FOOD for Thought

We were devouring seafood at Seattle's Crab Pot.  After they had put paper on the tables, tied bibs around our necks and dumped out piles of food on table, they  handed out rubber mallets and a few forks.  We feasted on shrimp, crab, clams, mussels, potatoes, corn on the cob, and andouille sausages.

You don't worry about flying pieces of shell, getting your fingers dirty, or smearing seasoning on your face.  You just eat and eat and eat.

Beka was enjoying her meal, until she came into eye-to-eye contact with a poor little shrimpie.

With slight concern she asked, "Mom, do shrimp and crabs know that they have food inside of them?"

The Year of the Monkey

This new year sneaked up on me the way Christmas did.  I just wasn't ready for it.  I hadn't planned any special event or snacks to ring in the new decade, I hadn't even thought about any resolutions except that nagging weight thing we all think about and the need for writing goals for the new year.

At one point during the last day of the year, as we were scampering around the house, cleaning up the mess we created by accidentally locking the cat in the house while we were in CA for Christmas, I began thinking about the new year, and I panicked...just for a moment. The past decade held many sorrows and trials for us, I had a sudden fear for the year ahead.  What if.....What if....What if....

I was worrying. At the same time my thoughts were racing, my husband was coming down the hall, saw my face, embraced me and soothed me with kisses and words of encouragement.  In a minute, those doubts, those weak lack-of-faith thoughts were gone. The whole episode took less than two minutes.

It was a perfect earthly example of the Heavenly Father's arms.

Deuteronomy 33:27, "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." How quickly we need to fly into our Father's arms and let Him comfort our fears, soothe our souls and show us His everlasting love.

Since I felt that human need to do something for the new year,  Beka and I planned a trip to Build-A-Bear.

My monkey has been a celebration of my family's support through cancer, and Beka's has been a way to help her cope.  She was 2 when I was first diagnosed, and has needed her own way of living with cancer.

Our love language is monkeys around here; I have loved them since I was a little girl.

When we stopped in the restroom, we were delighted the mall's bathroom was so accomodating.  Our babies rested while we washed our hands. The dollar bins at Target are a great source of for seasonal t-shirts for the BAB animals.

Even the candy machines were following our theme.

At the mall, most of the women my age are getting their nails done, getting facials, make-overs, buying their $1000 purses and their designer clothing.  I was, and always have been, the only Mom walking through this upscale mall holding her own BAB,

                                     

and  the only Mom giving her animal a spa treatment.

Too many choices!  We were enticed by the inline skates and the casual wear, but Beka's heart was really with the formal dresses. I realized that often we parents "guide" our children's choices, so they end up buying what we want them to.  It took a long time for Beka to choose because I repeatedly told her to choose for her, not me. It was an interesting lesson in decision making.

She later discussed this process with her Daddy, and I realized her huge hesitation was that the dress had spaghetti straps, something we choose not to wear as a family for modesty sake.  Her heart is so tender.

We purchased the  formal gowns, then dressed the monkeys near the fountain.  The store was so crowded, everyone in the vicinity that received a BAB gift card for Christmas was in the store. No wonder it took 15 minutes to go the  three blocks from the interstate to the mall.

We tossed my four pennies into the fountain, my next purchase I was short one penny and had to use my debit card. 

I came home tired, trafficed and shopped out, Beka came home and set to making dinner.  I didn't ask her to.  She chopped things for a salad, had Daddy help her make a pizza, then we sat on the cushionless couch (they are STILL drying) and watched a movie together.

We are ready to face a new year, with faith, hope, and acceptance for whatever the year brings, and we'll do it with very well-dressed monkeys.

MM Meditation - The Boast of Youth

Luke 22: 33, "And he (Peter) said unto Him, Lord, I am ready to go you, both into prison, and to death."


Often in our youth, we were as Peter, boasting of our faithfulness to the Lord. We offer Him body and soul because we are so thankful that He saved us. We are thankful that our sins are forgiven. We are rejoicing that though we once were enemies we now are at peace with the Creator and Ruler of the Universe.

These boastings are not foolish, and the sincerity of our hearts, like Peter's, still honors the Lord.

We just didn't understand what we were offering. We were offering the Lord our body and soul to do with as He pleased for His work and His ways. We wanted to be used by the Lord, we wanted to lead other souls to Him, we wanted to encourage other believers to walk a closer walk.

So, why are we surprised when He takes us up on the offer? Why are we surprised when He actually wants to use our body for His glory, by allowing sickness? Why are we surprised when our worldly comforts can be given and taken from us? Christians are not excluded from suffering, in fact, it is designed for them. It is the method by which their faith is perfected.

Why shouldn't our lives be lives of suffering? The Lord Jesus had a life of suffering.

Do you want to be stronger? You must suffer. You strength is made perfect in weakness.  2 Corinthians 12:9.

Do you want to be more like the Lord? You must suffer. You must have the refiner's fire to burn off the dross to reflect the image of the Son.

Do you want to be more patient? You must suffer. Testing brings patience, and you must let patience have its perfect work.  James 1:3-4.

Do you want to learn to pray? You must suffer. You must learn how to pray without ceasing, and there must be need of ceaseless prayer.  I Thessalonians 5:17

Do you want to feel His presence? You must suffer. He draws near to those with  broken heart. Psalm 34:18


We offer ourselves, longing for this great spirituality and intimacy,  but are surprised at the cost. We often take back parts of our lives when the Lord begins working in them.

"No, Lord, I didn't really mean my money. How could my husband lose his job?"

"No, Lord, I didn't really mean my body. How could I be sick?"

"No, Lord, I didn't mean my children. How could you take this child home? I wanted this child so badly!"

We ask in faith, but see the Lord's dealings through our flesh. We need spiritual eyes of understanding to see those workings all around us, where the Lord is wonderfully orchestrating and allowing circumstances to answer our prayers, brings souls to Him, comfort others, teach others and perfect us to the likeness of His beautiful Son. His ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts are higher than ours. We need to look by faith to see the big picture, eternity is at stake.

If the Lord came to you and asked you, "I am going to use you to win souls and cause the saints to rejoice because of your testimony. You will live victoriously and the heavens will be marveling at the way the Lord Jesus is shining in your life" wouldn't you say " YES"?  You would.

What is He said, "But, I am going to have to hurt you to accomplish this."

Would you still say YES? I think you would.

But the Lord doesn't tell us His plans, He asks us to walk in faith. He asks us to look to Him each day in His Word to understand His love, His plans and His desires for us. He asks us to listen to His voice.

Because He loves us, He loves us deeply.

Romans 8:37, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.



38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,


39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

None of our trials happen because we are apart from the love of God, but because we are immersed in His love.  He is answering our sincere boast of our youth, spouted with the sincere joy of our salvation, that we want to be used by Him and to be like Him.

He loves us.

He loves us.

Nothing can separate us from that love.


(This blog participated in  Motivate Me Monday sponsored by  Sarah at The Fifth Street Palace.)

To celebrate the first day of the new year and new decade, we took the family to Museum of Flight.

It was a fantastic experience, but I can't get over this letter posted in one of the displays.

(click to enlarge)

 

A.E. stands for Amelia Earhart, a woman who has been routinely praised and criticized by aviation experts and biographers concerning her contributions to aviation, or her lack of skills overshadowed by media sensationalism.  Either way, she was a woman, she was a pilot, she was successful and unfortunately, she disappeared.

Her personal life has been rumored, but I don't value rumors. When  I read the above letter Earhart typed and handed to her husband on their wedding day, rumors became fact.  I learned she had no qualms about saying that she does not believe in faithfulness in marriage and she feels marriage is a cage. She wanted nothing to come in the way of accomplishing her goals, an admirable trait, but at a tremendous cost.

Now, I have a hard time holding her up as a hero to my daughters.  She championed some women's causes, but failed in areas of womanhood that I hold important, based on the Word of God.

She wasn't rejecting America's standards for marriage, she was rejecting the Lord's. He set boundaries on marriage, one man to one woman until death, asking for purity beforehand and  faithfulness during.  This isn't old-fashioned, it is obedience to the Lord, and is meant for our blessing. By rejecting His standards, the Bible, she is also rejecting Him.

The Lord doesn't set boundaries because He is withholding what the world craves as freedom, their rights, their pleasure, their choices or their way, He does it because marriage is a beautiful representation of Christ and the church. Christ loved the world, died for the world and a union with Christ, by salvation through faith, will not be broken.

I am always saddened when I read about her disappearance.  I never rejoice in the hardships or the death of anybody, whether or not I agreed with their lifestyle.

But as I sit, pondering about her life and death, I am speculating about her marriage, her true happiness, her inner peace, her struggles and  her joys. I wonder, in those last few moments, if she had any regrets.  As her plane spiraled towards the ocean, or as the Japanese hauled her into a cramped jail, depending on which theory you believe, if she changed her mind about any of these values and thought about the loving God who patterned those rules based on His holiness and His omniscient knowledge of what is best for the children of the world, spiritually, mentally and physically.

I can speculate about her death as people have for decades, but this I know for sure - if she called on Him, He answered.

Jeremiah 33:3, "Call unto me, and I will answer."

Psalms 50:15, "And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me."

These promises are still true for us today.  We can call and He will answer.

The Longest Day of the Year

Most people have written great blogs about their 2009 and giving a summary of their year or their decade. Tonight, I am too tired to do either.  Today was so monumental, I can't begin to think about what happened in the past. We woke up at 3am to catch an early morning flight that saved us  about $150 per ticket.  Arriving home at 10am we discovered the cat was accidentally left inside the house for a week with no food and no kitty litter.  Yea, poor kitty. As we were bringing luggage out, he must have slinked back inside.

We also discovered if a dishwasher is left running so you can return to clean dishes, leaking water can warp your solid maple hardwood flooring and leak to the bedroom below.

So, today we spent a few hours and way too many dollars at the laundromat cleaning all the cushions and the cover from our one month old IKEA couch, cleaning carpeting, consoling and feeding the kitty, and trying to get that nasty smell of kitty urine out of our burning noses. My husband pried up a few floor boards and set a fan at work trying to prevent mildew damage in the kitchen.

Kelly-Across-the-Street saved the day by reading my Facebook status and inviting us over for a delicious meal of beef stew, squash, spinach salad, bread.  Her desert made everything better.  Brownies, with chunks of chocolate, topped with chocolate frosting. 

Maybe tomorrow I'll be ready to face the past year and the past decade.  For now, I have to just know that our family survived two traumas on very little sleep without yelling, fussing and blaming each other, but just quietly, tiredly, worked together.

That's reason enough to celebrate - the grace of our God and the God of all grace - through each day of the past decade, the past year and today, The Longest Day of the Year.

                            

We had a beautiful visual to begin our day, I think it set the tone for the day.

Lamentations 3:22-23 "It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed,

because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning: great is His faithfulness."

As I peered above the clouds, as close to Heaven as I will ever get before death, I marveled in His creation, His power, His majesty.

When my heart was ready, we arrived home, ready to face The Longest Day of the Year, because, we were filled with new mercies.



Great is Thy Faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my father!

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not:
As thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Chorus
Great is Thy faithfulness,
Great is Thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see:
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

(chorus)

Great is Thy faithfulness,
Great is Thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see:
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

(chorus)


Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth.
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Sometimes, Mommas Eat Hot Food

Well inducted into the world of cold and interrupted meals with their two children, our daughter, Jana,  and her husband Aaron planned an evening out  with just the grown-ups. 

No kids.

The women wanted to dress up, the men wanted to go casual. The women wore newer jeans with new tops. The men wore older jeans with old shirts. We shaved, they didn't.  We have all  learned the art of compromise in marriage.

Jana and I not only looked great, we both smelled great. I haven't smelled like baby urp in about five years, Jana about five minutes. We got out the door unscathed to enjoy an evening as adult friends, not as parents and child. This new stage of relationship has been a blessing, and a relief.  We have passed on the parenting baton with our firstborn.

One down, five to go.  But, who's counting?

They chose the Matsu Japanese Restaurant, where we ate very amazing, very hot, teppan-yaki food. It was hot because they cooked it in front of you. He even cut it into bite-sized pieces for us while he cooked. Parents who have cut up three meals a day into tiny little, non-chokable pieces,  totally appreciate that detail.

My husband satisfied his raw tuna craving with the Spicy Tuna Roll. Yes, that tuna is raw, very raw.

The chef is part juggler, part entertainer, part stand-up comic. It isn't just a meal, it is an experience.

Our fried rice was prepared then shaped into heartburn, then a beating heart, then Mickey Mouse.

A slice of onion became a flaming volcano.

Each part of the meal was prepared along with antics, including tossing, noise-making and flipping unused items, like shrimp tails, into his chef's hat.

Like a gringo, I asked our chef if he was Japanese.  He laughed, admitted he was born in Mexico, but assured me his Japanese name was Orlando.

 I didn't have to ask Hana, our waitress, if she was Japanese. I figured that one out all on my own.

She recommended Red Bean Ice Cream for desert. I'm thinking the only red beans I know are kidney beans. Azuki beans are NOT like the red beans I know. It was  deliciously unfamiliar.

The service was great, the show was entertaining, the  food was delicious, but somehow, the highlight of the whole evening was watching my daughter eat a hot meal.

How to Eat a Ruby's Hotdog

To fully experience California, the extended family gathered  on  Huntington Beach to enjoy a Pacific Ocean sunset.

I am always a little annoyed that people dare stand between my camera and my view,

 but somehow those silhouettes always end up enhancing my photos, not ruining them.

We were told by many we had to eat at Ruby's Surf City Diner.

 Since we give in to peer pressure easily when it comes to food, we walked down the long pier to sit in those  vintage red and chrome chairs and eat some really good American food.

Fisherman trying to utilize the last fragments of sunlight on the end of the pier.

Brookelyn was tired from the day on the beach, the long walk down the pier, and the wait for her food, so she dove right into the hotdog, giving a great tutorial.

If you think you are a big girl, hold the hotdog with only one hand.

Stop eating long enough to quietly exclaim to Daddy how good the "da-da" is.

If you want to dig your little nose right between the buns, use both hands to hold onto the hotdog.

When you get tired of the bun,  pull the hotdog out.

Hold the hotdog vertically and lick all the ketchup off.

Hold the hotdog horizontally and lick the ketchup off.

Set the hotdog down and act like a duck with the bun.

Get in trouble from Mommy for not eating your food while Gramma sheepishly puts the camera away. OK, to be honest, my battery died, or I would have kept taking pics of Brookie being adorably Brookie.

Seems to me, we also had problems when I was with Brookie at McDonalds and a coffee shop.

If I am not careful, my daughter is going to start searching for the blogosphere for a tutorial on,

 "How to be a Well-Behaved Gramma."