Peace family, while Brian Christopher is on vacation, we are so excited to have Hannah join us from time to time in the mornings!

Hannah writes for our Peace 107 magazine and does editing. She is an amazing woman with a huge heart and a lot of compassion. Hannah, welcome to the Peace 107 morning show!

Hungry baby cardinals beside Kat’s back door

Peace family, I just wanted to encourage you with something that encouraged me: the story of some baby cardinals by my back door!

During the morning show for the last couple of weeks, we’ve been doing some updates called “News From the Nest,” about a family of cardinals that built a nest for a small brood next to my back door. A few weeks ago, I noticed two tiny white eggs with little brown speckles and was very excited to discover, through some research online and careful watching for the mother, that they were cardinals!

I listened as the mother chirped, even before the babies were here. The eggs hatched to reveal some little naked birds, and I’m happy to report that they have now grown some dark grey feathers! They are getting bigger every day, but mostly, the babies sleep peacefully in their nest.

I have prayed so much for this little family of birds! It delights me to know that a mother bird felt safe enough to build her nest and lay her eyes beside my back door, but I also have been worrying a little bit about snakes, cats, rain, and all the other things that might go wrong!

I became pretty worried last weekend when I hadn’t seen the mother bird for several days. I even researched what to do if a baby bird falls out of a nest, or is seemingly orphaned! However, when I came home from church, I was so happy to see a male cardinal fly away from the nest, and the babies had their faces up in feeding position! How wonderful, to see a dad taking care of his kids! It also reassured me that even if something were to happen to the mom, God is still taking care of them with the father bird.

I’ve seen the mom since then, but the reassurance has continued to encourage me. Peace family, don’t we worry, but it always turns out that God sees the bigger picture, and has better solutions? In Matthew 10:29 – 31, Jesus says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

Peace family, you are precious and beloved by God. Just like he is taking care of the cardinal family next to my door, I want to reassure you that He is taking care of you! he knows your concerns and your trials, he loves you, and he is watching over you.

With so many moms, home-school families and gardeners in our Peace family, we thought it’d be fun to find some tips for making pickles and jams this summer!

Flora Williams with the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension office says that they will offer several classes throughout the summer. To find a link to classes that they offer, CLICK HERE, or copy and paste this website into your browser: https://brazos.agrilife.org/events/ .

Meanwhile, here are ten tips from Flora to help you!

1. Start with a clean preparation area and the freshest foods possible. Check jars for nicks and cracks. Make sure your equipment is clean and in good working order.

2. Always use a pressure canner when canning low-acid foods. This includes most vegetables (except many tomato products), seafood, poultry, and meat.

3. If using a pressure canner with a dial gauge, have it tested each year. In fact, have your pressure canner checked to make sure that gaskets (if present) are in good shape and that vents, safety valves and edges of the lid are clean.

4. Always use tested recipes that have up-to-date, researched processing (canning) times. Sources of tested recipes include the National Center for Home Food Preservation and companies that produce home canning supplies. Recipes from cookbooks, personal internet sites or older Extension publications should not be used.

5. Do not alter ingredients in tested recipes. Changing the ingredients in a tested recipe can make that recipe unsafe for home food preservation.

6. When filling jars, always use the correct headspace. Headspace is the space in the jar that is between the lid and the top of the food or liquid. Having too little or too much headspace can affect how the lid seals and the quality of the final product.

7. After jars have been processed (canned), check the lids within 12 to 24 hours to make sure they are sealed. Food from jars that did not seal should be frozen or refrigerated and eaten in a couple of days. You may also reprocess (re-can) it within 24 hours.

8. Label lids with the name of the food, date the food was canned, and batch number (if you canned more than once that day). That way, if you see signs of spoilage, you can identify the batch number and pay special attention to those jars.

9. Store canned foods in a dark, cool, and dry, place. If the food is stored in a humid place, the moisture can cause the lids to rust, leading to spoilage. Periodically check the jars for signs of spoilage.

10. For best quality, use home-canned foods within one year.

For additional information:

So Easy to Preserve (University of Georgia Cooperative Extension) http://www.uga.edu/setp/

National Center for Home Food Preservation http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

Click below to listen to Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Office’s Flora Williams chat with Peace 107’s Brian and Kat:

Peace family, do you ever feel like you have to be “on” all the time? Do you need a reminder that sometimes even nature needs a break?

Every year I look forward to the blooming of the daffodils in my yard. With the cold winter we had, I was expecting great things this spring! However, none of my daffodils bloomed, not even one. Now that the summer is almost here, the stalk heads have withered and turned yellow, and I know that that means that the daffodils are turning dormant for the rest of the year.

I was talking to my mom about it, and wondering what went wrong. She really encouraged me by informing me that this isn’t wrong, it’s normal for bulb plants; sometimes, they just take a rest for a season, gathering nutrients, and they come back even better the next year.

Peace family, if even plants rest, why don’t we? We so often feel like we are only as valuable as we are productive, but remembering that even my daffodils need time to rest really encourages me. God made us with a need to rest, and a need to depend on him when it is not physically possible for us to appear productive. I don’t mean superficial rest that is not restorative, like doing things that are totally self-gratifying such eating a tub of ice cream or staying up all night watching Netflix. I mean leaning back into the rest and peace that God offers us as we give our burdens to him, real, deep sleep, and even engaging in activities that inspire and renew our spirits, hope and trust in the Lord.

We don’t have to be “on” or in bloom all the time. Sometimes, we might not even appear to be productive even while God is doing something very important, preparatory, and powerful in our lives under the surface. If you find yourself struggling to be “on,” maybe it’s time right now to release your burdens to the Lord and rest in him, trusting that he is working.

Peace family, what would you do if you won the lottery? How would it affect your generosity?

A friend and I often discuss what we would do if we won the lottery. My friend dreams of going out with a certain amount money each day, and helping random people on the street as the Holy Spirit leads. As for me, I’d like to pay off my aunt’s house, and help my cousin with debt (though I’d also like to take a bunch of my friends and family on a cruise to the Bahamas!)

The last time that we had that conversation, it occurred to me- what am I doing to give in the present? I don’t have a million dollars, but how am I letting God use me and lead in my daily life? Am I letting him use me, or am I too busy doing my own thing?

There’s nothing that says we have to wait to get a million dollars before we start to give generously. There’s nothing that says that we have to be a certain age, certain level of coolness or success, or certain physical shape in order for God to use us. God can use you, right now!

Peace family, don’t wait. Let’s you and me both allow God to use us today, right now, for his glory. Think about my friend and my silly conversation and how you don’t have to wait, but can give of yourself and your resources in the present. We might see some miracles!