Easter Thoughts

Here a few thoughts from around the web for Easter that have blessed me...

When Easter Feels Overwhelming:  Bonnie, at Faith Barista talks about what happens on the Saturday before Easter when we are healing and waiting with hope.

Ann Voskamp, from Holy Experience writes from the perspective of Mary and how Jesus was torn to make us whole.  Beautiful, heart-wrenching perspective!

 In Living in a Saturday World, Shawn, from On This Side of the Mirror, talks about our struggle before God redeems our deepest hurts.  I have never really pondered the Saturday before Easter and how it can symbolize our struggles, but this year I am so in that place....waiting for the pain to be redeemed.

Also from Shawn, The Bad of Good Friday...this one is a must read.  May we always know that when we suffer He totally gets where we are at.  He will never ask us to suffer unless He Himself has gone through it.

Have a blessed Easter!

One Man Didn't

Three men were tried for crimes against humanity
Two men committed crimes
The third man didn't



Three men were whipped and beaten
Two men had it coming
One didn't

Three men were given crosses to carry
Two men earned their

Three men were mocked and spit at, along the way
Two men cursed and spit back
The third one didn't

Three men were nailed to their cross
Two men deserved it
One man didn't
Three men agonized over their abandonment
Two men had reason to be abandoned
One didn't

People reviled them
Two men argued
One of them didn't
Three men knew death was coming
Two men resisted
One man didn't

One

ree men died on three crosses
Three days later
Two men remained in their graves
One, the Son of men, didn't 

-Author unknown

Homemade Fabric Softener

For a few years now I have made my own laundry detergent.  Here is my favorite recipe.  But I have never really found a substitute for fabric softener that I liked.  I have used white distilled vinegar and that works especially well to get rid of the mildew smell in towels.  However, I hated lugging all that vinegar home.{I am lazy!} Here is an alternative that we are trying...

Homemade Fabric Softener

6 - cups Hot Water

3 - cups White Distilled Vinegar

2 - cups Hair Conditioner (any brand)
1 - Empty Gallon Container

 

{The conditioner and vinegar with a touch of lime essential oil before popping it in the microwave}

Directions:
In large (microwave safe) bowl, mix the vinegar and hair conditioner together (it will look a bit clumpy).

Place the whole bowl in the microwave and heat for a minute or two. This will ensure the ingredients will blend together more easily. Remove from microwave and stir. (I used a whisk).

Add hot water and mix to make sure everything is blended. Pour mixture into a one gallon container and store in laundry room.

Use the same amount you normally use in a rinse cycle (approx 1/2 cup).

Note: Add to fabric dispenser department, downy ball or directly in the second rinse cycle. Before each use give the bottle a good shake to mix it up.

{The Finished Product}

Gratitude Redeems

We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. Acts 14:22

Where did we get the idea that this life would be a cake walk?  A mere stroll in the park?  When life bruises why are we shocked by it?  Didn't He say "in this life you will have troubles"? Maybe it is sickness...of the body or the mind.  Maybe it is brokenness...in relationships or in memories.  Maybe it is the hope unfulfilled, the tragedy encountered, the death unwanted.  We should not be shocked.  He endured physical pain, emotional torment, the rejection of others, and a death that no one would want.  And if He didn't escape, why do we think that we would?

This year I carefully chose the word REDEEMED as my Word of the Year.  And only a fourth of the way into the year, I struggle to see the redemption.  How do you redeem the pain of a past broken and bruised?  How can the death of relationships be redeemed?  How do you take the ugly and find the beautiful? You give thanks for...

Brokenness, grief, death, ugliness 

Does He not redeem it all if we will but give it to Him and thank Him for it?  Let it go.  Release it into His hands and see what He can make of it. Because EVERYTHING the Artist touches turns to beauty if we will just allow Him to work.  Holding on to it only creates more brokenness.  More grief.  More death.  More ugliness.  And who needs more of those things?  Yet, giving thanks for what He has allowed brings peace and joy.  Acceptance with gratitude brings about a turning of events...

And we know that in ALL THINGS God works for the good of those who love him...Romans 8:28

  

Monday Morning Gratitude List

Feel thanks and it's absolutely impossible to feel angry...The only way to fight a feeling is with a feeling.--One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are {Ann Voskamp}


{3,290-3,308}

-Getting appointments done with
-New rice warmers

-Meals from freezer to oven without much thought
-Laughter
-Gifts from a friend
-Hugs
-Insomnia (I get a lot of reading and paperwork done!)
-A computer fixed
-Finally, a full night's sleep
-Reading Where Is God When It Hurts?
-Pain
-Weekends for rest
-Spring will be here soon
-The anticipation of Easter
-Words of wisdom and encouragement from a friend
-Getting some spring cleaning done
-The Easter meal planned
-The melting of snow
-A bathed puppy

I am linking up at...

Love No Matter What by Brenda Garrison

Parenting isn't for cowards.  It is one of the toughest jobs out there!  As my boys get older I have noticed that the parent/child relationship is changing.  They get to make more decisions on their own.  I recently read Love No Matter What by Brenda Garrison and loved what she had to say about your relationship with your kids especially when they make decisions you may not agree with.  Brenda gives practical, Biblical advice on what to do when faced with the paths our kids take as teens and young adults that may be foolish or downright wrong.  The main focus of her book is that we need to build bridges to our kids and maintain a relationship with them regardless of their poor decisions.  We may not love their behavior, but we need to love them. She equates our relationship with God (we also are misbehaving children) and how He treats us when we walk down the wrong path.  She gives us the picture of God (like the father of the Prodigal Son) as compassionate, forgiving, and patient.  If you are struggling in your relationship with your teen or young adult child this book is worth the read!

Thomas Nelson has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in order to review it.  I am not required to give a positive review.  All my opinions are my own.

Shards

{Repost from 2012}

We are all broken.  The hurtful words.  The terrible actions.  The betrayal. The one that was supposed to love us, rejects us.  The one who was to save us leaves us hanging.  The pain cracks us....creates shards.  Sharp shards.  So we break, and we hurt.  We hurt.  Then we hurt others.

A shard can't help but create a wound if another gets too close.  We are sharp because we are broken.  And those that get close to us are bound to bleed. So what do we do to stop the pain?  The pain we wrestle with deep inside and the pain we inflict on others.  We look to the One who can soften our sharp edges...

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.  Psalm 147:3

He binds our wounds. He wraps our pain, our sharp shards.  Not only to heal us, but to make us softer so that we will not rip others to shreds.  Will we hold still and know that He is God and that He heals?  Will we sit quietly waiting for His expert hands to put us back together?  Because if He binds us...wraps us when we are falling apart we are less likely to bleed out.  We are less likely to make others run red with heartache.

When we brush up against the shards of another.  Can we step back and realize that yes, they hurt us...but only because they hurt? Can we take our eyes off our wound long enough to glance at the wound of the other, sharp as she may be?

Can we rest in the assurance that the One that loves us will never reject us?  That the One who saves us will never leave us hanging?

See the Beauty

“I want to see beauty. In the ugly, in the sink, in the suffering, in the daily, in all the days before I die, the moments before I sleep.”--Ann Voskamp


A gratitude list helps me see the beauty in all kinds of areas of life...in the pain, the mundane, and in the lovely.

{3,271-3,289}

-An answered prayer
-God working behind the scenes
-Meal making (getting it done)

-Brand, new shirts
-A extra puppy at home for a little while
-Help from a friend in the form on encouragement
-Watching "Wreck it Ralph" with the boys
-Sweet strawberries
-Spring Break
-Beth Moore's study on Deuteronomy
-Returning students
-Pizza and movie night
-Lists of things I need to do (keeps me focused)
-Peace in the face of turmoil
-Extra rest to fight off a cold
-Mist in the morning
-Son to help with the shopping
-Compliments about my son
-Kind words again from a cashier

Linking up at...

Easter Favorites

Here are some simple recipes for Easter...

Easter Ham

7-8 pound bone-in spiral-cut ham
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup all natural maple syrup
2 cups pineapple juice


Use a 6-7 quart slow cooker. Unwrap the ham, and discard flavor packet. Place it into the stoneware of your crockpot, flat-side down. Rub brown sugar on all sides. Pour on maple syrup and pineapple juice. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. If possible, baste ham with collected juice from the bottom of the crock an hour or so before serving. When cooking is done, remove carefully and let it rest on a cutting board for 15-20 minutes before carving.

I have been trying to add more fruits and veggies into our diet lately.  I actually like most of them anyways, but I am picking about a few.  For example, I have never liked fresh green beans because they squeak on my teeth when you eat them! LOL Purely a texture thing.  I recently found that if I roast green beans that they are AWESOME!  Here is what I do...excuse the lack of amounts for each ingredient..this is truly a "dump recipe" to suit your tastes.

Roasted Green Beans

fresh or frozen green beans

olive oil (maybe about 2 T for 2 lbs. of beans)

salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Place the beans in an oven safe dish. Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste.  Mix completely. Roast for about 15 minutes until beans are crisp tender and starting to brown.

This year I want to try this simple and fun recipe...

 

Eggs in Brownie Nests

{recipe source} 

1 batch classic brownies
1 small bag Cadbury Mini-Eggs or candy Robins Eggs
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2. Grease the inside of mini-muffin cups thoroughly and fill them half full with brownie batter. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the tops of the brownies are set and cake tester comes out clean.
3. Allow the brownies to cool for ten minutes., then remove them from the muffin cups and allow them to cool completely. As they cool the centers will deflate slightly. Once they have done so, drop in  the eggs and serve!

Linking up at...

March Meals

This month's freezer cooking meals involve a bit more work.  It is Spring Break right now so I thought I would try some new recipes.  A few of them require a bit more time to prep.  Here is what is on the menu:

First meal on the menu: Vegetable Cheddar Strata. This meal is super easy to put together.  The only time consuming part is toasting all the English muffins.

{Toasted English Muffins cut in fourths}

{Sauteing the veggies-you can substitute for the veggies you like or have on hand}

Vegetable Cheddar Strata

1 T. olive oil

6 green onions, chopped

Salt and pepper

2 cups broccoli florets (bite-sized pieces)

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

5 English muffins, split, toasted and quartered

2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar

8 large eggs

2 1/2 cups milk

   Saute the veggies in the olive oil until tender.  Salt and pepper them and set them aside. Grease a 9 by 13 pan and arrange the toasted and cut up English muffins (cut side up) in the bottom of the pan. Scatter the veggies over the muffins.  Sprinkle the cheddar over the entire pan. Mix the milk and eggs together.  Pour the mixture over the veggies.  At this point you can freeze the strata.  If you don't freeze it you must let it sit overnight in the fridge.  When ready to bake, thaw (if frozen) the strata and bake covered with foil at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 20 to 30 minutes until the eggs are set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

{Beefy Chili Relleno Casserole}

Beefy Chili Relleno Casserole

1 lb. ground beef (or turkey), cooked and drained

1/2 chopped onion

1 can chopped green chilies

shredded cheddar

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup flour

Place the cooked beef in a 9 by 9 pan.  Mix in the onions and chilies.  Sprinkle with cheddar (about 1 cup give or take).  Mix the eggs, milk, and flour together and pour over the pan. Bake at 375 for about 50 minutes.

   Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken 

{This is one of our favorites!}

The chicken coating:

3-4 boneless chicken breasts

salt + pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup canola oil

The sweet and sour sauce:

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt

       Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.  Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.   

Barbecued Orange Chicken

This is super easy and yummy!  I have to admit that I don't use set amounts for the sauce, but it always turns our great.

1 cup orange marmalade

1 bottle BBQ sauce

1 small bottle Italian dressing

Mix together the sauce.  When ready to cook the chicken, marinate it in the sauce for a few hours in the fridge.  You can either bake or grill the chicken.    

Upside-down Prayers

{Affiliate links used.}

What I have desired for my two boys has changed dramatically since they were little.  When they were babies I would wake in the middle of the night and check their breathing.  One of my little guys would spit up constantly even in his sleep. I feared that one night he would choke to death.  My concern was for their safety...their well-being. Over time I have come to realize that while prayers for their safety are an important part of serving our kids there are some prayers that are far more important.  I have been praying that they follow hard after God. Nothing else matters.

I had wanted a life free of pain.  A perfect family. Success around every corner.  But as the years have flown by I have realized that God is shaping me and giving me "less than perfect".  He shapes His clay in the darkness.  I have not grown leaps and bounds during the highs of life, during the great successes, during the joys.  I have only been molded in the dark.  My transformation has come in the hardest times: the abuse, the losses, the rejection from others.  It is there that the Potter shows up to shape a bit more.

And so it is with everyone, God labors during the night to form us into an image...one that more closely resembles His Son. It will be the same for my boys.  It is through the trials of life that they will grow to be more like Him.  So when I came across  Upside-Down Prayers for Parents: Thirty-One Daring Devotions for Entrusting Your Child--and Yourself--to God, I realized that these needed to be my prayers.  Here is just a sampling of some of the prayers:

I pray you'll get caught doing things wrong-and find the good and true path.

I pray you'll have to forgive someone who doesn't deserve it-and find the peace that forgiveness brings.

I pray you'll encounter battles-and find God is your greatest ally.

I pray you'll experience unanswered prayers-and develop deeper, wider trust.

After each prayer is a verse, a devotional, and then questions to ponder.  These prayers aren't for the faint of heart.  Some of them I almost don't want to pray for my kids.  Yet, I know that in the long run “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” (Acts 14:22).  In order for my kids to follow hard after God they need hardship.  They need some darkness to be His light. 


 

More than a Multitude

{3,245-3,270}

Take the pain that is given, give thanks for it, and transform it into a joy that fulfills all emptiness.--Ann Voskamp

-Sun streaming in the windows
-Great lesson with my youngest students
-Candles burning...releasing scent
-Complete peace and confidence in Christ
-New students...three girls named after flowers. Beautiful.
-Answered prayer
-He always protects
-The truth that always emerges
-Old barns reminding me of the ranch
-We have never gone hungry  

 

-New jacket

-Thin mints

-Awesome Spanish circle (such an enjoyable class this semester!!)

-Serving the grieving

-Orion in the sky

-Sleepless nights

-Friendly conversations

-Anxiety which keeps me close to Him

-Early morning worship

-Morning walks

-A whole day of Zach cooking

-Talking to dad

-Sunrises

-Time alone with God

-Warm temperatures

-That God really knows how to love us

Linking up at...

Teaching Spanish Literature {short stories}

{Affiliate links used.}

One of my favorite parts of teaching Spanish is reading real literature (not just stories written  for language learners) with my students.  Recently, I started reading literature with my high school son.  I was amazed at how much he enjoyed the stories and how much more engaged he was than when working on grammar or vocabulary.

Here are some of my favorite literature pieces to teach.  I have used these selections time and again for about twenty years.  Most of these stories would be upper level high school or intermediate college level Spanish.

These first two selections are normally what I start out with if students have never read Spanish literature before. (NOTE: Many, but not all, of these selections can be found in Album.)

Signos de Puntuacion by Luis C. Infante - The story of how Sr. Alvarez's last will and testament gets interpreted.  His will is written without punctuation.  Each of his relatives or acquaintances punctuate his will to benefit themselves.  Humorous.  Great starter story because the bulk of the story is repeated (the will portion).

Una Carta a Dios by Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes - The humorous story of what happens when a Mexican farmer has complete faith in God and writes Him a letter.  There are a lot of resources on the internet to supplement teaching this story as it is incredibly popular with Spanish teachers.

No Oyes Ladrar Los Perros by Juan Rulfo - A man tries to save his wayward son after he has been injured.  Poignant and sad.

El Tiempo Borra by Javier de Viana - A short story from Uruguay about a gaucho who was imprisioned for 15 years.  He is released.  What will he find when he returns to his wife and child?

Continuidad de Los Parques by Julio Cortazar - A man reading a novel becomes a part of the story.  As with many of Cortazar's stories the line between reality and fantasy are blurred.

La Nocha Boca Arriba by Julio Cortazar - Another great story with a surprise ending. Two realities are presented: a human sacrifice and a motorcycle accident.  The level of reading on this one is a little more advanced.  I would save Julio Cortazar's work after students have had some experience in reading in Spanish.  Other titles by Cortazar: Casa Tomada, Axolotl.

Un dia de estos by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - While I am really not a fan of Garcia Marquez's longer works (i.e. One Hundred Years of Solitude).  This short story of a dentist and a mayor is worth the read.

La Pared by Vicente Blasco Ibanez - A touching story of two families in Spain that overcome a feud when a fire breaks out in one of their homes.  How tragedy can bring together enemies.

El Crimen Perfecto by Enrique Anderson Imbert - A story from an Argentine author about a man who believes that he has committed the perfect crime.  Very humorous with a touch of fantasy.

Need more ideas for teaching Spanish? Visit my other blog, Debbie's Spanish Learning.

Of Spikes and Surprises {How to really see the Son}

{A repost from summer 2012}

Shriveled up spikes that were supposed to be green had turned sickly brown. It was dead...really dead.  The aloe vera plant that I had nursed along for several years was not making it.  I pulled the plant out of the dirt and then tried to bury it deeper.  After all, that is what you do when something is dead.  You bury it. I snipped off the sickly protrusions because I couldn't stand to look at them anymore.  Then I walked away and never thought of it again...for days.  Why I didn't toss it out is beyond me.  Maybe because there was a little bit of hope.  Maybe because I was too lazy.

Then one day...a quick glance...and a surge of surprise.  There were pups!  Not the furry kind, but the green kind!  Seriously?!  The plant had died.  I thought.  But out of its supposed demise life had sprung.  It had not only sprung, but seriously multiplied.  Each morning new pups were poking their heads up to see the sun.  Amazing!

There are times when I grieve. I grieve the loss of relationships. The hard breakups and the slow "moving aways" from each other. The events in life that didn't go the way they should have.  The conversations that fell flat and left shattered dreams on the doorstep.  So much about life is death.  It is heartbreaking.  There are days when it is almost too much. There are days that I don't want to face for fear of the losses.

But the aloe plant knows better.  It knows...

“I assure you: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces a large crop.  The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
 John 12: 24-25

God knows...that death is a part of life.  That death produces life.  That the precious moments, relationships, and things that we grieve may someday multiply into blessings beyond belief.  A surge of surprise will come from the shriveled up spikes in our lives.  After all, wasn't it dirty brown spikes across His brow and deep in His wrists that eventually brought about the greatest surprise of all...that the walking dead could spring forth in life to see the Son.