Category: Fulfilled in Relationships

Valentines Day for All!

LynetteLewis
Feb 7 |20:50
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There are 100 million singles (over 18) in the U.S. alone, yet many feel like one of only a handful missing out on Valentines Day.

That’s why I’m so excited to announce the launch of my newest book, Remember the Roses — How to Hold Out, Hang On, and Marry the Man of Your Dreams

I wrote this book for anyone waiting for true love and those needing fresh encouragement plus a few practical tools for navigating the journey toward lasting love. The title comes from a vision I had of a Road lined with Roses, and the book is written in three distinct sections.

The first section is a quick and easy read about my own ups, downs, heartbreaks and headaches on a long road to a happy ending that included one worth-the-wait husband and four awesome sons.

The second section is called, “Gifts and Lessons from the Journey,” highlighting many treasures not fully visible until later. Chapters like, “Dreaming Big for Your Life” and “Celebrating Now” showcase the many surprise gifts to be enjoyed while love tarries.

The final section includes excerpts from my journals, dealing with common emotions often present in the wait yet seldom discussed publicly, things like, “I Feel Powerless,” and “I’m Stifled and Squelched,” among others. For each journal entry there are scriptures — the Truth that sets us free to be honest with our emotions yet move through them to a place of confidence and strength.

Over the next several weeks I’ll be blogging excerpts from the book along with video blogs that feature a special “Rose of the Week” and its meaning.

I would love to hear from YOU as we build a company of committed visionaries worldwide, those choosing to Remember the Roses on the sometimes rocky pathway to love and living our dreams.

 

Let It Flow!

LynetteLewis
Dec 11 |19:14
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It’s always a joyful experience being around someone comfortable in their own skin.  Someone who knows how to let their giftings flow.  Today was just such an experience when Ron and I enjoyed an after-church brunch at the home of Darcy and Steve.

Darcy is just one of those women who adds beauty to everything she touches.  Her home and the table were exquisitely decorated for the holidays.  The details on the table were like little special presents, and the food, oh my, our palates came alive and our stomachs overflowed.  Steve kept the fireplace burning, and the rich sharing made our cups spill over (along with the cappuccinos!)

Being around Darcy and Steve reminded me of how beautiful it is when we let our gifts flow and don’t hold back.  So often we’re tempted to conserve, be careful, and not overwhelm others with the gusto we have inside.  Instead of being true to ourselves we allocate our gifts based on what we think others want, instead of what we long to give.

For many years I felt like a pot of boiling water on a stove with the lid on top.  I so wanted to pour forth love as a wife and mother, longed to entertain in a home of my own, felt compelled to write and speak, though no doors were opening.  Many days I felt frustrated and stifled.  Then I came to realize (out of boiling desperation!) that I was the one stifling myself, the one keeping the lid on through my own assumptions of what I could or could not be, do, and give.

So I started flowing. Hosting brunches and baby showers for friends, sleepovers with my friends’ kids, speaking to groups of 4 or 5 in my little apartment.  Wherever and however, I simply let it flow.

I no longer felt stifled, in fact it brought me alive, and out of the “aliveness” new doors started opening.  Energy was flowing, fulfillment was growing, time was passing, and before long, the very things I desired came to pass but before they did, I was ALIVE, full and fulfilled, flowing.

So at this time of year when gifts do flow between friends, family, and co-workers, why not make it a point to start opening up your own floodgates, letting go of whatever holds you back and lavishly giving what you have to give — the flow that is authentically, beautifully you!

Flowing like this doesn’t take as much time, talent, or permission as you think, and someone out there needs exactly what you long to give.  So just like the popular Christmas song, “Let It Snow,” let’s change it up this year and altogether now sing,  “Let it flow, let it flow, let it flow!”

 

 

We Never Give Up

LynetteLewis
Aug 4 |21:01
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The first email I read this morning was from a friend who was up in the middle of the night, having so much heartache.  I sent her back encouragement and it struck me that what I shared might be encouraging to others.  In this case, I was also exhorting myself.  I trust this will bring encouragement to you, whatever you are facing….

 

Oh my friend, I know this is one tough valley again, and you have been in it for a long time.  My confidence and conviction for you is,  THIS WILL PASS, this season of stress and the price you are paying.  IT WILL PASS.  Light will come and God will intervene.  I know God is going to bring you answers.  Even when you feel such weakness, God knows how to push the right provision to you.  He is a master at this.  This is why we constantly look up and away from what we see to what we don’t see.  We never know HOW, we seldom know WHEN, but our God is faithful.  Every day we are all facing trials, some almost too heavy to bear, and still, we watch Him come to us.  Yesterday I was reading this:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair,  persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed.  We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.  Therefore we do not lose heart, Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  2 Cor. 4:7-11, 16 NIV

This entire passage could be about you right now.  Much pain and anguish you have had, still, your glory and the anointing have only grown upon your beautiful life.  Provision has come to you, ample provision, yes pain, but also PROVISION.  It has been amazing to watch really.  It was not fun for the Israelites to wander in the desert all those 40 years, but WHEN THEY CAME OUT, they got fields they did not plant and houses they did not build.  They came out and into abundance.  So will you.

We are challenged to constantly look at what is unseen.  In FAITH we expect miracles.  Two weeks ago I put a saying in a silver frame on our little ledge by the kitchen sink, it simply says this:  WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES.  This is what our family needs right now, the constant reminder that in spite of what doctors are telling us, regardless of how our son feels, we refuse to be moved by what is seen.  WE HAVE FIXED OUR EYES UPON JESUS, WHO FOR THE JOY BEFORE HIM ENDURED THE CROSS.  Yes he despised the shame, just like you despise so much of what you are in right now, still, you and Jesus and the Lewis family are UNMOVED by the here and now.  Jesus was looking up ahead, and so are we.

Ron and I were both up a lot last night, sleepless nights are hard, but we keep saying, this is just a season.  And so it is for you. I KNOW MY GOD and He never fails, He does all things well, and HE KNOWS what is best, what we need, what the world through our hands needs.  So we throw ourselves unabashedly upon Him, at His feet, under His wings, 100% reliant upon His interventions and miracles.  WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES.  Yours are coming my beautiful friend, I am watching and waiting with you…..

Lynette

 

The Ultimate Summer Ice Cream

LynetteLewis
Jul 1 |21:00
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It was a family a-ha moment the other night over homemade strawberry ice cream…..what if we use some of our home grown garden mint and make mint chip next time instead?

Our oldest son Nathan taste-testing the first bite

Fortunately, we weren’t the first to think of such a notion, and after an internet search I adapted our favorite cream base recipe, and oh my, tonight our palates are chilled and thrilled!  Some might call me an ice cream connoisseur and THIS recipe may just be my all-time favorite of all. It is beyond delicious and so refreshing.  Enjoy!

 

Fresh Mint Chip Ice Cream

Heat 2 c. heavy cream, 1 c. whole milk, 3/4 c. sugar, and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan with 2 cups packed fresh mint leaves.  Let the mixture get steamy and almost to a boiling point.  Cover with a lid and remove from heat.  Let steep for 1-2 hours.  Strain the cream mixture or if cool enough, squeeze the mint in your hands to press out all the mint essence.  Refrigerate overnight.

Whip 3 egg yolks lightly, then pour into cream mixture and stir.  Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.  In the last 5 minutes of freezing add in 5 oz. of roughly chopped semi-sweet chocolate pieces.

Makes about 1 quart of ultimate ice cream!

 

 

 

Ron’s Father’s Day Favorite

LynetteLewis
Jun 19 |17:52
Cobbler on a recliner, who can beat this?
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Cobbler on a recliner, who can beat this?

My husband is an awesome dad, not only to our four sons, but to many who consider him their role model, adviser, and friend.  He preached an excellent message this morning at KPIC , and after taking Stanley his dad, to lunch at Ruby Tuesday’s, I made our father-of-the-year’s favorite dessert, an easy blackberry cobbler that fortunately he’s sharing with the rest of us.

4 sons = 4 little cobblers

Making it in smaller tart pans and doing only a top crust (vs. bottom and top) using Pillsbury’s ready-to-roll crust, makes it easier than traditional pie.  It is delish beyond words, and with Haagen Dazs Vanilla on top and the PGA Golf Tournament on TV, let the best-afternoon-of-the-year begin!

Blackberry Cobbler

4 c. fresh blackberries

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 T. butter or margarine

Combine first 3 ingredients; spoon into a slightly greased 8-inch square baking dish or mini tart pans. Dot with butter.  Unroll crust on top and press onto edges of the pan.  Lightly brush top with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar. Cut several slits in pastry to allow steam to escape. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Yield: 6 servings.