Snow Dimples

the effects of drifting on paw-prints

Out roof-raking in the warm sunshine yesterday, I saw the cutest little dimples in the snow.  The tracks may have been from the kitties, but after the wind whipped around, who knows for sure where the original dents came from?

Shovels

In Illinois, people "scoop snow." 

When we first moved to Wisconsin, people laughed at us.  "You're going to do WHAT with the snow?!"  You see, people in Wisconsin shovel snow.  Scooping is not an option.

(Pssst: We learned to use the word "shovel" instead of "scoop.")

I have now lived in Wisconsin for more than half my life.  This became quite apparent to me as I was in Illinois shoveling (scooping?) my mom's driveway this week. 

Her shovel didn't work as well as I wanted.  My guts compelled me to go grab a different shovel from the garage.  You know, the kind of shovel that would properly clear the drive.  But Mom owns only one shovel.  One.  For all the different types of snow: deep, shallow, powdery, wet, blowing, packing, or icy.

It boggles the mind.

And then -- next -- it boggled my mind that I had become dependent upon having an array of snow-shoveling tools.

I think I'm a Wisconsin girl now.

Do You Have What It Takes?

You've heard it.

The passage is from Luke 14.  Jesus tells us that we take stock of our situation before building a tower so that we know what's necessary and don't find ourselves quitting halfway through.  Jesus tells us that you assess your chances of winning in battle, before going to battle, so you don't get creamed.

So, do YOU have what it takes?

Can YOU be a follower of Jesus?

Wait?
Does that sound like Jesus???

What's that second illustration again?  The king doesn't have enough soldiers, so he begs for terms of peace rather than going to war. 

What if you take stock of yourself and find yourself to be a loser?  What if you realize that you have nothing in you to fight the battle?  What if self-examination reveals that you cannot complete the building you started?

Maybe the whole point of what Jesus says here is that you can't do it, that you do cry "uncle" and give up.  Maybe "forsaking all that he has" is more about being stripped of self-reliance than it is about turning one's back on material possessions. 

Caribbean Salmon

My housemates who aren't exactly fond of salmon requested that this recipe be made again!  The original recipe is found here.  My [lazy] adjustments are as follows:


2# salmon fillets
2-3 Tbsp Jamaican jerk seasoning
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 Tbsp pineapple juice (because I didn't have oj opened)
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 450.
Mix all ingredients except salmon.
Spread a few tablespoons of olive oil on a jelly roll pan.  Place fish in the pan, skin side down.  Spread spice mix evenly over the fish pieces.  Cover pan with foil and bake until done (when thick part of the meat flakes with a fork).

just as Christ also loved the Church

How does a person vow to "suffer all, even death" rather than fall away from Christ, and then not even be able to "suffer" waking up to go to church the week after his confirmation vow.

Similarly, if a guy is going to vow to love his wife, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her (Eph 5:25), it seems like he should be working on making-the-bed and picking-up-the-dirty-clothes if that is what makes his wife happy.  If he can't sacrifice himself to take out the trash for her, then how will he sacrifice himself when it's a much weightier matter?

We're willing to make big promises ... but then we show our true colors in the smaller, relatively inconsequential things.

Boring Things

This afternoon we attended a most lovely wedding at church.  You sit and listen to the Bible readings and the hymns and the sermon and the canticles.  And you rejoice for the couple and for what God has given.

And then I came home and found Glenda's Christmas letter in the mail.  It was full of "boring" stuff: kids getting glasses, books they're reading, studying, going to work, ... all the normal stuff of everyday life.  All those happy things of "a quiet and peaceable life."  Combine that with Robin & Fritz's wedding, and her letter made me cry happy tears.  That boring life -- that quiet and peaceable life -- that's what I want for all my loved ones.

Recent Days

Germs running rampant round about these parts.  Illness hasn't knocked out those who live at my house, but Christmas plans were a bit up-in-the-air for a while, not knowing who might succumb next.  Turned out all the kids were here except the MinnesOtans. 

Although the December symphony was canceled because of a snow inundation, Lessons and Carols went on as planned.  It was a lovely service.

Church services for Christmas Eve and Day continued with the saints days for the rest of the week.  So thankful that Pastor is willing to have services these "extra" times!

We have spent a LOT of time this December moving snow.  Our back muscles hail the wondrous snow-blower.  And even though the sky seems to toss snow at us perpetually, it hasn't been as bad as December 2008's snow dump.  With a nice warm day (in the 40's!) yesterday, I worked on removing snow from the roof.  (As if my shoulders and neck weren't already sore -- LOL.)

In the space of a month, we are losing three of our four full-time tellers at work, with people moving to other positions.  That means part-timers are going to be working many extra hours.  Oh, I hope they find replacements soon!

Bethany and Evan and Helen came to church here today, and then they joined us for lunch.  We also had Katie and girls and Olivia to join in the party.  I was a wretched host, not having the food prepared before they arrived (because I spent yesterday roof-raking).  But they all pitched in and helped finish what I hadn't prepped last night.  And it was lovely visiting with them.  And we enjoyed dinner with Olivia's parents and some friends last night.  And the previous night we were invited out by friends.  I feel like I've barely been home since Thursday afternoon.  But it has been so enjoyable to sit and visit and laugh day-after-day!

"I Never Knew You"

Once upon a time, a bunch of sem-wives were gathered for a class with a sem professor.  One of the women took it upon herself to tell the rest of us that we weren't really Christians, that we hadn't asked the Lord into our hearts, that we hadn't truly made Him lord of our lives.  She insisted we would come to the end of our lives and  

When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, "Lord, Lord, open for us," He will answer and say to you, "I do not know you." ...  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.  (Luke 13:25-28)

The professor did not contradict this woman.  He agreed that this verse made him uneasy.  Would he be one to whom the Lord says, "I never knew you"?

After a period of deep distress (anfechtung) for me, a pastor preached the gospel to me and assured me of Jesus' promises and that His death atoned for my sins and that in baptism He claimed me as His own.  Thanks be to God for Tom Baker!

So anyway,
this section of Luke came up recently in Bible class.  I know too many people who quote verse 24 ("strive to enter through the narrow gate") as if it were preaching salvation-by-works.  C'mon!  You have to strive!  You have to do what's right!  The entryway to heaven is narrow, so you better get it right, and do all the right things!

So I had questions.

Pastor talked about how our "striving" is not so much striving to do all the right things, dot the i's and cross the t's, and pile up our goodness.  It is striving against the Old Adam -- the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh (Galatians 5).  Our "striving" is when our sinful nature is drowned daily and dies with all sins and evil desires.  Our striving is putting to death that inherent pride which thinks God will look on us in kindness because we've been such good Christians.

He "knows you" by lavishing forgiveness upon you.  And if you can't be sure that Jesus knows you, it's because you are relying (at least to some extent) on your works. 

I love it when Pastor goes on a rant-of-sweetness about certainty, about the promises Jesus has made to us, and how He is the one who holds onto us. 

Upcoming Wedding

Two weeks ago, Andrew picked up the ring from the jeweler.  He came home and opened the mail to find that he had been accepted into the clinical portion of the nursing program.  That evening he proposed to Olivia, and she said YES. 

Ain't that grand?!

Wedding date is as yet undetermined, but Andrew says they're leaning toward this August.






Photos courtesy of our friend (who shall remain unnamed because I'm not seeing her name on her new blog and don't want to out her without permission).

Christmas Decorations

Over and over I'm hearing women bemoan that they don't have their Christmas decorations up yet.

Maybe they're feeling pressed to get-it-done-already.
Maybe they've decided to go easy on decorating, but still feel guilty over it.
Maybe they worry what their kids will say about fewer decorations.
Maybe they feel wasteful to have decorations that will sit unused this year.
Maybe they're convinced they're letting someone down, or somehow betraying the Christmas spirit to not decorate All The Things.

And this is joyous?

Why do so many women have to make excuses to themselves when they back off just a smidgeon from the hype?



I want so badly to yell from the rooftops, "Just forget it all.  Go to church.  If all you do for Christmas is go to church, it's still a good Christmas."

Led by the Spirit

After Jesus was baptized, the gospels tell us that He was "led by the Spirit into the wilderness" (Matt 4, Mark 1, Luke 4).  

Did Jesus have this magical feeling that He should go to the wilderness instead of into town?  What is it to be "led by the Spirit"?  How did He know to go to the wilderness?  How was He led?

It's not unlike how Simeon knew when to show up in the temple to see the baby Messiah.  The Scriptures told him/Him.

When Jesus was baptized, He was declared to be "the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world."  The Scriptures tell us about the scapegoat (Leviticus 16).  When the sin of the people was imputed to that lamb, it was driven into the wilderness to "take away sin."  When the sin of the world was imputed to Jesus, that made Him the true scapegoat.  That meant He had to go into the wilderness. 

He knew this.  He knew God's word. 
The Spirit led Him through what the Scriptures said.

Blessed Are You Among Women

Our story today was the Visitation.  Newly-pregnant Mary goes to visit pregnant Elizabeth. 

Question:  Who was it that Elizabeth said was "blessed"?
Kid's answer: Mary.

Yes.
True.

But ...

You know how kids are so often prone to answer "Jesus"? 

That wouldn't have been a wrong answer, now would it?  "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."  In other words, "Blessed are you, Mary, and blessed is Jesus" (Luke 1:42).

We always hear this verse used to tell us why we should indeed extol Mary.  And that's not untrue.  But I don't think I've ever heard someone point out that Elizabeth was saying "Blessed is Jesus."

Errands

Yesterday began with
chapel
Curves
pharmacy.

Home for showers and getting dressed. 
Then round two:
Goodwill (where we found a flute and a clarinet!)
Salvation Army (which was closed)
Woodman's
Fleet Farm
Walmart
a neighbor's house.

Home to bake the cinnamon rolls, wash the used stroller we were giving as a gift, and wrap presents for the child our branch adopted for Christmas-giving.  (For me , it's so much happier to give a child things he needs -- like diapers or a snowsuit or a stroller -- than it is to give frivolous mind-rotting gifts that are requested by so many, things that I refused to give my own children.)
to work to drop off gifts
bookstore
another grocery store
the home of a neighbor who sells honey

Home to make and eat supper.
Church for Advent service
and choir practice.

Today I have to pick up the messies I left all over the house yesterday.

The Unruliness!

I made cinnamon rolls yesterday. 

When I ate them, I bit them. 

I did not unroll them.  I just chomped a hunk out of the side.

I do believe there's been some sort of cosmic shift in my reality....

Favorite Insta-Supper

Gary's favorite insta-suppers are
~ Aldi bake-at-home pizza (almost as good as Tony's)
~ spaghetti with a side of green beans.

My favorite?  When there's no time to cook, and you didn't thaw hamburger, and you need real food, this is what I love:
~ boneless center-cut pork chops
(skillet-fried with a rub of basil, brown sugar, chili powder)
~ buttered, parsleyed pasta
(maybe with pesto or parmesan too)
~ a side dish or two of frozen veggies

Seriously, it's about 20-25 minutes from the time I arrive home until we sit down to eat.  And it's real food.  And it's deLIcious.  Not the cheapest, so I don't plan it as part of the meal rotation.  But my tastebuds wish I would ....

Snow Storm Wins over the Symphony

Big dump of snow today.
Loads of accidents.
Thankfully, Philip made it home from church safely, and Andrew made it safely to work.

Symphony was canceled. 
It was a wise decision.
But I'm still disappointed.
I'm trying not to think about it.

Reading Challenge

The conclusion of my reading-year.   I seriously doubt anything more books will be finished in the next three weeks.

My primary list:
Anne of Green Gables   by L. M. Montgomery  Jan 24
Anne of Avonlea   (these two with Maggie) Feb 24
Christ Have Mercy   by Matt Harrison April 7
Mara, Daughter of the Nile   June 7

Love Divine   by Alan Kornacki July 30
A Great and Mighty Wonder July 31
One Thing's Needful Aug 5

Mitford's These High, Green Hills Aug 16
Out to Canaan    by Jan Karon Aug 27
A Common Life Sept 2
A New Song   Sept 20
In This Mountain   Oct 4
Shepherds Abiding  Oct 12


The list that someone else made for me:
Lutheran Catechesis   by Bender Dec 27, 2012
Old Testament Catechesis   by Bender March 1
New Testament Catechesis    by Bender  began in October
Bible Stories for Daily Prayer    by Fabrizius   still waiting



Alternates:
Kristin Lavransdatter  by Sigrid Undset  going on 2014's list
To Kill a Mockingbird   by  Harper Lee May 8
Luther, the Reformer   by James Kittelson  unread
The Right to Be Wrong   by Seamus Hasson unread
On Being a Theologian of the Cross   by Forde unread
Luther on Vocation   by Wingren July 15


Books not on the original list:
A Long Way from Chicago by R Peck audio book April 16
A Year Down Yonder by Peck audio book April 18
And She Was a Christian: Why Do Believers Commit
Suicide by Peter Preus May 7
Heaven Is for Real June 27
How to Treat Your Own Hand & Thumb Osteoarthritis  Sept 28

Eighteen books read.
Two audio books "read."
Two proofreading projects completed.
And for the last two months I've been knitting and watching movies instead of reading.

Now it's time to figure out which books will go on my 2014 list. 

The Trinity in the Second Petition

God's kingdom comes when our heavenly FATHER gives us His HOLY SPIRIT, so that by His grace we believe His holy WORD and lead godly lives, here in time, and there in eternity.

The Word became flesh

and dwelt among us ...

John 1:14

Those Blasted Cell Phones

Once upon a time, we had no answering machines.
Once upon a time, we would go on vacation, away from the telephone for an entire week.

Today people get itchy if they leave the cell phone at home for an hour or two of errands.  What if they miss something?  People!  People!  It's good to be away from the phone sometimes!

An online article recently pointed out what happens when teens have constant contact with their friends via texting.  They end up with nothing to talk about in-real-life.  And they have no incentive to spend time together in-real-life. 

Try it.  Fight the addiction.  Turn off the phone for a couple of hours a day.  Say no to the stress of always being available to dozens of friends.

Symphony This Sunday

Our church choirs have a reputation.

(That's kind of cool....)

This Sunday we're singing at the concert for the local symphony. 

At work the other day, I heard a commercial for us.  On a 50,000-watt radio station.  On one of their most-listened-to talk-shows.  A commercial for us.  I was excited!  Oh my goodness -- you can buy tickets for the concert on Ticketmaster.  To me, that's where you get tickets for Toby Keith or Kenny Chesney or Michael Buble.  One of my co-workers said, "I have NEVER seen you nearly so pumped about ANYthing."  No foolin'!

This is going to be fun.



If you're local and want to attend, it's 3:00 on Sunday at Hamilton Fine Arts Center (at the high school).  Information is available at the symphony's website.  The children's choirs are singing a couple of songs without the adults, and I don't know what those pieces are.  The adults (or adults with the kids) are singing:
Once in Royal David's City (Mann/Willcocks/Vierrege)
Up, Good Christen Folk
Praise God the Lord, Ye Sons of Men (Hugo Distler)
Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree
Your Little Ones, Dear Lord, Are We  (David Cherwien) 
Silent Night (Hal Hopson)
See, in Yonder Manger Low (Keith Veirrege)