crickl needs material
Topic: Humor/memes
On one of my daily reads, Marla Swoffer passed on an internet meme that is hilarious. You simply enter your name and the word “needs” after it into the Google search engine and see what comes up. Post the first ten needs that come up.

My real name, Christie, brought up a few other bloggers who had already posted this meme, so I skipped those. I tried to do the search with “crickl needs” and got nothing but some things about my blog. Crick only got one need. So I went with my original nickname (before it morphed over the years), Cricket, given to me by my dad. Keep in mind that cricket is also a very popular sport. ;) This is really fun….try it!

1. Christie needs surgery to remove ... (afraid to see the rest of this sentence…lol)
2. Christie needs to be kept informed on the Vermont Department of Health (I'm very curious)
3. Christie needs to be signed by August 15, 2005 or will become a free agent. (time’s up)
4. Christie needs to write. (which helps a blog along)
5. Christie needs your support in her fight. (puts up my dukes)
6. Christie needs no introduction (heehee)
7. Christie's needs a continuing flow of charitable funding (keep ‘em comin!)
8. Christie needs a bath. (no comment)
9. Christie needs to get tough all right (grrrr)
10. Christie needs to slow down (does my slow motion act)
11. Christie Needs Glasses (mine are scratched)


Crick needs a volunteer to drive the milk (had to post my only find for crick….cracked me up)

1. cricket needs a fresh start (usually)
2. Cricket needs another revolution (turns around and round)
3. cricket needs an overhaul (excuse ME?)
4. cricket needs commitment and devotion. (is it too much to ask?)
5. Cricket Needs Windies (?)
6. Cricket needs humour, but not the crude type (I have an eternal need for humor...crudeness free humor...see #5)
7. cricket needs to give those long on imagination and short on facts a holiday (I shall give them Christmas)
8. cricket needs to be less selfish (afraid this is true)
9. Cricket needs to change, but not so much that it isn't cricket any more (cricket needs clarification)
10. cricket needs desperately to go back to respectable partners. (blushing…I think they mean for gin rummy...you know that yahoo riffraff)

My inner beast
Topic: Humor/memes



There is a place …a place where you can find your inner monster. Oh, it’s there….we all have one. Some are scary, ugly and twisted….some are fuzzy and goofy, like Sulley on Monsters, Inc.

Are you curious? Are you ready to discover your inner monster? Go here and follow instructions...... if you dare......

Fall pumpkin recipes!
Topic: Crickl's Recipes
With my husband gone for 2 weeks on a mission trip, I am struggling with finding motivation to get things accomplished. I just feel kind of withdrawn. I haven’t even had one idea for a blog entry this week. Having big plans of getting some things done while he was gone, I am really disappointed that I’m so unmotivated! So last night when my sister called to tell me she would like to bring my parents up for the weekend, it got my wheels turning. I planned out some menus for meals while they are here and what things to bake to have on hand for breakfast. (I don’t think they will want Fruit Loops)

Then, talking to a friend on the phone this morning, she said she’d come by soon to look at our dvd’s to borrow something. I remembered that our back room where our videos and dvd’s are is a total wreck. So I went back there to just rearrange some things so she could get in and have a look. Well, 3 hours later, I had my homeschool videos that were thrown willy nill into a huge box in the middle of the floor arranged. (We use BJU Homesat for most subjects in high school classes, so I have TONS of videos.) I got them all in boxes, labeled according to their subject and grade. Hmmmm, where to put these boxes! After emptying the top shelf of the video cabinet, I stacked the boxes on top.

In order to make room for the rearranged videos and dvd’s I had to totally rearrange my homeschool supply shelf, where every shelf was askew and awful. I threw away a kitchen garbage bag full of debri from my rampage.

I also had to deal with a huge box of paper towels that was in the middle of the floor in that same back room. So I dragged it to the hall closet, where I had to rearrange sleeping bags and some quilts to make room for it. I also found the curtains I’m going to redo for Maggie’s room in there and put them on to wash. (Hopefully I won’t forget them in the drier, so I won't have a tough time ironing them.)

Finishing all of this rearranging and purging of my closet and back room felt very, very satisfying. Bethany cooked us burgers for lunch (so I don’t have to fix dinner tonight…just a snack supper….yay!) As we were cleaning up lunch things, my eye caught sight of a can of pumpkin sitting innocently where I had left it by the mixer. “Oh, I need to make some things for breakfasts for the weekend!” Out came the laptop and click, click to my recipes folder. No pumpkin recipe looked that great….so I went to allrecipes.com and did a search on pumpkin bread. Finding some interesting recipes, I baked 2 of them, which I will leave you with and one that I will make soon, but didn’t have any cream cheese for it on hand today. (It got very good reviews on allrecipes.com, so I’m sure it’s very good! It’s described as more of a dessert/cake than a breakfast bread.)

I sat down here at my laptop thinking I would only copy and paste the recipes and here I’ve written a whole post! It was a strange kind of day…in between all of this flying about like the tazmanian housework devil, I had several people drop by, several phone calls and had to take or pick up Bethany several times. I feel like a worker ant…and now I feel as though I need to go to my roost and nestle down to rest….a well deserved rest it is too.

This one’s in the oven and it smells terrific!!

Pumpkin Yeast Bread

5/8 cup warm water
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
2 3/4 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions
1 Place ingredients in bread machine pan in the order
suggested by the manufacturer. Select basic setting. Start.
2 To bake bread in oven: select dough or manual cycle.
Once cycle is complete, shape dough and place in a greased
loaf pan. Allow to rise in a warm spot until doubled in
size. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven
for 35 to 45 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in
the center of the loaf reads 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).

This one I am eating right now and it is very satisfying….it’s a perfect breakfast or snack bread.

Pumpkin Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter flavored shortening
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions
1 In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt,
pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and cloves.
2 In a separate bowl, cream together shortening and brown
sugar. Mix in eggs, pumpkin, and milk. Stir flour mixture
into wet mixture until just combined. Fold in raisins and
walnuts if desired. Pour into a greased and floured 9 x 5
inch loaf pan.
3 Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees ) for 50 to 55 minutes.

This is the dessert-ish recipe….looks wonderful!

Pumpkin Swirl Bread

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup water

Directions
1 Blend cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 beaten egg.
Set aside.
2 Combine flour, 1 1/2 cups white sugar, baking soda,
salt, and spices. Set aside.
3 Combine pumpkin, butter or margarine, beaten egg, and
water. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, mixing just
until moistened. Reserve 2 cups of the pumpkin batter.
Pour the remaining batter into a greased and floured 9 x 5
inch loaf pan. Pour cream cheese mixture over pumpkin
batter, and top with reserved pumpkin batter. Cut through
batter several times with a knife for a swirl effect.
4 Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 70 minutes,
or until tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10
minutes, and then remove from pan to cool completely.

I also have a Pumpkin Fudge recipe I will post soon from my friend KQ.....

Signs
Topic: Humor/memes


Seen on a church sign today:

"Each day is a gift from God;
that's why it's called the Present"

Apple Time
Topic: Crickl's Recipes
Don't you love to bite into a nice crisp apple? My favorite kind of apple is a MacIntosh. (same as my favorite kind of computer!) They have just the right blend of sweet, tart and juicy. Unfortunately for me, they do not offer MacIntosh apples in stores in Arizona.

I learned to love them while living in New Jersey, across the bridge from Philadelphia. One of the things we loved while living there for ten years was the fresh (and cheap!) produce. A lot of times I would buy a bushel of apples for a dollar to make applebutter...of course the kind you buy for that price were the ones they couldn't sell as nice eating apples, but for applebutter or baking, perfect!

When my daughter Bethany was in kindergarten, we went on a field trip to an apple orchard to pick our own. It was a crisp fall day and we rode a hay wagon out to the orchard where there were neat rows of apple trees bursting with fruit! The children had a blast climbing the low limbs, pulling at apples or riding on parent's shoulders to reach up high. There were also a few ladders handy so you could climb up higher into the inner branches if you wanted to.

After filling our baskets with fruit, we rode the wagon back to the barn, where they served us freshly pressed apple cider alongside fresh out of the fryer cider donuts, coated with cinnamon and sugar. What a treat it was and the children were full of that wholesome rosy cheeked, can't help but smiling fall feeling. We got home that day refreshed and sleepy! I spent the next few days searching out apple recipes.

This is just one of the many apple recipes I have come to love, especially in the fall when they are fresh and the air is crisp. Enjoy!

Apple Crisp

6 tart apples (Granny Smith works very well)
1 cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 stick butter

Put sliced apples in a greased baking dish (recipe calls for 7x11 dish, but you can stretch it to fit a 9x13 by adding more apples). In a seperate bowl, mix flour, sugar and cinnamon. With a pastry blender or fork, smash the butter into the dry ingredients until you have kind of large crumbs...the size of peas or larger. Sprinkle this over the apples.

Bake 30 minutes at 350 or until apples are done and soft.

This is good topped with ice cream!

No common thing...
Topic: God things


I have updated some things on the Prayer page. And here are some quotes on prayer to provide some motivation.

"A man is powerful on his knees."
~Corrie Ten Boon~

"Prayer is not conquering God's reluctance,
but taking hold of God's willingness."
~Phillips Brooks~

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.
Do not pray for tasks commensurate with your strength.
Pray for strength commensurate with your tasks."
~Phillips Brooks~

"Prayer crowns God with the honor and glory due to His name, and God crowns prayer with assurance and comfort. The most praying souls are the most assured souls.
~Thomas B. Brooks~

"In prayer, it is better to have heart without words, than words without heart. Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin entice a man to cease from prayer. The spirit of prayer is more precious than treasures of gold and silver. Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan."
~ John Bunyan~

"Prayer does not equip us for the greater work,
Prayer is the greater work."
~ Oswald Chambers~

"Persons never need hesitate, because of their past sins, to approach God with the fullest confidence. If they now repent, and are conscious of fully and honestly returning to God with all their heart, they have no reason to fear being repulsed from the footstool of mercy."
~Oswald Chambers~

"When we become too glib in prayer
we are most surely talking to ourselves."
~ A.W. Tozer~

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to proper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you."
~Jeremiah 29:11-12~

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
~Romans 12:12~

The spice of life....
Topic: People/Family stories
We had a very nice Sunday! Church services were wonderful with heartfelt worship and one of our new members gave a testimony. This guy came out of a life of drugs and alcoholism and set it all down to follow Christ one day when he woke up under his truck with snow all around him. Two of the men at church have been helping him along and he has no craving for drugs or alcohol. I know not everyone is delivered immediately from such things when they give their lives to Christ, but it was such a blessing to hear this humble man’s story. He thought he couldn't speak publicly, but he had everyone’s attention as he told his story. He and some others in the church are starting a Bible study in a town 20 minutes from here that is notorious for drugs and ‘low life’. Please pray for them as they minister to the ones Jesus would have been ministering to.

After church Charles took us to Olive Garden for lunch. *Wheeee* We love Olive Garden and had a gift card for a dinner there. All full from lunch, we stopped by the Amazing 99 cent store and let Maggie spend the two dollars that were burning a hole in her pocket. =)

There was a dinner for the Young Life ministry in town tonight, so we didn’t have small group that usually meets at our home. Several of our small group members work with Young Life. So it was a very relaxing day….

I decided to call my family in Phoenix and see how everyone was doing. My dad is having cataract surgery tomorrow. He’s got dementia and they have to put him under to do the surgery so he doesn’t get scared or confused during it. Trouble is, general anesthesia sometimes makes dementia worsen, so add that one to your prayers for Monday if you would. I also talked to my younger sister. They found out she is carrying a little boy! She is 4 months pregnant after years of trying to have another child. Her daughter is 8. They are excited and we’re so happy for them!

While talking on the phone to my sister, sitting out on my porch, my fairly new neighbor walked up, thinking we were having small group. Yikes! Well…we didn’t miss small group because we had a very nice conversation getting to know each other better out on the porch. We talked until dark and then I drove her back around the block cuz we’re girls and it was dark. I love living in a small town ….people just drop by. It's very neighborly. I’ve been watching a few episodes of the Andy Griffith marathon on tv this weekend and a lot of it reminded me of our town in a satirical way. I wish our modern day people here were as wholesome as an Andy Griffith episode, but then we wouldn’t be living in 2005, would we? All in all though, it’s a great place to live.

Sounds like a full day, but it was really very relaxing…..several unexpected things, but I think that is what keeps life interesting...unexpected variety is the spice of life.....

Owen, the baby hippo, finds a home....
Topic: Humor/memes
A friend of mine sent me an email with this cute story. I looked it up on an email rumors sight and it is true.

After the tsunami this year, which also hit the Kenyan coast, an orphaned baby hippo decided this sea turtle was now his family. God loves His creation and sometimes takes care of us in 'unique' ways.

This story reminded me of all the people displaced and homeless from the Gulf coast. People all over the country are taking in evacuees and helping them find a new way to live.....strange new ways and places to them, but family just the same.

My 100th post here in blogtown....
Topic: Humor/memes
This is my 100th post!!! It is customary, I am told, to make a list of 100 things about yourself for your 100th post on a blog. I am not sure I know myself that well, but I will try. =)

I had a really hard time doing this. I am not a very intuitive person, so the list may not sound ‘deep’ and thoughtful. But it represents the way I see the world and my life. I am a very tactile, sensing person, so to an intuitive it may sound a little superficial….but I assure you, I do have depth to my personality. It is just very hard for me to express those feelings and thoughts.

The list is in random order, since that is how things came to mind. I hope this isn’t also my most boring post to date!

1. I love and am a follower of Jesus.
2. I like to talk to people about faith, about the Bible…not argue, mind you, just discuss.
3. I am married to one of the dwindling number of great men, Charles.
4. I am mom to Hannah, 18….she moved out at the end of the summer…it’s sad in a way, yet exciting to see her finding her way.
5. I am mom to Bethany, 15….amazing to see God working in her life the past 2 years and teaching her things I never could. She is really independent, a real leader-type and likes projects and goals.
6. I am mom to Emma, 13….an emerging young woman (emerging from tomboyishness…it’s fun to see!), exploring who she is made to be (her personality, talents, gifts), gaining some confidence along the way and learning to trust God…and sometimes her parents…with her worries.
7. I am mom to Maggie, 8…who loves to talk and ask questions…lots of questions. She is teaching me patience and she is trying to learn not to interrupt. She loves her dogs, playing with dolls, nail polish and watching Jimmy Neutron.
8. I homeschool my children. We’ve been doing school at home for 7 years now with one year off to help start a Christian school at our church. It was a good year, my kids greatly benefited from it, but we can’t afford to do it again and so it is back to teaching at home. I would like to support our local schools, but I won’t sacrifice my kids’ education and childhood to do it. Our school here, sadly, is a failing school.
9. I work with youth at church….and younger children sometimes too.
10. I love to teach the Bible to kids.
11. I am a pastor’s wife….. and I like it.
12. I like raquetball.
13. I love long drives in the country….or mountains….or by the ocean….etc
14. I like really good pizza…Pizza Hut, Pappa John’s or homemade
15. I like salad (the more veggies and add ins in it the better)…crunch crunch crunch.
16. I like chocolate…I love chocolate…I need chocolate…*going to find chocolate*
17. I love to study the Jewish feast days and their prophetic meanings.
18. I like to grow things…..indoor and out.
19. I forget to water regularly, so I periodically have crunchy plants.
20. Bugs freak me out….I try to keep my freaking inside though, so my kids won’t freak too….. someone has to remain calm!
21. I am having a hard time accepting being in my *gulp* 40’s.
22. My hair is brown….more precisely Clairol Balsam medium ash brown
23. My eyes are dark green and brown.
24. I hate swimsuits….why can’t we swim without being almost naked??
25. I love jeans…and anything cotton.
26. I make lists. I redo lists because I change my mind. I lose my lists or leave them at home when I go shopping. I think this is because I am very unorganized, yet know I need to be more organized…I don’t think it’s working.
27. I like to channel surf…..this causes irritation with my family. I am constantly wondering if I’m missing something better though.
28. I like to stay up late and sleep til 8am.
29. I like to cook….I try to cook healthy things and bread. I usually don’t make desserts unless we have company.
30. I like to go to restaurants.
31. I like coffee shops…espresso type shops…..my favorite, hot or cold and blended is a cafe mocha.
32. I like movies….I collect good movies.
33. I like to read, but it bothers my eyes lately and it takes so long to finish anything when you only have snippets of time to devote to it.
34. I have a very goofy sense of humor…..very literal and visual…I picture everything….I think my mind works in pictures… this is usually entertaining, but sometimes disturbing .....I have heard that other people think in words....hmmm.
35. I make up songs….my dogs are the only people who appreciate them. The songs are usually about the dogs. I hope it isn’t a big mistake to say this publicly.
36. I’m an ESFP personality type….this tends to be my excuse for a lot of things I feel I need to explain. =)
37. I’m very curious. I use my Google search engine almost every day to look up everything from a word I don’t know to what I’ve seen an actor in before. I also look up the pictures on my blog with Google image search.
38. I don’t like scary movies….the last one I saw was Secret Window…very disturbing.
39. I would love to be 3 sizes smaller.
40. I hate to diet. I cheat…I’m a cheater and always feel deprived and punished if I’m on a diet…..I tend to whine and be grumpy on diets too, which makes other people suffer when I’m on a diet.
41. I wanted to be a hippie, but was born too late. This is a good thing in retrospect. I still like VW vans.
42. I’ve never taken drugs…have only had a sip of alcohol a few times. I don’t think it’s wrong to drink alcohol sometimes, but alcoholism runs in my family, so I’m not going to even start.
43. I get kidney stones very easily. Because of this I usually have a glass or bottle of water with me.
44. I like cool weather, not hot.
45. I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. (which enlightens you on line number 44)
46. I have a BA in Religion and in Theatre/speech. Kind of a useless degree, but I had a lot of fun in college. I took one year of graduate classes at a seminary in Texas….this resulted in an MRS degree.
47. I like banana popsicles and those rocket pops that are red, white and blue….lemonade flavored.
48. I’m a strict mom, but I’m fun.
49. I like home design, gardening and cooking shows.
50. I really like music….right now my favorites are Jars of Clay, Caedmon’s Call, Superchik, Switchfoot, Lifehouse and Newsboys.
51. I just wrote fifty things about myself and I’m bored to tears. I’m going to bed. (that was yesterday)
52. Slurpees…yes….Coke flavor.
53. Bethany’s deluxe Tang….no
54. I like weather…..thunderstorms, snow, fall wind, ice storms, dust storms, cold, freezing, chilly, brisk, even warm….just not hot.
55. I love rocking on the porch with the husband. (in rocking chairs, not to music, don’t be silly)
56. I love being outside.
57. I do not like horseback riding. Horses play mean tricks on me…I have witnesses,,,..unfortunately.
58. My husband gave me an iPod Shuffle this past summer….I love it and carry it in my purse. It has 150+ of my current favorite songs on a gizmo the size of a stick of gum!
59. I have 3 dogs….Millie, an Eskimo-poo, she lives inside the house and likes to boss us around (let me out, let me in, let me out, I need food, I ate my food…give me a biskit, I need water, I need patting, I want you to chase me now, let me out, let me in)…….Joonbug, a sheltie who is old, deaf and stiff, but very sweet…barks too much……Winnie, a one year old American Eskimo…loves to howl at the train whistle (which happens about 10 times a day…we’ve taken to howling along with her….it’s very freeing and primitive…I recommend it), wrestle with the other dogs (who find it annoying) and play with Maggie.
60. I have a hard time just saying something without explaining it. (you may have noticed this)
61. I have good friends I have never met in person….through the internet.
62. I grew up with 3 sisters and 2 brothers and my parents have been married for 59 years.
63. One brother died when I was 10…this affected my life greatly.
64. I don’t think I’ll make it to 100.
65. I like photography.
66. Camping is more fun with a camper. We used a tent for 18 years, with babies, in rain, wind, in good humor and bad, so I know this is true.
67. As an adult I have lived in New Mexico (2 summers), Texas (2 yrs), Oklahoma (2 yrs), New Jersey (10 yrs), and Arizona (8 years).
68. I play practical jokes on my kids.
69. I don’t like practical jokes played on me….I know…not fair…oh well
70. I have never liked to babysit….still don’t. I just went off the church nursery rotation for my first time ever as an adult!
71. I was a preschool teacher for four years before having our first child. Then we had a hard time finding a child’s name that I didn’t have a negative association with.
72. I love drive in movies….lawn chairs, big paper bag of popcorn, blankies, stars. There is still a drive in theater in my hometown, where I’ve taken my kids for movies.
73. My knee hurts. (running out of things now)
74. I don’t like talking on the phone.
75. I don’t like only doing one thing at a time.
76. I don’t like carpeting. Wood floors are best.
77. We keep a fan going in our bedroom year round.
78. I like personality tests....you can't flunk!
79. I am almost the exact opposite of my husband personality-wise. (he likes me though…and I like him….it keeps things interesting)
80. I am shocked that I’ve been blogging for this long. (I started 9 months ago…in January) I usually lose interest in things I start.
81. I absolutely hate public restrooms….so far I think California has the worst ever public restrooms.
82. I can’t hear well in noisy places….darn ear phones.
83. I am not a good person to teach driving to my kids….I was called a ‘spaz’ a couple of weeks ago….that’s not nice, is it?
84. I like toasted almonds on ice cream….chocolate ice cream.
85. Ice cream does not agree with my stomach, so I rarely eat it.
86. If I were a cartoon character, I’d probably be Winnie the Pooh…..I do like to say, “Oh, bother”
87. My best colors are Fall/Winter….according to color analysis thingies.
88. My most watched movie: You’ve Got Mail.
89. TV personality I most identify with: Loralie Gilmore…Gilmore Girls. I’m not a single mom, but the personality is about right….I wish I had as many quotes memorized as she does though and could make witty banter so quickly. (If I only had a team of writers doing scripts for me!)
90. I like traditional things, homey furnishings, fire in the fireplace, dog on the rug, husband beside me, kids chattering in the background.
91. I like hanging out with teenagers. I like the teen years better than the preschool years in my own parenting experience...how strange is that?
92. My hair gets really freaky curly in humid conditions….it’s my life long fight to have smooth hair.
93. I do NOT like to play board games.
94. I love to play gin on yahoo games.
95. I like the new VW Beetles….a cobalt blue convertible one would be just the ticket! My husband loves those new retro Mustangs.
96. I fear sharing too much of me….which makes me nervous making this list.
97. I laugh hysterically at Jimmy Neutron episodes.
98. I like magazines…..lot of good photos and short, to the point articles.
99. I used to think animating a puppet….like on Sesame Street…would be a perfect job for me…..I could use all my weird voices and be crazy in a socially acceptable setting….and get paid for it!
100. I love to make people laugh. I used to think this was not a very noble thing….but as I live my life and walk through this world, I am thinking it’s just what we need….good encouraging laughter…not the crude, degrading humor you see so much of today. So if you laughed or even smiled while reading this list, it was worth putting it out there.

Amen

When words are hard to come by.....
Topic: God things
Sometimes words don?t come easily. I have never been one to know what to say to someone who has gone through a loss or is going through a time of great darkness. (I don?t think anyone is good at knowing what to say, by the way) This last week, I?ve talked to two women who went through recent miscarriages. Since I have been in their shoes in that experience, I know that what people say, trying to be of comfort, can just make it hurt even more. So I hugged them, told them how sorry I was?told them I knew?I?ve been there?only time makes the sorrow lessen.

The recent conversations brought back memories from that dark time. I had lost 2 babies in 2 years, both were during the fifth month of pregnancy?I was showing, wearing maternity blouses, over the sickness of the first trimester, enjoying having another baby, thinking of names?.then total tragedy, burial arrangements?? emptiness like I had never known. It was a time when I couldn?t pray?words wouldn?t come. When I tried to pray, I only cried?all I could say was help?help?.please help me. I think it has been the weakest, lowest point of my life so far. During that time, I found some songs, some prayers in the Bible, and prayer poems in some literature a dear friend gave me for mothers who had gone through miscarriage. They were not my words, but they were just what I needed to express from my troubled mind and heart. These materials gave me the words I needed to express those emotions. It was so cathartic?.so soothing to have some words to say, to sing even though I knew God could see what I was feeling, what I was needing, what I couldn?t express?.I know the Spirit intercedes for us in those times.

I have been toying with the idea of creating a prayer page for a few weeks now. The conversations with these friends this week and memories stirred inside me gave me the inspiration to really get it going. I will be adding to it as time goes by. And if you have any prayers that have helped you, please send them to me. I hope it ministers to you as I know it ministers to me to have words to express things I, myself, have no words for?.

I started out with the prayer that Jesus prayed for His disciples and future followers the night He had the last Passover with the disciples. I love idea of Jesus praying for us, teaching us how to pray for each other?.loving us so much that He preserved His words for us?.

Prayer page

Jammin'
Topic: God things

I had to take a picture of the freshly canned jars of plum jam on my kitchen counter today. It is very satisfying to see them there…the finished product of a long afternoon of stirring, burning my fingers on hot jars and dried out hands from washing all my pots 3 times for 3 batches of jam. This all started a few days ago when I was rummaging through my freezer for some idea of what to cook for dinner. My freezer is a chest type that is very deep (in order to reach something at the bottom, my feet come off the floor), things can become lost in there, lurking at the bottom. So I was pleasantly surprised at finding some plum puree that I had made last Fall! (talk about procrastinating…heh) I looked at it, deciding it wasn’t freezer burned or too old, pulled it out to thaw and went looking for my canning equipment.

I haven’t canned anything in years….between summers here with no air conditioning, busyness at the beginning of Fall when I used to can stuff, and the high cost of produce here, it didn’t seem worth the effort. So when I was given a huge box of plums last Fall, I dove in washing, pitting and dicing plums for a couple of afternoons! Then I promptly put the puree in the freezer, thinking I would make jam when the weather got cooler…enter going to work every day last Fall and you have forgotten fruits.

Like the Little Red Hen, I asked each of my older kids if they’d like to learn how to can…..rejection. Maggie, my 8 year old, buzzed in and out of the kitchen wanting to help, but due to ill timing and boiling hot jam that needed constant stirring, my one willing helper was shooed off…..oh, the rejection. This all turned into a marathon jam event and by the third batch, I was slopping the sticky stuff into jars as fast as I could so I could rest.

I have to say though, that it was worth all the work to see the finished product, all pretty, lids pinging into preserving perfection, all lined up on the counter. My daughter commented that we still had some jars of jam in the cupboard and pulled out about 8 jars with handwritten labels on top: blueberry jam, applebutter, apricot. Now I know that the only jam I have canned since moving to Arizona is the applebutter, so that meant the other jars were over 8 years old! Gross! I threw those out, but let her open the applebutter. It was several years old, I know…but it was still sealed and made the appropriate poof noise upon opening, but it looked kind of iffy. I guess it was fine because she ate some and was fine, but I couldn’t bear to have any myself.

The fruit of my labor years ago was not very appetizing….kinda stale and funky, but there is a fruit that will never spoil and always looks good and pleasant to experience wherever it is cultivated:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galations 5:22-23

See you at the pole?
Topic: God things
SYATP

Have you ever driven by a school around 7:30am on a Wednesday morning in September and seen a group of kids crowded around the flag pole? Did you know they were praying…..exercising their religious rights and praying for their school and classmates around the mainstay American symbol of freedom…their flagpole. Tomorrow is See You At the Pole 2005. Christian school kids in every city in the US are encouraged to get together to pray. It is an awesome thing to see, if you take the time to drive by your local school tomorrow around 7:30am. Last year, as a leader in our youth ministry, I decided to take pictures of the kids as they gathered around the poles at our high school and our middle/elementary school. I knew the kids from our youth group were planning to be there…but when I drove up to each of the schools, I saw a large crowd on each campus. Word had spread and there were a lot more than I thought there would be.

See You At The Pole is not a new idea…it’s been around for 15 years, since 1990. On September 15, 1999 our youth met for See You at the Pole…..then that night on the news we heard about a church in Texas, where teenagers from all over Fort Worth were having a rally to celebrate their See You at the Pole day. A mentally disturbed man came into that rally and shot 14 people, killing 7 of them, then killed himself…..all of this in front of a huge crowd of teenagers. A friend I grew up with was the first one shot and killed that night. Read about how that church responded here. What Satan means for evil, God turns into a testimony for Himself.

See You at the Pole is not a meaningless gesture to say, “We’re here.” It is a powerful event….these kids are under attack every day, they not ‘allowed’ to share their faith or pray publicly at school. This event of gathering publicly to pray for their school and declare their religious freedom is not a popular thing from the enemy’s viewpoint. We need to pray for these kids as they make a bold stand this tomorrow…for their protection and that they will hold strong to their faith when adversity comes….because it will. And God will use it for good.

Ginger Snaps!
Topic: Crickl's Recipes
Once the weather gets cool, I consider it Fall. We get Fall weather here in the mountains earlier than normal. So I am already in the Fall mode….thinking about mums in my garden, looking for changing leaves, and rooting out my Fall recipes. Pumpkin bars, apple pie, soups, aaaaaaaaand the ever Fallish of Fall recipes….ginger snaps. We lived in New Jersey for almost ten years and every Fall we would go to the store and see tall stacks of orange boxes at the end of the grocery isles…..boxes of Sweetzel’s Spiced Wafers. By the second Fall we lived there, I had to buy a box of them since there were so many stacked up in every store you went to, that it made you curious as to what was so special about these cookies….well it made me curious anyway. From the first bite, they became my favorite cookie. They weren’t like other ginger snaps…..they were almost black with spices and hard as a rock, so you has to dunk them in your coffee or milk, which just added to their charm.

When we moved to Arizona, I was sorely disappointed when Fall came and there were no Sweetzels….anywhere. A friend of mine from New Jersey sent me 2 boxes of them one Fall because I had talked about it so much…..er, whined about it probably. She felt sorry for me. =) The next season, I decided I would go on a search for the perfect ginger snap recipe. I don’t know if you’ve made ginger snaps before, but there is a lot of variance in ingredients and taste. It took 2 years and probably 4 bottles of molasses to find a good recipe. And now I’m sharing it with you…cuz I’m so nice. I just want you to have a wonderful Fall and to have the snappiest ginger snaps to lead the way. They are best if you have a tall glass of ice cold, freshly pressed apple cider with them, but if not, use the beverage of your choice….coffee, tea, milk.

Ginger Snaps

3 sticks butter
1/2 cup molasses
2 cups sugar (or 1 c brown sugar and 1 c white sugar)
2 eggs
4 cups flour (I use half whole wheat flour)
4 teaspoons soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon (or more)
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cloves (heaping tsp)

Soften the butter. Add the molasses, sugar and eggs. Beat well. Sift together the spices, flour and soda. Add the dry ingredients to the molasses mixture. Mix well. Refrigerate overnight. When thoroughly chilled, form into small balls about 1 inch in width. Roll the top side of these balls in sugar. Place on greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes approximately 6 dozen cookies.

Tip: Use sugar in the raw, or turbino sugar to roll the cookies in before baking. The larger sugar crystals make them look cool.

Starting at the beginning...again
Topic: Humor/memes
I was called a spazz today.

Let me just say…..I don’t think it is a natural thing to let your children take the wheel of your car that you have yet to pay off! It causes serious blood pressure problems. It does not promote good will between child and parent. It causes me to utter loud gutterral noises when I think we have a chance of careening into other cars…or curbs…or people innocently walking on the sidewalk. (when in a split second emergency situation, I cannot speak words…just sounds….not pleasant sounds.)

My daughter Bethany got her learner’s permit a couple of weeks ago. After letting her drive home from getting the permit, I told Charles that he is now responsible for her driving education. He rarely has the time or energy for it though, so it’s been falling to me. Turning her first corner, her first day of driving she didn’t put the connection of ‘we need to slow down’ to ‘step on the brake!’ so we went careening around the corner, nearly giving me a fainting spell. After we turned, we both looked at each other and I said, “the brake…USE the brake around corners.” She said she couldn’t think that fast of what to do….I said I wasn’t getting in the car with her again until she could!

Yesterday we were driving along a quiet neighborhood street, in a school zone, going 15 miles an hour. Bethany spotted a grown man riding a bike on the other side of the street and she slowed down and almost stopped. I said, “What?” She said she wanted to make sure he didn’t dart out in front of her. I covered my face with my hands and laughed myself silly. Had to explain that people did not usually dart out in front of moving cars. People walking on the sidewalk beside the street kinda make her freaky too. And she is a little skittish about the middle line in the street. She likes to stay far, far away from it….we’re talking driving by the curb. Watch for parked cars!

Well I’d better stop…she may read this and then she’ll hurt me!

It’s an adventure….something I’ve done by rote for years and years…now I am seeing it through the eyes of a newby. Each little thing that I do by second nature, I have to remind her of….every time. Brake to slow, gas to go, look before changing lanes or turning, put it in park, turn off the engine and give me the keys when we get home.

Don’t you hate being a newby? Don’t you dread having to break one in? ;)

Season of refreshment
Topic: God things
It is beautiful Fall weather outside here....high 69, breeeeeeezy, crisp, leaves rustling, faint smell of a fire place in the air...mmmmmmm. It is so refreshing! I am sitting at the kitchen table, listening to Maggie read her story for the day...I'm only getting that it's about a frog and the 'tools' he has to help him swim and survive in water.

Where I really want to be is sitting out on the lawn swing enjoying the day....soon I will be. So I'm taking a minute now to share a new page I've found. It is called The Drinking Fountain. I started perusing it this morning during math time. =) Math time takes forever and it is review, so I was perusing between checking answers. I have been finding the internet a very dull place lately…mostly I check mail, a few message boards and a few blogs. I guess I’m not very good at finding new places to explore. The Drinking Fountain is full of interesting links and blog pages arranged by the personality type of the author….very fun idea! So check it out if you’ve run out of places to explore on the net.

I hope you have some refreshment in your life today….I know it is just what I needed after a couple of weeks of seeing tragedy and horror. Pray for those who are relocating from the Gulf area, that their lives will be refreshed and the places where they settle will be a blessing to them.

Proverbs 11:24-25

One man gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

A generous man will prosper;
he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.