Interpreting the Present Time

Practically speaking, blogging is the most illogical activity considering the current situations closing in.  There are major transitions our family is undergoing that require a lot of effort in a little bit of time.  I look forward to sharing with you these exciting goings-on, but that’s for another time.  So much is required, but I am experiencing a moment of quiet, and while I allow my ruptured eardrum to heal (stillness is the name of the game), my heart is burning within me and I’m about to spill it all out.   It’s one of those times where I see things so clearly, I’m only hoping I can clearly communicate.  I would very much appreciate your balancing input.

After reading Luke 12 this morning, I experienced a great amount of fear and joy.  Joy that the end really is near.  Jesus really is coming back, and if not in my lifetime, it could be in my children’s lifetime.  What am I doing to prepare them for His glorious coming?  At risk of sounding like a crazy preacher, the Fear of the Lord descended upon me.  He really is coming back.  Really.

I’ve personally observed pockets of Christians who seem to be embracing this reality and are going after that “pearl of great price.”  Nothing seems to be more important than readying themselves, their families, and others for Jesus’ second coming.  These people are not a people wallowing in doom and gloom, but are a people of hope, joy, freedom, and love.  They are secure in their salvation and their joy comes from relationship with Him and the promise of a perfect eternity together, no matter what temporary hardships meet them on this earth.  But they are not in denial of the current state of this world and are active partners with their Redeemer to bring about even more redemption to the world.  They do not passively sit, waiting for the world to go to pot and feeling any effort to bring about change would be futile.  They recognize the battleground is not against flesh and blood, but against the evil spiritual forces at work, and they do most of the warring on their knees.  This is my tribe.  I want to align myself with these people.

I’ve also been in the camp of Christians who truly want to be about the Kingdom, but seem to have a hard time really living it out.  They’re pretty content with the way things are, they don’t feel things are in that dire of a situation to be all that active and “extreme,” and are just trying to be good people.  There isn’t much joy, but there is confusion.

As Christians, we know what’s good and what is sinful, according to the Bible.  Or at least we should.  We know getting drunk, gossip, sexual immorality, selfishness, greed, and even gluttony is wrong.  We try not to drink too much, be too selfish, and we have internet firewalls that catch most of the bad stuff, but hey, we’re not fully redeemed yet, and stuff is going to slip by, right?  I don’t think these people are trying to be lazy Christians, I think they just might not be “interpreting the present time,” amongst other issues like Biblical illiteracy.

The fact of the matter is this: Jesus is coming back.  Yeah, most Christians are saying, “No duh, I know, I read the Bible.  What a cliche thing to say.  He’s been ‘coming back’ for over 2,000 years.”  He might not come back in our lifetime, but He might in our children’s, or the generation after that, or after that, or after that.  What are we doing to prepare them?  How are we modeling this readiness?  How are we spreading the word so more can be saved?

 Sure, there is tension on this side of the New Testament.  We are redeemed, but can still sin.  But are we using this tension as an excuse, or are we moving forward in our redemption and speaking and acting in our freedom from sin and death?  I know we are saved by grace and not works (thank the Lord), but I am also familiar with the sobering parable of the sheep and the goats.  The time is here!  There is no time for dabbling with the devil.  Or have we forgotten what the devil looks like and what our Savior is capable of doing in our lives?  With Jesus, our addictions, brokenness, and sicknesses can be healed.

I know I’m not saying anything new, yet not much seems to be changing.  This is all coming from one who has been redeemed from the fear of man, the fear of death, the fear of pain and discomfort, and lots and lots of fear, and who has been forgiven of gossip, slander, selfishness, and lying.  Yet physically I’m currently struggling with sickness, knowing God could redeem my health, too.  There’s that tension. I know the gate is narrow, but I want as many of us as possible to get through it.  It is time to really examine our lives, priorities, and thoughts.  He is coming, and that will be a glorious day for some and a damned day for others.  What will it be for you and your children and their children?

Left Behind

I’m afraid I’m not as avid a blogger as I’d like to be these days. As much as I adore writing, sharing, and pondering by “pen,” other duties and pleasures have consumed my time lately. Speaking of pleasures, my friend, Rachel introduced me to ehow and, as you can see, my recipes (and most downtime obtained) has gone there.  I’m telling you, if you have know-how in a certain area, it’s a great place to share your knowledge and get paid for it.  I appreciate that it’s free to the public to access your articles; you get paid when people click the google links surrounding them.  It’s a great way to earn an little extra money.  I am fascinated and sometimes have an unbalanced enthrallment with health, especially when it comes to food, so I published an article on how to eat healthy on a budget, a real hobby of sorts and challenge of mine.  I also just created a simple, most unhealthy dessert that I am rather proud of if I do say so myself.  I call it “chocolate banana cream dessert bars.”  It’s quite a mouthful in every sense of the term.  Hehe.

Well, now that I’ve shamelessly plugged my articles, I’m going to neglect my dear blog once again and spend some time loving my dear husband who just came home from the road, sick and weary.  Until next post, dear friends…

Valentine’s Day Dinner: Pink Pasta!

 

Or we could name it "Heartbeet Noodles?"

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Pink Pancakes: A Delicious, Nutritious Valentine’s Day Breakfast

 

Soooo yummy!

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Make Your Own Aussie Bites

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Art From the Homestead

My, my.  Haven’t I been quite the delinquent blogger?  I learned this year that if I don’t want most forms a normal life to stop during the Christmas season, I need to start making gifts a lot earlier.  Starting the beginning of November was a mistake, but I was able to get the last stitch in on Christmas Eve.  Whew.

Thanks so much to all of you who shared your great ideas at Homemade Christmas Goodness.  It is the most visited post on my blog, and not only did it greatly help me, it helped hundreds of others who stopped in to glean from your ideas and inspiration.  They were personally much appreciated and many were applied to my gift-giving this year.  I ended up making gift baskets (beautiful Christmassy ones that I found for a steal at Grocery Outlet), as suggested by Camille, and they were filled with a bit of an eclectic array of goods, some homemade and some store-bought.  In the end though, I was very pleased with the final results and felt a greater sense of excitement and joy giving loved ones pieces of things I worked on just for them.  My favorite homemade gifts came from ideas by a book my friend, Rissa shared about called “Doodle Stitching.”  This book is so fun and it inspired great ideas.  Rissa made adorable flour sack kitchen towels and I latched on to that idea and embroidered some of my own.  I ended up making 14 of them altogether.                                                                                              

Here's another bird, made by back stitching.

Butterflies and Bumblebee

The butterflies and bumblebees was the quickest one to make.  I like it’s simplicity, but I think I might add more to it next time. I love these funky trees.  In the book, this idea was for a scrap book cover and it had a squirrel in between the trees, but it intimidated me, so here you have just the trees.  :)

This was the very first one I embroidered.  I started off very ambitious but soon realized there was not enough time to get 14 of these done in the time left before Christmas.

Little Woodland Felt Creatures

Those little guys were my all-time favorite to make.  So fun and rewarding!

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Homemade vanilla extract was a quick and impressive-seeming touch to the baskets.  It’s just a vanilla bean and a few tablespoons of vodka or bourbon let alone to mingle for a month.  They make a very happy combination.  The vodka kind is much lighter in color, and I decided to give the darker bourbon version in the gift baskets.  The picture shown is the very beginning of the bourbon extract (week one), and this is also what the finished product of the vodka extract looks like.

I included some yummy Swedish Cream Cookies in glass jars and Nanaimo Bars in little ceramic Christmas mini-loaves (that I forgot to take pictures of) in the gift baskets.  The recipes were from another friend who wins all kinds of blue ribbons at state fairs.

All-in-all, it was a fun season of gift-giving.  What a treat it was to combine the ideas and suggestions of so many lovely friends to make thought-out gifts for my dear family.  Next year, I start the idea/gift making process in the Spring!

The Jesse Tree

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from it’s roots shall bear fruit.  And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”     Isaiah 11:1-2

I’m afraid I haven’t been the best at up-keeping this site.  With Christmas almost 3 weeks away, every spare minute has been devoted to finishing making homemade Christmas presents (I’ll post pictures of the finished results when they’re, well, finished).  Back to the Jesse Tree…

Before it gets any later, I wanted to share with you a new family tradition we observe during this sweet season.  The Jesse Tree.  Anything that focuses our attention on the True meaning of Christmas is of great interest to me.  Here’s a daily family devotional for the Jesse Tree that we use.  I enjoy making the ornaments with the children.  Here’s one we made:

 

The "in the beginning" picture we made an ornament out of.

 I’d love to hear about the things you do to celebrate our Savior this time of year if you’re willing to share!  Merry Christmas!

Ultimate Thanksgiving Green Beans

This recipe is complements of my husband’s grandma.  Let the calorie-counters beware!  Or indulge just this once.  After all, it is Thanksgiving…

Grandma Riddle’s Thanksgiving Green Beans

Grease 4.8-qt. pan (or try and squeeze it into a 9×13 pan)

 

1 onion, grated or minced

8 T (1 cube) butter, divided

6 T flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 T sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

black pepper, to taste

1 1/2 cups sour cream or creme fraiche

3 10-oz. bags green beans

1 1/2 cups grated swiss cheese

1 1/2 cups seasoned bread crumbs

Saute onion in 6 T butter until soft and translucent.  Whisk in the next 5 ingredients (flour through pepper). Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.  

Warm green beans until slightly tender, drain.

 

Combine the sour cream mixture with the beans, then spread 1/3 bean mixture in the pan and sprinkle with 1/2 cup Swiss cheese.  Repeat 3 times.

 

Sprinkle seasoned bread crumbs on top, and dot generously with remaining butter.  

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.  Serves approx. 18.

Ideas, Ideas

Have you ever had one of those seasons where it feels like your mind has been suddenly flooded with thoughts, concerns, and ideas, but when you consider the hours there are in a day and the limited years you have left on this earth that there just doesn’t seem to be enough time to do it all and then you feel so overwhelmed that you don’t know what to do or where to start and you get dizzy and you suddenly want to zone out to something mindless?  Let me catch my breath for a minute…  Ok, I’m better now, thanks.  Well, that’s where I’ve been for the past few days.

After experiencing the aforementioned mess of thoughts and feelings, I finally attained the wherewithal to stop and cry out to my Heavenly Father for HELP!!!!  Lord, what am I supposed to do with all this?  I feel these issues filling my thoughts and emotions are all so important!  I have a newfound interest in politics, economics, and ethical issues, and old-found interests in health, spiritual formation and discipline, parenting, family life, gardening, survival skills, natural childbirth, dancing, acting, writing, reading…  the list goes on.  I’ve been blessed with four amazing children, and want to raise them well.  How, Lord, can I be a good steward with my family and not ignore all you’ve placed in my heart?  ”Do few things and do them well” are words I live by, but these aren’t a “few things!”

Suddenly it dawned on me (dare I say… the Lord did spaketh unto me?).  Maybe some of these interests aren’t what I should devote my life to.  Maybe… just maybe… I’m supposed to explore a little into each of these interests and expose my findings to spark a fire in those around me, namely my children?  

My son is fascinated with germs and body function.  When I took him to the ER to stitch up his little facial gash last month, he never cried once as I expected him to do.  Instead, he was irresistibly drawn to everything in the examining room and interested in the procedure of how the doctors mended him.  He wanted to see it all, and I took pictures for him so he could later observe what was going on.  He said it was one of his favorite nights!  I am enthralled with alternative medicine, and would love to take courses to further my education, but can’t find the time.  Maybe Levi and I will connect on this issue and he’ll be the one to go into the profession.

Bekah, my oldest, is rather talented in the fine arts.  I always wanted to go Broadway, but decided (after a quick dabbling in the entertainment department at Disneyland) that I’d rather have a family.  Perhaps putting on little plays with her and drawing together will turn into more than just playtime as she matures.

Suddenly, I am understanding more about “quiver-filling.”  I am referring to Psalm 127:3-5

“Behold, children are a heritage from the

LORD,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are children of one’s youth.

Blessed is the man

who fills his quiver with them!

He shall not be put to shame

when he speaks with his enemies in

the gate.

Well, we currently have four children I love dearly, but I have more than four ideas and plenty of love for more, and that’s not including my husband’s interests and love.  Maybe we need to have a little discussion about how many little arrows we’re meant to acquire…

Sauteed Mediterranean Green Beans

 

Sauteed Mediterranean Green Beans

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