obedience

Dreaded Appointment

RefreshHerLeave a comment

Have you ever had an appointment that loomed in front of you?  Dentist appointments are like that for me.  I don’t mind having my normal routine six-month check-up, but if there’s any work that needs to be done, that date on the calendar looks at me like an angry bull.  I know it’s coming, and I dread it.  I even make references to other dates around that one date.  “That upcoming meeting will be after that appointment.  We go on vacation just before the appointment. On and on it goes until the thing is finally over.

When Christ came to this earth, He came to die for our sins – that was always before Him.  While I know that He did it willingly and because He loved us, I also see in Scripture that the cross was always looming before Him.  He made many references to His death and the suffering as He walked and ministered.  In Mark 14, for example, Mary of Bethany has come and annointed His head with oil and was then rebuked by onlookers for the “waste” of the perfume.  Jesus said in verses 6-8, “Let her alone: why trouble ye her?  she hath wrought a good work on me.  For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.  She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to annoint my body to the buying.”  This is only one of many times that Christ makes reference to His suffering and death that is to come.  It was always before Him.  He always knew that He would suffer the wrath of God toward our sin as He bore our punishment in our place! 

An amazing thing about this is that He could have said “no.”  He could have retreated, but He didn’t.  He fulfilled God’s plan for our salvation, spite the awfulness, the isolation from His Father, and the pain of the cross.  That date with death was fulfilled (but praise the Lord, so was His resurrection!).

As I’ve pondered this thought in recent days, it makes me shake my head at my own whimpiness.  Our Savior had the cross and all its suffering ahead of Him, yet He kept pressing forward.  He kept on, knowing that this “appointment” with the cross would come.  My pressing forward for Christ brings no suffering.  I can serve Him without risks on my life.  No pain is involved, no persecution, yet I choose my way instead of His.  I serve if it’s convenient, if it’s easy, if I feel like it. 

Is this really following Christ? No.  For He said, “Deny yourself.  Take up your cross.”  You know what?  The times that I really do that, there is no dread in it!  There is only joy, because the things that are accomplished are what only God can do. Is this why the Scripture says, “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God”? (Hebrews 12:2)

What happens when I keep the appointment with denying myself?  What is the result when I serve when I don’t necessarily feel like it?  What happens when I do His will and not mine?  His name is glorified, and I am becoming more like my Savior.  Little by little.  No, there’s no dread in that!

Are you denying yourself consistently, or only being obedient when it’s easy?  Consider the dread of the cross that Christ took for you…then follow His example.

With love,

breakfast

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

RefreshHer11 Comments

If your breakfast has become not such a “meal of champions,” let me give you a recipe to really help perk up your morning!  Meet my favorite granola …

This is a recipe from a bed and breakfast my husband and I stayed in.  It is the best!  It’s not hard and crunchy like some.  It’s good with milk and fruit as pictured above,or as a topping on yogurt.

I always make a half recipe because it makes a lot.  This is a half-gallon jar.

Homemade Granola

2 pounds old-fashioned oats (though quick works too), about 10 cups
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 chopped almonds
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter
milk or half and half as an accompaniment
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. 
In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, raisins, walnuts, almonds, honey, salt, and cinnamon and mix well.  In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring sugar and water to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Add butter to saucepan in small pieces and whisk until smooth.  Pour mixture over oats and stir until mixed.  Transfer to 2 lightly sprayed or oiled 9×13 baking dishes.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Stir around the edges.  Turn off oven and leave granola in oven for 11/2 hours.  It should be dry and chunky.  Serve with milk or half and half.
Now here’s a new recipe I tried this weekend…
This is Spicy Chicken-corn Chowder from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine.  However, I didn’t make it spicy.  I also used 2 pieces of bacon instead of 8, and 2% milk instead of whipping cream and it was still delicious and much less fattening!  I served this with popovers and a salad for a great supper meal.

Spicy Chicken-Corn Chowder
Ingredients
8 slices bacon, chopped
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut in bite-size pieces
1 1/2 cups chopped red sweet pepper
1 cup chopped sweet onion
1 – 2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (I used less than half of one)
4 cloves garlic, minced

1/3cup all-purpose flour

6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 large Yukon gold potatoes, chopped

2 cups fresh sweet corn kernels

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper I only used a pinch

2 bay leaves

Directions

1. In a 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven cook bacon until crisp. Remove with spoon; set aside. Reserve 1 tablespoon drippings in pan.

2. Add chicken to pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Stir over medium-high heat until chicken is no longer pink; remove. (I roasted the chicken in the oven instead of cooking it in the bacon fat) Add sweet pepper and onion to pan. Cook and stir until tender. Add jalapenos and garlic; cook and stir 3 minutes. Stir in flour. Cook and stir 1 minute. Add broth and potatoes. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cook, uncovered, 10 minutes or just until potatoes are tender; stirring occasionally. Stir in chicken, corn, cream, cayenne, and bay leaves. Simmer, uncovered, 15 minutes; stir occasionally. Discard bay leaves. Top with jalapeno slices, if desired. Makes 8 servings.

I love a salad with fruit and lettuce more than vegetables.  It’s become a real favorite way to have a salad.  I got fresh pineapple at Kroger for $1.99 last week!  Strawberries were only $1.50, so I added those to our Romaine lettuce, and topped it with a Mango dressing a sweet friend gave me.  Yummo!!!
You could add Blue Cheese or Feta, and nuts if you’d like.

I’ve found some great recipes on Pinterest that I’m anxious to try.  You’ll find the recipes here soon! 

I love hearing about the successes or failures with your new recipes!  What have you been stirring up in your kitchen this week?

From my parsonage kitchen,
Refreshment

Freshen Up Friday

RefreshHerLeave a comment

When you turn around and look at the week you just came through, does it make you shake your head in disbelief?  Do you wonder how you got it all in?  How all that laundry was washed, all those meals prepared, all those time schedules met, all those texts and phone calls answered? 

How much of what you did this was actually planned, and how much of it was a bit of a surprise that the Lord handed to you?  With each surprise event, the Lord gives grace.  With each thing that makes us take in a sharp breath, He is there.  Heartbreaking disappointments, illnesses, people hurts…God knows about them all and He was/is there to give you grace to respond. 

After those things are over we are often weary.  We are not sure we can, or sometimes even if we want to go on.  But if the Lord has allowed us to see today, He also wants us to live it joyfully, even if only deep in our hearts (it will eventually make its way to your face).  We need time to be refreshed.  We must step back and regather our thoughts in a biblical way. 

To refresh yourself at times like this, you need a little space. 

  • Get to a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed (okay, lock yourself in the bathroom, if need be!).
  • Turn on some music that will lift your heart to the Lord, or sing to Him. 
  • Read or listen to the Word of God being read on your computer or phone.  (Psalm 42 has recently refreshed my heart.)  Read/Play it over and over, if you need to. 
  • Talk to the Lord.  Pour out your heart to the Him. 
  • Don’t leave until your heart is refreshed.

Now that your heart is encouraged (which must come first!), don’t be afraid to do something nice for yourself at the end of a busy week!  Enjoy a cup of coffee at a coffee shop, get out your crafty stuff and craft away, buy a magazine that you normally wouldn’t buy for yourself and sit in a cozy spot at home and enjoy reading some good ideas, or splurge on a dessert you haven’t had in a long time. A little refreshment will go a long way at the end of a busy week!

The t-shirt idea I mentioned on Wednesday’s Peek inside the Parsonage is detailed here.  Check it out if you’re in a crafting mood!

Be refreshed,

Parenting

The Value of Attending Sunday School

RefreshHer2 Comments

Sunday school.  Wow.  I love those words.  It was in Sunday school that I trusted Christ as my Savior.  Sitting around a little table in my 2nd grade classroom, I raised my hand when my teacher asked if there was someone who knew they were a sinner and wanted to ask Jesus to forgive them.  The Holy Spirit had been working in my heart for some time and though I was a timid child, I raised my hand that day.  She dismissed the other children, and I sat there as she opened her Bible and showed me what Christ had done for me on the cross and how accepting his sacrifice would not only give me a home in heaven, but also a relationship with Him.  I have never doubted what happened to me that day.  I took God at His Word – “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Romans 10:9

To this day, Sunday school is so vitally important because I see the importance of teaching children about the Bible while they are young.  Their hearts are soft and ready to receive the truth about creation, the beginning of sin, the Gospel, the Great commission, the value of pray, and of the lives of brave men and women who stood for Christ.  We don’t have Sunday school for tradition’s sake; it’s important in the life of a child!

As a teacher and a lover of Sunday school, may I share with you some suggestions about what you can you do to make Sunday school really profitable for your child?

  • Be excited about going to Sunday school and talk with your child about it.  Build it up like you would if you were headed to the zoo or Dollywood!  This is exciting stuff!
  • Be faithful to attend weekly.  Hit and miss students will lose the whole picture of the lessons that are being taught.  Your children will also pick up your idea that Sunday school isn’t really that important!
  • Be on time – even a little early.  Most classrooms are set up with so much material and fun activities that reinforce the lesson that they have to start on time to get it all in.  When your child comes in late, they’ve already missed out on some important pre-story times!
  • On Sunday afternoon (maybe dinnertime) ask your child about their class time.  Don’t just ask what the story was about, ask them what songs they sang, if they learned a memory verse, what book of the Bible the teacher taught the story from, and what happened in the story time.  Ask if they did any activity, such as reenacting the story afterwards.  Did they play a review game?  Did they answer a question?
  • Go over their take-home papers with them.  Read the stories – both the Bible lesson and the true-to-life story that is included on the paper, if applicable.
  • Review their memory verse throughout the week.  Have them say it to you before returning to class so they can recite it, if asked to.
  • Talk with the teacher(s) from time to time and ask if your child is listening, obeying and participating.  Sometimes all it takes is for a parent to speak to their child about an issue that is going on in the classroom for it to get straightened out.  This makes their time in Sunday school really profitable!

If you value Sunday school and what your child is learning, it could be during that hour that your child will trust Christ as their Savior too!  Is there anything that’s more important than that?

Was anyone else saved in Sunday school?  What memories do you have of your childhood classes?

With love,

Uncategorized

A Peek Inside the Parsonage

RefreshHer3 Comments

What’s going on in the parsonage?  Well, I have a new hobby that could take over my life!  It’s Pinterest!  Wow!  What great ideas are on there!  I really do have to discipline myself only get on there at the end of the day after all the important stuff is done, because there are just so many great ideas to look at! 

I especially love the crafty things.  The idea of taking a something simple and turning it into something spectacular is invigorating to me!  Last year I found this post on How Does She and was inspired to redesign simple t-shirts into a ruffled top.  Here was a $2 plain V-necked top from Target that I changed in a matter of about an hour (maybe a little less!)  If you love the ruffled look you see everywhere, you need to make one of these! 

I’m just getting into creating my boards on Pinterest, but if you’re on there you can check out the fun things I’ve found. Are you on Pinterest?  What’s your best advice you could give someone like me who is just beginning?  What is your favorite kind of boards to pin to? Baking?  Decorating?  Clever sayings?  Tell me!  I’m pinterested! =)

From my parsonage windows,