fall fun

We call this post 'fall fun' because I think Halloween is the dumbest holiday, thus making the title 'halloween' the dumbest title. The past few days have been spent thinking about whether or not we should participate in trick-or-treating. Every bit of research I've done on the origin and meaning of Halloween has just verified my stance.

Okay, okay, I remember trick-or-treating as a kid, and we had a blast. Dressing up, driving from house to house, knocking on doors, eating candy,...it was all fun. One old lady in the A.C. Home apartments didn't have any candy, so she sprinkled a few pretzels in our bag. To this day, we call her "pretzel-lady." Halloween was fun and games back then.

And now, I'm an old geezer who has a humbug attitude about it all because I know where Halloween comes from. There were several resources I used in researching this 'holiday,' but here's one from MacArthur. This year, we will not be trick-or-treating. But instead of being snotty neighbors with our lights turned off, pretending like we're not home, we will be handing out candy to other kids. We even have a jack-o-lantern. And here's why:

I found this fun story online about how a Christian is like a pumpkin. Visit the link for the full version. We went through the analogy while we carved the pumpkin this afternoon. We are like pumpkins in that God picks us from the patch and brings us in. He cleans us out, and sticks His light inside of us to shine for all the world to see. Here are a few images.

And here's a little bit of fun we had last night:

Since we saw the $6.00 sign for funnel cakes at Sea World, we've been hungry for them. We decided that we could make our own funnel cakes for $2.00, so we did. (These funnel cakes cost us 25 cents each. Sea World's $6.00 charge?! What a rip off!!) A piece of advice for you funnel cake lovers out there: fry them outside, so when you're sick to your stomach from eating all those funnel cakes, you won't have to smell the greasy fumes that stay in your house for days.

polishing off #3

(Jared ate most of #1 and #2.)

Funnel Cakes

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 c. milk

2 c. sifted flour

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2-4 c. cooking oil (I used part Crisco.)

In a mixing bowl, combine eggs and milk. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to egg mixture; beat until smooth. Heat oil in 8" skillet to 360 degrees. Cover bottom of funnel with finger. Pour ½ c. batter into funnel. Remove finger and release batter into hot oil in a spiral shape. Fry until golden (about 3 minutes). Using a wide spatula and tongs, turn cake carefully. Drain on paper towel; sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve hot. Makes 4-8.

ewe wouldn't believe...

...the fun we had with this project.

Yesterday, we drove around downtown looking for the 23 ewe statues in San Angelo. The kids thought finding 11 was enough.

pecan harvest

Well, not exactly. The kids and I drove around Goodfellow Air Force Base looking for pecan trees. And do you know what we found? Pecans! One tree kept us busy for an hour.

I'm not sure how to easily shell 2 gallons of pecans. We're taking Wikipedia's advice and soaking them in hot water for 5 hours before we start this nut-crackin' party.

Come join the fun!

crazy love, pt3

the hardest chapter: serving leftovers to a holy God

Chan said this chapter was the hardest one for him to write. It was hard to swallow, too. He writes, "As I see it, a lukewarm Christian is an oxymoron; there's no such thing. To put it plainly, churchgoers who are 'lukewarm' are not Christians. We will not see them in heaven." And he goes on to give his reasoning (Revelation 3:15-18, John 14:15, James 2:19, 1 John 2:3-4, Matthew 16:24-25, Luke 14:33), which accurately backs up what he claims. I look at myself as this: either I'm growing or I'm not; I don't see how becoming a Christian and then sitting still can really exist. "Habitual sin" is a term Jim used in Sunday School once this past year. We all have lukewarm tendencies, and we all sin, but are our sinful tendencies habits without repentance?

Jerry Bridges writes a chapter on the proof of love in his Transforming Grace book that went well with Chan's leftovers chapter. The section on Law and Grace had a good explanation of obedience, failing, grace, legalism, etc. His question: Under the reign of grace, is the moral will of God, considered as a whole, a request or a command? And his answer: The word request connotes desire; whereas the word command connotes authority to require. We are commanded to obey. Obedience is not optional, rather a response to our salvation. And lukewarm partial-obedience doesn't sound like it can still be called obedience either.

Chunks of text from Chan:

God wants our best, deserves our best, and demands our best. From the beginning of time, He has been clear that some offerings are acceptable to Him and others are not.

It's easy to fill ourselves up with other things and then give God whatever is left.... God gets a scrap or two only because we feel guilty for giving Him nothing. A mumbled three-minute prayer at the end of the day, when we are already half asleep... [The priests of Malachi's day] assumed God was pleased because they had sacrificed something. God described this practice as evil. Leftovers are not merely inadequate; from God's point of view (and lest we forget, His is the only one who matters), they're evil. Let's stop calling it "a busy schedule" or "bills" or "forgetfulness." It's called evil. God is holy. In heaven exists a Being who decides whether or not I take another breath. This holy God deserves excellence, the very best I have. "But something is better than nothing!" some protest. Really, is it? Does anyone enjoy token praise? I sure don't. I'd rather you not say anything than compliment me out of obligation or guilt. Why would we think God is any different?

God wants to saturate us with Himself. Am I allowing Him to saturate me? Am I giving Him every part of my day, my mind, my life, or just the leftovers?

tis (almost) the season...

...for gingersnaps.

3/4 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1/4 c. molasses

3 (+ 1/2) c. flour*

3 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. cloves

1 t. ginger

1/2 t. nutmeg

additional sugar

Cream butter, sugar, egg, and molasses. Sift together dry ingredients and gradually add to the creamed mixture. Mix well. Chill at least 1 hour. Roll into 1-inch balls and dip into sugar. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until set.

*These cookies turn out different every time I make them. This time, they were flatter than my half-inch-thick standard, so I added another 1/2 cup. The last time, I added too much flour and the dough was crumbly. I fixed this problem by adding 2 T. heavy cream. That seemed to do the trick.

sea world

We took a quick trip to San Antonio this weekend. One great advantage of being military is they let you in free at Sea World. We didn't spend a dime, except for parking and gas. And our hotel was free because of Jared's Marriott points he earned in May when he was back east. Now, THAT'S what I call a vacation...when you don't have to pay for anything. ;)

fountains in the hotel pool

one last dip before winter

images from Sea World:

Carly wanted to ride the scariest roller coaster, but she was four inches too short. She had to settle for this ride and a kiddie roller coaster. She LOVED it! I SO look forward to riding the Mamba with her! :)

shows from the day:

AMAZING show!

After we watched this show the second time, we saw a couple who had chosen to sit in the splash zone with their two kids. The kids were wailing because they were drenched. We just laughed and laughed because we knew that's exactly what would've happened to us, had we not run out when they started splashing. The couple was laughing too, wiping their poor kids down.

celebrate Carly

She's been looking forward to this day for a long time.

FIVE years old!

We gave her the choice between cake and fluff, and she picked fluff. PURPLE fluff with pink cream piped on top...and in her mouth.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CARLY!

homeless

At the corner of Sherwood and the Mertzon exit, people stand with cardboard signs that proclaim "Homeless" or "need food." While you're waiting for the light to turn green, you try not to make eye contact. The what-if questions always start churning. The light turns green, and you drive away.

Today, the kids picked Unidad Park, the park with the slide that has rollers. It's usually a friendly park, a place where the MOPS moms meet in the summer. Today, a homeless man was sleeping on a bench there. You can imagine the battle this created in my mind. My purse is in the car; I probably have $10-15 cash in there to give him for food today. What if he grabs me? No one else is here to help. I could give him money and ask him if he knows Jesus. He has a cast on his arm. He looks scary; I'd better watch the kids. (Please, Carly, don't ask why this man is lying here. I wouldn't want him to hear you.) What if he'd use my money for a smoke instead of food? Verses of God's grace flowed through my mind mixed with verses mentioning the poor. Do these verses tell me to help this guy? The man got up and walked to the portable restrooms. We caught a whiff of him as he passed us. His face looked scary too as we made eye contact and exchanged hellos. What would a mere $10 do for him anyway? He needs a home. I don't want to give him money without talking to him about Jesus, but how could I do this without putting us in danger?

We left the park with the man standing and staring at the flag pole. And $10-15 was still in my purse. And I hadn't risked anybody's safety.

What would you have done? What's the right thing to do?

oobleck

Mix 1 part liquid starch with 1 part glue. Voila. You've got oobleck. I think it was my parents who gave me Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss when I was a kid. This oobleck book fascinated me. Even the word OOBLECK is neat! The illustrations are great. Only the oobleck is colored; every other picture is in black and white.

stirring...

Mom taking over

testing...

Ew, yuck! It's stuck! (alarm)

digging in, making tough-kid sounds

"My fingers are dirty!"

letting loose

little mouths

We spent the morning playing and laughing and talking and...fighting. It is simply baffling how one minute our kids can love each other completely and do the opposite the next minute. One minute the kids can be laughing and the next, they're crying. Out of their mouths come joyful chatter and songs, and just moments later they're filled with hateful, biting words. And now Carly is laying on her bed, joyfully singing about Meshak and Abednego and Abraham obeying God's laws. Isaac is humming while rolling around on his bed. Oh, there's a loud, "I'M NOT TIRED!!!"

Yesterday, we read about Adam and Eve and how sin came into the world. This story is not new to the kids, but they were engrossed as I read it, more so than they have been in the past. This particular version from Leading Little Ones To God described sin and evil in more depth than most Biblical children's books do. It's a little scary teaching kids about Satan, but he's real. We can't act like he doesn't exist. The lesson described the fall with "Oh, that was a sad, sad day. All the happiness was gone out of the hearts of Adam and Eve. And on that day all the unhappy things and wicked things began. Satan was glad. But Adam and Eve were sad. And God was sad." Isaac looked at me and said in a very quiet, serious voice, "That makes me sad that she ate the wrong fruit." After we talked about it, he concluded, "I would eat the right fruit."

There's good and evil. We try, even vow to do good, but we fail. Colossians 1:21-22 reminds me, "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation." I was a joyful mommy at 10:05 a.m. At 10:06, one kid hit another, and I became a roaring monster; the roar carried out the front door, where our neighbor was quietly sitting observing. Whoops. Minutes later, all was well. Do all moms do that? Growl one second and sweetly answer the phone the next?

In Jerry Bridges' Transforming Grace, he writes:

The prophet [Isaiah] said of God, "You have put all my sins behind your back [38:17]." When something is behind our back, it is out of sight. We can't see it anymore. God says He has done that with our sins. It is not that we haven't sinned or, as Christians, do not continue to sin. We know we sin daily - in fact, many times a day. Even as Christians our best efforts are still marred with imperfect performance and impure motives. But God no longer "sees" either our deliberate disobedience or our marred performances. Instead He "sees" the righteousness of Christ, which He has already imputed to us.

This is hard for me to comprehend or understand, but this is part of what Bridges calls God's grace.

random

For you grandparents out there who'd like to know how our week went, here are a few random things we did.

• Played at the park. The kids came away with their pockets stuffed with acorns. We cracked one open and tasted it. Not bitter like I'd expected. Maybe we could've put them in brownies. I asked Jared if he wanted to take some home to plant some pretty trees. He refused, saying that we shouldn't plant anything they grow down here; his allergies have been driving him NUTS. (no pun intended--I guess that wasn't a real pun)
• Wasted time reading part of the Dee Henderson's O'Malley series.
• Baked raisin bread. It was great fresh and warm with butter, but I left the bag open overnight. In the morning, it was dry raisin bread.
• Listened to Jared preaching again that I use too much butter. C'mon, isn't there anyone else around that thinks butter (milk products in general) is the best? Honestly, I never used it until Jared told me in 1999 that it was good on toast. I was a margarine girl, but butter is my pal now. He shouldn't have introduced me to it.
• Went paddle boating Saturday. It was a beautiful day.
• Got more books. The Mary Cotton Public Library has the brilliant idea of putting stamps and stamp pads at the checkout counter to occupy kids while you check out your books. The Tom Green County Public Library doesn't do that, so our kids always have a hard time waiting patiently. I've been seen tearing out of the library with a bag full of books and two kids barely keeping up. Seriously.
• Isaac tried on the BEARD. I crocheted a beard for them, so they could sing their own Soggy Bottom Boy songs. They've been afraid of the beard until now.
• Isaac attempting to play outside in his underwear, just waiting for me to scold him.
• Counting down. Pulling off the chain links. 38 days left.

growing outside our apartment

opportunity lost

A few weeks back, I wrote about a girl I'd met. Melissa is a military wife with a 6-year-old son. We visited each other and met at the pool a few times. I wouldn't call her a best friend, maybe an acquaintance. She was interested in friendship for the sake of someone to talk to and someone to buy her wickless candles. I was interested in friendship for the sake of someone to talk to and someone to share the Gospel with. Melissa is one of the friendliest girls I've met, but she is not a believer in Jesus. In fact, she is more of an astrological girl.

I've prayed for opportunities to share the Truth with her, but subtle opportunities have come and gone because my eyes haven't been open to recognize them. And even if the opportunities were right in front of me, I'm afraid that my fears and timidity would've let them slip away. One thing Chan writes in Crazy Love describing one way lukewarm people can look is: "lukewarm people rarely share their faith with their neighbors, coworkers, or friends. They do not want to be rejected, nor do they want to make people uncomfortable by talking about private issues like religion." Now, I don't think religion is a private issue, nor am I terribly afraid of rejection, but I am guilty of the fear of making others uncomfortable. The truth is, if people are living in sin, they should feel uncomfortable about that sin.

Feeling guilty about knowing this girl for two months and never sharing the Gospel with her, I came back to San Angelo on Monday with a renewed motivation. While driving, I made a plan; a plan is something I should've made long ago. I was going to invite Melissa and her son over to play. Undoubtedly, she'd ask how our trip back to Kansas went. And then I'd tell her about our baptism, which would surely lead into a discussion about Jesus.

We walked by Melissa's apartment this morning. And she's gone. Her husband's class is finished, and they've moved to Louisiana. I guess I knew they'd be moving; active duty people do that often. But I figured I'd get at least one more opportunity to share with her. Opportunity lost. But God will work in so many other ways, I'm sure. Perhaps I'll post the story of my dear friend Shonda, and how God changed her life, despite me.

opportunity lost

Shonda was a teacher, like me. We taught together in Wichita and became dear friends. She was friendly, fun-loving, had it all together and was just a dear girl, except, she didn't know Jesus. At that time, we were desperate for keeping our sanity, as our job was quite challenging dealing with kids from one of the worst neighborhoods in Wichita. Pretty focused on myself wondering how I was going to make it through the days/weeks/years, I remember praying for Shonda, probably half-heartedly, that she would come to Christ.

Our final year at Jardine came and went. I never shared the Gospel with Shonda. And then Jared and I moved to Sabetha. I offered a feeble prayer that God would work in Shonda's heart, despite my failure to do my part in witnessing.

Do you know what God did? He answered that prayer. Shonda is now a faithful follower of Jesus. Her passion and fire for serving Him is simply amazing. God works, even when we're too stubborn to let Him use us.

back again

So here we are again. Back to the Texas grind.

This trip south wasn't quite as hard as the first one; familiarity played a big part. We knew where we were headed and how long we'd stay. The further we drove, the higher the temperatures became. The dirt changed colors. South of Abilene, TX, we once again appreciated the kindness of fellow drivers. Did you know that on the 70-mph two-lanes, it's common courtesy (maybe the law) to pull off to the paved shoulder so faster traffic can pass? If only they could make that rule on the stretch from Sabetha to Holton.

I mustn't rub it in, but it was quite nice to wear shorts again today. Our temperatures reached a comfortable 85, while we pitied you Kansans with your cloudy 46-degree forecast. Oh, we'd love to freeze with you. Seriously. :)

What a blessed time it was at home. Isaac showed me a new trick here. In the up-side-down position, he stated, "I love to be at home!"

We are happy to be back in our beds, but we do so look forward to Thanksgiving.