New Year, Eternal Hope

2009 has been a challenging year to say the least.  Lots of bumps and bruises, but the grace of God is an ever-present balm for our spirits.   

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.(Phil 3:13,14)


Psalm 90, A prayer of Moses
Seventy years are given to us!
Some even live to eighty.
But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble;
soon they disappear, and we fly away.
Who can comprehend the power of your anger?
Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.(2009)

Teach us to realize the brevity of life,
so that we may grow in wisdom. (2010)

O Lord, come back to us!
How long will you delay?
Take pity on your servants!
Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love,
so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. (2009)

Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery!
Replace the evil years with good.
Let us, your servants, see you work again;
let our children see your glory.
And may the Lord our God show us his approval
and make our efforts successful.
Yes, make our efforts successful!(2010)

(verses 10-17)

WARNING! DO NOT WATCH JULIE & JULIA....

Unless you want to be inspried or rather compelled to cook and bake!

I just got around to watching this movie last night.  It was so good!  Afterward I hunted around on my favorite book site to see if I could swap a copy of Julia's book (no luck, yet).  I even found Julie's blog and read the first week.  Quite good, and added to my already too long list of blogs to read.

Wayne's out of town, so I went to bed late after some reading (trying to finish The Bird's Christmas Carol  before its due back at the library).

Everything was going just fine this morning.  I woke up to my purring alarm clock who does't care if its Saturday nor that I went to bed late.  Came downstairs, fed my alarm clock, poured a hot cup of coffee with vanilla cinnamon cream and sat down to check facebook.  Drove my girl for work at 8 AM. Came home.

This is where things get a bit foggy for me now.  I intended to warm up Laurin's leftover full cup of coffee, but I'm not sure what happened next.  All I know is that the cup of coffee remains on the counter FIVE hours later, because somehow instead of opening the microwave door, something possessed me to open the pantry door, pull out all my baking stuff....powdered sugar, chocolate chips, corn syrup, peppermint chips, oyster crackers, ranch mix, flour, sugar, salt, dry active yeast and oatmeal. 

I didn't even know I had all that stuff in my pantry!

I just started baking like a fiend, which led also to cooking. 

Now mind you, I LOVE to cook, but, I must confess, baking is just not my thing.  My family won't eat biscuits I make, because you could use them to build a house that even the Big Bad Wolf can't blow over. And last year's fudge could have served as the mortar.  Plus, I find it a bit messy, with flour and sugar dust flying around and sticky pots and utensils that are hard to wash.  As a general rule I stay away from baking.

Today was different. I was relentless in my pursuit to use up all my baking ingredients that I buy with the best of intentions but never manage to get around to using.  And NOW I have all these yummy concotions and I'm not quite sure who I'm giving them to!

While I was on a roll, I figured I'd prepare the chicken stock for my Grandmother's delicious Christmas Day Chicken Soup by boiling a leftover carcass from a roast chicken.  I've NEVER done that before!! What in the world came over me? I feel so......like Julia today!!!

So, thanks to Julia I baked up a storm and thanks to Julie I just had to blog about it!

Here's the proof:

How Beautiful Indeed

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Zion reigns. Isaiah 52:7

(Please pause the music player below, before watching the video.)



I realize this song may be interpreted to refer to the Resurrection and we are now in the season of preparing for the Advent of the Messiah. Can we truly separate the two events?

The cradle and the cross.

The Cradle of Christ began the final chapter in God's redemptive plan to rescue His children. The Cross of Christ fulfilled the promise and completed the plan.

How beautiful indeed!

Unto Us a Son is Given......

Wonderful.

 Counselor.

The Mighty God.

 The Everlasting Father.

The Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6,7

Can I Just Say YUM!!!

Orecchiette with Mixed Greens and Goat Cheese

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis (my favorite chef)
Prep Time: 15 min Cook Time: 10 min Level: Easy, Serves: 6
Ingredients:
1 cup dried orecchiette pasta
2 cups Mediterranean-style mixed salad greens
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes (packed in olive oil), chopped
1 tablespoon goat cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
Pinch salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the water.

In medium bowl, mix the salad greens with the sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, and Parmesan. Top with warm pasta and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss to combine and wilt the greens. Season with a pinch each of salt and pepper, or to taste. Garnish with additional Parmesan, if desired, and serve.

I used ricotta and spinach stuffed tortellini instead of the oreccchiette and it made a delicious substitute.

Verdict:  Everyone enjoyed this at our weekly FLOCK gathering.  This one's a keeper!!

What a Blustery Day....

(Turn off the music player before watching this...and HOLD ON!!)

Whose Son Is the Messiah?

Jesus stumped the Pharisees when He asked them this question (Matthew 22:41-45). 

Matthew Henry's commentary on the passage:

"He took upon him human nature, and so became God manifested in the flesh; in this sense he is the Son of man and the Son of David. It behoves us above all things seriously to inquire, "What think we of Christ?" Is he altogether glorious in our eyes, and precious to our hearts? May Christ be our joy, our confidence, our all. May we daily be made more like to him, and more devoted to his service."

Who do you say He is?

We easily embrace him as the Babe away in a manger, with no crib for a bed, laying down his sweet head. Do we so easily embrace that Babe as the Great Shepherd laying down his life for his sheep?  

I'm reading a thought provoking little collection of Martin Luther's Christmas sermons. Luther asks: "What could be sweeter than the Babe?"

Consider,

This sweet Babe who was born into the world just when a heavy burden was decreed to trade his light and easy burden for ours.

This Babe, the Creator of the world born in a stable without notice nor regard, lying in a wooden feeding trough. What kind of throne is that for the King of kings?

 A scared, first time mother having to birth her son alone....in the town of Joseph's ancestors....where was his family, surely they could have housed them, helped with the birth?  But, no one came to give the customary assistance. No one took her condition to heart.  No one attended to this woman. 

was there light to see what she was doing? water to bathe Him? where did the wrap come from?

.  In regarding the Nativity, Luther says:

" ...many of you... who think to yourselves: 'If only I had been there! How quick I would have been to help the Baby!  I would have washed his lined.  How happy I would have been to go with the shepherds to see the Lord lying in the manger.' Yes you would!  You say that because you know how great Christ is, but if you had been there at that time you wold have done no better than the people of Bethlehem.  Childish and silly thought are these! Why don't you do it now?  You have Christ in your neighbor.  You ought to serve him, for what you do to your neighbor in need you do to the Lord Christ himself. "

 "What think we of Christ?

Is he altogether glorious in our eyes, and precious to our hearts?

May Christ be our joy, our confidence, our all.

May we daily be made more like to him, and more devoted to his service."

 
 

How Do I Love Thee........

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of everyday's

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with a passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

All praise to God, who blessed me with the man of my dreams, my very own Prince Charming.  I thank God for my dear, sweet, wonderful, husband.  Today we celebrate 20 years of wedded bliss  (mixed with love, tears, sorrow and joy)!  I pray the Lord gives us more and more TIME together.

Preparing....

This year in celebration of our Saviour's birth, we have decided to make a few changes. Some out of sheer necessity. Mostly, because for years, we've want focus on what really matters.

Christmas is an event that IS recorded in Scripture.  Therefore, it is an event that is worth our TIME. Instead of getting caught up in all the frenzy, we are choosing to s l o w  d o w n.....enjoy TIME together with family and close friends.....savor these fleeting moments......reflect on just what the arrival of Christ means to us and for us.

God's grace has been measureless to us this year so simply contemplating on the reason we receive that privilege in the first place by consciously reducing the seasonal distractions seems a proper and most fitting way to end this year and begin a new one......

Although decorations are minimal, we are spending TIME together each evening. Sharing a cup of tea and conversation......reading favorite Christmas stories like The Bird's Christmas Carol and Take Joy! ...... watching our favorite cheesy Christmas movies like A Christmas Story, Elf and of course, old Rudolph. 

Gifts may be smaller than usual:  homemade, handmade, heartfelt. Love, joy, peace....these last longer and cannot be wrapped anyway. Love the ideas on this site.

Most of all we're also taking TIME to prepare our hearts....celebrating Advent at home with daily Scripture readings.  I found a wonderful at home guide here at King of Peace.

Yesterday's reading, Isaiah 1:16-18, really struck me. 

Wash yourselves and be clean!

Get your sins out of my sight.

Give up your evil ways.

 Learn to do good.

Seek justice.

Help the oppressed.

Defend the cause of orphans.

Fight for the rights of widows.

 “Come now, let’s settle this,”

says the Lord.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

I will make them as white as snow.

Though they are red like crimson,

I will make them as white as wool."

This is why I have peace with God; this is why His grace is sufficient.  This is why my heavy burden of guilt and shame can be lifted. The stubborn stain of my sin is no match against the mercy and compassion of God, the sacrificial, stain-cleansing Blood of His beloved Son. 

If you do not already possess this eternal gift or if you (like I am prone to do) have become complacent about the treasure you've already received, I pray that this will be the Christmas you receive or remember  (as the case may be) with awe and wonder the gifts of God: forgiveness, peace with Him, joy everlasting, life eternal which were all paid for with the blood of that sweet babe lying in a manger.

This unfathomable event, when God Himself stepped down into TIME, to rescue me from an eternity without Him; this is where I choose to turn my TIME and attention this Christmas season.

Won't you join me? How do you and your family prepare for this Advent of the newborn King?