Sonderella

The Daily Dance

2010-11-23T19:50:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving: The forgotten holiday.

Someone said last night that Thanksgiving seems to be overpowered by Halloween and then Christmas. It has become "The Forgotten Holiday". So here is my reminder for us all to take time to stop and be thankful.

Blessings,
Sondie

The Daily Dance

2010-11-16T19:30:00.003-05:00

Sanctuary

I'm so thankful that my home is a comfy, happy place...a good place to rest my soul at the end of the day.

Sondie

Halloween Fun

2010-10-30T21:33:00.003-04:00

No, I didn't dress as tiramisu silly...But I did get free tiramisu for going to a local restaurant in my halloween costume! It was delicious.

Turns out my friend and I were the only ones there in costume. I was Bob the Pit Crew Chief for Carl Edwards (yes, I wore the white paper suit in public) and my friend was a Mexican man who lost his sombrero (read- she didn't have one). I won't post that picture.

Sondie

The Daily Dance

2010-10-30T21:28:00.002-04:00

Fall Photo

I took this picture from my sunroof while driving in WV last weekend. Fun roads to drive on with beautiful scenery!

Sondie

Saturday Soup

2010-10-30T16:05:00.008-04:00

Today I am making an old WV favorite. I haven't made it for years and years. Let me give you a little background...

Many years ago when I was a young girl living in WV we ate macaroni and tomatoes. As a matter of fact it was the first solid food I ate after having my tonsils removed when I was 18 and a college Freshman.

Anyway, my sophomore year I moved into an apartment and ended up staying in that same cozy little apartment with the same roommate until I got married during my last year of school. Lo and behold, my roommate grew up eating macaroni and tomatoes as well. Both of our families made it with home canned tomatoes and macaroni sweetened with a little sugar. A WV delicacy I suppose.

My roommate came from a more rural area of the state than I did with only one bank in her entire county. Because of this neither one of us ate at restaurants very often. We cooked. We took turns based on our class (and my work) schedules. Her family always supplied us with meat. We had the most well stocked freezer in the apartment complex. We also always had canned foods...not store bought but garden grown and pressure cooked in glass jars. Both of our families kept us supplied in jellies, jams, vegetables, homemade hoagie sauce with garden tomatoes and of course tomatoes. Everyone always wanted to hang out at our place because we had "real food".

We developed our own recipes for macaroni and tomatoes because it gave us something else to do with ground beef and made it more of a meal. It became one of our favorite meals, especially in cooler weather. For some reason I have been thinking about her and about macaroni and tomatoes lately and the old craving kicked in. Here's my version with a few modern tweaks (minus home canned tomatoes, plus olive oil and fresh cloves of garlic):

Sondie's College Days Macaroni and Tomatoes

Saute green pepper, onion and garlic (however much you like) in olive oil until tender. Add this to tomatoes in a big stew pot. (I used large cans of Furmano's crushed, diced and whole Italian plum-it is about tomatoes after all.) Salt, pepper and a few dashes of sugar. Simmer a bit.

Then add elbow macaroni cooked al dente and ground beef that has been fried and drained. It should be a fairly thick mixture with just about equal parts macaroni and tomatoes and beef. Simmer a bit... then gather a few friends and eat.

I am making a big pot this evening to share with friends. It is on the stove simmering now. My husband didn't like it years ago and I haven't made it since I had my daughter 10 years ago. I hope my friends will fall for it so I have a reason to make it more often. If you read the post prior to supper time come on by...I have pumpkin pie for dessert!

Sondie

The Daily Dance

2010-10-28T18:11:00.003-04:00

My Kind of Sandwich

This week is sandwiched between time with my sisters last weekend and time with my friends planned tomorrow night. Hope your week's sandwich is as good as mine.

Sondie

The Daily Dance

2010-10-23T21:03:00.004-04:00

Old Fat Hogs

Oh what a beautiful, fun day hiking the Cliffside Trail with the Old Fat Hogs! We enjoyed God's gift of nature....and of course being sisters.

Sondie....AKA OFH4

Old Fat Hog Reunion

2010-10-22T22:05:00.003-04:00

We arrived at Twin Falls, WV about 9:00 tonight for our Old Fat Hog Reunion. There are 4 of us hogs...er, sisters. My nephew is a park ranger here. There is a full moon above us-and an old graveyard next to our cabin. Other people wouldn't stay here because of the graveyard but we aren't scared! We stayed in this same cabin last August and no one bothered us.

It was a nippy 46 degrees when my twin and I got here so it was super nice to walk into the cabin with a crackling fire burning. My sister Rose, (mother of the Eagle Scout now park ranger here) got the fire going all by herself! My 2 old fat hog sisters made us dinner and we ate by the fire. It was wonderful especially after a tough drive laden with traffic and road work.

Tomorrow night my nephew is going to take us out on a trail after dark with a story teller named Buzz. They will walk us out to the falls as he tells us a true but scary story about the history of the falls. Glad I brought my flash light.

This weekend is mom's birthday and we will do our best to honor her memory. She was the most awesome woman I have ever known and we are so thankful for the blessing of her in our lives.

We are looking forward to a fun weekend full of laughter.

Sondie...AKA Old Fat Hog 4

The Daily Dance

2010-10-20T17:58:00.005-04:00

Favorite Sounds

Waves dancing with the shore, whispering of the wind in the pines, and the dishwasher humming a tune that the busyness of the day is done.

Saturday Soup

2010-10-17T17:34:00.004-04:00

I spent most of Saturday cleaning my closet which was good and bad. It was part of my effort to reduce clutter which is a very good thing for many, many reasons. Since I was focused on cleaning I decided to use the slow cooker to make soup. It was wonderful....the whole time I cleaned I could smell the soup. For just an instant the smell of soup cooking would make me panic and I'd start to go stir it... then ahhh, relief as I remembered that it was in the slow cooker which made it worry free. (Too bad I didn't have a reminder smell that I had left the bathroom sink running while trying to unclog a drain as I cleaned the closet-funny story but I wasn't laughing at the time....the older I get the harder multi-tasking is)

Anyway, here's what I put in my slow cooker:

1 onion, chopped
1 c baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 c green pepper, chopped
1 c yellow pepper, chopped
1 c red pepper, chopped
5 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
butter-a small chunk
olive oil-once around the pan
white wine-few slugs in the pan
3 chicken breasts-boneless,skinless
2 boxes chicken broth
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 10 oz can mild Rotele tomatoes
handful or 2 of baby carrots, cut in bite size pieces
1 cup medium pearl barley
~1-2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
pepper and salt to taste

Saute onion, mushrooms, peppers and garlic in butter and olive oil until tender... add a few slugs of chardonnay if you like. I liked. Transfer to large slow cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until chicken is done and barley is tender. I keep the breasts whole and cut the chicken just before serving so it doesn't get too dry. Hot bread and cold salad...your meal is complete.

It was delicious! This does make a bunch of soup so if you are only feeding a few people just half the recipe. Hubby and daughter didn't make it home in time from their trip to Gram's house but they made it home safely about 9 last night-yeah! Hubby was so impressed with the closet he didn't say anything about the bathroom....or maybe I forgot to tell him. Oops.

Sondie

My Biggest Luxury

2010-10-15T18:36:00.006-04:00

My favorite luxury in life is one I do daily. How spoiled is that? A daily luxury? Yep, daily. Every morning I have my first cup of coffee in bed and I love it! Some nights I even go to sleep counting sips instead of sheep. It is hard to beat that first sip of hot black coffee.

My routine is to get up just long enough to brew a cup- in about 30 seconds with my Keurig-and head back to bed before my eyes open too much. I don't even take a sip until I am back in the bed for fear my eyes will open and I'll be awake before I'm ready. I like to snuggle under the blankets and doze my way through the first cup. I spend about 20 minutes dozing, sipping and praying as I wake up.

I like to ease into the day by dipping my toes into the morning. After my toes get used to it I'm ready to wade on in, and let a new day begin. I've never been a morning diver, maybe because once my day begins I dive into everything the day holds and don't stop until bedtime.

So, there you have it. My biggest luxury is my morning cup of coffee in bed. How about you?

Sondie

Lazy Afternoon

2010-10-14T20:03:00.002-04:00

No, this isn't me, this isn't my porch, and these aren't my fall trees but it is all a close resemblance....and this is how I spent my afternoon off work! I was curled up with a good book, hot cup of coffee, and my sweet little dog...and did I mention PJ's? A very relaxing way to spend a fall afternoon.

Hope all of you have a chance to spend a fall day doing whatever it is that makes your heart happy.

God Bless,
Sondie

The Daily Dance

2010-10-12T21:30:00.002-04:00

Neighborhood Supper Club

Tonight was our neighborhood supper club. It started with 2 families who meal share...then a third joined in every now and again...then we added neighbors across the street...tonight we added a 5th family.

We decided it was so much fun that we would meet once monthly and this was our third "official" planned meal. Can you guess our theme this time? Yeah, the picture gave it away didn't it? It was fun and the food was yummy.

We are learning lots of great stuff about one another...like tonight for instance. We found out that the husband of the 5th couple who joined us tonight used to be a crepe chef. Isn't that interesting....and better still, he is going to make crepes for our next supper club in November! I'm already looking forward to it.

Sondie

The Daily Dance

2010-10-10T20:04:00.003-04:00

Busy but good Sabbath Day. Hope yours was wonderful too.

Sondie

The Daily Dance

2010-10-08T21:11:00.003-04:00

Shopping Day

A very fun day with my little one, sister, niece and nephew on a fall shopping adventure!

Sondie

The Daily Dance

2010-10-07T13:35:00.003-04:00

Small Town USA

Yesterday I spent time visiting with 2 of my best buds...today it was both of their husbands who helped me out. This morning when I dropped my car off for an oil change and an inspection my car doctor (husband A) said it would be quite a wait. As we were discussing use of the shuttle service another mutual friend (husband B) walks out of the garage headquarters and he immediately asks "Hey Sondie, do you need a ride?" Only in Small Town USA are you friends with your mechanic as well as his other patrons and can get such great service. Husband B brought me home and we had a great chat on the porch enjoying the unexpected gift of time together on a beautiful fall day. I'm thankful for best buds and their husbands. My circle may be small but it is mighty!

Sondie

Country Mouse

2010-10-05T16:32:00.005-04:00

Yes, I am a country mouse...but I am intrigued with the idea of being a city mouse. It all started while being in Washington DC over the weekend. Much of it while having breakfast each morning at this neat spot on the corner across from our hotel (which was VERY nice, thank you Mr. M!). As we sat enjoying a great cup of coffee I watched all the people around me and of course made up stories in my mind about them. This is a whole nother blog post so I won't go into all that, but it did make me think of the story of my life. Specifically the story of my life as a country mouse.

I passed up the opportunity to move to NY when I was 17, choosing to attend a university a few hours from home. How different would an experience of living in NY have made me? This weekend made me think about the difference between a country me and a city me. I am obviously a country me and am right where God placed me so I have no plans to become a city me, but what if...

the metro was my form of transportation.
rain boots and coat were essential for walking city streets to work on rainy days.
grocery shopping was done in small, frequent trips v.s. a trunk full every week.
the local park was my quiet spot.
the view from my window made people look like ants.
hundreds of neighbors lived on the same block.

As I hopped in my car to head to a local book store and run some errands this morning these thoughts were racing through my mind. My little one and I compared/contrasted how our day might look if we lived in a city rather than our little subdivision here in the south. We decided that we love our lives here and wouldn't want it any other way. We are country mice who love to visit the city.

Sondie, a country mouse.

The Daily Dance

2010-10-03T19:01:00.001-04:00

Fall Break Adventure

Our last night here in DC, a fun, adventuresome girls weekend.

Sondie

Art of Silliness

2010-09-29T16:56:00.003-04:00

I haven't had time to do anything with the Silliness Challenge until this afternoon. Erin and her friend M and I sat and spent a little time on it (after they did their homework). The challenge today is to write a Haiku about falling asleep then spend 10 minutes drawing a picture about it. Unfortunately I couldn't get our pages to scan but decided to at least post our poems.

Here is Mary's poem:

Sleepy at School
I sit in my desk
All sounds fade away from me
My eyes close slowly.

Now imagine a girl with her head on her desk for the picture.

My poem:

Nightfall
Enchanting moonbeams
The glow of magical light
Beckons me to rest.

Insert picture of a full moon with moonbeams reaching downward with little music notes throughout the image. (trust me, it sounds better than what I actually drew).

Erin didn't like the constraints of the Haiku so she wrote her own thing.

Dreamland
Falling asleep is wonderful.
Close your eyes and go
into dreamland.

Picture a girl lying in bed asleep with a dream bubble above her head, a horse running free.

Now write your own poem with a 10 minute sketch!

Sondie

The Daily Dance

2010-09-29T16:06:00.003-04:00

Another Rainy Day

Rainy days are full of possibilities...renewing and refreshing especially after so many days of 90+ temperatures!

Sondie

The Daily Dance

2010-09-28T20:43:00.004-04:00

The Best Medicine

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22

The best medicine in the world lives quietly inside each of us.

Sondie

The Daily Dance

2010-09-27T17:57:00.002-04:00

It's All About Water

A blessed much needed rainy day that started with an early morning shower wake up after knocking my glass of water off the bedside table.

Sondie

The Daily Dance

2010-09-26T18:37:00.003-04:00

Dressed for the Season

The fall mums look stunning dressed in glistening rain drops.

Sondie

The Daily Dance

2010-09-25T20:40:00.003-04:00

Giggling Girls

A wonderful day most of which was spent with three precious giggling girls.

Sondie

Daily Dance

2010-09-24T21:45:00.002-04:00

Family and Friends

So happy it is Friday and my niece is spending the weekend with us AND I get to have Girl's Night at a friend's house!

Sondie

One Sentence Journal-The Daily Dance

2010-09-23T20:08:00.006-04:00

While it is still 97 degrees outside, according to the calendar yesterday was the first day of my favorite season!

Sondie

Out of the Ashes

2010-09-22T15:52:00.008-04:00

I am reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and decided to check out her Happiness Project Toolbox. One of the ideas I really like is the One Sentence Journal. It is something I think I can manage. One sentence isn't so daunting. At least it will get me writing again. By the way, it has been a great book so far. Rubin talks about "midlife malaise" which I completely identify with.

At the same time I am reading Spiritual Depression by David Martyn- Lloyd Jones. Ya' gotta love how God uses the sacred and the secular to speak to us. It is amazing how the two books speak in different ways to my soul. God knows I'm so hard headed that I need to hear it through several avenues. I am marking it up because there are pearls on every page. A great book for a struggling soul.

Someone suggested that I "reinvent" myself and he has a good point. Also, both books came from the same friend, hmmm...I think she is trying to tell me something too....Thank God for friends who love me! It is time to get out of the rut I've been in for the past 2+ years and start to feel alive again. Who knows, maybe I will start my own Happiness Project! I'll keep you posted.

Be watching for my daily snippets of life as I finish the year...one sentence at a time.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
Philippians 4:4

Sondie

Fall Palate

2010-09-22T15:28:00.005-04:00

Sitting in the dappled sunlight
soft breeze caressing my cheek
I drink in a new season.

Pondering the long shadows
cool air calming my soul
I savor the taste of life.

Sondie

Again?

2010-09-21T21:27:00.002-04:00

Tinkering with the idea of riding again...may be short lived as it has been in the past but oh well. One post at a time.

How did such a thing happen?

2010-01-31T16:27:00.005-05:00

So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” Exodus 32: 24 ESV

This was Aaron's answer to Moses' angry question of where the golden calf came from. Of all the things he could have said I wasn't expecting this. "Golly gee, Moses. I had no idea that when I told everyone to bring me gold to put into the fire that a golden calf was going to come out. Wow, who would have thunk it? I sure didn't create this thing." Really.

This is the same man God had just been telling Moses about on the mountain...the same man who was to be set aside as a high priest. Yet, here we see him not taking any responsibility for his sin. He blamed it on the evil people who wanted an idol, not himself who created the idol for them.

How many times do I do this same thing? Sin, then deny my sin. Create nice little idols then wonder where they came from? Blame others for my sin. Act surprised by the outcome of my sin.

We all sin and fall short daily....the question is do we recognize sin for what it is? Are we broken by our sin? Do we think that if we are oblivious to it that it will just go away and we will be fine? Well, it won't just go away. Nope, there will be a consequence and it will likely affect others around us. I discovered that as I read the rest of Chapter 32. About 3000 people died as a result of that sin.

This reminded me that I need to face my sin, even pray that my secret sins will be revealed to me before harming others.

Sondie

Snow Day!

2010-01-30T12:18:00.003-05:00

What a fun day this has been! The big winter storm has forced us to stay home for old fashioned family fun and what a blessing it has been. A chance to stop and spend time together...not what we had planned but much needed.

Erin and I were up at 5...making chocolate cupcakes by 6:30. We got out some special pans my mom bought me several years ago and I imagined her smiling down on our crazy cupcake baking before sunrise. She loved cooking and baking on winter days and would have enjoyed the spontaneity of making cupcakes before breakfast-matter of fact she is who I inherited my silly spontaneous gene from!

After that we made eggs, sausage and toast for a hearty get ready to play breakfast, ate and then headed out the door. We spent the morning sledding down the hill in front of our house. Even our little dog enjoyed the sledding. I believe she was laughing and screaming with us as we raced against one another... flying down the hill with snow and ice blowing in our faces as we skid from one side of the road to the other.

Neighbors joined us and we got a few pictures and several more squeals and giggles before heading to their house for homemade cocoa. Great job L on the chocolate brew!

We are looking forward to going back up the hill later this evening for dinner. Three families are getting together for homemade pizzas and salad. What a fun, beautiful day! What a gift that we are forced to take a break from the usual grind and just have fun. What a gift to be such great friends with our neighbors! Hopefully the power will stay on, but if not we'll make the most of it.

Hope you are enjoying your Saturday no matter the weather in your neighborhood!

Sondie

My Blessings This Week

2010-01-23T20:28:00.005-05:00

Monday: Able to take the day off work to stay home with Erin and let her have friends over.

Tuesday: A surprise dinner with a friend's family after a long day at work.

Wednesday: Precious quiet time with a friend as our girls played outside-a chance to read poetry and do some editing with her.

Thursday: Loved completely by friends and family through a rough day....a husband who loves me AND can make the pantry light touch free-automatic light when you walk in and timed to go off once you leave!

Friday: Dinner out with my sweet Erin, PJ's on by 6, friends over to spend a nice evening talking and laughing-a great ending to the work week!

Saturday: Breakfast with my friend C, lunch with Erin, an afternoon visit over coffee with friends, girlfriends who find the perfect turquoise table in an antique shop and call me after getting the price down by half then as an extra a lovely turquoise trimmed double boiler with the top half bought by a friend as keepsake from her when she is gone. A long chat with my sister who always loves and understands me-my other half without whom I am incomplete.

Sunday: Thankfulness for a child who is healthy-after spending every hour of the night up with her vomiting it reminded me of how blessed we are to have a very healthy child. It prompted me to pray for really sick children and their parents who carry a load I don't think I would have the strength for.

Hope you take time to reflect on your week of blessings too.

Sondie

Lullaby of Dawn

2010-01-21T19:38:00.003-05:00

The morning stars

blaze in the

Western sky

As they sing

to me a

a lullaby.

Like a siren

from the deep sea

they call

Until the fiery orb

appears in her

daily ritual.

Sleepy stars now

wrapped in a

golden throw

The last whispers

of night awaken

the world below.

Sondie

Cooking God's Way

2010-01-18T14:04:00.007-05:00

37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:37-38 ESV

Last night as I was reading my Bible these verses plucked my strings of interest. I love the mental picture of good measure. I see it like this: God takes the good measure and presses it down kind of like brown sugar so that He can get more of the good stuff in one serving. Then He shakes up the pressed down good stuff with other good stuff to get the best possible mix of goodness-which runs over the top of the heavenly measuring cup. Once the cup is overflowing He pours it right into our laps.

There is only one catch....He uses the same measuring cup and ingredients that you are using. Whatever measure you are using is what is going to be used on you. Wow. This made me think about judging and condemning others...about forgiving and loving others. Do I make a conscious effort with what I'm whipping up in my measuring cup to pour out into others? OR...am I stingy with ingredients of goodness? Have I chosen a small cup so that I can hoard the best stuff for myself? Either way, not good choices. Hmmmm.

As I continued to read the next passage that strummed my strings was this:

“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6: 43-45 ESV

Out of the abundance of my heart is what my mouth speaks-whatever is the treasure of my heart is what pours into my measuring cup. To me, this includes our unspoken words or actions which often speak the loudest. So, what is the treasure in my heart? Do I harbor a treasure chest full of forgiveness, love, charity, service etc or is it full of envy, anger, jealousy, bitterness? Whatever is filling up my spiritual heart is what naturally pours out until my measuring cup is overflowing. I can't pour out figs if I am full of thorns. If I am serving thorn pie to others I can't expect to be fed fig pudding.

Makes me want to head back into the kitchen for some quiet cooking time with God...pressed down, shaken up until overflowing, poured out...the question is....overflowing with what?

Blessings to you!

Sondie

A Week of Blessings

2010-01-16T17:41:00.007-05:00

God's blessings always amaze me. Here's just a few of the blessings He has poured over me this last week.

Monday-Sharing a birthday dinner with a super special young lady

Tuesday-Art class at a local coffee shop with L and C-fun, fun, fun

Wednesday-Talking to my sister

Thursday-Maintaining good health in the midst of viruses galore

Friday-Friends who came to our 31 party, a loving husband who takes care of me and E

Saturday-Having breakfast with precious friends while meeting new friends, bumping into an old friend unexpectedly and having a few stolen moments with her over a cup of coffee...buying books from a used book store with a gift certificate (Christmas gift!), warm enough weather to walk outdoors again with a friend and hanging out in PJ's with two giggly girls.

My dad taught me to count my blessings many years ago. He was right...when you count your blessings you realize they outweigh your sorrows every time.

So, blessings to you!

Sondie

2010-01-12T06:12:00.002-05:00

Nothing profound to say this morning. I just couldn't stand that bad hair day picture at the top of the blog anymore! Feel free to use the picture as a writing prompt....me I've got nothing so far.

Sondie

Bad Hair Day

2010-01-07T18:14:00.004-05:00

My little one has a funny way of saying things sometimes that makes me laugh yet she somehow captures an emotion so well. This evening she was trying to tell me about someone who looked upset and this is what she said.

"She looked like someone who was having a bad hair day and then got laughed at."

Isn't that a great description? I could totally understand what she was saying!

Hope it gives you a chuckle as you head into your Friday.

Sondie

Two for Tuesday

2010-01-05T19:10:00.010-05:00

It just so happens that the two things that got my heart rate up this evening both involve plants....hence a two for Tuesday. Here they are.

I've known the story of Elijah and the broom tree for many years and it amazes me how God speaks different things to me through the same passage of scripture during different seasons of my life. I was helping E with her homework on Elijah and was reminded of how God spoke in a whisper to Elijah...we had a good discussion on the requirement of being still in order to hear God's voice since he doesn't always shout. (The "Be Still" verses in the Bible have been pointed out to me on more than one occasion.) Once we were done I decided to go back and read the scripture just to see if it really points out the whispering and of course it does. However, once I started reading the passage I was struck by something else.

When Elijah was sitting under the broom tree, so exhausted in every way he was begging to die, God sent an angel to feed him. The second time He sent the angel, the angel told Elijah, "Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you." The... Journey... Is... Too... Great... For... You.

The biggest burden lifted from my shoulders. Isn't God amazing? He knows when the journey is too great for us. He knows when we are so exhausted that we can't take another single thing or we'd just as soon die. He sends his angels, He provides, He sustains. We have only to cry out to Him. The next verse says that Elijah went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to his next stopping place. So, when I feel like I can't go on I'll sit beneath a broom tree (maybe a pine will work) and cry out to Him. He will nourish my soul. (1 Kings 19)

The next thing has absolutely nothing to do with spirituality. It is a book that finally arrived called Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart. The subtitle is The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother and other Botanical Atrocities. Ooohhhh-I'm so excited about this book. It is full of wonderful sketches and information on over 200 plants with deadly properties. Maybe I should have been a botanist. I am comforted by the fact that I also loved the book by Michael Pollan-The Botany of Desire...yes, it is the plants, not the homicide potential that gets my heart pounding.

Hmmm, maybe the message of the day is....desperate times call for a broom tree not a strychnine tree!

Cheers to broom trees,

Sondie

Goals for 2010

2010-01-03T15:24:00.004-05:00

I have been thinking a lot about goals for 2010...to the point that my brain has been on overload, which I don't think is the goal. Through a series of events over the last few days I have whittled my goal list down to a much more manageable one.

It started with an article a friend gave me about overloading our prefrontal cortex and how this actually makes us less likely to achieve goals. Yes, this article came even as my prefrontal cortex was weighted down with lofty goals for the upcoming year. It left me pondering how to set goals (which I need to do or I'll list about aimlessly) without going crazy. I thought I could make one goal for each month-that would make it less taxing on my tired brain.

This just didn't rest easy in my spirit though. If my goal list has already overwhelmed me then something just isn't quite right....the purpose of my goal setting already thwarted. Well, I got my answer at church today.

As we were singing the song Savior, the lyrics struck a chord (must have been a prefrontal cortex chord) in my mind and in my heart. Here, hum over these words....

You’re my Savior, Restorer, Rebuilder, Rewarder, My Refuge, Redeemer, Defender, My Healer, Savior.

That is when it hit me. God centered life is The Goal.

The goal to find balance-He is my restorer, rebuilder, rewarder, refuge, redeemer, defender, healer, savior.

The goal to budget and pay down debt-He is my restorer, rebuilder, rewarder, refuge, redeemer, defender, healer, savior.

The goal to keep joy in my heart-He is my restorer, rebuilder, rewarder, refuge, redeemer, defender, healer, savior.

It went from there. Any goal I've come up with is possible through Him. If my main goal is to keep God at the center of my life everything else will fall into place. Beautifully. Peacefully. Totally in His control.

Finally, a plan for 2010 I can live with. Whew.

Here's to a God centered year!

Sondie

Looking Back, Looking Forward

2010-01-01T08:19:00.010-05:00

You shall not go out in haste,

and you shall not go in flight,

for the Lord will go before you,

and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Isaiah 52:12 ESV

The end of another year, the crossing of another finish line...the start of new marathon called 2010. As I reflect on the last year, I end up lumping 2 years together like a pair of twins-individuals yet bound by commonalities. So for me the end of 2009 really seems like the end of the elder twin 2008 and the baby twin 2009.

God is the God of our future but he is also the God of our yesterdays. I have been remembering the last 2 years of yesterdays in terms of spiritual and emotional growth. While difficult, I have to remember that God had already gone before me, and now is my rear guard-I can rest those memories in His capable, grace filled loving hands. I am thankful that the past 2 years have not been wasted, that they have rescued me from my shallow securities, strengthened my muscles for races yet to come.

I am trying to avoid going into the new year hastily, wiping sweat from my brow running across the finish line with no consideration for the race I have run, only running blindly in an escape from yesterday. I do not want to go into 2010 with forgetful delight or impulsive thoughtlessness. I am praying that I am filled with the peace of Him who has already dipped his fingertips into my future, cupped palm ready to carry me forward.

I don't know what 2010 holds. It may be better than the twin years, but it could be worse. What I do know is that with God nothing is wasted, the growth necessary...I can live 2010 in misery holding on to pain, or I can move forward with spiritual muscles strengthened as I rest in Him. I look forward with anticipation of what God has in store for this year. You?

This is my challenge to each of you-rest your memories in God's embrace as you reflect on the growth He has offered you through challenges....look forward not comforted by shallow securities, but in the peace that He is already at the finish line of 2010 with arms open wide.

God's peace to you in 2010!

Sondie

New Look

2009-12-29T20:52:00.005-05:00

Working on a new look. Not sure I really like it but I've had so many technical difficulties this evening that I'm keeping it! The phrase "A New You" started appearing in my life about a month ago and keeps coming up in different ways. Of course it is almost a new year so maybe all of you keep seeing this phrase-now again here! Anyway, here goes to a new me-or at least an improved me as I continue to trade my ashes.

I'm looking forward to 2010 with new goals to work towards!

In His great grip I remain,
Sondie

Advent Reading

2009-12-13T21:33:00.004-05:00

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus edited by Nancy Guthrie

Glory in the Gospel of John is used to describe the death of Christ. That is amazing. In John 12:23-24, for example, we read, "And Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." John Donne, in The Book of Uncommon Prayers says, "The whole of Christ's life was a continual passion; others die martyrs, but Christ was born a martyr. He found a Golgotha, where he was crucified, even in Bethlehem, where he was born; for to his tenderness then the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after, and the manger as uneasy at first as the cross at last. His birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas Day and his Good Friday are but the evening and the morning of one and the same day. From the creche to the cross is an inseparable line. Christmas only points forward to Good Friday and Easter. It can have no meaning apart from that, where the Son of God displayed his glory by his death."

May the Joy that is Christ in you be magnified this season.

Sondie

Setting Goals

2009-12-11T14:34:00.003-05:00

At the beach with friends and still in PJ's late into the afternoon. Wonderful. We have been talking about goals and here is what we've come up with.

Candy-finish art projects

Cathy- peace

Lynette-be nice

Belinda-start a writing group

Sandra-live through the year

Me-blog again

What's one of yours?

First Marathon Done!

2009-11-25T09:24:00.010-05:00

Here's a shot of us starting the marathon. We were in quite a crowd... in the wrong corral even but that didn't stop us! We were the only ones walking in this crowd so we stood out a bit but oh well. I was so excited! I took pictures the whole route but I won't bore you with all of those, just a few.

One of the cheerleaders fairly early on in the race.

First drink break. I had no idea that this would happen. Cups were everywhere! You took your sips then just threw your cup down. The volunteers used rakes and snow shovels to keep the mess cleared out of the middle of the road.

One of the many murals throughout the city. Beautiful!

More dancing, singing cheerleaders!

The longest mile. Ugh! Mile 11 to 12 seemed to take years! B reminded me that at this point it was like re-entering the subdivision we live in when we walked to prepare for the marathon. It helped to think of it this way.

Crossing the Finish Line! Yes, capital letters for Finish Line! The announcer said, "We've been waiting for you girls!" as he called out our names. Everyone was cheering and clapping. Ok, so they weren't cheering for the two of us, still it felt like we were the stars in a parade! The official time clock says 3:36 but we didn't start with the first corral at 7:00 so this wasn't our time. Our official time was 3:20 so we walked about a 15 minute mile. Pretty good I thought especially with picture taking and texting friends along the way.

Thanks for all of the encouragement along the way my peeps!
Sondie

Thankful Tuesday and Thursday-Here We Are!

2009-11-20T15:45:00.003-05:00

Erin and I both agree again this week on what we are thankful for....being here in Philadelphia with family (and friends)! This is our first trip here and it is great. We got here by 9:30 this morning and The Hyatt was kind enough to let us in one of our rooms without having to wait until the usual check in time. I've never had this happen so a very nice surprise to have a place to land.

After we refreshed for a bit we walked to the South Street area and had the best Philly Cheese Steaks EVER at a local place called Jim's. Neat atmosphere and fabulous food. Erin even ate every bite which is a big deal for the little eater that she is. After that we walked to the convention center and registered for our marathon. Extremely exciting to get my packet and shirt. My marathon bib has my name and AGE-completely unnecessary to put the age. I'll store that information away before the next marathon in February. Maybe I'll be 35 for that one :)

Tonight we will take a train about an hour away to Freight House Restaurant. A friend at home is one of the owners and his son is meeting us there for a visit. Should be very yummy and fun.

Anyway-we are thankful to be here!

Erin and Sondie

Poetry Challenge

2009-11-20T15:41:00.001-05:00

Prompt: attachment of some sort

Sensibly Genuine

She looked like someone
Who bought candles
From a grocery store.

Air freshening
Long burning
Affordable.

Sensibility was attached
To her as surely
As her own right arm.

Truths anchoring
Boundaries freeing
Genuine.

Sondie

Poetry Challenge

2009-11-20T04:09:00.003-05:00

Prompt: slow poem

Night’s Exit

A sliver of time wedged between

Darkness and light,

When the stillness of night

Greets the noise of day

Beckons me.

This is my still spot, my quiet slice

Of life without expectations

Of grandeur or even

Mediocrity where I am

Simply me.

The dreaminess of night slowly recedes

As reality of day tickles my mind awake.

Sondie

Woohoo Moment!

2009-11-18T21:25:00.004-05:00

Not only am I excited about doing my first ever half marathon but...I am traveling with family and friends to Philadelphia to do it! Very pumped about a trip to a city I've never traveled to. Oh how I love to travel!

It gets even better. Paul David Tripp, author of several books including one I just started, A Shelter in the Time of Storm, is going to be preaching at Tenth Presbyterian Church Sunday night. Now this is a woohoo moment of life. I am giddy.

Sondie

Poetry Catch Up

2009-11-18T06:32:00.001-05:00

Prompt: Hanging

Although I rest in the palm
Of my Father’s hand
Still I cling to the hem
Of the One who
Hung for me.

Prompt: Clouds ______

Clouds of Reprieve

I never realized what a blessing
clouds could be
Not dark and dismal
But a reprieve
For the parched soil
of my soul
After roaming
in the desert heat.

Peace today,
Sondie

Poetry Challenge

2009-11-14T22:27:00.004-05:00

Prompt for today: lines

Etchings of Time

Times of laughter
Times of tears
Left many little footprints
Over the years.

Times of searching
Times of finding
No chance that the clock
Would be rewinding.

Times of life
Times of death
Full of God’s peace
With her final breath.

An ever present smile
Created a masterpiece
That only the etchings
Of time could release.

Thanks mom!
Sondie

Splotches of Love

2009-11-14T22:09:00.002-05:00

Never have I seen a child so excited over the beauty of nature than today with Erin. We were driving about an hour up the road to go shopping and she was amazed by the colorful leaves. The whole hour was spent looking at leaves and talking about colors...God's colors, God's creations. She even joked that we couldn't finish a conversation because we both kept getting sidetracked by the beauty around us. She had some very poetic phrases that I may steal.

For example-She thought all of the colors were "splotches of love"...she was amazed that God would love us so much to give us such brilliant colors.

She also pointed out the "Fall Fireworks" and thought these were more awe inducing than the fireworks that she oohs and aahs over on the Fourth of July.

Then there was the "collage of colors". She was intrigued with a green barn surrounded by multicolored leaves...a brick house behind the trees...bright clumps of leaves peeking between the pines...all of these were collages of colors.

She,being a music lover, made up a song and sang it to me...the colors dancing her head, speaking of God's love, God's creativity living within her. It really was an awesome song.

Me, being a poetry lover, made up poetry lines...ummm, with her phrases. Is it wrong to steal ideas from your children?

We had a lovely day together, lots of plans made for future fun. The more time I spend with her the more I see what a funny, smart, and artistic little girl she is. I pray I can nurture that creativity God has given her and that her heart will always rejoice in Him.

Blessings,
Sondie

Thankful Tuesday on Thankful Thursday

2009-11-12T20:18:00.005-05:00

Tuesday slipped right on by without our Thankful Tuesday posting so we decided to put it with Thankful Thursday. As Erin and I were talking about things we are thankful we both agreed on the same thing for this week...our mother-daughter breakfast this morning.

I am so thankful that I get to have time with my mom. Breakfast is a delightful way to start a school day. It is time to talk and enjoy one another.

Two of my favorite things...time with Erin and food. It gives us a special time to talk instead of just the usual morning rush to get to school and work. It is easier to get moving in the morning when are looking forward to spending time together.

We hope you are thinking of things to be thankful for as well!

Sondie

Poetry Challenge

2009-11-09T20:57:00.004-05:00

Prompt: Should ______

Should I fall?

I cling tightly to the branch, my grip weakening by the day.

Once a strong, silent green

now a vibrant, crisp orange

quickly fading.

With each wisp of the breeze my resolve weakens.

To hang on means

to live even if only

living dead.

Yet a voice in the wind keeps whispering that there is more.

To let go, to die to myself

would mean life

more abundantly.

My remains would nourish generations to come.

A life not wasted

but invested in others

eternally.

A brilliant freedom pulsed within me as I soared through the air.

Isn’t this what leaves were created for?

Sondie

PAD November Poetry Challenge

2009-11-06T19:16:00.003-05:00

Here's my attempt at today's Poetic Asides November Challenge. The prompt was to write a poem about someone covered with something.

Grace

She knew an eternity would not be long enough to remove the layers of guilt

That were suffocating her.

Thankfully, one drop of His blood would.

Covered by His blood,

Sondie

Morning Moon

2009-11-05T20:55:00.003-05:00

The moon was beautiful this week, even in the morning. My picture just doesn't do it justice. I snapped this shot while driving to work, my arm stuck up through the sunroof without any aim, just hoping to capture it with a random shot.

That would have been an interesting traffic stop..."No sir I haven't had a morning toddy. I had to dig through my purse, stick my camera out of the sunroof to get a picture of the moon, then preview it to make sure I at least had the moon in the picture, so sir-ya' wanna see how it looks?"

I thought about the moon just wanting to get a glimpse of the day before tucking himself in to bed. I imagined that he wanted to see the beautiful fall colors...to see how his counterpart Sun was doing with her role as "the daylight provider"...I imagined he sighed a contented sigh before ducking beneath the earth and thinking about what a wonderful, beautiful world it is...saying a prayer of thanks that he gets to be such an important part of it all.

Thankful Thursday

2009-11-05T20:39:00.004-05:00

I am thankful for laughter! Someone told me today that I look for things to laugh about and he was right. There are so many things around us that can bring a good chuckle. I do have an odd sense of humor and tend to see things a little differently than most...just like my mom who ALWAYS had a smile on her face.

It is my goal to find something to laugh about every day...not empty laughter just so that I can check it off my list. Real belly and heart laughs. If I get to the end of the day and haven't laughed about a single thing I realize I am on a slippery slope.

Laughter....God's natural medicine....it keeps my heart glad and my mind sane (maybe!)

PAD November Poetry Challenge

2009-11-03T20:41:00.006-05:00

I have been doing the poetry challenge at this site. Today was day 3 and the prompt was to write 2 poems-one negative, one positive OR to combine the 2 into one poem. This is what I scribbled down while sitting outside a coffee shop in the few minutes I had before picking up E from school. Not the best poetry but how I felt at the time!

Negative Coffee, Positive Day

Off work early today

An unexpected surprise.

Sunny and seventy

Great to be outside.

Tried a new coffee shop

The java was terrible.

Negative yes, but so many positives

Made it more than bearable.

Sunday's prompt was focusing on something new...this was my attempt.

Renewal

Grey corners at the edge of a blue sky

fold back like a blanket

inviting me to rest.

A new creature arises with the dawn.

Monday's challenge was to write from a different point of view such as the doctor becoming the patient. I chose to have a triangle become a circle.

Triangle vs Circle

Three sides.

Three angles.

It is who I am.

Sharp corners.

Definite boundaries.

A rigid, demanding life.

Curved line.

No angles.

It is who I have become.

Smooth rolling.

Strong center.

Life is better as a circle.

Sondie

Thankful Tuesday

2009-11-03T19:55:00.008-05:00

For the month of November I am focusing on being thankful-pretty original huh?! I also want to include one of my favorite people in the whole wide world in this thankful journey...my daughter Erin. Soooo, please welcome my Thankful Tuesday guest contributor (and first time blogger) my sweetie Petey-ENW!

For my thankful Tuesday I would like to say that I am thankful for my Grandma's ham. She makes it so juicy and flavorful! I love Gram's house especially when it is full of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Because we don't live near them it is fun to have time with my favorite people. We make memories by laughing and having a good time. They make family time fun!

Sunday-Hurricanes Game

2009-11-01T19:21:00.005-05:00

I had forgotten how much fun hockey games are...I haven't been to a Hurricanes game in at least 4 if not 5 years. A friend shared tickets with us for today's game which was a great treat. I almost didn't go, just tired from being busy, but I'm so glad I didn't give in. I love watching live hockey.

Our seats were in the VIP section so we had all the food and drinks we wanted at no charge. Wow, I felt like royalty. E and her friend got to meet Stormy the mascot, but I didn't have my camera on me. Very,very fun even though the Canes lost.

A super family fun day!

Thanks K for the tickets!

Sondie

Cherokee Lake

2009-10-22T12:12:00.002-04:00

In Thomasville Ga right now! This is where we walked this morning. What a beautiful morning and a beautiful place to walk. Cherokee Lake is at the Thomasville Rose Garden. We are staying about 2.5 miles from here so we walked 6 laps then back to C's house. Our marathon is right around the corner (November!) so it was nice to be able to get a long walk in.

We are now heading to lunch at Jonah's to spend time with C's pastor.

What a blessing to be here and to spend time with friends.

The conference starts tomorrow so if you get a chance we would appreciate prayers that God will be glorified, that women's lives and relationships will be changed!

I felt like a kid in a candy store...

2009-10-08T20:02:00.005-04:00

So I finally made it to the inner sanctum...C's studio. Oh sure the condo is very cute and homey and I really liked it, but the studio is FULL of fun things. I felt like a kid in a candy store. There were several mounds of brightly colored glitter on a tray that caught my eye. Before my brain could stop my hand, I had my fingers coated with magenta sparkles. How could I not touch it? Glitter was the coolest thing on earth when I was a kid. Still is even though I am a grown up. I am powerless when glitter is around.

Next I had my hands wrapped around Sharpie Poster Paint Pens (which I have been wanting). C took one look into my gleaming eyes and said, "You want to draw with it don't you?" I made a few swirls with several colors. Beautiful colors that just glide right on the paper. Yep, I want 'em.

Then she explained how you put stuff on other stuff...decolletage, decoupage...whatever-I want to learn how to do it. She had lots of neat things she has been putting on other neat things. What an eclectic collection of stuff I could create with!

She has lots more stuff, but that was all I had time for. I managed to drag myself out of there, but not before begging to go back to play. I'll let you know how my return to the candy story goes.

5 Words

2009-10-07T20:23:00.007-04:00

Here's my five word challenge using: pulverize cauldron sovereign forfeit shoal

Here I am. A small fish in a shoal of writers. B says, “C’mon you’ve still got time to write something.”

Hmmm. I have a writer’s block. I think. I write. I think. I write. I think about writing. I think about thinking. I write about thinking. You get the picture. A brainstorming session gone bad. My brain is wracked, my fingers callused, and still I have nothing. With each streak of lightening of brainstorming thought my brain becomes more fried…a pulverized mass writhing on the ground.

Where is my creativity fairy when I need her? Surely she can mix up something in that sparkly purple cauldron of hers…you know, a special fairy writing dust that will waft around my head. Maybe I can forfeit my sense of smell and inhale some of it…or how about my sense of taste. I can stick out my tongue to catch it like a snowflake that leaves a small cold spot when it melts. Or what if I swallow a just a tiny sprinkle? Will it work better? The dust becoming part of who I am that will give me the power to write beautiful things as long as I want.

Writing…it gives me a chance to be the creator. No one does anything without my say so. Plus I can make anyone do anything I so desire. I can be in control. But alas, this will not be the moment I can inflict my sovereignty over the masses of characters just waiting to be created.

Fat Friday

2009-10-02T22:34:00.004-04:00

This week’s Fat Friday isn’t a recipe about good food…it is about the nourishment that can only come from good times with old friends. The joy of reconnecting…nourishment for the spirit.

An impromptu gathering of friends, food, food, and more food, laughter and shared stories. A deeper knowledge of each other. Another glimpse of God, new aspects of His character revealed.

A midget in white go-go boots, hitchhiking to another state, giving a speech with underwear hanging out of a pant leg, BBQ waffle fries with bleu cheese crumbles, Starbucks ice cream, motherhood, jobs, marriage, brownies, graduation, predestination, mushrooms on pizza, smoking with Brad Pitt, continuing the party after the party stopped…God’s grace, mercy and redemptive power. There weren’t many topics we didn’t cover.

Memories shared, memories made as the threads of our lives were woven together once again.

Sam Rotman

2009-09-26T08:34:00.003-04:00

My daughter's school sponsored a concert by Sam Rotman as a fundraiser. Never have I heard music with such color...yes color. I felt like I was sitting in the center of a rainbow surrounded by beauty. The soft moist droplets of music soothed my soul and nourished my weary heart.

If you ever get a chance to hear him I encourage you to go. He shares his story which is as amazing as his music.

The only sad note was that my husband and daughter (who LOVES music) both had strep throat and had to miss it. Somehow the youtube video I showed my little one just wasn't the same as the real thing and I was sad for her. I did buy 2 of his CDs for us to listen to and had him autograph one to her so she was excited about that.

It was a blissful way to spend an evening....and the fellowship and dessert afterwards was so much fun!

Strength for Today

2009-09-22T20:09:00.003-04:00

My dad's best friend has been in the hospital and has been very,very sick...in ICU not sure he was going to make it sick. His daughter, a dear friend of our family, shared this with us. When she got to work her parking place had been taken. She had to go to the 2nd floor of the parking building and walk down the stairs. In the stairwell she saw a religious tract lying on the floor and picked it up. This is what it said:

Strength For Today
Give me strength for today, Lord
wherever I go.
Let no danger daunt me,
Whatever the foe.

Let no task o'ercome me,
No trial my heart fret.
I would walk with Thee, Lord
In the path Thou hast set.

Let no burden o'ercome me,
Give me strength to bear.
Then I shall have courage,
Whatever my care.

Let no grief o'erwhelm me,
Wherever I am.
Give me strength for today, Lord
Strength from Thy hand.

"The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1

God never ceases to amaze me.

Blessings to you.

It's All About Perspective

2009-09-19T16:03:00.006-04:00

As I met my friend early this morning to walk the buzzing hum of the leaf blower had already started. My friend asked, "Who is that already blowing leaves this morning?" My annoyed answer was, "The neighbors have their lawn men here early every Saturday morning. So much for an enjoyable quiet Saturday morning on the porch."

About an hour later when we returned the background buzz was still in action. My daughter and I decided to eat breakfast on the porch. I started to warn her that it wouldn't be a peaceful breakfast because the leaf blower was making so much noise, but before I could get it out of my mouth she said, "I want to eat on the porch because I love hearing the leaf blower. When I hear the leaf blower it reminds me that it is Saturday, my relaxing day."

Hmmm...out of the mouths of babes.

Fat Friday

2009-09-19T15:45:00.003-04:00

Here's my recipe for the week. One of the easiest recipes I've ever made. I found it doing a random search for an easy crock pot meal.

Crock Pot French Dip

4 lbs rump roast
1 can beef broth
1 can condensed French onion soup (10.5 oz)
1 bottle of beer (dark is better)

Trim excess fat from the rump roast and place in crock pot. Add the beef broth, onion soup and beer. Cook on low setting for 7 hours. I tore the meat apart and let it set in the broth another 30 minutes or so before serving.

I served it on french sub rolls (split)that I slathered in butter and baked for about 10 minutes. Put beef on rolls, top with provolone cheese and put in oven long enough to melt the cheese. Put the sauce (juice from the crock pot) in small bowls for dipping-salsa bowls work well.

Very easy and quite tasty!

Fat Friday-Literary Recipe

2009-09-12T15:35:00.005-04:00

I recently received a very cool cookbook called The Book Lover's Cookbook. It has recipes from books as well as the passage in the book that mentions the food. It is full of great quotes too. I don't know about you guys but often when I am reading a book and food is mentioned, it makes me want to try it. Now I can...very fun! The one I tried this week was delicious and I plan to make it again, but think I'll use a better cut of meat (filet mignon would be super in this). It is from Elizabeth Berg's book Open House.

Here's the passage:

I open the refrigerator, pull out the steak. I'm making Stroganoff, David's favorite. God, that's good! he said, last time I made it. You can cook, honey; that you can do. I slice the meat thinly, look out the window at the tree branches swaying in the wind. It's supposed to storm tonight. A power outage, and David stays to take care of us, how could he leave?

(C'mon now, admit it...doesn't it make your mouth water, even if you don't like stroganoff?)

Here's her recipe:

1 and 1/4 pounds beef sirloin
2 Tbs butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 large portobello mushrooms, chopped
1/4 c. dry white wine
1/4 tsp basil ( I used fresh from my plant!)
pinch nutmeg
3/4 c. milk
1 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 c. sour cream
1 12oz package spinach fettuccine, cooked and drizzled with melted butter

Cut the beef across the grain into 1/4 inch thick slices. Then cut the slices in 1 inch wide strips. Melt 1 Tbs butter in a large frying pan and brown the meat on high heat for about 5 minutes, flipping once to cook evenly.

Reduce heat to medium-high, add the onion, salt, and pepper and saute an additional 2 minutes.

Remove the meat and onions from the pan, set aside in a bowl, and cover to keep warm. Add the mushrooms and remaining 1 Tbs butter to the pan and saute for 5 minutes, or until tender.

Return the meat and onion to the pan with the mushrooms. add the white wine, basil, and nutmeg. Stir and heat for about 2 minutes over medium heat.

Remove the meat, mushrooms, and onions from the pan and set aside in covered bowl. Stir the milk and flour into the drippings left in the pan, heating over low heat until the sauce is somewhat thickened, for 1-2 minutes. Return the meat, mushrooms, and onions to the pan. stir in the sour cream and warm the mixture over low heat for about a minute. Serve over buttered fettucine. Serves 4-6.

Hope you get a chance to read the book and make the stroganoff!!

Bugged Out

2009-09-07T16:54:00.006-04:00

Something is up in the insect world...they have decided to attack a certain invader. No mercy is their battle cry.

It all started last Thursday. I was sitting on a retaining wall and noticed my purse was full of fire ants. I realized ants lived on the other side of the retaining wall but not before a few of them had bitten me. It took a while to get them all out of my purse, but I did prevail...

Until Saturday. I was getting things out of my backseat when I felt a unique discomfort on my left foot...unique to an ant bite that is. I was standing on an ant hill and boy were they mad. I slapped and jumped until all of them were off and sustained only 2 or 3 bites. A close call.. I had taken a claritin for good measure, which I never do after an ant bite,but I hoped it would keep the terrible ant itch under control which is did for about 30 minutes...

Until I developed intense itching on my legs, my wrists, and upper body. Wow, I didn't think they had bitten above my ankles. Surely I was imagining the itch. My eyes started to feel puffy and my throat a little tight. Hmmm. I decided to take a look at my itchy spots and discovered I had hives all over...red, raised, itchy, ugly hives. I drank some liquid benadryl and existed in a state between itchy and sleepy until Sunday morning...I decided to call a doctor and get a steroid dose pack to put myself out of misery.

This has worked well, but I somehow keep running into their homes. As I was walking this morning with a couple of friends I managed to walk right into a giant cobweb. I was peeling the sticky web off my head and arms when my friend L dropped the exercise balls and commanded me to stand still. Apparently the owner of the web was crawling up my shoulder, headed toward my neck. She bravely saved my life as she swatted it off. I understand that it was a huge, furry thing close to tarantula size. Safe...

Until...a few hours later as I was unpacking groceries. I kept feeling a weird sensation in my sports bra. Nah, I thought, I'm just paranoid now. There is nothing in my sports bra. I kept telling myself this for about 15 minutes when I couldn't stand the suspense any longer. I looked. I did not scream. I did jump up and down and do the bug get out of my bra dance.

What is going on here? Sure I was a usurper the first few times, well maybe the last time too. Maybe I rescued a victim from Mrs. Big and Furry's Web which is why the last bug showed gratitude.

All I know is that now I'm jumping with every little tickle.

Bugged out,
Sondie

2009-09-05T10:34:00.002-04:00

Time for fall colors!

My favorite season is just around the corner so I'm hoping it will help the renewal process of my spirit. I am doing better overall.

Now, let's see if I can get back into the blogging game. This might be fun!

Thanks for all the prayers.

Sondie

Make Over

2009-05-25T10:19:00.002-04:00

Time for a new look.

Taking it day by day as I return to the land of the living.

2009-04-23T18:43:00.003-04:00

Over and out for a bit. I may return later.

Still a Daddy's Girl

2009-03-20T20:51:00.007-04:00

I am at the time of year of my dad's journey home. I can't believe it has been almost a year. I know many of you out there have experienced the death of a parent and understand. I had no idea that there would be such a hole in my heart. I always thought that I'd be fine with it....after all I have been a hospice nurse and walked this path with others many times. I never planned on being my dad's hospice nurse though. While I wouldn't trade those last hours of my dad's life for any amount of money, they are the hours that haunt me. What could I have done differently? How could I have made him more comfortable?

There is just something inside you that feels lost with the death of a parent...Suddenly facing the world without one of your main guides...one of your first and most powerful influences. Your sense of direction... of stability... thrown off kilter. Your earthly shelter from life's storms...your favorite childhood tree now oddly fallen to the ground.

As we near Easter, I am reminded of the most special Easter of my life...last Easter when my dad made his final trip to my house. We got the CT results March 3rd and knew he didn't have long. He wanted to make one more journey, one more visit to see our new house before he died. God granted us such a gift by allowing him to feel so well that he almost didn't believe he even had cancer. He enjoyed food and visiting and talking...he sat on our back deck and told stories about his life I've never heard. Easter Sunday was a beautiful, peaceful day full of love, laughter, and memories.

A few mornings later he woke up and said that something had changed and he had to go home to die and that is what he did...surrounded by his girls...something he told us meant so much to him just a day or so before he died.

Dad told us "no snotting" when he was gone...live life to the fullest and enjoy all God's gifts, so this is what I will try to focus on.

I pray that you my friends can just bear with me as I walk through this season. I will need your love and your laughter. A few years ago I would have been too proud to ask for this, to allow this "weakness" to show, to allow myself to be vulnerable, to allow an opportunity for rejection...now I realize more than ever that life is short-a mere mist- and that some things just don't matter as much as they once did. What matters is our relationships with God, our families, and friends.

I am not an island (it has taken years for this lesson). I need each of you in my life. Thank you for the love you give me.

Gethsemane

2009-03-20T20:35:00.004-04:00

Gethsemane was not a tragedy, and neither are our Gethsemanes. This does not do away with the wounds of affliction in this life, but it is encouraging to see that behind human tragedy stands the benevolent and wise purpose of the Lord of human history. Life may be dark at times, tragedy may come, and at times the whole world may seem to be falling apart. The wheel may appear ready to crush us. But this is not the end. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love the him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28), even in Gethsemane.
from Jesus Keep Me Near The Cross-R. Kent Hughes

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

2009-03-20T20:16:00.002-04:00

The book I am using for Easter Devotionals is Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross by Nancy Gutherie. B suggested it on her blog after reading a Christmas devotional by the same author. It is very good and worth the time and money.

The Cup

2009-03-17T05:48:00.004-04:00

"And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.'" Matthew 26:39

This is what bearing our sins means to him-utter distress of soul as he confronts total abandonment and absolute wrath from his Father on the cross, a distress and an abandonment and a rejection we cannot begin to grasp.

As we watch Jesus pray in agony in Gethsemane, he has every right to turn his tearful eyes toward you and me and shout, "This is your cup. You're responsible for this. It's your sin! You drink it." This cup should rightfully be thrust into my hand and yours.

Instead Jesus takes it himself...so that from the cross he can look down at you and me, whisper our names and say, "I drain this cup for you-for you who have lived in defiance of me, who have hated me, who have opposed me. I drink it all...for you."

from Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross-C.J. Mahaney

He set his face...Easter Devotion

2009-03-16T05:32:00.005-04:00

I didn't want to ruin the Easter devotional book for B, so I haven't posted anything from it yet. I see she has started reading hers so now I will post some of my favorite passages.

"When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem."
Luke 9:51

When Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem, he set his face to die...Jesus' journey to Jerusalem is our journey, and if he set his face to go there and die, we must set our face to die with him.

When Jesus set his face to walk the Calvary road, he was not merely taking our place; he was setting our pattern. He is substitute and pacesetter. If we seek to secure our life through returning evil for evil or surrounding ourselves with luxury in the face of human need, we will lose our life. We can save our life only if we follow Christ on the Calvary road.
(from Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross-John Piper)

Is your face set?

Book Review-Adam Bede

2009-03-14T16:39:00.005-04:00

Title: Adam Bede by George Eliot
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Pages: 539

This was Mary Evans' first published novel under the pseudonym George Eliot. An amazing first novel I might add. She has an uncanny ability to paint beautiful pictures with her words as she brings characters to life on the pages. The story is packed with morality and religion, which doesn't sound very exciting, but she somehow makes the book difficult to put down. The only thing that slowed be down was the dialect, but I can't fault her for that. At the time the book was written in 1859, there weren't many novels that used this technique, which made the novel even more groundbreaking.

The story centers around Adam Bede, the hard working moral carpenter; Arthur Donnithorne, the Squire's grandson who will inherit all of his holdings; Hetty Sorrel, beautiful but vain and immature; and Dinah Morris, the Methodist minister who is full of grace and love for others. These four are placed in the center of many other characters in a small country community.

Some of my favorite lines (and there were many):

"...throwing a question over his shoulder as if he meant to run away from the answer...."

"...it is too painful to think that she is woman, with a woman's destiny before her - a woman spinning in young ignorance a light web of folly and vain hopes which may one day close round her and press upon her, a rancorous poisoned garment, changing all at once her fluttering, trivial butterfly sensations into a life of deep human anguish."

"...he was like a cock who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow."

"There again you partly deceive yourself, Adam. There is no sort of wrong deed of which a man can bear the punishment alone: you can't isolate yourself, and say that the evil which is in you shall not spread. Men's lives are as thoroughly blended with each other as the air they breathe: evil spreads as necessarily as disease."

Moral dilemmas, love, family, religion, forgiveness, grace...The story is not sugar coated with happiness and wonderful endings. It is a very real picture of choices and the consequences of those choices which ripple out and engulf so many others.

2009-03-08T21:29:00.001-04:00

I absolutely love this song!

Hillsong United - The Stand lyrics

You stood before creation
Eternity in your hand
And you spoke the earth into motion
My soul now to stand
You stood before my failure
And carried the cross for my shame
My sin weighed upon your shoulders
My soul now to stand

So what could I say?
And what could I do?
But offer this heart oh God
Completely to you

So I walk upon salvation
Your spirit alive in me
This life to declare your promise
My soul now to stand

So I'll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the one who gave it all
So I'll stand
My soul Lord to you surrendered
All I am is yours



Lyrics | Hillsong United lyrics - The Stand lyrics

Altered Reality

2009-03-07T21:22:00.003-05:00

The mind is a powerful thing. How is it that we can convince ourselves that something is reality when in reality, it isn't reality? Hmmm...mind boggling I know.

It starts simply enough. We think an abnormal thought or perform an abnormal action once, then well, might as well do it again, until it gets easier and easier...until it becomes our normal. It becomes our reality. It becomes our mind's home.

I know normal is relative and I'm not talking about relative things here. I'm talking about the power of the mind to convince ourselves that certain things are ok when they are not. A very simple example that pops in my mind is that of someone who brushes their hair with a toothbrush because they are running late and they can't find their hairbrush. Ok , bizarre, but work with me. The day gets away from them and they forget all about finding the hairbrush, there are other things more important after all, so the next morning they find themselves in the same situation.

It happens every day. We get past the tough spot and forget about it until we find ourselves in the same tough spot again. So, once again short on time in the morning, it is easier to use the spare toothbrush to brush our hair than to have to put forth effort to do any thing other than we are doing.

At what point does this become our norm? Something obviously not normal, yet it has now become somewhat of a routine for our minds. Why bother with the difficult task of searching for a hairbrush? Who needs it? It is just more comfortable to maintain our current routine than to try to force our minds to see the reality of the problem...easier than searching through the mounds of clutter that fills our mind's home.

I am at fault of this as well. My mind runs to negative thoughts that surround me like a blanket on a cold day....negative actions that caress my skin like a warm ocean breeze. To have to tell my mind to stop a thought process when it feels so good to give in. To stop acting a certain way because it takes more energy to stop the action instead of just coasting along. Who needs it? Life is hard enough.

It is just easier than trying to fight the nature our sinful minds are bent towards. It takes time and energy to search for our hairbrushes...it takes time and energy to fight our tendencies of thoughts and actions that come very naturally to us. It is easier to be the wounded one, the wronged one, the hurting one, the addicted one, than to be the God-like one. We are born with sinful natures. Makes sense.

I pray that God reveals to me the areas of my life that have become an altered reality...then give me the strength to make these areas real, Godly real, not worldly real, painful or not.

What is your altered reality?

It's going like this...

2009-03-03T20:26:00.003-05:00

Sweet tart jelly beans for breakfast...super dark chocolate cake for supper. Yep, it's that kind of week.

The Great Reconciler

2009-03-01T08:12:00.005-05:00

Last night when I was reading, the final sentence of Chapter 4 was a real soul stopper. Such a soul stopper that I had to go back to it this morning.

The chapter opened with the main character, Adam, being very angry at his father, an alcoholic who has failed to complete a promised job. His mother assures him that his father has been a good husband and father, but that the drink has just gotten the better of him. To no avail she begs him to not be so angry with his dad. Adam did not heed her words, refused to eat his dinner as he prepared to stay up all night completing the wood work his father left undone. In contrast the younger brother, Seth, speaks lovingly to his mom, does not feel or speak harshly of his dad, eats the dinner she prepared, and tries to help an angry Adam who refuses all help.

The chapter ends with a tragic death of the father...the body is found by Adam and his younger brother Seth.

He ran back to Seth, and the two sons lifted the sad burthen in heartstricken silence. The wide-open glazed eyes were grey, like Seth's, and had once looked with mild pride on the boys before whom Thias had lived to hang his head in shame. Seth's chief feeling was awe and distress at this sudden snatching away of his father's soul; but Adam's mind rushed back over the past in a flood of relenting and pity. When death, the great Reconciler, has come, it is never our tenderness that we repent of, but our severity.

May we allow God to live in our hearts so fully that there is not room for severity.

Sweet Spot Friday

2009-02-27T05:32:00.003-05:00

Have you tried Sweet Tart Jelly Beans?

I'm not a big jelly bean fan but I do enjoy sweet tarts, especially the chewy ones, so these jelly beans are a hit with me. Finally jelly beans I can feel good about buying!

Have a sweet Friday!

Have You Had Your King Cake Yet?

2009-02-23T21:34:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow is the last day for King Cake!

We had our King Cake tonight and it was so exciting! This is only the second year I've had King Cake so it has not been a long standing tradition, but I love traditions old and new.

From what I have read about this tradition the baby hidden inside represents the baby Jesus. The excitement is in the search for the baby. It is symbolic of the three Kings having to search for the baby Jesus so many years ago. If you find the baby you are entitled to special privileges, but you also have the obligation to supply the next King Cake. Some cultures have this as part of Christmas celebrations, but here it is part of the Mardi Gras season. I read that King Cake is not available until Jan. 6th and that some people have weekly King Cake parties up until Mardi Gras.

The little girls were thrilled to have the beads and gold coins from the top, but they were more thrilled when we decided to eat the whole cake so that we could find the baby. It was a rather festive time with laughter and excitement as we kept eating and searching. After eating the whole cake (yummy) we still did not find the baby. Wonder what it means if your cake was sans baby? Wonder if one of the girls was eating so fast she ate the baby? Wonder if the bakery worker was having a bad day and left it out on purpose...I can hear a wicked laugh as she was boxing it up...."Ah-ha-ha-ahahahahh! I have the King Cake Power!"

Of course, in reality it is meaningless, but oh what fun! Happy Mardi Gras!

Making Mud Pies

2009-02-22T21:04:00.003-05:00

The sermon at church today encouraged us to serve an audience of one...doing the right things for the right reasons. A sermon like this does make you question why you do certain things. Do our acts of kindness or our service (ministries) fulfill a need for approval, keep our egos fortified? When we serve, do find ourselves feeling frustrated when no one tells us how helpful, wonderful, smart, talented, giving-fill in the blank- we are?

It boils down to this: our reward comes from whom we serve. If we seek man's pleasure then his words are our reward. If we seek God's pleasure our reward is in Heaven. Hmmm... temporary or everlasting? What am I after? If we do things for the right reasons we aren't offended when others don't recognize our greatness. If we do things quietly, just letting our lights shine out of love for God, then we are doing things for the right reasons, for the right rewards.

Pastor Dean used a quote from C.S.Lewis that struck me. Lewis likened our desire for man's praise to a child making mud pies in the slum, content with this, when what the child is really being offered is a holiday by the sea. OK, now I'll be the first to admit I Loved Making Mud Pies in the Holler! BUT, if I had realized I passed up a chance for a trip to the beach I would have been put out with myself.

Think about it. Man's praise is like mud pies...in my mind fun while it lasted but oh the mess it made...and if you didn't have indoor plumbing, oh how long the mud stayed. Didn't feel so good dried and cracked on the skin you missed as you swiped over it with a cold washcloth.

Oh how easily pleased we are by man.

My prayer is that I find my significance in Christ alone...and you as well. We certainly won't please all people all the time (trust me, I've spent years learning this the hard way with many sleepless nights) so why not just try to please One...God.

May you find the center of His will and live there.

What Happened to February?

2009-02-22T20:59:00.003-05:00

Hey, has anyone seen where February went?

My Grandfather's Journals

2009-02-20T13:10:00.005-05:00

I never knew where my love of journaling came from until recently. It turns out that the only other person in my family who we know journaled was my grandfather Graham. He was my mother's father...yes the one who orphaned her when she was barely a toddler...stories of him from several different people have portrayed him as quite an ungodly man.

I spent January engrossed in them, living in 1927 and then the last of the 30's and early 40's. We have about 12 years of his life recorded. They have been amazing to me for many reasons, but one is that we never knew this man and my mother's memories of him are not good. He is a complete stranger to me, yet I feel like I have gotten a chance to know him. Yes, he certainly had a dark side, but there was also a side that struggled with a relationship with Christ.

As I have read them I have "watched" the progression of a man home from the war, newly married with his first baby, making a place for himself, to one who allowed bitterness and several different women to lead him along a path of many frustrations. A man of gritty determination given to long hours of work, yet one who at times prayed nightly with his family. A man of great worldly success but little success with demonstrating love for his children. From his determination to buy a new Ford and teach himself how to drive and care for it to the man who wrote the letter to the local orphanage asking them to take my mom who he couldn't figure out how to care for...from his work as an engineer and politician to his being a man who fancied women to the point of being a doormat as they used him for his money...from his being a man of the world and all it could offer to the man who wrestled with the offers of God.

Through these journals I have been given the only picture of my amazing grandmother Pearl I have ever seen. A copy of an old black and white, with her head turned a little to the side. She was diagnosed with a "female" cancer when she was 39 and pregnant with my mom. She died when she was 42. Her life was a legacy that is still talked about in her hometown...not who she was in a worldly sense, but who she was in Christ. God's love was so alive in her life that whenever anyone mentions her name it is not without a testimony of her walk with God. As far as I know she did not journal...her life was an open book in and of itself.

My twin stayed with me this week and saw the picture for the first time. Young, blond, the picture of health sitting in front of the boarding house they owned with 5 small children (my mom wasn't born yet). I have heard my mom looked just like her and that I look just like my mom. Susie and I have had many great discussions about their lives, our legacies. Thoughts of Pearl and Nelson have played in the shadows of my mind all this week.

These journals have changed the way I am journaling and have compelled Susie to start journaling more. After reading Upsidedown B's post a little while ago, I have to agree with her. We are little history makers and how awesome for our children to know that God was the most important part of our stories... His Story. It has been exciting to not only read about the daily life of my grandfather, but also to know that God was a part of his story...my grandmother did not live to see it, (no mention of him seeking God until after Pearl died) but her prayers have long outlived her. At least now I have hope that his soul was at peace with God when he died where before there was none.

Favorite February Scripture

2009-02-20T12:53:00.002-05:00

I read these verses early in the month and have found myself clinging to the forgiveness and love they call us to time and time again. I tried to share this verse with a friend one snowy night and was unable to recall the words. I have not memorized them, but have clung to the message within.

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy, and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Colossians 3:12-15

May God's love and forgiveness be so real in each of us that it is absolutely uncontainable.

Coins in the Meter

2009-02-15T20:07:00.007-05:00

Where does the time go? The weekend is ticking away and I can't believe it is just about over. I try to put lots of coins in my meter so I am recharged for the week. It was a weekend packed full with fun things and special people...the coins that make life more joyful.

Hope you got plenty of coins to put in your meter this weekend.
Have a joyful week!

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T17:26:00.000-05:00

Hope your day is filled with sweet things!

Book Review #6-If You Lived Here I'd Know Your Name

2009-02-14T16:38:00.004-05:00

If You Lived Here I'd Know Your Name by Heather Lende
Pages: 281
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This book is an enjoyable quick easy read. Heather Lende incorporates stories about other people from Haines, Alaska as she tells the story of her life. Since she is an obituary writer there is a lot of death so be prepared for that, but she is humorous and uplifting to read in spite of this. There is much to be learned from death...much to celebrate in life that we often take for granted.

I did have hopes that there would be many pages to dog ear, many passages with great pearls of eloquently stated wisdom. While I enjoyed it a great deal, I was a little disappointed by the lack of depth. This is the reason I gave it a 4 instead of a 5.

Here are the three passages I marked:

Wild places are reminders that the world doesn't revolve around us. It doesn't care about our little successes or smashing failures. The tides ebb and flow and the seasons change regardless of how we live or die.

All these great old dames make me want to be like them when I grow up. I want to spend my life in the same place with the same friends and, after all those years in the same community still surprise people.

Only adults weep with joy. Children don't. They haven't learned how rare moments of true happiness are.

Happy Friday!

2009-02-13T05:55:00.002-05:00

Saturday Night Fun

2009-02-08T07:59:00.002-05:00

Erin and I met friends at the local theater last night for this play. The three performers did a fantastic job...talk about energy. That was the hardest I have laughed in a long time. They involved the audience several times which Erin enjoyed. Although she wasn't too sure about shouting the line our section was supposed to shout, "Cut the crap Hamlet..."

Key Mystery Solved

2009-02-08T07:53:00.003-05:00

So, I got a call at work on Thursday..."Hey, I'm at your house and I'm wondering if you still have the keys?"

A very happy friend indeed when she heard I still had her keys.

Scarf anyone?

Have you lost your keys?

2009-02-02T18:58:00.002-05:00

We haven't had any random objects appear at our house in about a year. It looks like it is time for the mysteries to begin again.

Have you lost your keys? Really, I'm serious. We found a set of keys at our house. Looks like house keys, maybe a suitcase key, office keys, and a key faub. If this sounds like your key ring that you can't find give us a call.

Also, we noticed paper towels and a magazine label. A hint, your initials are JZ and you live in Southern Pines. We'd love to meet you. You may be wondering how your stuff ended up in our living room as well. Are the keys yours perhaps?

I have had the biggest laughs over this. So far none of our usual suspects have claimed the keys, paper towels, or magazine label. We never have figured out where a lot of the random items came from last year and this may be chalked up to more of our unsolved mysteries. (It would be interesting to know who the sheriff from Texas was!) If the mysteries ever stop I think I'd be bored. I'll have to pay someone to plant things then.

Also, there is a nice scarf on the wicker couch on the porch. I'll leave it there in case you want to pick it up.

Happy Monday!

Book Review # 5-Cry, The Beloved Country

2009-01-31T10:33:00.005-05:00

Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Pages:312

What a powerful, beautifully written book! I couldn't put it down. The main character, Pastor Stephen Kumalo, is a courageous and honorable man who goes to Johannesburg in search of his sister and son. His journey is one of the heart that continues even after he returns to his home.

One of my favorite parts:
...one breaks into a hymn, with a high note that cannot be sustained; but others come in underneath it, and support and sustain it, and some men come in too, with the deep notes and the true. Kumalo takes off his hat and he and his wife and his friend join in also, while the girl stands and watches in wonder. It is a hymn of thanksgiving, and man remembers God in it, and prostrates himself and gives thanks for the Everlasting Mercy. And it echoes in the bare red hills and over the bare red fields of the broken tribe. And it is sung in love and humility and gratitude, and the humble simple people pour their lives into the song.

It is a story about how much we need one another, how much we need God, and how to endure everything in between.

Friday!

2009-01-30T06:07:00.003-05:00

Whew!

A hectic week coming to an end. I had places to be every evening this week so at this point I'm not sure if I'm coming or going. I'm thinkin' that I should be going, yep pretty sure I have co workers who will be on the look out for me. Nice to have a job and great people to work with.

Have you made God smile this week?

Happy Friday to you.

Crooks and Crannies

2009-01-28T06:15:00.002-05:00

"The only way we can be of use to God is to let Him take us through the crooks and crannies of our own characters." Oswald Chambers

I read this quote at CWO (link on my sidebar) in a great post by Angie. It is worth the time to stroll over there and read it.

The crooks and crannies of my character? I will ponder this, and all the neat boxes I've put in my storage space, throughout the day.

Prayers for God to take me through the dark places in my heart so that healing and renewal can dwell there instead. He stands ready, waiting...for each of us.

Book Review #4-The Coffee Trader

2009-01-25T14:10:00.003-05:00

The Coffee Trader by David Liss
Pages: 384
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This was a first read by this author. This historical fiction is based on entrepreneurship in the 1600s...specifically on the coffee trade and the Dutch influence on the rest of the business world, including the present day business world. The Dutch developed new methods of trade as they were coming out of a war of independence with Spain which was about all they were left with.

I found the history of coffee intriguing especially (it is one of my most favorite of drinks!) and it had a few connections with another book I recently finished...The Botany of Desire (review #1) which talked about the tulip trade and how the Dutch market flourished for a time because of this flower.

The main character, Miguel Lienzo, a Portuguese Jew living in Amsterdam, got a little exasperating with his repeated bad choices, but somehow I found myself cheering for him and hoping against all odds that he would be successful. There were so many underhanded schemes that at times I lost track of who was plotting against whom. It all got figured out in the end though.

Reading Outliers (see review #3) at the same time did add to the story. I found myself looking for things based on ideas from Outliers that made him a success even while others failed.

Book Review # 3- Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

2009-01-25T13:49:00.002-05:00

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Pages: 285
Rating 4 out of 5 stars

This was my first Malcolm Gladwell read. He is a very thought provoking writer and is able to get clearly state his message. This book looks at people, events, failures, and successes from a unique point of view. He investigates successful hockey players, computer gurus, airplane crashes, why IQ doesn't also equal success, and many others and discovers the unique reasons for them all.

One of the things I liked about it was that he did not discount hard work as a common denominator, yet this alone was not enough. Birth date, time, place, chance, environment, culture, heritage...well, all these things do matter sometimes more than we realize.

Very insightful, but I did find myself skimming some parts.