Monthly Archives: March 2014

A Sunday Afternoon of Rest

Sunday afternoons often bring back memories of “Then“.
Being a preacher’s child in the 60’s was not an easy mold to fill. This gal, had an especially tough struggle, being strong willed and all.
In those “good old days” it was important to make a Godly impression.
First and foremost because God requires it, but also and as an aside, the church folk were watching.
Oh the burden upon God’s appointed ministers of the word, back “then”.
Looking around in the here and now, things appear to be different for clergy and their precious ones. The weight of being the perfect or near perfect example of God’s representative on earth, has become a bit lighter. It seems we all recognize that even though we desire to live for Him and depend upon His Spirit to indwell and renew us, regularly, we live fallible lives.
Thankfully those mercies of His will never end.
Phew!
We all know that leaders of any organization need to model the expected behavior, but “then”, there was an expectation that we needed to be nigh unto infallible. Of course, this was not possible, so some of us failed on a very regular basis.
Some of us were reminded.

Often.

That there was much room for improvement.
Nevertheless, my childhood was one of learning and love. Even  mired in my own confusion, I was growing and developing a view of God and His Faithfulness.
Ours was a quiet life.
The doors were always open to any and all who might need a refuge, or just a cup of something warm.
Sundays were most certainly set aside for rest and solitude. Sleep, books, roast beef or roast chicken for lunch, a dish of fruit and a fresh biscuit or bun before heading back to church for evening service.
The best Sundays were when I was allowed to have a friend over. This person would always and without fail be someone from church, who I often did not even see during the week. This friend was allowed to come for the afternoon and we would give her back to her parents when we returned to the evening service. On these days I could even sit with the friend or she could sit with me. Always in the company of a parent. We know what kind of shenaniganism can transpire with two or more youngsters sitting unattended in a service.
Gracious Me!
The only thing that could top the joy of having this friend experience, was “fellowship time”, in the church basement, following the evening service.
I guess this is when I really figured out that I was a people person. So many to talk to and so much good food (banana loaves, squares, cookies, etc) while we all visited together.
My father would of course preach both morning and evening. No such thing as associates or assistants.
Land sakes, there was hardly enough money to put food on the table of one person, never mind two or more.
It’s a remarkable thing how we become who we are as a result of where we are from. Not that we can’t be freed if that “from” is a deep, dark place.
Of course, God is the great redeemer of circumstances and can heal those leftover holes once the harmful nails have been removed.
However

our pain, our joy, our friendships, our work experience, our table talk,

greatly impact our life struggle and development.

This is not bad. This is life.
Learning to dig out the good and stomp on the harmful, develops perseverance. Perseverance in turn comes to completion and we end up lacking nothing. (James 1)
So, Sundays look different now. Stores are open, for one thing. Sometimes Sunday is a resting day and sometimes it is not.
I still find myself doing a lot of yawning and could quite easily sleep for a while on Sunday afternoons. At this stage of my game though, daytime sleep can mean nighttime sleeplessness. So I find other ways to rest.
Today, it was in the kitchen although as I look outside it would appear that Spring is nigh and a brisk walk would be a great idea.

Today I made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Easy! So yummy!
Comfort Food for a modern Sunday afternoon rest.

Let’s talk tomatoes

So,
All canned tomatoes are not created equal.
I decided to open three different brands so you could get an idea of what this is about.

plain diced tomatoes are very juicy.
plain diced tomatoes are very juicy.
italian diced have a bit more pure and not just juice
italian diced have a bit more puree and not just juice
These organic tomatoes consist of pieces and a thick pure. This is the one I use in meat recipes
These organic tomatoes consist of pieces and a thick puree. This is the one I use in meat recipes

IMG_9701

These tomatoes are all very good and great from a health point. But the thicker the puree the better for using in sauces.
Michael Smith (Chef at home) does a great talk about the value of canned tomatoes over fresh tomatoes. It is excellent and I recommend it

.http://chefmichaelsmith.com/video/canned-tomatoes/

Now that I have these cans of tomatoes opened, I think I will make some tomato soup and of course what is tomato soup without a grilled cheese sandwich

Saturday dinners

I still remember that Saturday evening. It happened about 20 years ago.
I had decided it was a good night to cook roast beef with mashed potatoes and vegetables. The smell floated through the house and I looked forward to serving it to my family.
We sat down together and my middle child who was 8 looked at his plate, looked at me and quite decisively said
“Why did you make this? This is not a Saturday night dinner. Saturday night dinners are supposed to be pizza or tacos or something.”
Yes, the little ones I gave life to were never shy about stating their opinions.
Needlessly to say, that was the last time roast beef was served on a Saturday night in our home.
Funny thing is
I get it!
I do feel the same way. Saturday night, the summit of a week past, is a time to celebrate. It is a fun, self satisfied time when a party atmosphere should be enjoyed.
FUN Food!
Lesson learned
Fun it was and fun it is.
Let’s eat party food
Today, it was TACOS

Considering, Hope

Today,
I can tell you, Spring has come.
I know, don’t get your “hopes” up!
We joke about it, mostly because we are silly and a little frustrated with the weather.
But really, we do know without doubt that Winter will end and Spring will arrive, sometime before July. Snow is not bad. In January and even February.
March is borderline and April…
Even the rain, leaving puddles around to walk in and seep through leather if we aren’t careful, is a welcome sign.
A downpour of rain, freeing roads and sidewalks of snow and salt and sand, is cleansing, refreshing.
All of this reminded me today of
HOPE.
We use the word flippantly but recent study has revealed that HOPE is so much more than, wishing, dreaming, if only(ing).
It is that, at times. But, with that kind of hope, there is no guarantee. Sometimes hoping is futile and even hopeLESS.

I delved into the world of Greek the other day. No scholar here, but with google at my fingertips it is easy to learn and discover truth, that is old, but new to me.
“Why not dig a bit?” I asked myself.
“No need to wait for someone to open the windows of learning”, I suggested to me.
“There is so much I don’t know but should”, my heart told my brain.
So I looked for myself.
I tell you, a whole new world is appearing as I read and write and learn and walk and leave the t.v. screen dark.
evenings of quiet and learning and even
dare I say, seeking,
more.
Not stuff, but richness.
Perhaps it’s because I have a birthday not far off
maybe the crisis of mid life
Not certain but I recognize life as being too short to waste. Let me learn and share and really live.

Back to HOPE
This is all about hope because life is short and sometimes not terribly sweet but real and worth living and I know it isn’t just, about now. Right here.
Doing these things and waiting and wondering.
HOPE, I learned from my Greek study, is an EXPECTATION. Expecting the reality of what is actual. This HOPE is about living while I wait and waiting while I live.
Life is a gift, but it isn’t for me alone. It is for sharing and encouraging and helping
other people
HOPE is the reality of KNOWING without doubt that there is purpose, to my life (and yours).
It is about realizing that when I say I HOPE for the day when I am perfect and whole and stand before God and look around at my forever home, that is not a wishing, dreaming, wondering kind of thing. It is truth. Reality. EXPECTATION!

The one thing that defines HOPE for me, is knowing. That I have HOPE.

Kind of blows my mind a bit.

Delicious! One of my faves!

I grew up on egg sandwiches.
Some people call the filling egg salad. Some, my daughter for example, called it “cold egg”. That name stuck so I refer to it now as cold egg.
I made a whole lot of cold egg last night, for a lunch at our church today.
I feel that there is nothing like a good egg sandwich as long as the “cold egg” is made well and you have nice fresh buns (open face) or bread to put it on.
I use mayonnaise sparingly to hold the egg together but to be honest, I want my egg sandwich to taste like egg (and pickle and celery and green onion) and not like mayo.

I hope you like it!