My Help Comes From the Lord

Ps. 121.2-3 "My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved, he who keeps you will not slumber."

The psamist's help comes from the Lord! The creator, not the creation. An amazing thought, which is familiar, yet not pondered enough. Often I look at a majestic mountain or serene sunset, and am pointed to my creator who allows me and wants me to enjoy these things, but I don't often sit and marvel at the fact that He is my helper. He is interested in the nitty gritty of my small life. He is there, not only to bless me with beautiful landscapes and to display His wonder through amazing facets of nature, but to be directly involved in my life--changing my heart, giving me strength and wisdom, loving me with tender-hearted mercy and grace.

God works despite me. I fail, God does not. When I am sleeping, physically, or even spiritually, God is fully awake and active. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. When my world seems to be in a constant whirlwind of change--God is unchanging, and steady.

2 Chron. 16.9a "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." When Asa King of Judah was trusting in the Lord and relying on Him to fight for them in battle, God worked mightily and gave great armies into their hands. But when he failed to rely on God and instead, waiting for the king of Aram to hep them, God did not deliver them.

God wants to help those who trust in Him.

HomeMade Pita Pockets

I have been making my own pita bread for a couple of years now, and obtaining somewhat smallish "pockets". But today I tried a new recipe, and with a little 'tweaking', this batch puffed up and became beautiful pita pockets that resemble ones I've bought from the grocery store! I will definitely use this recipe again!

Pita Bread

Combine in a large bowl:
1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 C All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 TB Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 pkgs active dry yeast (1 1/2 TB)



Add:
2 TB Butter, melted
1 1/4 C room-temperature water

Mix by hand until dough comes together and then knead for about 5 or 10 minutes. You want to achieve smooth, soft and elastic dough.

Transfer dough to an oiled bowl and turn in once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap or damp towel to rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk (1 to 1 1/2 hours).

Punch down dough and divide equally into 8 pieces. Allow pieces to rest for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Make sure your oven has been at this temperature for a while.

Set a rack in the lowest level of the oven and place a baking sheet on it to heat for about 5 minutes, while you begin shaping the pitas. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece into an 8-inch diameter round, about 1/16 inch thick. You want these to be really thin.

Once your baking sheet is good and HOT, carefully grease a section, with shortening, where you will place your pita.

Immediately place a pita onto the greased surface. I was only able to fit one onto a regular sized baking sheet, so I used 2 baking sheets at a time.

Bake the pitas for 3 minutes, or until they completely puff up in the oven. Try not to open the oven door, as heat escapes quickly and the temperature drops easily! Once they've puffed up, give them another 30 seconds, and then remove them. You may not think they are cooked, but if you've rolled them thin enough, don't worry. You don't want them to turn brown or crispy on the bottom or else they crack when they've cooled, and they won't deflate into disks properly.

Repeat with each round.

Once they've cooled, slice each round in half, and, with a serrated knife, gently slice areas of each round that may not have puffed in the oven to create even pockets.

Do Not Worry About Tomorrow

Matt. 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough troubles of its own."

How fitting to receive a devotional focused on "worrying" about today's troubles and trusting God will give me new strength for tomorrow's. It seems like a simple, even silly, worry, but since my daughter had the stomach flu two weeks ago, and then my husband a week later, I have worried about when I will get it. Yesterday I had to book a dentist appointment for myself for early this morning, and I worried I'd have to cancel if I came down with the flu over-night. I can't put my life on hold because something "might" happen tomorrow.

Live each day for itself, using, relying, on the strength God has given me for that day! To do anything less wouldn't be trusting completely in my Father.

Lam. 3:22-23 "Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness."

Ps. 52:8-9 "But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever. I will praise you forever for what you have don; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints."

HomeMade Tomato Soup

This is a recipe I found and adapted to the ingredients I had on hand the other day. My daughter and I have been enjoying this and pitas with melted cheese for lunch this week. A must try.

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HomeMade Tomato Soup

2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Cloves Garlic (rough chop)
1 Onion (rough chop)
3 Celery Stalks (rough chop)
2 Carrots (rough chop)
Salt & Pepper
1q Chicken Stock (divided)
1 T Dry Oregano
1 28oz Can of crushed Tomatoes
1/2 t Sugar
1/2 t Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1 t Paprika
1 tiny pinch of Cumin

Saute onions, garlic, celery, carrot in a soup pot with the extra virgin olive oil. Season with Salt and Pepper. Stir every now and then and cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Add a splash of chicken stock with oregano and other spices. Puree veggies until smooth. (I used my Braun hand puree-er, so I added the whole box of Chicken stock so it wouldn't splash at me in the soup pot. Much easier than dirtying my food processor.)

Add Tomatoes, remaining Chicken Stock, Sugar, red pepper flakes. Bring to a bubble and let simmer while making grilled cheese or another side you wish to serve as well.

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This soup is packed with vegetable goodness, and the best part is, they're pureed, so nobody can pick the veggies out! The first time I tried serving this to my daughter, she didn't eat it as she was more interested in the pitas and pickles and cheese. Today, I served her the soup first, without showing her a plate of other food, and she gobbled it up.

Spiritual Encourager

On Sunday morning our pastor spoke on Philippians 2:3-4

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you shoud look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

One of his points in the sermon related to us encouraging our spouses or others in our lives in their spiritual walks. Are we doing this? And what does that look like, exactly? So, specifically I dwelt on the first point, "How can I encourage my husband in his spiritual relationship with Christ, and also, my children's personal relationships with Jesus?"

I must, firstly understand that evidence of a growing personal relationship with Jesus will probably look different in my husband's life than in mine. I can't tell him he should be reading the Bible more, or initiating prayer time or whatever!

---Philippians 2:3-4 is a pretty tough command to follow. Do nothing out of selfish ambition [...] consider others better than yourselves [...] look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. It goes against our natural programming to look out for ourselves first and try to get ahead in every area of our lives. In following this command we actually have to deny ourself and treat others and their needs as more important than our own! Probably not a new idea to many, but it's still just as challenging I'll bet.

Could this be the beginning step to encouraging my family to grow closer to Jesus? The verse from Peter also comes to mind. In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives. (1 Pet. 3:1-2 NLT)

When it may seem we are doing nothing directly, we are actually hugely impacting them as we serve God by serving and respecting them. It may even seem as though they don't even notice, but God notices. And isn't that the most important? The Holy Spirit is the one who will do the major convicting and transforming. We are called to encourage, to come alongside, to help reach a common goal or purpose. But we won't be the one to change the heart. That's God's business.

Domestic Divas

For you domestic divas out there, I thought I'd share my "chore list" that I sort of follow. :)

EVERYDAY
Tidy master bedroom/Living Room/Kitchen
Sweep Up
Empty Garbages
1 Load Laundry (Washed/Folded/Put Away)

WEEKLY
Mon - Dusting
Tue - Bathroom
Wed - Vacuum & Wash Floors
Thu - Clead Bed-Sheets
Fri / Sat - (1 monthly job)

MONTHLY
Week 1 - Clean Fridge
Week 2 - Wash Windows
Week 3 - Clean Oven (Stove top at least!)
Week 4 - Organize Computer desk/office area

JAN/APR/JUL/OCT - Dresser Drawers (refold and organize dresser drawers)

SPRINGTIME & AUTUMN - Sort seasonal clothing - toss things we don't wear (I don't keep summer clothes in our drawers in the winter, so this is when I sort and change out our seasonal wear)

SPRINGTIME - Wash House' Siding
SUMMERTIME - Defrost Freezer (yet to be done :)
SUMMERTIME - Clean hot tub
AUTUMN - Clean up yard for winter