God has a plan!

“God told us the secret of what He wanted to do. It is this: In loving thought He planned long ago to send Christ into the world. The plan was for Christ to gather us all together at the right time. If we are in heaven or still on earth, He will bring us together and will be head over all.” Ephesians 1:9-10 NLV

Reality TV shows are fun to watch. One of my favorites is "Chopped," a cooking show where four chefs compete for a $10,000 prize.

In each round there are four items in each chef's food basket, some unusual, some crazy and some normal items. They must choose what they will prepare and how to do it almost instantly as the items are revealed. I mean, really..., how can you incorporate gummy bears into a beef main dish? I'd have to think about that for quite awhile before starting to cook!

Then the fun begins as the clock starts ticking and they go to work creating their restaurant quality appetizers, main course and desserts in a short period of time.Usually something will go wrong - something burns, a key ingredient gets prepared, but left off the finished plate or they are working so hard and fast that they forget to season it properly.

At the end of each round, the dishes are judged on taste, creativity and presentation by a panel of three celebrity chefs who chop the least successful contestant from the competition. In the last round, one of the remaining two chefs is selected as the chopped champion.

While I enjoy watching it, I know I could never compete like that because my brain just doesn't work that fast. Whenever I do something, whether it's making a craft, cooking a meal or putting together a lesson for youth church, I have to have a plan. Then I have to plan how to execute my plan. And of course, I have to follow my plan. LOL!

Thankfully, God doesn't make up his plan for the world on the spur of the moment as time whizzes by. He lovingly thought things out and planned every detail of our lives as well as the details of the universe a long time ago. At just the right moment of time, he sent Christ to earth to fulfill that part of his plan. And he's still working to orchestrate the final phases of his plan to bring us together with him, with Christ as the head over all.

It's exciting to watch as God's plans for our lives come to fruition. We may have some nail-biting moments as we watch it all come together, and it may seem like it won't work, but the fact is, he has everything under control Unlike the chefs on "Chopped," every bite of God's plan will work perfectly with no failures or inedible results!

Thank you Lord for being in control of my life and of the world around me. Even when it seems chaotic, help me to trust your wisdom and your plans. Amen.

Kraut in the crock - NOT!

“But first, be concerned about his kingdom and what has his approval. Then all these things will be provided for you.” Matthew 6:33 GW

While talking with a friend the other day, I learned that his wife wanted to make sauerkraut this year - the wonderful, old- fashioned kind that ferments in a large earthenware crock.

I heard myself telling my friend, "I have one of those crocks. Does your wife want it?" No big deal - I didn't use it anymore because I had found other ways to make my kraut that were easier for me than dragging out that heavy old crock.

The inner battle to let go of "stuff" started as my inner critic began sputtering, "You can't give that away. You might need it. You used it this year to make relish. What will you use in its place?"

I ignored the inner critic and dragged the heavy thing out to clean it up for my friend. But just then, an overwhelming need to make sauerkraut one last time in the crock hit me. Since I planned to make some kraut this year anyway, I bought several pounds of cabbage.

But thankfully, reality also slapped me up beside the head and I figured I would do the kraut in small gallon-jar batches like usual because they were more manageable for me. The big crock was not!*

The whole incident did get me thinking. There's a lot of things I keep that I don't really use - maybe it's time to clear out the extra "stuff." Not only will my house be easier to care for, but others may be able to use the "stuff" I don't need any more.

In my spiritual life, I also need to clear out "stuff" that I've been holdoing on to like emotional baggage, fears, ineffective ways of coping, etc., that I don't really need that may be hindering me from walking closer to the Lord. By putting him first, he makes my life more manageable by providing just what I need instead of all the clutter that builds up to separate me from him.

Father, help me to keep my eyes on you for the things I really need. Amen.

* Click here for the recipe for making sauerkraut in jars

Living wisely...

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Ephesians 5:15-16 NLT
Did you know that a recent government study estimated that about 1 pound of edible food is thrown out for each man, woman and child in the US each day? In 2010, 33 million tons od food waste was generated in the US - second only to paper waste in the landfills.

Thant's a staggering amount, especially considering that 5% of that wasted food could feed an additional 4 million people each day!

Simple changes in the ways we buy, store and prepare food, can cut the amount of food waste generated each year.

Here's some ideas to get you started:

- When shopping, we buy economy packages of meat which I divide and freeze into meal-sized portions as soon as I get home. By cooking only what we need, we don't waste as much.

- If I have leftovers, we eat them for lunch the next day. If there are too many leftovers, I make TV dinners from the leftover portions. These are great for evenings when I don't have time to cook a hot meal or for Dear Hubby (DH) if I need to go to take care of the grandkids.

- Sometimes I will put the leftover meat and veggies into a freezer container When it's full, I have enough to make a nice batch of broth or cream based soup.

- There are only 2 of us at home now, but DH still likes an occassional piece of cake for dessert. So I bake a cake and cut it into individual portions, freezing what we won't eat. Later we can pull out one piece at a time which satisfies the sweet tooth and keeps us from throwing out half a stale cake.

- There's often tons of leftovers at church dinners, including coffee. The coffee can be frozen in ice cube trays and stored in gallon plastic freezer bags. Take out a few cubes and nuke them for a minute for a single cup of coffee without making a whole pot. It's as good as instant coffee.

Several years ago, my sister-in-law gave me over a bushel of pears - tiny pithy ones that were too hard to peel and can. So I made a yummy pear butter from them rather than throw them out.

Recently I came home from a picnic with several bags of sandwich buns. They had been frozen once and would get dried out too much if refrozen, so they were headed to the landfill. I broke them into pieces, added seasonings, onions and celery, then baked a large batch of stuffing which I cut into meal-sized portions to serve with some frozen chicken breasts I had. Yummy!

One of our local markets occasionally gives away over-ripe bananas. When I get the chance, I take several bunches and freeze them to make large batches of banana bread later.

While I wish I could say I never wasted anything, over the past few years I have tried to be wiser about using my resources. I love finding new and creative ways to reduce, reuse and recycle food items as well as other things.

Lord help me to apply these lessons to all areas of my life - to be wiser and less wasteful in the use of my time, money and talents as well as with our food! Amen.

Tomatoes and more tomatoes

Be glad you can do the things you should be doing. Do all things without arguing and talking about how you wish you did not have to do them. In that way, you can prove yourselves to be without blame. You are God’s children and no one can talk against you, even in a sin-loving and sin-sick world. You are to shine as lights among the sinful people of this world. Philippians 2:14-15 NLV

Last weekend, I bought a half bushel of Roma tomatoes to make and can spaghetti sauce. I haven't canned sauce for a while so I had forgotten what a big job it is. About halfway through the process of blanching and skinning the tomatoes, I realized I was grumbling to myself about all the extra work I had taken on. I didn't have to buy those extra tomatoes or make sauce - after all, I still had lots of tomatoes in my garden which would ripen over time. I could freeze them and make sauce later when it was cold outside.

The more I complained to myself, the harder the job seemed to become. My back started to hurt between my shoulder blades and I felt really tired. But then I decided to put on some praise and worship music so I didn't have to listen to myself complain.

As the music seeped into my soul, the job became easier and the tight muscles in my back relaxed a bit. No - not because the job had become easier, but because I had a change of attitude. I remembered why I wanted to make all that sauce; how good it would be to have a taste of summer in the dead of winter and to have some to share with my children who had families and jobs that prevented them from canning.

After I got all the tomatoes in my big roaster to cook, I remembered I needed to run some errands. On the way home, I ended up at a roadside farm stand where I bought another half bushel of Roma tomatoes to make more sauce.

No, I'm not a glutton for punishment. I know the amount of work that lies ahead. But because I can already see, smell and taste the goodness, I'm motivated for the work ahead. This time I'll start the process with praise and make the big job a lot easier!

Lord, help me to do everything without arguing and complaining. Thank you that a spoonful of praise makes everything easier! Amen.

Relish

“But each day the LORD pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.” Psalm 42:8 NLT


Yesterday I finished a marathon 2-day canning project – homemade Relish!
My Mother-in-law taught me how to make her recipe many years ago and it is so much better than the commercially made product. It’s a combination of

• 20 pounds of cucumbers
• five pounds each of peppers (red and green), onions, cabbage and green tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp. each of mustard and celery seeds
• 3-4 Tbsp of turmeric
• 1-2 cups of sugar (to taste) sugar
• 1 quart each of vinegar and water.

On day one, the veggies are ground up and salted, then left to stand overnight. The next day the excess water is squeezed off the veggies until they are almost dry before cooking them in the fresh water and vinegar-spice mixture.

I have changed things up over the years. For example, I don’t stand over a hot stove and cook the mixture for one and a half hours. After I burned a batch a few years ago, I decided to let my crock pots do the cooking! The crock pots keep the mixture moist and I only have to stir things up occassionally while they cook for 4-5 hours on high. Sure it takes a bit longer, but I’m free to do other chores while the pots do all the work. LOL!

This year’s batch was about 2/3 the size of the recipe, but I ended up with 14 pints. I thought it would be enough to last for 2 years for my husband and I, but when I told my daughter about the relish, she immediately said, “I gotta have me some of that!” Oh well… I guess I can always make more next year.

Relish is a condiment – not something people usually eat by itself, but something they use to help enhance the flavor of other foods. I love the thought that God can make me into a condiment for his use. He takes all the trials and hurts that I’ve gone through and adds lots of learning experiences, interactions with others and a little heat to make me into a person who will add just the right touch to help to bring out the best in others.

It may be a marathon process, but I suppose God loves the process just as much as he loves seeing the finished product all ready to enjoy – just like I enjoy making and seeing my relish all canned on the counter!

Thank you Lord, for my relish and for preparing me to spice up the lives of others. Amen!