This morning I read a warning in Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon. The warning was for those who grumble against what God has afflicted them with. Or the way Mr. Sprugeon puts it "a murmurer".
"A word with thee,O murmurer! Why shouldst thou murmur against the dispensations of thy heavenly father? Can He treat thee more hardly than thou deservest? Consider what a rebel thou wast once, but He has pardoned thee! Surely, if He in His wisdom sees fit now to chasten thee, thou shouldst not complain. After all, art thou smitten as hardly as thy sins deserve? Weigh thyself and discern how much dross is mingled with thy gold: and doest thou think the fire too hot to purge away so much dross as thou hast? Doest not that proud rebellious spirit of thine prove that thy heart is not thoroughly sanctified? All his corrections are sent in love to purify thee, and to draw thee nearer to Himself."
Oh, what conviction! How many times I grumble and complain about the trials God has sent my way, big, or many more times, small. Sean and I were just talking about this yesterday!
He then continues, "But if thou wilt murmur against the chastening, take heed, for it will go hard with murmurers. God always chastises His children twice, if they do not bear the first stroke patiently."
Then, as my habit, I read the chapter from which the verse in the devotional was taken. Today it was Numbers 14. It is the story about how Israel complained to God because of the giants in the promised land. They wanted to go back to Egypt. They wanted to stone Caleb and Joshua for reminding them to not rebel against the Lord.
God chastised them and made them wander in the desert for 40 years, one year for each day the spies were in the land. God told them that everyone older than 20 would die in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb, the faithful men who did not doubt God's promises even in the midst of trying circumstances.
Many times the "fire" that purges the dross (icky, bad stuff that's not gold) is hard to bear. But it is sobering to think of this example from the Old Testament and comforting to remember that God chastens those he loves. It is also helpful for me to remember that the end result will be a strengthening of my faith which is worth more than gold.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
Happy Birthday Christina!
An unauthorized blog by Sean....
You remain the most beautiful woman I've ever met.
And to think, I got to MARRY you! Yippeee!!
Happy Birthday, Sweetie!
I Love You!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
My Church History
My first memories of church are more like snapshots in my mind. My parents got saved, married, and pregnant with me all in the same month. So I entered the world into a new Christian home in the middle of the "70's Jesus Movement". There is a picture of me riding a pony with a big button that says "ONE WAY". My mom always laughs about the friend who embroidered "REPENT" on her newborn's outfit. When people leaned over to see the baby and say how cute she was, they got the message!
I have a little tea cup with the 23 Psalm that my pastor's wife gave me when I was very little (preschool I think). I used to call her grandma and her husband "Bunkie." He pastored an Evangelical Free Church in northern California. And their grandson went on to pastor the EV Free Church near where we live. "Bunkie" has gone to be with the Lord, but my parents have fond memories of him and are very thankful for the guidance and love he gave to them when they were young believers.
My parents moved to a different town and to a charismatic church that had no denominational ties. (I don't think it is in existence now.) They shepherded a small group. I remember running around with a dozen other kids on summer evenings picking cattails, eating plumbs till we were sick, playing Mother May I? and having a great time while dad and mom had Bible Study! We had pot lucks and Christmas parties. I saw my parents giving time and money to a single mom and showing hospitality. I have great memories of Care Group!
Doctrinally, I'm not sure what this group believed. They eventually folded having gone very astray. But at the time I remember regular Bible stories in Sunday School, but not very regular church services. People danced in the aisles and spoke in tongues all throughout the service. I remember feeling a lot of guilt over what was being taught. There was a lot of emphasis on works and not much on God's grace. I remember feeling very uncomfortable with all the emotion that was displayed in church. And I remember being pressured to speak in tongues. I was told to "practice" like any other second language. Toward the end, I remember being isolated by girls who spoke in tongues, but were disrespectful to their parents and living in rebellion. Looking back I know God protected me from a lot of worldly influences with that particular group of girls. The girl who was my best friend during those years claims to be an atheist now. A few got pregnant. Some of the boys ended up in jail. There were only 12 of us in my class.
I had been going to that church's school. I got a great academic education, very similar to a classical education with Latin and all! But, the girls had gotten openly hostile toward me since I didn't listen to the kind of music they liked or want to read "How to Loose Your Virginity by the Time You're 16." Seventh grade was a lonely year for me and one where books became my best friend. I got lost in Little Women, Swiss Family Robinson and the Secret Garden.
I was very relieved when we switched schools, and churches. My parents took us to an IFCA Bible Church. Most of the kids were in my new school, no one did interpretive dances during church ( I actually like interpretive dances in the right setting), the theology was more mainstream and things were not as chaotic. I started to learn more foundational truths. I was baptized at this church after having spent a summer hearing the same pastor give the same sermon series three times! (Once as a camper, and twice as a camp counselor!) It was on Daniel and standing up for Christ and not being ashamed to call him Lord. We were in this church until I left home and went to college.
Away from home at college, I started attending a Baptist Church. I got involved with teaching Sunday School, singing in the Choir, participating in a small group (not a college one), and playing in the hand bell choir. I enjoyed the liturgical service and the hymns. When I was stalked by a homeless person, one of my professors who was an elder in that church let me live with him and his wife for a month until the restraining order was put in place. It was also the first church where I heard about "Predestination". At that time all I had were questions, but not really any answers.
During the same time, I became involved in the campus ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. I went to a Bible study in my dorm, and learned a lot about discipleship. IVCF sponsors quite a few retreats during the year to help students grow spiritually. I took advantage of as many as I could, going to Catalina Island to study the gospel of Mark, Michigan to study the book of Exodus and learn about leadership, Urbana, Illinois to learn about missions, and the yearly Camp Sugar Pine retreat. Some of the friends I made during those years are my close friends still today even though they now live far away. I met Sean during my last year in college and we were married a month after I graduated.
When Sean and I got back from our honeymoon, we moved a few towns away from the Baptist church. Right before we got married, the senior pastor left the church and divorced his wife (or the other way around) which for some reason caused a split in the church. We decided since we had moved, it was a good time to start over and look for a new church.
It didn't take us long to settle in the church we have called home for the past 11 years. The day we visited, the pastor preached on the importance of having scripture be our highest authority. (This seemed to be the heart of the problem with the Baptist church. Many were appealing to the church constitution, others were saying that it didn't agree with scripture.) Sean and I liked that the pastor preached expositionally, the teens that we saw were sitting next to their parents and taking notes(!), and there was a kids choir and lots of young families.
They had just started a young married's group and we had just gotten back from our honeymoon! The elder in charge of the group had a real care and concern for all us young folks, opening up their home and their hearts to us.
Over the years the group changed as kids were added, but there was a real sense of community and we were growing though Bible studies together. Sean got involved in the worship team playing conga drums, piano, and bass guitar. The kids loved going to A.W.A.N.A groups, and I started a MOPS group.
Then things started changing. The vision for the church went in a different direction. The pastor started preaching more from "books" rather than expositionally and it appears he intentionally dumbed down his sermons. Some decisions were made by the elders that seemed to come out of left field. Sean made several attempts to talk with the elders and wrote a couple of letters. He was very discouraged with the way things were handled by the leadership. And the way that the church ministered to the kids took a dramatic turn toward entertainment and "virtues" rather than teaching the gospel and discipling in foundational truths of scripture.
So we have been looking for a new church this past year and a half. In the middle we went back to the church we used to be a part of because it seemed some of our concerns had been taken care of and the kids really missed it.
This last November we finally cut the cord. The kids were sick a lot so I didn't go to church for at least two months. But God in his goodness, led me to a church (actually in the same town as the Baptist church), where I could listen on-line. That is the one on my sidebar. The pastor has a passion for the gospel. He is a dynamic preacher and I was so blessed by his series on Jonah. It's nice too because I got to listen to the whole series. Jonah is a short book! But, the church is too far away for our family. Sean actually went to check it out and thought that musically, he would not fit in either. So I trust that God has something better for us.
For the past 2 months we have been attending an EV Free church (the same one "Bunkie's" grandson used to pastor!). The pastor there now, preached a few Sundays ago on the sovereignty of God. He is going through Titus. Verse one talks about God's elect or chosen. So he spent the entire sermon walking us through God's sovereignty as shown in all of Scripture in all areas including salvation. I was so encouraged! Although I've read more on this since college, and come to believe "reformed" theology more, I still learned so much. Evan and Amy are learning too,about who God is, His attributes, in Sunday School.
The pastor used to fly P-3 planes in the Navy. I have no idea what that means, but my husband and son sure do and spent 30 minutes after church the first time we were there talking theology, P-3 planes, homeschool and Washington D.C.
Amy and I went to a ladies' tea there a month ago. I was so blessed! I was encouraged to keep Jesus my "best " friend. I was reminded that God is sovereign in all areas of life, including friendship. That means times when I've had no friends too! And I was urged to develop my friendship with my husband. The theme was friendship, can you tell? And you know what? The ladies there were super friendly!
So here we are now. I don't know if this will be a church that we will be able to call home. But for now, I'm thankful for their faithful teaching of God's word and the blessing that it has been for me and my family.
And if you read all of this, thanks for hanging in there!
I have a little tea cup with the 23 Psalm that my pastor's wife gave me when I was very little (preschool I think). I used to call her grandma and her husband "Bunkie." He pastored an Evangelical Free Church in northern California. And their grandson went on to pastor the EV Free Church near where we live. "Bunkie" has gone to be with the Lord, but my parents have fond memories of him and are very thankful for the guidance and love he gave to them when they were young believers.
My parents moved to a different town and to a charismatic church that had no denominational ties. (I don't think it is in existence now.) They shepherded a small group. I remember running around with a dozen other kids on summer evenings picking cattails, eating plumbs till we were sick, playing Mother May I? and having a great time while dad and mom had Bible Study! We had pot lucks and Christmas parties. I saw my parents giving time and money to a single mom and showing hospitality. I have great memories of Care Group!
Doctrinally, I'm not sure what this group believed. They eventually folded having gone very astray. But at the time I remember regular Bible stories in Sunday School, but not very regular church services. People danced in the aisles and spoke in tongues all throughout the service. I remember feeling a lot of guilt over what was being taught. There was a lot of emphasis on works and not much on God's grace. I remember feeling very uncomfortable with all the emotion that was displayed in church. And I remember being pressured to speak in tongues. I was told to "practice" like any other second language. Toward the end, I remember being isolated by girls who spoke in tongues, but were disrespectful to their parents and living in rebellion. Looking back I know God protected me from a lot of worldly influences with that particular group of girls. The girl who was my best friend during those years claims to be an atheist now. A few got pregnant. Some of the boys ended up in jail. There were only 12 of us in my class.
I had been going to that church's school. I got a great academic education, very similar to a classical education with Latin and all! But, the girls had gotten openly hostile toward me since I didn't listen to the kind of music they liked or want to read "How to Loose Your Virginity by the Time You're 16." Seventh grade was a lonely year for me and one where books became my best friend. I got lost in Little Women, Swiss Family Robinson and the Secret Garden.
I was very relieved when we switched schools, and churches. My parents took us to an IFCA Bible Church. Most of the kids were in my new school, no one did interpretive dances during church ( I actually like interpretive dances in the right setting), the theology was more mainstream and things were not as chaotic. I started to learn more foundational truths. I was baptized at this church after having spent a summer hearing the same pastor give the same sermon series three times! (Once as a camper, and twice as a camp counselor!) It was on Daniel and standing up for Christ and not being ashamed to call him Lord. We were in this church until I left home and went to college.
Away from home at college, I started attending a Baptist Church. I got involved with teaching Sunday School, singing in the Choir, participating in a small group (not a college one), and playing in the hand bell choir. I enjoyed the liturgical service and the hymns. When I was stalked by a homeless person, one of my professors who was an elder in that church let me live with him and his wife for a month until the restraining order was put in place. It was also the first church where I heard about "Predestination". At that time all I had were questions, but not really any answers.
During the same time, I became involved in the campus ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. I went to a Bible study in my dorm, and learned a lot about discipleship. IVCF sponsors quite a few retreats during the year to help students grow spiritually. I took advantage of as many as I could, going to Catalina Island to study the gospel of Mark, Michigan to study the book of Exodus and learn about leadership, Urbana, Illinois to learn about missions, and the yearly Camp Sugar Pine retreat. Some of the friends I made during those years are my close friends still today even though they now live far away. I met Sean during my last year in college and we were married a month after I graduated.
When Sean and I got back from our honeymoon, we moved a few towns away from the Baptist church. Right before we got married, the senior pastor left the church and divorced his wife (or the other way around) which for some reason caused a split in the church. We decided since we had moved, it was a good time to start over and look for a new church.
It didn't take us long to settle in the church we have called home for the past 11 years. The day we visited, the pastor preached on the importance of having scripture be our highest authority. (This seemed to be the heart of the problem with the Baptist church. Many were appealing to the church constitution, others were saying that it didn't agree with scripture.) Sean and I liked that the pastor preached expositionally, the teens that we saw were sitting next to their parents and taking notes(!), and there was a kids choir and lots of young families.
They had just started a young married's group and we had just gotten back from our honeymoon! The elder in charge of the group had a real care and concern for all us young folks, opening up their home and their hearts to us.
Over the years the group changed as kids were added, but there was a real sense of community and we were growing though Bible studies together. Sean got involved in the worship team playing conga drums, piano, and bass guitar. The kids loved going to A.W.A.N.A groups, and I started a MOPS group.
Then things started changing. The vision for the church went in a different direction. The pastor started preaching more from "books" rather than expositionally and it appears he intentionally dumbed down his sermons. Some decisions were made by the elders that seemed to come out of left field. Sean made several attempts to talk with the elders and wrote a couple of letters. He was very discouraged with the way things were handled by the leadership. And the way that the church ministered to the kids took a dramatic turn toward entertainment and "virtues" rather than teaching the gospel and discipling in foundational truths of scripture.
So we have been looking for a new church this past year and a half. In the middle we went back to the church we used to be a part of because it seemed some of our concerns had been taken care of and the kids really missed it.
This last November we finally cut the cord. The kids were sick a lot so I didn't go to church for at least two months. But God in his goodness, led me to a church (actually in the same town as the Baptist church), where I could listen on-line. That is the one on my sidebar. The pastor has a passion for the gospel. He is a dynamic preacher and I was so blessed by his series on Jonah. It's nice too because I got to listen to the whole series. Jonah is a short book! But, the church is too far away for our family. Sean actually went to check it out and thought that musically, he would not fit in either. So I trust that God has something better for us.
For the past 2 months we have been attending an EV Free church (the same one "Bunkie's" grandson used to pastor!). The pastor there now, preached a few Sundays ago on the sovereignty of God. He is going through Titus. Verse one talks about God's elect or chosen. So he spent the entire sermon walking us through God's sovereignty as shown in all of Scripture in all areas including salvation. I was so encouraged! Although I've read more on this since college, and come to believe "reformed" theology more, I still learned so much. Evan and Amy are learning too,about who God is, His attributes, in Sunday School.
The pastor used to fly P-3 planes in the Navy. I have no idea what that means, but my husband and son sure do and spent 30 minutes after church the first time we were there talking theology, P-3 planes, homeschool and Washington D.C.
Amy and I went to a ladies' tea there a month ago. I was so blessed! I was encouraged to keep Jesus my "best " friend. I was reminded that God is sovereign in all areas of life, including friendship. That means times when I've had no friends too! And I was urged to develop my friendship with my husband. The theme was friendship, can you tell? And you know what? The ladies there were super friendly!
So here we are now. I don't know if this will be a church that we will be able to call home. But for now, I'm thankful for their faithful teaching of God's word and the blessing that it has been for me and my family.
And if you read all of this, thanks for hanging in there!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Dairy Free Chocolate Cupcakes
Sean bought me the cookbook Healthy Kids by Marilu Henner a while back because it was on the $1 dollar table at Barnes and Nobles and he knows I like cookbooks. I put it on the shelf after a cursory glance because she cooked with soy milk and and soy margarine.
But after learning that Amy has trouble with dairy, it upsets her stomach, we've switched to... soy milk and Earth Balance ( a non dairy canola based margarine). So I pulled out the cookbook to see what it had. I've been so surprised and elated to find out that the recipes are really good! Every one of the baking recipe's that I've tried has turned out wonderful. I think she's got the knack for baking with funky soy margarine (or Earth Balance). Her recipe's turn out much better than the ones where I've just substituted out soy milk and Earth Balance for milk and butter. So here is her recipe for dairy free chocolate cake. Yum!
3/4 cup Earth Balance
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons soy milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups unprocessed pure cane sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup chocolate chips (She recommends grain sweetened. Some dark chocolate brands contain no milk.)
1/8 cup unsweetened chocolate, melted
Heat oven to 350. In a med. bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Put the 3/4 cup soy milk and vanilla in a small bowl. In the bowl of and electric mixer, cream the 3/4 cup margarine and sugar for at least 5 min. until nice and creamy. Lower to med-low speed and add eggs, one at a time. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture. Beat until smooth. Add melted chocolate and remaining 2 tablespoons of soy milk. (At this point I added a scoop of unsweetened cocoa powder to make it more chocolaty, maybe 2 T.)
Fill cupcake liners and bake for about 20 min. Cool
Frosting
3/4 cup Sucanat
1/4 cup unbleached while four
3 T. unsweetened cocoa
1 cup soy cream (I used milk since I didn't have cream)
1 cup soy margarine (Earth Balance)
1 T. vanilla extract
1/2 cup grain-sweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
In a med. saucepan, stir together the sucanat, flour, and cocoa until well blended. Slowly stir in the soy cream and continue stirring until smooth. Cook over med heat, stirring, until the mixture thickens and boils. Reduce the heat to low, cook 2 min. stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool completely. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the margarine at med. speed until creamy. Slowly add the cooled soy cream mixture. Add the vanilla and melted chocolate and blend well. You may have to refrigerate the frosting a little for a stiffer, more spreadable consistency. ( I did.) This frosting sounds weird, but it is really good!
Enjoy!
But after learning that Amy has trouble with dairy, it upsets her stomach, we've switched to... soy milk and Earth Balance ( a non dairy canola based margarine). So I pulled out the cookbook to see what it had. I've been so surprised and elated to find out that the recipes are really good! Every one of the baking recipe's that I've tried has turned out wonderful. I think she's got the knack for baking with funky soy margarine (or Earth Balance). Her recipe's turn out much better than the ones where I've just substituted out soy milk and Earth Balance for milk and butter. So here is her recipe for dairy free chocolate cake. Yum!
3/4 cup Earth Balance
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons soy milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups unprocessed pure cane sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup chocolate chips (She recommends grain sweetened. Some dark chocolate brands contain no milk.)
1/8 cup unsweetened chocolate, melted
Heat oven to 350. In a med. bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Put the 3/4 cup soy milk and vanilla in a small bowl. In the bowl of and electric mixer, cream the 3/4 cup margarine and sugar for at least 5 min. until nice and creamy. Lower to med-low speed and add eggs, one at a time. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture. Beat until smooth. Add melted chocolate and remaining 2 tablespoons of soy milk. (At this point I added a scoop of unsweetened cocoa powder to make it more chocolaty, maybe 2 T.)
Fill cupcake liners and bake for about 20 min. Cool
Frosting
3/4 cup Sucanat
1/4 cup unbleached while four
3 T. unsweetened cocoa
1 cup soy cream (I used milk since I didn't have cream)
1 cup soy margarine (Earth Balance)
1 T. vanilla extract
1/2 cup grain-sweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
In a med. saucepan, stir together the sucanat, flour, and cocoa until well blended. Slowly stir in the soy cream and continue stirring until smooth. Cook over med heat, stirring, until the mixture thickens and boils. Reduce the heat to low, cook 2 min. stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool completely. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the margarine at med. speed until creamy. Slowly add the cooled soy cream mixture. Add the vanilla and melted chocolate and blend well. You may have to refrigerate the frosting a little for a stiffer, more spreadable consistency. ( I did.) This frosting sounds weird, but it is really good!
Enjoy!
Monday, April 16, 2007
Sleep Deprived
Today I took a 5 hour nap. I don't know if I've ever done that in my life before! The scary part is Sean had to wake me up! I will be so glad when Sean goes back to working day shift. I like getting up with him at 5am a lot better than staying up with him until midnight.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Be Bugs!
After Evan did such a great job pruning the roses, I hired him on full time as my rose care specialist. He is in charge of fertilizing, deadheading, and bug control. I am anticipating having wonderfully healthy roses all summer long!
April is the time for aphids. They are nasty little green bugs (sometimes brown or black) that suck all the life out of my roses. The good news is they are easy to get rid of. The best method I have found is to just squish them on the plant. My mom says that the live ones don't like the smell or look of the dead ones and stay away. Plus you know you got some. They're squashed! Most little kids LOVE to do this. Little kids will do this for free.
They also like the second best method. Spray the buggies off with a squirt bottle. Put a little dish soap with the water and the aphids won't be able to get back on your plant. Again, kids LOVE to do this. Evan particularly likes to do it with his squirt gun!
The last method is one we used for the first time this year. It was Evan's idea since now he's in charge. Again, he thought it sounded like fun. Ladybugs. They will eat 30+ of the little green bugs a day. So Evan wanted to buy a tub of them to release in our yard. He was going to spend part of his salary to buy them, but instead we bought them for him as his Easter gift. We all had so much fun putting them in the garden. You have to put them out at night, so the pictures are a little dark, sorry. And it was great to see the ladybugs eating away the next day! Emily LOVES them. She calls them Be Bugs!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Spring Planting
Apricot tree in bloom.We've had a lot of fun doing some planting this year. Here are some pictures of the before garden. You'll have to check back in a few months for some after shots. June is usually the peak of everything around here.
Amy in her "gardening dress".
Evan planting white Salvia along the back of the house.
Emily watering with her new Easter present.
A cutting garden of Sunflowers, Cosmos, Zinnia, Bachelor Buttons plus a few tomatoes.
Pots of Ranunculus, Stock, and Delphinium. Irises in full bloom.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
A Favor
Yesterday my good friend Jessica, who never ever asks for these kind of favors sent me an email asking me to post this to my blog. Seeing that I haven't posted anything to my blog for weeks (spring fever, overwhelmed with life, birthdays and planning for D.C.) here's a little something.
Would you help her friend out by voting for him? The video is funny if you want a laugh. He is her friend so I'm trusting he's a good guy. And hey, if he wins he gets $25,000 plus a years worth of pizza.
I got to thinking what I'd do with that much money if I ever won. Professional housecleaning, all the books I want, fancy food and a night out each week. But before I started to plan much more, or feel downright jealous of someone who could win $25,000, God reminded me that if he wanted me to have any of those things, He was more than capable of giving them to me plus much more. So I'll trust in His love for me and rejoice in His goodness to me in the many gifts He does give, and be happy for this guy if he wins. Vote for the second video RESUME FOR VP OF PIZZA. Thank You!
Would you help her friend out by voting for him? The video is funny if you want a laugh. He is her friend so I'm trusting he's a good guy. And hey, if he wins he gets $25,000 plus a years worth of pizza.
I got to thinking what I'd do with that much money if I ever won. Professional housecleaning, all the books I want, fancy food and a night out each week. But before I started to plan much more, or feel downright jealous of someone who could win $25,000, God reminded me that if he wanted me to have any of those things, He was more than capable of giving them to me plus much more. So I'll trust in His love for me and rejoice in His goodness to me in the many gifts He does give, and be happy for this guy if he wins. Vote for the second video RESUME FOR VP OF PIZZA. Thank You!
Saturday, April 07, 2007
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