Old & New

Sometime I just need a tangible, visible reminder that old things can be made new.

Washed Down, 

Covered

Clean

New

I'm saved by grace, not works.

I can cover a chair,

I cannot cover myself,

Christ does that.

I'm His workmanship

His creation.

On the day I pleaded forgiveness, acknowledged my fall,

He said yes!

 He is cleaning off the grime and yuck stuck on my heart.

And I'm new

Eph 2:8-10, 2 Cor 5:17-19

Unless You go with me….

It probably appears that I'm doing less cooking these days…

I'm not, 

Just last night my hubs and I worked on a dish we are perfecting,

it involved hand made pasta, proscuitto, figs, and balsamic parmesan.

And even the flour-less peanut butter cookie (recipe in older post)

got a face lift - adding a crushed heath bar to the white choc drizzle.

This was all my hubby's idea - and it is a fantastic one.

-------------------

the real feeding has been in the word - God nourishing my mind,

teaching me what I thought I'd already learned.

There is this crazy bumper sticker that talks about being God's copilot -

My friend Carolyn and I were giggling about this.

Truth is I shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the steering wheel.

 I need to be all the way in the back seat, 

turned around

                                                                             

facing out the rear window.

Cheering as I see what God's done every mile

Like the typical 80's kid - riding in the "way-back"

Moses leads a band of hooligans out of Egypt, and into the wilderness.

And God went before them…

in a cloud by day 

 in a pillar of fire by night.

Shelter in the heat of a sweltering dessert day,

 warmth you curl up to on a brisk starry night.

Men, Women & kids marking their days by God's movement above them.

When the cloud stops - stop,

when it moves - move

They did not know the holy timeline.

They had zero control over the situation,

they ate what God fed them,

they walked where God led them.

So they handled their discomfort in a very human way….moaning & groaning.

All the while God had purposed a father-child relationship of trust & love.

He secured every physical need.

Then supplied His commandments to cover their spiritual need 

-----------

My hubby sits across the table on 

the eve of our 21st anniversary, the week of father's day, and we sup on veggies & love,

(thx for the inspiration Persephone Bakery)

reminiscing,

a sadness comes into his eyes as he thinks on a previous conversation.

"If you love your family, it isn't enough to provide for them,

you have to teach your kids what's right, what's true."

He goes on "As I've worked on this sign for my dad, I've realized how he taught me hope,

not to hope in myself but to hope in what lasts."

And so when God calls Moses up the mountain to give him the 10 commandments 

it's just love.

His commands are our protection.

 Moses tromps back down the mountain to find that the Israelites have chosen a new god while he was away.

A call goes out from Moses "Whose side are you on?  Do you want to be on the Lord's?"

3000 fall.

Disobedience has a cost,

not because God isn't good but because He is so very good.

Kind & Just

Love & Truth.

Real love doesn't turn a blind eye.

Love tells the truth & the truth was God no longer wanted to journey with the Israelites.

  

Who can fill God's shoes?

With a child or a nation - a dad, who loves, doesn't turn a blind eye to a rebellious child. 

They instruct so their child's soul can live, 

So they have an anchor to tether their lives to,

so they can hold onto hope,

Firm & Secure.

Heb 6:19

And so to my sweet Hubby and my sweet Father, and to my perfect heavenly Father -

you have built hope, and tethered my wandering heart.

I love you.

I love you for holding me.

I love you for telling me the truth.

I love you for proclaiming that a life not held by Christ is no life at all,

unless He goes first,

there is no reason to go.

Lead on, lead on….

Being Mom

A month ago Mama Robin discovered my twig wreath.

Twig by twig she built her nest, on the wreath, on the front door.

And since we use the front door regularly I tried relocating my wreath, just a few feet to the side,
but still underneath the eaves.

I wash dishes, looking out the front window when she lands across from me on the porch railing.
She stares at the door, perplexed
"where in the world is my nest?"

It's like trying to locate my car after I've grocery shopped.

My boys gather round me, distressed

We motion, trying to point her to the new location, startled she flutters to a nearby pine.


"We have to move it back mom"

"Yes we do" I groan.


I  wonder how we're going to move in and out without her panicking. How will she sit on a nest that is constantly swinging - open - shut - open - shut.

Really Mama Robin, our porch is not the safest. But now we are in this together - her & I and our 2 young protectors (my boys).

Roughly 14 days go by. And we see 2 littles.

Two. The # of children currently under my roof.
  My oldest Robin flew away last fall.
 I pray she migrates home.

I admire Mama Robin's peaceful way. She's serene, calmly
confident. Her only concern is that nest.

Why don't I feel this way?
I think this is how I'm suppose to feel.

A few weeks pass, 2 birds have flown & Mama R. is on to her second brood,
restive, as she sits on her 3 eggs.

Intuitively she knows her purpose.
It gives me courage.
Its enough to be mom.



I

This weeks trend....

Is hummus.

Made from a really easy concoction of 2-4 Tbsp Olive oil, 14oz Chick Peas/Garbanzos,

at least a clove of garlic, Salt, Pepper, 6 Tbsp. Tahini

and 2-4 Tbsp lemon juice

From there you can get creative.

This week I have made Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (above)

and also tried an artichoke add.

Both were delicious.

So is just plain old Hummus...which I also made this week.

It takes about 10 min. and is part of an easy, nutritious lunch.

Here's a pict of ours.

With the crazy, I'll get to it next week kinda schedule I've been keeping, it is super important to me that I am eating well.

Soon fresh produce will be everywhere, but this week I will be eating hummus in all its wonderful varieties.

A Beautiful Life

 I felt inspired yesterday morning.

The crabapple tree is blooming bright & pink. Everything is alive...suddenly & vibrantly.

 I started the morning with french omelets stuffed with gouda and chives, a vanilla pecan coffee cake, and a simmering mug filled with Peets coffee. This is the perfect Sunday brunch menu.  

It fills the stomach & the conversation flowing at our table fills the heart.

Everyone is itchy to be outside....but we are itchy in general because the mosquitos got the memo.

(yes that is a salamander in my daughter's hand - she held it with one & took the photo with the other after she caught it....talent.)

Fresh flowers grace my table....and salad. 

Fresh, cold & delicious. This one is topped with homemade ranch - think fresh mashed garlic, a heap of fresh parsley & chives, dill, cayenne, sea salt & cracked pepper.

 (you really cannot touch this with what is in a bottle at the grocery)

The salad also has a smattering of sliced grape tomatoes, salted pecans (candied are also delicious)

gorgonzola cheese & granny smith apple slices. Yum!

Now get outside and play!!

While It Is Called Today.

Tick Tock.

39 years and tempted to complain about 40.

45 mph...the car hits ice, I wake and yell "Jesus".

J's hands calm on the wheel, the car flies sideways.

I look back, numbering the buckled seat belts...1,2,3. The car turns and we are backwards.

Pine trees rushing past.

We slip sideways flying down an icy hill, I brace for impact.

Our brakes catch, a divine intercept.

360 degrees. We're dead stopped on the shoulder of the road.

Not 2 hours earlier our heads were bent, our hearts repentant. Mourning for the evil, for a world that has runaway from its Creator. 

Raising their fists and echoing Pharaoh's words of Exodus 5

"Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?"

Lot lived in Sodom and was vexed.

I turn to my vexed 13 year old.

"It's not time for us to go home yet. Someday, but not this day.

The Lord still has purposes for us this side of heaven."

He nods, face solemn.

**My kids would like you to know they object to being depicted as pawns**

 "Can I be a knight?"

But ahh, to have the Mighty One plan good works for you since conception, that's not being a pawn, it is having a bigger purpose.

"But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. " Heb 3:13

Wyoming Waters

The plan was to photograph each state from Mi to Wy. 

 I forgot by Indiana....

We pass tree and corn field and land in the loving, hospitable home of my 

brother & his beautiful wife.

The perfect pit stop on a 25+ hour trip.

A lengthy but smooth road trip necessitates

 thanks.

My children laugh together in the back seat,

my hubby rests his arm next to mine 

smiling his "I love my wife" smile.

My heart is full and rushing.

We arrive in Wyoming.

 I cannot help but sing aloud as I cross the river to the hot springs.

"Streams of mercy never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise"

A passerby has the courtesy to nod, not stare and hike on.

For a few months I will call this home. 

A dearly loved Wyoming friend mused

"you never quite leave a place you love, you take part

of it with you, and leave a part of you behind."

A wedge of my heart beats in the wilds of Wyoming.

When & There

When I first saw Him I ran to Him.  He was everything I wanted so I curled up in His lap certain He would indulge me.  And I talked to Him 
and He stayed there.

And time moved forward and I cried to Him when everything was 
awkward and out of place, and He held me. 
I laid my head in His hands 
and He calmed me there.

When joy came sweeping in as new love grabbed my hand, I twirled the daisies He had grown for me. 

I ran with abandon thru the meadow 

and He raced me there.

And time moved forward and I knelt to Him when everything was false and flat and fearful.
 I said sorry, took His strong hand,
 and He changed me there.

When I looked I could not see Him.  I longed for His lap, His arms, His presence, to hold His hand. 

In desperation my heart failed me there.

And time moved forward and I struggled to breathe, to believe, to hope, to see. 
 I held out my empty hand, talked to the sky, 
looked for His presence, continued to ask why.

  I chose to believe what I could not see there.

When He stooped down to gather me from ‘round His legs and washed me, 
I knew 

He had never left me there.

And time moved forward and He offered salve, and clothed me in white.  

My head rested between His shoulders as we recounted the years. 

Then I danced in His love as He led to the home 

He had prepared for me there.

The Lemonade Stand

Kids have an affinity for running a Lemonade Stand. And I think 90% of us could trace our first business back to the neighborhood sidewalk where we stirred hope and country time . I remember dreaming I would buy a trampoline with the Lemonade proceeds.

After about an hour in the hot sun and maybe $1 richer we usually abandoned our business for a cool swim in the lake. So when my hubby & son started plans for a lemonade stand I was skeptical.

I'd love to add a pict. of my sons hand-scratched recipe card but he told me I couldn't. He isn't ready to share the recipe he & his dad worked to perfect. I will say it is amazingly good & that within a few hours he managed to make over $20.00, I'm fairly impressed with his entrepreneurial skills.

Here's to your entrepreneurial idea....just give it a shot!

Spelling & Vocab: Definitions that need defining.

Commerce: The activity of buying and selling, esp. on a large scale

This definition fits perfectly with my assumption of what the dictionary's definition would be.  Hence I did not see why looking COMMERCE up would require a birds & bees kind of prelude.

I was mistaken. There are, it seems, older archaic definitions included in the dictionary.

My son's inquisitive eyes turned toward me, his brow lifting just a fraction, waiting.

I know you want to know what its archaic meaning is.....I did not explain it to my son either.