Monthly Archives: October 2010

Racquetball Champ

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Meet my husband, Nick.  He is such a servant behind the scenes most of the time… that it may come as a surprise that He is actually a racquetball champion.   Last year he won first place in the MN State Racquetball Tourney and this year, He played in a doubles tournament at Lifetime with his partner, Tim, and they took second place in the B bracket!

Ladies, I never foresaw myself being a racquetball fan.  BUT…  A few weeks ago, I really enjoyed going to my husband’s tournament.  I brought a good book to read between games and for his last round of games, I worked my magic and brought a personal fan club (a.k.a. my parents, our neighbors in our apartment and a student Nick is discipling).  Two things brought my heart joy: 1.  Watching my husband in his ‘element’ (really, he is so good!)  2.  ENCOURAGING Him by being there and surprising him with food and pre-game energy drinks ( the way to a man’s heart, right?).  I am learning so much about the call to encourage in this season.  The call to encourage my husband.

See those M & M’s He got to take home?  Not sure that they made it all the way home… That pic of us is from his tourney one year ago, which also won him a very shiny medal.

I think I need to start buying Him Wheaties for breakfast, what do you think?

Today at Home

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One of the things I appreciate about my husband is that He helps me prioritize everything in my life. His strengths have been an unbelievable gift of grace to me.  Since my job really takes place in my apartment or on the campus,its been really helpful to create a weekly plan or schedule.  Its easy to commit your life to so many people and events at the expense of forsaking your own livable space.  SO.  Let me introduce mynew favorite day of the week:  Tuesday.  Tuesdays have been one of my most helpful days of my week because its my day to plan, manage our household, clean and do laundry.   I’ve found that taking a day out of life to plan and manage the things that are necessary to make a household run smoothly REALLY serves Nick and actually creates a pretty stress-free week for me too!

I’m sure that many of you probably use your Saturday or weekend for cleaning, laundry, etc… but because of the nature of my job in college ministry, Tuesday is my day to manage my household.   Now, it may look like I do all the laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc.  BUT.  I don’t.  Nick is really helpful too.   Marriage is a partnership, and what I’ve loved about my marriage with Nick is the level of communication and the willingness Nick shows me to help with anything.  We check in regularly with each other to ask what types of things help us live more effectively and make us feel loved and cared for.  Truth be told, we both love to be cared for emotionally and practically in life… so it takes communication, God’s grace and the willingness to have realistic expectations.   He occasionally does all the laundry when he runs out of clothes (rumor has it we women have more clothes than men).

I’m learning that if I take care of these things around our home, Nick is able to come home and rest and… we are both more freed up to have a relaxing conversation, show affection and emotionally engage each other.  There are plenty of things Nick does to free me up as well.  He always fills up the car with gas, takes care of paying our bills and is really handy when it comes to hanging up shelves or curtains, etc.  He almost always helps me with the dishes OR demands that I sit on the couch and relax while he does them all himself.  He also serves me by teaching me about technology and helping me use my computor to record music.  He encourages my gifts and creativity and draws them out.  I am so grateful for Nick!

Now, maybe you and your roommates or spouse differ in your strengths.  Perhaps you are more handy when it comes to the bills or remembering to put gas in the car and your husband or roommate is a phenomenal cook.  Whatever the case may be… embrace it!  Who said you have to be great at everything? Though Nick and I are often hindered by selfishness… the grace of God through Christ in our marriage has helped us create a partnership that both of our desires and areas of strengths are able to help love and serve the other person.   Today, I am grateful for how Nick’s strength of  “Life Management” has helped me embrace the freedom to take a day for myself and care for our home and in turn, eliminate loads of stress (and laundry!).    So what’s that meal cooking in the slow cooker, you might wonder??  Its called “Dad’s Turkey Stew” which I found from Simply Recipes food blog.  Its making my apartment smell amazing!  The funny thing is that Nick is actually out of town this week, so this meal will most likely be devoured by college students instead!

So… Do Nick and I serve each other perfectly?  No.  Love each other perfectly?  No.  Do we fail at it?  Yes.  Do I always stick the plan on Tuesdays? No.  Does our selfishness get in the way of thinking for the other person?  You bet.  Is the grace of God sufficient in our weaknesses?  A VERY BIG YES.   We are so grateful that Jesus died on the cross for all of the ways we fall short of loving and serving each other and that our love for each other is not dependent on what we accomplish for the other person.  Its a relationship filled with immeasurable grace.

Turkey Stew Recipe… Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
3 lbs turkey thighs (preferred) or legs (skin on, bone in)
1 medium-large yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1 quart vegetable stock
2 medium carrots, peeled, 1/4 inch slices
2-3 medium turnips, peeled, 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium rutabaga, peeled, 1/4 inch slices
3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon herbes de provence*
Pepper

One Dutch oven with cover.

Method  (This is the directions from the website, however, I just made everything in a slow cooker)

1 Preheat oven to 300°F. Heat olive oil on medium high heat in a Dutch oven on the stove top. Wash and pat dry turkey pieces. Brown turkey pieces, skin side down, 2-3 minutes on each side. You may need to brown in batches if necessary. In the last 3 minutes of browning of the last batch, add the onions and celery.

2 Add salt and 1/2 of the stock. Bring to a simmer, remove from the stove top and put in the oven, covered, for one hour.

3 After an hour, remove from oven and add the rest of the vegetables – carrots, turnips, rutabaga, and potatoes, the herbs, and the rest of the stock. Return to the oven, covered, and cook until tender, another hour or more.

4 Remove bones and skin, discard. Season to taste.

Serves 6 to 8.

*Herbes de Provence is a delightful French blend of herbs – Winter savory, thyme, basil, tarragon, and lavender flowers.

Celebrating My Mom’s 50th

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Meet my mom.  She is a wife, mother, career woman, service dog trainer… not to mention she is a fabulous chef,  and wakes up at 4:40am… A.M. PEOPLE… EVERY week day to work out at Lifetime (which I was happy to hear she skipped on her birthday).  Guess what?  On October 1st, she turned 50!  (I know that’s hard to believe) To celebrate, there were a few events.  First, we collaboratively made a list of 50 things we love/funny memories about my mom.  We cut them up and hid them around the house while she was at work, so she found the notes for a few days after.  She loved it!  Then, my dad collected pictures from when she was a baby until now, and we made a fabulous collage!  It was really fun to see old pictures of my mom… we don’t look anything alike until she was in her 20′s… I’m in my 20′s now and I found some fun pics that we look alike in!  Her co-workers decorated her office with all tinfoil… how creative- and a bit on the prank side, no?!   After her long week of work, we went out for dinner at Cafe Maude in Minneapolis.  There was live jazz music and we ate amazing food and celebrated 50 years of my sweet mom’s life! Her girlfriends also planned a girl’s weekend at our family cabin… needless to say- friends and family considered this KIND of a big deal and went all out.

Doesn’t every family have a “culture” when it comes to birthdays?  I think in my immediate family, the culture of birthdays seems to include a small/intimate group celebration combined with specifically tailored thoughtfulness towards the bday person.   I think it is an understatement to say that creativity could be considered a family forte of ours… if there can be such a thing.  The way we’re wired seems to explode when it comes to creative planning.  Something both of my brothers wrote as one of their favorite memories with my mom was “school shopping at the Mall of America.”  So for her gift, they planned a day trip to the mall of America to go “school shopping,” mini-golfing and out to eat.  I was proud of the bro’s on that one… a thoughtful idea all their own! Actually, I wasn’t surprised, my brothers are actually really really thoughtful and sweet! One of the things I enjoy most is conversation with my mom over coffee and painting our nails together… so I treated her to Caribou and a pedicure!  It was a blast.  My dad somehow figured out one of my mom’s favorite catalog’s called “Sundance” and ordered my mom a beautiful necklace and earrings… a very elegant 50th birthday gift- she loved it!  I think that she was a very happy birthday girl.  She is such an encouraging and sweet woman- we love her so much.

Happy 50th Mom!

Forecasting Victory

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Have you ever worried endlessly about something and looked back and thought: How silly!  What a waste of energy spent worrying when it all worked out. I, for one, can recount a lot of those moments.  As a single woman, I worried if I would ever get married.  I worried anxiously who “the one” would be.  When I graduated college, I feared if I would get a job.  Would I perform well enough at it?  As a new wife, new fears entered my heart that I hadn’t experienced before.  When I think about the potential of becoming a mother someday- a mother to children with eternal souls- the loads of fear, inadequacy and insecurity are already creeping their way into my mind and heart.  So here I am with this daily temptation to fear.

God’s intention was never that we fear. He doesn’t want his children to live in fear. That’s why His voice in the bible is so incredibly full of personal friendship, assurance, comfort, affection, and love.  I am exhorted in 1 Peter 3:6: “do not fear anything that is frightening.”  Scripture admits that there are things that are frightening; there are things in life that cause us to be afraid.  So why would God call me not to fear?  It has nothing to do with following a command and everything to do with believing that God is a caring father, a provider, and oddly enough- a huge planner- and that I, one small life, am included in His plans.  The part that seems to continuously be difficult for me is that I’m not in control.  And yet at the same time, all of the things I’ve tried to control on my own have only broken my heart and turned into a big mess.

I’m noticing a pattern in my thought life.   What do your thoughts default to when you’re not doing anything?  Most often every thought of mine revolves around what people think of me in one form or another… Am I thin enough?  Do I have a good personality?  Do people like me?  What did so & so think when I said/did that? Do I sound obsessed with myself?  Well… I confess… I am.   Inside of me is this desperate search for acceptance, validation, and sense of worth.  These thoughts reveal that I have an incredible obsession with myself and a lack of fixation on the person of Jesus Christ and what he did for me.  What he has done for me should deliver me from such a self-consumed thought life.  But how often am I reminding myself of what Christ has done for me?  How easy it is to read the bible and pursue knowledge, yet forget the LOVE of Christ that SURPASSES knowledge.  Its his LOVE that transforms us.  My thoughts would reveal that I’m very good at going through actions and daily life, but hugely insufficient in reminding myself of the beauty of the gospel.  This may sound counter-productive…but… I do have control over my thought life.  There ARE things I can do to help what I’m thinking about.

In my self obsessive thoughts, worries and fears, I am offending God because: I don’t trust Him.   I’m not trusting that the life of Jesus was sufficient for my life full of sin.  That His death on the cross justified me, so I am freed from looking to my own performance to give me a sense of self-worth.  In not trusting Him, I say to God that I don’t really believe He is ‘merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness’ (Psalm 86:15).   I call Him a liar.   But the very thing about God is that- He is not a liar, not even an bit.  Everything he’s promised has come true, everything He says is real and He is not deceitful.  Here are countless scriptures that promise God’s fatherly care and wise, sovereign planning in my life:

Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Ephesians 2:10

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Psalm 33:11

“The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.”

Proverbs 16:3

“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”

Isaiah 25:1

“O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.”

The question is: Will I believe Him?  Will I trust Him no matter my age, my marital status, even if I can’t see the things to come?   I am thankful that He has revealed to me over and over His plans for my life, giving me absolutely no reason not to believe.  I have cried out to Him, and He has answered me.  I have asked Him for things, and He has given.  There’s just no excuse for having fear or anxiety about anything that is to come.  His faithfulness is not just written in scripture, it has been proven throughout history- and it has been proven personally to me.   I’m not just reading about it in the books; His presence is real and active in my daily life and in the life of believers in Jesus around the world.  He gets glory through our trust.

God spoke to me tenderly and comforted me in my fears over this past week when I read how pastor Charles Spurgeon approached his job: ‘forecasting victory, not foreboding defeat.” What a short, simple, yet radical encouragement!

When I am tempted to fear, I have been invited by grace to stop mid-fear and forecast victory!  How reassuring!  I am asking for the grace to believe Romans 6:8 that “He is working all things out for the good of those who love Him.”  The very nature of God through Jesus Christ is victory.  The ultimate defeat in this life is death.  We all will die. But when Jesus died, He was risen!  Death could not bind Him.  God defeated death by raising Jesus and making Him alive in heaven with Him.  He has promised those who believe in Him that He will also give us the victory over death. 1 Corinthians 15:56-57  says “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

I’m realizing I am a heavily self-reliant person.  And it is exhausting!  It stems from pride and wishing that I were God rather than trusting in the God that is.  But how comforted I am by the promise that God wants so deeply for me to know that he cares, that he has purposeful plans for my life, and that nothing can separate me from His love! For the believer in Jesus, it is the sweetest liberation to fall in his lap like a child would collapse into His own father’s, and say in a sense,  “You know what’s best.  You said you’ve got a plan, and I believe you.  And I believe its good.  A plan to prosper me, not to harm me.  You care for me and you love me.”

This child-like surrender only leads the soul to rest.  And instead of anxious people who fear losing control or the unknowns, our life can look much more like peacefully sleeping in the arms of a merciful, slow to anger, father in heaven… who longs to put our souls at rest.  Sigh.  Already, my soul feels lighter, and that’s because through Jesus Christ we have hope.   Weather you read the bible a lot or you’ve never read it before, I encourage you to read the book of Romans chapter 8 or ask someone to help you find it and read it with you.  The apostle Paul writes to Christians about the security that we have in Jesus… that there is no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, that nothing in all creation could separate us from the love of Christ.  What could be better news?  Reading this chapter has brought my heart the assurance and comfort that I have needed!  I hope and pray for the same to be given to you, too!

A Shadow

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Autumn  is one of my favorite shadows of God’s glory.  When the leaves begin to change,  I get a bit distracted by the beauty.  Don’t you?  About 2 weeks ago, Nick and I took our day off and used a Caribou coupon to buy a large campfire mocha to share.  We walked around Lake Harriet in Minneapolis and… enjoyed.  We were actually both pretty sick, so we didn’t last long.  After the walk, we loaded up with NyQuil, watched movies and fell into a deep sleep.   How about you?  Have you been able to unplug, slow down, go for a walk and get lost in a beauty outside of yourself?