Category: in my kitchen

good eats and fond memories

in my kitchen

snack food junkie

melodyannday1 Comment


(my feisty baby girl, a year ago)

this was my first post, here on Daily Portion, a year ago on September 18, 2010

My 16 month old baby girl is feisty.  She’s the youngest of three and appears to love it.  A bit hard headed, she manages to get her way most of the time.  but who can say no to her?  None of us at our house can, that’s for sure.

Recently she has had a surge in her verbal skills and now has more than 40 words.  I find it remarkable because I am her mommy and everything she does is worth my pride and a big smile.  Well, most of the time.

The other day, while most of us were sitting around the dining room table doing school work, she was toddling here and there back and forth between dining and living room.  As she moved from place to place she said something.  It was a new word I did not recognize.  She said it a bit aggressively, almost shouting it, “NAK!”  it could have been misunderstood for “yak” a few times.  Clearly, she was on the search for something…

Well, our work continued in the books.  Realizing I had forgotten to sweep up following supper the night before, I grabbed the broom from the kitchen and began to sweep, making a pile in the corner.  Suddenly, without warning, my sweet baby girl made a bee-line right for the pile.  She snatched up a large chunk of chocolate graham cracker from the top of the heap and stuffed it in her mouth.  Then she looked up at me with a big, crumby, chocolate grin and said, “NAK!”

Ahhhhhh…  (with understanding)  she was hunting a snack…..

Its true.  My daughter is a snack food a-holic.  With two older children, I have not been able to be idealistic about her food intake.  She loves a goldfish, a nutri-grain bar or some graham crackers above most anything else.  None of them necessarily bad for her, but not absolutely the best either.

In my mind I have made so many different applications from daughter’s actions to my own life.  But the one that stands out the most, that is significant to my heart and my actions is this:  I can search and search and search for things to satisfy… “junk food for my soul” if you will.  But nothing is going to hit the spot like time with the Holy Spirit.

I am so good at looking elsewhere.  Surfing the net, watching tv, looking at magazines, reading books – oh the list is endless of “stuff” I crowd my soul with looking for pleasure, looking for fulfillment.   The truth is, I can’t tell you that any of that “stuff” is bad.  I just know, deep down in my heart of hearts that often its not the best for me either.

Will I be a healthy christian and all that God wants me to be if I do a little bit of this and a little bit of that, with a little snack of God’s word on the side once in a while?  Probably not.   A desire that is rising in my soul is this: to seek Him first.  Fill up with Him.  Then, He will permeate everything else that I do, and hopefully I’ll make solid “snack” choices.    It starts this way:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Phillipians 4:8)

So far, I’m not so good at it.  Okay, I’m not good at it at all.  But I know He’s working on me, He’s pulling me towards Him.  And I find myself wanting it more than the junk!

Now if I can just help sweet baby girl to do the same!

md

(my feisty baby girl, now)

in my kitchen

the sauce…

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If you were intrigued by my “Sweet endings” post, and if you have the need for chocolate in your life,  I am posting the chocolate sauce here.  for you.  Because I care.  Its very simple.  And when you’re finished making it, try to let it cool a bit, before diving in with a spoon – I just don’t want you to burn your tongue.

Let the chocolate sauce making commence:

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter or margarine

4 cups of sugar

6 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa

1 can of evaporated milk

1 tsp of vanilla

Instructions: In a large pan, melt the butter.  add the sugar, cocoa and milk and combine with the butter.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat and let it boil for a minute or two.  Stir in the vanilla at the end.  Voila!   Over ice cream, well – over just about anything and it is delicious!

I may have to have a little spoonful with my breakfast!

a photo, just to torture you for a moment…

in my kitchen

welcome to brownie heaven…

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This is an America’s Test Kitchen Recipe. I think that this brownie turns out with just the right balance between caky and fudge.  In my mind that is one step closer to heaven.  So, here is what I just made this morning.  (minus the nuts)

Ingredients:

1 Cup (4oz.) Pecans or walnuts, chopped medium, optional
1 ¼ Cups (5 oz) cake flour (“Softasilk” brand, or other. – It really makes a difference!)
½ Tsp. salt
¾ tsp. baking Powder
6 oz. UNSWEETENED baking chocolate, chopped fine
12 Tbs. (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter cut into 1 inch pcs.
2 ¼ C (15 ¾ oz) sugar, white granulated
4 large eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions:

Adjust oven rack to middle, preheat to 325 degrees. Line 9×13 inch pan with foil and spray with cooking spray or olive oil.

If using nuts, spread evenly on rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven until fragrant, 5 to 8 min. set aside to cool. (I dont use the nuts, usually).

Whisk to combine flour, salt and baking. powder. Set aside.

Melt chocolate and butter in microwave. First on high 45 sec, stir, and then alternate additional 30 sec in micro on high and stirring… until smooth. Do not let chocolate burn. Gradually whisk in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each. Whisk in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, folding in with spatula after each, until batter is completely smooth and homogenous.

Transfer to pan and spread into corners, etc. Sprinkle toasted nuts on top, if using. Bake until toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool to room temp (2hrs) in pan. Then remove by lifting foil overhang and cut. Enjoy!

Melody’s suggestions: If you want these to turn out beautifully – I highly recommend the cake flour – totally worth it!  also – I melted the chocolate and butter first – then let it cool while I put together the dry ingredients.  Once I had mixed the dry ingredients – then I added sugar and eggs to the chocolate butter mixture per the directions.   I made these in muffin cups and they needed to bake right about 28 minutes… low and slow – be careful not to overbake, if you’re doing it in a pan.  : )  I did not do the nuts.

in my kitchen

New Favorite pt. 2

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(from my kitchen, this morning…)

I’m feeling a little guilty. Possibly unfaithful. I made a fresh pan of brownies. The guilt doesn’t stem from eating the brownies. I’m not concerned about my diet. No. I ate without shame.

Its the recipe. I tried out a new brownie recipe tonight. For the past eight years, if I’ve made brownies from scratch, its been from the same bookmarked page on Allrecipes.com. Its been a loyal companion. Every time I made these particular brownies they turned out beautiful, dark and rich.

But tonight I needed something new, something different. So, I tried a different website. And these brownies turned out absolutely warm, gooey and delicious. My family loved them. There was not a disappointed palate at the table.

I am a chocolate lover, no doubt. Its not that I have only eaten my brownies and no other chocolate over the years. But my old brownie recipe – its a part of my culinary history. There are memories attached : they have brought me through in a pinch with unexpected company, they have planted smiles on my children’s faces and they have carved out a special place in my heart.

In a similar way I recently found another new friend. There have been many pieces of scripture that have been significant to my spiritual history. But there was a time that one particular verse from Psalms met a very specific need. The first time it spoke to me was in high school.

My sister and I found out two days before the fall semester began that we would not be going to our small christian high school, but rather a large public high school. Due to what seemed like very cruel circumstances, we went from being in classes of 10 or 15 people to classes with populations of 300. It was shocking and for me, almost debilitating. In my fear and frustration, I remember turning to the Lord for something, anything.

As I poured over the Psalms, this is what I found:

“For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.”

For the first time in my young life, Scripture became a guidepost for me. Again and again it encouraged me that I could do what was expected – and God would give me almost super hero type strength to accomplish it. At first, all I could do was cling. Over time it became my mantra and it has held me together through so many difficult situations. I guess you could call it a “life verse.”

Recently I needed more. I was in a new place – confident that God’s will would be done in my life, by His power. But, I needed a new hope in order to continue. It was then that I found something warm and personal. The truth was deep and rich; it brought a new peace knowing that He was with me, that He loved me.

“In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.

May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.”

Psalm 33:21-22

I am so thankful that God’s word is living and breathing, given by the Heavenly Father to meet needs, bring comfort and give direction. More than anything I am thankful that He speaks to me when I come to Him. Rather than having just one life verse, I am grateful to have so many life – giving, hope- restoring verses as a part of my own spiritual history.

Thank you Lord for your decadent words of hope in Scripture….

md

originally written April 5, 2010.

in my kitchen · who knows?

The new cheap, its not so easy…

melodyannday2 Comments

I found myself in a mad dash to the grocery store today. I normally don’t do the weekly store run on Sunday afternoon. But, its been a busy weekend and since our fellowship group was not meeting tonight, I thought I’d get it done. No husband. No kids. Just me and the groceries.

Now, I am a planner. I have a menu for the week, I have a grocery list – I always peruse the weekly ad and I take coupons. I do not go to our neighborhood Publix for my grocery run without any pieces of this puzzle in place.

Except for today.

My excursion began to unravel when I realized my coupons were still at home. I was standing in front of the buy one get one bins, feeling a bit giddy with excitement because I had a coupon for one of these fabulous items. Not only was I going to get two for the price of one, my coupon would get me a discount on top of that. What a steal! Well it would have been a steal if I had remembered my coupons. ( I must have set them down on the counter instead of putting them in my purse…)

As I walked through the store I relived the glory days. Not long ago I could squeeze a whole week’s worth of groceries in under $75. Anything more and I was splurging on non-essentials. Today there was a sign near the goldfish (a staple at my house) labeled to try to trick me into thinking they were on sale. Two dollars and twenty nine cents! I remember when they were a dollar sixty nine. I was not fooled. That is not cheap! Anxiety began to rise in my chest. I had a sinking feeling that my grocery bill was going to be gargantuan. A budget buster and nothing less. For some reason as our economy changes and the prices of groceries rise, I am frustrated. Why can’t I buy my groceries for $75 anymore? I felt like pitching a fit and breaking out in uncontrollable sobbing all at once – right there in the freezer aisle.

Back in the seventy five dollar days – that’s when Michael and I made a huge life changing decision. We decided to be a one income family. I came home from working in the corporate world to be a housewife and a mom. It has been one of the best decisions we ever made and I wouldn’t take it back for anything! But, as anyone who has made this choice knows, there are sacrifices involved. One of those sacrifices is eating at home more. This is where my “budget – menu – coupon puzzle” comes into play. I take great pride in making sure all the pieces fit together just right so that we eat well while staying within the budget.

More often than not recently its become complicated. We need expensive items like formula and diapers and other things that can throw the balance out of whack. And I’m anxious over it. Why you ask? Well, I was asking myself the same thing in the check out line. The cart ahead of mine was full, so I had a moment of self examination.

I am anxious because it is out of my control. Even if I have all of the pieces of my puzzle in place I can’t make things be the price I need them to be to make my budget. I can’t make the milk stay at $3.19 a gallon and I can’t foresee if the price of ground beef is going to be 5.00 a pound this week. But as I think about it, there’s more.

I can’t control if my husband will get a raise. Really I can’t be absolutely sure that he will keep his job. With the state of our economy no amount of human financial planning can bring peace of mind. And here is where the rubber meets the road – (right as I’m beginning to load my groceries on the conveyor belt. ) – I’m anxious because I’m not able to control all the things that God has promised he’s going to take care of.

He told us not to worry over “stuff” in Matthew 6:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

I pushed the cart to my car and the groceries didn’t feel like lead anymore. The chance of groceries getting cheaper is pretty slim, But no matter how difficult it gets to make the pieces of my grocery shopping puzzle fit together – I know God’s still in control of providing my family’s needs. Maybe next week will be easier if I remember this before I go…

Now, where did I set those coupons? : )

md

(written November 23, 2009)

md

in my kitchen · who knows?

don’t be afraid to flash it…

melodyannday2 Comments

Nourished kitchen.  That’s where I found myself  today.  It is a food and cooking/ health and wellness sort of website that gives lots of  tips and pointers for the kitchen.  I like that kind of thing.  I really do.  So, I read.

Today was a competition for viewers. Specifically there were photos submitted of the interiors of peoples’ refrigerators. The competition was called “Flash Your Fridge” rewarding people for the beautiful insides of their ice boxes, all sparkly clean and tidy.  And oh my – it was stunning.  You have never seen such spotless, sterile, but used refrigerators.  Mine has not looked like that since, well since the day we purchased it.

At any rate, in the pictures, they were bright white inside.  Not a drop or stain in sight.  Neatly stacked, color coded containers, with pretty and colorful looking left overs inside them, heavenly- fresh produce in the crisper drawers and drinks in matching dispensers and bottles.  Unreal.  My frigidaire looks nothing like those pictures I saw today.

Typically my appliance looks like organized chaos – probably an all too realistic picture of my life these days.  It is a complicated maze of  sippy cups, takeout containers containing  leftovers and mismatched rubbermaid containers and lids.  But, it is not dirty;  I promise it is not a harbor for mold or other grossness. (It is here, at this point that I would love to share a story about moldy pudding that my mom found at the back of the fridge when I was in grade two…  it had green fuzz.  But I will save that anecdote for another time.)

I would never, ever in a million years “flash my fridge” for the whole world wide web to see. Not ever.

As I skimmed through the pictures, my heart began race.  I actually became flushed and embarrassed at the thought of exposing my fridge’s insides.  Why can’t my insides look like everyone else’s?  When the question is applied to my situation regarding my kitchen appliances it sounds silly.  But, really, it is a question I ask a lot about myself, a creation of God’s own hand.   Regularly I wish away my own uniqueness.

I know that there are a lot of things that God is changing in me.  He is at work in my life and I feel it daily. However, there are also things about me that He loves, that He created especially when He made me:  my sense of humor, my likes and dislikes, my personality, my abilities, my very heart and soul. Even though I’ve been told the truth my whole life, so often these are the parts of me that I am quick to try to hide.  I am prepared to keep the doors closed to my heart so that people won’t see who I really am. Trying to be like everyone else, or to hide who I really am is so difficult and ultimately futile….

from the Message, Psalm 139:

13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.

God’s Word is clear; He made me.  I am a beautiful creation, specifically designed to be unlike anyone else. This thought is so refreshing to me.  What a relief! I don’t have to be ashamed.  I am who He wanted me to be. With this knowledge I can live bravely, calmly and more sure of myself, which is what I believe He intended all along.

a bit of history · in my kitchen

rhubarb crisp

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I haven’t always loved rhubarb.  It just so happens that it was peer pressure that brought me to the point of tasting the long, stalky, pink fruit for the first time.   Or is it a vegetable?  I’m not sure.

When we were young, living in Danville, Illinois, my sister and I spent a lot of our summers playing outside in the back yard.  At the time the space seemed huge, but I was only five then.  I’m not really clear on how big it was, maybe an acre?  At any rate, in the far back, right corner of the property behind our house, there was rhubarb growing.

Now, my sister, Marilyn, she is known for eating sour things.  When she was a baby she wanted to suck on slices of lemon.  I wasn’t old enough to be wary of my sister and her tastebuds when we hiked to the back half of the yard and she wanted to eat some rhubarb.  She liked it when she tried it before, she said.  And she broke off a stalk and snapped it in half, holding out a piece to me.  At five, I trusted my big sister, so I took a big bite.

I don’t particularly enjoy sour…

Later, I know it was much, much later, my great grandmother made a dessert for us when we visited her house in Iowa.  Rhubarb crisp, warm with a large scoop of Hy-vee vanilla ice cream.  I cringed.  not rhubarb…  But she assured me, it was delicious – she’d made it many times before and everyone always loved it.  Of course, I loved my GG and trusted her, so I took a big bite.  I’ve never enjoyed anything more in my whole life.  Not a single drop or crumb was left.

It is amazing what a little sweetener will do.

This is my reality as a believer, too.  So often trials and hardships season my life with a bitter flavor.  I confess that I don’t always love every part of what my Heavenly Father has planned for me.  Unfortunately He didn’t say He would remove all of the bitterness.  In fact it is quite the opposite.  But, He did give, in Scripture, many life-giving, hope-securing promises.   I know I can trust these promises in God’s word; for me, they are the sweetener of life, taking the sour-ness and making it bearable.  Sometimes even wonderful…

 How sweet are your words to my taste,  sweeter than honey to my mouth!  (Psalm 119:3)

***************************************************************************************************

Since I do love to bake desserts, I thought I’d share this recipe here, on the blog… (I found it on the sweetmary blog.) It is a recipe for a rhubarb oatmeal square that I made recently, and it really is wonderful!  Very reminiscent of the rhubarb crisp my GG made, and really delicious with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Rhubarb Oatmeal Squares

Crust/crumble Ingredients: 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1/4 cup water

Filling Ingredients:

3 cups chopped rhubarb (1/2 inch pieces)

3/4 to 1 cup sugar (I used 1 cup, but 3/4 is also fine)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tablespoon orange zest

3 tablespoons orange juice

1/4 cup water

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350. Grease a 13×9-inch baking pan with butter or non-stick spray.

Make filling first.

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Dissolve sugar and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low. Cook until rhubarb has broken down and mixture has thickened a bit. The mixture should be like syrup (meaning not entirely liquid and not as thick as jam). This will take about 10 to 15 minutes. Keep in mind that the mixture will thicken as it cools, too. Cool for about 10 minutes.

While the filling cools, make the crust.

Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda together in a medium bowl.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add flour mixture and mix until fully incorporated. Add the oats and 1/4 cup water. Mix until crumbly.

Firmly pat half of this mixture into the greased baking pan.

Then, add the rhubarb mixture. Spread evenly over the crumble mixture.

Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture on top of the rhubarb.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes until it starts to brown. Cool. Cut into bars.

(I should have baked mine longer, they were a bit gooey at 25 minutes… but chilled they are a firm bar.  If I had baked another 5 minutes, the crust may have firmed up more)


in my kitchen

what’s not on the to-do list…

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I’ve never been the home maker who enjoys cleaning.  Not ever.  I do it because I should, but its the least favorite detail in my job description.  Its not that I don’t care.  I do, I really do.  I just have other things I enjoy more. Like baking.  or just about anything else.  Suffice it to say, I’m always prepared to move cleaning to the bottom of my to-do list.

In particular there is my kitchen sink.  It is a lovely, ivory – colored, sink.  But after all of the many years of use, it is scarred and scraped on the bottom.   I have tried to figure out who thought ivory would be a good choice for a kitchen sink.  It was probably a man who does not do the dishes very often. I tell you I have scrubbed and scrubbed and cleaned and scrubbed some more.  But, no matter what I do, within moments of sparkly satisfaction – it is dull and grimy again.

And please don’t make suggestions.  I have tried them all.  Ceramabrite, Barkeeper’s friend, Lysol kitchen and bathroom spray, Mr. Clean, plain old Clorox, Scrub Free, 409; you name it, I have used it.   I promise.

The problem is I use my sink.  So no matter how much cleaning goes on, there is always cooking and eating happening in my kitchen which means the basin will be dirty shortly, if it isn’t already.

In a perfect world, there would be a cleaning solution that kept things clean always, so I wouldn’t have to work so hard…

As I had these thoughts this morning, up to my elbows in suds in my kitchen, I came to a realization about my own heart.  It is very similar to my sink. Often it is filthy with sin. When I take note of it all, almost subconsciously I set about cleaning.  Somewhere along the line I began to believe that I can better myself, so, out comes my scrub brush of lofty, humanistic ideals along with my cleaning solution of good works and I get started on the task at hand.   After all, I’m responsible for my guilt and my sin aren’t I?  Surely I need to do something to be absolved of it all…  Oh how much I do, solely as an effort to gain favor with God, hoping the stains of guilt will be removed…

But that is the opposite of the truth from God’s word.  It is impossible for me to live, on this side of the fall, without sin.  I can not, by my own handiwork, make myself clean.  “There is none righteous, no not one!”   But the good news of the Gospel is this:  I am made clean by His work on the cross and the blood that He shed.  My heart is thoroughly cleansed by the washing and regeneration of the Holy Spirit.  Its the ultimate in Scrub Free.  His cleansing is the only possible solution that allows me to be free of all my guilt-ridden works.

How I love this significant reminder in Ephesians 2.  I think its one of my favorite passages of all…

4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

No more scouring. No more laboring for favor.  Cleaning my heart no longer has a place on my to-do list.  I am free indeed to live the life He has called me to live, by the power of the Holy spirit who has made me clean. hallelujah and amen!

friends and loved ones · in my kitchen

Taste it!

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If I could have a do-over, I think I would have given culinary school a try. But – that’s not possible for right now, so I bake. I gather ingredients, I follow instructions and like magic – I pull an ooey-gooey pan of brownies from the oven. It is a love affair, happening in my own kitchen.

And its not just the brownies or even the baking, really. It’s the end result. There is nothing better than watching the reaction of my loved ones dive into my brownies, or a birthday cake, or oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I could go on… there’s a long list of favorites.

Every once in a while I try something new and I have to work to sell the goods, “Just try it – I know you’ll like it!” Its almost like I’m channeling every other mother who has ever had a picky child. Still, my 8 yr old looks at me with skepticism.

Its possible I was born a food lover, by nature. I enjoy food. I like how the taste of a brilliantly prepared dish explodes in my mouth. I relish a cozy dinner of comfort food on a chilly night. I‘ve developed a palate for delicious, delectable food. An emotional eater? Perhaps. But, I’m a connoisseur for sure.

Often I have a song by Israel Houghton float through my mind that I particularly enjoy called, “Taste and See.” Its taken from Scripture where the Psalmist says, “Taste and See that the Lord is good…” but Israel takes it a step further and says, “You’re never (never never) gonna know til you try…” And I can totally relate.

I nibbled in the beginning. Scripture verses were fed to me for my memorization. In my childhood Bible stories were every day fare. And so my taste for His Word was piqued.

As a young adult, I began taste-testing on my own. The menu was laced with adventure and excitement – He was becoming a reality and I was discovering whether these words offered were fact or fiction. Sometimes savory, sometimes sour, sometimes hard to digest, but I was drawn to explore and try new things from His word.

And now not only am I a consumer, I’m consumed. I can’t start my morning without a hearty helping of His Word to go along with my cup of coffee. I devour it like freshly baked bread (maybe with homemade jam) and it sustains me through each day. He is the consummate artisan baker. Every day there is a feast prepared for me. And just as I take pleasure in my family’s enjoyment of those fresh brownies – He delights when I come to him for another bite.

For me its quite complicated sometimes. How can I explain the flavors? I find myself looking on the faces of friends in need; those who don’t know or understand my Savior. They haven’t yet nibbled or taste tested. How can I convince one who hasn’t yet tried this life sustaining bread that Its good? No, Its Divine! The mom in me says, “You’re never (never, never) gonna know til you try…”

Taste and See that the Lord is good. (Ps 34:8)

md

(written November 20, 2009)

friends and loved ones · in my kitchen

ice cream designs

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Let’s talk about ice cream for a minute.  I love it.  So does my husband.  Michael eats a bowl of ice cream almost every night.  I used to.  Nowadays I watch him eat his bowl of creamy delightful goodness – while I drink a tall glass of cool water. If I have any calories left I might indulge in a mini peppermint pattie.

Watching him eat his ice cream was really okay with me until last Friday night.  Yes.  That was when my beloved announced to me, while digging in to several scoops of Moose Tracks, that he had weighed himself the other day and found out that he had lost almost ten pounds without even trying.

Now.  How is that fair?

Seriously – I have been working for weeks at loosing weight.  Eating right.  Exercising.  Drinking water. Counting weight watchers points.  Five weeks of being diligent – and I haven’t lost five pounds yet.  And he lost 9 pounds without noticing?!?!  Even now I feel my blood pressure sky rocketing as I think about it and I can’t see straight.   I would like to scream. loudly.  But its 11:47 pm and I would rather not wake my babies.

*several deep breaths occurred here.*

Temper tantrum  averted.

Tonight I found myself wondering, “Why, God?  Why can’t weight loss be easier? This is so not fair!”  And the minute I had these thoughts, I wished I could take them back because I sounded like a big fat whiny baby.  But, He answered me anyway.

“I made you.”  Yes.  That’s what He said – and I realized as He said it that I may have insulted Him.  “I love you.  I designed you.  You were very expensive, but I paid the price for you anyway, so we can have this relationship.  You are mine.”

And of course I pressed Him for more answers (because that is how I am)… I asked Him why things couldn’t be different.  Why couldn’t He alter the design, just a bit? Like letting me eat ice cream and still loose weight? maybe?  Its just not fair – I love ice cream.

He explained to me that He desires for me to live patiently, diligently with godly perseverance – and this new life of eating better was one of the ways He could teach me these qualities.    Well, how could I argue with that?

Titus 2:11-14 says this:

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

His desires for me are more than my own satisfaction or happiness. He gave his life in order to purify His people.  He has no plans for fairness; rather they are blueprints for righteousness, godliness and the joy that follows.  He is the designer of my life; it’s one that is more satisfying than the weight loss I crave and it is sweeter than ice cream.

Heavenly Father – Thank you for your mercy.  You treat me with lovingkindness rather than dealing fairly with me…  You’ve never given me what I deserve – and for that I am grateful.  Help me to continue on this journey – give me the strength to persevere- the will power for diligence and the grace to endure it all.  amen.