Category Archives: Inspiration

Hidden in Your Heart (or Dessert)

Posted on by
4

I am terrible at memorizing. Always have been. When I had to study notes and diagrams for school, I would make up jingles and word acronyms and the like to keep all the parts I needed to know in my head. I’m a visual learner and “see” what I need to remember… mostly. How about you, my friend? Are you good at keeping things in your brain and remembering them “by heart”? I’m a visual learner, but by no means do I have a “photographic memory”. Somedays I wish I did… but, I guess my brain is too full of other stuff to keep all that information up there. So, I write it down. Lists are my friend. Sticky notes are even more special.

The hubby is good at remembering. He makes sure I remember anniversaries. He remembers where we went and what we wore. I sometimes remember what we ate 🙂 Speaking of eating… (I know, you are thinking where am I going with this… no worries, it’ll come). Speaking of eating… anyone out there have tips on how to get your family to eat more veggies? My kids are pretty good… but nothing “out of the norm”. No kale, squash, spinach…or zucchini. Which is going to be a problem if we grow lots this summer. What shall I do with all that summer squash???

I’ll tell you what I’ve started doing… I’ve started to “sneak” veggies in. “Hiding” them in some un-recognizable form. Raw spinich in mixed green salades. Squash in the form of soup (which they know is squash soup, but they seem to tolerate). I even fool myself by throwing beets in pretty pink smoothies. Because beets are gross. Consequently, this week I made two lovely desserts which included zucchini!! Yes, they knew the green stuff was in there… but it somehow became more delectible mixed in cocoa… or in the form of cake.

One of my favourite verses is Luke 2:19:

“But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

In the middle of all the goings on of the Christmas story, post partum, and visits from stinky shepherd strangers, Mary manages to hide away some special thoughts and memories deep in her new mother’s heart. God’s promises to her and all His re-assurances that, yes, she is a part of the plan, and that the plan is good. We, too, are to hide His word in our hearts. Memorizing is one way, but meditating on the verses and seeking guidance and studying are others. Like the veggies, we receive all the benefits of the Bible’s wise words and comforts, when God’s word is taken in and ingested. Perhaps, like me, you don’t like the discipline of strict memorization, and you need to mix it with something…like songs or colouring pages or, dare I say, blogging every week about your latest muse?

Well, there you have it, I have somehow managed to connect scripture memorization with vegetables hidden in sweet dishes. Who knows where my brain will go next, or what “hidden” thoughts will creep out now and then. Why don’t you follow along with the adventure and find out?! Get my weekly muses in your inbox each week! You can Join Here.

Interested in those zucchini desserts? I’ll post them to my Pinterest “Things we Love” board, so you can enjoy them too!

An Essay about Compare and Contrast

Posted on by
3

Remember when you had to write those compare and contrast essays in school? Three points for this, two points for that, proper “proof” of your argument for or against, hamburger paragraphs, thesis statement and conclusion…blah blah blah. My kids are suffering through that experience right now so I’m being blessed with the feedback. This is not one of those essays, however. It is a post about comparing and contrasting though… and what I am musing about this week.

This lockdown world has forced many of us to branch out into the online world and buy from a pre-described list of products. Myself included. And call me old fashioned, but I still like to look and feel and taste and smell the stuff I am about to purchase. A stock photo and short blurb just doesn’t cut it sometimes… especially if the “thing” is new to you. So, here’s the story:

In great hopes to get a jump start on our Urban Garden, and to save a little cash, and at the prompting of so many better-than-me-gardener posts, I decided to start seeds in the basement under a “grow-light”. Which conjured up all kinds of grow-op images of secret marijuana plantations concealed in my basement under the devise of jumping into the cannabis free market and raising someone’s stock prices… but, I digress. Apparently starting seedlings requires light and heat and “stable” conditions… hence the grow light.

The search for : The Sunblaster 1600… 200 Version

Which thus begins my search and comparison… online. I knew what I wanted: The Sunblaster 1600… complete with trays… the large size, not the micro garden for mere herbs… I need light for beefsteak tomatoes, baby, and maybe watermelon… but where would be the least expensive place to find it? Without crazy shipping costs? So began my compare and contrast adventure. Which is hard, because, as I mentioned, stock photos and small descriptions don’t always give you the information that you want. Dimensions were listed in both inches and centimeters, some sites included shipping, some could be picked up curbside, some had different product numbers… How is a girl to compare apples to apples when you’ve got granny smith vs. gala??!

It takes some investigating… and asking questions, and good old pen and paper lists and conversions. You will be happy to know that the Sunblaster 1600 …200 version… is now sitting on my counter ready for set up! And the mighty Amazon was not the best deal in town (in case you wanted to know). I’ll keep you posted on the seedling development.

So what should be the take home from my little adventure? Is it good to test, compare and contrast? In the case of a large purchase, then yes, this is a wise practice. In the case of school essays? Yes, you have to do those, too. What about your place of worship? Or how you worship? Or dare I say who you worship? Now, I don’t want to tread on thin ice here, I haven’t really studied “testing”… but I do think we need to be diligent in asking questions… and doing our research so we are comparing apples to apples. Does your church promote and adhere to Biblical principles? Is it God focused or leader focused? Will it waiver with the times or stay steadfast to the standards God lays out for us? Do they care about people because God cares about people or do they just want numbers in the pews… or in the offering plate?

Photo by Robin Spielmann

It’s not easy. It “looks good online” doesn’t always translate to the real product when it arrives on your doorstep. And I think it is okay to question… and pray about it! God knows where you need to be… and He will help you get there! Don’t be fooled by flashy promotions and short blurbs… if you want to grow the proper fruit… you need the proper light! Go ahead, do your research and compare and contrast. Soon, if your choices are right, you will see the seeds begin to sprout and then grow strong and mighty in the full soil of God’s true kingdom!

Hot Mess

Posted on by
1

According to the urban dictionary, a “hot mess” is:

“When ones thoughts or appearance are in a state of disarray, but they maintain an undeniable attractiveness or beauty.”

Often our place is just a plain old mess… no hotness to be seen at all. Recently, the dog has “matured” enough to the point where his “killer instincts” have kicked in … and no stuffed animal is safe any longer than 10 minutes under his newly acquired prowess. “Reese” goes in for the jugular (or the crotch?) and brutally pulls poor Teddy apart from the inside out! Fluff and floof fly everywhere… and we have to be on guard duty for missing eyeballs or bits of squeaker or other intestinal hazards… not to mention cleaning up the stuffing. The living room quickly turns into a warzone with destruction strewn across the floor like new fallen snow. Cardboard boxes also end up gathering in bits under the couch or dining room table. Dogs are messy.

Poor, decapitated chicken.

And then there are the teenagers… home alone to fend for themselves in the midst of online learning and a pandemic lockdown. Not only has my grocery bill gone up… so has the pile of dishes in the sink. And the towels in the laundry. Why do they shower so much? They have no where to go. Hot messes, indeed.

I used to think babies were messy… and they are. Ahh… the good old days of projectile vomit. Sorry. Moving on. Just wanted to make the new moms feel included. Anyway, I am discovering you really never grow out of messes. They just change depending on the season you are in. I suspect our retirement years will be filled with bits and bobs from newly taken on projects, or travel, or dare I say, grandkids?

I used to look at the fingerprints on our glass door and ponder. The window reminded me that the kids were happy, and our house was full of love and laughter… and messes. Messes are part of learning and exploring and being confident to try. Getting down and dirty allows us to feel the Earth and experience the sensations of the world around us. None of us “have it all together”, because life is messy. And that’s okay.

Messy can be a good thing!

The Bible tells us in Luke, that Jesus came to save the lost — the messy — if you will. Those of us who doubt, and question, and weave back and forth on our faith journeys instead of making those bee lines to the pearly gates. In fact, I think He made us with a deep desire to explore, discover and test the best things in this world He made for us. Sometimes, that gets messy. Yes, Life is messy, but Jesus has the dust pan and broom. He takes our dismantled, insides out, missing eyeball chaos and transforms us into hot messes. We won’t be perfect until the end of this life, so we must learn to appreciate the fingerprints on the windowpanes. Take the good with the bad, and rejoice that we are still moving forward… even if we weave a little.

Well, my beloveds, I am off to do the dishes (one more time), but tomorrow when I look in the mirror and my see that slightly wrinkled, finger-nail-polish chipped, post Covid homemade haircut reflection, I hope I remember that in God’s eyes… I’m still a pretty hot mess! And you are, too! Be Blessed.