Some days, you just have to start with dessert.
Today is a day, for me, that is just that. Yesterday was incredibly draining. From waking up super early, to listening to the Littles duke it out for every toy, to teeth coming to the surface, to an arm that just doesn't seem to want to heal. Draining.
Instead of pouting when the kids went to bed, I baked. I poured all of the frustration and sorrow into peanut cheesecake brownies. It was soul soothing. It was waist-line enhancing. It was too good to keep to myself. S and I had some after the dessert was baked. They were pretty good...
But. They weren't quite ready for consumption. They really did need the recommended cool down time that I forewent. It was kind of a gloppy mess that I didn't end up finishing.
Fast forward to this morning. I didn't sleep much last night, and Buddy has already voiced his opinion about his negative desires surrounding his attendance at school, and I spilled half of my 750ml water bottle on the floor. It was a dessert kind of morning.
I dished out some of the sugar laden delicacy and munched happily on it. I also got to spend a little time in the Word before the littlest Little awoke. ...so sweet things have defined my morning.
Here's looking forward to more sweet happenings today,
xo,
J
Soli Deo Gloria
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Monday, January 27, 2014
Stillness
I like to be busy. I have a hard time just sitting still. When I watch a movie, I'm either holding a baby or knitting, or sometimes even playing a mindless game on the computer. I even have a hard time sitting at the table after I finish a meal - usually I get up and start cleaning the kitchen, unless, of course, Little Bird needs to eat, and then I'm feeding her.
Recently, I was memorizing the verse : Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth.
It hit me. More like it dug up a battering ram and went at it.
I had to step back. I had to sit down. I had to think. I came to the realization that some of the reason I am busy, or trying to be busy all the time has to do with fear of stillness and what it brings with it. It also reveals the state of our relationship with God.
Let me elaborate: I was really trying to be perfect in the roles I've been given : mother, wife, homemaker etc. Let's face it, I stink at perfection. I am a human who has been marred by sin. I forget the laundry in machine, I leave my kids in their PJs most days, I nag S often. The list really could go on ad nauseam. I was trying so hard, and in some ways, I believed I was succeeding. Here lies the catch. I forgot my need of a Saviour. I was trying to do all of it on my own, in my own strength. I was (and still am a bit) exhausted. I was testy. I was not a pretty picture. In my 'perfection' I let go of repentance and forgiveness. I got angry when my picture of what was to be got interrupted.I got in the way of sanctification - I figured I was doing a good enough job and didn't need help.
I also realized I was playing at being God. I was trying to control and micromanage everything in my life. I didn't (and in some situations still don't) trust God with what He is trying to do in my life. In some ways, it was like I had gotten *really* good at running on a treadmill, but God was trying to get me to go outside and walk beside the still waters, perhaps even sit down and enjoy the view.
The second half of the verse is : I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth.
Wow. It's not and if/then. It's not a perhaps or maybe. It's an absolute. He WILL be exalted. I often struggle with doing things for God or not doing things or what I'm supposed to be doing. I forget that I GET to do things WITH God. He doesn't need me to do anything - He can do anything in a blink of an eye. It is a privilege and a joy to obey and even more thrilling - when I fail in my role, HE doesn't! I am of no consequence in Him being exalted - that is freeing.
Hear me, though. I'm not saying that we are off the hook and need to do absolutely nothing. For me, in this time, I need to be still, and that will be most glorifying to God - it might be different for you.
What is God, in stillness, teaching you?
XO,
J
Soli Deo Gloria
Recently, I was memorizing the verse : Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth.
It hit me. More like it dug up a battering ram and went at it.
I had to step back. I had to sit down. I had to think. I came to the realization that some of the reason I am busy, or trying to be busy all the time has to do with fear of stillness and what it brings with it. It also reveals the state of our relationship with God.
Let me elaborate: I was really trying to be perfect in the roles I've been given : mother, wife, homemaker etc. Let's face it, I stink at perfection. I am a human who has been marred by sin. I forget the laundry in machine, I leave my kids in their PJs most days, I nag S often. The list really could go on ad nauseam. I was trying so hard, and in some ways, I believed I was succeeding. Here lies the catch. I forgot my need of a Saviour. I was trying to do all of it on my own, in my own strength. I was (and still am a bit) exhausted. I was testy. I was not a pretty picture. In my 'perfection' I let go of repentance and forgiveness. I got angry when my picture of what was to be got interrupted.I got in the way of sanctification - I figured I was doing a good enough job and didn't need help.
I also realized I was playing at being God. I was trying to control and micromanage everything in my life. I didn't (and in some situations still don't) trust God with what He is trying to do in my life. In some ways, it was like I had gotten *really* good at running on a treadmill, but God was trying to get me to go outside and walk beside the still waters, perhaps even sit down and enjoy the view.
The second half of the verse is : I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth.
Wow. It's not and if/then. It's not a perhaps or maybe. It's an absolute. He WILL be exalted. I often struggle with doing things for God or not doing things or what I'm supposed to be doing. I forget that I GET to do things WITH God. He doesn't need me to do anything - He can do anything in a blink of an eye. It is a privilege and a joy to obey and even more thrilling - when I fail in my role, HE doesn't! I am of no consequence in Him being exalted - that is freeing.
Hear me, though. I'm not saying that we are off the hook and need to do absolutely nothing. For me, in this time, I need to be still, and that will be most glorifying to God - it might be different for you.
What is God, in stillness, teaching you?
XO,
J
Soli Deo Gloria
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Date Night and A Recipe!
Yesterday was a busy day. I woke up early with Little Bird who is teething. She ate well and went back to sleep, I, however, didn't. I was able to get some reading in before S left for work. I'm reading Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God Rest by Edward T. Welch. It's not a super heavy read, but it's not feather weight either. I put it on S's phone instead of my Kindle, that way I could read it where there wasn't as much light - like when I put Little Bird to bed in our room, or things like that.
Anyway, after making breakfast, cleaning up, fielding phone calls, the older two got up. Watching, policing, cuddling, more tidying, and even some laundry were done. By the time Buddy's quiet time rolled around, I was tired. Lunch happened through cries and whines. A break in our normal schedule always pushes us toward that side of the contentment continuum - Buddy and I had an in-school yesterday.
This is where my day completely swung UP! A dear lady from church has been able to come and hang out with our kids lately. I've known her since we moved to E-town, but really haven't taken the time to get to know her. I once went to her lovely house with a few other women to make beaded jewelry. She's come to my house for coffee once. She's prayed for us. She's all around wonderful! Yesterday, she proved it all the more!
You see, after being sick for over a week, having in-laws as company, having rough temper-tantrum-y days, and so on, our house has become a lower priority than other things. It wasn't a COMPLETE disaster, but it wasn't exactly neat or tidy. There were dishes in the sink, books de-shelved, dust bunnies mating, and just general disorder.
Buddy and I whirled out the door, leaving two sleeping girls and their absolutely grand guardian to quiet rest. Apparently, it wasn't to be a time of rest for my friend. She did my dishes, ordered the chaos, swept, and when the girls got up, played with them! Not only that - she left a lovely jar of plum butter on my stove for us to enjoy! How blessed are we?!
Since all of our catching-up was caught-up for us, S and I were able to have some sort of semblance of an at home date night! As S was putting the kiddos to bed, I whipped up an appetizer with the plum butter that was left!
I am a fan of pairing sweet and salty. The appetizer came to me as I was trying the lovely preserve earlier in the day. I'm not exactly sure what to call it except for delicious! I guess it should be something like warmed plum and feta crostino. Here's a picture:
I know the picture doesn't look like much, but trust me, it was absolutely marvelous! It took our date night from nice to spectacular - at least on the food scale ; ) We also played Bonanza, which I love, but lost! Oh well, there's always next time! We also got to talk and just hang out. It was grand!
Here's the recipe, in case you are in need of some delicious in your life:
1/2 baguette
1/4 cup butter melted
5+ TBS plum butter
1/4-1/3 cup feta crumbs
Preheat your oven to 350F. Slice your baguette into 1/2 in slices then brush butter on both sides. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until light gold in colour. Then spread a generous amount of the plum butter on the warmed bread. Top with feta. Pop back in your oven for about 5 minutes until the toppings are warmed. Switch to broil to melt the cheese just slightly for about 2-5 minutes. Plate, then enjoy!
Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
xo,
J
Soli Deo Gloria!
Anyway, after making breakfast, cleaning up, fielding phone calls, the older two got up. Watching, policing, cuddling, more tidying, and even some laundry were done. By the time Buddy's quiet time rolled around, I was tired. Lunch happened through cries and whines. A break in our normal schedule always pushes us toward that side of the contentment continuum - Buddy and I had an in-school yesterday.
This is where my day completely swung UP! A dear lady from church has been able to come and hang out with our kids lately. I've known her since we moved to E-town, but really haven't taken the time to get to know her. I once went to her lovely house with a few other women to make beaded jewelry. She's come to my house for coffee once. She's prayed for us. She's all around wonderful! Yesterday, she proved it all the more!
You see, after being sick for over a week, having in-laws as company, having rough temper-tantrum-y days, and so on, our house has become a lower priority than other things. It wasn't a COMPLETE disaster, but it wasn't exactly neat or tidy. There were dishes in the sink, books de-shelved, dust bunnies mating, and just general disorder.
Buddy and I whirled out the door, leaving two sleeping girls and their absolutely grand guardian to quiet rest. Apparently, it wasn't to be a time of rest for my friend. She did my dishes, ordered the chaos, swept, and when the girls got up, played with them! Not only that - she left a lovely jar of plum butter on my stove for us to enjoy! How blessed are we?!
Since all of our catching-up was caught-up for us, S and I were able to have some sort of semblance of an at home date night! As S was putting the kiddos to bed, I whipped up an appetizer with the plum butter that was left!
I am a fan of pairing sweet and salty. The appetizer came to me as I was trying the lovely preserve earlier in the day. I'm not exactly sure what to call it except for delicious! I guess it should be something like warmed plum and feta crostino. Here's a picture:
 |
| Plum and Feta Crostino |
Here's the recipe, in case you are in need of some delicious in your life:
1/2 baguette
1/4 cup butter melted
5+ TBS plum butter
1/4-1/3 cup feta crumbs
Preheat your oven to 350F. Slice your baguette into 1/2 in slices then brush butter on both sides. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until light gold in colour. Then spread a generous amount of the plum butter on the warmed bread. Top with feta. Pop back in your oven for about 5 minutes until the toppings are warmed. Switch to broil to melt the cheese just slightly for about 2-5 minutes. Plate, then enjoy!
Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
xo,
J
Soli Deo Gloria!
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Sauerkaut- The end of the first batch
So, over Christmas break, my in-laws came to visit. It was the perfect time to return the enormous crock they lent us for making sauerkraut. We realized in about week 4 we could not use it again as it has some pretty major cracks in it that got worse as the salted water worked its way into them and pushed them apart.
I had forgotten to pull the kraut of of the crock until lunch time right before they were heading out! In a mad dash I pulled out all of my glass jars I had sitting in my kitchen and stuffed all of them to the brim! I also filled a pyrex bowl and made everyone down a bite or two.
In my rush, I had also forgotten to protect my skin. I have the most sensitive skin ever. Seriously, I think about fragrance and I break out in a rash. The brine from the kraut demolished the skin on my hands and forearms. I had to wash with baking soda twice to neutralize it! Jeepers, it was crazy. Live and learn, I guess!
Anyway, as I was urging people to eat it, my mother-in-law paid me a high compliment : she took a jar home with her! She and my father-in-law also ate quite a bit of our fermented garlic (which, also in m rush, got knocked over at the table and got ALL over Buddy and his chair...reminding me, again, of the fragrance lesson I learned months ago ;] )! It was a hit!
I'm working on figuring out how/when I'm going to do my second batch and what is going to be different about it. I saw a recipe for chlorophyll kraut the other day that intrigued me - you add greens like parsley or spinach and let them do their magic, too. We'll see - maybe I'll do a tiny batch of that as a test to see if we even like it :) First, though, I need to get some weights that fit in my glass jars.
Well, that ends the saga of my first culture/ferment! Hope you'll join me as I venture forth into the next ones!
xo,
J
soli deo gloria
I had forgotten to pull the kraut of of the crock until lunch time right before they were heading out! In a mad dash I pulled out all of my glass jars I had sitting in my kitchen and stuffed all of them to the brim! I also filled a pyrex bowl and made everyone down a bite or two.
In my rush, I had also forgotten to protect my skin. I have the most sensitive skin ever. Seriously, I think about fragrance and I break out in a rash. The brine from the kraut demolished the skin on my hands and forearms. I had to wash with baking soda twice to neutralize it! Jeepers, it was crazy. Live and learn, I guess!
Anyway, as I was urging people to eat it, my mother-in-law paid me a high compliment : she took a jar home with her! She and my father-in-law also ate quite a bit of our fermented garlic (which, also in m rush, got knocked over at the table and got ALL over Buddy and his chair...reminding me, again, of the fragrance lesson I learned months ago ;] )! It was a hit!
I'm working on figuring out how/when I'm going to do my second batch and what is going to be different about it. I saw a recipe for chlorophyll kraut the other day that intrigued me - you add greens like parsley or spinach and let them do their magic, too. We'll see - maybe I'll do a tiny batch of that as a test to see if we even like it :) First, though, I need to get some weights that fit in my glass jars.
Well, that ends the saga of my first culture/ferment! Hope you'll join me as I venture forth into the next ones!
xo,
J
soli deo gloria
Monday, January 6, 2014
Resolving
As a new year dawned, I began to contemplate what I want this coming year to look like. Last year, I dreamed and looked into what I thought would be my future. What I thought would be has not come to pass.
We had been slated to continue to travel to different churches, sharing what God had laid on our hearts. We had been hoping to travel to Texas to finish the last step in our long training process. We were supposed to pack up in North America and head over to a land of diverse culture, heat, and lost people. We were to have a baby (we did). We were to say many a goodbye.
So much. We thought we knew what was going to happen. Boy howdy, were we wrong!
With the overwhelming nature of the diagnosing process for my son, the move into the 'Hole', having a baby, and so on, we stepped back. We cleared our slate. We have started to choose to do the bare minimum outside of our home/family. We are learning how to be healthy in every sense of the word.
We have no idea what this next year will or should look like. I guess that's not true. We have a vague sense of some of the things that will happen. We have a few doctor appointments and meetings. We have school and work. Those kinds of things - other than that, nada, zilch, nothing.
In the past, this lack of specific direction would have frightened me. I like having a plan - an itemized list with bullets even. Now, while I'm still cautious, I would not say I'm afraid. I guess that I also have to confess that I do have a plan : to take each day as it comes.
The verse that has really hit home and carried me through the last little while is my Little Bird's life verse we've picked for her. Her name was inspired by it (She has both a bird and flower name in her name). It is Matthew 6 25-34:
soli deo gloria
We had been slated to continue to travel to different churches, sharing what God had laid on our hearts. We had been hoping to travel to Texas to finish the last step in our long training process. We were supposed to pack up in North America and head over to a land of diverse culture, heat, and lost people. We were to have a baby (we did). We were to say many a goodbye.
So much. We thought we knew what was going to happen. Boy howdy, were we wrong!
With the overwhelming nature of the diagnosing process for my son, the move into the 'Hole', having a baby, and so on, we stepped back. We cleared our slate. We have started to choose to do the bare minimum outside of our home/family. We are learning how to be healthy in every sense of the word.
We have no idea what this next year will or should look like. I guess that's not true. We have a vague sense of some of the things that will happen. We have a few doctor appointments and meetings. We have school and work. Those kinds of things - other than that, nada, zilch, nothing.
In the past, this lack of specific direction would have frightened me. I like having a plan - an itemized list with bullets even. Now, while I'm still cautious, I would not say I'm afraid. I guess that I also have to confess that I do have a plan : to take each day as it comes.
The verse that has really hit home and carried me through the last little while is my Little Bird's life verse we've picked for her. Her name was inspired by it (She has both a bird and flower name in her name). It is Matthew 6 25-34:
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry
about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what
you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than
clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If
that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and
tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you
of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
So! Each day as it comes...and seeking first His Kingdom. Sounds like a resolution to me.
How this will flesh out, I'm not entirely sure. At this point, I have only one bullet to my itemized list ;) - to read the Bible in its entirety at least 3 times.
We'll see how it goes, this resolving.
What have you resolved to do?
xo,
J
soli deo gloria
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