Chaos Controlled

I feel like chaos has ruled our home since we got back from MN. Almost a month after the fact Christmas is finally packed up in our home. I still have a few little matters of organization to work out but our home has been returned to normal. My poor husband, who has not had a day off at all this week—worked 6 days straight, spent the whole day with me cleaning and organizing. Bless him! We both feel so much more rested in our home as a result.

 

Tonight was another wonderful HC. Jeff and Sarah's "goal" for the month of January was to have us as a collective read through the entire book of Acts. We made it to chapter 20 this week. It was a night of great discussion and insight. I think one of the main points we all took away was how committed the early Church was. They were beaten, stoned, thrown in prison but that was life and they were going to tell people about Jesus anyway. End of discussion. Are we that committed? Are we willing to suffer just to make sure people know who Jesus is? Would we be followers of Christ if that was the way it was for us? What is God asking us to do that may be "hard" that we are avoiding? Are we taking care of each other's needs and encouraging each other without hesitating? I pray that we can all spend time evaluating ourselves with the Lord this week and let Him work in us so that we can answer these questions in a way that honors Him.

 

I was reading Genesis 16 tonight and struck by what God asked Hagar to do. He asked her to go back to her bad situation where she was being mistreated and submit to the person who was mistreating her. Basically, He told her He would help her and be with her but she needed to face her problem head on and change her attitude. I am really bad about this. I really like the whole run-away-from-bad-things routine. I don't submit to mean people well. Now, I don't think that this is what God calls us to every time and in every circumstance but I do need to work on my attitude more and "run" less. I thank God for being so patient with me and willing to help me be more like Him. We serve a good God.

Yummy food

Ralph and I have decided we need to eat at home more this year. We are trying to both save money and eat healthier. So last Wednesday, I planned a menu and shopped. The menu was supposed to have been for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We made our dinners on Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday I made some spaghetti sauce with a ton of veggies and simmered it all with the rind of parmesan cheese. We had garlic salad and garlic bread with it. (Can you tell we like garlic just a little bit?) Thursday we made Knife and Fork Burgers with Provolone Dipping Sauce and Roasted Tomato Salad. They were really good!

 

Then we took a little break. Ralph got a call/text from a good friend asking us to go to dinner with him and his girlfriend on Friday night. We had wanted to get together with them for a while, our house was a disaster and we were too tired to host so we went out. Then Saturday after work we raced down to Kettering from Fairborn to make it to church and were much too tired to cook after that so we went out.

 

Sunday we used one of the recipes/menu items for HC. We made Sopa de Pedra (Rock Soup). It was so good. To look at it, it looks like just another tomatoey soup recipe, but the hot sauce gives it this great kick! We used ham for the meat. It was really good! I had it for lunch today and it was even better the second day. Tonight we made Jon's Grilled Tuna Salad. I loved it! We served it on toasted English Muffin Bread. I really like it! It was salty and tasted fresh and light at the same time. Ralph only thought it was "ok". It just wasn't what he was expecting when he thought "tuna salad." This is especially sad due to the fact he made it. Come to think of it because I have been working so much, he not we made most of these recipes. If you are looking for something new, I would recommend all three and Ralph would recommend the first two. Are we walking advertisements for Rachael Ray or what?

Sabbath

Praise the Lord for Sabbath! It's not too often that Ralph and I get a Sabbath on the same day and on a Sunday to boot! We both dove straight back in to work on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It's been an adjustment to get used to getting up at 4:30 a.m. again. But this morning, we slept in! I mean slept in. It was after 10:30 I think for both of us. When we got up, Ralph ran to the store to get Challah bread and bacon (we found out on which day our favorite grocer/bakery bakes their Challah bread). I fed Kenya and brought her inside with me. I got caught on blogs, e-mail and facebook. I got to use my new skillet to make brunch (a gift from my wonderful parents). We made a terrific brunch of French toast and bacon. Yum-O! We stayed in our pajamas until 2 or 3. It was great!

We went to the 7 p.m. service at our church last night. It was so great to be back! We were gone for several weekends and worked so many weekends before we left that it felt like we hadn't been there in forever! It was so sweet to be back in our home church for worship and to be fed and challenged.

Our friends Jeff and Sarah asked to teach HC this month and agreed to host tonight! This is why were able to take a Sabbath today. It was such a blessing! We are still living out of suit cases and the (once) live Christmas tree is still up and the whole place is in utter chaos. This was our one day off and we have/had no energy for the herculean effort that is needed to have this place company ready in one day. Honestly, by them hosting and teaching tonight, they truly were the Body of Christ to us. It allowed us to really enjoy HC. I was able to open up and share and be loved on and prayed for in Quads (our break out time of sharing and prayer). It was just so appropriate as Jeff and Sarah are taking us through Acts. We are looking at what the Church should look like and be and I felt like I was able to watch Her in action tonight. I love our house church and love that God has provided this family for us here. Pray for us this year. We really would love to see our neighborhood come to know Jesus. We want to have the boldness of Peter and John with our neighbors and see them come to know Christ. I pray that you all have an opportunity to have a restful Sabbath day one day this week.