Carnival Wednesday--Contentment
Topic: Carnival entries
This week's Carnival of Beauty on Contentment is up. Bethany at Picturesque Life has done a great job getting out fifteen entries for us to enjoy! Please go and give them a read....

Seeking contentment
Topic: Carnival entries
For several months now, I have not been able to write about what was really on my mind, due to confidentiality. When you’re in a ministry position and you know God is urging you to move on, you can’t just discuss it with people, sometimes even your closest friends. They are the people who you are there for and who you work for…..you can’t just discuss leaving or it causes all kinds of feelings of abandonment and uncertainty. (especially when you don’t know how long it will be until you do move on) So ministers have to hide the thing that is most on their mind when God is moving you….you are not sure when or where He’ll do it, but you know He is making you restless. Things are coming to a close where you are….at least for you, not for the other people there.

For my pastor husband, the restlessness began two years ago. He knew God was moving, but you never know in the beginning exactly what God is telling you….rather, the details unfold in time. Usually in our lives, the attitude of restlessness comes first, then a gradual letting go….that is the hard part. In ministry, you come to deeply love the people you’re involved with. Often they are closer than your own family, people you have worked alongside of in the most important work there is…..serving Christ and building His church. I think this is why God has to cause that restlessness in you first, to prepare your heart….and He does it well. But as you go through that time, it is very hard to start letting go of the people you love and the ministry He’s given you with them. Being the only person in my husband’s life who he could share all this restlessness with, it began to weigh heavy on my own heart. I wanted to share his burden and hear the call too, but I wasn’t feeling restless and I didn’t want to leave. And I’m very good at avoiding things I don’t want to think about or deal with.

So I was very surprised….okay, I was shocked….when, last Easter, my sister Julie told me her pastor was resigning. I didn’t pause to think about it or pray about it, but instantly, in the same moment she told me, the thought of moving to Phoenix and Charles becoming their pastor passed through my mind and I was okay with it. Almost a year later, the first Sunday of March will be his first Sunday preaching as the pastor of that church. It is hard to convey how deeply I dreaded God moving us and leaving our wonderful church, community and the mountains. (I had always wanted to live in the mountains.) I thought He would have to drag me kicking and screaming away from our home there. But as instantly as I had the thought of moving to that church, I also had peace from that moment on about moving. Contentment that comes from knowing God’s will became a resident in me. I didn’t know if it would be that particular church or if it would be somewhere in southern Timbuktu, but I felt it was time to move on and that peace never left me. To clarify that a little more, just because you have peace in your heart and mind about making a decision, it doesn’t mean there will be no pain, no ripping of the heart over leaving, because they definitely cohabitated in my heart and mind. Peace and pain have been my heart’s companions this past year and will be for a while I think.

Finally being able to share this decision with our church this past Sunday was at the same time heart-wrenching over leaving and exciting to let them know how much God was working, not only in our lives, but for their church as well. I know that somewhere a man of God is starting to feel a restlessness and wondering where God will move him. He is preparing himself for a new phase of ministry in his family’s life as God is preparing them to be a good match for this church in the mountains, where he has no idea the blessings and love he’ll find there.

True contentment is far more than a simple feeling of temporary happiness and feeling settled inside. Sometimes it is what carries you through the ultra-stressful, heart wrenching, and totally unsettling decisions you have to make in life. To be content in all circumstances means that even though the stress is there, you know you are in God’s will and following His leading.

There is great contentment because we trust our loving Father. We take His hand and walk along where He leads, knowing that He is with us every step and that He would never lead us anywhere that would be wrong for us.

The following verses of Scripture have been my ‘life verses’, including the ones I skipped over for this entry. There will always be anxiety and stress in our lives, especially when God is changing you or stretching you…or moving you, but His peace is readily available. These verses have been proven true many, many times in my life. We can be content in any circumstance when are seeking and following Him.

Philippians 4:6-7, 11-13* Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus……I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Amen

Snow sharks
Topic: Humor/memes


.....just when you thought it was safe to go out in the snow.

Spontaneous day...
Topic: People/Family stories
Today my new sixteen year old got her driver’s license. Ummm, well I didn’t suddenly adopt a sixteen year old….it’s just that my daughter turned sixteen last week….so it’s new to us. (Semantics can really get on my nerves, so I had to clear that up for my own benefit…..perhaps you enjoyed it as well….)

Well, maybe I should start at the beginning to give you the full effect…

This day began a loooooooooong time ago, assembling the weary troops in the living room for devotions, then starting Maggie on her schoolwork while trying to do some laundry from our 5 day weekend in Phoenix. (more on that later) Shower, hacked my hair off because it’s started getting very droopy. Practically the minute I got dressed, newly layered hair dried and make up on, my husband came home to tell me he was going to town to see a friend in the hospital and to the bank. Remembering how low I was on laundry detergent and not wanting a separate trip into town, I slipped on my shoes and went with him, leaving instructions with the girls on my way out the door, yes, even as the door was closing, I was leaving instructions…as is my habit. =)

On the half hour drive to ‘town’, (we do live in a town, but the next town down the road is where we shop, so it is called ‘town’….and everyone here knows where you’re going if you say you are going to town) my efficient husband enjoyed a nice, mostly one-sided conversation, discussed many things we need to do to organize our home, which left me feeling very stressed out and over stimulated in my poor spontaneous brain.

The hospital was our first stop. Our dear 80something friend had to have her leg amputated last week due to a severe infection in her new knee replacement….she is diabetic. =( We found her in very good spirits and feeling pretty spunky actually. She is so glad it’s over with and the infection is gone. We only had a few seconds to say hi and hug her before she was invaded by rehab aids, who helped her get out of bed and into her chair, using a walker…amazing how quickly people heal and adapt! She was finally settled and ready to visit, when another couple from church came and the nurse was fussing at us to not crowd the ICU hallway, so we made a speedy departure and went to the bank. On to Sam’s club, where we bought really large, yet frugally priced containers of ‘stuff’ we needed. We ordered a polish dog combo and a pizza slice combo and headed out to the car, balancing large styrofoam drink cups, a large hot dog and a large slice of pizza on the large, bumpy cart and went home…another half hour drive, but little conversation due to trying to eat lunch while driving on the interstate.

Back at home, I realized I had one hour before time to pick up Bethany from band, so I put away the large quantities of ‘stuff’, then started to cook the stew meat for dinner while answering questions about Maggie’s handwriting and math work. As I threw in the spices to simmer with the meat, I was thinking of how badly my back was aching and ran out the door to pick up Bethany. Here is where our main story picks back up….

Bouncing out to the car, Bethany landed at the passenger door with a thud, cheek against the window….she takes after me….but don’t worry, she did it on purpose because she is silly. We drove straight to the chiropractor’s office (just around the block), got all worked over, straightened out and back on our feets, and I told her we could stop by the DVM…MVD…DMV?…something like that …to pick up her driver’s license. It was on the way and she had her permit and her certificate that said she passed Driver’s Education, so I thought it would be a simple, quick trip. What was I thinking?? Upon entering our tiny DM…uh, driver license place, we took a number, because that is what you have to do to get any attention around there. We were number 53. They were currently serving number 47….I knew that was not a good thing.

The mood in the waiting area was dismal. For some reason, the waiting room chairs were all arranged facing away from the window where they ‘serve’ you. All the chairs were lined up in rows of 4, because that is all they can fit in a row in that tiny room and they were all facing backwards….towards a wall where the lucky number who was receiving service was lit up in big bright numbers. No one was talking, everyone was staring at us…suddenly I knew why the one woman working the service window that day had arranged the chairs to face away from her! I wouldn’t like people who were impatiently waiting for me to hurry looking at me either…..smart lady.

We began filling out the licensing form and realized we didn’t know Bethany’s social security number. So I jumped in the car, leaving her behind to keep our number current and ran home to get the ss number. Dashed through the house, noticing a strong smell of boiling meat and spices…oh yeah! I was only going to pick her up from band, so I had forgotten the stew! I grabbed the filing box of important stuff, found the card, dashed back out to the car, turning down the simmer to the lowest of lows and trying to answer Maggie’s questions which were flying around my head and got back to the D…er, license place in time to see they were only on number 50.

I sat down for long enough to notice several more people waiting in the little room, including a friend of mine and a group of 3 teenagers we knew, one of which was strumming a little stringed instrument….maybe a mandolin? That was when my eyes caught sight of the sign by the service window (oh, I turned my chair around defiantly to face my friend, so I was facing the window…*smirk*) that read, “cash or checks only”. Talk about adreneline! Realizing how close we were to getting served and that I only had my debit card, I had to dash out once more and run home to grab the check book….we live less than a mile away, but through a school zone…very annoying when you’re in a hurry. I looked everywhere and no checkbook. I called my husband, who was a the church practicing with the worship team and he said, yes, he had the checkbook in his pocket….arggg. I turned up the stew meat again since it wasn’t simmering well and sped off.

Back through the school zone, to the church, ran inside, grabbed the checkbook, hugged 2 ladies standing there, dashed back out to see that my friend Tracy had pulled up behind my car, blocking me in. She thought she had caught me and was going to visit for a while, but I had to explain this all in a whirlwind fashion and drive off, feeling quite cruddy for having to do that….I love to talk to Tracy! Upon arriving at the ….license place, the teen with the stringed instrument had been kicked out and was climbing the large tree in the yard of the office. I made a quick comment mourning the loss of live music while waiting in the dreadful, boring waiting room and dashed in the door. They were still on number 50!! What luck. It wasn’t long til she called 51…no response…..52….nuthin…..”OK, 53 and if you don’t answer, you lose your turn.” We jumped up and did the little thing, which took all of 5 minutes. Thanks to a driver’s education certificate, she didn’t have to take a written or driving test. We drove home and I felt particularly spent upon entering, to find my stew meat boiling again…which reminded me to add the onions, carrots and potatoes, thankfully (I think I would have forgotten all about it). I then went back to my room to sit against my nice heating pad for my aching back until the stew was ready.

I am happy to say that the rest of the evening was uneventful.

Goodnight….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

She showed him!
Topic: Humor/memes
We are out of town til Tuesday, but I wanted to check in.

My husband, Charles, was showing the girls an old penny he had come across. He showed them it was from 1941 and then showed them the S, which means it was minted in San Fransisco....both the age and mint making it a rare penny. So he said he was going to look up how much it was worth.

Maggie then took the penny from his hand, turned it over and showed him, in a much too condescending tone,

"Dad, it SAYS it's worth 'one cent'....OBviously!"

heeheehee

Coffee personality
Topic: Humor/memes
Ok, this little quiz sounded cute....I don't think I'm very angsty though, even at my worst...whiney maybe, not angsty.

A blended, iced mocha frappe is my favorite coffee drink!

You Are an Iced Coffee

At your best, you are: hyper, modern, and athletic At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty You drink coffee when: you're out with friends Your caffeine addiction level: medium

Modern Day Andy Griffith
Topic: Humor/memes
Today's special guest blog contributor: My daughter, Hannah (known as Miss Hannah to her preschoolers) She wrote this blog entry on her myspace blog and I asked her if I could use it. I changed some details to protect certain people’s identities, however, the events are a factual account.


once upon a time in a certain small town... Current mood: amused


We have a modern day Andy Griffith in our midst! Give it up for Officer K, the greatest police officer in the entire world. To begin the story we start off at the house of a Mr. Chadwick Fields. A few have gathered there to visit as the said Mr. Fields as he was currently injured…. They sat around discussing fish and all other sorts of things which commonly occupy the conversations of youth.

There was a knock at the door * knock knock knock * and who should appear but Officer K carrying a bouquet of weeds to cheer the hapless invalid. They were beautiful weeds of a most rare kind, so rare, indeed, that I could not even tell you their names. Officer K was much distressed at the sight of Mr. Fields and begged him not to get up. Soon they were all discussing the intricate details of police work in said small town, when Officer K (with quite an ecstatic look upon his face) asked them if they would care to see the newest program he had developed for his * ahem * customers.

He led them all out to his police car and started to do something on his laptop. He finally had it ready, he turned the laptop towards them and there it was! The official and original Beverly Hillbillies show! He assured us that he had already tested his new program on his * ahem * customers, and it had been pronounced as amazing. (perhaps even stupendous, but we can’t be sure..) He had arrested someone just the other night and played his new program for them, and they had laughed all the way to jail. He hopes to upgrade soon to the Brady Bunch and COPS.

You may laugh at my story but I assure you that these events did indeed take place, and if you have any doubts, all you have to do is come see one of the many fine parades led by Officer K. The annual “Clean Yourself Parade” (in which they hand out free bars of soap and spray the audience with water guns) the unnamed parade last year featuring the cop car, the tandem bike, and a band consisting of the mentioned Mr. Fields playing his violin (much to the chagrin of the audience….) The next Parade shall be happening this afternoon in honor of a certain injured person at 4:30. Details to be discussed at the coffee shop.

Ah the joys of small towns. haha!

Little dog gone
Topic: People/Family stories
For several days, our little dog, Millie, has been acting like she didn't feel good. On Tuesday, she began breathing weird....making hard panting noises all day. She still ate her food and played outside though. On Wednesday, she was still breathing hard and staring at us like, "Please help me." So we made her cozy nests on the floor with blankets. She played a little and tried to howl with our outside dog, but it was very weak. By Thursday she wouldn't lie down, I caught her almost falling asleep sitting up a couple of times. She just sat up all day, panting heavily, she wouldn't eat...not even a dog biscuit, which is her favorite. She drank some water, but coughed violently afterward, almost choking. I had to force half a baby aspirin down her throat, thinking it might help her be more comfortable.

She went outside in the afternoon and usually comes right back in, but when I didn't hear her bark at all for a long time, I had to go find her. She was just sitting by the gate, panting. I knew it wouldn't be long....that she was really sick and not getting well. In the evening, we looked under the dinner table and she wasn't there...her usual place. We found her back in Maggie's room, lying on a cushion, panting. Then I had to get her out from under our bed when it was time to turn off the lights and go to bed. She could barely walk to her bed in the laundry room and refused to go outside, so I just put her in bed and petted her for a while, wondering what we'd have to do the next day if she still wasn't well.

We knew the time was close for us to make a decision about possibly putting her to sleep. She's been sick for years and getting worse gradually each year. We think maybe she had cancer cuz she had some tumors and groaned a lot. We had her examined by a vet last year and they ruled out congestive heart disease, which she did have some symptoms of. Well, some time in the night, God made the decision for us and she died. Charles found her this morning before the kids woke up. We are thankful that we didn't have to witness her death or have to take her to be put to sleep.

But we'll miss that little dog! I wrote about her once on this blog. You can read it here. I may post some pictures of her sometime soon, but I can't look at them today.....

First Snow
Topic: God things
It began snowing this morning by 10am. It is now almost 1pm and there are a couple of inches of wet snow, with more fluttering and swirling down. This snow is not in any hurry…just a nice lingering, flutterish, swirlingly lazy snow. I did not get dressed as I usually do today. Today is a sweat pants and nice big, favorite old sweater kind of day….my sweater is dark blue with huge knitted in snowflakes covering the front. There are holes in it and because it’s such a heavy knit, by the end of the day the sleeves are much longer than when I put it on….which cracks me up….it grows! It is also missing the second to the last button. But on a snow day, people rarely come by unannounced, as they often do in a small town. I love people dropping by, but the point is, I’m safe to be in my big droopy sweater and sweat pants today, with no makeup….and that’s nice once in a while.

*This is really funny now, because just as I finished typing that paragraph, our friend Rainy drove up and knocked at the door.* Heehee I guess I knew she was dropping by, because she is taking Emma to lunch, but I forget things like that.

Anyway, back to the snow! It is covering the yellow/brown grass, all but the taller stalks anyway, which are sticking up defiantly. My neighbor’s yard across the creek is much more defiant-looking than ours….lol. It would look really beautiful already, if it weren’t for a few unsightly things that are not snow covered….our former toilet, waiting to be hauled off to the dump after a little remodeling project, and our 1972 Pleasure Seeker pop up trailer topped with a bright blue tarp which is held down by cinder blocks. So if the snow keeps up and gets about 3 feet high, it’ll be downright pristine out there. =)

God’s grace covers us. His grace is more like a light snow right now though, not a three footer. The unsightly, sometimes hideous things in our lives are still visible, but that is what makes His grace all the more visible. Yeah, people can still tell we don’t have it all together, but when they see God work in our lives and changing us, they know God loves and blesses and works through people even though they’re not perfect. Isn’t that the point? He’s the one Who is perfect and pristine…..it’s not us. We are just a work in progress, sticking up awkwardly, like a toilet discarded after a recent remodel, covered by His grace.

So don’t be held back and distracted from what God wants to do through you by the junk we still deal with. Keep loving and following Him, and hopefully there is some ongoing remodeling work happening in the process.

Carnival Wednesday
Topic: Carnival entries
Go and see this week's Carnival of Beauty at MzEllen & Co. The topic is Hope and the entries are so good!

I still am in a funk of scattered thoughts and buziness, so maybe next week I can join in.

Hannah's Big Move
Topic: People/Family stories
This is my daughter, Hannah, and her roomate, Bethany. We stopped by her place yesterday on the way to the movies. She made us lunch at her new apartment. Baked chicken legs, salad, and Rice a Roni. =)

Last Tuesday we were helping Hannah and Bethany (not to be confused with our other daughter Bethany) move into their new place. It's a studio apartment, but has a wooden divider to make the bedroom more private. Very cute place, very convenient for them and they've made it very homey and cozy. Here are some pics from moving day!

Putting up the IKEA loft bed was interesting...Brad and Kailey heave the loft bed up.

Dad looks confused, but they figured it out. ;)
Emma and Bristol moving one of a bajillion boxes.

For Hannah and Bethany, I looked up this verse, which I have loved ever since I can remember. It is not a burden or tiresome or hard to follow God....in fact, it is the way of life.

Deuteronomy 30 :11-20 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Whoops
Topic: Other
There was a mistake in a recent recipe post. I have reposted the recipe for Coconut Cranberry Chews...hope it didn't cause anyone grief! The ingredients should have included 1 large egg.....whoops.

c

A Short Walk through the Word...
Topic: God things
I got this in an email this morning. I love it! (Though the long version is much more detailed and inspired.)




The Bible in 50 Words

God made

Adam bit

Noah arked
Abraham split
Joseph ruled
Jacob fooled

Bush talked
Moses balked
Pharaoh plagued
People walked
Sea divided

Tablets guided
Promise landed
Saul freaked
David peeked

Prophets warned
Jesus born

God Walked
Love talked

Anger crucified
Hope died

Love rose
Spirit flamed
Word spread
God remained.

Coconut Cranberry Chews
Topic: Crickl's Recipes
These are what I'm baking today. I found this recipe last year and loved them! I found it doing a search on dried cranberries, to use them up.

It is a contest winner from Sunset magazine a couple of years ago. They come out crispy and have an addictive flavor. I use the orange flavored Craisins and add about a fourth a teaspoon of orange extract instead of orange rind.










Coconut Cranberry Chews


Ingredients:

? About 1 1/2 cups (3/4 lb.) Challenge Butter,
at room temperature
? 2 cups sugar
? 1 Tablespoon grated orange peel
? 2 teaspoons vanilla
? 1 large egg
? 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
? 1 teaspoon baking powder
? 1/4 teaspoon salt
? 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
? 1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked dried coconut
Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat 1 1/2 cups butter, sugar, orange peel, and vanilla until
smooth. Beat in egg, until well blended.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture, stir to mix, then beat on low
speed until dough comes together, about 5 minutes (see notes). Mix in cranberries and coconut.
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on buttered 12" x 15" baking sheets.
4. Bake in a 350?F regular or convection oven until cookie edges just begin to brown, 11 to 15 minutes (shorter
baking time will yield a chewier cookie; longer baking time will yield a crispier cookie). If baking two sheets at
once in one oven, switch their positions halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then
use a wide spatula to transfer to racks to cool completely.
Yield: About 6 dozen cookies

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 1 hour

NOTES: The mixture may look dry until it comes together as a dough. If its too crumbly to form into balls, the
dough need to be mixed longer; it should be a smooth homogeneous mass.

Per cookie: 92 cal., 45% (41 cal.) from fat; 0.7 g protein; 4.5 g fat (2.8 g sat); 12 g carbo (0.4 g fiber); 58 mg
sodium; 13 mg chol.

Source: Recipe developed by Sunset Magazine Test Kitchens for Baking with Challenge Butter.
www.sunsetmagazine.com
Remove from oven and let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes.

Beauty of Winter Carnival
Topic: Carnival entries
This week’s carnival of Beauty is the beauty of winter. I was way too spread out this week, so I didn’t enter the carnival, but go and check out all the wonderful entries!




And enjoy this beautiful picture my husband took a few years ago outside my sister’s cabin. He loves wood….the woods as well as just wood…stacked neatly in the corner of the yard. To him I think it represents preparation for winter’s chill, hard work from summer paying off, and a tangible reward of hard work. Since he is a pastor, his hard work he is paid to do doesn’t always show in tangible ways. =)

Our wood pile is dwindling down this winter as we stay toasty inside. But there has been NO snow this year so far. This drought is hitting the ski areas hard now, but come summer, our water supplies will be hurting badly. We can do without skiing but we kinda need water. Carol of She Lives asks for prayer for rain, as she lives in the drought stricken grasslands of Texas. I echo her request for prayer….please pray for rain, snow and relief for the parched land and dwindling water supplies of these areas, including Arizona. Thanks!