Steinbeck

I love books! Just love em! However, I hate paying full price for a book as I have posted before. (And no, I will not succumb to the communistic or democratic carcinogenic ideation of a Kindle, thank you very much!)

So, I check out the selection at thrift stores from time to time and found a John Steinbeck, whom I have never read, called Travels with Charley. It is a gem! It basically chronicles his travels across America in 1961 and the interesting people he meets along the way. Very good and humorous while being surprisingly deep at times.

At one point he comes into contact with the immigration services and has a bit of a run in over nothing really and he writes: "Before I went to sleep I went over all the things I wished I had said to that immigration man, and some of them were incredibly clever and cutting." Ha! Haven't we all been there!

Later, he writes of visiting different churches along his journey and one in particular, a Vermont church where a pastor brings the message of fire-and-brimstone unlike any Steinbeck had heard to which Steinbeck writes: "He forged a religion designed to last, not predigested obsolescence."

Not predigested obsolescence....I love that!

Early Humans vs. Neanderthals

Just saw a head line that there is now scientific evidence that early humans mated with Neanderthals. I am no archaeologist but are those not one and the same???? Unfortunately, I didn't care enough to read the article.

Doing Life Differently

I picked up Luci Swindoll's biography: Doing Life Differently a couple weeks ago and not knowing much about Luci, it has been very interesting. She has done it all: missionary, opera singer, writer, exec for Mobile Oil, etc.

As Luci writes, she tells of growing up in Texas in 1950s and how strained her relationship could be on occasion because she did not follow her mother's and society's views of what "was appropriate" for a girl at that time. You see, Luci did not want to get married and she did not want to have children although she was engaged at one time and loved kids. She just wasn't interested. Never had been. It just was not in God's make up of her dreams.

How easy would it have been for her to just "be a good girl" and do what her mama told her? After all, we rear our kids to be obedient and some of our kids are parent pleasers to the core of their very being. (I personally don't have one of these kind of kids, but I have heard urban legends that they exist.)

If she had ignored the very fiber of who God designed her to be, how different this world would be...and I believe not for the better. She served and still serves the Lord all over the world, being the hands and feet of Jesus to those in need.

So, it is not that hard to begin thinking of my role as parent:
What do I do as mother that imposes or restricts my children's God given design for their lives?
What do I deem appropriate for their future and who am I to make that decision?
And in doing so, how much of God's perfect plan am I trampling on?
How can I support my girls to not just follow God's voice but to run toward it with gusto?

Bubba's Tacos

Here is a quick and easy recipe from our friend's, the Howes. Since getting this recipe a couple weeks ago, it has become a Sunday football staple. It got the name from Micki's uncle, Bubba, who made a version with ranch dressing. Micki and Heath changed it up a bit and since we have gotten the recipe, we have changed it up a bit.
I have made the filling the night before then refrigerated it overnight, set it out while at church then when you get home, an easy and quick lunch while you watch the football game. It also makes quite a bit so we usually save half the mixture for a quick dinner during the weeknight

Bubba's Tacos

3 small tubes of sausage (we like hot)
2 cartons of cream cheese (we use fat free)softened
1 bell pepper (diced)
1 onion (diced)
1 package of won ton wrappers (in the refrigerated section by the veggies and tofu)
muffin pan

Heat the oven to 350. Brown your sausage, bell pepper and onion in a large pot. Drain. Return the meat and veggies to the pot and add your cream cheese. Stir until well mixed. Place one won ton wrapper in each muffin "spot", pushing it down into the opening. Add a spoon of meat mixture into the wrapper, leaving the wrapper up or open.
Bake for 10 minutes and serve.

I like mine with a bit of "Slap ya Mama" Cajun spice sprinkled on top. Mo likes his with salsa. Heath and Micki add some green chilies to theirs and the kids usually like them "plain". Never tried it with ground turkey sausage but its a thought or some finely diced mushrooms would be tasty.

I will try and post a pic next time we make them so you can see what I mean by leaving the won ton wrapper open.

Now, to be honest, I don't like the name Bubba's Tacos but can't find anything else I like. Mo's bid for the new name is "suppleness" but I just can't bring myself to say, "Suppleness is ready." so that name is out. Let me know if you like them and if you can think of a better name. Enjoy!

What if?

I am not typically a "what if" person but did wonder tonight:

What if we, as a society, took our personal relationship with Christ as seriously as we took sports?

What if we took our children's spiritual growth as seriously as we took their sports growth?

What if we took all hours of our child's schedule devoted to practice and games, not to mention money, and transferred that into their learning of Biblical Truth and serving others?

The Many Faces of God

I was at a Women of Faith event a couple of weekends ago and enjoyed the speakers although it was nothing like I thought it would be. Isn't it funny how our own expectations can get in our way...
One thought that was made by a speaker when referencing another woman she knew has bounced around in my head for the last two weeks. Or it might have been from our church pastor referencing someone else, I am not sure BUT the comment went something like this,
"God is either all loving or He is all powerful. He can not be both because if He was, then he would heal. But He doesn't. He would answer our prayers. But He doesn't. So that means He either doesn't love us or He doesn't have the power to do it." And when asked if this person prayed anymore, the response was, "Yes, but I don't ask for anything."
With all the pain in the world, it would be easy to see how someone could arrive at this conclusion. Children dying of cancer. Spouses betraying each other. Random violence. Children being sold in to sex trades. Infertility struggles. A parent losing a child from drugs or an accident. A teenager about to age out of the foster care system still wanting a "forever family". These people are not asking for sports cars or to win the lotto. They are asking for survival. It is an ugly world we live in.
You can understand the thoughts:
"Why pray when God can't do anything about it or He doesn't love me enough to do anything about it? Why pray boldly when the answer is silence? I begged of you and nothing. If you are going to do what you want, God, then why pray for anything."

Interesting, isn't it, the pondering of the how's, why's and the what for's of our God...