Amy Carmichael Prayer

Once again, I don't have time for a decent post, but I was reading A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael today while I was waiting for my sister at the chiropractor and came across this poem that she wrote during a very hard, confusing time in her life.  I had to share!

And shall I pray Thee change Thy will, my Father,

Until it be according unto mine?

But, no, Lord, no, that never shall be, rather

I pray Thee blend my human will with Thine.

I pray Thee hush the hurrying, eager longing,

I pray Thee soothe the pangs of keen desire--

See in my quiet places, wishes thronging--

Forbid them, Lord, purge, though it be with fire.

And work in me to will and do Thy pleasure

Let all within me, peaceful, reconciled,

Tarry content my Well-Beloved's leisure,

At last, at last, even as a weaned child.

Blessings in Christ,

The Gospel

I had every intention of doing a nice sized post today, but after staring at my computer screen all day long for work, I just need to get up, turn off the computer and go something constructive with myself!  However, I will leave you this to chew on.  And, trust me, it's a full on meal packed into it's 11 minute size!

Have an awe-filled rest of your day remembering what He came to do for you and how you are going to share that with the world!

Blessings in Christ,

Rejoice in the Lord

This week is going to be very sporadic on posts because I start my new responsibilities at work this week!  (Exciting, but crazy!)  However, I came across this powerful verse today and wanted to share it.  


Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—  Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.  The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s  feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills. 


Habakkuk 3:17-19 NKJV (for the record, I love the old King James version of the Bible and that's what I do my daily reading out of.  However, when I memorize scripture, I do it in the New King James because when I want to quote it to someone [especially an unbeliever] down the road they are most likely going to appreciate it more if they can understand it and it's not in archaic English!)


How powerful is that?  No matter what happens, Habakkuk has realized (yes, realized; just read chapter one if you want to know what Habakkuk thought of God shortly before writing this powerful passage!) God is his joy and his strength.  No matter what happens in this life, the stock market crashes, abortion stays legal, the value of the dollar continues to plummet, droughts, pestilence, floods, food supplies dwindle, you get tossed in a jail and tortured, we can still rejoice in our Lord because He is our God of our salvation!  He is our strength and He will give us the strength, wisdom and whatever else we may need to navigate the high, steep, 'insurmountable' hills in our lives.  What a mighty God we serve!!


Blessings in Christ,
 

Kitchen: 'Ice Cream'

I just made this 'ice cream' last night and it was delicious!!  It is made with yogurt (so it's a bit tangy) instead of milk and/or cream and honey instead of white sugar, so it certainly tastes a little bit different, but is oh, so much better for you!  We're split about 50/50 in my family when it comes to liking it.  But, I'm the one who can't/won't have the other stuff, so I'm a happy camper!  I got the original recipe from my new favorite cookbook: The Grain-Free Gourmet by Jodi Bager and Jenny Hess, but tweaked it quite a bit and added some of the deliciousness!  Feel free to substitute your own fruit or chocolate or caramel or anything else - it's ice cream, you really can't mess this one up!

Coconut-Pineapple Yogurt Ice Cream

2 cups whole milk yogurt (if you have or want to make your own yogurt with half-and-half, even better.  I used the European Style Organic Whole Milk Yogurt from Trader Joe's)

Honey (how much you use depends on preference - the original recipe called for 1/2 cup, yesterday I put about 3 Tbsp in and next time I might use a little bit less.  It doesn't taste too sweet if you use the whole 1/2 cup [I have tried it before with the full amount], I just prefer to use the smallest amount of sweetener possible.  Also, keep in mind that the less honey you use, the tangier the ice cream is going to taste because of the yogurt.)

2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract (don't use the fake stuff.  Also, you can substitute 2 tsp almond extract if you prefer the flavor, are out of vanilla [like I was last night!] or if it will go better with what you are putting into the ice cream.  If you go with my mom's cherry almond idea, you are definitely going to want to go with the almond extract!)

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl and place in an ice cream maker and make according to manufacturer's directions.  You can either finish at this point or proceed and put some deliciousness in it!

Here's the problem, I don't really measure when I don't have to, so I'm not terribly sure how much pineapple and coconut I put in the ice cream!!  I pretty much just added by small handfuls until I thought I had enough...  So, just add what you feel it needs! :)

Canned pineapple (crushed is best, but you can also cut/crush up your own tidbits or chunks depending on what you have on hand - I had chunks on hand, so made do.  I think I used between 1/2 cup and 3/4 cup, plus a splash or so of the pineapple juice from the can)

Toasted coconut flakes (sprinkle coconut flakes on a baking sheet and place in 350 degree oven for about 3 minutes.  Be sure to keep an eye on it because it goes from white to dark brown/black really fast!!  Yes, it did happen to me last night!  I probably put about 1/2 cup of the second coconut batch in the ice cream.)

Mix add-ins into the ice cream and eat if you like soft serve or put ice cream in a freezer-safe container and place in freezer for a few hours until harder.

As I experiment more and more, I'll mention what other add-ins I try (and I'll try to remember to measure them!) and how they turned out.  If you experiment any, let me know!  I'd love to hear how it worked for you and what you came up with! :)

Bon appetit!!

Blessings in Christ,

What I'm Listening To Today

I was running errands with my youngest sister yesterday and she was picking music on my iPod. We listened to quite the variety of music, but when she picked this song that we hadn't listened to in a while, it stuck with me. (Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom to the blog before watching the video!)

One of these days we're going to be able to ask Moses how crossing over the Red Sea was. We're going to be able to ask Esther what it was like to approach the king with her request. We're going to be able to ask David what it was like to slay Goliath. We're going to be able to ask Mary what it was like to carry the Savior of the world. We're going to be able to see what Paul saw and couldn't speak about. And all of that will pale in comparison to being able to see 'my Jesus face to face!' What a glorious day that will be!!

Blessings in Christ,

The Miracle of Creation

Today I started reading The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul.  I know, I know, I'm starting yet another book, but I do like to have one biography, one theology and one fiction (when I have time) book going, so now I've got all three! :)  In the first chapter, Dr. Sproul talks about the creation of the universe and the awesomeness of it and I just had to share!  We sometimes just read the black words on the white page: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."  I hope this passage will help you (as it helped me) realize the majesty and grandeur of the sentence that begins the Book of all books!

"God's fiats [explained in an earlier passage to be 'a command or an act of the will that creates something'] are not so limited.  He can create by the sheer force of His divine command.  He can bring something out of nothing, life out of death.  He can so these things by the sound of His voice.


The first sound uttered in the universe was the voice of God commanding, 'Let there be!'  It is improper to say that this was the first sound 'in' the universe because until the sound was made there was no universe for it to be in.  God shouted into a void.  Perhaps it was a kind of primal scream directed at empty darkness."


The command created its own molecules to carry the sound waves of God's voice farther and farther into space.  Yet sound waves would take too long.  The speed of this imperative exceeded the speed of light.  As soon as the words left the Creator's mouth, things began to happen.  Where His voice reverberated, stars appeared, glowing in unspeakable brilliance in tempo with the songs of angels.  The force of divine energy splattered against the sky like a kaleidoscope of color hurled from the palate of a powerful artist.  Comets crisscrossed the sky with flashing tails like Fourth of July skyrockets.


The act of creation was the first event in history.  It was also the most dazzling.  The supreme Architect gazed as His complex blueprint and shouted commands for the boundaries of the world to be set.  He spoke, and the seas were shut behind doors, and the clouds were filled with dew.  He bound the Pleiades and buckled the belt of Orion.  He spoke again, and the earth began to fill with orchards in full bloom.  Blossoms burst forth like springtime in Mississippi.  The lavender hues of plum trees dance with the brilliance of azaleas and forsythia.


God spoke once more, and the waters teemed with living things.  The snail sneaked beneath the shadowy form of the stingray, while the great marlin broke the surface of the water to promenade on the waves with his tail.  Again He spoke, and the roar of the lion and the bleating of sheep were heard.  Four-footed animals, eight-legged spiders, and winged insects appeared.


And God said, 'That's good.'


Then God stooped to to earth and carefully fashioned a piece of clay.  He lifted it gently to His lips and breathed into it.  The clay began to move.  It began to think.  It began to feel.  It began to worship.  It was alive and stamped with the image of its Creator."

Unfortunately, I can't type up the whole chapter I just read and the things it got me thinking about.  I cannot wait to continue reading this book!!  (Thank you dear student, you know who you are, for telling me about this book!!)  I have been blessed immensely already and I've read a grand total of 8 pages!

What a mighty God we serve!!

Blessings in Christ,

Closet: Bible Reading

Today being Sunday, I thought it would be fitting to post what I try to do for my morning devotion time.  I'm not always successful, but ideally, this is what I would like to do:

• Morning devotion from Spurgeon's Morning & Evening (if you don't have it - get it!  I try to make it a point to read the Morning selection before I get out of bed.)
• One chapter from Great Women of the Christian Faith by Edith Deen (I really like to read about and be inspired by Christian women over the years.  This book is far from perfect as it praises some of the women who did things that I completely disagree with - put their children in boarding school so they could ride around the English countryside preaching (they were the ones preaching, they weren't going around with their husband who was preaching), for instance...  But, on the whole, it is a very inspiring book.)
• A prayer from Valley of Vision by Arthur Bennett
• Ten 1 chapter segments from the Bible (thank you Mrs. Beaver for the idea!  I don't know why it is, but sometimes I would struggle with keeping my mind focused to read half that amount of chapters.  Now that I started reading the shorter segments, I find I am staying focused and am totally blessed by reading all over the Bible!  For instance, today I read a chapter from Genesis, Joshua, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Matthew, Acts, Romans and 1 Timothy!  I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for your first time through the Bible, but if reading through the Bible in a year was part of your home school curriculum for years, so you know your way around the Bible and what's going on at all times, it's great!)

Before going to bed:

• One chapter (or more if I can't put it down!) of whatever biography or theology book I am reading
• Evening selection of Spurgeon's Morning & Evening

Other books I have read/used in the past and liked:

• My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
• Daily Light on the Daily Path by the Samuel Bagster Family (a collection of related scriptures for morning and evening readings)
• Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die by John Piper (I had the idea to read one reason every day between Easter and Pentecost, but it didn't happen this year - I think I made it to Reason #15 because I kept forgetting or wasn't able to do my devotion.  Here's hoping for next year!)
• The Narrated Bible by F. LaGard Smith (this is what my mom used to read us every day to begin our school day.  The entire Bible is put into daily readings for a year in chronological order with Psalms and Proverbs organized by subject, the books of the law also organized by subject and the gospels harmonized.  There is also occasional introduction and history.  For instance, there is a whole daily reading that is comprised of the history of the inter-testament period that is great!  It's really a great way to start reading the Bible or to just read the Bible in one year!)

What do you use for your devotions??  Post up! :)

Blessings in Christ,