I had a bowl of leftover Fake-it Italian Soup today for lunch, and thought of all the people I know hustling and bustling who would appreciate a recipe for dinner that
(a) consists of ingredients from the pantry or freezer
(b) which are relatively inexpensive
(c) only takes 15 minutes to make
Grab all the ingredients on your next trip to the grocery store, and you will be prepared for your next one-of-those days.
This time of the year, about half of the searches that lead people here are dealing with the question did Mary suffer labor pains? Michael posited that question a few years back.
I answered then, and still believe now, that she did. My labors (even Lexi’s at home and unmedicated) remind me so much of what Jesus says in John 16, when he is telling the disciples about the sorrow they will feel at his death being so overshadowed by the joy they will experience when they see him again. “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child has been born into the world.”
She labored in pain and then she rejoiced, at her son, who had come to save us all.
Marked nine years of blogging for me. I started in my teens in college, using what was then a relatively new website (blogger) to publish thoughts that really no one cared about. One of my first posts was a lament about missing an intramural soccer game, wondering if any other women would show up, hoping the coed Dandy Lions would not have to forfeit. COMPELLING STUFF. I am not sure that my voice has developed all that much, but I’m glad y’all have found me and stuck around.
Filed under general
Advent, of course, means coming. It is good and right that we have a time to remember the longing for Christ’s incarnation, remember that we are longing for his second coming when he will put the world to rights. One thing that struck me this week in a new way is how much Christ’s coming is not just a past and future event, but something that is happening continually.
When a friend drops everything to be with me when I need a friend, Christ is near. When our hearts break with those in sorrow, when we fight for the oppressed, Christ shows up. When we gather at his table, Jesus comes and meets us there. He has come and will come again, but He IS risen. And that has present implications.
I am still longing for the new heavens and the new earth, for all things to be made new. But I am comforted as I see the ways that he is near, even now.
Filed under church year, theology
I have participated several times in the December Photo Project and had fun sharing and exploring others’ photos during December. (Try it!) I have neglected this blog so much that I am taking a different approach this year: the 31-Day Challenge. So do not be alarmed that my feed suddenly is active after a long season of dormancy… maybe it will be a good jump start into the new year.
Filed under general
These have been a big hit this autumn!
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice or combo of cinnamon/ginger/nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, melted
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
6-8 oz. chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 13×9 with parchment paper. Whisk together flour and pumpkin pie spice. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla just until combined. Add pumpkin puree (at this stage it looks kind of curdled.) Gently mix in dry ingredients just until combined and fold in chocolate chips. Bake for 30-40 minutes – mine lightly brown but a toothpick test yields moist crumbs (think brownies.) Partially cool before you lift out using the parchment paper and cut into squares. This recipe is for a FUDGY consistency, if you want something more cake-like, cream the butter at room temperature and add 1 tsp baking soda to the dry ingredients.
One of the most amazing things about parenting is how much my children teach me about faith and following Jesus. I have been observing Lexi closely lately, we’ve had so much one-on-one time since Kate started kindergarten, and it’s so encouraging to watch her grow.
Of all of the people in our family, Lexi is the most likely to pray with and for me. Even if it’s something routine, that happens everyday, she never tires of praying for it. It amazes me how much she gets sin and brokenness, she doesn’t hide from them, she feels their weight. She shows me consistently how she wants to grow in maturity, praying that God would help her to grow more like Jesus. She wrestles with sanctification, asking the big questions like “why do I keep sinning when I ask God to help me to not sin?” With her tender heart and willingness to serve, I am confident that God will use her to minister to many others, like she ministers to me.
When she joyfully receives the bread and the wine tonight, I will be praying that God strengthens her to always follow after Jesus with the passion and faith that she demonstrates today.
Filed under parental ponderings
A few posts back I talked about these cds – we hadn’t had them for very long, so my assessment was basically that they were much better musically than the scripture songs I grew up with. As we’ve lived with them and listened to them, the girls and I have grown very fond of them. If they are playing in their room, they turn on their CD player and listen. They sometime sleep with them playing softly. Then they are stuck in all of our heads, in a good way. Scripture we start meditating on, without even trying.
I have a coupon code for 20% off that you can use – KSTEWART09 – it doesn’t expire until January 10th, 2010. All the CDs come packaged with two copies, so you can share with a friend or ministry (Cornerstone Schools of Alabama would love some more!). Our favorites are Seeds of Courage, Purpose and Encouragement.
Filed under family life
Everyone’s back to school. Michael’s searching for summer work for 2010. Lexi started ballet. I’m driving from Southside to Woodlawn or Crestwood (and back) 3x a day, fighting the UAB students for parking, and, of course, running a business.
It’s all just the same. The grind. Different grind, but the grind all the same.
In tweaking some godly play lessons for our church, I worked on one lesson about the church calendar. The original version talks about how time will cycle on and on, forever and ever. I made an addition of “until one day, when Jesus returns and everything is made new. Our circle will be broken with the new time of the new heavens and the new earth.” This concept of new time was not one I had ever thought of, but I am starting to long for that part of eternity, too.
Filed under family life, theology
We dropped Kate off at kindergarten this morning. She was ready, excited, and did not shed a tear. Neither did we. Praying for a great first day!
Filed under family life
I have been tagged a bunch of times on Facebook for the 15 books that stick with you meme, where you quickly come up with 15 books that you will always remember (in less than 15 minutes.) Here’s my list (in no particular order):
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Koninsburg
Gilead/Home by Marilynne Robinson
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life by Bob Lupton
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
The Chronicle of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Second Coming by Walker Percy
The Time Trilogy by Madeline L’Engle
Tag me on facebook or leave a comment if you do one, I’d love to see it!
Today is our sixth anniversary. Michael and I have done a lot in the time we’ve been married, and as I look towards the future more change and challenge awaits. I’m thankful we’ll be tackling it together.
Filed under family life
| Barbery
| Fitzpatrick
| Zusak
| Tickle
| Ricks
| Lupton
| Green
| Metaxas
| Wolters
