Category Archives: Things to ponder….

People, events or things that cause one to stop and think.

Reflections

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It’s that time, when I reflect on the past year. I began 2015 with no particular expectations for the year. It became the year to conquer fear. Or should I say, turn my fears over to God.

By March, I found myself on a new trajectory. I would be going to Haiti in June. This newfound knowledge was surrounded by much fear and trepidation on my part, yet I knew it was a trip I was supposed to make. I had fears about my personal health; my ability to withstand the heat and humidity; letting go of pride to ask others to partner with me and greatest of all were the words a wise elderly woman spoke to me when she said, “These trips change people. You will never be the same again.”

Those words were frightening to me. It had taken many years for me to learn to accept and appreciate myself, and my life. Now I was hearing, I would never be the same. What would that mean, and would I like the person I would become?

As I prepared for the trip, I watched God graciously erase each fear before I arrived at the action part. The departure date arrived and I was ready to go. The trip itself was amazing. All I’ll say, is if God is asking you to step out and do something like this – then GO.

I was changed! Changed in the best possible way. At the end of the year, my husband received some medical news that created some uncertainties in our life. Fear was not part of this time. When I stopped and reflected on this, I was surprised! The old me would have been fearful and anxious. The new me was able to go about the required actions, procedures, tests and waiting, resting in peace.

Though I’ve been a child of God for years, I’m ending 2015 with the following refrain from “No Longer Slaves” having new meaning for me:

I’m no longer a slave to fear

I am a child of God.

 

A Nurse, I’m NOT!

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As a young child, I idolized my second cousin Joan. She was a nurse. I was sure I wanted to be a nurse, like her. I stuck by that dream until I was 16. Something happened during the year to make me realize I had no tolerance for seeing others in pain, or even seeing things I perceived as being painful.

Over time my sensitivity to issues requiring medical attention increased. As I had children, I could attend to their cuts and bruises as needed, if no one else was around. If some other able body were in the vicinity, I would get hot, and then dizzy, rendering me worthless in dealing with the problem. The other adult would dress the injury. With things bandaged up, I could attend to their other needs.

Fast forward, now I’m home with a husband requiring attention to a surgical wound. YIKES! I’m able to get the initial bandage off. But the gauze around the drain tube is stuck. I feel myself getting hot, and my head getting lighter. I back off and sit down.

The good news is, my being a wuss about medical things is no surprise and we both laugh about it. He references how funny he thought it was listening to the doc telling me the things I would have to do at home.

After taking a break, I get the old bandage removed. Photo the site and the pictures off to the doc. Hubby is enjoying the break from having is neck all bandaged. I’m not enjoying his freedom. The sight is unsettling for me. We work together and get the bandage back around the drainage tube.

The phone rings. Doctor’s office calling. He has to take this call. Then he asks me to make some calendar adjustments. When I’m done, he’s completed his taping up of the new bandage.

Why this happens I don’t understand! Intellectually I understand what needs to be done and why. Yet when it’s time to take action, my mind doesn’t respond the way I need it to.

 

 

In God’s economy, nothing is ever wasted.

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I’ve been helping one of my dear friends pack up her house to prepare for a move to another community. It has been my pleasure to watch she and her husband embark on this adventure. They’ve lived in this valley for so many years. They raised their children here, owned businesses, know many people and have more memories of this place than I can imagine. Yet, they heard God say it was time to move.

I heard she told her son how thrilled she is to have someone help with the packing, one that had moved many times with the military. Wow! I think so seldom of those years and when I do, my thoughts are of places I traveled to or people I met who impacted my life. The rigors of packing, moving and unpacking are not high on those memories. Yet God in His infinite grace makes something out of what we may perceive as nothing. I’m honored that a friend can use something past, which seems like part of another life, today.

Brown Sauce with Chicken

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This will become a new favorite at our house!

We enjoyed a new great new sauce last night and a new way to fix chicken. (no photos – I had no idea how great it would be.) The chicken was a golden brown, and the sauce was flavorful with a touch of freshness.

Here’s the how to instructions. Please note, when cooking meat, I rarely measure ingredients, so feel free to play with the quantities.

Wash chicken cavity and sprinkle with salt and Herbes de Provence. Then stuff the bird to capacity with fresh rosemary and parsley.

Place the chicken in a roaster pan. (I use one of those old blue-flecked ones.)

Dot the chicken with a small amount of butter.

Mix together:

  • 1 Cup of brown stock
  • about 2 teaspoons butter
  • about ¼ Cup red wine

Spoon a small amount over the chicken now and again every 30 – 45 minutes until chicken is done..

Cover the roaster pan and bake in a 350° oven.

When the chicken is cooked to your satisfaction, remove from the pan and let sit for at least 10 minutes before carving.

Mix any left over liquid with the drippings in the pan along with the juice from 1 lemon. (You could thicken this for a more traditional style gravy.) We just heated it and served it over potatoes and the meat.

What yummy flavors!

Haiti – Lesson 1: Perfect Love Casts Out All Fear!

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simple fishing boat
simple fishing boat

The Sunday I felt God calling me to go on this Haiti trip with Poured-Out left me filled with many fears. Previously, I would have used all those ‘fears’ as the reason to just stuff the thoughts and go on with life. I was just finishing up a Bible study with an amazing group of women on discerning the voice of God. We were on the lesson about God’s expectations when you hear from Him. Simply OBEY. Yikes! Knowing the truth and not complying is sin.

I asked a friend if she would go with me. She said yes. So with much fear, I signed up for the trip and started praying about the adventure and what God would have.

Without going into tons of details, it is safe to say my list of fears was long. Some of the issues were:

  • all the necessary shots and drugs I would need to take for this trip
  • having to ask people to partner with me on this adventure, both financially and in prayer
  • how my personal health would fare in this hot humid environment
  • the bugs in Haiti
  • and the list goes on

What I found was one at a time, as I turned to God in prayer I was able to see my fears listed on a sheet of paper and each one was slowly being erased from the list.

In Haiti, I realized as I had turned my thoughts to Jesus and what He was asking me to prepare for and focusing on those aspects of the upcoming trip – He was working to take care of each of those issues.

  • Before I had even started my partnering letter, a friend ask me to make sure she got a copy because she wanted to help support me on the trip. Her gesture was huge in giving me the confidence to write my letter and contact others. The generosity of those partnering with me was also huge and I’m grateful and have been greatly blessed.
  • The shots and drugs were taken with no adverse affects.
  • Though I was in an extremely hot, humid environment – and I know there was mold present as I could see it even on some of the plants at the compound where we stayed, I experienced no impact to my respiratory system.
  • Yes, I used insect repellent and sunscreen and was only mildly bitten by the bugs there.

When Jesus is the focus and you are worshipping Him and focusing on what He wants you to do, there is no room for fear.

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

It is my prayer, that God our Father will continue to work His love in my life. May He do so for you also!

Go. Learn. Love. HAITI — The Short Story

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I arrived home about 4 am today.

It was an amazing week! I’m still sorting through all the different thoughts and emotions involved in experiencing something so totally different from my life routines.

Market Day
Market Day
Rural Farm House eager for their filter install.
Rural Farm House eager for their filter install.

There were 14 team members, 3 team leaders, and 3 translators working together in the Torbeck area, Okay Region of Haiti.

We installed 50 filters.

Yes! 50 filters.

What does that mean?

Each filter can process approximately 20 gallons of water a day.

That creates a potential of 1,000 additional gallons of safe drinking water available each day to improve the quality of life for the people of this area.

Lovely Haitian Girls
Lovely Haitian Girls

More info and photos to follow…

GO! LEARN! LOVE! — Haiti is the place.

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Go Learn Love is the motto our church uses for our missions programs. Haiti is the place in June. This week I completed the last of the immunizations I need before leaving on this exciting trip.

Thank you! Those of you who have been praying for me, and the team – God has been answering your prayers. He has been erasing my fears one at a time and building my confidence about this trip. He has also been building relationships between team members. This last Sunday as a group, we did a fundraiser. We fixed the after church brunch, provided music during lunch and had a great time working together. Lunch was a success! The money earned from this effort will be distributed between the team members. Then we had a Skype session with one of the folks from Poured-Out giving us more detailed information about our trip. June will be here before we know it!

I’d like to thank those of you who have graciously contributed to my expenses for the trip. I have about a month left and a small amount to raise to cover my trip expenses, and am confidant God has this under control. If after praying about this, you feel God is asking you to contribute to this great effort, please private message me so I can provide you the necessary information.

It will be my pleasure to share the adventures of this trip with you.

Stay tuned…

I pray blessings to each of you, who have been supporting this trip through your prayers. I believe God will use your prayers and financial support in a mighty way.

Seasoned Roasted Carrots

Things to ponder....

Last night I took vegetables to a dinner. I was in the mood for roasted carrots and wanted something different from what I’ve done in the past. After reviewing several different recipes, I came up with a solution. The veggies were a hit! Everyone thought I had sweetened them, but NOT!

If you want to WOW someone with a simple dish try this…

DISCLAIMER: I rarely measure anything unless I’m baking, so the measurements are estimates. Do not feel you have to rigidly stick to them. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Put in a bowl:

1 – 1½ pound peeled carrots, cut into three inch pieces and then cut into wedges.

Mix together:

  • 3 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter
  • 1 – 1½ teaspoon coriander
  • ¼ – ½ teaspoon cumin
  • ¾ – 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ – ¾ teaspoon ginger
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Pour the butter mixture over the carrots and mix well.

Line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper.

Spread carrots on pan and bake for 30 – 45 minutes. After 15 minutes turn the carrots. Check again at 30 minutes and turn. You want to cook the carrots until some of them start to turn brown.

Serve and enjoy!

An Interesting Dilemma to Ponder…

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I recently read an article from the Washington Post about millennials who nix their parents’ treasures. I can see aspects of this story from both sides.

Several years ago, my husband and I performed a major downsizing effort to move west. It was an interesting experience. We have a large gaggle of adult children. Of things we wanted to find new homes for, some of the kids took a few things. We were surprised at several large family pieces we had no takers for. We sold those pieces of furniture, as they were not going to fit in our new life. It was a bittersweet revelation to us. Sad the heritage of the pieces won’t be maintained. Proud our kids could make those decisions and not take the pieces they didn’t want or couldn’t use just because they thought it would please us.

For us, or at least me, the downsizing project proved to be unbelievably liberating. We kept things with the most meaning to us, and things that would fit in our new home. It’s been good for me to travel lighter and have fewer things. Others who have gone through a similar process also talk about the freedom, which comes from shedding stuff. Perhaps the younger generation has it right. Hold onto things lightly and embrace life.

Yet I wonder if they may someday recognize the loss of some of the things they’ve passed on. We do genealogy research, so we have many photos, scrapbooks and family historical information. I have framed my great-grandfather’s original citizenship paperwork. There is only one original. I hope it will have value to someone in the family, as it is part of our roots as Americans. But I don’t know.

I’m sensory. I enjoy visual pleasures from art and photography; the fragrances of food cooking, flowers blooming or even autumn in the morning air stir me to life; the sounds of wind blowing through the tree leaves adds another dimension to the meaning of autumn for me; holding a book and actually turning the pages is part of the story coming to life; enjoying an old piece of furniture or dishes I remember seeing my grandmother use takes me back in time to her kitchen. Can one savor all those emotions without some of the things from those times?

For clarification – I do believe embracing life and all it has to offer is of far higher value than clamoring after ‘things’.

I look forward to some fun discussion. I don’t think there are any ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers, just different perspectives on this topic. Now for the questions:

1. As the parents, we aren’t ready to part with all those things yet, so how do we discern which things those kids might want later?

2. If you don’t want things, what method do you use to save memories for later enjoyment?

3. Are things of historical value important to you? Why? or why not?

4. How do you embrace life?

Have a great day — and enjoy life!

My Opportunity to Give Back…

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Living out west has given me a totally different appreciation for water and how important it is for life.

Something broke within me this year when watching a video of a mission trip to Haiti with Poured-Out. I’ve prayed for and supported others on specific mission trips as God has guided me, but I’ve never before felt the call to actually go on a mission trip. All that changed this year.

I’ve learned that in Haiti, it’s estimated 1 in 5 children die before the age of 10 due to dirty drinking water. I have the opportunity this summer to be the hands and feet of Christ for these individuals in Haiti. I will be traveling to Haiti with a group from our church, ‘The Orchard’ to partner with Poured-Out. We will be installing water filtration systems and sharing the love of Christ with individuals in desperate need. Our focus will be in the rural areas of Haiti reaching the communities and people who have not yet received aid and desperately need clean water.

As my friends, it will be a blessing to share the adventure with you and I’m asking for your help. Please pray for each member of the group. You can especially pray for me that I will trust God to help me overcome my fears and see His glory in this trip. Above all, pray God would be glorified throughout this journey. I’m expecting great things and consider it an honor to be able to serve beside other believers to help improve living conditions in this area. I also hope the local people will witness the love of Christ in our actions. Poured-Out is a nonprofit organization focused on under-reached communities across the globe in need of clean, safe drinking water. Their current focus is in Haiti, where the need for water has grown exponentially since the 2010 earthquake.

In order to be a part of this opportunity, I need to raise $1800, which will cover airfare, insurance, room & board, the purchase of a BioSand Filter for a family, and travel while in Haiti. Please pray and if you feel compelled to help support this missions trip, please message me for the details. If you are not able to help out financially, please be a prayer supporter. I believe that God will use your prayers greatly!

Expect to see periodic updates leading up to and after the trip. Thank You for your Support through prayer, finances, or both.