An Old Fashioned Kitchen Garden

Dear Wives and Mothers,



In the old days on the farm the folks wud plant big gardens..But the mothers wud plant little kitchen gardens up by the house.. if Mother was busy with the children she cudnt leave them and walk down the road to get vegetables for supper..Our family had a large garden at the end of our property..Jim took care of this garden ..Then i had a little kitchen garden up by the house..Its just a friendly little Housewife Garden that you plant for convenience..In my Housewife Garden i used to have some herbs , and a few tomato plants and green pepper and a few cucumber plants..You cud plant all different kinds of lettuce too if you have room..But anyway my Kitchen is right out the side door of my diningroom..i could run out the door and gather a few vegetables before my Babies knew i was gone ...Now days i just have a smaller garden, in the back.

Submit to Your Husband

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters, December 2007}



Mary having gone to see Gram last nite has gone along ways with me.
Most of my burdens are gone..i was praying this morning and the
Lord ministered to me so much..I understood it to be like this..i
guess it was an angel speaking but i will say it in my own
words.."Connie all the time Jim was on the earth and i told you you to
submit to him as into the Lord you did.He guided you and you followed
him..But you werent following him you were following Me..So when he
died you kept feeling his presence that was Me? Jim and i were one
and you and i are one..Jim was your spiritual head..your priest..Most
wives dont understand this spiritual order and power..The rules i set
down thru Jims leading was My..{Gods} leading.Sure Jim was only a man
but he was called as your priest and spiritual leader.I led you as
Keeper at Home..Jim was a shepard to you.." This was the understanding
i got..See i was looking at some photos of our family after i got home
yesterday..in one i was with Jim and holding Baby Rose on the
couch..You cud tell i lived under Jims shadow..I gave Jim all of my
burdens to bear..He protected me from the world..From people who came
against me..or sharp comments from my children..When people wud ask if
i worked outside the home Jim wud say "Connie has already worked hard
enuf without going out to work..She raised 6 children and that is
enuf"..i was made to feel like a delicate flower that never got
bruised..Jim carried the burden of home and car repairs and all
financial burdens..Like Jesus he was my burden bearer..My ministry was
the work inside the home..Keeping the house clean and meals on the
table..caring for the children and later helping with the
grandchildren...But Jim was my guide..And he was my guide in the hard
times too..when he was in prison.before Jim was saved .When he left me
in our first yrs of marriage i abided where i was left..Yes i rebelled
and i hated it..But i wud pray and the Lord gave me peace in my place
as wife and mother..i had a marriage., before Jim was saved..Not a
good one but it was a marriage in Gods eyes..it was a place for me to
be tested and tried..And when the tests were too hard the Lord wud
take Jim away..And Jim paid for his sins against me..The Lord wud put
him in prison..Jim knew that it was not good to harm Gods anointed..In
later yrs he told the boys "Dont ever mess with your mother she will
get you in the end" Well the kids knew that God was my protector and
Jim knew it too..But if you go around standing up for yourself and
looking after your own way then God cant protect you..Lean on God and
God will make things right in your life..Be patient and let the Lord
guide you thru your husband..Love connie

Washing the Dishes

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters,  May 2013}


Good Morning Homemakers, I like to do the dishes..do you? My Mother used to say she wud never have a dishwasher in her house..But then Dad remodeled her whole kitchen and talked her into a dish washer ..Mom was happy with it...but she thot it was kinda silly ..i dont have a dishwasher and dont
have the room for one in my kitchen anyway..My friend MaryL had a bit of arthritis in her hands..She said she loved to get her hands into warm sudsy dish water especially in the winter..as it was so comforting.. As a teenager i wud pretend to be asleep when it was time to do the dishes at my
house..My Aunt Eileen in the old days always ran out to the out house when it was time to do the dishes..And she stayed out there until all the work was done..

The old-time housewives had a big enamel red and white pan that they used in the sink to wash the dishes with..They wud go outside and pump the cold water into their pan.Then they wud bring the pan in the house and heat the pan of water on the stove...When it was hot they washed the
dishes..Then they wud rinse the dishes with hot water poured over the washed dishes...The first things they washed was all the drinking glasses .. Then the cups and the plates ..and serving dishes..They had to be very careful in the old days as the dishes werent plastic..So after they
were washed ..they were dried with a dish towel and put in the cupboard..The dishtowels were only for the dishes..not to wash up with...We children growing up wud try to use moms dishtowels for everything..i can still hear Mom calling to us kids "Dont you dare use my dishtowel for
that". That...meaning about anything...So anyway after the dishes were washed then the silverware was washed..And the last thing to be washed was the cooking pans..

My mother was very orderly about her homemaking ..i cud never figure out how to use Moms new dishwasher..My sister in law wud laugh at me when we all came to Dad and Moms for a holiday dinner.."Connie why are you washing the dishes in the sink with a dishwasher right beside you"? Well i think i just missed the ritual of the women in the kitchen laughing and telling stories and washing the dishes and drying them with a white cotton dishtowel,,,Mom and Dad are both in Heaven now..i sure miss them ,,Happy Mothers Day Mom..love connie

Yielding to Righteousness

  [From the Archives of Connie's Letters - Feb 26, 2002]



Dear Mothers, last nite when we finally got home.. I fixed Papa a nice supper .. I fixed fried potatoes a sausage wiener and sour kraut...And then i had made a pumpkin pie..the day before ..so we had that..Dan and Mary were gone to their respective places..Mary didnt think we would ever come back home yesterday..What a LOOONG Day that was...I mean it was nice to visit with Mom..But i just hadnt planned to be gone all day and i felt anxious and undone as the car took longer and longer to fix..So of course last nite Papa wanted me all to himself..and we just did things here.. He sat at the table and figured out his bills and i read a cookbook..then we watched some tv. it was some show on the educational channel ..neither Jim or i could figure it  out..I guess we just wanted to be quiet and watch something and not have to talk...And sometimes we do that..No tv isnt good ...But again Mothers we are helpers and cant always call the shots..Sometimes a man needs to relax and watch something on tv..Papa watches clean things ..so i dont mind.. And he watches the news ..and i sometimes watch it with him..

But last nite i was reading my cookbook..It was an old book i had gotten from  some SALE...I looked at the pictures of the canning jars all neatly placed on the Mothers Pantry....Oh my eyes enjoyed a feast as i looked at these pictures.. The Holy Spirit touched my heart. and the Lord said.."Connie you need to do more canning this coming Fall" And i said "Lord why? ...I dont have so many to cook for as i used to "....He said "It isnt to prepare for hard times in the physical...But to prepare for spiritual "hard times" He said "Connie you need to yield your members to righteousness."

Oh dear mothers we are not fighting a physical war as the mothers of yesteryear did..We are fighting a spiritual war..WE must take on our cloaks of wifehood and Motherhood..We must wear them as we would wear the full armor of God.. Our aprons are breastplates of righteousness..Satan must not look at us and see a way into our hearts..Feminism is an unholy smoke that drifts into our homes and weaves its way into the cracks in our armor...Oh dear  saints we need to stay busy and about our Fathers business..As i write to you each day about motherhood i have become unfit for the world ..Because i write each day everything i do is like a burning arrow.. I am no longer sort of lost and aiming at anything.. I do encourage you all to keep writing..it does help you to stay focused..I mean dont exclude your family..But listen  to the Holy Spirit..See before i began to really write i was going under in a big way.. I think the worlds pull is so strong to destroy our families..I dont think this websight is a gossip and back biting place..But a place to be serious ..a hospital for broken souls i hope.. ...I write very early in the morning and this way i stay out of Papas way with it.. The Lord wakes me up each morning and gets me goin...I wonder around a while when i get up and pray and read some Bible verses...i make coffee..put the dog out ..clean the table off..Start a meal and write..But i do try to stay out of Papas way with it..As i am his helper to help him with his agenda ..his move of the spirit.Love Connie..

Walk by Faith Not Sight in Marriage

Part 1

ya know i really think any marriage can be restored.. Well no..if there is child abuse in the home of any kind..you wud have to separate..Mothers have to protect their children..But back in the old days when Jim and i were separated..i wudnt hear from Jim for months on end.. And yet i ask the Lord to bring him home.. So i wud  wait by the phone thinking the Lord wud have him call home...Or when i wud get home from the store i wud think,,"Well he will be home when i get there.." But no... i wud pray and see nothing..There was nothing to tell me that he had any intentions of coming back ..i wud pray and pray and see nothing..In the night i wud awaken thinking i had heard the garage door open..and that Jim was putting the car in the garage for the nite..But no it was only a dream..there was nothing to say that i shud have any hope at all..But then the Lord began teaching me about Mark 11;23 and 24...Believe that you have what you ask for..I began to understand that we are to BELIEVE and then RECEIVE..Not receive and then  BELIEVE..So as the Lord taught me... He wud show me to clean the house and make a delicious supper for the evening..He showed me to set the table and put Jims plate at the head of the table..Boy i felt stupid putting that plate at the head of the table..i hadnt  heard from Jim...Satan wud condemn me and tell me i was nuts..But i learned this spiritual law and no devil cud take this from me..

Part 2

So my physical sight told me i was nuts but the Lord was giving me an
 invisable faith and i cud feel it in my heart..And each day i walked by
 faith and i began seeing the impossible made possible..So i cud see my
 faith working as long as i worked it by my faith in God..The trouble was
 tho..i had enuf faith to bring him home ,,but not to keep him home,,Jim
 told me."I feel like a YO-yo..i come home and then i leave...and then i
 come home and i leave.."Well once i wud get my prayers answered i wud get
 so fearful that i scared Jim and myself have to death..Fear will always
 unravel faith if you let it...i think i read where the words "fear not" is
 in the Bible 365 times..We are always told in the Word of God to trust in
 the Lord and lean not to our own understanding..Like Noah ...He built the
 ark by faith on dry land..He didnt start building a boat when it began to
 rain..He didnt say "Welll even tho God told me to build an ark,,i will
 just wait and see if it rains a lil bit..and then i will hurry and build an
 ark..No Noah built the ark as soon as God told him to..And Noah saved his
 whole family..Noah was a righteous man..And what made him righteous..? His
 faith in God..Abraham believed God and it was acounted to him for
 righteousness..And so as the years of my marriage went on my faith grew in
 God..And the Lord began to rule..Love connie

Letters to Jim

Part 1

My letters wud begin "My Darling Husband"..His wud begin "To my Darling
Wife" or " My Beloved Wife"...At first yrs ago ..you cud only write 2
pages..So i wrote on notebook paper..i wud write 2 lines of writing where
only one line of writing shud go..You wud almost need a magnifying glass to
read it..But this way i got double the amount of writing on 2 pages..Of
course all of the letters were CENSORED....And our Jill on the grp gave me
rides to go see Jim atleast once a month...I wud go in the prison and then
i had to be frisked etc..and then put my purse in a locker..Then i went to
this big gate of iron and that wud then BANG shut..Then another gate was in
front of me and that gate opened and i went upstairs to a visitng
room..Well i didnt feel like a missionery but at times i was..The Lord had
called me to be married in a prison..and to help my husband.. i didnt know
the Lord when Jim and i met and he didnt know God either.i was only 18 and
he was 25 when we met..And our lives together were always marked by those
early days of walking from one miracle to the next...

Part 2

the Bible does say that a woman is not to take spiritual authority over the
man..They are to teach children and the older woman is to teach the younger
woman to to be keepers at home..But the woman is not to. take authority in
the church..This kinda put me between a rock and a hard place..as i am to
submit to my own husband..But i began to teach Jim very humbly about
faith..At the time there were prayer meeting and Bible Studies starting
up in the prison...Different preachers from the outside were starting
Prison Ministries ..It was about this time that Jim began circulating some
of my letters that were teachings on faith...i think some of those letters
are still there in the prison..Jim just felt that he wanted the other men
to know about faith too.. Isnt it something how God moves to get the Word
of God to those who need it... Love Connie