I just made a recipe (off the cuff of another recipe)...and it was so good!
Ingredients:
10 oz. pkg. orzo
2 garlic cloves
1-1/2 cups water
1 lb diced fully cooked chicken
2 cups frozen baby peas
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
On medium, I put minced garlic and oil to cover the bottom of the pan and orzo till a little transparent. Then I added the water and turned to low and covered for about 12 minutes. Then (about five minutes before the rice is done) stir in the chicken and peas. Cook until orzo is tender, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and cheese. Cover and let stand 5 minutes before serving. 6 servings
Monday, January 9, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Refuse to be reserved
I was watching Passion 2012 streaming online originally to see my friend Chris playing in one of the worship bands. Then Francis Chan started to speak. God speaks mightly through that man!
I have been wondering and asking God if we should be done making babies...what is HIS will. We can think through it all we want to make sense of it, but ultimately, it is up to Him. Something He spoke to my heart was that Logan and I keep saying we can't afford to have more children. They cost a lot of money (especially as they get older)...but what if money wasn't an issue? What then?
He has put it on my heart once again that it is probably best if I don't go through pregnancy again (hormones, marriage, sleepless nights...all of these things suffer) but that maybe we would adopt. I want to love and care for God's children who need a loving family, who need to know HIM! That we can be a shining light in the darkness. My eyes and heart are opening up slowly to what God has envisioned for this family and not what I have expected. God is softening me as I watch my sisterfriend Laurie go through their adoption.
I don't want to stand by and watch with a broken heart and NOT act on it. I refuse to be reserved! God use me!
When Logan and I were engaged someone spoke prophetic words over us and they said that our marriage would be one of fire. Full of power. That mighty things will be done because of our union... (I don't think they were just referring to the amazing stools we would make) ;)
That has stuck with me (partially because I was so uncomfortable, and praying that if it wasn't of God that He would cause her to stop, and it didn't) and I continue to watch and see what God does and is doing.
All praise and Glory to Him!
"think of what we can accomplish if we refuse to be reserved..." -Francis Chan
I have been wondering and asking God if we should be done making babies...what is HIS will. We can think through it all we want to make sense of it, but ultimately, it is up to Him. Something He spoke to my heart was that Logan and I keep saying we can't afford to have more children. They cost a lot of money (especially as they get older)...but what if money wasn't an issue? What then?
He has put it on my heart once again that it is probably best if I don't go through pregnancy again (hormones, marriage, sleepless nights...all of these things suffer) but that maybe we would adopt. I want to love and care for God's children who need a loving family, who need to know HIM! That we can be a shining light in the darkness. My eyes and heart are opening up slowly to what God has envisioned for this family and not what I have expected. God is softening me as I watch my sisterfriend Laurie go through their adoption.
I don't want to stand by and watch with a broken heart and NOT act on it. I refuse to be reserved! God use me!
When Logan and I were engaged someone spoke prophetic words over us and they said that our marriage would be one of fire. Full of power. That mighty things will be done because of our union... (I don't think they were just referring to the amazing stools we would make) ;)
That has stuck with me (partially because I was so uncomfortable, and praying that if it wasn't of God that He would cause her to stop, and it didn't) and I continue to watch and see what God does and is doing.
All praise and Glory to Him!
the year 2012
After being in prayer while working on a previous client, (yes sometimes, I zone out and go auto-pilot and pray if I am giving "just a relaxation massage"), one of my dear clients, Marie, asks me what God has told me about for 2012.
me thinking: Hmmm...Did God tell ME something. Did I even ASK?! Ugh. FAIL! God speak to me, organize my thoughts!...
Prayerfully pondering this I started opening my mouth...2011 was a purging year, renewing, de-cluttering year. I think 2012 will be a year of transformation that sticks. Beautiful changes that are completely HIS will for His GLORY!
Then I asked her. She said that was exactly what God told her. She spoke more eloquently, of course. (because that is how she is, beautiful and every word thought through and for His Glory!)
I love sharing moments like this. It is why God intends for us to be in community, to be able to stand FIRM in what he is saying and has said and slaying any lies, together.
Share who you are, who you serve, and you will be surprised at how God uses you and speaks in and through you. Be bold and tenderhearted.
me thinking: Hmmm...Did God tell ME something. Did I even ASK?! Ugh. FAIL! God speak to me, organize my thoughts!...
Prayerfully pondering this I started opening my mouth...2011 was a purging year, renewing, de-cluttering year. I think 2012 will be a year of transformation that sticks. Beautiful changes that are completely HIS will for His GLORY!
Then I asked her. She said that was exactly what God told her. She spoke more eloquently, of course. (because that is how she is, beautiful and every word thought through and for His Glory!)
I love sharing moments like this. It is why God intends for us to be in community, to be able to stand FIRM in what he is saying and has said and slaying any lies, together.
Share who you are, who you serve, and you will be surprised at how God uses you and speaks in and through you. Be bold and tenderhearted.
concept or reality
The past several weeks our pastors have been speaking on the Five Point of Grace and then Jason Diaz spoke at church this past Sunday (New Year's day). It was about reverence, a concept or reality...which I was convicted about and have been asking God and searching my heart as to WHEN that transformation happened in my life (and where it needs to happen currently).
As I was massaging a client Thursday morning, I was in prayer and thinking of WHEN the transformation happened, when I was completely transformed and LIVED for God. I asked Jesus into my heart and have loved God and heard his voice from a young age. Raised to serve. Created to be tenderhearted. Subtle walls went up from hurts, fear, insecurities, relationships, identity. I still loved God (mentally), although I didn't fully actionwordlove Him for about 6 of those years (12-18). I lived two lives. Served two masters.
I moved out of my parents home and in with my friend January 2000. It was that summer that I can trace back to where there was a change. When the reality of my choices hit me and I was able to see where my heart was and how far I was from God's. It was then that my love turned into actionwordLOVE, whole heartedly, for my Savior.
(Come to think of it, maybe it was my brother Nicky's fault...those are the years that he was relationally then physically removed from me...I will think through that at another time.) ;)
Anyhoo. It was at that time, He was bringing me to Himself, calling me to be who He created me to be, to serve and love and be tenderhearted once again, purified, breaking through those walls.
I have LOVED and sought Him and His will wholeheartedly since then. I love him, to him I owe it all, and all PRAISE goes to my Savior!
Now, on where He is currently transforming me, which is part of how I came to the first realization...
In December (2011) I read a blog post by John Piper that read:
I want to be tenderhearted at all times without walls up (from fear or pride). That is what I desire. I am going to stand FIRM in who GOD created me to be, tenderhearted, with His love.
As I was massaging a client Thursday morning, I was in prayer and thinking of WHEN the transformation happened, when I was completely transformed and LIVED for God. I asked Jesus into my heart and have loved God and heard his voice from a young age. Raised to serve. Created to be tenderhearted. Subtle walls went up from hurts, fear, insecurities, relationships, identity. I still loved God (mentally), although I didn't fully actionwordlove Him for about 6 of those years (12-18). I lived two lives. Served two masters.
I moved out of my parents home and in with my friend January 2000. It was that summer that I can trace back to where there was a change. When the reality of my choices hit me and I was able to see where my heart was and how far I was from God's. It was then that my love turned into actionwordLOVE, whole heartedly, for my Savior.
(Come to think of it, maybe it was my brother Nicky's fault...those are the years that he was relationally then physically removed from me...I will think through that at another time.) ;)
Anyhoo. It was at that time, He was bringing me to Himself, calling me to be who He created me to be, to serve and love and be tenderhearted once again, purified, breaking through those walls.
I have LOVED and sought Him and His will wholeheartedly since then. I love him, to him I owe it all, and all PRAISE goes to my Savior!
Now, on where He is currently transforming me, which is part of how I came to the first realization...
In December (2011) I read a blog post by John Piper that read:
Should we be tenderheated?
The longer I live the more complexities I see in living. They’re not as paralyzing as they used to be. I pray more for a spiritual nose to sniff out the path between precipices.
Take tender-heartedness, for example. I think one of the most practical and important passages in the whole Bible is Ephesians 4:31–32. God put that there for me. It is one of the most important mandates in my life.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
There are dozens of situations where I should be more tenderhearted than I am.
But what about 2 Chronicles 13:7? Jeroboam and “certain worthless scoundrels” — this is already not sounding tenderhearted — defied Solomon’s son Rehoboam and broke the kingdom in half. Why did that rebellion succeed? Multiple reasons. Here’s one.
“Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them” (2 Chronicles 13:7, KJV). That’s a good literal translation.
So there is a tenderheartedness that is out of place and harmful. Rehoboam was too soft. The situation called for firmness, toughness, resilience. It called for a heart that could not be easily “touched” with misleading emotions.
So here I am at 65 still pleading to God daily for the spiritual sensor to find the path between hardness that destroys and hardness that saves.
Join me. It is not a cocky life, but it is Godward.
I want to be tenderhearted at all times without walls up (from fear or pride). That is what I desire. I am going to stand FIRM in who GOD created me to be, tenderhearted, with His love.
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