Up with the sun, walking the hills for:

Operation Sudan Or Bust 

2010

We took a wonderful trip last month, 7 beautiful days on a cruise to Alaska from Seattle, Washington. It was a trip to celebrate our upcoming 35th anniversary. And it was fabulous.  

We have spent the past year since 7/4/08 saving, planning, dreaming, 

working, waiting, and then going!

We shared the trip with 4 other couples from our Sunday school class and that added moments of shared fun and pleasure. It was a vacation of good memories - some time in the near future I'll share a few of our 450+ photos. Just a few, I promise. ;-)

In the meantime, we begin our next major trip preparation. . . this next trip will be a trip of the heart, a trip to connect and love on our daughter, son-in-love, and granddaughter who now live and work in southern Sudan. They rest and recoup in Nairobi, Kenya every couple of months so we'll share time in both Kenya and Sudan. We are saving money, working on getting fit . . and so my morning walks have begun this week. Got to be ready for next summer.

I live in the south and our weather has been as HOT as a firecracker the past few weeks. So getting up just after dawn is the best time to pull on shorts, tank top, socks, shoes, sip some water, and get out on the road with the dogs. 

Its pleasant, the sounds are wonderful, the traffic minimal, the the temperature is just right.

I used to listen to a podcast as I walked, loved listening to Revive Our Hearts, still do, but for now, I'm practicing being present in the moment. I'm taking in with my eyes the plants, neatly manicured yards, seeing wild birds, pets, and other walkers. I'm hearing lawn mowers, water sprinklers, and tinkling wind chimes. I'm smelling flowering shrubs and fresh cut lawns. I'm feeling the cool morning, the breezes, and at times the sprinklers that are watering the street. 

In the time it takes me to walk my set path

I feel refreshed, awakened, peaceful,

ready to go home, take a cold shower, dress for the day

open God's Word, meditate, memorize, and study.

Ponder what I'm hearing and learning,

looking over my to-do list,

eating breakfast, and

moving out into what this day holds on the schedule.

My days go SO much better when I take the time to listen to God's Word before hearing man's word, eating the bread of life before eating breakfast,

savoring God's creation within the blocks of my neighborhood before working inside a climate controlled, antiseptic setting with people from all walks of life.

It gives me fresh perspective.

His view.

How do you begin your day, dear reader? 

Truth For Life

And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to

fear the LORD your God,

to walk in all His ways,

to love Him,

to serve the LORD your God

with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 10:12

Happy 4th of July!

Get your oven runnin'

Find a stars and stripes container of Pillsbury white icing 

and a box of Betty Crocker 1 Step Angel Food cake mix.

Stir in 1/2 the packet of stars and stripes into the batter just before baking. . . and then ice with a simple vanilla glaze.

Vanilla Glaze

Melt 2 tablespoons butter or margarine with 2 tablespoons milk

Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk into 2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Pour on top of cake and allow to drizzle over the edges

Let 'set' for 30 minutes or more then serve.

I saw a can of Pillsbury cake icing with red and blue sprinkles and stars atop to put on an iced cake and well, that got me to thinking.

The brand of angel food cake mix my family has always used and adored is Betty Crocker. Its a simple 1 step cake mix. Some times you can find it with a packet of sprinkles you add into the cake batter just before you pour it into the cake pan. The sprinkles 'melt' into the batter leaving colored spots that make the cake festive. So, one time I measured the amount the packet provided and learned it was 1 tablespoon. If you have some jimmies or sprinkles in your cupboard you, too, can make a fun colorful cake.

So, you can see from my photos that is just what I did.

Enjoy!

P.S. : Share your favorite recipes for summer time holidays!

Truth For Life

In him (Christ) and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Ephesians 3:12

"Missed it by that much"

Maxwell Smart

There are moments in our lives when loved ones who live far away attempt to contact us. They leave a message by phone, email, or text. And if you are, for a brief time, away from that source of receiving the message . . . you miss that message.

I did that today.

Missed a chance to "Skype" with our daughter by phone, at her request, missing it by a mere four hours! Our time difference is 8 hours and well, its the wee hours of her tomorrow as I type this, so I will fight the urge to give her a call.  When a grown adult child wants to connect - you long to connect immediately without hesitation.

Sigh.

And yet there will be another time.  I sent her a reply email explaining my silence and offered other times we might try to connect.

Can't wait for that time, but we must. 

We will. 

Sigh.

"At times Sudan is farther away than at other times." 

Denise Rounds

(yes, you may quote me on this!)

Truth For Life

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;

in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

Psalm 5:3

Mother's Day came and went. . . but the memory lives on.

I got to spend it with our family at church followed by a lovely buffet lunch at my mother-in-loves retirement community. I wore a new dress and a corsage made with a rose my daughter had arranged to be delivered by her best friend so I'd have a white rose. (my daughter lives in southern Sudan) A white rose corsage is my tradition each year  in remembrance of my mom who died at age 57 from Lou Gehrig's disease.

It was a relaxing calm quiet day - perfect! I was with family and for a very brief time I got to speak with our daughter via iPhone and Skype! That was the cherry on the top of the day.

That morning at church was busy - I was given the unexpected honor or reading the scriptures in one service before which I had volunteered to help hand out free Bible study books for all women who attended church as they departed from the earlier service. It gave me the chance to hug, greet, and speak to many women, a treat for me!

I have not posted in a while due to various computer, router, and iPhone difficulties. All fixed now, PTL! It took time but all worked out. Got a new hard-drive in the laptop and they replaced my laptop keyboard frame to boot! (I had a tiny split edge which I kept firmly affixed with a piece of clear tape.) Happy Day when I got it but I still need to reload some software and then put some of my backed up files onto the new hard drive. 

Perhaps this long Memorial Day weekend will be just the ticket.

Memorial Day 

How can we Americans say thank you for our freedoms? First with thanks to God, then with thanks to the men and women who have served or are serving our country. For their valor, we are still free. I'm blessed to be born in America.  I have done some travels out of our country and when I return home I am always grateful to be a citizen of the United States, we have many privileges, rights, and responsibilities that no other country has. That said, I will end with a verse that challenges and humbles me.

Truth For Life

Much will be required of everyone who has been given much.

And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.

Luke 12: 48b

Truth For Life

Be joyful in hope,

patient in affliction,

faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12

I am having the great joy of witnessing others initiating faith in Christ. . . one is just now seeking Him out in the midst of painful circumstances, bad history, and former hopelessness. I am crossing paths with points in lives that shout out "God At Work Here, Now!"

I am in awe of these conversations in my relationship with these people. Another is seeking God out but has chosen for now, a path that does not lead to truth, but into a cult. Another has an ailing parent, their other parent is newly deceased and they have become the ailing parent's caregiver/counselor. They are weary, beaten down by some things, lifted up by other's, showing by their actions, words, and life that they know life doesn't have to be as it has been. They are seeking, asking, looking, and reading the Bible regularly. Some ask me questions about scripture passages or quotes from their reading material and God has provided me guidance for when to speak and when to listen, when to question them, and when to hug, encourage, and rejoice with them. I pray for daily light and truth as these precious ones seek Christ.

As these encounters are occurring more regularly in my life this year, both at places of work and in my neighborhood, I am finding the above verse to be truth I have newly experienced. It is humbling, scary, and exciting. It gives me greater hope, a willingness to be more patient with them and God working in them, and to be all the more faithful in prayer.

I love technology and use it daily, by choice, for my work doesn't require much use of it on a day to day basis. But I love to learn how to use what tools I have so I can benefit from them as much as my life requires for ease in scheduling, remembering people, events, and to-do's. All to find balance so I can enjoy live, respond to others rather than reacting; I do not use technology for the purpose of organizing (read: stuffing) MORE into my day for the sake of getting MORE done to get MORE done. . . but to gently remind me at appropriate times in my day what to remember and not forget so the essentials are pushed to the side by the cares and worries of this world.

One way I do this is to use my phone's calendar reminder component to remind me to pray for specific people at times of day that 'fit' who I am remembering in prayer. Have you ever used your phone's calendar or computer calendar for such reminders?

It has helped me SO much as I awaken before dawn to begin my day with thanksgiving and prayers in my heart and on my lips for my husband and son who rise first. At noon I remember a friend whose class room is unsettled due to a student breaking a law and becoming incarcerated. The friend needs peace wisdom, courage, and boldness, the students need peace, perspective, and focus. In the evening I pray for recently widowed family members who are only too alone as the moon arises each evening. And I pray as I close my own eyes for my daughter and her family who are just then rising from their beds to begin the new day that God has already created.

Tell me what tools assist you in remembering to pray for those you pray for on a regular basis. I'd love to know and dear reader(s), we will learn from one another.

Tiny sweet treats. . .

Tarts!

These were my part of the foods served at a baby shower hosted today by a group of friends in our Sunday school class. It was fun to have a reason to prepare them; they were fruit tarts for a young couple preparing to have their first child, their first 'fruit' so to speak.

I have made larger ones but with all the goodies being served at the shower I knew I needed to scale the size down. . . and I found that a mini-muffin size worked perfectly. My husband called them "two bite tarts" but I saw that very title used on a package of tarts in our grocery store yesterday, so I won't use it officially here.

For those who are curious or those who want to know how. . . here is how!

Make some vanilla pudding, you can, of course buy the instant, or ready-made . . . you can, but I wouldn't because taste matters. I added a wee bit of vanilla extract to the cooled cooked pudding before using it. (I used a pudding mix that you cook, EASY in the microwave using a whisk between cooking times)

Buy chilled pie crusts OR make some using your food processor or mixer, yes, you can make pie dough in your mixer! Make enough dough for a 2 crust pie. It will yield 48 mini-muffin tart shells. Roll out one crust of dough, cut out with 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter. Place over the mini-muffin cups and use a pastry tamper, your thumb, or a spoon to press the dough into the muffin cup to get the shape. Press is firmly so it is well in place. Place the muffin tins filled with pastry rounds into a preheated oven set at 375 bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Watch them and bake them until just a bit golden brown. Take the trays out, remove the tart shells carefully and allow to fully cool on a wire wrap. Let your muffin tins cool too!

Continue using your cooled muffin tins to bake more pastry shells with the 2nd pie crust. Let all tart shells cool. Use immediately or put them in a self-closing plastic bag or other container to save for later. You can freeze them at this point and use as needed later.

*GREAT easy hospitaliTEA tip!*

Fill your tart shells with a teaspoon of cooled vanilla pudding and top with berries. Warm some apple jelly in the microwave and brush onto the berries gently. This will give it a lovely clear glaze you have likely seen and admired in fine bakeries. (I have admired full 10 inch fruit tarts in Harrods of London's Food Hall, wishing I lived there just long enough to buy one and serve it for tea to family and friends.) Now you can do it yourself!

For a variety I also filled some tarts with Nutella and topped with a raspberry; I also filled others with a teaspoon of raspberry curd and topped that with whipped cream and a bit of a fresh raspberry.

All of these tarts were delicious but the fruit tarts with pudding were the most favored today at the shower, I think due to their appearance with the glazed fruit.

These would make lovely Mother's Day desserts

Invite someone to tea soon.

Surprise your family with a platter of these. . .

and watch them as them as they enjoy with their eyes, taste them and thank you.

Truth For Life

The fruit of righteousness will be peace;

the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.

My people will live in peaceful dwelling places,

in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.

Isaiah 32:17-18

They loaded up and flew out to . . .

Malakal, Sudan

They made it! We got an email two days ago that gave us a bit of an update. They are making adjustments to life in Malakal with the help of team members and locals. They are beginning to find their way around the market, building furniture, seeking help to learn the language, etc. The work continues . . . . .

We are praying for:

Their faith - continued dependence upon God, growth in their faith walk, sharing their faith walk with their local church and witnessing to their community

Marriage and Family life - to continue to nurture their marriage and family relationships

Their adjustment -to the heat of living in Sudan (100 is the average), no air conditioning, they use fans at night, which is when they have electricity. They are grateful for the power at that time.

Language acquisition - they need Sudanese teachers

Developing community - with the local Sudanese as well as their fellow team members with whom they dwell

I'm certain we'll add other prayer needs as the days pass but these are our initial prayers at this time. In the meantime, I pray, trust, rejoice, live, work, knit, study His Word, teach His Word, following His leading through my days where I live.

Truth For Life

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor,

serving the Lord.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction,

faithful in prayer.

Share with God's people who are in need.

Practice hospitality.

Romans 12:11-13

Easter Story Cookies

Tell His Story. . . teach truth, hope, and the meaning of Easter with these yummy cookies

Add this to your grocery list today:

1 cup whole pecans

1 teaspoon vinegar

3 egg whites

pinch salt

zipper baggie

wooden spoon

tape

Bible

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.

Place the pecans in zipper baggie and let your children take turns beating them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that, after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 teaspoon vinegar into your mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into a bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.

So far the ingredients are not very appealing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes or until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by tablespoons onto waxed paper or parchment covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mount represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9.

He is Risen!

Truth For Life

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds;

tie them as symbols on your hands

and bind them on your foreheads.

Teach them to your children, 

talking about them when you sit at home

and when you walk along the road,

when you lie down and when you get up.

Write them on the door frames of your houses and your gates,

Deuteronomy 11:19