Apr 15, 2017 |
Frankly, On Faith: I almost forgot Easter.
by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68
Frankly, On Faith.
I have a confession to make. A terrible, dark, sinful confession. Can I trust you?
I almost forgot it was Easter.
It’s true. I have been running ninety miles an hour and breaking through that end-race tape only to find it was really just the beginning of another race. Ever feel that way? Yeah. Glad I got my Skechers on.
At some point I ran to the water cart and saw the calendar. That can’t be right. But it is. Easter is upon us, and I’ve done very little to prep for it.
What’s that? You’re in the same race? Sweet. Let me share some refreshment with you.
God doesn’t care about the prep work.
He cares that you showed up.
You know why? Because that’s what He did. He was, is, and will always be here. He showed up. In the beginning. Before there was a beginning. He was the Beginning. And He will be the end. He overcame what we thought was the end. In Him, there is no end.
Wait, you say. How can you have a beginning without an end? Good question. I don’t have a good answer, except to point to Him. Because He is what I know, and He’s way smarter than you or I can ever be.
Some things require only faith. Some things we will never understand, but that’s okay. Not knowing why or how doesn’t make anything less real. I don’t know how my shoes are manufactured, but they still protect my feet on the pavement.
From the beginning, before the beginning, in the beginning, God and the Word were united, the same. They came together even though they already were. It’s like a wind picking up more wind; they’re the same but separate and stronger and together and unique and a whole . . . You can’t separate a breeze from a wisp.
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
~John 1:1, NLT
God showed up. In the beginning. Now. Later. He was, is, and always will be, here.
And here you are, showing up. Now. In this moment. And you’ve been here. For a second, a minute, an hour, a day . . . It doesn’t matter. Time is no element to God. You are here. He is here. We are here together so He is here, now, with us.
Time cannot hold Him. The Grave cannot hold Him. He is too big and great and powerful and mighty to be held.
Except by your hand.
Hey. Do you see that? He’s smiling and reaching. He wants to run the rest of the race with you. Will you let Him join your journey?
CLICK TO TWEET: Frankly, On Faith: I almost forgot Easter.
With running shoes and a hand to hold,
~Molly Jo
Frankly, On Faith: I Almost Forgot Easter.
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
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Mar 16, 2017 |
Tromping Trolls
by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Tromping Trolls
Social media is one of those love-hate relationships. There’s a lot of good buzz it can create, but there’s also a bitter aftertaste if a troll decides to attack your territory.
It’s important to understand the difference between trolls and someone who just doesn’t like you. You have every right to delete inflammatory comments and keep peace on your pages, but be careful to not manipulate the system so you’re only seeing the sunny side of things. If a person voices their dislike, let them know it’s okay and different people have different views.
When those views, comments, reviews, and posts turn into hurt and hate, it’s time to tromp that troll!
What’s a troll? Well, they’re not those cute little dolls from the 80s. No, the trolls I’m talking about are people who actively seek out posts with the intent of posting, well, less than sweet comments. They start arguments, throw insults, and pretty much like to turn things sideways.
One of the ways you can conquer these little nuisances is to have a comment filter on your blog settings. These automatically search for words you’ve flagged as offensive or inappropriate. You may want to take it a step further and add a captcha filter. This requires the commenter to manually type numbers and/or letters they see in a small photo, to prove they’re not a robot or automated reply. On most social media sites, you can report inappropriate comments and block users.
Trolls can be hard to handle. It’s always a good idea to never respond. Even when you feel like defending yourself, clarifying your position, or just plain stopping the madness. Trolls feed off the chaos they create. If you stop responding to them, most of the time they’ll move on.
CLICK TO TWEET: Frankly, My Dear . . . : Tromping Trolls
It’s Gonna Eat Me!
With some sweet tea, a spoonful of honey, and some heavy Army boots,
~ Happy writing.
Molly Jo
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
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Mar 12, 2017 |
Frankly, On Faith: Do All Things
by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68
Frankly, On Faith.
So, just how busy are you?
Are you overwhelmed at times? In need of some “down” time? Is coffee more necessary than enjoyable? If your people had just three words to describe you, would “multi-tasker” be one of them?
Do you feel exhausted more often than not?
Yeah. I hear ya. Sometimes just breathing takes more effort than I want it to. This pesky life with its pesky chores at its pesky pace of lightning speed . . . Sometimes I just wanna scream.
You, too? Phew. Good. Thought I was alone for a minute.
Oh, not good that you’re going through it. Not even good that you understand. Because, really. Wouldn’t it be great if fewer people understood the chaos of a demand-it-now mentality? But still. I’m glad you’re in it with me.
So. Here we are. Holding on to the ropes as the sea churns a little more than it used to. Trying to keep our heads above the water more often than not.
And the storm comes and drops something else on us. Right? Another wave. Another hit. Another emergency.
It’s enough to make This Girl want to jump overboard.
But alas, I know all too well that even though the ride is rough, there’s better safety in the boat than out in the sea itself. So I stay. You stay. And we look at each other and say, “What are we even doing here?”
The high waves come and rock the boat, but then the seas calm, the sun comes out, and we’re happy to be warm and dry again.
And we can think clearly again.
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
~Mark 4:39, NIV
And it’s with a deep breath and clearer vision that we realize the Captain has been here all along. He’s the one who tethered us to the boat in the first place!
So we feel good about what we’ve overcome and we decide to take on more.
STOP. DOING. THAT.
Stop taking on more. Stop ignoring the peace He has gifted you. Stop being addicted to busyness.
Just be still.
In this moment, we can give ourselves permission to sit back and let Him navigate. All we have to do is row. All we have to do is let go our grip and let Him take over.
All we have to do is have faith that He will get us to our destination. And when the Son is out, it’s okay to relax and enjoy the view.
CLICK TO TWEET: Frankly, On Faith: Are You Addicted to Busyness?
With fair winds and following seas,
~Molly Jo
Frankly, On Faith: Are You Addicted to Busyness?
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
Mar 1, 2017 |
by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy
Nippers, NOLA, and a Happy Planner
Hey y’all! Remember when I fell in love with my Happy Planner? And the Meal Planner pages to track the holiday foods and monthly meatloaf recipes?
Of course, I also bought my Planner to help with the social media, writing, and editing projects.
Happy Planner Page: Social Media MoJo
In less than three months, I’ll be at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. Immersed for five days with fellow writers, agents, publishers, teachers . . . friends. It’s pretty much my equivalent to a big family reunion.
One of the most important accessories a person can have at any conference is a notebook and calendar. There will be classes to take, people to meet. Projects to share and shop out. It’s important to be able to track all this information. And for me, it’s also important to have a creative outlet for journaling.
So I took a few extra pieces and designed my own Happy Planner. Of course, my main writing focus is NOLA, so I made sure to add those little touches as much as possible.
Grab a glass of tea, sit back, and let me tell you all about it.
Happy Planner: Conference Dashboard
The dashboard is a tabbed, plastic divider. Think of it like a large bookmark. Some people use it to hold their sticky pads for writing notes. I also use mine as a motivator. Each day, several times a day, I’ll be reminded to be productive and, as Dwayne Pride of NCIS: New Orleans says, “Learn Things.” All this one needs is a honkin’ big coffee cup sticker.
Happy Planner: Conference Style – supplies
The beauty of the Happy Planner is even if you pick up a calendared version, you can purchase inserts and accessories. I knew when I first bought my Planner, as the months passed, I’d take them out and put them into another Planner, like a memory book. Since the extra covers come three sets in a pack, I had two left over to choose from. I picked the stripes/dotted combo because the dots remind me of ~ wait for it ~ Tiffany Blue. Like y’all didn’t see that one coming, right?
The Planner inserts are designed to easily slip onto the discs, so whether you have five or fifty pages, they lay flat and secure.
Happy Planner: Conference Style – I Heart Discs
The six-month calendar extension pack is so my friend. Since the tabs are undated, instead of using them as monthly inserts, I use stickers to identify each day I’ll be on my trip, including travel time.
Happy Planner: Conference Style – Day Tabs
Each month-at-a-glance layout will be used for that day’s highlights, while several week-at-a-glance layouts have been converted:
- “What They Said . . . ” will be a collection of quotes to inspire and motivate
- “Growth Spurts” track those “Aha!” moments
This leaves two week-at-a-glance layouts to be used however the day requires. Perhaps autographs from fellow conferees? Notes to and from God? They can be anything.
Happy Planner: Conference Style – Week-at-a-Glance Pages
I picked up photo pocket inserts and a fuse tool, so I can make photo/glitter/memorabilia pages (as inspired by Me & My BIG Ideas blog post “Valentine’s Shaker Pocket“). Oh, and twelve small containers of glitter. Hey, they were on sale, okay? And who doesn’t love a good shake of glitter now and then?
Happy Planner: Conference Style – Photo Pages and Fuse Tool
Of course, no Planner is complete without a Bucket List, yes? I queried my friends for suggestions, and as you can see, This Girl is going to be pretty busy.
Happy Planner: Conference Style – Blue Ridge Bucket List
Finally, an ample supply of lined and graph pages. Because you never know . . . I may feel like writing something.
Happy Planner: Conference Style – Writing Pages
A few stickers, some washi tape, and my Happy Planner is almost ready. Of course, I’ll post photos as more pages are ready, but I’m pleased as punch with the initial layout.
Happy Planner: Conference Style – MoJo Front Cover
Am I missing anything? Let’s plan on Blue Ridge, y’all!
Happy Planner: Conference Style – Countdown Sheet
CLICK TO TWEET: Happy Planner: Conference Style
With a big gulp of sweet tea and lots of Happy Planning,
~Molly Jo
And Franky, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
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Feb 27, 2017 |
by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy
Who says y’all have to be in New Orleans to celebrate Fat Tuesday?
MoJo’s Creole Meatloaf
Y’all know my love for all things NOLA, right? The food, the parties, the spices, the food. Oh, did I say that already? C’mon. You know it’s worth mentioning again.
“It’s all about the food.
It’s always all about the food.”
~Rain [NOLA]
And y’all know my two favorite food companies are Zatarain’s and Winco, right?
And since tomorrow’s the end of this year’s Mardi Gras, as promised here’s this month’s meatloaf recipe. What makes it all that? The Holy Trinity of New Orleans cuisine, and Zatarain’s Creole seasoning.
I’m crazy about Zatarain’s. Remember when Bedford Manor celebrated our five year housewarming, and the Big Z supplied the side dishes? [Read: NOLA, Zatarain’s Style.] Now that was a party. Of course I keep as much Zatarain’s in the pantry as I can, especially the seasonings.
So. You ready to get your flavor on? Then let’s head into the kitchen.
First, grab your gear: Eight simple ingredients, a mixing bowl, cutting board and knife, and meatloaf pan.
MoJo’s Creole Meatloaf ingredients
What, you ask, is the Holy Trinity? Only the best cooking base New Orleans has to offer. A blend of equal parts green pepper, onion, and celery.
NOLA FOOD HACK:
Add two (or more) dashes of
Creole seasoning to the
Holy Trinity during saute’.
MoJo Creole Meatloaf: Holy Trinity
Is your mouth watering yet? Are you needing the recipe like your sugar needs tea? Hold onto your Mojo bag, ’cause here it is.
Recipe: MoJo’s Creole Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- Milk
- 1 egg
- 12 saltine cracker squares
- New Orleans Holy Trinity (apprx 1/2 small white onion, 1 celery stalk, 1/3 bell pepper)
- Zatarain's Creole Seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Crush crackers into small bowl. Add just enough milk to cover. Set aside.
- Dice onion, celery, bell pepper. Saute on low until tender. Remove from heat. [Holy Trinity should equal apprx 1/2 cup when done.]
- In large mixing bowl, add ground beef, egg, crackers, Holy Trinity, and 1 tsp Creole seasonings. Mix thoroughly.
- Shape into loaf pan. Top with 1/2 tsp Creole seasonings.
- Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.
3.1
https://franklymydearmojo.com/2017/02/27/recipe-mojos-creole-meatloaf/ (c) 2012 Frankly, My Dear... New Inklings Press
NOLA FOOD HACK:
Saute twice as much Holy Trinity
as your recipe calls for,
and keep the extra in an airtight container
in your fridge. It’s a great addition
to chicken salad, sandwiches,
and on its own.
Serve it up with some collared greens, corn bread, white wine and all the beads you can hang ’round your neck.
Mardi Gras at Bedford Manor
CLICK TO TWEET: Frankly, My Dear . . .: Recipe: MoJo’s Creole Meatloaf
CLICK TO TWEET: Who say you to have to be in New Orleans to celebrate Fat Tuesday?
With a Mardi Gras mask and Hurricane in hand,
Happy Eating!
~Molly Jo
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
[DISCLAIMER: Any outside product or company referenced in this recipe is not affiliated with Frankly, My Dear . . ., Molly Jo Realy, New Inklings Press, or The Unemployment Cookbook. I have not been compensated for any mention or reference in this or any other post.]
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