the door of deliverance as if wild hungry wolves are nipping at their heels. Not because they want to please God, necessarily. But because they are desperate and they have been delivered before and they want some more deliverance.

The waymakers live on the miracles of God. As they press to the end of the natural earth and its way of sin and death, cause and effect, they enter the supernatural. And in this kingdom of the supernatural, the laws of sin and death are broken. And signs and wonders are the norm. And, yes, we have to use up the answers here on earth first. But when the world is killin’ us, it’s time to check out and enter the kingdom of Light.

We start living in the Kingdom of God when we become born again. But we have to press on the blessings of heaven or hammer at the door to enter the supernatural. And ya ain’t gonna find the supernatural until you are hungry for it. Why leave the comfort of the natural if you don’t need to? But some of you will press on as Mothers and Wives because your hearts are broken and you are looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. Where the normal is the supernatural. Where your thirst is satisfied. Where the only answer is the Blood of Jesus and the Bread of Life.

Love,
Connie

Dear Mothers,

Last evening for supper, I fixed Jim’s favorite old-fashioned gravy. I haven’t made gravy since my beloved passed to heaven. But I made a good dinner last night and the gravy tasted so good. What a comfort food!

First off, I got out my big cast iron skillet and fried about a fourth pound of hamburger with a few onions. Salt and coarsely ground black pepper. When the meat was done, I took it out of the pan and put it in a bowl. Then I fried potatoes in the meat scrapings. Add a bit of oil if ya need to. Then after the potatoes were done, I put them in the bowl of meat. Then I made gravy in the fryin’ pan. And, oh, was it good. I haven’t eaten much but here and there unless the kids are here. And even then, I didn’t make the old time gravy. But, oh, I made a pig of myself eating that gravy last night. It tasted so good. I saved some to eat today, too. I wanted to make biscuits but didn’t have the heart to do it. But that will come, too.

But, oh, the comfort foods are so cheap and good. They take time but it is worth it. I took it all for granted, I guess. Jim just wouldn’t eat the quick meals for long. Like if I fixed spaghetti and then we had maybe chili the next night? Boy, about the third day, Papa would say, “Hey, I am hungry — I need some real food.” Meaning where’s the potatoes and gravy? And with the potatoes and gravy and meat, he wanted a canned vegetable. Jim worked hard almost up until he died. He was out in the cold doing things and needed the heavier foods.

Ya know back in the old days, most Mothers who were God fearing kept a sweet, quiet home. The kids had chores but Mothers work was “her work” and was sacred almost. I mean the Dad did the outside work like shoveling the walk and mowing the yard. He was the bread winner. He drove the car and kept up the repairs on the car and the house. The children were expected to pick up their toys and not throw their clothes in the floor. But you never entered a home where Mother was screaming at the kids to do their work. Mother’s job was as keeper at home. I mean the children helped with chores but everyone knew it was Mother’s job and she took pride in it. She had the main burden of household duties. Her husband’s home was his castle. When Papa came in the door after work, no one expected him to do anything but take his shoes off and read the paper. He sat in peace as he smelled supper cooking. His wife was there in the home caring for the children and keeping the home fires burning.

My Mother was always home and had supper on the table at 5:00. If we children came home and the house was empty, we thought someone had died — and usually someone had. To not have supper on the table at 5:00 was unthinkable. And I always ate like a bird at every meal as a child. I only ate my meat to make my brother mad as I knew he wanted it. He would say, “Connie isn’t even hungry; she just wants to eat that meat ’cause she knows I want it.” I guess my meanness kept me alive. But the old time Mothers at home kept the peace through the order of the home.

The Father of the home didn’t cry or express himself like a girl and no one expected him to. Men didn’t cry and act like a sissy. When I was about 13 or so, I said about Elvis Presley, “Oh, I just love him — he is a doll. He is so cuuuuute!” My dad looked at me and said, “Why do you think a man is good looking if he looks like a doll or is cute?” That about made my dad sick. Dad had fought in World War II and had many medals of honor for bravery and courage. Later on in his life when he was old, he tried to help Mom in the kitchen and I hated to see him do that. I asked my Dad about 10 years before he died why he didn’t want to come to Christ. And he told me that when he was in the war and his friends knew they were about to die, they would start calling on God. Dad thought they were a bunch of cry babies if they only thought of God then.

And ya know Jim’s greatest heartache was that David and Tiff hadn’t married yet and still aren’t married. Jim told David, “Be a man and take care of your family.” He would tell David, “I never raised you to just shack up with a woman.” The old timers called living together “shackin’ up”. The boys always talk about Jim saying to them, “Ya don’t wanna be a sissy, do ya?” The boys say that this is what they remember most about their Daddy. He always told them to work and take care of their wives and babies. “Be a man … pay your bills and protect your family.”

Jim loved the Lord. Well, he wasn’t as spiritual as I was. But he was a simple man and knew the foundation of the Word. “Ya take care of your family. You are to get off your ass and work.” And my boys always have a job. Dan travels all over and always goes into a city and has a job in a day or so. Not the best job but he gets one until something better shows up. All of my sons and sons-in-law know how to work. Jim didn’t hand them money as children and they had to make money or go without and they knew it. Well, heck, our family hardly watched what folks thought of us. Hey, if Jim had to be a dishwasher until something better showed up, then Jim was a dishwasher. And I never worked. And Jim always said, “Honey, you have enough to do right here with the kids.” And when all the kids grew up, he said I still had plenty to do … and I did.

Jim respected my role as keeper at home and I honored his role as breadwinner and the head of the house. Sure, and sometimes these roles will blur. But mainly we should stay on our roles as this brings peace and comfort to the home. Yes, if your husband likes to cook as Jim did? Then, yes, that is fine. But the burden should always be on the mother to make the meals as this is her place as keeper at home. Or if you, Mother, are sick or in an emergency, it’s nice if the husband will make a meal. But the Mother should really thank him and appreciate it as this isn’t his duty. It shouldn’t be taken for granted or be expected of our men. I know this writing is for someone — I don’t know who.

I know I am making some women livid. But this thing of makin’ men “Mama’s Little Helper” is what has caused our men to die in their manliness. And it has scattered the wives and mothers at home as they feel they have no place. If they are out at a Bible study with the other chickens, they feel no call to home as the afternoon wears on. They don’t think about the family coming in from work and school and will they be hungry and tired. They only think of themselves and what they think religion is sayin’ to them. But God is saying to them to go home and minister to their own husbands and children. To get busy in the kitchen and make a meal and make a quiet home to come back to.

Our families need the comfort of home to refuel themselves. Mother can be home and it is a privilege to be home. I am so happy I haven’t had to leave my home as I can stay prayed up in an atmosphere of peace and safety.

Love,
Connie

Dear Mothers,

I want to write on several things today. One thing I was thinkin’ of this morning is, “How would I talk a woman who is a doctor or lawyer into being a Keeper at Home?”

Also I want to say something. Ya know I look at the body of believers and so many are in unbelief. I wanna say this to them. “Ya know maybe you didn’t get your prayers answered but I got mine answered.” And ya know we can’t look at the impossible situations around us and guide our lives by who we thought was the best Christian around. We can stand alone on the Word of God. And we don’t have to have many counselors when these counselors don’t stand on God’s Word. If the handwriting on the wall says, “It’s just you, babe, and God” then that’s OK. Yes, Glory! I am dancin’ this morning already! And just because Sister Know it All didn’t get her prayers answered don’t mean you won’t. You and God are a majority.

And I have these women tellin’ me things are hopeless because their husband ain’t saved or he is not walkin’ with God. Hey, God answered my prayers and that’s my testimony. My husband was in prison four times after I married him and, I think, two times before that. And he left me over thirty times and said he wasn’t comin’ back. Hey, God brought him back and the Lord gave me double for my trouble. God gave me a happy marriage and three more children. I got to have six children and Jim paid off the house. So, hey, maybe God don’t answer your prayers but He answered mine. And I am not done yet! And God is gonna give me godly Holy Ghost filled children that will walk on heavenly highways with Jesus. He may not give it to you. If you tell me He can’t do it in your life, then fine, but He did it for me and He is not a respecter of persons. And I won’t look to the left or to the right but my eyes are to behold Him and to keep walkin’ on the Lord’s highway. Praise the Lord. And the blood of Jesus has power in my life and He has redeemed me from the pit. And the unbelievers can stand around and tell me that I can’t do this or that. But I have to say to them, “You are too late — God has already given me miracles and I know how it works. You just don’t give up and you will see His glory!”

I am not a perfect person but I just don’t give up on my family. All God needs is a willing vessel, and I am leaning on Jesus. I am leaning way over the cliff. I am doing the back bend to the floor. Leaning on Him. Leaning on the supernatural. Counting on the supernatural to push me over. Leaning on the signs and wonders and the anointing from Heaven to push me over. Oh, I don’t walk by sight or the lies of Satan. But I lean on the fire from Heaven. I lean on the unseen. I lean on the visions of the Word spoken to me. My faith comes from the Alive Word spoken to me in my prayer chambers. I stand on a Rock I cannot see. I walk by a vision I cannot explain. I smell the scent of the Rose of Sharon. He stands with me in the dark and yet I see Him — I feel His presence. The angels guard me and Heaven is brought down to me and is about me.

Maybe you prayed and that didn’t happen to you. But it happens to me and I will not bow in unbelief to the lies of the devil and this world. Satan doesn’t need to own you. He doesn’t have your children. He doesn’t have your family. He can’t tell you what to do. You can tell Him what to do. You can learn to lean on Jesus who you can’t see. Upon His voice that you can’t hear with your physical ears.

You can tell me what you think. But you can’t make me believe you, as I have already been to the River that never runs dry. And I have already drank from the water that really quenches your thirst. And I keep going back to the River of Life and I am as though a woman addicted to the Water of Life. The more I get, the more I want. Because it is a water that continues to bring forth miracles. And now Miracles is what I live on.

I don’t know what the Lord is gonna say out of me anymore this morning. I am listening to the Lord in me. I have a lot to say but can’t at times explain it. I need at times for someone to ask me things that pull virtue out of me. I can always tell a woman of faith. Kelly M. just draws virtue out of me. And Annie does, too, and a lot of the ladies on here do, too. But if a woman comes to me in unbelief, it stops me like a herd of elephants.

But ya know most mental illness I have seen is from wives who are not in submission to their husbands. The women who don’t understand wifely submission are accidents goin’ someplace. I don’t care if the woman is a genius and finding the cure for cancer. If she doesn’t understand that her husband is the priest of the home, she is probably takin’ nerve pills. I am old, girls, almost 60. The Lord can’t wait until I am 80 to tell this. So I have had enough life experiences to say with a good amount of confidence that a wife out of submission is a wife who is mentally off.

I love to talk to so called abused women. These women leave their husbands and go from husband to husband. All the while tellin’ their sad story. And when they are young, then their stories are a little bit believable. But watch ‘em when they get old and stuck away in a nursing home someplace, cryin’ for mercy. Ain’t no one listening to them then. They laid their life out and they reap what they sow. They never gave or forgave and they die horrendous deaths.

I tell my kids and their friends again and again, as I tell them Papa and me were married almost 40 years, “We were two sinners saved by grace who were two good forgivers and we never gave up.” That is our success story.

Anyway, I guess what is on my heart is this. What I say on here isn’t something that someone talked me into. It is the Word of God. When I was believin’ for my husband to be healed, I would go to bed reading study books on marriage. I studied the Word of God as much as I could. I slept with my Bible. I read the King James version of the scriptures but I read the modern English Bibles, too. See, there is a miracle in the covenant of Marriage. I believed God for Jim because I studied until I could see the will of God and then I chased the Lord on it. I didn’t just want a good marriage. I wanted the will of God in my life.

I am not the type to believe anything that comes down the pike. Most of my life, I have had to stand alone. And I have watched families and seen that what God taught me in my darkest hour was true. And just because a woman is highly intelligent or has a lot of education? Her rules are the same as mine. Let God be God and every man or woman a liar. EVERY wise woman builds her house and the foolish tear it down with their own hands. This is straight across the board of I.Q.s or degrees in education. God’s Word is for the rich and poor alike. What brings true peace and true riches is Wisdom!

A few days ago, the Lord led me to read about the Ark of the Covenant. And when it was stolen from the people of God, the enemy would put it in their kingdom. And the Ark would cause diseases and plagues to come to the area of unbelievers. I knew God was speaking to me about this. And in this Ark was evidence of the miracles the children of God saw in the wilderness. Such as Moses’ rod. Also a jar of the manna that fed God’s people daily in the desert. Also the 10 commandments. Numbers 17:10 tells about some of it and then the cross reference would tell you about the rest. But this Ark was so powerful. But it was a box with the reminders of the glory of God. And there was still the power upon these things even after Moses was dead. God had put His power upon His Covenant.

And there is power in the Marriage covenant. The Bible says that the wife has power over her husband’s body. Not the live-in boyfriend’s body but the true husband. You live in heavenly places in Christ Jesus and you can take the authority over your husband’s body in prayer. If he is given to lust and to strange women, pray for impotence upon him and barrenness and that this relationship would be null and void.

Also the Lord is speaking to me about my house that it is like the Ark of the Covenant. In this house is a story of His power and His faithfulness to me and to my family. I have been faithful to my husband and to pray for my children. I will tell you one thing, He guards His covenant. Now I know that many widows are blessed to find another husband and to start over again and that is God’s will for them. But my heart is here with the stories of His faithfulness to me.

I visited at David’s house last night. I wanted to see again my new little grand baby David James, 3 weeks old. I loved holding him and his sister Kambree Kae, now 3 (Baby Rose). And when I walked into the living room the first picture I saw that sat above the computer was my beloved Jim’s picture. I know David looks at Papa and wonders what Jim would do in this and that situation. John and Christine had Jim’s picture out all the time, too. And Romeo would get out a toy or something. And John’s wife Christine would say, “Grandpa got you that, Romeo.” Jim’s presence and ways are always about us. David dreams of his Dad about once a week. Danny dreams of him, too. They just dream normal things like he is at a family gathering, acting as he always had. And Jim wasn’t super spiritual but he just plain loved us and wanted the best for us. He covered us with his wings of love and still does.

Well, Baby is cryin’ and I need to get to work. Write later.

Love,
Connie

Dear Mothers,

Well, yesterday was an adventure. My furnace went off. My good neighbor next door, Chuck (Trudy’s husband), helped me to get it goin’ again.

Well, my furnace is in a real root cellar with a dirt floor. There is a small area where the furnace is and the water heater that has a cement floor. But you can’t get to the cellar except to go outside to an entrance. Well, about 2:30 this morning, I noticed it was very cold in the house and I knew the furnace had gone out again. Man, I laid in bed and prayed and asked the Lord to turn the furnace back on. The weather here in the Midwest is very cold right now. But the Lord spoke to my heart to endure this hardship as a good soldier. He spoke to my heart. “How can you start a Revolution if ya can’t have enough guts to go down your root cellar in the middle of the night and fix the furnace?” Well, of course, Jim has flashlights but I lost them right after he died. GO CONNIE! But the Lord put it in my mind to turn the car lights on and they would shine on the outside door to the cellar. So I get all bundled up for my mission at about 4 this morning. To get the cellar door open is unreal. The hook is broke that you latch against the house and so yesterday, I tied it back with an old telephone cord. Holding that door up with one hand and tryin’ to tie it with the other hand was a challenge. But I just kept prayin’ and believin’ God. But the Lord gave me courage.

Chuck had showed me how to fix the furnace if it did go out in the night. But he called after supper last night to ask me if the furnace was workin’ and of course it was THEN. But here it goes out in the night. I would normally get out my kerosene burner but I have to babysit and it would be dangerous for Olivia, 4 years old. Anyway, Chuck told me that if it goes out again, he would fix it in a different way and the heat would stay on. So I will call him later on this morning and I know he will come over and fix it.

The heat is on now. Thank the Lord! But, see, my house is over 100 years old. Well, I love it. But the root cellar is a scary place during the day, let alone in the middle of the night. I used to be down there a lot as I canned, etc. in the summertime. But I haven’t been down there in a long time. The cobwebs are like the air down there. You just have at it and walk through them. Yesterday, as I had gone down there, my hair was full of webs. But like the Lord says, “If ya can’t take a hit as a strong soldier in the little things, then how can you do the bigger things for the Lord?” It’s a test. Jim used to go down to the cellar a lot in the middle of the night if the furnace went off. He was stronger than I am to get the door up. But when we are weak, He is strong in us.

The Lord is teaching me courage. Before David killed Goliath, the Lord took him through many tests with bears and lions coming to eat his sheep. We have to learn courage. We have to learn to endure hardships. As we learn these things, we will enter the blessings of God. Satan wants to scare us off but God wants to help us to enter the Promised Land. Yes, there are giants in the Land. But our God is more powerful then any giant. Greater is He in us than he who is in the world. We are overcomers. We are the daughters of the Lord. He is our strength and confidence.

As Papa’s car lights showed me the way as I went down the old basement steps, I could feel Jim’s love guarding me. I always feel such a kindness and love as I think of Jim. All he cared about is that I would be cared for if something happened to him. Oh, I was not the perfect wife. But Papa loved me, anyway. He put up with me. And even as he is in heaven now, I feel his love and kindness. The thought of him gives me such rest and peace.

Love,
Connie