Calling All The Writers

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters, January 2014.}

Part 1  - "Calling All The Writers"

Dear Mothers, i was up and down all nite last nite..praying and reading the scriptures.i read some of the facebook writings..i really liked your writing Sheila on preparing for the hard days ahead..Cud you send me that writing again Sheila? And if its ok i will ask Vicki to send it to the other grps? Has anyone gotten their Above Rubies Magazine yet? i havent heard anything myself..As i prayed last nite i said "Lord i think its time i quit writing and move over and let the younger ladies take it over..And the Lord spoke to my heart...And the Lord said in my heart.."Well you can quit writing but no one else can take your place ..You were called to write a certain message..and if you stop writing your message will be silent,,and forgotten."..Many are called but few are chosen..This message the Lord gave to me is for all the writers that get my writings..we each have a part to play ..the Bible says "Neglect not the gift that is in you"..This time we are in right now in our country is a writers Hay Day..Folks are running wild with confusion..They need a word from the Lord..from His messengers...An inspired word to give the Mothers at home courage..

Part 2 - "The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword."

In Ephesians where it talks about the whole armor of God ..it speaks of the Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God...So the Lord chose writers to publish His Words..Yes a weapon like a sword can influence a group of people ..but the written word can influence the whole world thru a magazine or a book..But for we Believers the Truth must be written down...and be in agreement with the Lords laws the Bible..During the Depression era when the stock market crashed in Oct of 1929`....it seems this hard time brot out the best in many Americans...

Part 3  -  "He Supplies All of Our Needs."

Ya know yrs ago i used a little email machine to send out my letters..i wud get so discouraged thinking no one was reading my emails..Several times i called my internet provider and told them i didnt want the internet any more..I wud call the office and tell them that i wasnt even paying for the internet..They wud tell me "Well someone is paying for it and you are paid up for a year.." i wud say that there was a mistake.They said someone was paying for it with a credit card..i said i dont even own a credit card..They said are you connie Hultquist? i said 'Yes"then they said "You paid for it." I said "No i didnt pay for it.."Well i decided to keep the internet after that..Then i got a regular computer and still someone was paying for it..i kept telling them it was a mistake .but they wudnt listen to me...As time went on someone quit paying for it..But i really think it was a mistake ..i think the computer place didnt know it but they were charging my bill to someone else..and i told them that over and over.But the Lord knows i wud have stopped writing had someone not paid the bill..Yes the Lord does work in mysterious ways..i pay the bill myself now ..as i know the Lord has called me to write..But back 13 yrs ago i didnt know that..Love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Dear Christmas Sisters

{From the Archives of Connie's letters, December 2011.}


Part 1 - "Old Time Friends"

Dear Christmas Sisters..

Last evening i called my old friends,,Ed and Barb Trecek..Ed is almost 90 and Barb is 82 yrs old..Barbara was my mentor along with MaryL.I mean she wasnt like Mary but she was always saying things like "Connie do you have food and everything"? She wud have given me the coat off her back,,She mothered me at 16 yrs old and she is still mothering me and i am 64 yrs old..She and Ed were our neighbors..and their daughter Evie won me to Christ..i was a wild thing..And i was sooo glad to meet Jesus..Well before i was saved i was aways getting picked up for speeding,,always in the newspaper for doin something..reckless driving and tryin to out run the cops..Then i accidentally ran into the Sheriffs car..They wud take my license and i wud go get a duplicate and keep on drivin..Mrs T wud ask me about it and i wud give her a load of crap..And she belived me ,,But after i got saved things were different,,i was asked to give my testimony many times at their home..But Mrs T and Ed her husband have stood with me for many yrs..i ask her and Ed last evening if they wud like to come for Christmas dinner ..Barbara {Mrs T} has such a sense of humor..So when i ask her and Ed to come for dinner she says "Oh no we cant come were old" i have laughed all nite over what she said..And when all the kids were home she wud bring sacks and sacks of food over..And i wud tell her "Oh dont give it to us" i wud try to stop her but she wud say.."Now look at all of those chairs at your table..How do you feed all those kids?"i wud say it was the Lord that fed them..and He took care of us..But i wud tell her "No really we are fine" She wud say "Yeah i know you are..well this is just a few things to tide you over"..Well so now i told her on the phone last nite that i was having about 20 for Christmas Dinner..Ed was on the other phone and they say together "Oh My Gosh" So they love that because now they can give me more food..


Part 2  -  "Christmas Friends"


Anyway Mrs T tells me on  the phone that she is bringing over food for my Christmas company..She and Ed wont be coming to our house for dinner..They want to stay home and will have dinner with the neighbors..i have begged them to come but..i cant get them to..Anyway so Mrs T tells me "Connie i will bring over some pies i have in the freezer.. Cherry and Apple." And she is bringing over a bunch of meat they get from this farm..Like chicken and fresh hamburger..Marys family will be here for about5 days or more so we will use that up..i am so thankful..Then Mrs T  names off a bunch of other stuff and asks me if i need it..i keep sayin "No" but she just keeps goin,,i talked to Danny last nite on the phone and i told him about talkin to Mr  and Mrs T and he laughed with me,,The kids will never forget our good friends..My kids always called Mrs T their Fairy God Mother...Anyway after i got off the phone i laughed and laughed ..i know Mrs T was sayin to Ed.."Connie is havin all those people over for dinner and she prolly dont have any food"...She is so used to me saying i have food when i dont,But now i do have food..Next week i will buy the ham and potatoes and other things i need,, for Christmas dinner...Tiff is bringing a big pan of  her corn casserole and my brother will bring a big pan of green bean casserole..Russ ..MaryLs husband is coming ..MaryL died ya know just 3 yrs ago..I am so happy Russ is coming..He ask me last evening on the phone,,"Connie what shud i bring"? I said "Nothing..we just want you to come"..Russ says "Well i wont   come empty handed,,"Well believe me we will have alot of food..Johnnys wife Lori is bringing loads of Christmas cookies..Mary has made alot of pumpkin bread..i do so love pumpkin bread..i will get to see my new grandbaby  Benjamin John ..John and Loris baby..John and Lori will come for the day and i will get to see Romeo..He is now 9 yrs old..Cant wait to see Baby Bella and Mary and Brad,,Then Tiff and our David and the 2 grands ,,Kam  8 yrs old and David James..5 yrs old...Dan and Jimmy and Chrissy will call on the phone on Christmas Day..It will be wonderful Christmas..

love Connie

 

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

To Stay at Home is Best

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters, September 2009)


Part 1 - "To Stay at Home is Best"

Good Morning Ladies ..It isnt that i want to take you ladies away from your home duties,,But some of the ladies need some personal ministering ,,in order to get back to their homemaking,,So many mothers and wives are so wounded and broken,,i am a widow now and i have a lil more time to counsel then others do,,,My carpenter Andy just called and he and Sabrina are coming this afternoon to give me some estimates on some new windows and doors ,,i need to get them put in before the sideing,,i do have different work to do as an older mother now,,But my work is still at home..It will always be at home ,,Home is where my heart is,,i wrote a quote yesterday from Longfellow it is this,,"Stay..stay at home my heart and rest...Home keeping hearts are happiest..For those who wander,,they know not where ..are full of trouble and full of care..TO STAY AT HOME IS BEST"..i was also thinking of this other quote ..i cant remember it exactly..But the thot was ,,A true teacher isnt happy to teach the same things over and over again ,,But she is happiest when she sees her students teaching what she taught them..There is more to that but i dont remember it,,Yesterday i was looking up that one web sight of Mary Jane Butters,,Well there were some lovely mothers and their homes on there,,i so secretly wish i was like so many of these mothers..But often i am a silly girl,,i dont know if i can ever accept myself as i am,,i mean i am 62..when will i grow up? Well i if i ever do grow up i want to be Mary Jane Butters,,or Beatrix Potter,,or Tasha Tudor,,They had such good imaginations,,i think life just gets ahead of me and i get so overwhelmed and i have to laugh,,i wish i had all my flowers in matching pots but i dont,,i have been busy sitting in the weeds reading books on medicinal herbs,,God knows i never had any money to go to a real Dr..i dont know,,i wish my life had been more organised,,My mother is yelling outta Heaven "AAAAAA-men..And Aunt Toot wants to say as she wipes her tear filled eyes,,"You dont know the half of it,",But folks love to come here,,prolly to laugh,,Thats why Miss Charlotte comes over ,,just to laugh,,Ya know when i went and picked up Mary and Brad from that drug house for the last time and brot them here ,,Oh we were all sooo depressed ,,all 3 of us,,We cud hardly speak,,And as i sat there wandering what to do next,,i said to Brad,,"Make us Laugh Brad,,just make us laugh"..Brad got a twinkle in his eye and said something,,i dont remember what it was,,But it atleast cracked a smile on mine and Marys face,,And from then on Brad kept us laughing pretty much ..Well not all of the time,,but alot of it,,And forgive me but i have to laugh when the knot it my life is the tightest,,Its how i get out of it,,and oh yeah i wanna be perfect and all but well....i aint.!!! And why God ask me to write at all i will never know for sure..

Part 2  - "The Hultquist Home"

Yesterday my carpenters came to talk with me about the next project..I ask
Andy how he was gona manage my ceiling fan on a slanted porch roof? I said
"How will we get the front door open.."? He is a wonderful craftsman and
Sabrina is too,,..i had insulted him,,,He says "Well this isnt Sanfords and
Sons,,If the front door wont open because of the fan i wont put the fan
up,"..Then he says "Trust me you will be able to get in and out the front
door"..Anyway i think i will get a fan that fits right on the ceiling..i
think it is called a hugger fan,,? Everyone that sees my porch says "Andy is
a wonderful craftsman," Miss Charolette came by last nite to sit on the
porch and laugh..Miss Charlottes husband has been out of work for about 4
months i think,,We were all praying for Jay to get this one job..And
yesterday he found out he didnt get it,,He was heart sick,,He is a
wonderrful Christian gentleman,,How sorrowful i feel for him..But Miss
Charolotte says that laughter is the highest form of faith,,and it is,,She
was raised in a good home ,,her dad was a lawyer,,But Char said "Papa never
worried over money and i dont either"..i remember the summer before Jim died
the following Spring,,Jim got so upset he took everything we had worth
sellin and put it in the yard,,I was embarrassed as Miss Charlotte and i sat
in the shade of the neighbors tree drank iced tea and watched Jim..Miss C.
knew we were in dire straights and needed money,,Miss C. said "Connie i find
you interesting whether you are poor or rich..it doesnt make any
difference,"..Well i was glad i was interesting because i was embarrassed to
a nub,,and i wasnt laughing,i am laughing now ,,Jim wud get so desperate at
times,,One of the things he worried most about was his house falling in,,He
used to tell me,,"Connie if we ever moved this house wud be condemned"..Aunt
Toot cried when she saw the porch and the new doors etc,,"Connie ,,Jim wud
be so happy to see this"..And i know he looks down from Heaven and sees this
house,,and i know he is happy with it,i know i drove JIm crazy at times with
my faith,,But i think every now and again he laughed ..And i know he is
laughing now in Heaven,,love Connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Why Me Lord - Faith to Start Again

{From the archives of Connie's letters, October, 2014}

Part 1 (Start Again)

Dear Mothers, Ya know in my early days of walking by faith ...it was hard..ya know ?and a i cud never try to keep the old faith i already had....and add to it..No the Lord wud have me to start again..Ya know when Jim got more time in prison ..i got it too....It was hard to look at the fact that i had already waited 6 yrs and he still wasnt healed ..and now the judge adds another 10 yr sentence..Here i was pregnant ..sitting with Jill listening to the judge announce another 10 yrs..Jill was with me ..i bowed down as if i was to faint..and Jill says "connie ..no dont give up"..Thanks Jill...yes i wud have given up..I wud go home and cry out to God and my regular chant was..."Lord all of the real criminals never get caught" i wud try to announce to God that surely this was all so unfair.."why God why"...The heartache and pain nearly split me in half..and finally i wud pray and ask God to heal our family..God never said to me " Make something out of your old faith..No..He wud say "Connie start again.." It seems that when we are new believers we open our hearts completely to God..We ask for something and we wholly receive it..But as we go on as a believer we open up a smaller part of ourselves to Him..We some how dont trust Him ..We cry out to God.."Father it has been so long..How much longer Lord"..And folks tell us to trust in Him..We think that God has hurt us ..how can we trust in Him? How can we trust in God ... we have only seen heartache ?

Part 2  (Why Me, Lord?)

Of course Jim got a lesser sentence because of good behavior..But still it was extra time..I felt that yrs was taken off my life.. that my 20s were stolen from me...And the believers were out havin a good time...Not seemingly paying for their sins..prospering as they went..!!! And here i was praying and crying and winning souls for Christ..The Lord knew my heart..He knew i hadnt seen any blessings yet..Only heartache..He understood that..So when Jill drove me down to get Jim for the last time i was hysterical with fear that this was not going to work out..i never told Jill i was so fearful. And the Lord spoke to me..."Connie what if this is the time for your miracle to come... The Lord said "What if The Word of God is true "? What if the miracles are true and really available as I have told you? "..i think i just trusted in Him one more time.. Bells and whistles didnt go off when i told God i wud trust Him again and start over again,,,No...but God knew ..the beginning from the end..and God gave me 25 yrs of Joy with Jim ..i was only 32 when Jim got healed and i got to have 3 more children,,,Blessed are those who believe but have not seen,,,i was so blessed for not giving up ..He is a rewarder to those who trust in him......love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Just Being a Housewife

{From the archives of Connie's letters, Nov, 2013}

Well i have put a few things away .Starting slowly to get back into my regular schedule..My family did the dishes before they all headed out for home..i used paper plates..and my best silverware that is gold.. i told my guests that i was using my best gold ware because i was using paper plates and it wud all balance out..i dont know where the logic is there ..but ...well ..it didnt take long to wash the dishes..well for the rest of this evening i want to make some notes for next few days..and next week..I love to get all of my cook books out and decide things to make..i have a quilt that needs to be repaired..i am looking forward to doing some hand sewing..in the evenings..I heard a story about an old woman who was almost 100 yrs old who was making biscuits at her table just an hour before she died..love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Home Library for the Old Time Housewife

{From the archives of Connie's letters, June, 2011}

And ya know i always thot that there wud be enuf food to go around in our
country if push came to shove..But now i dont think so..Seems like things
have gotten so bad lately,,,Alot of the problem is a moral one,,Of course to
me these days we live in now are days to attain knowledge..The Garage Sales
are such a big help..The Bible says that the unbeliever lays up treasures
for the just..That is surely true concerning G,Sales..I used to get all of
my canning supplies at G.sales..And ya know growing your own herbs is not
hard,,Or having a garden of vegetables,,Try to start out with a small
garden,,But think of the Mothers who literally won the battle of hunger in
her kitchen and garden during the Depression Era..These mothers had very
little but they kept their families safe and happy..You can bet your last
bag of potatoes that the mothers didnt run out the door to get a divorce
over what women do now days,,Even a disrupted family is better then getting
a divorce,,Esp in this age..You need your husbands,,But ya know if you can
find good books on Home Remedies and other back to the Land books ,,its good
to buy them right now..Its a good thing to start your own home library,,I
mean yes you cud go to the Public library but to have your own books to
refer to is more handy..And books are cheap at G.Sales.The Pioneer Mothers
had Health books in their cabins to refer to..And some had big Dictionaries
too..And a Family Bible.And the Mothers taught the children to read out of
the Bible..A good book on from scratch cooking is good to own too..Love
connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Papa's Wisdom

{From the archives of Connie's letters, November, 2011}

Part 1

Good morning Ladies,,,,

Ya know lately i have felt so much peace..i got to
thinkin of Papa..I talked to Johnny on the phone yesterday evening,,God
knows i have felt so bad about his divorce and remarriage...It has ripped
my guts out...But i can hear Papa say,,,"Now Connie,,John isnt the first
guy to ever get a divorce,,Ya gotta love him where he is at".. Oh man it
isnt that i dont love him..Its just that i feel for the family he left
behind...I can hear Papa say.."Well you believed in me when i was
crazy,,you can believe for John too"..Oh yes that was always the rules
around here,,You had to love the prodigal child the most ..Oh mercy ,,,John
called yesterday..His wife will be delivering my grandchild pretty soon
here,,i am happy to have this baby boy..i know Papa is smiling in
Heaven,,Oh that man loved his kids and his grandbabies..But if you were a
mouse in my house and heard my conversation with John you wud have only
heard me laughing,,I love Johnny no matter what he does..He has been out of
work ,,but found a good job just yesterday,,While John was looking for a
good job he worked at this Irish restaurant,,I am, laughing as i write
this,,Well everyone in the restaurant was Spanish speaking,,Well John was
the cook and cudnt understand what they were saying,,Well John is a stand
up comedian anyway,,But to put him in an Irish restaurant with only Spanish
speaking people..? Well he has enuf things to laugh about for yrs,Yesterday
as he left the restaurant the manager said "Are you coming back tomorrow"?
John said "Well not if i dont have to..if i have to i will be back" The
manager said "Oh well most people dont come back"....But John assured the
guy he wud only come back if he was desperate..But when John got home he
found out he had this good paying job at this plastic company ...A branch off
of where John used to work before..Its a good job,,i praise God..Anyway ya
know? i can laugh with John because he is not my problem...He is the Lords
man..i know i cant change anyone and make them do what i want,,I mean if
your child is young and under your roof,,you have to make them behave,,But
when our kids get older it is the Lord that teaches them,,MaryL my mentor
taught me this..i cant stay mad at my kids because they dont do what i
say,,i wont distance myself from them,,I walk with them thru the valley of
the shadows..and Jesus walks with me,,MaryL taught me to love my children
unconditionally...See Satan wants us to let go of our kids and stand back
and not give them our hearts..But all we do when we do that is to
disconnect them from the real answer Jesus Christ..Jim used to tell
me.."Well our kids arent any worse then anyone elses kids.." He hated it
when i was out of sorts with one of our kids..Even if he knew they were
wrong he wud stand up for them,,He figured that since they had a Christian
praying mother that they wud be ok,,He didnt think very highly of
himself..But Jim thot that i wud some how pray them thru..But some how i
leaned on Jim and he gave me back to Jesus..

Part 2

But oh how i miss Papa... i mean we cud be in the worst mess ever,,And i
wud be about ready to faint..And Jim wud say to me,,"Oh we will be alright
Connie"..i wud say,,"Are ya sure Jim"? and he wud say "I am sure "..And he
wud say..."We have been thru more than this and made it"..And ya know if
Jim said that to me i wud believe him,..He wud be outta work...And he wud
say,,"Ya know i will work at a temporary place until i find something
better," It wud be evening and we had worried all day..But come evening
Papa wud shut the house down,,He wud turn on the News and tell me "Connie i
am hungry whats for supper"? In other words he was saying "i dont wanna
talk about this anymore.." And i wud get peaceful and i wud go out to my
kitchen and make Hamburger gravy or Creamed Eggs,,And i wud make biscuits
and i opened up a can of green beans and wud heat them up..And we wud
enjoy this meal in peace...We wud watch tv later on ,,and we didnt talk
about our worries..When Jim closed the discussion then that was it,,But of
course i prayed about it to the Lord.And this is what we need to do,.,,Our
husbands cant change things only God can,,So there is no success in arguing
with our husbands,,But then Papa wud go out the next morning and find some
temporary job waiting for his luck to turn around,,Papa wud talk about LUCK
and i wud say "Not Luck Wildman ,,it Gods blessings.."......Anyway as Jim
wud go out the door the next morning he wud say..."Well pray for me
Connie" i wud say " Oh i will"..i am thinkin ,, "Well yeah"!!!!But Jim wud
come home with some job,,about mid morning,,He wud say ,,"Well its not that
good but it will keep food on the table" And it did...And we lived on this
way for many yrs.My security was never in how much money i had in my
purse,,it was in Jims spirit ..He was the priest of our home,,And i felt
that if Jim said "All is well" then it was..even tho it didnt look too well
to me...i felt that if he said it was ..it was...And this freed me to go on
about my business as wife and mother and keeper of the home..Jim didnt
want for me to carry burdens,,In a way Jim protected me so that i cud hear
the Lord..He treated me as tho i was gifted..And he knew he needed my
prayers,,But i needed Wildman as much as he needed me..

Part 3

And ya know...we never fought over who got what..If there was an over flow
of money some how,,?Jim wud want me to get new shoes or a new coat..And i
wud say "No Honey you use the money on yourself.."I guess its just that we
had been to hell and back...and we just wanted things for each other..i
think we just felt compassion for each other..Well when the kids were young
we put their needs ahead of ours..In the last few days i have told the Lord
as i have since Jim died..."Lord i am so glad i cud take this burden of
being alone without my mate,",i cudnt stand it if i was to think i was
leaving Jim alone." Jim wud be so lonely ..i just cudnt bare it.."This was
a burden that one of us wud have to bear,,i dont feel i did enuf for
Jim...or showed him enuf love..So i am glad to bear this loneliness and
suffering for my husband..It is the last act of love i cud do for my
beloved ...i cudnt let Mary die either,,i loved her so..but oh Papa adored
Mary,,i cudnt have let her go for Papas sake too....And oh he loves Johnny
like Mary .,i wont let him go either for Jims sake..Well he loved all 6 of
the kids with all of his heart,,Each one meant something different to both
of us,,i had one miscarriage..And Papa wrote about it in our Family
Bible.He hated losing that baby..Oh how we cried together for another
baby,,And then we had Mary..Papa was getting old as we were having the
final 3 babies..And oh how he wished that his life had been right when he
had the first 3.."I was a fool" he wud say,,,"But Connie prayed for me and
God heard her prayin".. Oh i wudnt have had it any other way,,i loved Jim
and prayed for him for my own sake,,I cudnt live without him...At 19 yrs
old i married my Jim and he was 25 yrs old..And we started a journey
together..and we were married almost 40 yrs..love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Your Vegetable Gardens

Dear Mothers,

Well finally we are getting some rain in Iowa...Chuck came and picked the corn brot it home and froze it..Bonni froze corn for me too...i think she said she froze 4 gallons for her family ..and 4 for me. I pray the Lord blesses Bonni and Chuck for all of their work..i learned to plant corn.. that was a fun experience..,i have never planted corn before..I have always mulched with hay..But Chuck used straw not hay.To me that was better..My tomatoes turned out really well..When you plant your tomatoes just make sure they are really watered well.Like they shud be wet deep down in the soil..like about 4 inches or more deep...Then mulch them with hay of straw...If you mulch really good then the moisture stays in the plant ..so if you have weeks without rain the plant will still grow because of the deep moisture..Thats how my tomatoes did so well..Jill gardens this way.And in the 1980s we had a drought and Jill had an 18 inch around  tomato..Mulching just means that you put hay or grass or straw or whatever around your plant to keep the moisture in the plant..Ruth Stout really made this popular back in the 70s and 80s i think..She made huge gardens and never tilled the soil..In the Spring she wud lay straw on her garden..like a foot deep..Then she wud part the hay and plant the tomato plants.Then water the plant well..Then push the hay close to the stem .But if you are having a wet spring..that wont work the tomatoes will rot from all the moisture.So just push the hay away from the plant and give it air..I used to lay newspaper around my plants after planting ..if it was a wet spring..Newspapers work well because the paper decomposes pretty fast ..i have a friend that used alot of newspaper in her garden for mulch and her garden dirt was fluffy..that was some garden.Also newspaper has something in it that keeps bugs away..love Connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Husband as a Warrior and Fighter

{From the archives of Connie's letters, November, 2011}

Dear Mothers,,

ya know ,,its funny..But lately i have been giving Jims
testimony..But again as i said before,,he is hard to explain,,And yet there
is a truth in there that i want to get out,,i thot if i wrote it i wud some
how get it straight so i cud explain Jim..A few days ago the Lord had me and
my friend talk to this young couple about getting married ...They are
living together and have one child and one on the way,,I gave them mine and
Jims testimony,,,and about our healed marriage..Then i went on to explain
how Jim became new after he got saved..Well the story of Jim before he was
saved kept the kids riveted for sure,,But as i see it but cant exactly
explain it,,it goes like this,Jim was a warrior and fighter before he got
saved,,And some how he brot this warrior mentality into his Christian
life,,Before he met the Lord he some how looked past me,,i was like a fly
on the wall,,Honestly had i dropped dead he wudnt have shed a tear,,I am
not exaggerating,,And after he came to the Lord..i became his treasure..Jim
became a warrior ..a fighter for his family..This is what is hard to
explain..who Jim became.......He sure didnt become like any Christian man i
ever saw,,My boys to some degree have picked up on Jims personality,,i hope
they get all of who Jim was..Like Jim wud tell people "My wife dont need to
work,,she has worked enuf"...Even after the children grew up he didnt want
me to work..He wanted me to be with him most of the time,,i think Jim
became who alot of young men will have to become or they wont make it..It
seemed that Jim armed himself to be a fighter for his wife and children,,, Jim
rarely ever put any of us down or tried to degrade us..Even if John was in
trouble ..Jim wud build John up...John was ours and that was it,,And if i
put one of the kids down for what they did ,,Jim wud tell me i was
wrong..But if the young men of today cud really understand who Jim was
after he got saved they wud find that knowing the Lord is truly an
adventure,, Love Connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Real Homemade Corn Syrup

i live in Iowa ..and this is where alot of the country's corn comes from..So i will freeze some corn and also make corn syrup..I just put the cleaned ears of corn in a big pan and i bring it to a boil on the stove..i let it cook a few minutes..Then i take it out and cut the kernals off with a big knife..i put it in ziplock bags and thats it.Its ready for the freezer..ok then measure the water you cooked the corn in...Then put it through a colander to get all of the leftover corn, or whatever, out..So say its about 6 cups of water you had left..prolly more like 4 or 5..Anyway if it is 4 cups of the corn water strained then put in 4 cups of sugar in the pan with the 4 cups of water..And you bring this water and sugar to a boil and then let it cook a while..Keep stirring it until it thickens and is like pancake syrup..You may want to add a lil salt and some vanilla..Maybe a lil nutmeg..when its done just put it in the frig and it will thicken..You cud just put it in a big jar for the frig..The kids will eat it on pancakes if you dont tell them its corn water..love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Happenings in my Iowa Cornfield

Mr. Possom Loves Corn


Dear ladies, well i wondered what critter was eating my corn...Well i think alot of critters were eating the corn..i think maybe it was deer .Also we put a live trap out and we caught a big possom..Granny on the HillBilly show wud know how to fix a possom ..but i pass on that one..No possom soup for me..well i tried to set the possom free because i didnt think the possom cud do all that much damage..But now as i think back on it..i think maybe it cud.Well so my neighbor came over and he let it go..As the possom ran out i know he was thinkin."First they put me in a cage then they let me out"...well anyway Jimmy called last evenng from Australia..i was telling him about Possom..and how i ask the neighbor to help me with getting the Possom out of the trap..Jimmy has this dry wit and he said "Well Mom ..you were fortunate to be able to call someone who knew all about possoms." Oh the lowly possom...Well its a live trap..You trap the possom then you take him out to the county and let him go...it dont hurt him any..Well yesterday morning after i saw Possem was caged Christiane Joy called..She got all upset and said the possom wud starve to death..Then Mary called and said he was prolly dying of thirst...i was going to leave him in the trap for a while to see if i thot it was a possom that ate alot of my corn..But i did nt want the ugly creature to suffer..Then the neighbor wanted to kill it with a shovel..i said "Well what if you just wounded it and it ran off with half its head gone?'so we just let him go.He ran right for the corn..Chuck said next year he wud put up an electric fence..Then Mary and Christian will cry for the possom if he gets electricuted...love Connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Our Cowboys

Part 1  Learning to Walk in the Spirit


Good Morning Ladies,Just want to write a few thots on marriage.It seems so many think that the scriptures on marriage mean nothing..Titus 2 basically says that the older women shud teach the young women to be sober minded ..They shud teach them to love their husbands and love their children that the Word of God be not blasphemed..Well yes the Word has been blasphemed through the church..See Joyce Myers seems harmless enuf..But we dont have the Proverbs 31 woman to balance her out..i know Joyce preaches on why she couldnt be the virtuous woman..She gets the audience to laughing ..at what? the virtuous woman.. As a young wife and mother i learned the fruits of the Spirit through housewifery ..I learned patience through motherhood...Dying to self comes naturally to a mother who is up every nite all nite taking care of a sick baby.Gal 5;22 .The fruit of the Spirit is Love , Joy, Peace , longsuffering , Gentleness, goodness and faith. . Meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. verse 25 says ..And if we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit..

Part 2   Marriage

Marriage is a covenant ..its a spiritual law and a physical law..its even a law of the land..Thats why you have to go to court to get a divorce..This law means less and less in our world today..But back in the 1950s when i was growing up ..it was much harder to get a divorce.Then someone changed the law and the courts said you cud get a divorce for mental cruelty...But you had to prove it..And as time went on then it was easier and easier to prove..and now you can get a Divorce over anything..What i see happening in Christiandom is the wife puts up with her husband for a while.then she gets bitter and divorces him..Jesus said that He allows Divorce because of hard hearts..Not for freedom..but because our hearts get bitter with unforgiveness...and that bitterness is dangerous to a believer..Ya know too when you marry it is a contract..between you and God..and your husband..It says the contract can only be broken thru death..

Part 3  All is Well


Ya know i fight daily to keep on going..Yesterday as i prayed i saw clearly ..that if i didnt give up i wud see His glory..Oh i know this ..yes...i have seen this before..But it is a fight to stay up ..and to understand that weeping last for the nite but JOY comes in the Morning..But ya know? Jesus has rescued me many times..and oh the Victories have been grand..Its like when ya dont give up and you keep goin ..the Lord shows you things..Like He shows me so clearly once the smoke has cleared He seems to say ""Connie i was there all the time.." So long ago as i suffered in my marriage..i had no idea that Jesus was with me..But then NOW i see my writings going to over 80 countries..In those yrs of such brokenness i wud pray for Kenya in Africa..i had no idea i wud ever meet someone from Kenya..And i did hear from Kenya in an email..A lady said she wanted to be friends..But God heard my prayers...I just felt so alone in my early days of walking with  God..But truly He never left me ..He was with me in those dark days..He watches us in the arenas of life..he protects us,,Each days manna is perfect enuf for that day.Truly all is well and all is good things are moving as they shud..

Part 4  Our Cowboys

Ya know Ladies ? Mercy when i think of our world..well our USA..? i think "Oh what a mess"..But what an opportunity to be a weapon in the hands of the Lord. To build a strong nation we need strong homes..To change a country we need good mothers..But what i believe is the greatest need is men who are strong and wise..and ladies we are throwing these guys out the door by the truck loads..and our society is all for it..Every man is a supposed verbal abuser...i mean yes some men are verbal abusers ..and the wife is being destroyed by him..But i am speaking to the every day family..All men are not evil..Back in the cowboy days ..the bad guy cud always be won over by the lady of the hour..Folks wud say "Well Rose will tame him down,,wait until he is married and has a couple kids ,,that will tame him.." The woman was put up on a pedestal..She was the Angel, the guardian of the kitchen..She was the STAR of the Home..Now days is different..The Cowboy is told when and where he can ride his horse or if he can at all..and its sad..i never heard my mother tell my dad to clean up the house or do the wash..Dad took care of us when Mom was sick or something,,,But to give him regular housework to do..? never..!! How can women do that ? How unromantic..i mean if he wants to do it then fine..But to work all day and come home to a wife who expects him to vacuum ? Oh thats awful..the big lie is that womens housework is not important..womens work is important..Mother shud stay home and tend to her own business..her children ..

Part 5    Jesus is Lord

Anyway the Bible tells we mothers to honor our husbands..to reverence and praise them..That they are as Jesus Christ in the home..We are to submit to them..".Well what if he comes in drunk "?Well if he dangerous then call the police,,if he is quiet about it,,then go on about your business and pray about it..If you stay out of sin when he comes in ....then thats good..The Lord sees all these things..But the main thing is that we build a spiritual Christian home..We need to commit to this...To build Christian homes..To change our Nation we need to change our minds ..Do we want a Christian Nation? Well it will be one home at a time..Our nation now is in such deep sin....its a wonder we havent been destroyed yrs ago.So far what has happened to our nation because we havnt obeyed God..?Millions of children have been aborted by their MOTHERS..Not to mention many children are raped and beatin half to death..We are raiseing generations of women who dont care about their own children,..They have to be reminded not to leave their kids in a locked car in hot weather ,,,and the babies suffocate..Oh God help us..! Wouldnt it be easier to obey Gods laws? Wouldnt it be easier to take the lower seat in humility...then to worry about womens rights ? Because believe me dear Feminist..you will bow ..one day you will bow to a man ..His name is Jesus Christ!!!! Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord..love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

The Controlling Husband

Ya know on tv you hear women throw around the phrase, "Well my husband is controlling.." Well of course he is ..he is a man..Men love to tell the little woman what to do....

Ya know when we had troubles in our marriage ..my husband didnt even notice me hardly..He didnt even come home from work to boss me around..He lied to me and hurt me deep inside..He didnt care what i thot as long as i stayed out of his way...

But then one nite as he was doin time in prison, an angel appeared in his cell...It was in the 1970s..There were riots in the prison for a few months..Guards were held hostage..The prison was on the News every day..People were being killed ...it was terrible.But that is when Jim came to the Lord...

Other experiences led to his decision to give his life to the Lord..but this was one of them too....But when Jim had done his time he came home a new man..Praise God !!!...

As a new man in Christ he had an opinion..and he let me see his heart...i was so glad he became controlling..i wanted someone to care enuf for me to have an opinion..and to care about what i did..and what the children did.

Thank God for men who are controlling and can be strong enuf to make a decision..and take the leadership place in the home..love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

The Wounded Heart and The Promised Land

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters, March, 2012.}


Part 1    To Live is Christ and to Die is Gain


Dear Mothers,,it seems so many are going thru such emotional trauma...
Rarely does God use a person who has not gone thru something..We dont learn much in the days of prosperity,,We learn to follow God in the days of darkness and despair..As we cry out to
God we pull on the hem of His garmet..He hears us as virtue goes out of
Him...The Broken Heart seems to need Him all the time..The wounded heart
crys out to God.. and He is touched by the feelings of our infirmities..We
finally see that the world has no answers for us..and we learn to turn only
unto God...No matter how many people are around us we feel alone..And the
Lord in all of this is teaching us that there is only one God..In this way
He shows us that He alone is the only one who has the power to mend our
hearts..He kept trying to talk to us but we cudnt hear Him..And now with
everything so dark about us we Hear the Lord..He calls us to His table and
tells us He will supply all of our needs according to His riches in
Glory..The lesson is from the Lord is "Follow Me and only Me"..He has come
to bind up the broken heart and to set the captive free..He is our
emotional healer..He uses our broken hearts to show us great and mighty
things ...He says "Call on Me and i will answer you and show you great and
mighty things that you not of.." As we begin to see only Him..As we gaze
upon Him and only see the world out the corner of our eyes then He has our
attention,,He pulls us into Place..He calls us to the Secret Place of the
Most High God..He begins to share His life with us..The Bible says "For me
to live is Christ and to die is gain.." Our flesh has to die so that Christ
can live in us..MaryL used to tell me,,"Connie we go through cycles or
seasons all the time,,The Lord shows us our sinful flesh and we deal with
it thru a death experience,,And then after we die to ourselves then He
raises us up to walk in a newness of life.." We died upon the cross with
Christ and then we were raised up ..The Bible says "For i am crucified with
Christ,,Never the less i live..And the life i now live i live by the
faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave His life for me..But the
death experience doesnt last forever,,It is one of the steps to the
abundant life,,The Lord calls us thru our brokeness to a banquet table
where all of our needs are met according to His riches in Glory.

Part 2   The Promised Land

Once we have lived in such heartache and confusion ? Its hard to realize
that we are going THROUGH a problem ..The heart ache is not the answer God
has given us..But it is a step to the abundant life..Oh how we wrestle with
God ..We are as little birds with broken wings..We hop on a branch and
wait for the wind to blow so that we can take flight to fly like an
eagle.We refuse to REST..or TRUST in the Lord...We cry and fight the Lord
and confess our wing is not broken but it is broken.. We think there has to
be an answer to this and yet there is not..And the little broken wing 
hurts..And in the night we cry and cry to God and show Him our
brokeness,,We wake up the next morning and all is the same,,we think,,But
it is not all the same,..We are dying to self..its the death experience
like what Jesus went thru on the Cross..We cry and pray as Christ did in
the Garden,"Lord i cant drink from this cup"...And at Our Cross we cry out
"Lord ,,Lord why have you forsaken me"?..This is our death,,If you can
understand your trials then it isnt a death experience,,If you have no
control it is the death experience..If all you have to show to God is empty
hands,,its the death experience,..And the Lord then raises us up to walk in
newness of life..Old things will pass away,,And behold all things become
new,,We now enter a land of Milk and Honey..the Promised Land.. The Giants
are Big..But we have been thru the fire and thru the flood..And we learned
in the Valleys of Depression that God is our Provider..We have been
purified with many trials and afflictions,,We are no longer afraid of
Giants..We are now afraid of not doing His will..He has shared with us His
secrets..He who dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High will abide
under the shadow of the Almighty..In the Secret Place where we came to
cry,,the Lord has healed us...And now..we mount up on wings as an EAGLE.We
run and are not weary..we walk and do not faint...

Part 3  The Promised Land

But ya know it seems the trial was so long and the way so dark.We think
the darkness will never go away,,Even tho we have been delivered and placed
into the Promised Land,,But it does go away,,The Lord will give you new
armor..and you will walk in a newness of life..God will show you all of the
Promised Land..It is the Secret Place...Psalm 90;15 Make us glad according
to the days wherein thou has afflicted us..and the years wherein we have
seen evil....Love connie

 

 

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Serious Talk on a Covenant Marriage

Part 1  Marriage

Lately i am so surprised how the teachings on marriage are so watered down ..not to mention that most of the teachings are even a form of witchcraft..Rebellion is the same as Witchcraft...A Christian marriage is to be a Covenant marriage..its a promise you made to God that you wud be faithful until death..Then Christian women tell me ."Well Oprah said this or that." well when did Oprah get right with the Lord"? She has a live in boyfriend ...come on ladies !!! Then people tell me that they read all the books on verbal abuse...and these people know whats up[supposedly}...Um who is our King of kings and Lord of Lords?Last i heard there was a scripture that reads "every knee shall bow and tongue confess that JESUS IS LORD TO THE GLORY OF GOD. Gods Word is being blasphemed to the worst degree..Simple truths in the Word are no longer important in todays churches..This thing about verbal abuse...What a piece of crap this is..Ok i thot the feminists were  supposed to be as strong or stronger than men? Yet if her husband ask her to pick up a toothpick and hand it to him she wud coil and cry and say her husband was trying to make a slave out of her..


Part 2  Marriage

The Feminist says she can do anything a man can..Well except she cant take any kind of a different opinion ..Her opinion is the one God told her was right..supposedly..No one has the right to take a womans mind..Your mind is your own,,i mean someone can come and tell me apples are oranges all day and nite..i may say politely.."Oh isnt that nice" But no one can make me believe it..I am responsible for my own mind..The Bible says that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but powers and principalities and wickedness in high places..i mean some of you women have been opened up to Satan..You think you need to fight your husbands but it is the devil you need to come against..Satan is your enemy..Marriage is a holy union..we must honor it..I know some women are really verbally abused...But most are not..But all the women i talk to act like they have to make sure their husband does the dishes as much as they do...etc,,It doesnt matter that he works a full  time job..These wives have been sold a bale of hay...and they just follow the first wing nut who tells them they are a bused because they cant watch tv all day..You women are treating your husbands like they are children and must he watched or he might do something he likes to do..like play golf..? its crazy..and ya know something..we as women are gonna pay in the end for the way we have treated our men..We as women have wonderful gifts that teach us to be keepers at home..We are to teach our husbands and children as we walk out the meek and quiet Spirit...

Part 3   Our Beloved Homes

We live in such hard times....its so hard to be with mothers who use the word Fu--.. in every sentence and in front of their children...i cry every day for our country to change..But i dunno..If it gets more and more wicked..how will we live in it..? Lets not let the home go down without a fight..."If my People who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray...Then I will heal their land.."Its the Christians in this scripture that are called to do something..to humble themselves and pray...not the unbeliever..we as believers can change our country..we used to be a Christian Nation...A Nation is made up of homes,,A true Godly Nation is made up of Christian homes who are called by His Name..July 16th our David died..It has changed our lives..It made us love the ones left behind more then ever..Of course its only been a few months, since he has been gone,,i dont know yet what will all come out of it..how all of us will change..But our Country  of America..!!! oh it has to change..The Mothers in our country used to be our first teachers..Lord please call teachers to call back the mothers whose hearts are teachable and able to learn ......let us know, Lord, our places in you..love connie


* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

A Morning Homemaking Visit

Good Morning Ladies,

Lately i have been thinking about Household schedules again...Ya know when i was a young housewife i used this schedule from this little book a friend gave to me...One of the most important things i read from this book was this......Start your evening meal preparations right after breakfast...Like for me today..i plan to have Sloppy Joes for supper this evening..and a Pasta salad...So i will fry the hamburgar and cook the pasta this morning..Tomorrow afternoon i am having 2 friends over for lunch..I have to vacuum livingroom and dining room and scrub the bathroom etc...So i am going to make the Salad and the sloppy Joe mix this morning..while doing my cleaning....That way i can make an evening Sloppy Joe sandwich to see if it is good enuf for company .Haha! No.. i am making enuf for several meals...along .with the Pasta Salad too.... Another easy fun thing to do is to just clean the kitchen and scrub the kitchen floor as  you cook,, each day..i used to always have a sink load of dishes to wash when i got up in the morning,,So most of the time i had to wash the dishes before i cud cook..No big deal,,just do it...............................ok heres the recipe for the Sloppy Joes...Now i must tell you... this friend of the kids said these were the best Sloppy Joes he ever had,,A pound of cooked hamburgar mixed with a can of tomato soup is all it is...Heat it up of course..Well that is a simple recipe ..and with 6 kids thats all the time i had .on some days...But now that i have more time i wud put a squirt of mustard in it...Some pepper and a lil brown sugar and salt ..just a bit...And the macaroni salad is so simple..Just cook the macaroni and when its done just put it in a bowl,..Put in alot of raw cut up veggies and add Italian dressing ..Stir it up and put in frig to let the flavors mix together..and to chill.. For veggies i will put in a red tomato from my
garden..and a purple onion..Broccoli and yellow and orange peppers...Have a good day ladies...love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Lecture on the Commitment of Marriage

Dear Wives,

There is so much false teaching on marriage lately..it's pretty simple really..it's like, are you going to stay married because what? Husband is still cute..? or he still supports us ? ..Or he is a good father? Or what? Well all of these answers will work for a while..i mean to keep you married for a while...Until your husband isnt cute, but bald..or a good Father, or whatever..But the answer for the believer shud be that you will stay married because you promised God that you wud,,

It's a commitment to Jesus that you will stay married until one of you dies..

What God has joined together let no man separate.. "No" means some outside person like in adultery.......But also it means not you or your husband shud separate..i mean i think you can agree to separate for a while to fast and pray..But then you are to reconcile..it doesn't mean, "Oh good my husband got drunk last nite, i can marry my neighbor."

And sure i wud separate from a man who was a danger to my children or to me..But this stuff about verbal abuse is a heeehaw riot to me...What are some of you thinking..?

These women that are too pansy a-- to stand up for themselves, at least in there thots ....i mean enuf to know you aren't who this nut says you are..You arent stupid or lazy or whatever he calls you....come on girls, get a spine..Stand up for JESUS..

What are you gonna do when the rubber hits the road and we have to make a statement for Christ?..Are you going to deny Christ and call Him a verbal abuser? If you cant stand up to some poor bum who has lucked out as your husband, "just a human being" made of muscle and blood...? Then how will you stand up to a demon? And guess what our generation will probably see demons,,,And guess what you better get familiar with the full armor of God in Ephesians..and satan wont run and hide from you when you call the name of Oprah...He will only run when you call the name of JESUS...Our husbands are as  Jesus in our homes..Honor Him in your home..Take directions from him..Let the redeemed of the Lord say so..Love connie



  * Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Mom and her Sisters in the 1950's

Part 1 Mom and Aunt Eileen


My Mother had such a sense of humor when we kids were young..One time when we were going to visit moms sister Eileen..My mom said "Well Eileen ask me to pick up 3 sandwiches from that new restaurant up town and bring them for our lunch.." Then Mom looks me square in the eye and says"Well now Eileen wont pay me for these sandwiches..she will make me pay for them some how."..I said "Oh Mom you always say that" ..Anyway so we buy the sandwiches and bring them to Eileens house..Mom is still crabbin about the sandwiches as we walked up to Eileens door...So we greet Eileen and come in the house and sit down..We had our sandwiches and all.. Then Eileen speaks up "Now Velma{my mom} how much were the sandwiches? i need to pay you"..and Mom says "Now Eileen i already paid for the sandwiches".........Eileen says "No Velma ..it was my turn to pay for lunch..now how much was it"?And mom says "I didnt pay any attention to how much it was..just forget it" so Eileen got sick of arguing about it and said "Well thanks Velma..but next time its my turn to pay"...So we ate our lunch and on the way back home Mom looks at me and says "See i told ya didnt i that Eileen wudnt pay for those sandwiches"..So that was the life and ways of my aunt Eileen and Mom..


Part 2  Southern Belles


Our son Jimmy always said his grandmother and mother were like southern Bells...Mom {Velma} wud serve Apple pie in the livingroom..And as were getting ready to eat it Mom wud say to Jimmy...." Jimmy wudnt you like some vanilla icecream on your pie"? and Jimmy wud say "No Thanks Grandma"..Pretty soon we all caught on and said to Mom"Mom wud you like some icecream on your pie"?..To this she said "Well yes i wud take just a little bit of icecream on my pie..Mom had gotten older and wasnt feeling the best..So she didnt feel like getting up..But she was hoping someone else was going to have a bit of icecream on their pie..That way she cud chime in and take" just a little" icecream on her pie...Jimmy said that Gramma always ask him a question...Like "Jimmy are you going to wear those pants to school? they arent dirty are they.?.Maybe a little smudged in the back "?Jimmy always said the women in Iowa were more soft spoken then the ones from NYC,,.i was
quiet..at times..But i knew how to get attention.....Well it was about 1950 ..Mom had heard on the radio about KID NAPPERS..i was about 3 or 4 yrs old..i was out in the yard playing and for no reason i screamed my head off ..just to get attention i think...So mom was in the back of the house cleaning and heard me screaming outside..She came running out and grabbed me...and held me...Why were you screaming ? "she asked me.. i said" i didnt know" Well Mom thot i was being kidnapped...


Part 3  Aunt Lucille

Mothers other sister was Aunt Lucille..One time mom ask her to babysit for me and my brother Scott....Well Lucille had a daughter who was 5..a son mike who was 2 i was 3 and scott was a baby...So at lunch time Lucille sees that she doesnt have bread..She was goin to make hot dog gravey with cherry Kool-aid.."Our Favorite".Well Diane was sick and the oldest..So she cudnt go to the store for bread,,So Aunty has me go to to the store..since i am the next oldest..i am all of 3 yrs old..Aunty put Mike in the window to report on me,,,He is 2 and says "Mom ..Connie is goin the wrong way"..Well i never did get to the store,,i just walked around all day..That evening as i was reported missing.... a woman found me in front of her house..and called the police..Mom thot i had been kidnapped.......The police brot me home on their motor cycle...i sure had fun,,They bot me an icecream cone too,,When i saw Mom i was so glad..i jumped into her arms and wrapped my
legs around her waist...i didnt want to let her go...love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Edgy Housewives

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters, February, 2010.}

Part 1 Starving Artists



And oh mercy we were poor when we raised our kids,,But God has a sense of humor..Sis called yesterday,,"Mom i will be on the cover of a NYC magazine for being the most creative dresser in NY," then she says "Nothing has changed ,,i still buy all my clothes at the Salvation Army"..Sis says she has been poor lately ,,but she says "I love being poor it makes me more creative,," Sis says "I love it Mom" i said i loved it too,,i always tell her that starving artists always do the best work,,Ya know they HAVE to create,,or starve,,No i dont always agree with my girl..or she with me,,i use her nick name "Sis" on here as she is quite the girl in NY,,Tiff had told me about the magazine on Wed when i visited Davids family,,i was waiting for Sissy Joy to call me and tell me herself,,,"Well i tried to call you MOm but the line was busy"..NO one ever calls me unless i am in the bath tub,,usually,,Anyway i was a starving artist too as a mother of 6 children..And most of we moms who homeschool on one income are starving artists,,But its an adventure,,Sissy says "Money gets in an artists way"..And she says "Never create anything for money..it stops the flow of your imagination",,D.I.Y "Do it yourself" is the word on the NYC street,,Well thats good ,,i guess i am"IN" for now..Sissy says her and her husband eat better when they are out of money,,She said "We eat healthier"..They eat alot of fresh vegetables and fruit and loads of beans for protein,,And rice and almost no meat but chicken and fish occasionally..No dairy products,,But ya know what my theory on all of this is,,? Eat at home and make everything from scratch,,Pray over it and tell the Lord "Hey this is the best i can come up with today,,please bless it"..But ya know you can buy a ton of dried beans and rice for almost nothing,,And their is alot of protein in a bag of dried beans,i am cutting out the sugar and soda ,,for starters,,


Part 2  Edgy Housewives

But lets see ourselves as artists,,Lets get an edge and wear what we want as wives and mothers,,This winter i have barely worn my skirts,,Its been so cold,, i do long for my long skirts and my head coverings i bot lately at the Salvation Army,,Mothers used to wear their aprons all day,,And if they had to go some place they put their coats on over their aprons and dress,,And women used to put snow pants on under their skirts if they had to go out to feed the chickens or in my case to shovel the walk,,My hair at 62 is still long,,i kept thinking each morning,,"Well one of these days i will have to cut it,,and be old"..But God reminded me that all the old-fashioned mothers used to have long hair,,And they put it up in a bun on their heads,,Aunt Toot tells loving stories about her Grandma Bible,,Tootie wud spend the nite at her house as a young girl,And Gram Bible wud brush and braid her own long hair before bed,Toot said she loved watching her Gram brush her long gray hair and braid it,,How comforting for a child to see,,When i was a girl we were told to brush our hair each day a 100 strokes to keep it healthy,,,And we used a vinegar rinse on it,,to get all the soap out..Tiff has long hair and she says "I am never cutting it again"..i tell her i love my long hair too..Tiff says its her security blanket..Often women with long hair say it is their covering,,But lets see ourselves as Sisters of a New Revolution,,Women with an edge and a cause,,"Housewives and Proud of it"..Lets get a lil cheeky and snappy and be proud to be starving artists with a cause hu? Lets be humble and polite but lets show our creative edge ..Lets be quiet submissive wives with an edge like steel..Rebels of this worlds religion,,Lets be more afraid of what God thinks of us then what the world thinks,,What does our husbands think of us ? and our children,,? What is their report? love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

The Fight of Free Thinking Christian Mothers

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters, February, 2010.}


Part 1  Free Thinkers

Ya know the feminist thinks she is the free thinker and can do better then a man,,The true Biblical woman of God submits to one man,,her husband,,The feminist submits to her boss at work and many other men in authortiy ..She allows a man who isnt her husband to run her life,,often her boss,,What she is doing is building another man or woman's kingdom instead of her own family's..The married wife at home can teach her own children her faith and values,,She has time to pray her little handmaidens and Samuels into the Kingdom of God..And i know some women have to work,,But the push for success shud be "How can i stay home with my children"? and not "How can i get a better raise at work"?

 The true radical thinker ,,the free thinker is the beloved housewife,,She is as wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove,..And if her husband is given to fits of anger,,? She is wise enuf not to react in front of the children,,She never brings fear to the camp as the strange woman does..The feminist wants to bring the house down because someone hurt her feelings,,But the wise woman remains silent in front of her accusers,,she has little ones who are watching,,She has taught them to be peace makers,,Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called the children of God..

In this age ,,in this Me generation,,we forget even what it means to be a true woman of God..We think a woman of God is one who knows how to forget the family and go to church,,And if we say anything against the C.F. movement then we are supposedly bringing decention to the body of Christ,,Well for starters every church isnt just made up of one body of Christ,,The body of Christ is scattered all over the world..and in Heaven,,No one church can make up the whole body,,And John the Baptist wasnt exactly part of the church,,He was raised in the wilderness prolly by his mother,,As his father the priest was into a bunch of religion and not the true spirit of God..Mary Jesus mother wasnt all that popular at church either,,Elisha killed off 100s of false prophets,,There were very few true prophets of God..One of the ways i judge a prophet in this day is if he begs for money,,If he does i wont listen to him..he is off my list,,If he trys to hoodwink the believer that really ticks me off,,Like if you dont tithe you wont get healed,,i give my money to the poor..i have been healed many times and i never paid anyone for the healing,,never once,,And i have seen many prayers answered but havent darkened the door of a church in months,,i write all of this because i see so many hurting mothers who are so oppressed by the worldly church,,They are depressed and despondant,,Not to mention confused,,

Part 2  The True Christ


The true woman of God gets up in the morning and prays ,,"Lord, please help
me to submit to my husband and to be an example to my children..Help me to
look well to the ways of my household..Help me to mind my own buisness and
to keep my mind on the Lord."

 Then you go to Wed prayer meeting where keeping your mind on the Lord means go to Women's Bible Studies all week,,And Jez tells ya, "Well we have to put the Lord first and do His will and not our own"..Or "Cant your kids do without you for one day while you get filled up
with the Lord"? So in other words, Lady, spending my morning with you tellin
me a load of crap is gonna some how make me a better Christian ?

 i remember this one lady always grabbin me at the store,,"Connie please honor the Lord
and come to church?" i wud smile and be polite..Another woman right after
Jim died said ,,"Well now atleast you can go to church." Thinking i didnt go
because Jim made me stay home,,But this is the deal ,,You may think i am
awful for sayin all of this,,But Elisha murdered hundreds of false prophets
..Very few were true prophets,,,A church is a place where as few as 2 are gathered in His name,,Lately i am so aware of the true believers in my midst,,MaryL was such a true believer,,When you were around her, you thot you cud do anything for God..Nothing is impossible
with God,.And she taught me to love,,No it doesnt sound like i love
Christians from reading this,,But i love the true believers,,And i fight
against the devil who is the killer of the true Christian's spirit..Religion
kills and the True Spirit of Christ makes us come alive..

Part 3  The Fight of Faith

And i had a heck of a time raiseing 6 children..i homeschooled 4 of them and
had the school board taking up my time for almost a yr,And other things too
concerning homeschool..i had religious folks laying bondage on me,,Jim and i
were trying to build a marriage after unreal circumstances,,i was trying to
raise my kids for the Lord and my relatives were croakin at me about "When
will you ever make something of yourself"? and "YOU ARENT PREGNANT AGAIN ARE
YOU"? And as always i had the poor at my door needing me for some kind of
comfort,,i always ministered to people no matter what,,

Then every few months Jim let me use the car for the afternoon and i wud sneek down a country road
without my license and get filled up with the Lord at Dixies house,,And she
barely let me in ..she said i had demons of C.F. and i spose i did,,But she
rebuked them before i got in her house,,It felt so good,,i wud say "Do that
again"..i wasnt insulted,,It wasnt like i wanted to keep my demons,,Dixie
wud say "Connie are you believein for a farm"? you need to get out of that
city"..Dixie was always prayin for a snow storm so no one wud come to her
house,,She wud tell me.."Those church women were here again tryin to get me
to church"..Folks wud burn roads of fire to our houses tryin to get us to
church,,If i hadnt been atleast a free thinker i wud have never made it,,i
honestly never wud have made it to any kind of sanity,,Because ya know the
women coming into the church are taught mainly one thing first,,"Go to
church and tithe"..Most of them dont know about being a keeper at home,So
they see the mother at home who is dedicated to teaching her children the
Word,,and they think the mother is in sin,,

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Field of Dreams

Dear Mothers, ya know when i told you about the cornfield i have in the backyard? Well the corn is about up to my waist..some is taller..It looks so good..but it hasnt rained in about 6 days..But i have watered once,,,It shud rain tonite..Anyway the Lord keeps reminding me "If you build it they will come,,," I said to the Lord "Who is "THEY" Lord..???i was looking at the cornfield...And Jesus whispered .."Your children"..Well later on i told Mary about what Jesus said...And she said "Mom i was thinking how neat it would be to keep the house in the family and use it as a place us kids can all come to for the holidays etc..She meant when i pass away...and move to Heaven...Because all of my children are all in different states...and Jimmy lives in Australia...But this old house can call them home as always...

My grand children will be able to play in the Magnolia tree as my children did..Little Mary knew all the names of the herbs and flowers in our yard..when she was only about 5 yrs old...Most of our kids love gardening,,they wud love to keep up with things here...i love this old house..Oh if the walls cud talk..i bet Mary will write and Christiane Joy too about the old time fun we had here..What a joy my children are to me..They arent perfect ...well we know that,But ya know Papa thot they never did anything wrong..Oh how our hearts ache right now as we miss David ...But he will always be in our hearts..i tell my kids "Take care of yourselves..i cudnt stand to lose any more of my family..".Yes my cornfield is a Field of Dreams...As i keep building on to this house i show my children how to dream and believe God for miracles..love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Crying out for the Older Titus 2 Mother

Part 1  My Life

This morning i walked slowly out to my garden. . .my cornfield...i feel so tired inside.  i feel like an old woman now. When i was a young woman. . i cried continually for the older woman to teach me . . to help me ..i was a young stay at home mom on welfare. . My husband was gone most of the time. . i cried out to the older woman to comfort me . . i had no one. . And i finally at 50 yrs old stopped crying out to the older woman and i became her ...i became the older Titus 2 mother. . i am 67 yrs old now. . So i have been writing now to the younger stay at home mom for 27 yrs..

Part 2   Partakers of Christ

A few days ago i got an email from a missionary in some country i never heard of..i accidentally deleted it. .{Nice goin connie}...This man really encouraged me. . He said .."Connie please dont ever give up your writings". . He said "Keep writing across your nation and in my country"..It must have been from someone who gets Nancy's magazine "Above Rubies"...i feel as i write this.... a very grave feeling..Like its a time to really get right with God..Our dear America...Oh i feel such a mourning in my heart for our great Nation. . i cry out to God for courage. . For supernatural courage...i for one feel empty and lost after losing David...Johnnys family then came back for the 4th. . John made me laugh. . The grandchildren made me laugh too..But John is very sorrowful about David..we all are..We miss him now but will miss him more as time goes on. . i ask the Lord "How will i go on?".i guess i will find out hu? Jesus is real in every situation. . and he is our answer to every heartache..All is well and all is good and things are moving as they shud..The Lord is still on His throne. . and by faith it is well with my soul..love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Vengeance is the Lords (Judging Others)

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters, June, 2014.}


Dear Wives and Mothers , Thank you for all the prayers and cards .Oh My mercy ! Ya know so often we want to lash back at people who hurt us ..But we have to wait on the Lord for Him and His judgement..Lately i had a person judge me for being seen with a known prostitute...Well when this man judged me i didnt try to stand up for myself..This was about a yr ago..But on the day of Davids memorial this man said to me.."i really misjudged you..So many have told me today that you are a wonderful person.. .They said that you have touched their lives in some way"..I am learning so much lately about how we need to let God fight our battles..and that He is the true judge..love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Good Morning Mothers

Part 1  Good Morning Mothers

Its a bright sunny day here in Iowa today..Its a new day ..This morning i will be going to my friend Pams house to teach she and her husband to play chess..I have been up early this morning praying and writing..i think it is time to rebuild the walls at the Hultquist Homestead..Weeping lasts for the nite but JOY comes in the morning...i am thankful today to be a homemaker and mother..i know that "All of my children are taught of the Lord and great is their peace"..i spent alot of time with David in homeschool..i know that he knew the Lord..Each school day we started the day with Bible reading ....When i ask questions about what the Bible meant about what we had read he always knew the answers..At the time he was the most spiritual of all of my children..I know now that he is with Jesus in Heaven..I know he is safe with God and His angels..He will never be in another accident as he is with the Lord ..Safe in the arms of our Shepard..Safe in the arms of God..I can rejoice ..All is well..

Part 2   Sewing


When Danny was here he broke his sunglasses..He tried to fix them and couldn't.."Whats a Rock Star without his shades?...Well anyway i was thinking about the children when they were young and how we were always fixing sunglasses in the summer time.This is how i did it..i wud get out my needle and thread and sew the ear pieces back onto the glasses..You just thread the needle thru where the screw is supposed to be..and thread it thru.Do this over and over until the tread is strong enough to hold the ear pieces on.Then at the end tie a knot around it and cut off the stray threads..The children and i sewed alot..We had my Sewing Basket out where it was handy each day..Love Connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

It is Well with My Soul

Part 1  He is the Truth

Good Morning Ladies,Well i guess the name of the game is to never give up..It doesnt matter who wins the most but who is still standing when the smoke has cleared away..Because it is Jesus who is to be glorified and not us.And as long as we hold our banners high we are not losers...We have glorified and magnified the Truth...Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life..No man or woman comes to God except through Jesus and His finished work at the cross..God doesnt use perfect people to do His work..let me tell ya !!! i am an accident going some place ,,i even scare myself..And some how the Lord uses me...and He will use you too if you let Him.Ask Him to forgive your sins and to come into your heart to be the Lord of your life..


Part 2   John's Firecrackers


i feel so glad to get back to my writings..For you who dont know our dear son David died in a car accident a few weeks ago..i told my friend Jill that i didnt think i wud ever come out of this ..i will never be the same..And she said, "Well you probably never will"..i think i will learn to live with the loss ..but no i will never feel complete without David..John called from Missouri yesterday..he was so sad..as he and David were best friends..i had been laying on the couch ..i didnt ever want to get back up..But as i talked to John i felt a spark of life come back in me...The Lord spoke to my heart.."Connie how do you expect the kids to get back up if you dont"?My brother is having us all to dinner at his acerage Friday..for the 4th ."Fire Cracker Day.."i had said i cudnt go..But then i thot "yes i need to go" Johns family will be there and Davids wife and children...My children and grand children cud make me laugh in the middle of a dark  cave...even if we were lost..John especially! ...and i hear he is bringing loads of fire crackers...


Part 3   It is Well with My Soul

Ya know in times like these i think of the man who wrote the old song "It is well with my Soul"..His wife and daughters had gone on a ship for a vacation ..but he cudnt go as he was a business man and had some things he had to do..But the ship ran into trouble and all of this mans children were drowned.. Except for his wife..he had lost his whole family..He was so broken hearted and later he wrote the old Christian song that many of us have sung in church "it is well, it is well with my soul"..He had taken a ship to the area in the ocean where his 5 daughters had died..and he sang "it is well with my soul"..The Lord doesnt give us more then we can handle..i can say with this old song writer.."it is well with my soul".i think too of the missionary who was standing in line to be burned at the stake..He said to his friend "Hold up one finger when you are burning to tell me that Gods grace is sufficient" ..And the missionary held up 2 fingers to say that  Gods grace is more then sufficient ..last evening i was able to tell my children on facebook..All is well..all is good..things are moving as they shud..and my children responded ..Sleep well Mother..and i did..Yes His grace is sufficient for me. . . .Love Connie Hultquist.

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Our Precious Children (and Sad News)

{Early last week, Connie's son David died in a car accident. He left behind a wife and two children.  You can see pictures of Connie's family on the Photos page.}


Part 1  One Day at a Time

Dear ladies , last nite just after dark we were all outside playing with the children and visiting.My new porch is so comfortable when i have alot of company...We didnt have many visitors last evening as we just all needed to be alone with our own family..The children needed extra love and care..A few days ago we had alot of company ....and that was good..So many young men Davids age introduced themselves to me...So many said "David was my best friend"..David was a quiet soul and so loved by all who knew him..He was a best friend to the down and out..he was a steady worker and a good Daddy and a loving husband..On a lighter note John got out the fire crackers .!!.he shot them off a block away..Of course i am sitting on the porch ..and said.."Now who is shooting off fire crackers" !!!!! ??i had no idea it was Johnny..Pretty soon i saw John walking up the street with that silly grin of his...I yell at John "Did you shoot those firecrackers off"? Of  course he said he didnt.Hahahaha ...I am surprised the POLICE didnt show up..But ya know David in Heaven must love seeing all of us doing what we do best..laughing through the tight spots..Broken hearted as we will miss David..But the children need to be cared for ..Life has to happen as it does.One day at a time..We will show our love to David by caring for his wife and children..

Part 2   Winning Your Family

All of my children seem to have a faith of their own..They have some kind of a "positive thinking" that i guess they learned from me..As time goes by they will learn more and more about the God kind of faith...My children almost have a gift of faith..Some have more faith than their siblings..and some have less..But yes...we need to remain sure of God..We must know Him... and know that He is a rewarder to those who diligently seek after Him..MaryL my mentor used to say to me.."Connie if the mother is right with the Lord her children will be too." She meant even when they are grown and married...You can turn your children around just by being right with the Lord yourself..They will see your good works and glorify Your Father in Heaven...Your family can be won to the LORD without words {arguing}..but by the actions of the wife and mother..

Part 3    Our Precious Children

Dear Mothers..last evening we all went out to eat at a restaurant..We wanted to celebrate Romeos birthday age 12...and Lorins B.D too she just turned 6 yrs old...They are Johns little boy and girl...I ask Romeo what he was going to spend his Birthday money on.."Fire-crackers"..he tells me without batting an eye..i have to laugh..Johnny deserves to have a son who loves fire crackers..hahahahaha !!!Some day John will get old and wont be able to get up and run as fast as he does now..Now he can out run a fire cracker..But not so later on when he is old..i hope i get to see the day this happens..{ just kidding} Johnny has always made me laugh, even in my worst moments..... . .i got to sit with lorin age 6 at the restaurant..i ask her how old she thot i was ? and she said 85 yrs old..i loved being with the grandchildren and my children...My children give me spiritual energy...i love them and their Daddy so much..And the Grandchildren are so entertaining too..I praise God for each of them..Love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Revolutionary Mothers

Part 1   Daughters of a New Revolution

Dear Sisters of Liberty...Wow i got about half of this written and it escaped and ran away..i didnt think i wud have the heart to rewrite the whole thing ..but i guess i will.The first part went like this.."Are we fighters or victims of this age?" I think often of what the Christian young people will ask us in the years ahead ? Things like "Where were you when abortion was legalized..? ' or "What did you do when prayer was taken out of school?" and "Why did you put we children in public school when you knew we cud be killed any day..at any minute?" Shud we tell our children the truth? We were dumbed down to think we were out-laws if we home-schooled ?it was better to be shot then to be different?or "My church told us to be a light in the darkness for the kids who didnt know the Lord.." Well your child is waiting on you and trusting you to protect them..and God gave your children to you to make sure they grow up..Just like Mary raised Jesus in secret..You are Gods children..God has a plan for their lives ...Dont throw them in the Lions Den until they are equipped to handle it in a Godly way....David in the Bible had been trained as a shepard to fight lions and bears.God didnt set him in the open to be slaughtered without knowledge of how to fight wild animals..What hurts me so much is this..You Christian parents wudnt work in a place where it was as dangerous as a public school..You wud refuse openly..

Part 2   Revolutionary Mothers

So what am i saying..? Go out and carry signs all day when you see an injustice in the world? No you have too much to do at home..the children are waiting for you to train them ..and to protect them and watch out for them...Stay home and care for them...this is how we will change your world..By being REVOLUTIONARY Mothers..By walking out Gods Word....By being examples ...You train your children as you go about your home duties..as you eat and sleep and pray..As you teach the children to respect their Daddy you are teaching them about a higher Authority..Submit to your husbands..Study submission to your husbands...It is Gods People who are called by His name that will turn our country around,...It isnt the President...Its Gods people with Gods Hand that will turn our country around..Our job is to live for Him and to humble ourselves and pray....Then He will heal our land...He will heal our land through our prayers of humility,,,

Part 3   Mothers of Courage and Hope

"HOT Fire" i do most of what i do half scared to death..As a widow at times i wonder "How on earth will i ever make it from one day to the next.."?A few days ago my brakes went out in the car right when i had stopped at an inter section..i nearly hit a car..i say "nearly"..God always rescues me..!! We must always trust in the Lord..especially in the tight spots.. God is with us... we can have confidence in Him..We can draw from His strength..It is normal to be afraid..we live in troubled times..Trouble seems to be all around us...most of the time....But the scriptures in Psalms says "I had fainted lest i had believed to see the goodness of the Lord HERE in the land of the living"..We have HOPE in Him..He is our great and high King of Kings and Lord of Lords..When our problems are too high and over our heads we can trust in God who died for every problem we have..He has an answer...the solution is in Him..When i am afraid i trust in the Lord... 

Part 4   The Wailing Wall

i dont watch the world news much anymore..if i do i begin to cry..But i guess thats good too..The Bible tells us to TEACH OUR DAUGHTERS TO WAIL..The Jewish people use the wailing wall to pray..and to cry out to God...In this age the Lord says to mark the ones who do not cry and sigh..In other words if you arent crying something is wrong ..If we can just watch the NEWS and walk away with no feelings about it...then we are in trouble...Wailing means to cry out to God in sorrow for the many in the world who need to know God...Let us pray for those who need to be set free and for those who are broken hearted..He has come to bind up the broken heart and to set the captive free..love connie