Looking back...stacking stones

The other day, quite impulsively, I took a look at my 2006 devotional journal. I wondered what sort of things had been flowing from my heart and onto paper 365 days ago. So back I flipped to December 2006. Much was my astonishment, I found a message to myself.....now. From what I gather, I was reviewing the distinct lessons that God had taught me over the course of that year and I wanted to encourage myself the next time looked at my journal. At the very end of my heart-thoughts I wrote:

"Remember this Cathryn: In whatever you are going through now, the lessons of the past apply today too. ' I am the LORD, I do not change. ' (Therefore) The God that showed Himself worthy of humble submission then, is still worthy now, this day, in whatever you are struggling with. Thank Him for that!"

Wherever you are on this Christmas morning, whether your heart is filled with something bitter or sweet, take a moment to thank God for the many ways His kindness and truth has smiled upon you this year .

In the future, I'll give some suggestions for questions to ask yourself as the New Year approaches but for now, maybe you should sit still and "stack a few stones" like the children of Israel did as a memorial of God's greatness to generations. After all, how can you plan what to do differently next year if you forget what happened this year? Yet more importantly than any futile attempt of "self reformation," this reflection facilitates the call Ms. Lemmuel and Mr. Ken gave,"turn you eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face." He is wonderful is He not?

Sights of the Season

Yes, one of my family members really took these pictures! Curly-Q took them on our snow day with the college group.

...and in case I haven't mentioned...

Festive Foods

Still stumped on tasty party foods to serve to tonight or tomorrow's guests? Well, here are some last minute food ideas from Food and Wine.com. Use them now or save them for a later date. Don't be intimidated by some of the fancy-smancy stuff like soppressata chips or foie-gras toasts. (Note for the curious: The former is salami made from cured-dry pork and flavored with and black peppercorns, while the latter is liver from a force-fed goose). Just take what you will use. That's what I do! Bon Appetite!

http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/50-superfast-dishes

Caramel Corn

Christmas is not officially here until the caramel corn has been made. (Finally, finals are over and I have the time to get into the kitchen again!) I wish I had a lip-smack'n, picture that did it justice but unfortunately I do not. However, You will just have to take my word for it that this is some of the BEST caramel corn ever. I can stay away from cookies but oven baked caramel corn...watch out!

Ovenbaked Caramel Corn

1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
½ cup light or dark corn syrup
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
6 quarts of popped corn (or more depending on how “caramely” you want it to be)


Preheat oven to 250°.
In a deep pan, melt butter. Stir in brown, sugar, syrup, and salt. Boil (stirring) for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. Pour over corn, mixing well, turn into 2 shallow pans.

Bake in 250° oven for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes. Cool and break apart and store in a tight container.

The work for today

Both Thanksgiving and Christmas combined are my favorite celebrations of the year. Yet sometimes the post holiday after math is traumatic. My family had company down during Thanksgiving and I must admit that on Sunday night I could not help but dread the next days routine-ness. However, God was more than able to provide the grace I needed and He gave me this bit of wisdom from Spurgeon's November 26th, Morning and Evening. The reference was Ecclesiastes 9:10 which reads:

"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might."

Here is Mr. Spurgeon's counsel:

"Let us not wait for large opportunities, or for a different kind of work, but do just the things we ' find to do today' day by day."

So the company is gone, the turkey leftovers are taking what seems like permanent residence in the fridge, and the daily routine is turning, ever slowly, once again. Soon, even Christmas will be passed and we will again feel the after -celebration low. Take heart and take up the work for today no matter how difficult it may seem. Be glad of your God-given tasks and "Do the next thing!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Back in August I had planned on writing a special Thanksgiving series. Well, that was three months ago and I still have not written the entirety of it. I suppose it was a task intended for another time.
So the best I can do right know is say, "Happy Thanksgiving!!" May we be truly see the uncountable gifts God has given us, the best and greatest being salvation!

Need a hug, take a hug, got a hug, give a hug

Check this out

Here is the link to my sister's blog Charming Simplicity. Last week she made an excellent post that is quite noteworthy. She expresses her thoughts much better than I could have. So without further ado.... the link....

http://charmingsimplicity.blogspot.com/

Soups On!

The weather out here is undeniably fallish. the morinings are cool and misty as are the eveinings. Here is one of my all time favorite "Mom soups."

Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
1 ½ cup dried lentils, rinsed & picked over
3 med. onions, chopped
½ tsp. salt
3 carrots, grated
¼-1/2 tsp pepper
¾ tsp marjoram, crumbled
6 oz. dry white wine
¾ tsp. Thyme leaves
2T. dried parsley flakes
1 (28-oz) can tomatoes, coarsely chopped
7 cups broth (beef, chicken)
Grated cheese (optional)

Heat oil in large saucepan; sauté onions, carrots, marjoram, and thyme. Stir vegetables for about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, broth and lentils. Bring soup to a boil; reduce the heat. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour or until lentils are tender. Add salt, pepper, wine, and parsley. Simmer the soup for a few minutes. Sprinkle grated cheese on each portion.

What sort of sticker would your car wear?

My mind spins in abnormal orbits. At least, that is the impression I get of myself sometimes. Perhaps I just have an odd sense of humor. On Tuesday October 16th I read Psalm 146: 5 which says:

"Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God."

Maybe, by chance, you saw what I did. Does this verse recall some of the sweet or down right strange bumper stickers you have seen while driving around town? You know the ones... "Happiness is being Kelly's Grandma" or "Happiness is drinking Starbucks."

This pithy connection struck a chord with my quirky little brain and I began to think of those public definitions of happiness in comparison to King David's definition. I couldn't help but giggle when I saw a mental picture involving David unabashedly driving his kingly chariot around with something like this on the the back:

"Happiness is having the LORD for you hope!"

Now by all means I am not one to take Scripture lightly and to make its meaning worth nothing (I despise those shirts that say "Jesus is my homeboy"). But my little mental picture prodded me to think on how bumper stickers reveal a trend of thought. If someone took enough trouble to look or even pay for the creation of a bumper sticker that advertises their love of a grandchild or Starbucks, would that not also indicate that they think about that love much of the time?

So here are the questions...

- What is your trend of your heart-thought?
- If it was made into a bumper sticker what would it say?

I can tell you what it should say; it's right there in Psalm 146:5. Yeah I know, ouch!

Once Upon A Time...

...there was a little girl who loved to create stories. Most of them she kept hidden in her young head but a few she unleashed onto paper. She herself, being such a youth and unable to write, penned the tales of the little friends that dominated her world through her mother. Unfortunately, at five years of age she knew nothing of copyrights...this was her first written work....

Mickey's Golden Sword

Once upon a time there was a Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. The city where they lived was name Persia. There was a handsome prince named Mickey Mouse. There was a pretty princess named Minnie Mouse. There was also a dragon. He was a giant green dragon with burning fire coming out of his circled nose.

Micky Mouse put on his army stuff and the princess was glad that he was going to fight the dragon.

Mickey Mouse fought the mean dragon with his golden sword. the dragon faked he was dead. Minnie's yelled, "Watch out, watch out!" Mickey looked behind him and the dragon fell down again. So Mickey didn't stop looking behind him. Then the dragon opened his green mouth to bite Mickey's head off but Mickey stabbed the dragon in the stomach. The dragon screamed and cried, "help!" He yelled so loud that the walls of the King's castle fell down.

Everybody ran out of the doors but Minnie couldn't get out. The lights went out and Minnie's couldn't see. Mickey rescued her because his golden sword led the way. Meanwhile. the dragon climbed over a tall wooden gate but he got 31 splinters on his stomach near where he got hurt earlier. Mickey's father the King of Peria. borrowed Mickey's sword and stabbed the dragon 32 times. The dragon crashed sown into the thorn bush. He was dead!

Hooray! Mickey and Minnie's got married and had a wedding party. They had a baby girl and named her Mary Mouse, another baby named Timmy Mouse, another baby named Tommy. Copyright 1992

Laugh as you might, you must admit that this story has all of the pillars of the most complex chronicle or tragic tale: character development, double climax, even a satisfying ending! I'll concede, it may not bare an exact resemblance of , say, today's famous Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I am pretty sure that when Tolkien was five, he wrote about Mickey Mouse too!

Read and Wash

Reading is one of those things on my "I enjoy doing" list. However, with my school and work schedule, the latter slides lower and lower on my to do sheet as the semester progresses. I am a slow reader in general which not only means that I study slowly but I never get far in a book if I have only ten minutes (although you must understand that I am not discouraging that practice nor it's positive benefits at all). I need a good 45 minutes at least.

Some people take pride in "never having time to read." I do not. Recently I was contemplating this personal travesty when I came across a new techno- toy. It is called a playaway and it is basically an i pod book. Not so long ago (yes I remember when) they called them "books on tape." Now however, with the advancement in technology, this audio book is i pod size. You simply provide the headphones and voila! you are set! Unfortunately, unlike a cassette tape, you cannot rewind or fast forward to a particular spot but you can pause and skip forward and back by chapters.

This is perfect for me. Instead of having to lug around a walkman and all of the cassette tapes with me, or worse, not absorbing anything literary, Jane Austen and I can now workout on the elliptical machines or even walk to class. Just last night we washed dishes together.

I am not sure how many books are available in this format but it is worth a look into. Check out your library or go to http://www.playawaydigital.com/.

Happy reading!!

The picture certainly does not do the presentation justice. I must admit that this particular specimen was not actually mine. Being taken up with the excitement of eating my favorite dessert, I haphazardly dug in before taking a picture! Thanks to the kindness of the neighbor on my right (a Disneyland executive) I was able to snag a shot of it... untarnished!

If there is such a thing as candied beef, this was it!

Don't let the size fool you. Though petite, this salad was a palate pleaser!

The Best Meal of My Life

Ok, perhaps the title of this post is a bit on an exaggeration. Maybe I should say that it was ONE of the best meals of my life. At any rate, the lunch I had on Wednesday afternoon was pretty darn good! Of course, nothing but the best was expected since it was a scholarship luncheon hosted by the culinary arts program of my school! I was blessed to be one of the "partakers" of the meal rather than one of the servers so I was able to make astute observations from a quest's perspective.



The menu really was superb! All of the flavors were expertly balanced and the portions, though at first glance frightfully small, perfect. My excitement hit the ceiling (Do forgive me for bragging here) when I recognized two out of the three menu items were mine from my menu/kitchen layout and design class!



One of the charming things about this lunch was that it was prepared and served entirely by student volunteers (except for Chef Byrd's Basic cooking class whose class day it was). May I say that they did terrific! So without further ado let me present the menu:

Mission fig and California

Goat Cheese Salad

Cabernet Braised Beef Short Ribs

with Glazed Root Vegetables,

Caramelized Onions, Brussels Sprouts

and Roasted Shallot Demi Glace

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

and Ginger Shortbread

Clang, clash, shing! A battle was raging inside. Bodily, I was cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by devotionals, journals, and Bibles, but my spirit was somewhere else, breathing hard. The warrior me was sweating. The sitting me could only let something wet trickle down my face. The armor clad figure was grunting and lunging and twisting. The still shape only whispered… to Jesus.


Perhaps you have had times such as these. Times where you feel like a slow tear is shredding its way down your soul. The moments feel long…dark…hopelessly solitary. This is when your battle tactic is important, either pointing to the victory of faith or the defeat of doubt. What do you do when you are caught in the overflow of your feelings? What happens when those feelings are telling you that the pursuit holiness is too uncomfortable? That the fight is not worth it or that you are not worth it?


Here is the truth: God gave us our feelings but our feelings are not God. Our feelings can be thermometers that things are amiss but the moment our feelings draw us away from God’s truth we must abandon all thought of them with lightning speed. Carolyn Mahaney has a worthwhile principle: “Talk to yourself, don’t listen to yourself.” Truth happens outside of us therefore we must remind (or “talk”) the truth of the Gospel to ourselves every day.

When the thermometer is broken, don’t use it to tell how hot it is.

As I sat on the floor of my room, I meditated, parked, and just camped out on Psalm 94: 19. I “talked” it to myself, calling to mind this and other truths of Scripture. Verse 19 says:

“In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.”

I must admit that when I rose from the floor, stacked my books, and left my room, I did not feel victorious. In fact, my feelings told me I was a loser. Yet ever so slowly, almost undiscernibly, a peace came tricking in. Suddenly, I realized I had a quiet heart that “surpassed all understanding.” It was utterly obvious that it had not been manufactured by me or my own resources. The reassurance came after the truth had been prioritized.

Here are some things I learned:

God's Word tells the temperature better than any human resource. If there is a fever, let Him who is called the Great Physician fix it.

Are you wresting in your heart this day? Does your soul feel feverish? “Be still and know that He is God” and let “His comforts delight your soul!”

Happy Birthday!

You were a little girl with curly tufts of hair when you were born. Our parents gave you a special name. It's a name that means “gracious.”

To me, you were just a playmate, as well as my sister, buddy and um, well, at times “partner in crime.” We did all kinds of crazy stuff. Remember the time we slid down the windshield of the car? I really did not think it was a good idea until you told me that you had seen the cat do it. That made sense… until Mom caught us. I blamed you didn’t I?

Of course, there was the dress up box! We would prance around the greenbelt in old dress-up clothes for hours. Remember how we used to tie the old nightgowns around our heads pretending we had long hair? Or how about the occasions when we would knot those same nightgowns around our waists, kick up our heels and flip the fabric back with calloused feet? What were we? Hello, what else could we have been other than the half horse, half humans from Fantasia?!

Yes, for years you were my playmate, yet I never looked up to you. I didn't see you as knowing anything I didn't. That has changed.

Years have come and gone and so have some challenging times. I truly believe that if it were not for those challenges you would still that little girl, not the woman you have become.

My precious sister, may it be known to you on this special day, what a delight it is to see God working in you and through you. Your life is "grafittied" with His fingerprints!

Gracious. It no longer happens to be the origin of your name… it’s a meaning that is blooming into reality!

Happy Birthday!

Food Network at home

This is a little film clip showing what I did last weekend...cooking classes! A couple guys in my college and career group were interested in acquiring new culinary skills so we got together and I taught them how to make a few, easily main dishes. The theme ingredient? Ground beef. As you will glimpse, we made stuffed bell peppers, meat loaf, and tacos! Bon Appetite!

Nutty Apple Salad

I don't know about you but when it gets hot, a creamy, succulent salad hits the spot. This last week the temperature spiked well over the hundreds where I live. I hope everyone else is staying cool. Enjoy this recipe!

3 sweet apples, unpeeled
3/4 cup diced celery
1 1/2 cups seedless grapes, halved
3/4 cup peanuts (salted or unsalted)
3/8 cup mayonnaise
3/8 cup sour cream


Core and dice apples. Do not peel. Combine apples, celery, grapes and peanuts. Toss with mayonnaise and sour cream.

Yield: 6 servings

Awwww...cupcakes with baby faces and teddy bears! (Just for the record my sister decorated these and the thing in the baby's mouth is a pacifier!)

I am a big fan of decorating cakes with real flowers. For one, I am out of practice with my froasting flowers and two, nothing can mimic God's design and beauty like the real thing!

Yes, I am still very much alive, even after the first week back to college! Not only was my week a bustle of activity, my weekend was as well. Last Saturday I made a cake for a baby shower. Let me just say that bakeries have it much easier because they have everything there on hand (unless someone hasn't done proper inventory but that is a different story altogether). None of this "Oh gee we ran out of eggs" or "do you think the neighbors will let me fit the cake in their fridge? It won't fit in ours?!"

My poor cake had some structural errors which required a major patch up. Let's just say that a party bag full of frosting fills up long cracks across the top. No really, it works!

Take a look at the pics (you will see the crack)

This very appealing "culinary sauce" is a gift for one of my friends. It seems that you can drizzle it onto anything: goat cheese, angel food cake, yogurt parfaits, the list is as long as your imagination.

When I saw this hat at the Culinary shop in Cambria, I told something I do not often say..."I have to get this!" You must admit, it is just too cute! The pink chef coat look was even more adorable but outside my budget. Besides, where would I wear a pink chef coat?

On The Road Again..!

The best chapter of summer is, hands down, the one where our family takes a vacation. This year, we traveled to California's central coast (San Louis Obispo, Santa Barbara etc). White capped waves, giant rocks so alluring there is nothing to do but climb them, Food Network on the TV at night, swimming, milkshakes... Sigh. We were even surprised by an unexpected whale watching opportunity (why is it that you never see them when you are on a whale watching trip but somehow they decide to appear when you are eating lunch at a turn out?) The largest guffaws came on Thursday when we rented a little bike-surrey. With yelps of laughter and cries of "don't steer into the bushes" we jovially peddled down the broad walk.



I am not a big spender but I did pick up a few souvenirs and gifts. Take a look at some of my treasures:

These cuties are going to be my little housewarming gifts. You see,I was taught how to write thank you notes and give small tokens of thanks to the hostess of a get-together or party. It is always nice to be invited to a new acquaintance or old friend's home and I think the art of simple gratitude is lost these days. Yup, I was raised right by my mamma!!

Baby beans

Small beginnings...

Green Thumb

Gardening... it is something I have always aspired to but was always to lazy to accomplish. Until 3 weeks ago.

I started when my mom complained that she could not afford to support my healthy eating habbits. It must be said that I am an avid consumer of vegetables and fruits. Five apples, a bunch of bananas, three bell peppers, and a head of letuse is certainly NOT enough to sustain a house od 5. Ok, a house of 5 inhabited by one who eats fruits and/or veggies with every meal and sometimes with every snack.

I couldn't believe my dear mothers remark. After all, obesity is super size problem in my state so you would certainly think that any mom would be more than ecstatic to be the mother of so ferocious a greens and fruit eater. Of course my mom is, but going to the store more than once a week for expensive produce items does not give her the warm fuzzies.

Enter square foot garden.

Mom brought it up. About the book I mean. The book she used to own that gave insight to gardening in raised boxes. I marched to the library and found that book, plunked down, and by the time 30 minutes had slipped away, was resolved to start growing my own produce. The title of this inspiring read is, All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. The idea behind SFG (square foot garden) is to grow plants or produce in a very do-able manner; namely by the square foot.

So my father and I built a box 4 feet by 4 feet. The beauty of this design is that you can reach any part of this box without straining your back. We filled the box with our own soil mix, set it on the back lawn, and roped out a foot x foot grid. The grid assists in the plant boundaries. With the grid, I easily saw that two lettuces fit in one square while 16 baby carrots fit in another.

So far I have planted: lettuce, baby finger carrots, long emperor carrots, red onions, onion-chives, green bell pepper, green onions, sweet basil, tomato, and bush beans. All of this in a raised 4 X 4 box!!

This garden is a small wonder. Such a small plot. Such minute seeds. Yet with a little water, sun, and worm-picking, growth is occurring. Take a look at the photos…

As for you "would be" gardeners out there (or maybe old timers too) I would highly recommend the All New Square Foot Garden book to you. Buy it or barrow it or do something to take a look at it. It is a wealthy resource!

Earthworm Wonder - The babysitter files

This is my most recent addition to the babysitter files. This little conversation transpired on July 31st when two of my little charges were searching for earthworms and caterpillars:

Caleb: Look an earth worm!

Me: OOOh, look at that.

Caleb: whoa it's really wiggly and floppy.

Me: Yeah it's looking for the dirt to dig into. Did you know that earthworms are good for plants and flowers?

Caleb: How are they good for the plants and flowers?

Me: Hmm (thinking of how to explain this to a 7 y/o)

Well, when you eat dinner you start with a full plate right?

Caleb: Uh uh

Me: The earth is like a full plate too. It has food for the plants and flowers that we call nutrients. Just as your plate is empty after you eat off of it, so the earth's food or nutrients "gets empty." It needs to be "refilled" too. The earthworm's, um, poop helps put those nutrients back into the dirt and "fill up the plate again" so that the plants can eat more.

Caleb: But how does the poop help the earth?

Me: You know buddy, I don't exactly know how it works but I know it does!

Caleb: (in complete awe) I didn't know that earthworms were so good. I won't collect them anymore.

The conversation was simple. My explanation rather inadequate. Yet the ability to pass on a little sliver of God's amazing plan of creation; to see the wonder in those young keen eyes... there is just nothing like it!

But now um, if you will excuse me, I need to do a wee bit of research of earthworms...

A Quiver Full of Arrows

Knock, knock, knock! A smile greets me as the mother opens the door. The children come out to talk to their babysitter and attempt to avoid their bedtime. They give me intructions. Soon afterward, the parents open the front door. The moment their feet set ouside the doorway I am no longer in America.

I am in the forest where the ancient trees are stolidly standing like the pillars of a cathedral. The hooves of a dapple grey softly ruffle the dead leaves as the horseman bends forward. The ivory case he hands me is etched with delicate markings yet the beauty lies not in the case itself but in its contense. Three arrows, it held, each different and unique. The first was longer in its length, foretelling the great distance it would fly. Another was smooth. Certainly its aim would be sure and true. The last arrow boasted of a deadly tip. No matter where it struck, it would leave an indelible mark.

" Take care of them. I give them to you for a time. I will be back for them."

A fluttering of motion, a stirring of the leaves, a distant sound of hoof beats and the rider is gone.

He will be back. Thought I. And soon. I must keep these as I would my own honor.

Such are my thoughts, as I am honored with the care of children, any children for any length of time. There is a verse in Proverbs that addresses this very subject of children, describing them as "arrows in the hands of a mighty warrior."

These thoughts are especially real as I am currently attending 3 children's needs (7, 4, and 15 months) for two days- by myself. Tomorrow is when I will be relived of my responsibility. Tomorrow I pass on the precious quiver full to another who will safely guard it until the rider's final return.

Each of these little lives are unbelievably precious. I am truly honored to have this quiver placed in my hands for a few moments, however brief.

Wings of a Dove and Jaws of a Lion

As the morning sun rose in the sky, it reached into my car window touching the books on my lap. The clock read 7:30 but the heat rising from the school parking lot foretold a toasty day. I prayed; Lord, I don’t have much time before math class but can you bless the few moments I do have? I know you are a Rewarder of those who seek You. Will You bless the minutes left?

I first opened up my Bible for my warm up read in today’s’ Psalm (25). It was a good place to start. Next, I thumbed my way to Charles Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening. What a blessing it was!! Here is a little snippet:

“He left his garment in her hand and fled, and got him out” Genesis 39:12

“This day I may be exposed to great peril, let me have the serpent’s wisdom to keep out of it and avoid it. The wings of a dove may be of more use to me today than the jaws of a lion. It is true I may be an apparent loser by declining evil company, but better leave my cloak than lose my character: it is not needful that I should be rich, but it is imperative upon me to be pure.”
- Charles Spurgeon From the July 25, morning reading

The thought flickered across my mind and I would challenge you with the same: What cloak am I snuggling closer that I should be ripping off…? Should I be taking flight with "the wings of a dove?"

Slam! I closed the car and glanced at my watch. 7:48AM. You sure don't waste time do ya Lord! As the ball of fire rose in the sky, I headed into class, smiling with my lion's jaw and tucking my dove wings beneath my backpack.

As the morning sun rose in the sky, it reached into my car window touching the books on my lap. The clock read 7:30 but the heat rising from the school parking lot foretold a toasty day. I prayed; Lord, I don’t have much time before math class but can you bless the few moments I do have? I know you are a Rewarder of those who seek You. Will You bless these minutes I have?

I first opened up my Bible for my warm up read in today’s’ Psalm (25). It was a good place to start. Next, I thumbed my way to Charles Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening. What a blessing it was!! Here is a little snippet:

“He left his garment in her hand and fled, and got him out” Genesis 39:12

“This day I may be exposed to great peril, let me have the serpent’s wisdom to keep out of it and avoid it. The wings of a dove may be of more use to me today than the jaws of a lion. It is true I may be an apparent lose by declining evil company, but better leave my cloak than lose my character: it is not needful that I should be rich, but it is imperative upon me to be pure.”

- Charles Spurgeon
From the July 25, morning reading

The thought flickered across my mind and I would challenge you with the same: What cloak am I snuggling closer that I should be ripping off…? Should I be taking flight with "the wings of a dove?"

Slam! I closed the car and glanced at my watch. 7:48AM. You sure don't waste time do ya Lord! As the ball of fire rose in the sky, I headed into class, smiling with my lion's jaw and tucking my dove wings beneath my backpack.

Mother

I am ashamed to say that "avid" has not necessarily been the word to describe my summer reading appetite. However, I did just complete a book that I would highly recommend. It has never been hailed as a poetic work or a classic of all time but its message is profound. It's title is one word - Mother. This 202 page book is about a young woman who lives with her dear, lovable family in the Midwest. Suddenly she is handed a chance to work for a rich woman and see the world. Slowly, as the years slide on, a disdain grows in her heart for her family. But through a series of events, the young woman’s eyes are opened to behold one of the richest, most influential females whose wealth is not stored on this earth. She is one of greatest woman who claims no title other than Mother.

The roles of a wife and mother are under attack in Today’s’ society (even in Christian circles). I think it is vital to remind ourselves of God’s design in establishing the role of Biblical womanhood. Whether you are young and single or married and in the midst of motherhood grasping for encouragement, Mother would be an excellent choice for a relaxing summer read.

And thanks… to all of the moms of yesterday and today. May God be with the ones of tomorrow.

The finished product!

..."What a jam jamboree!"

So ends the last line of one of my all-time favorite children's book- Jamberry. The line is quite appropriate since yesterday, instead of cooking with my Australian chef (she got sick), my mom and I made jam. Strawberry jam to be exact. Now, I have never made jam before and although mom has it was about a decade ago. So we felt a little intimidated with all of the recipes we found in our recipe search. Through a a series of events our efforts resulted in something akin to strawberry jelly... or syrup (which are both tasty in their own right!). I discussed our results with my Australian chef and she gave me some pointers:

~*~ Use equal parts sugar and fruit (insufficient sugar will prevent proper "jelling")

~*~ Add lemon seeds (in a sachet) to the boiling fruit- sugar mixture. Lemon seeds, in fact most or all fruit seeds, contain pectin that is key in jelly making.

~*~ If you make plum jam, simply throw the whole plums in the pot with your sugar. Again, the plum seed (or pit) contains the pectin afore mentioned. As the fruit- sugar boils the pits will float to the top making it easy to skim and remove them later.

~*~ Many of you may know this but if you are looking to make sure your jam is finished and ready to be poured into the jars, here is what to do: take a dish (if you are an Aussie you'll pronounce it "deesh") and place it in the fridge. When you think your jam is finished, drop a wee bit onto the dish and observe how quickly it "jells up." The faster it jells the closer it is to being done.

How Have Your Eyes Been Lately?

" A vision without a task is but a dream.

A task without a vision is drudgery.

A vision with a task is the hope of the world."

~*~ From a church in Sussex, 1730

This is syndicated from Sally Lloyd-Jones' Blog

Stay Tooned!

That is right! Hopefully in the next day or two, I should have some pictures of my latest cooking adventure... down-under. Ok not quite. But I am going to be cooking with an Australian chef who happens to be a friend of mine as well as a relative of one of my other friends. We are going to make jam and... well I haven't sorted out the rest of the menu but we are bound to have a grand time even if all we end up doing is burning water!

And another one!

Other than going to school and getting my teeth cleaned (I will spare you any pictures), I trundled to the downtown weekly farmer's market. Now it may be small (10 vendors or less) and the crowd sparce, but to me, it was it was a happy world. The deep fuschia of beets, the suculant peaches pierced with toothpicks for buyers to try, the bags hanging from the tents...! I spent a whop'n $10.50 and bought... well, go ahead take a look.

To all of you folks with gardens or to those with sensibilities like my Dad who wonder why a person would take pictures of produce, I may seem pathetic. Perhaps I am, but I am enjoying it to the fullest. Now if you don't mind, I am off to eat my salad...

Unfinished

Unfinished
That’s what I am.
A half shaped piece of clay
In the Potter’s Hands

Unfinished.
Like the symphony.
My body working out its melody.
What part takes lead and who claims bass?
These are things the young must face.

Unfinished.
Like a painting.
Each layer and stroke
Revealing a new and grateful hope.

Unfinished.
Yes, but not left alone, abandoned
To work out life on my own.

Unfinished.
Fresh in my Potter’s Hands I am;
Pliable in consistency.
Oh how comforting to the unsure soul,
That He is not done with me!



by C. U.
Copyright May 12, 2006

Unlearning

Well I am still here. I have just come out of a very full week (I am taking summer school) and I am launching into an equally full weekend. Here are some thoughts from a friend of mine. I will have to tell you more about Lilias another time, but for right now, I will let her words speak for her:

"Practically in most cases [of the Christian life] there is time involved [in learning a deeper surrender to Christ], because we take so long to unlearn our own sufficiency and our own resources..."

"Everything that wreaks our hopes of ourselves, and our earthly props, is helping us forward infinitely God's work in us."

At the end of a busy week, it is easy to feel "un-resourced" and deflated. Even looking at the weekend I feel a twinge of trepidation as I plan to teach children's' Sunday school.

There are going to be more children than last week. I tell myself. More children = more confusion. These kids already know this stuff, how can I make it really applicable for them?

As I plan and print, cut and color, I have been blessed with a simple peace. A peace that whispers, because of Christ, in your weakness you are strong. Sow good things, let God worry about the harvesting.

Somehow I know that the little vapor of uneasiness that occasionally floats by my heart is a little prop, being pulled down. A breaking apart of any self sufficiency my fingers hesitate to release. I am "unlearning" my own resources.

As we begin this weekend, let us be ever "leaning on the Everlasting arms."

The Big A

A few Saturdays ago I was heading up a game of babysitter’s backyard baseball when the words rang out. I had just stepped up to home plate when I caught the remark from one of the boys:
“I want to switch teams. The other player on my team is bad. John is making us lose!” This comment was made in reference to the boy’s younger brother who amazingly enough, had not broken into tears. Still, I could not just let the comment go. The words had been selfish and unkind and I knew they would soon lead to unkind actions. Inevitably I would have to call the entire game off because of the controversy. I looked at the speaker, David. He was wearing an Angels baseball T shirt. Ding ding! An idea popped into my head. I walked into the middle of our little field (if you could even call it that).

“Hey guys, why are we playing?”The reply was confident.
“To have fun”
“Yes but what makes us have fun?”

Silence. I had their attention now. Raising my arms above my head I formed a capital A. “It’s the Big A guys. It’s attitude. How can you have fun if your attitude stinks? I really don’t care who wins this game but what I do care about is how you play it. The Big A is what God sees. That is what He cares about!”

It worked. No more unkind words. No hurt feelings. No ending the game because of controversy. What is more, the kids grabbed onto the concept.

Throughout the entire evening further comments (uninitiated by me) were made. Comments like, “John don’t be a poor sport. Remember your Big A?” One child even went so far as to carry the concept over into other things.

I questioned the youngest boy about why he had taken the piece of cake from the very center of the cake. “There was more frosting on it than any of the other pieces!” I marveled at his truthfulness. He smiled. Cake fork in hand, he created a circle with his arms. “Hey, I’ve got the Big O. ”

"The Big O?"

"Yeah, O for honesty!!"

O for honesty huh? Well, I guess we can work on spelling later. At least he got the right idea!

Happy Friday... happy Food Friday that is. As a culinary artist in training, I am always looking out for good recipes. Here is one my mom found on the Internet. If you do not have a BBQ rib recipe you must try this. Ok, even if you do have one , try this because it is just... incredible. (Although I will admit that the length that the oven is on is not very appealing during the summer heat).

LARRY'S BEST BABY BACK RIBS


These are the best ribs you'll ever wrap your lips around! The meat practically falls off the bone by itself, and the sauce is better than anything you can buy in the supermarket!

2 racks baby back ribs
1 clove garlic
minced1 medium onion
minced5 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 cups catsup
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tbs. spicy mustard w/horseradish
2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs. chili powder
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. liquid smoke
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Melt butter in 2 quart pot. Add onions and garlic. Cook over low heat until onions are soft.
Stir in remainder of ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool completely.
Cut each rib rack in half. Place in tins and pour a liberal amount of BBQ Sauce over ribs. Cover with tin foil and place in preheated 190°F oven for 9 hours. (Yes, 9 hours!)
Remove from oven. Discard drippings or save for other use. Transfer ribs to grill or place under broiler for about 10 minutes. May be refrigerated and grilled at later time. Serve with extra BBQ sauce. Enjoy!
Drippings Suggestions:
Pour drippings through a sieve and bring to a boil. Lightly brush slices of ciabatta or other Italian bread on both sides with drippings. Place on grill to toast, turning over midway through. Top with chopped sun-dried tomato, Gorgonzola cheese and fresh chopped parsley.

NOTE: I have never done the garnish but hey, if Gorgonzola the Great is invovled, it might not be a bad idea! It scertainly adds to the presentation!

Taken from COOKS.COM

Welcome to The Beauty of the Lord blog! I think the best way to begin blog adventure is to state the reason for its existence. Psalm 90: 17 puts it best:

"And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes establish the work of our hands."

This is the precise purpose of this blog: to put the beauty of the Lord on display! No matter where you live or what your daily routine looks like, God's design and handy work can be seen - if we just are on the lookout. Recently I have been inspired by the insignificant. I have been gripped by little things. So often God blesses us in the ordinary ; in still small voices rather than neon signs.

This blog may have a few profound things to communicate but most likely it will be filled with the ordinary ways God uses to show us His beauty. May this be the true desire of our hearts so that we invest in what really counts. "Establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands!"