Not everything that ends badly was all bad.

You can learn valuable lessons from even the worst mistakes and miseries.  Sometimes, you just have to look really hard to find the redeeming reward.

There is almost always one to be found.

Personal case in point:

Relationships and marriages (…or some of what I learned from my exes…) –

Ex #1 – I learned how to be a mom.  I was young, I made many mistakes, and I discovered a love so big that I felt my heart would burst.  I also learned that sometimes it is better to remain friends than to get married, and that you can remain friends after a divorce.

Ex #2 – I learned how to shoot a gun, how to clean a fish, and how to ride a motorcycle.  I also learned what it feels like to be at the wrong end of a loaded twelve-gauge shot gun.

Ex #3 – I learned firsthand how illegal drug use and alcohol abuse (his addictions) can destroy a marriage, a family, a life.  That is a place I never want to experience again.

Ex #4 – I learned how to hang drywall.  I learned about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the government.  I learned about how to study the Bible to find out what it really says instead of just believing what someone else says it says. I also learned that just because someone says they are a Christian and a patriot doesn’t necessarily mean that they live like a Christian or have the same definition of patriot as most people.  This is when I began to identify more than a little with Sarah Connor of the Terminator movies…

            Example (not ex!) #5 – I learned that there are good, decent, honest, trustworthy, Godly, kind and loving men in the world.

my holy hottie!

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Another lesson that you may learn from your messes is how to make great meals!

From the mother of ex #4, I received this recipe for Hot Hamburgers.  It is spicy, but not too spicy (well, for most people – I still have to put sour cream on mine to calm it a bit).  It comes together quickly and cooks in the crock-pot as you go about your life.  It also makes great use of a beef cut that is rather difficult to prepare on its own, namely beef cubed steaks.  This dish comes out so tender and flavorful!

Hot Hamburgers

5 cups tomato sauce

15 ounce jar of mild or hot pepper rings, undrained

3 medium onions, sliced or diced

1 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

½ cup Tabasco sauce

1 teaspoon chipped red pepper

3 pounds of beef cubed steaks

Combine all ingredients except beef cubed steaks in a crock-pot.  Stir well.  Cook on low for two hours.  Add beef cubed steaks.  Cook on high for two hours.  Serve beef cubed steaks on buns or with cooked rice.  Top with sour cream if desired.  May substitute chicken breasts for the beef cubed steaks.

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