Friday, July 6, 2012

Is it almost over??

At this moment, I'm referring to the heat.  It's HOT. But you probably know that. If you didn't, I apologize for interrupting your blissfully sweet ignorance.

The husband and I have been working on a project to help relieve some of the discomfort of being oustide.


Any guesses yet? How 'bout this...what needs a level surface??


Pics of finished project to come later. :-)

Projects are not easy.  (Especially when it's 105 outside...) Projects with other people are even harder.  Eighty-three differing opinions, and none of them even begin to cross paths. Whether it's building something or making life choices, there's really only one opinion that matters. 

Your wife's. 

Just kidding....well not really...lol.

Seriously though, the only one that really matters is the Lord.  He knows how everything needs to work to accomplish all our goals. He has the blueprints. 

Doesn't it seem sometimes that He's trying to hide them from us?? I'm not the only one right? I think it's perfectly acceptable to say, "What's up, God? Am I just completely missing something???"

Chances are, yes.

Figuring out what that is takes patience, persistence, love, joy, peace,....sound familiar??  He has given us all that we need, but He isn't a magic genie in a bottle. Sometimes it takes time; and, yes, sometimes that really sucks. But don't give up!!  (I'm basically preaching to myself here.)

So when it's hot outside, and you just can't take it anymore, pull out the crockpot so you don't put anymore heat into the house.  Metaphorically speaking of course. *wink*



Don't give up.

Adapt. Live like you belong to the person who wrote the blueprints.  Or recipe in this next part.....

____________________________________________________________ 

Did I mention it's hot?

I haven't turned the oven on in quite some time.

This morning I had to process some ground beef.  I pounded out several patties and froze them for burgers sometime later. I also decided to make some meatballs. :) I froze those too (uncooked - we'll see if that was wise).


But I had leftover meatball mixture....What to do?!?


Again the answer is...the crockpot.


Open a can of crushed tomatoes. Or whatever you have.


Add some spices so it doesn't taste really awful.


I used salt, pepper, a bit of sugar, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, dried oregano, and an Italian seasoning blend.  Nothing fancy, just stuff from my spice cabinet. :) 

This is my go-to spaghetti sauce recipe. I think it taste better than store bought. And cheaper too!  I usually dice a small onion and saute it with a few garlic cloves (chopped) before adding the tomatoes, spices and herbs. But you do whatever you want to do. Tonight, it's super quick, no extra heat in the kitchen, meatball night!!

Now stir everything up. Then plop in bits of the meat.  Yes, plop.  OK, you could roll them out and gently place in the pot. I plopped them.  In misshapen hunks of deliciosity. 


Now cover with sauce.


Put a lid on and enjoy! Well, I'd let it cook first. Just sayin'.

A few hours after I put this on I remember I had some mushrooms in the fridge. So again, I adapted my plan.  I sliced a few and through them in the pot too!

I wouldn't turn the heat on high for this dish, unless you were eating in a couple of hours. Slow and steady wins the race, right? Unless it's the hundred yard dash, err....  Once again (again), adapt.  Whatever you need.  :)

Now I have to head back home.  I'm thoroughly prepared to walk in the door and be greeted by not only the dog but the wonderful scent of supper! Yippy skippy!! (Think I should bring that back?)

Monday, July 2, 2012

When everything lines up....

Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, God is trying to tell you something??  Unplanned, Sunday school, the church service sermon and Bible study all had the same message yesterday.  At least to me.  Of course it wasn't the same exact word for word message, yet everything complimented everything else.  I'm not gonna get into all the details. That will be for another day.
The idea that was present in all things was this - focus on the Word of God.


Fill yourself with it, and it will overflow into your life and the lives of others.

If you see someone in need, it's probably because God has put them in your path for a reason.  Help them.  If you simply can't - acknowledge them. Let them know someone cares.

Now obviously, we can't possibly help/solve every problem we see or hear about. We'd run ourselves ragged....and quickly.  That's why we have to work together!

You do your part. You do what God tells you.  At the same time though, we have to believe and trust that God is telling the next person what they should be doing.

Everybody working together.  Some people are feet, some hands, some eyes, ears, livers....Get the idea?  We all have different parts.  BUT WE ALL HAVE PARTS!!

As Paul says, it is not works that save us.  Though according to James, without them, you claiming to be a Christian serves no purpose! Sure, you'll get to heaven.  But will you have brought heaven to earth?


Heaven

On

Earth.

 That's the point.  That's why we were created. God wanted heaven on earth.

He gave it us.
We gave it away.
He got it back.
He gave it to us again....

What have we done with it?

My challenge to you isn't see how hard and long you can cry over the misery in the world, it's to do something about it. Start with one thing.

Yep, one thing.

Talk to the cashier at Walmart who is probably having a worse day than you.  After all, he/she has had to talk to a LOT more people than you have.  Start small.  Pay it forward. Just help one. Then go help somebody else. :)

If you're like me, you've asked God to put somebody in your path to help.  When He does it though....well, have you ever chickened out??

I have never of course.

That might be stretching the truth.  Okay, so I just threw truth under the bus...happy?

The wonderful blessed thing about God is that is soooo willing to give us another chance.  That situation might be over, but He's got more!!

Listen to him.  Be moved with compassion.  Jesus got His name in writing for doing it.  :)