Christmas & Crafting

Christmas was a little different this year, as we went to Nebraska to spend the holiday with Christopher's brother and his family (they have a little one who was born at the end of October, and he was still too little to travel). Regardless, it was really nice to get to decorate our home knowing that we are going to be here next December, as well.

You see, we've never lived in the same place two years in a row - so every year, it's a matter of finding new homes for decorations and merry-making items.

Surprisingly enough, I didn't wrap many presents this year and I didn't take any pictures of the ones that I did. It was kind of an off year because I didn't have my normal warm-up wrapping at my parents' house. It was nice to be able to use that time for some other things (some of which you can see over at our renovation blog, http://mercuryreno.blogspot.com), like a ton of crafting and reconnecting with Scripture.

Our camera is fritzing, so I've been taking pictures here and there when I feel like putting up with it for a while, but I realized after Christmas that I didn't take pictures of all of my projects like I probably should have. They included:

• A sizable counted cross-stitch pattern of a family of wolves (bought approximately 10 years ago for my dad), that I picked up when our power went out in October and continued because (though I was supposed to) I never went back to work in November as planned. I'll try and grab a picture of it the next time I'm at my parents' house, where it now lives.
• A few stuffed foxes for friends' little ones. Some turned out better than others, but it was kind of tricky because the actual stuffed animal was much smaller than I had anticipated and a little more complicated to sew because of its size. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), no pictures. I used this pattern: http://matsutakeblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/electrified-fox-lamp-tutorial-and.html
• Earrings. Seriously, earrings? I never thought I'd see the day when I would make jewelry, but a co-worker gave me a bag of pretty cool beads, so I thought I'd see what I could do with them. I learned a bit about endcaps and spacer beads, bought some tools, and went to work. These are some of the ones I kept for myself, but I made something close to 20 pairs to spread around amongst various friends. Again, some turned out better than others, but it was a great learning experience, and I look forward to learning more.

• I created an Advent calendar after looking for several weeks for a decent one with which I could do what I wanted - what I wanted apparently doesn't exist. Nobody does a full four weeks, just in case Advent goes a full four weeks (which it did this year). And they all have Santa on them, which is silly because Christmas is about Jesus and not Santa. In the end, I covered a piece of cork board with some fabric and printed off little triangles with names of God and readings from the Book of Common Prayer for each day. It's a little awkward to take them off and put them back on, but it'll work until we figure something else out. Regardless, it helped me remember that Advent is the anticipation of the Savior - and that is always something worth pursuing. The picture I have is bad because I packed it away already, but I'll hopefully get a better one next year.

• Back in September, I started cutting out felt in anticipation of our nephew becoming a big brother. Due to my job, it took until November to finish the cape and get it shipped to Nebraska, but it turned out pretty well, in my opinion. Not bad for a first go at clothing.
  I adapted it from this tutorial: http://pukingpastilles.com/?p=57

 

• Earlier in the fall, we were also trying to find a way to put the people we pray for in a place where we could go and see them and spend some time in prayer. I finally settled on stringing a bunch of ribbons across the walls of our littlest bedroom and using clothespins (some decorated, some plastic) to hang up slips of paper with names. It's been pretty cool, though we've often had a house full of guests - meaning that we don't go in there as often as we would like. When we've prayed for a name, we take it down and put it in the box until all the names are down for a particular row (one row each for the girls and boys from the youth group and one row for friends and family members) and then we put them back up.

• I also made myself a new cover for my Bible because I got sick of how I had rigged my last one to close; this one's a little easier to manipulate, and I really like it. It's amazing how you learn so much from mistakes you make the first time you do things...

All in all, though, it's been a neat season to see what I can make with my hands. I've been frequenting a lot of DIY/lifestyle blogs and they always make me want to make something or try something different with what I have. Pretty cool.

I got a few crochet books for Christmas so that I can teach myself some new patterns, and I'm hoping to learn a bit more about quilting this year and make my way through some of the stash that I've had for a few years now in anticipation of such an occasion. I recently rearranged closets in our bedrooms, and finally got all of the crafting supplies into their own arena, nice and tidy.

Easy to find stuff = easy to work.

Got lots of books for Christmas, and I'm excited to start in on them once I'm done with L.M. Montogomery's "Emily of New Moon" series.

Listening to: On the Altar of Love, downhere
Reading: Emily Climbs, L.M. Montgomery

For the Love of Books: 2011 Reads

Books I read in 2011...

Sink Reflections

Marla Cilley, 2002

Knowing God by Name: A Personal Encounter

Mary A. Kassian, 2008

   This simple study (I've used it as an opening devotional) is so great, I've just finished my second trip through the content. It's a great way to get to know the names of God, as well as more deeply process what that means for me as I try to know better the God whom I serve daily.
    If you're trying to purchase a copy, go through Lifeway (either a store or online), as it's only $11.95 for a new copy. People on the Amazon marketplace have some strange conception that a book still available is worth $90 on the second-hand market.

The Swan Thieves

Elizabeth Kostova, 2010

   Kostova's first novel, The Historian, was incredibly executed in its combination of history with its suspenseful plot. I'm working my way through her follow-up, which has been reviewed as very similar in style (and is, in my brief time with the book thus far).

   The way in which Kostova weaves several seemingly separate stories together is magnificent. Remembering the outcome of her first book, I find myself examining each piece of narrative for clues as to what is really happening as Dr. Marlow (psychiatrist) seeks to uncover the root of his patient's madness (the near-mute artist, Robert Oliver), as Kostova traverses the landscape of artists and styles that marked 19th century French culture.

When God Writes Your Love Story

Eric and Leslie Ludy, 2009 (Expanded Edition) 

The Princess and the Goblin

George MacDonald, 1872

The Fitting Room: Putting on the Character of Christ

Kelly Minter, 2011

No Other gods: Confronting Our Modern Day Idols

Kelly Minter, 2008

Water into Wine: Hope for the Miraculous in the Struggle of the Mundane

Kelly Minter, 2004

Chronicles of Avonlea

L.M. Montgomery, 1912

Emily of New Moon

L.M. Montgomery, 1923  

Further Chronicles of Avonlea

L.M. Montgomery, 1920

 

The Story Girl

L.M. Montgomery, 1911

Spectacular Sins

John Piper, 2008

    Chris and I read this on car trips, one chapter at a time - because it generates some really great, purposive discussions. It's an interesting (and short, which is unusual for Piper) examination of how the great sins of people in the Bible were meant to display the greater glory of God. It may be short, but it's deep. Super-deep.

Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy, 1877

   Since Christopher has been listening to this in the car, I picked up a copy for myself to read (since I both cannot process by listening and I'm not with him most of the time that he's listening). Best $9 I've spent in a long time.

   The book is long (750+ pages in the Barnes&Noble Classics version), but it is easy to get swept up in the picture of Russia that Tolstoy created - and even easier to be entranced by the implications of cultural change and the march of progress. One of the best narratives (whether intentional or not) of the idea that "desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death" (James 1:15). Incredible. 

One Thousand Gifts

Ann Voskamp, 2010

   My beautiful sister-in-law, Elise, sent me this book. I assume that means she has read it and suspected it would speak to my soul! I'm not very far in, but it is already the cause of some stirrings in my heart - a heart that has been somewhat dormant, bitter, and felt forgotten for some time.
    I'm still adjusting to Voskamp's unique style (very similar to Madeleine L'Engle's Crosswicks journals, which are some of my favorite books - but still a very unique style that isn't found in much, so it takes readjustment). I'm also trying to get myself to look past the fact that the text is left aligned and not justified... but that's because I'm a huge dork.

God is not a cashier at a fast food restaurant... (Though I have been waiting here for a while and I'm still waiting for my order)

The other night, Chris went to his high school's homecoming football game and I stayed home to recuperate a bit from some difficult things that I had taken in over the course of the day/week/month/year (it's been a little rough recently).

Thinking that taking some time to think included not making my own dinner, I ventured the mile up the street to a fast food restaurant, went inside, and placed my order at the counter.

Now, there were definitely other customers, but it's not like the place was swarmed. After placing my order, I filled up my drink cup at the beverage station and settled in to wait for my food.

About 5 minutes went by, which was fine (I'm willing to wait a bit if need be), and I noticed that one or two of the customers who had placed orders before mine were still waiting.

Another 5 minutes went by, so I went and re-filled my drink cup (because I'd been drinking my fizzy beverage since I started waiting). Still no food.

By now, though, I'm starting to realize that customers who ordered after me have gotten their food and moved out of the ordering/receiving area. But I still wait, thinking that maybe there was just an issue with that particular food and maybe they ran out of chicken temporarily or whatever.

And then another 5 minutes went by (we're up to 15 minutes now) and I realized that all but the two or three most recent customers had all received their food orders. Then the kid next to me (maybe he was in college) asked me how long I'd been waiting.

When other customers begin to notice that you've been there a while, there's a good chance that something went awry, so I went to the counter and politely told the cashier that I'd been waiting 15 minutes for my order and had yet to see or receive it.

Upon hearing this, she promptly went and grabbed my food order from the kitchen and handed it to me in a paper bag, and I returned home and ate it.

And as I ate my now not-so-satisfying bag filled with lard, I realized that what I had experienced in the fast food restaurant was a pretty acute metaphor for my life as of late - starting with the fact that I felt forgotten.

It struck me because I had been trying to explain to both Christopher and one of my friends earlier in the week (and in the day) how I felt, and I came up with a word (abandoned) that I knew didn't quite convey my feelings accurately, but for which I didn't possess a better alternative.

It's a weird concept, especially when you throw in the words "feel" and "by God." Because, let's face it - God's plans are not up for grabs at a fast food counter. You don't just go up and place your order, wait the prescribed amount of time for your next life season to fry in a tub of oil, and then take it home with you. It doesn't work like that. God doesn't work like that.

Nonetheless, I'm trying to root out this mentality when it comes to my expectations of God and His interest in and interaction with my life.

I feel like I placed my order 15 minutes ago, and I've seen people get theirs ahead of me and understood that they got here first and waited their allotments of time, but now people who arrived after me are getting theirs, too - punk kids, the geriatric crowd getting their milkshakes (I actually happen to love that older people go to get milkshakes together - I totally want to be like that, but that's not at all my point here), and others who are pretty similar to myself.

But the thing is, I'm still waiting. Sipping my fizzy beverage from my drink cup.

And, you know, I've started to get a little impatient. I'm eager to get my hands on that nice hot slice of deep-fried life. It just never comes.

And then I go ask again.

Of course, this is where the analogy breaks down, because God is not the cashier at a fast food restaurant, where the customer is always right and helpings are served up almost instantaneously if only you let them know that something didn't happen quite as it should have.

God is always right. Huge difference.

The thing that I'm really trying to work into my head, though, is that in the waiting for this big portion of life, I too easily skip over the blessing of the fizzy beverage sitting in my hand. It's easy to complain when it's there for too long and your hand starts to be incredibly cold, and you forget that you've already received part of your order - even if it's not the piece that you think you need.

I too easily forget the many blessings that God has given to Christopher and me over the past year. It has not been easy, and the fight to keep my life out of the prison of depression has been incredibly difficult in ways it has never been, and the fight against my flesh more intense and more acknowledged. I've been wearied by our circumstances. I miss people who have passed into the glorious presence of our God and who have moved out-of-state. I'm even back at work hoping to pay off some things that accumulated in the wake of Christopher's accident and buying a house (and those pesky student loan repayments that start up in February or whenever).

But God has greatly blessed us and been faithful. We might still be waiting for our order, but He's given us drink cups to fill and be refreshed in while we wait:

• Christopher's surgery and rehabilitation went well, with no permanent nerve damage, and he's already back to doing most of the things he loves best
• We are happily settled into our home, which was impossible from the start, but for which God cleared every hurdle and answered every prayer for help with finances and remodeling after Christopher's injury, and in allowing it to be a place where we can welcome others
• I finished my coursework for my grad program (though that thesis is still pending)
• Our summer with Mpact was incredible, and included a great conference, encouraging meetings with the youth, and a study of Galatians that was challenging
• Christopher's job and coaching have continued, despite budget cuts statewide to educators
• We have gotten to spend quite a bit of time with both of our families
• When life finally settled down in September and I realized I was bored for the first time in months, I set out to find a job - and had three offers within a week

My spiritual drink cup is overflowing with gloriously sweet and fizzy beverage. I'm just struggling to see it for what it is because it's really cold and kind of sticky on my fingers, and it's not exactly what I wanted most out of the order I placed. I know I'm still waiting for what I ordered, and it might feel like things got lost back there behind the counter, but I'm trying to trust that it isn't the case. The God I know and love doesn't forget people - sins, of course, because Scripture tells us that, but not people.

And so, when you see me sitting around still waiting for my order, could you encourage me to just enjoy the unlimited refills on my fizzy beverage?

Because it's one thing to feel forgotten by God and another entirely to believe it.

Reading: Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
Listening to: Odd Soul, Mutemath; Vice Verses, Switchfoot

A Night Owl's Growing Convictions on the Importance of Daylight

"I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness." (John 12:46)

I woke up at 2:38 this morning with an incredible headache. And I'm not sure why, but a headache is one of the few things that actually will get me out of bed in the morning and keep me there. Perhaps that is why God allows me headaches in the night. Perhaps not.

Regardless, I took something and went back to bed, and slept for approximately three more hours. Considering that I only slept for a total of about five hours (and most of that was intermittent), it's quite an amazing thing that I'm not still in bed at the moment. I don't often function on five hours of sleep.

After letting the dogs out and putting the kettle on to boil water, I settled in with my Bible and the study I'm using as an opening devotional (since I completed it a few years ago and want to review some of the incredible truths that lie within - "Knowing God by Name" by Mary Kassian). I read my day's worth from the One Year (I'm in Leviticus and Mark, I think). Leviticus normally excites me, which I'm well aware of as being strange, but it just wasn't hitting me in the heart this morning as I emerged from my headache-induced fog.

As I sat there, I pondered over something that I prayed while Chris and I walked through our neighborhood the other night - that I hadn't thanked God for the season that He has just walked us through - and the following verse popped into my head (thank you, nearly 10 years of summer Bible camp):

"In everything, give thanks."

Which of course led me to the question, "Where the heck is that passage?" and "What around it might give me a better understanding of what that means?"

Amazingly, I still remember that reference pretty well (not a normal occurrence - the references are always the difficult part for me). I flipped open to 1 Thessalonians 5 and spent the next few hours steeped in the wonderment of trying to figure out verses 4-24, and what they mean to me.

But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

There are more than a few things that I took away from this passage as convictions for my own life, but I'll only highlight a few (to avoid an even longer post, but perhaps I'll share more at another time).

The first is simply this: I need to belong to the daylight.

I have long been a 'night owl' and have attempted to justify my life in that respect. It is easy for me to stay up all night as long as I make it past midnight, but I rarely do anything that is worth doing so late. Now don't get me wrong - I understand fully that the meaning implied here is more metaphorical than literal - but I think (at least in my case) there's an actual reason for the metaphor that can be applied to the way I think about life.

It hit me this morning that there is a stillness in the early morning, just as there is in the middle of the night - but it is more glorious. The stillness of the night is magnified because I can see clearly what lies around me, and I am less apt to dwell upon myself and more apt to see myself in the light of who God is and what He has made me to be.

Additionally, I came to the realization that people live in the daylight. If my aim in life is to cultivate relationship with those around me in the hope that we each might each be justified and sanctified by the blood spent on the cross on our behalf, I can't expect that to happen when most people aren't awake or available! It is difficult to "admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, [or] be patient with them all," if I am not part of the daylight when opportunities to do so are most likely to present themselves.

How easily I have catered to my flesh, attempting to rationalize my need to sleep for (up to) half of the day because I didn't get to bed until late after having done little (if nothing) of sufficient worth for which to remain awake!

Part of why I think I struggle to "hold fast to what is good [and] abstain from every form of evil," is that I cannot see through the darkness. This can be metaphorical for me, as I have periodically battled with depression, but I think it can still be literal, as well.

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (John 3:19)

The society in which we live glorifies the darkness. When reading the verse quoted in the last paragraph, I found myself wanting to know where the loopholes were for "every form of evil." It is easy to think that my life must contain evil things because the culture in which we live is evil. But we deceive ourselves if we think we cannot abstain.

Darkness is striving into the daylight, and what was once hidden in shame is now socially acceptable to be seen and known. Let us not be deceived, for God will not be mocked - we will reap the destruction of sowing to our flesh (Galatians 6: 7-8).

The beauty of it all is this:

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5)

In truth, the darkness cannot overcome it. What a marvelous thing! The glory of the risen Christ will always drown out the darkness. He is greater.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9) 

Peaches & Recipes!

In honor of all the lifestyle and food blogs I've been gravitating toward lately, I digress from my usual program to bring you this:

I love Colorado peaches. Having spent many of my summers growing up on the Western slope as the crops came in, I'm all sorts of supportive for peaches and sweet corn.

So I purchased some peaches when I last went to the store, and we've been enjoying them. Sometimes right out of the fridge (cold and refreshing) and sometimes like this:

And sometimes like this:

We love peach crisp. Tasty stuff, especially fresh from the oven with a bit of (or a lot of) vanilla ice cream...

Seriously, though, we're enjoying our new kitchen and have been trying to eat at home more. A few examples include carnitas in the crock pot (left) and honey chicken (right). Both are modifications off of recipes - the carnitas comes from a slow cooker book recipe for shredded beef, but I use pork and whatever peppers/chilies I can find, and the honey chicken is a Rachael Ray recipe, but with a lime-for-lemon juice substitution and some bell peppers for added flavor (and we don't make the rice the way she does - just white for us, please).

If you're interested, you can find the Rachael Ray recipe here:
http://www.grouprecipes.com/18248/honey-chicken-over-snow-pea-rice.html


The Reynolds' Carnitas
(based on "Shredded Beef for Tacos" from Fix It and Forget It, p. 126)

4-5 lb pork roast, scored deeply on top (if smaller, just decrease veggies)
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
1 cup water

Mix & match chilies based on desired heat level:
(Last time for us - mild chilies and four jalapenos, as we couldn't find serranos)
2 serrano chilies, chopped
1 can (small - 4 oz, I think) mild chilies
2 seeded green jalapenos
2 seeded red jalapenos

Grease slow cooker (I prefer an olive oil spray, as it's easy) and add meat (scored side up), onions, chilies, garlic, salt, and water. I prefer to put all of the veggies together before adding them in, but it shouldn't make a difference in the outcome. I just make sure that they fall into the scoring, so the flavor seeps in through the middle of the meat as well as the outside.

Cover. Cook on High 6-8 hours. You can also cook on High for 4 hrs and then turn it to Low for 4 hrs - totally up to you.

Shred meat with forks. Put into tortillas with sour cream, cheese, rice, beans, lettuce, salsa - whatever your heart desires really. Leftovers are great for quesadillas, tacos, and a variety of other tasty foods.