Fruitful Words

Here’s my menu for the week.

Monday: Roomie cooked: Steamed beets (so tasty); salmon stir fry with brocolli, spinich and mushrooms.

Tuesday: Chicken Tortilla Soup, Jell-o Fruit: Great for April’s Fools Day.

Wednesday: Chef Salad, Carrot Soup

Thursday: Sweet Potato Lentil Stew, Beer Bread

Friday: Pasta Primavera

Saturday: Soup leftovers, salad, bread

Sunday: No plans yet. 

 The Carrot Soup, Sweet Potato Lentil Stew and Beer Bread are all new recipes. If they turn out, I’ll post the recipe.

I’m getting into soups. Have an easy one to share?

 Go here for more Menu Ideas from I’m an Organizing Junkie.

My family never got into pranking on April Fool’s Day, but the RunningShoes family does.

Here are some ideas you might try this year:

1. Make Jell-o Fruit. I made this for one family dinner, not because I was trying to prank but because it looked cool. You make the Jell-o per package directions and pour into scooped out oranges, lemons or limes. After it’s set, you slice like you would a real piece of fruit. Go to NotMartha.org for pictures and step-by-step directions.
2. Make Trickster Cupcakes. These meatloaf  cupcakes are frosted with colored mashed potato frosting. FamilyFun.com has step-by-step directions and a photo.
3. Impossible Word Search. Someone you know like word searches? Click here for the word search and directions. Sure to cause laughs for you, not so much for the “fool.”
4. Read some Weird Historical Facts:  Here’s a few: In 1980, workers in a Las Vegas hospital were suspended because they used to bet on when patients would die. . . .  In ancient China, doctors could receive fees only if their patient was cured. If it deteriorated, they would have to pay the patient. . . .  In ancient Egypt, people shaved eyebrows as a mourning symbol when their cats died.
5. Read the Top 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. My 3 favs are #17 The Sydney Iceberg - Can you imagine seeing a boat tow an iceberg with the Syndey Opera House in the backroung? #38 Dutch Elm Disease Infects Reheads - This tree disease turns red hair yellow. #46 Retrobreeding the Wolly Mammoth - I remember this story and until today thought it was TRUE!
6. Change all the clocks in the house to a different time. One Saturday night I set all the clocks 2 hours fast . The next morning we all got up, of course complaining of how tired we were. “Didn’t it seem like the night went by soooo quickly.” Once we were all in the car ready to leave for church, I gave a nicely wrapped box to my dh. Inside was a note saying, “I’ve given you the gift of time. You have two hours to spend however you like.”  (I don’t remember if this was done on April Fool’s or not.) This probably won’t work in today’s Internet/gadget friendly household.

So what’s your idea of an April Fool’s Day joke? What’s the best prank you’ve pulled?

Do you ever wonder if you are on the right path? Doing God’s will? Last week I wrote a paper for my New Testament class about women and how Jesus interacted with them. While writing this post on a small portiion of that paper, God showed me that answer.

Jesus consistently ignored tradition by speaking seriously with women: by teaching them and by allowing them to participate in ministry with Him.

For instance, Jesus ignored tradition by allowing and commending Mary for her choice to sit at his feet as a disciple. In fact, Scripture records Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus in three different places.  This was not a conventional or even accepted practice for women.

Martha, Mary’s sister fulfilled her required domestic duties and yet Jesus did not commend her for this choice. 

“Martha needed to be reminded of the priority of word over bread. (Matthew 4:4). Luke’s story of Jesus in the home of Martha and Mary puts him solidly on the side of recognition of the full personhood of women, with the right to options for her own life. In socializing with both sisters and in defending Mary’s right to a role then commonly denied a Jewish woman, Jesus was following his far reaching principle of human liberation.”

Evelyn & Frank Stagg, Women in the World of Jesus, page 119

I am grateful that I have options for my life. It is also a bit scary. And it carries with it the weight of responsibility. Time and again this week (when I wasn’t feverish about paper-writing), I ruminated on how to live my life. What to seek first in every moment. 

Several times I asked myself:  “Is it really worth the life of our Lord, what [I'm] doing? (by David Lowes Watson)

All this thinking and writing has given me an answer. From God to me. Yes, at this time in my life, I am doing the worthy. I am sitting at the feet of my Lord, learning. And it’s okay. Jesus said so.

“Thank you, Lord, for this reminder of where You want me at this time in my life. Help me to consistently choose the options that are worthy. . . .

• Not safe . . . .
• Not conventional . . . .
• Not society’s plan . . . .

Unless That’s Your Will for ME.”

How about you, sister? Are you where God wants you?

RunningShoes & I finished week one of our post every day or catch up all in one batch contest. Be sure to check out how to make a poached egg or butter. RS also tells how to teach 3 tricks to your dog or 2 tricks to your cat!

There are other posts too. Go on over, read and comment. Some fun stuf there.

We will continue the contesst again this week. 4 of our posts will be on similar topics. 3 are free days. Want to join us? Leave a commnet and I’ll get you the details.

Also let us know if you have an idea for a post.

The 21 Balloons by William Pene Dubois was a fun, quick read. This was the first book I chose to read for my 2 just for fun books this year.

Fun because it talked about  . . .

• Fantastical riches (diamond minds beyond compare)
• A government and society organized around 20 days (which equals 1 month) of different types of food
• Working 1 long day in 20
• 19 days a month (out of 20) where you can read, craft, invent, swim, visit, explore
• Creative inventions that made work easier and play cooler
• Where walking and falling down like a drunk person is normal
•  A hot air balloon ride and hot air balloon escape pod
• All the while living on an island with an active volcano

Since this is a grown up review, I can skip the character sketches, plot summary and book  jacket redesign. Instead I’ll tell what the book made me think about . . .

• The 1969 movie, Krakatoa, East of Java. It has a G rating and I probably saw it that year at the young age of 11. I’ve misremembered it though. As I thought it starred Mia Farrow and included a doomed romance - Which of course I loved.! Maybe someday I’ll have the chance to re-watch this.
• The professor’s dream was to get away from it all for a whole year. His plan was to float high atop the earth in a hot air balloon. My recurring fantasy is to get away for the winter - holed up in a well-stocked, cozy cabin in the wilds of Maine.
• For his hot air balloon  the professor designed and built a little basket house in which to live. I am intrigued by small houses. Someday I’d like to buy one of those prefab tiny homes and put it  on the rooftop of some generous soul’s home, on a dock at a quiet lake, or maybe in some wildflower field. Click here and here and here for more info.
• The professor wanted to go away for a year because he was tired of his job. He needed to follow his bliss. Isn’t it sad that so many people are just putting in time at their place of employment? Of course, if I worked as an arithmetic teacher for 40 years to 10-14 year old boys, I’d want to get away too!

Tell us about your last read. What were your favorite parts? What did it make you think of?

Oops! I found a stack of sealed, addressed, unstamped, unmailed thank you cards in my lime green notebook. Sorry. I will get those in the mail tomorrow! 

It is a good thing to write letters of appreciation. You know, to say thanks.

It is an even better thing to put stamps on the already addressed envelopes and to actually mail them.

This is Day 3 of my 2nd week of my 50th year. I’ve come up with 51 events and/or habits that I want to accomplish before my next birthday.

Today I’ve been thinking about my goals/habits regarding “the world.” I do have two. I admit they aren’t that grand. They are #14 and #15 on my personal list:

• Install a clothesline – use 2x’s month. My intent is to reduce my electrical usage.
• Pick up trash 1x week - in order to beautify the area.

Today I read a great post from Tree Hugging Family that has 60 eco-friendly ways to celebrate spring. A lot of them are actually doable and sound fun.

Here are 4 that I’d like to do this Spring . . .

#47. 10 Fun Organic Gardening Projects for Kids -  I’d actually like to make the sunflower playhouse and a sensory garden for me.  These would go great with my Trompe L’Oeil  panited fence. See #9 at this link.

#39. I already have #39 on my list. Do you?

#13. Spring clean with non-toxic homemade cleaning supplies.

#3. Make a cotton morsbag to use for my groceries instead of a plastic bag. Don’t sew alone, sew with a buddy. Maybe this could be my crafty thing to do this month.

Which of these 60 ideas would you like to do this Spring? Maybe we can do one or two together.

“$10.00 for a bouquet of daisies! Oh, dear. And I need at least 8 bouquets.”

“What did you say, Jessie?”

“I can get 3 bouquets for $8.00 dollars? Where?”

 ”My WalMart doesn’t sell bouquets of flowers.”

“Oh! Buy a daisy plant and cut the flowers off the plant?!” Each pot has three nice stems of flowers?”

“Brilliant! WalMart has a bunch of those plants right now because of Easter. Some of the pots even have two colors of flowers, purple and yellow.”

“Thanks for the tip, Jessie.”

For other Works-for-me-Wednesday tips click here.

Bible study, M&M Saturdays, Secret Sisters, and Retreat. These are some of the ways that CNC women can be involved with one another. These are safe places where we can share the story of our lives with another on a consistent basis.

“Stories create community. It is in sharing experiences that we write history with another person. It is in the telling of those shared experiences that we develop commonalities and friendships. We create emotional ties, we deepen relationships. We look for common experiences and relate on those levels.”  Beverly Hislop, Shepherding a Woman’s Heart, p. 113-114

That’s true for me. I recently went on a retreat with another church (to Santa Cruz). I asked a friend to come along with me. We had fun all week end with one another - well the intestinal issues weren’t so fun. But we did write a history together that weekend. That history, including the intestinal one, deepened our commonalities and friendship.

It was my first road-trip (albeit a pretty safe one) with a girlfriend since I was a young unmarried thing. My friend was a great navigator and didn’t yell or even sigh when I almost hit a car or got lost. She showed compassion and brought me the trash can (quick!) when I didn’t feel well. I showed her the same compassion when she didn’t feel well. We laughed a lot and talked even more.

We wrote history together. We are (emotionally) closer than before.

And you know, it was hard to take that time away. To make that time. For our friendship.

Ladies, when was the last time you made time for a friend?

When you wrote some history together?

Get your calendar and phone a friend for a history-making date.

15 things about me

Until the end of March, RunningShoes and I are having a “post one new entry on your blog daily” competition.RunningShoes wrote up a 15 Things list, so I copied her format and wrote one about me.

1. I’d love to be in the playoffs for The Biggest Loser. Obviously because then I’d have lost all my excess weight AND have a chance at winning tons of money. 
2. My favorite color varies depending on my mood and reason for having a favorite color.
3. Collecting dust bunnies is my hobby. Seriously though, I collect white jugs.
4. I love the Anne of Green Gables books! Someday I hope to go to PEI (Prince Edward Island for all you non-Anne people) to visit Anne’s haunts. (Yes, I know she’s not real.)
5. My favorite movies are Luther, White Christmas, IQ and any of the Lord of the Rings movies.
6. My favorite food is whatever someone else makes for me.
7. My favorite dessert is  see # 6. But if I had a gun pointed to my head, I’d pick lemon meringue pie - homemade.
8. I like to play hooky (from school, work, life), but since I’m not on a team, I don’t get to play very much. 
9. I would like to learn how to paint my fence so it looks like a garden in bloom. Click here for some Trompe L’Oeil examples.
10. I love to walk along the beach looking for sand dollars. I’ve had the best luck at the beach by The Cliff Housein San Francisco. I also like getting my feet wet and having the opportunity to think.
11. My favorite subject in seminary is any one of my Bible classes because of the new information that I learn. I also  like taking any classes in my major, pastoral care to women.
12. I want to grow a garden with an abundance of wildflowers mixed in with lots of easy to grow veggies all bordered with peach trees. I don’t think I could ever get tired of eating fresh peaches.
13. My favorite board game is Clue. I think. I don’t play many games. My favorite DS game is Brainage. Although I hear that Mrs.Clean41 has a mystery sleuth DS game that is positively addicting.
14. My favorite fast food place at the moment is Taco Bell: “one bean burrito with extra onions and one crunchy taco, please.”
15. Someday I want to run a marathon. Although at this age, I’m probably more in love with the idea of finishing such a huge goal. The admiration from others and receiving the finishing medal would also be cool.

Personalize this 15 Things and let me know you’ve posted.