#1 “I REACH OUT FOR YOU. I THIRST FOR YOU AS PARCHED LAND THIRSTS FOR RAIN.” PSALM 143:6 NLT
#2
John 1:1
Psalm 42:1,2
Psalm 63
John 4:1-14
John 7:37-39
Psalm 143:6
Isaiah 32:1-4
1 Timothy 6:17-19
#3
Are You Thirsty?
The day of the race dawned warm and clear, promising the perfect weather in which to run. I’d anticipated this day for over a year, part of my tongue-in-cheek mid-life crisis for the summer I turned 50. Middle aged and notoriously unathletic, a half marathon seemed the perfect antidote to the inevitability of aging. As I packed my bag with extra socks, sunglasses, and packets of jelly beans, I kept debating the dilemma of the hour. Should I do as all the books say (and yes, the ultimate book worm learns to run by reading!) and drink plenty of fluids before the race? Or should I heed my own inner-worry: that I’d end up in line for the porta-potty while I watched the race run by? In the end, I compromised, downing a little water at the start and a lot of water at each of the stations. I passed the porta-potties right by! You need water. Lots of it. Thirst is different than hunger in that you absolutely must have water in order to survive. While someone can go weeks and weeks without food, you cannot live without water for more than about 72 to 120 hours (three to five days). One week without water and we’re dead.
Water in Scripture symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Our souls thirst for the Spirit of God to enable us to be nourished by the Word of God. You cannot survive, let alone thrive, without both the water of the Spirit and the Word of God to satisfy you. Yet how many Bible studies have you and I attended and how many sermons have we listened to without once inviting, begging, pleading with the Holy Spirit to speak to us? To give us water to drink?
The one redeeming contribution the Old Testament priest, Eli, made in spite of his myriad mistakes, was to teach young Samuel this concept:
“…if He calls you, you shall say,
‘Speak, for Thy servant is listening’.”
I Samuel 3:9
God wants to refresh you and satisfy you through His Word. He names Himself Logos, the Word (John 1:1), to let you and I know that He is speaking. But it takes the Spirit of God within you to enable you to drink those words in and quench your desperate thirst. Bible studies and sermons will bounce right off if you are not walking in and with the Spirit, waiting expectantly for Him to speak to you. Even the discipline of daily devotions will leave you parched and dry unless done in the power of His Spirit.
And it doesn’t take a twelve-step program to remember how to drink. Little Samuel can tell you that. With Eli’s help, he learned early in his life to invite God to speak to him. Over months and years and decades, Samuel honed this skill, learning to listen with intensity and focus. By the end of his life, Samuel was one of the wisest and most trusted priests ever to represent God in all of Israel.
We all would do well to remember Samuel’s secret, and to sincerely pray Samuel’s one sentence prayer every time we intend to drink in God’s Word:
“Speak, Lord,
Your servant is listening.”
From my heart,
Diane
Etc.
Who wrote Ruth?
The writer of the book of Ruth reaches back to tell a story from distant memory. He sets it in a time other than his own: when the Judges ruled. Now, a King reigns over Israel and many of the problems which plagued the fledgling nation have been solved and set right by strong central leadership. Back then, the author writes, when times were turbulent and events often escalated out of control, a little family of four sets off to alleviate their poverty by leaving the land God had given them and going to the dreaded nation of Moab.
The author pens the tale as dispassionately as possible, but still, his sympathy seeps out of the edges of his story. No condemnation clouds his telling; he sticks to the facts. They went, they died, and only Naomi came back. This family of four is reduced to one: one grief-stricken widow.
Who wrote this story with so much tenderness?
Some say it must have been written by a woman.1 Certainly the story has a feminine appeal. The conversations recorded and emotions portrayed are deeply insightful, unveiling an intimate understanding of human relationships and of feminine friendships in particular.
Others attribute this story to Samuel. Rabbinic tradition credits the beloved prophet/priest with the writing of Judges, Ruth, and First and Second Samuel.2 And perhaps he did write it, though he couldn’t have completed the story since he didn’t live long enough to tack the genealogy at the end.
The bottom line is that nobody knows who wrote the book of Ruth. But someone did. Someone who didn’t want to get in the way by signing his (or her) name to the bottom of the page. Someone who loved the story. Someone who’d heard it told over and over again, told and retold with care and precision and passion. For this is a story not just about Ruth, or Naomi, or Boaz, but about a God who reaches through misery and heartache and hopelessness to reveal Himself to hurting people.
This is the story of a rescue.
THANKSGIVING MENU WEEK TWO: Two things will be missing from Thanksgiving this year… My sister, Rebekah, and her pies.
Growing up, we all had jobs to do on Thanksgiving.
My mom brined the turkey and baked it to perfection….
I made the mashed potatoes and set the dinner table…
And my sister, Rebekah, always made the pies.
Rebekah would spend hours rolling out the dough and crafting beautiful desserts. She and her husband, Steve, live in LA and the miles between here and there don’t allow for much time spent in the kitchen together anymore.
(Beks and I at her wedding a few years ago)
(I miss you big sis)
This year, we are spending Thanksgiving with my family and I will be attempting to take over Rebekah’s pie baking duties.
So… this week's recipes are all about dessert.
I am a little inexperienced when it comes to pie so I’ve been playing in my kitchen this week and have a new one, an old one and a borrowed one to share with you.
FOR THE NEW: below you will find a recipe for No Bake Pumpkin Pie. I know the ingredients may sound a little odd and “healthy tasting” but I promise that you won’t be disappointed if you give it a try.
Traditional pumpkin pie is typically made with heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk and egg yokes. I wanted to lighten it up a bit and create something for those of us who don’t do well with dairy.
FOR THE OLD: a few months ago I posted a recipe for an apple crisp and I prefer it to apple pie any day.
(there is a pan of it sitting on my counter right now and I may or may not have had some with breakfast. And lunch.)
To make it a bit more pie like, use a pie crust (homemade or store bought) to put on the bottom and use the filling and crumble top from the recipe.
FOR THE BORROWED: this berry pie recipe comes from my all time favorite blog for any kind of dessert or treat. Every single recipe she makes is over the top amazing and she uses all real and simple ingredients.
I hope you enjoy one or all three!
Elizabeth
PS: What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving desserts? I’d love to hear what will be making it your table this year!
NO BAKE PUMPKIN PIE
dairy free/gluten free/vegan
INGREDIENTS:
CRUST:
½ C raw almonds
½ C raw cashews
¼ C unsweetened coconut flakes
2 medjool dates
2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
Pint or two of salt
FILLING:
1 C canned pumpkin
1 C coconut milk*
2 T almond butter
1 tsp vanilla
8 or 9 dates – pitted and soaked
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
*For the coconut milk, you want to use the full fat, canned coconut milk. Use as much of the thick, white part as you can. Trader Joe’s has an extra thick can of coconut milk that works really well.
TO MAKE:
Remove the pits from the dates and soak them in a bowl of water while you prepare the crust.
Combine almonds and cashews in a food processor and blend until they are all chopped up. Add dates, coconut oil, coconut flakes, vanilla and salt and blend until it reaches a fine texture but stop blending before it turns into a paste.
Pour the crust mixture into a pie pan and use your fingers to press the mixture into the pan until packed tightly and evenly distributed.
Combine pumpkin, coconut milk, almond butter, vanilla, soaked dates and pumpkin pie spice in a blender and blend on high until all the dates are puréed and mixture is smooth.
Pour mixture onto the crust and smooth with a spatula or knife.
Refrigerate overnight to let it to set and thicken.
TO SERVE:
Top with whipped cream and enjoy!
Here is a great non-dairy whipped cream recipe.
[print_this]
NO BAKE PUMPKIN PIE
INGREDIENTS:
CRUST:
- ½ C raw almonds
- ½ C raw cashews
- ¼ C unsweetened coconut flakes
- 2 medjool dates
- 2 tsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Pint or two of salt
FILLING:
- 1 C canned pumpkin
- 1 C coconut milk*
- 2 T almond butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 8 or 9 dates – pitted and soaked
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
*For the coconut milk, you want to use the full fat, canned coconut milk. Use as much of the thick, white part as you can. Trader Joe’s has an extra thick can of coconut milk that works really well.
TO MAKE:
Remove the pits from the dates and soak them in a bowl of water while you prepare the crust.
Combine almonds and cashews in a food processor and blend until they are all chopped up. Add dates, coconut oil, coconut flakes, vanilla and salt and blend until it reaches a fine texture but stop blending before it turns into a paste.
Pour the crust mixture into a pie pan and use your fingers to press the mixture into the pan until packed tightly and evenly distributed.
Combine pumpkin, coconut milk, almond butter, vanilla, soaked dates and pumpkin pie spice in a blender and blend on high until all the dates are puréed and mixture is smooth.
Pour mixture onto the crust and smooth with a spatula or knife.
Refrigerate overnight to let it to set and thicken.
TO SERVE:
Top with whipped cream and enjoy!
Here is a great non-dairy whipped cream recipe.
[/print_this]
[print_this]
MAPLE APPLE CRISP
INGREDIENTS:
- 5 heaping cups granny smith apples (4-5 apples), pealed and chopped into small chunks or slices
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1 T real vanilla
- ¼ C real maple syrup
- 1 T cinnamon
- ¾ C oat flour (whole wheat flour works too but I think the oat flour makes it moister and tastier)
- ¾ C slow cooking oats
- 1 C organic brown sugar
- 5 T Earth Balance butter (or real butter)
TO MAKE:
Mix apples, lemon juice, vanilla, maple syrup, and cinnamon all together and place in a medium or large baking pan.
Combine flour, oats, brown sugar and butter using a pastry knife or fork until butter is in small chunks and ingredients are combined.
Pour topping over apple mixture and bake at 350 for about 50 min. Check it at that point and see if the top is starting to brown and apples are very soft, it may need a bit more time.
*The key is cooking it long enough for everything to get soft enough to melt in your mouth!
TO SERVE:
Enjoy with vanilla ice cream, coconut milk ice cream or pumpkin ice cream!
OTHER VARIATIONS:
- You can use a pie crust (I think the store bought ones are the best!) on the bottom and then follow the same instructions if you want it to be more pie like
- It is also delicious with real caramel syrup drizzled on top!
[/print_this]
“Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life.
Isaiah 53:3
Dear friends,
I leave tomorrow for Sunriver, a retreat area in the mountains of central Oregon. There I will open my heart to a group of women who are longing to hear God better and clearer and more intimately.
I’ve packed and prepared, studied long hours and written more notes than I should have in preparation for this weekend.
Yet, still, I am afraid.
Afraid of failure. Afraid to let them in. Afraid of being boring, of talking too long, of talking at all!
I am, after all, a raging introvert. Content to love from far away, to sit curled in my chair by the window and think away my days…
This standing in front and talking is just plain painful for one such as I, a peeling away of protection.
And yet I go because God has given me a story. And though the story is about me, it’s not mine.
He wrote this tale of rescue and redemption.
He has taught me to hear, to love His words, to crave His presence.
And so I go with His words in my ears.
I’ll stutter and stumble and try to tell these hungry women how He has met me in the silence and spoken words of healing and hope to my brokenness.
Will you pray for me?
I just cannot prepare enough to do this well. I need God to do what He is so faithful to do and yet facing the fears, my faith wavers.
What if He doesn’t? What if it’s just me up there, all alone? What if I choke? What if I bore them all to sleep?
Can you hear my fear?
And so this morning, I felt the Father nudging me to ask you, my fellow God-followers, to hold me before the throne for the next few days.
My own faith is pitifully small when it comes to fear-filled things.
Will you follow me up the mountain in prayer?
Will you ask the Father to show Himself strong to me?
In me?
Through me?
And even more, will you ask Him to speak to these beautiful women who are giving a weekend to learn to listen to Him?
Will you ask Him to send them home filled with Himself?
Thank-you!
I feel better already, as if the Father is smiling as He senses all your laughter at me- the laughter of women who know and care and love so well.
From my heart,
Diane
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord,
who has strengthened me,
because He considered me faithful,
putting me into service.
I Timothy 1:12
NASB
Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
I Corinthians 4:2
NIV
I sat on the edge of an alpine lake, course sand clinging sticky between bare toes. Golden granite sand, worn away from huge island boulders flung thousands of years ago from a mountain eruption miles away.
I’d been here in winter too, when the lake freezes deep and snow reaches high into the branches of Ponderosa pines and the highway closes and the only way in is by snowshoe or skis.
It seems unchanging, this refuge place. The same islands where John Mark yodeled Tarzan calls as he and his cousins leaped from granite cliffs, plunging into cold, clear, snow fed waters. Freezing my mother-heart with fears and what-if’s and unheeded pleadings to be careful!
How many times have I sunburned my skin as I lay on these rocks? Screeched when my kids snuck from behind to spray my dozing self with icy water? Collected pinecones to fill baskets for Christmas decorating?
I came here young, with babies and toddlers and return now, with wrinkles rimming my eyes and grandkids splashing the same water.
And always the lake stays the same.
Or does it?
This sand at my feet is not the same sand I stood on twenty years ago. New sand refreshes the shores every year. Boulders freeze, brittle pieces slough into the lake, waves lap relentlessly, over and over and over, again and again.
And God sees all that change.
Microscopic, miniscule, unmeasureable change.
One tiny grain at a time. These mild lake waves never stop, not even for a day. Nary a holiday, nor a day off, not so much as a pause. Never.
Lap, lap, lap.
I think that’s what it means to be faithful.
It means to show up every day. Every single day. To keep doing what I am called to do even when I can’t see a difference, can’t measure progress. When everything looks exactly the same.
Being faithful means I believe God. That I have discovered His bigness, that I have surrendered my story into His. It means setting myself aside because I believe He’s a better planner for me than I am. He knows what He is hoping to do with me, with my life, with my everydays.
Before I leave this listening place I’ll scoop some of this God-made sand to bring home with me. To run my fingers through when my faithfulness falters.
To remind me to keep lapping.
To be faithful.
From my heart,
Diane
…God meant it for good
in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.
Genesis 50:20
I am struck this morning by Joseph’s story[1] and wondering what it means for me.
His father had indulged in a lifetime of self-pity, using phrases like, “Everything is going against me!” (Genesis 42:36) to elicit sympathy and to manipulate his sons.
And yet Joseph never complains. Never.
Not even when at the age of 17 he finds himself a slave in a foreign land. Nor is a grumble of despair heard from him when, a few years later, he is falsely accused of attempted rape and tossed without trial into prison.
For thirteen long years Joseph was a slave and a prisoner. In those supposedly “best years of life” Joseph was in the worst possible circumstances.
And here I am in the best possible circumstances… complaining!
Why is that?
Well, to be honest, I think its because I do not believe, deep down where it counts, that God is taking care of me.
I mean I know He is, but that knowing gets lost somewhere in that 18 inch space between my brain and my heart and…
I am not convinced that in this moment God is taking care of me.
And that is because I have swallowed a lie.
Just as Eve was tempted to take a bite, I have willingly crunched and munched and fully digested that slippery, satanic idea that when not-so-good things happen to me, God is not taking care of me very well.
And yet…
Look at Joseph’s story. Can there be any doubt that in those dark days, God was at work? That He was purposely using every single circumstance to train Joseph for a position that enabled him to save vast numbers of people from annihilation through starvation?
Do I really believe that He’ll do the same for me? That He’ll use every uncomfortable and inconvenient moment of my every days to train me for a task which I cannot foresee?
Because if I really believe that, right down where it counts, then there is really no room for complaining.
At all.
And that truth just might change the way I think today…
From my heart,
Diane
[1] Genesis 37-50
Strength and dignityare her clothing, and she smiles at the future. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
Proverbs 31:25 NASB
Dear son,
Last week I wrote about four common flaws every woman leans towards when she relies on herself rather than on her Father in the realities of relationships.
These are ways of getting our way.
And I know this because I am a woman and I have utilized every one of these methods to try to get what I want. And it’s not pretty, I know. I’d much rather pretend it isn’t so and talk about beauty and helping and all those wonderful things a woman brings into a man’s life.
But I love you too much for that. And I see a certain naiveté that worries me sometimes. And maybe all men are that way, innocent to the way women are and the way women can be. And so today I want to tell you about another kind of woman: The Shamer.
The Shamer:
Women are idealists. Dreamers. Happily-ever-after believers. Inside these active brains of ours, we plan and project and imagine. And in the process of all that story writing, we create a value system that we believe is absolutely right and good. A way things ought to be.
And mostly that’s good.
But sometimes, when a woman marries a man with somewhat different values, instead of accepting or even embracing that different set of values, the woman works to change the man.
She believes that she is right. And he is wrong. Very wrong.
Let me give you an example I watched unfold:
A woman I know held firmly to a strong work ethic. She had goals and ambitions and dreams about a financially secure future and successful kids and a perfectly ordered life. This woman threw herself all-in to this ideal dream, willing to work hard to make it happen.
But her husband had different values. He had ideas about a bohemian lifestyle, of following Jesus here and there and wherever. Savings and future and success were nowhere on his radar screen. He wanted to see the world and stay in youth hostels and pick up a little work here and there.
Both of these people were right.
Good ideas, admirable values.
Over time a deep animosity developed between these two wonderful people. The women grew bitter about her “lazy husband” with no ambition and few goals. The husband grew resentful of a wife who always seemed to push too much and to want too much and could never just relax and enjoy the moment.
And over time, this woman got tired of pushing her husband where he didn’t want to go.
So she began to subtly shame him.
At the root of her shaming were two things: a lack of respect and a determination to have her way.
Did she love him? Yes.
Did she respect him? No.
And so, my son, I want you to know what this shaming method looks like in a woman.
- A shaming woman is always right.
- A shaming woman is often deeply spiritual, drawing ideals from teachings she has heard and seminars she has attended and books she has read and people she admires.
- A shaming woman lives what she believes and expects her husband to live what she believes as well.
- A shaming woman is quick with “ought-to’s”.
- A shaming woman starts by prodding a man along.
- A shaming woman draws others into her circle of idealists, using words like “everybody” or “most people” to add weight to her arguments.
- A shaming woman jabs subtly in public.
- A shaming woman sets up a man for failure so she can say, “I told you so.”
- A shaming woman withholds praise and admiration.
Just writing these words makes me shudder, Matthew. No mother wants this for her son. And yet here I am, recognizing some of these very ugliness’s in myself.
I want better for my son, I want better for my husband.
There is no perfect woman. But if a woman will be honest enough to allow the Spirit of God to convict her of wrong doing and wrong thinking and wrong speaking, and if she will then be brave enough to confess her wrong, humbly and without excuse— that is a truly godly woman. Not perfect. But a woman after God’s own heart. One worth pursuing and loving, one who is safe to bring close to your heart.
And so Matt, three questions to ask yourself while you are getting to know her:
- Does she speak openly and comfortably about her own imperfections?
- Do your values match up? I’m not talking just about the really huge things here like integrity and purity. I mean the everyday values we all have... How we wish to live our lives and what we hope to have in our future.
- Is she generous with her admiration and words of affirmation to you?
I love you, Matt. I am so proud of the man you are and stand on tippy toes of anticipation to see the man you will be. Hold out for a woman who sees you as you really are and is delighted with the direction you are choosing for your life.
From my heart,
Mom
Come to me,
all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,
and
I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you.
Let Me teach you…
Matthew 11:28,29
NLT
#1 “BUT I WOULD FEED YOU WITH THE FINEST OF THE WHEAT; AND WITH HONEY FROM THE ROCK I WOULD SATISFY YOU.” PSALM 81:16 NASB
#2
Proverbs 2:1-11
Psalm 22:25-31
Psalm 19
Matthew 6:19-34
Psalm 81:16
#3
More Than One Way
It was Mark Twain who wrote, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” And though cat skinning is not on my agenda for today (or any day for that matter), I do believe I understand what he meant.
When obstacles loom large and trying harder doesn’t work, get creative.
Are you finding it impossible to carve out an hour of Bible study with an infant in your arms and a toddler at your feet? You can use these years instead to memorize Scripture, to store up great treasures of wisdom for the years ahead.
It doesn’t take much: a 3x5 card propped on the windowsill by the sink, or clipped to the side of the mirror where you do your make-up, or sitting beside the chair where you rock your babies. You’ll be surprised by how natural it becomes to slip Scripture into your memory as you carry out the mindless tasks that so fill a hurried mother’s day.
And you’ll be even more surprised by how much you’ll rely on those snippets of Scripture when that baby is twelve and the toddler sixteen.
No one told me (or maybe they did and I wasn’t listening) how much I would need specific wisdom when my kids got older. My tidy world of black and white turned impossibly blurry when faced with the myriad judgment calls a mother of teenagers must make.
Should she or shouldn’t she? When is make-up appropriate? What about dances? Dating? Should she climb in the car with that guy? Am I being too strict? Too suspicious? Too naïve? Is it time to let go, or do I need to hold the line a little longer?
You’ll need great gobs of wisdom and discernment and understanding and insight, all of those delectable treasures promised to those who take the time to tuck Scripture into the recesses of their minds.
It’s harder than you think; it’s harder than I thought, and wisdom is just what you’ll need.
From my heart,
Diane
Etc.
Famine in the Land
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities: His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood by what has been made…” Romans 1:20 (NIV)
The Old Testment is brimming with shadows of Kingdom truths illustrated by the natural world. The skies declare God’s glory (Psalm 19:1), water portrays His Spirit (Isaiah 44:3), the rocks affirm God’s strength (Psalm 18:1, 2), and the mountains proclaim His might (Psalm 65:6). Grass shows the transcendence of life (Psalm 90:5), storms symbolize life’s difficult times (Job 30:22), and the sunrise calls forth songs of joy (Psalm 65:8).
But some Kingdom truths are harder to swallow than others. Just as periods of peace remind us of God’s goodness, periods of famine throughout the Bible give us a taste of true hunger: hunger that results from a people, or a nation, or an individual’s turning away from God.
God gives a warning to His chosen people about the dire consequences of disobedience in Deuteronomy 28, one of the worst of which is famine: “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies…in hunger, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things…” (vs. 47, 48).
Though Israel’s famine may have been directly linked to drought, or crop failure, or the devastation of the land by their enemies, her lack was always a result of not trusting and following God in obedience.
In the same way, we are warned in Leviticus 26:14-15, “Disobedience causes your soul to suffer.” Even with our plethora of grocery stores, restaurants, and fast food, famine of the soul runs rampant. Just look. Some of the “famine shadows” in the Old Testament include:
Disease (Jeremiah 14:18).
Destroying one’s children (Deuteronomy 28:47-57).
Captivity or bondage (Jeremiah 15:2).
Exile or alienation (Ezekiel 5:12).
Nakedness, shame (Deuteronomy 28:47).
Earthquakes, upheaval (Matthew 24:7).
An inability to hear the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11).1
Historically, God used famine to bring His people back to Himself. Abraham experienced famine (Genesis 12:10), as did Jacob (Genesis 26:1), and Joseph (Genesis 41-50). And through it all, God drew these men into a relationship with Himself by building up their faith through His provision and His sovereignty in their lives.
“I am the Bread of Life,
he who comes to Me will never be hungry
and he who believes on
and cleaves to
and trusts in
and relies on Me
will never thirst
any moreat
any time.”
John 6:35
(Amplified Bible)
THANKSGIVING MENU WEEK ONE: There is kind of a Thanksgiving code… a way most of us do Thanksgiving.
Eat whatever you want.
Eat as much as you want.
Take a nap.
Eat dessert.
We all know that we Americans go a little (or a lot) overboard when it comes to our food intake on this glorious holiday.
In fact, we even have articles and websites devoted to “stretching your stomach to accommodate more food” and “how to overcome the post-meal bloat”.
I am all for enjoying amazing food and eating to your hearts content on Thanksgiving day… but how many of us love the leftovers even more than the meal itself?
If you are anything like my family, the Thanksgiving meal is enjoyed for several consecutive days!
So, you do the math. If we make a bunch of not-so-great for you dishes for Thanksgiving, we will most likely be filling our bodies with those ingredients for several days to follow… not just one meal.
What if we could indulge in delicious food on Thanksgiving and use real and fresh ingredients that will fuel your body of the days to come instead of inducing a weeklong food coma?
I’m not talking about eating Tofurky and boiled carrots. I’m talking about mouthwatering, delicious, flavor-packed and nutrient rich foods.
For the next few weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I will be sharing some recipes I’ve been working on for our Thanksgiving meal this year as well as some favorites from years past and from some of my favorite food blogs.
I’d love to hear what you have planned as well! Feel free to ask questions and share ideas with all of us!
ENJOY!
Elizabeth
PS: at the bottom of this post you will also find my mom's recipe she uses every year to brine her turkey. It is the best turkey there is!
BALSAMIC ROASTED GREEN BEANS + MAPLE SAGE CASHEWS
Serves 10-12
MAPLE SAGE CASHEWS:
INGREDIENTS:
¼ C maple syrup
1 T earth balance butter (or real butter)
2 tsp finely chopped sage (lightly packed)
½ t sea salt
1/8 t cayenne pepper (more if you want a little more kick)
1 ¼ C raw cashews
TO MAKE:
Preheat oven to 375F.
In a small saucepan, heat syrup and butter on low until the butter is melted. Add chopped sage, sea salt and cayenne pepper. Stir well.
Remove from heat and stir in cashews. Coat evenly.
*there will be a little bit of excess liquid but it will absorb into the cashews when baked.
Spread cashew mixture over parchment paper on a baking sheet.
Bake for 25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Stirring is important so they don’t burn!
Let them cool completely before removing from the baking sheet.
*you may have to break them apart a little if they stick together after they cool.
BALSAMIC ROASTED GREEN BEANS:
INGREDIENTS:
8 C fresh or frozen green beans (about two pounds)
1 T olive oil
3 T balsamic vinegar
1 T maple syrup
1 T minced garlic
3/4 t sea salt
1/3 C dried cranberries
TO MAKE:
Preheat oven to 400F
Stir together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic and salt.
Cover two baking sheets with foil and spread the green beans each sheet evenly.
*I used the organic frozen green beans from Costco but I would try fresh green beans next time for a crisper texture. Either one works great though!
Drizzle the balsamic mixture over each baking tray and stir well until the beans are evenly coated.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until the edges of the green beans get a little brown.
TO SERVE:
Spread green beans on a large plate or tray and sprinkle the maple sage cashews and dried cranberries over the top.
ENJOY!
[print_this]
BALSAMIC ROASTED GREEN BEANS + MAPLE SAGE CASHEWS
Serves 8 - 10
MAPLE SAGE CASHEWS:
INGREDIENTS:
- ¼ C maple syrup
- 1 T earth balance butter (or real butter)
- 2 tsp finely chopped sage (lightly packed)
- ½ t sea salt
- 1/8 t cayenne pepper (more if you want a little more kick)
- 1 ¼ C raw cashews
TO MAKE:
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- In a small saucepan, heat syrup and butter on low until the butter is melted. Add chopped sage, sea salt and cayenne pepper. Stir well.
- Remove from heat and stir in cashews. Coat evenly.
- *there will be a little bit of excess liquid but it will absorb into the cashews when baked.
- Spread cashew mixture over parchment paper on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Stirring is important so they don’t burn!
- Let them cool completely before removing from the baking sheet.
- *you may have to break them apart a little if they stick together after they cool.
BALSAMIC ROASTED GREEN BEANS:
INGREDIENTS:
- 8 C fresh or frozen green beans (about two pounds
- 1 T olive oil
- 3 T C balsamic vinegar
- 1 T maple syrup
- 1 T minced garlic
- 3/4 t sea salt
- 1/3 C dried cranberries
TO MAKE:
- Preheat oven to 400F
- Stir together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic and salt.
- Cover two baking sheets with foil and spread the green beans each sheet evenly.
- *I used the organic frozen green beans but I would try fresh green beans next time for a crisper texture. Either one works great though!
- Drizzle the balsamic mixture over each baking tray and stir well until the beans are evenly coated.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until the edges of the green beans get a little brown.
TO SERVE:
Spread green beans on a large plate or tray and sprinkle the maple sage cashews and dried cranberries over the top.
ENJOY!
[/print_this]
[print_this]
DIANE'S TURKEY BRINE:
- 16 quarts water
- 1 ½ c kosher salt
- 1 ½ c pure maple syrup
- 4 T black peppercorns
- 16 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 lemons, thinly sliced
To prepare the brine, combine all ingredients in a large stockpot, stirring until the salt dissolves.
To prepare the turkey, remove giblets and neck from the turkey. Rinse turkey with cold water; pat dry, trim excess fat.
To brine the turkey, I place it in a plastic garbage sack, which I then put in a large ice chest. Then I carefully pour the brine over the turkey until it is well covered. Tie it up tight and the leakage is minimal. Surround the bag with ice and close it up.
If you have a large enough pot, it would be easier to put the whole thing in the fridge to brine. But who has a pot big enough for a 24-pound turkey?
Allow at least 24 hours for the turkey to soak in the brine.
On Thanksgiving morning, remove the turkey from the brine; pat dry. Starting at the neck cavity, loosen the skin from breast and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat. Rub thyme mixture under loosened skin, sprinkle inside body cavity.
At this point, I put some of my sausage stuffing into the cavities of the turkey. The stuffing will be somewhat sweet. Do not over fill the cavity. I put the rest of my stuffing into the crock-pot and add plenty of broth so it doesn’t dry out.
Roast the turkey as per directions on the wrapping. After about an hour, start to baste it with the cola/syrup mixture every so often.
I love to use the drippings to make gravy with- but its sweet, so I also usually buy good gravy at Trader Joe’s for those who prefer a more traditional gravy on their turkey and mashed potatoes.
That’s it! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
SPICE RUB:
- 4 T minced fresh thyme
- 2 T dried rubbed sage
- 2 T poultry seasoning
- 1 t black pepper
- 8 garlic cloves, chopped
- 4 onions, quartered (I use red onions mostly because they turn a burgundy color)
COLA SYRUP
- 2 C cola (not sugar free! I use the stuff from Trader Joe’s, as it’s not so full of unpronounceable additives)
- 1 C pure maple syrup
Boil cola and syrup in a small saucepan for one minute or so until it thickens up a bit.
[/print_this]
This Saturday, November 3rd, the women of Solid Rock are going to gather together to hear the message on the heart of a young woman I greatly admire. After a lovely light breakfast, I’ll be introducing you to Joy Eggerichs, who leads a ministry called Love and Respect NOW.
With humor and stories and life applications, she delves into the Scriptures in order to illuminate that hard-to-see path through the messiness of real life relationships.
You are not going to want to miss this!
Bring your best friend, your sister, you mom, your teenage daughter.
Let’s learn and laugh and figure out how to do this, girls!
I’ll be there in the front row with my notebook ready to catch all the wisdom I can.
Won’t you join me?
From my heart,
Diane
HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
WHEN: Saturday, November 3rd, 2012
TIME: 9AM - 11AM
WHERE: SR Westside, video venue
COST: $5 at the door
*no childcare provided
I knew Ally (Spots) Vesterfelt when she was just a gangly little girl who played Barbies and house and horses with my daughter, Rebekah. She comes from a home rich with wisdom and overflowing with love and she’s grown into a woman of beauty all the way through.
Last week I saw this post on her blog and I knew I needed to show it to you..
I want you to be encouraged, dear women who read this. I want you to see that God brings together broken people and makes something wondrous out of the messy process of becoming one.
Sometimes the truth is sharp and we get poked by what we wish wasn’t true about ourselves. But God’s way is never to hide or pretend. Instead, Jesus audaciously argued that the truth will set us free!
And so, my dear sons and daughters, read carefully. There is truth here that will free you for all the beauty God has designed for you to relish.
From my heart,
Diane
WHY I ALMOST DIDN'T GET MARRIED: by allison vesterfelt
It was a Monday afternoon — "Black Monday" as we would refer to it later, half joking, half still stinging from the pain of it all — that I told my husband I was sorry, but I couldn't marry him.
This is the part of the story we don't like to tell.
We had argued. Over something dumb, but it always starts with something dumb, doesn't it? Before we knew it, it had escalated from "something dumb" to cheap shots we were taking at each other, making sure no one person walked away feeling more pain than the other. We drudged up all the good stuff. All the insecurities, all the history, all the previous grievances and baggage. No stone left unturned. No rules. Just ammunition.
And at the end of it all, I just said it. I can't marry you.
It wasn't a threat. It wasn't more ammunition. It was real, genuine concern for what loomed ahead of us the next few weeks, months, years. Our lifetime. It was fear rising up, like last night's spicy dinner in the back of my throat. Fear that we had misread the signals, that I had mis-stepped somewhere along the way, fear that, if I didn't hit the breaks, we would spend a lifetime like this.
Fighting. Hating. Taking swings at the person we loved most.
"I give up." I told him.
These were the words coming out of my mouth, but the thoughts racing through my mind were about the hundreds of invitations that had already been delivered to people all over the country. They were about the dress, made from expensive fabric, that had already been measured to suit my body perfectly. They were about my parents, and his parents, and each of our siblings.
We hadn't "tied the knot" yet, but our lives were already knotted together, intertwined with memories and loved ones and shared relationships and experiences. If we called it quits now, there would be so much unraveling to do.
In my mind, I was untying all of the knots.
I was peddling backwards, mentally undoing all that had been done.
He wasn't. He was moving toward me. His expression softened. He reached for my hands. He looked in my eyes. "I'm really sorry," he said. "I was being really selfish. We can work this out," he promised. Gently, he grabbed my face in his hands and, as tears streamed down my cheeks, he said,
"Will you please trust me?"
I did. I trusted him enough to go to dinner with him that night, where we sat for hours and talked about what had happened, why we had fought the way that we had, and how we would prevent a fight like that from ever happening again. I trusted him each time he moved forward in humility, enough to follow suit. I apologizing the way he had, offered forgiveness the way he had, softened my expression the way he was, confessed my insecurity, just like him.
Less than a month later, we stood at the altar and said "I do," and each breathed a sigh of relief because we had made it.
We were married.
What I didn't know, or at least didn't think about, was that Black Monday wasn't the last time we would fight. Not even close. It wasn't the last time we would drudge up old baggage and hit each other below the belt. It wasn't the last time we would, almost unknowingly, try untying emotional and physical knots that bound us so securely, beautifully and painfully together.
It wasn't the last time we would try to protect ourselves before the other.
In fact, it was more the first time than the last.
It was the first time we would choose to stick it out, even when it didn't feel good. It was the first time we would trust each other enough to humble ourselves in the heat of a moment. It was the first time we would apologize, trusting that if one of us went first, the other would soon follow — or that if they didn't, it was because they were hurting, not because they were mean.
It was the first time we would give the other space to be imperfect.
Our first chance to practice the art of grace.
Each time we do it we get better, the way an infant learns to walk, first scooting, then crawling, then pulling himself up on the corners of coffee tables. Sometimes he falls, and he hits his face on the edge of the table. When that happens, he cries, because it hurts. But a few minutes later he gets up and tries again, because, well, this is the only way.
It's the only way to discover all this big, beautiful world has to offer.
"I can't promise you that we won't fight," my husband told me that night at dinner.
"I can't promise you that I won't mess up, or that I won't hurt you, or that I won't do something to make you really angry. In fact I can promise you that I will do those things. What I can promise you is that you can trust me. I pick you. I won't ever give up on you."
And we've been learning to walk ever since.
Allison Vesterfelt
Writer, Blogger
(Allison is a writer and thinker who is becoming brave enough to live and tell the truth. She loves her job as the Editor-in-Chief of Prodigal Magazine, where she gets to help people live and tell good stories. She has one foot in Portland, OR, and one in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her forthcoming book, Packing Light is due to release in September 2013. She also loves being married to her husband Darrell.)
Once Upon a Time: Ruth 1:1-5
Like a riveting drama, the book of Ruth opens upon a scene of conflict and confusion. A family journeys away from their home and identity in search of an illusion of security. Troubled times in the land of their birth, prompt them to seek their fortunes elsewhere. Away from their extended family and far from their God, they sojourn, then they enter, and they remain with a people who worship the violent, irrational god called Chemosh.
Chaos ensues.
First, the father dies, leaving Naomi with her two sons to fend for herself. The sons marry and sink their roots deeper into the culture of Moab, a country whose practices are anathema to everything they were raised to believe. After a decade of adapting to their adopted land, both sons suddenly die, leaving three widows in their wake.
The scene is set in just a few short sentences. No grand display of emotion, no weeping and wailing, not even a haunting dirge playing in the background. Just the facts. But those facts are staggering, their implications posing impossible odds for Naomi. She scrambles to undo the irreversible harm done ten years previously, when, against all wisdom, her husband led their family away from their land, Israel, and away from their God, Yahweh.
In the weeks ahead, we’ll be delving deeper into the drama of our own lives. How do you handle adversity? What do you do when your heart aches for satisfaction? When emotional or relational famine leaves you high and dry?
The answer, of course, is to plant your heart firmly beside what Psalm 1 describes as “streams of water” the Word of God. There, we thrive and flourish no matter what the circumstances of our story dictate.
#1:
“… CRAVE PURE SPIRITUAL MILK SO THAT BY IT YOU MAY GROW UP IN YOUR SALVATION.”
I PETER 2:2B NIV
#2:
Ruth 1:1-5
Matthew 4:23-5:6
1 Peter 1:25-2:3
Hebrews 5:14-6:12
Isaiah 55
#3:
Are You Hungry?
Have you ever been on a diet? How about those liquid-only ones? The instructions sound so convincing: “Just drink these lovely drinks which will fill you up, imparting loads of energy without the dreaded calories of real food. You’ll be svelte and slim in no time.”
Give me a break!
Not that I haven’t tried it, mind you. It’s just that I haven’t succeeded. I do okay for a day. In fact, I feel rather proud of myself, energized and motivated to finally “do it this time.” But by day two I start fixating on food. The slightest whiff of toast in the morning makes me crave a luscious, crispy, jam-laden hunk of life-giving bread. You get the picture.
No, starvation diets don’t work because the hungrier you are, the more you start to earnestly long for food to fill your empty belly.
Hunger is real. And if left unattended, it can weaken you. Elimelech looked on in anguish as his family suffered the agonizing effects of genuine hunger. Naomi lost weight, not because she wanted to fit into tight jeans, but because she hadn’t enough to eat. His boys failed to thrive, whining for more when their bowls were empty. As he watched their cupboards empty and faced the prospect of weeks and months of subsistence living, Elimelech came to the conclusion that he must act now to satisfy his desperate need for food. He must solve the hunger problem.
Elimelech is not the only one. You and I try to solve our own hunger problem whether we know it or not. In fact, some of us get to the very end of our lives before we realize that the messes we have caused along the way were actually the consequences of an undernourished life.
Let me explain.
Way back in Deuteronomy, when God is laying out His instructions for His people in order that “it might be well with them and their sons forever” (Deuteronomy 5:29), He makes a curious claim about hunger:
“…He humbled you and let you be hungry,
and fed you with manna
which you did not know,
that He might make you understand that
man does not live by bread alone,
but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.”
(Deuteronomy 8:3)
Or, as the New Living Translation so poetically puts it:
“…He did it to teach you that people need more than bread for their life;
real life comes by feeding on every word of the LORD.”
God caused their hunger. He didn’t just allow it. It didn’t slip by Him without notice. He let them feel the full force of the pain of their own hunger for a purpose: in order to teach His chosen, beloved people that “real life comes by feeding on every word of the LORD”.
So I ask you - “Are you hungry?” Have you experienced real, starvation-induced heart hunger? And, have you yet discovered the satisfaction that comes from truly feasting on His every word?
Just as your body can become gaunt from not enough good food, so your soul will show symptoms when you are languishing. And just as I’ve experienced all sorts of self-induced hunger on an ever-elusive quest for leanness, I know all too well those signs of soul hunger. Do you have any of these symptoms?
In the area of relationships…
- Are you a control freak? Do you wonder why others are getting in the way of what you want, why they don’t do what you want, or why they don’t understand what you want?
- Are you growing contentious? Aggravated when “nobody can’t do nothin’ right!”
- Is conflict making you feel that “everybody-is-against-me-nobody-loves-me-woe-is-me!”
- Is competitiveness driving you to need to be better than everyone else?
In your hidden heart…
Are you disappointed that life and dreams and relationships haven’t brought the happiness you were so sure they would when you started out?
Are you depressed that there is no hope for improvement, no new dreams to inspire, nothing to get you up in the morning?
Are you sensing despair? (And don’t think for a minute that Christians never experience this!) King David asked himself this very question, “Why are you in despair, O my soul?”
And have you, like Elimelech tried to find solutions for your starvation symptoms? Have you tried to alleviate those hunger pangs by bingeing on what the Bible metaphorically calls the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life?”
Have you found yourself buying a new outfit to make you feel better about yourself, clawing your way up the corporate ladder to prove yourself, striving to create the perfect home in order to paint a perfect picture of yourself? Maybe even flirting with men to bring attention to yourself?
And how far has it led?
How much debt has it caused you? How much alienation and exhaustion? What about shame?
All of these, and more, are simply signs that you are hungry. You are not getting enough food. Or you’re pigging out on the wrong kinds of food. You’ve been dieting too long, buying into the notion that “Devotions in One Minute a Day” will satisfy your soul. And it doesn’t. Just as food-less dieting doesn’t work, Word-less living leaves you and me weak and vulnerable.
So, this week, I prescribe real food. Go and gather that Manna, that Bread of Life which can be “ground and beat and boiled and made into cakes” (look it up in Numbers 11). Get up a little earlier, get your “cooking utensils” out the night before, and be ready for a feast…and an end to hunger.
From my heart,
Diane
ETC.
The Famine
The story of Ruth happened during a time of severe and significant famine. We’re not talking an economic downturn here. It was a national meltdown. Think widespread poverty and complete panic. The Great Depression of BC 1200.
It is widely believed that this story transpired sometime before Gideon became judge over Israel, (though no one knows for certain). In Gideon’s time, a famine occurred which was more a political than an agricultural disaster. Crop conditions were excellent, the fields filled with the rich produce of the region. Everyone anticipated a good year. But just as harvest day dawned, a swarming army of nomadic raiders (the Bedouins from the desert region of Midian) invaded Israel, stealing the crops, the sheep, the oxen, and even their donkeys. A full years’ work devastated in one fell swoop.
These Bedouin nomads did not want to destroy the Israelites, nor did they attempt to take over their land. The camel-riding Midianites simply swooped in like locusts and emptied their cupboards, leaving the land and the people poor and destitute, with just enough supplies to survive to plant next year’s crop. And all of this went on for seven years!
No wonder Gideon, Elimelech, and quite possibly every man, woman, and child in Israel were desperately looking for relief.
Crisp orange leaves that crunch beneath your feet. Bins overflowing with pumpkins and squash outside every grocery store.
Apple cider, apple pie, homemade applesauce.
That’s right, FALL IS HERE!
(you know you are a true Oregonian when the first rainy day of the season feels like Christmas morning... sometimes I forget that I'm actually a Californian)
I’m am so excited to be back cooking with you and ready to share some new fall recipes that have been making it to our table these past few weeks.
A few things to note before we get cooking… and eating…
- If you are curious what this page is all about, click at the top of the page where it says “learn more about The Kitchen”.
- In these weekly posts you can count on finding plant based meals that are pretty easy to make and use all real and fresh ingredients. I am passionate about sharing recipes that satisfy your taste buds AND benefit the body God has given you.
- You should be warned butternut squash is now in season and I’m slightly obsessed. I will try not to bombard you with too much of it but I make no promises.
- All of the warm comfort foods and baked goodness we love to enjoy on cold rainy days can be made with real ingredients and actually be good for you! I will do my best to recreate some of those “comfort” foods and be sure to pack them with fresh and healthy ingredients.
- I would love to hear from you! Please leave comments and feel free to ask questions. It fuels me to keep creating when I am in conversation with you!
ENJOY!
Elizabeth
PUMPKIN SPICE GRANOLA
INGREDIENTS:
4 C oats (slow cooking)
1 C chopped pecans
1 T pumpkin pie spice
¼ t salt
½ C canned pumpkin
¼ C real maple syrup
¼ C honey
¼ C coconut oil
1 C raisins or dried cranberries
TO MAKE:
Preheat oven to 300F.
In a large bowl combine oats, pecans, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a bowl and stir well.
In a smaller bowl combine pumpkin, maple syrup, honey and coconut oil and whisk all together. It’s ok if there are small clumps of coconut oil after you have mixed it all up.
Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir well. Make sure that you evenly coat the oat mixture.
Divide into two baking sheets and spread it out so that you have a thin layer on each sheet.
Bake for about 45 minutes total, stirring half way through. You want the granola to get brown and crispy.
Allow it to cool completely, then mix in the raisins.
TO SERVE:
We love it with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. It is also delicious with fresh fruit on top.
ENJOY!
[print_this]
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 C oats (slow cooking)
- 1 C chopped pecans
- 1 T pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ t salt
- ½ C canned pumpkin
- ¼ C real maple syrup
- ¼ C honey
- ¼ C coconut oil
- 1 C raisins or dried cranberries
TO MAKE:
Preheat oven to 300F.
In a large bowl combine oats, pecans, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a bowl and stir well.
In a smaller bowl combine pumpkin, maple syrup, honey and coconut oil and whisk all together. It’s ok if there are small clumps of coconut oil after you have mixed it all up.
Bake for about 45 minutes total, stirring half way through. You want the granola to get brown and crispy.
Allow it to cool completely, then mix in the raisins.
TO SERVE:
We love it with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. It is also delicious with fresh fruit on top.
[/print_this]
I had one of those rare privileges this week of being in a group email conversation to a friend who is grieving deeply and honestly. “Listening” to my sistas pour love and wisdom on my friend gave me the strangest sense of safety.
When I’m hurting these women will be there for me.
Here’s a snippet of the conversation that has had me thinking all day:
“How much of it is can't vs. won't? I've found myself mulling it over about all my stubborn sin patterns.
How much of it have I assigned to myself as I can't do that when it really is a won't?
I'd challenge you to ask yourself that same question.
He can take your emotions. Your anger. Your grief. He just wants you to come and let Him be EVERYTHING that He is - He will be to you Prince of Peace, Comforter, Healer.”
Have you every said, I just can’t handle this! when life tripped something awful into your path? As if somehow our weakness is a good reason for all that pain to go away?
My friend’s words resonate somewhere deep in that hidden place where my will battles it out with my won’ts. And I go back to Paul’s struggle with that thing he didn’t want:
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, For Christ’s sake;
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10
From a glimpse of my heart,
Diane
For this is the love of God, That we keep His commandments; And His commandments are not burdensome.
I John 5:3
Yesterday I made my list.
1. Dust downstairs
2. Mop kitchen floor
3. Finish making jam
On and on the list droned the delight right out of my day.
Yet still, I had my list and it needed doing and so I did.
That’s when I saw the little Mobile Man standing at the door of my barn church.
Which started a quiet chuckle… then a laugh…which led to a full blown I love life moment as I imagined Jude or Duke or Mo or maybe it was Sunday, setting that little man there with a whole story to go with him.
And do you know what? That little man changed my whole day.
Children don’t work through lists.
They play—all day long.
And didn’t Jesus gather those play-planning kids into His lap and with twinkling eyes tell His goal-oriented, stress-driven disciples to be just like these little players?
“Like a child”, He said.
And so my list changed in that moment.
1. Dance through my beautiful, cozy home, swinging a dust rag as I do so it’s all shining tonight when we get to pray over John as he leaves for Zimbabwe…
2. Swish those sticky places and do a little jig of joy for all the meals prepared and people loved right over this floor…
3. Create beauty in a jar and imagine the moment of opening in mid-winter…
4. Discover… play all day!
I wonder if Jesus wasn’t thinking of me that day when He gathered those kids on His lap. Looking down through centuries, past history, at the stressed-out woman writing her list. Grim faced and determined to do it all.
“His commandments are not burdensome”, John said. So why am I so burdened?
Maybe because I need to be just like a child.
Maybe because He has other plans for this day.
Maybe because He wants me to play the day away…
From my heart,
Diane
In Acts 26 Paul is talking to a man who has shown very little interest in God, and yet there is this sense in the narrative that the man (King Agrippa) leans forward as Paul tells his story. He begins with a little background, then jumps right in to the best part:
One day…
a light from heaven brighter than the sun shown down on me and my companions. We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,
Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
It is hard for you to fight against my will.”
(Acts 26:12-14 NLT)
Out of nowhere came a flash of the brightest light he’d ever seen. It was so brilliant and so powerful he couldn’t help but fall to the ground in terror. He was so traumatized by the light he couldn’t see, and refused to eat or drink for three days. (see the whole story in Acts 9)
That’s one way to hear God.
Not exactly the most intimate and comfortable, I doubt Paul asked for more of the same. In fact, I’d surmise that Paul never fully lost his fear of God’s power after that encounter in the middle of the road to Damascus. If listening to God’s voice made him blind and unable to eat or drink for several days, he may have been just a bit gun shy about hoping to hear again.
But what strikes me in his retelling of his story is side note that the words God spoke to him were in Aramaic.
Not in Hebrew, the language of religion.
Not in Greek, the language of literature.
Just in the everyday language of Paul’s life.
Normal stuff.
And that is still how God speaks. In the everydayness of our lives.
Sometimes (but not very often) He speaks loud. Booming, attention getting commands. But those are once in a lifetime messages. A last resort to get our attention or save us from ourselves.
Usually He just speaks normal.
One morning just a little while ago, on a day we’d set aside for Sabbath rest, He spoke to me like this:
Di, don’t make this day about you. Be friendly— a fun, light hearted, laughing, encouraging companion to Phil. Lighten up! This is the day I have made—
ENJOY IT!
And my heart responded, Yes! I get it.
After too many hard to make decisions, my husband needed me to help him just have fun. And since fun is not exactly my middle name, God needed to speak those words to me lest I sabotage his rest by hijacking the day with more heavy stuff.
Simple, everyday Aramaic.
And so very wise and right.
All day long those words resonated in my mind. Over and over I made myself steer the conversation to fun, encouraging words. It felt as if God and I were in cahoots together to brighten Phil’s day.
We rode bikes around Sauvie Island, brought home heaps of fresh fruit and veggies, laughed and admired the beauty God was displaying that day just for us.
Are you learning to listen to those simple, everyday words He’s speaking to you? With your Bible open in your lap, your pen poised to write it down, what is He saying?
From my heart,
Diane
Strength and dignityare her clothing, and she smiles at the future. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
Proverbs 31:25 NASB
Dear son,
These words of advice from King Lemuel’s mother to her son hold a wealth of wisdom. She is painting a picture of a wife who “will not hinder him but help him all her life”. In fact, this kind of woman “will greatly enrich his life”. (Proverbs 31:10,11 NLT)
And that is what I want for you, Matthew— a wife who will greatly enrich and bring help and delight into your life.
But there are other kinds of women, dear son. Women who hinder. Women who bite. Women who cannot be depended upon because of hidden ugliness.
For the next few weeks I want to help you learn how to spot some of the subtle attitudes common in women who hurt rather than help their men.
And I know these things, dear son of mine, because I recognize them in me.
These uglinesses I am about to describe are common to every woman. But we each have choices to make— will I give in to my urge to control and manipulate and demand and punish, justifying my sin and blaming others? Or will I fall on my face in deep repentance and beg the Father to take my brokenness and make me beautiful?
Here are the four most common ways women “hinder” (NLT) or “do evil” (NASB) to men:
- Manipulation
- Neediness
- Drama
- Shame
The Manipulator:
Every woman falls into this trap, Matthew. It is our default mode when we don’t get what we want, or when we suspect we might not get what we want, or when we want to make absolutely sure we will get what we want when we want it and then some.
And honestly, it works!
We do this so subtly that most men have no clue what’s really going on. They just feel a vaguely uncomfortable sense that something is not right. It’s confusing, I know, but if you will pay attention, the patterns are not hard to spot. Here are my own observations:
How to know when you’re being manipulated:
- Manipulation almost always involves extreme temperatures. Hot, volatile anger or cold, rigid bitterness.
- A manipulator leaves the targeted person confused. He knows something is wrong but he cannot for the life of him figure out what.
- The manipulator focuses on one flaw in order to justify her anger.
- She’ll often make a big deal out of a minor mistake in order to get what she wants.
- The manipulator does not understand you. She does not give grace to cover over your less-than-idealness. She wants you to change, to be who she wants you to be.
- Sometimes the manipulator will crumble in a heap of feminine despair. “I’m so bad nobody loves me…” But she wants your sympathy, your encouragement, not your honest evaluation and certainly not true repentance.
- The manipulator will use her sexual allure to get you and keep you before you are married.
- Then she’ll use your sexual hungers to control you by requiring you to jump through her hoops before she’ll give herself to you.
- The manipulator is not straightforward. She cannot tell you exactly what is wrong, nor will she accept her own responsibility in conflict.
- 10. The manipulator often tries to separate you from your friends. But sometimes she will try to endear herself to your friends. Confusing, I know.
Matthew, it takes time to identify manipulation. It is a subtle sin. If you are alert and you give yourself time to live life together, to walk through conflict, to experience ups and downs, to be less than perfect, you will be able to spot it.
Trust your own warning signals. If you often feel guilty and confused after a conflict listen to that caution. Ask the Spirit of God to give you insight below the surface.
And ask yourself these questions:
- Does she like you exactly as you are? Or does she like the general idea of you but wish you would change?
- Can you be fully you in her presence? Or do you find yourself quieting down, being careful, withdrawing a little?
- Does she get mad at you a lot? Does she withdraw into a cold shell of indifference? Does she rage?
- Does she entice you and then push you away?
- Do you feel subtly pushed by her? Is she trying to move the relationship forward faster than you are comfortable with?
Part of me wishes I didn’t even have to talk about this. Like I am unveiling ugliness and exposing you to what I wish I could ignore. But I love you too much for that, Matt. And I want so much more for you. I want for you a wife who will be your helper, your partner, your friend and your joyous lover.
Be wise, my son. Listen to your heart. Listen to the Spirit. Ask for wisdom and then wait for God’s clear answer. He promises to give generously to those who trust in Him.
From my heart,
Mom
PS: Dear girls who are listening in,
I laid awake last night worrying about the two young women who wrote to me yesterday with sadness lacing their words. They felt defeated and discouraged by my description of the manipulative woman, seeing far too much of themselves in that list. I vascilated in those middle of the night hours between feeling a heavy ache for their shame and a holy anger at the evil one who would twist my words to tempt these precious women to defeat.
How dare that enemy of ours suggest to these girls that they are incapable of redemption! How dare he shame them into hiding, suggesting that no godly man will want a woman who is struggling her way out of this sinful pattern!
But he did and he does and that makes me so angry!
So here’s what I want you to hear:
In no way do I mean to imply that if you fall into this common trap of manipulative control, your boyfriends should dump you! We’d all be single if they did that! Is there a woman alive who does not see herself somewhere on this list? I’m still, after 4 decades of walking with Jesus, seeing my patterns of manipulation come back and bite me. And yet my godly husband loves me and leads me and often times calls me on my not-so-subtle attempt to control.
At the same time, may I gently advise you to take your fears to the foot of the Cross, allow Jesus to cover those patterns of sinful manipulation, and confess those doings as wrong? That’s the only way to freedom. Then lets gather our closest friends around to help us be women of truth. We have got to be honest with each other and with ourselves.
And dear girls, please don’t let the enemy shame you any further. His grace is able to change even the most deeply rooted tendencies. Isn’t that the whole point of His death for us? He is a Redeemer!
I love you dear seekers of His heart,
Diane
When my daughter Elizabeth was a little girl she loved to play beside me in the kitchen. Wrapped in a too-large apron, standing on a chair, my little Beth stirred and created and chattered joy beside me.
As she grew older she ignored my closely followed recipes and experimented with ideas of her own. Beetza’s Pizzas were a favorite of her brother’s friends who crowded into our kitchen for more.
Overtime, Elizabeth began to discover both the benefits and the beauty of pure, whole foods. She developed a passion for feeding her own family delicious meals, searching for recipes and inventing her own.
What fun we’ve all had tasting her creations-in-process!
Elizabeth has led the way in our family towards a more God-honoring way of feeding our bodies. She’s helped us to see, in that hope-filled way of hers, the importance of choosing to cook and gather and eat the way we were meant to.
I am proud to learn from my daughter. And I’m thrilled that she’s taking time from her busy life as a wife and mom and ministry leader to share her research and recipes with all of us.
Every Friday Elizabeth will bring us something new. A meal, a treat, a fresh way of preparing what’s in season. She’ll add to our ideas and motivate us to love in the Kitchen.
Now it is my turn to learn at my daughter’s side. Join us, will you?
From my heart,
Diane