You have nothing to fear, but fear itself . . .

"If Ye are prepared . . . ye shall not fear." ~D&C 38:30

I can't remember what I was reading yesterday, but in the article, the writer talked about being afraid of things. I am afraid of quite a few things . . . spiders for instance, not to mention wasps. It's kind of crazy really, for they are so much smaller than myself, and I could easily squash them and get rid of them in an instant.

When I think about it, I don't really know why I am afraid of spiders. A spider has never once done anything to hurt me and, as Todd is always telling me, they are most beneficial to our environment and help to keep the annoying bug population down. Wasps on the other hand, have hurt me several times in the past, and I am quite justified in being afraid of them . . . although they do say that if you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone . . . I confess, I'm one of those people who clear out if wasps come around. I am not one to sit there and tempt fate and find out if they are going to go after me or not!

Some people have pretty irrational fears . . . like the fear of balloons or even feathers. When my mother was a little girl she used to have nightmares about feathers and, if her parents did not want her to go upstairs or into another room, they only had to place a feather on the bottom step or in the doorway . . . that was enough to keep her away.



The chief weapon in Satan's armoury is fear . . . our fears, however large or small, rational or irrational. He, the father of all lies, uses our fears to keep us from realizing our full potential, to steal joy from our lives, to prevent us from becoming what we were born to be, to pin us to the ground and keep us from soaring . . . He wants us to believe that life is essentially hopeless, that living a Gospel grounded life is too hard . . . that we really cannot change or be forgiven . . .

The Master, on the other hand, whispers truth to us and wants nothing more for us than for us to find happiness, unfettered by our fears and misgivings about ourselves and about others . . . eternal happiness, happiness that reaches far beyond the bounds of this earth and this lifetime . . . the ability to find our wings and soar above the slings and arrows of this world.



We will all have trials and temptations in life . . . life is never easy . . . not for anyone, despite what it may look like, or how it may seem on the outside. We need to have hope in the Lord and to trust in His promises. To live in peace and joy, both here and in the hereafter, we need to move forward in faith, prepared for what may or may not come . . .

Being humble and prayerful is the first step to being fearless. Feasting upon the word of God and of the prophets is the next one . . . looking outside ourselves and helping and serving others is another important move. I have always felt that it is not until we begin to give our lives away that we truly begin to live them . . . Trust in God. He has a plan . . . for each one of us, and for the world.


King David said it best of all . . .


"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
~Psalm 27:1

Today will be a flurry of activity for Todd and myself, as we prepare to get ready to go away tomorrow. We need to get our clothes ready to pack, which means deciding what we are going to take, and then pressing what needs to be pressed and putting them into our suitcase. We are only going for a week, so it shouldn't take too long. Likewise our toiletries and any medicines we may need.

Because the place we are staying at is self catering, that means I am going to be able to cook our own meals. Having stayed there before, I know that there is only a limited amount of pots and pans, so I need to decide what, if any, pots and pans I want to bring from home, and what other things I might want to use when we are there that might help me out in that way. I already have a box ready with some foodstuffs to get us through the first couple of days, so that's good.

Jess will have to be taken up to her holiday destination. She always stays with a family from our church. They have quite a lot of children, so it's like a holiday bonus for her, and she doesn't miss us too much while we are gone. She's far too busy and enjoying all those extra legs to run around and play with, not to mention ball throwing arms! It will seem funny tonight not to have her here with us, but we will be leaving quite early in the morning so taking her today is the only sensible option.

I shall miss coming on here each morning and visiting with you all, but fear not . . . I have organized a few surprises for you here on Oak Cottage, so keep checking in. You never know what will happen, or what you may find to keep you amused! *grin

This is a lovely tart that could make a spinach lover out of even the most die hard spinach hater. I could eat this every day of the week! I got this recipe from my good friend Audrey up in Chester about 7 years ago and it has become a firm favourite in this household!

*Spinach Gruyere Tart*

serves 4

This is a lovely supper dish. A delicious way to serve spinach and great for vegetarians! Very easy to put together.

1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 red onion, chopped
450 g fresh spinach, washed.
300 g shortcrust pastry, thawed if frozen
2 tablespoons pesto sauce (I use the fresh one from the chiller cabinet in the grocery store)
100 g gruyere cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten

2 TBS Toasted pinenuts
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 200*c/400*f. Take out a large flat baking tray and set aside.

Heat oil in a small pan and cook onion for 4 minutes till soft. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Place the spinach in a large pan with only the water that clings to the leaves. Heat gently until wilted. Drain well, then allow to cool. Using your hands, squeeze out as much excess moisture as you can.

Roll out pastry into a large round, about 12 inches in diameter. Place on your baking sheet. Spread the pesto sauce in the centre of the pastry, leaving about a 2 inch border all the way around.

Place the grated cheese in a bowl, reserving 1 tablespoons for topping. Add the cooked onion, egg, salt and pepper and spinach and mix well together. Spoon this mixture into the centre of the pastry. Fold up around the edges all around to make a border, pinching together as needed. Sprinkle the reserved cheese and the pinenuts on top. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into slices to serve.

I like to serve this with a mixed salad of baby leaf greens and vegetables.