The Transition to New

It's almost spring! Good-bye cold and blustery winters. Good-bye white stuff that shall not be named. Good-bye layers upon layers of clothing. Good-bye early dark days! HELLOOOO SPRING! Hello to chirping, colorful birds, beautiful green grass, budding trees, fragrant flowers - the newness of LIFE!

We aren't there yet exactly, but we are close. Two more days. But even with the coming of the actual day of spring, we will still be in transition before we can fully say "good-bye" and start a new season. This transition is hard. For example, just yesterday I was riding around with my windows down, wearing no coat, and in my flip flops. Today when I will finally go outside, the heavy burden of shoes, socks and a jacket will be in order. Before I actually smell the fragrant flowers, and budding trees I have to be bothered with the irritants of pollen. This transition is tough.

Although it is tough, I definitely don't yearn for winter or "what was" though. I don't want to go back. I want to move forward (and I'm sure the people of Boston would agree!). Wishing for what once was does no one any good. It makes no sense to try to hold on to the dreaded white stuff when the sun and earth work together and say "no". It does no good to lament over the cold weather when you will miss out on at least a good nine months of life passing you by. So, what do we do?

Thankfully I serve the God that is always moving forward. He encourages us through our transitions. He helps us deal with the irritants and the heavy burdens we have to experience before we can see the end of transition. In order to go through transition, we have to admit to ourselves the former thing is over and something new is about to begin. Newness can be scary...for anything new is something that hasn't been explored and we are often afraid of things we don't know. But be encouraged that our Father is bigger than our fears and nothing is new to Him. His word says:

Ecclesiastes 1:9 English Standard Version (ESV)

9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

Transition is tough, but it is nothing new. There will be no trouble that the Father hasn't seen and took someone through. There is no irritant that a person hasn't felt that Yah hasn't helped them overcome. There is no burden too great that a person carried that the Father hasn't offloaded onto His Only Begotten Son for us. So, as we watch the end of a season come to a close, relax and enjoy the beginning transition because at the end you will be able to enjoy the newness of another!

YAY SPRING!

Have a good one!!

Ecclesiastes 7:8-10 English Standard Version (ESV)

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.

Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

What I Learned Today: How To Make Gumbo, Ring Removal

Today was day number one of state shut down. Due to the snow we had, the government thought it best in each county to shut things down for the safety of its citizens. Long story short, it was a SNOW DAY!! Well, not really in this household because we home school. But I wasn't completely cold-hearted. I gave the kids a "half day" of academic work so they could play with their neighborhood friends for the rest of the day. And play they did. In the words of my daughter "THIS WAS THE BEST DAY EVERRR!!!". LOL.

Cold weather naturally makes me want to make soups. I didn't want the typical bean soups or veggie soups though. I wanted shrimp gumbo. So, I found three recipes, mashed them together and made one pot of awesome gumbo. YUM! Even had to brave the snow - not really, I'm from Wisconsin - to go up the street to the store to get my shrimp.  I'll share with you my recipe if you promise to keep it a secret! ;-)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons oil
1 lbs (or as much/less as you want) fresh or frozen cut okra
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
 (A bag of the onion/pepper fajita mix worked just fine for me)
3 stalks chopped celery
1 can (14.5 ounce size) diced tomatoes, undrained
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground red cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons hot sauce
*Added – Old Bay Seasoning, Sage, and Salt – to taste*
1 package (31/40ct) shrimp, rinsed - shell and de-vein them.
3 chicken thighs skinned and off the bone
6-8 cups water
1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice and 2 cups water



Directions:
Brown chicken seasoned with salt and pepper.

In small sauce pan (Or your gumbo pot), combine flour and oil; mix well. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. This is your Roux. Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes or until mixture turns reddish brown. Place flour-oil mixture in your gumbo pot if you used a sauce pan.

Stir in all remaining ingredients - starting with the garlic, peppers, onions and celery until tender, then okra and tomatoes. Add 6 cups water and seasoning. Boil until the okra is the texture you want.

What I Learned Today: I can make gumbo!!! This was my first batch and it was a hit! The way we ate had to be a sin...smh Lord have mercy. It was really good.

Youtube can be very useful. We've learned many of emotionally "life saving" things from there - like, how to remove dark wood stain from your white carpet using WD-40. But today, I don't know why, my husband found a video about ring removal. You know how sometimes your hands swell in the morning, or maybe you injured your upper limb and our fingers swell? Well, if you are wearing a ring on it at the time, your ring can cut off your circulation and destroy your finger. Most times people use something slippery to remove the ring, or if they can't do that, they cut it off. That can be traumatizing. So youtube showed us a better way...

What I Learned Today: Use something like an elastic band (think the kind of band you would find on an oxygen mask) wrap it tightly from the tip of your ring finger to the base next to the ring. Push the band under the ring and slowly unravel from the base. It will compress the swollen tissues and act as a kind of screw the twist the ring off the finger over the compressed tissue. And there you have it! Your ring in tact and your finger not destroyed :-)  Aww, shucks *blushing*....you're welcome!

GN!!

What I've Learned Today: Weekend Edition - I Am Like My Mother, Football Idols, Never Underestimate Bible Study with Your Kids

I grew up in the mid-west, Wisconsin to be exact. Winters are brutal there. I remember many times walking out the door in subzero weather with no gloves on and a half open jacket. Of course, being vain because, really, who doesn't want to look cool in the cold? I mean, you couldn't show off your latest "Guess" shirt all bundled up under a coat.

During those times, there would be a shrill of a voice ringing in my ears out of now where: "Girl! WHERE are your GLOVES? You gone mess around and get arthritis!!" or "If you don't ZIP. UP. YOUR. COAAAT!" The voice was unmistakably my mother. To this day, she still does it, and you would think I would have learned my lesson.

Well, today, as I sat and watched the PACKER game, I saw the players out there with no sleeves or gloves. It's 12 below, and my first thought was: "WHERE are their GLOVES?! They are gonna mess around and get arthritis!"......some lessons just never leave you.

What I learned today: I am my mother, she trained me well.



It's JUST a GAME!

Hey, don't get me wrong. I love the game of football just as much as the next gal. And no, I don't like it for the "cute uniforms", or the guys and their muscles (I gots mah own guy f'alladat! *hehehe*). I genuinely love the competition and determination...and who doesn't love a great underdog story from time to time? And make nooooooo bones about it, I'm a PACKERS girl. Born, bred, and raised to be one. I remember watching the game on a small black and white TV on our kitchen table with my dad and his friends - cheering my head off and learning about the game. I LOVE it when the Pack pull off a close win. I LOVE it when we completely dominate on the field. I LOVE the intensity, the cheering, the armchair coaching.....it's what makes the game fun. BUT one thing I don't love - the aftermath of a loss to a rival team. I have family and friends who cheer for different teams. We joke each other when one team or another wins. But, NEVER would I EVER disrespect or throw away my friendship/relationships over a game. I wish I could say the same for others who take this game way too seriously. This play-off season has really brought the ugly out of some people. It's especially sad to see Christians act in such a way that you would think they never knew the joy of the Lord, Jesus Christ. I mean, down right mean and potty mouthed!

Should we be reminded? Philippians 2:3 ESV Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Use self control people. You aren't losing paychecks over this (unless you're betting...in which you have other issues smh), nor are you losing pensions. These people that played a part in the game from the QB and owners to the waterboy will go home to their loved ones, or hang out with each other on both sides of the ball, and break bread, joke, laugh, and get up and do it again on the next go around. And you....you will have broken friendships and a bitter heart - over a game. C'mon, get it together!

What I learned today: Priorities and perspective. Don't let your emotions over a game mess them up.

Bible Study

There's nothing I love to hear more than my husband teaching our kids from the Word of God. We don't "go to church". We've been call out of the institutional church by Yahweh-God for a while now. If you want to know more, just let me know - I won't go into it here b/c that's not what this post is about. So, because we don't go, we must teach our children what the Lord requires for salvation and the way He would want us to live. Today, my husband was teaching and the kids were asking so many great questions. To me it shows that not only were they interested, but they were processing the info.

....and he said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. - Mark 10:14

What I Learned Today: Children are just as interested in the Word of God as they are the latest cartoons. You just need to be willing to put in the effort of teaching and answering questions. Which means, you need to know the Word for yourself instead of waiting to be fed once a week.

GN!