Happy July 4th
Happy July 4th. This post will really have nothing to do with Independence Day or will it? I don't know yet, I guess. The biggest challenge will be to see if I will still have internet service by the time I finish this post, so it can even be posted.
I made this "cute" cake for July 4th: little flag cake with blueberries and raspberries. Didn't turn out too bad for a first-time try at anything real creatively decorative. But I learned one cardinal rule. Don't try to make stars or any design with frosting when the room temp is about 85 degrees. It's more like pudding at that point, so instead of nice star lines, I just tried to smooth them out. However, my cake is now just sitting in the fridge, with one small sliver taken out of it. We were going to have a small party last evening, but then D got sick and the party was cancelled and there has been no one to eat my cake. I took a small piece out this morning so I could taste it, but now I am afraid the precious raspberries are going to go bad before it gets eaten. So does anyway care for flag cake? There's lots of buttery frosting on it!!! I really should have a picture of it, I guess to do it justice. Maybe if I can complete this post without losing the internet, I will try and post a pic.
Sickness: totally not fun. Ran to our great town of Spencer this morning to buy sick medicines and sick-friendly food and drinks. The sick are feeling better though, I think, which is definitely a blessing.
This week I was listening to a series from Revive our Hearts entitled, "Hows your Love Life?" It was very challenging to me. Love is defined as doing something for someone else with no though of return for yourself. That's not verbatim, but you get the idea. That is hard to do. Tonight when I was struggling through chores, wondering why we live on a farm, I had to remind myself that love is sacrificial. Now, it isn't always that hard for me to love, but when I am pulling hose that is covered in slimy manure, the loving and cheerfulness comes a bit harder than at other times. Nancy took the love chapter from the Bible and broke it down into the different parts. Am I patient? Am I kind or rude? Do I delight in the truth and hate gossip or do I love to tell the latest news to my friends and then discuss it to smithereens? The basis for all of my actions should be love. If I want to help someone and am willing to spend crazy amounts of time with them and try to mentor them and guide them, that's great. But if I do it out of duty or out of beating them back in to line, it will avail nothing. I must love them. The adage is very true that people want to know you care before they will listen to what you say. So my challenge for myself and for everyone who reads this is: Love!!! Make that your ever present motivator for every decision you make, every word you say, every action you pursue. It takes a conscious effort, and I have a long ways to go yet, but I want my life to be rooted and grounded in love. First off in love for the Lord and then in love for my husband, my family, and all those around me.
Freedom? Today is Independence Day. Are we really free? What does freedom entail? Is it the freedom to do whatever I want, whenever I want? Is that really freedom? Some would say it is--those who would say that rules are boundaries that restrict my rights. I think of freedom as a big fenced in area. In the middle of the field there is a central Figure that is set there to guide us and direct us. There is lots of room to move around inside the fence and as long as we stay in the middle and look to the Central Figure, we don't even think about the fence. We are just happy following our Guide. It's when we take our eyes off of the Figue in the middle that we look at the fence and start wishing to be on the other side. But once we are on the other side, there is nothing to hold us, nothing to draw us and then we are wandering aimlessly and wondering how we ever thought this would be free. I don't know if this is an accurate description or makes sense to anyone or not, but this is what came to mind when I was writing.
I think it is very true for a Christian--if our focus is on Christ and doing what He wants, we won't allow the things that are not for Christians to bother us. They will not even draw our attention, because we are so busy doing what Christ wants. I have a lot of growing to do in this area--to just focus totally on Christ and not on those around us. No comparisons allowed here. It's all or nothing for Christ.
I need to move along here: sometime I want to blog a bit about the book I am reading on abortion.
TaTa
I made this "cute" cake for July 4th: little flag cake with blueberries and raspberries. Didn't turn out too bad for a first-time try at anything real creatively decorative. But I learned one cardinal rule. Don't try to make stars or any design with frosting when the room temp is about 85 degrees. It's more like pudding at that point, so instead of nice star lines, I just tried to smooth them out. However, my cake is now just sitting in the fridge, with one small sliver taken out of it. We were going to have a small party last evening, but then D got sick and the party was cancelled and there has been no one to eat my cake. I took a small piece out this morning so I could taste it, but now I am afraid the precious raspberries are going to go bad before it gets eaten. So does anyway care for flag cake? There's lots of buttery frosting on it!!! I really should have a picture of it, I guess to do it justice. Maybe if I can complete this post without losing the internet, I will try and post a pic.
Sickness: totally not fun. Ran to our great town of Spencer this morning to buy sick medicines and sick-friendly food and drinks. The sick are feeling better though, I think, which is definitely a blessing.
This week I was listening to a series from Revive our Hearts entitled, "Hows your Love Life?" It was very challenging to me. Love is defined as doing something for someone else with no though of return for yourself. That's not verbatim, but you get the idea. That is hard to do. Tonight when I was struggling through chores, wondering why we live on a farm, I had to remind myself that love is sacrificial. Now, it isn't always that hard for me to love, but when I am pulling hose that is covered in slimy manure, the loving and cheerfulness comes a bit harder than at other times. Nancy took the love chapter from the Bible and broke it down into the different parts. Am I patient? Am I kind or rude? Do I delight in the truth and hate gossip or do I love to tell the latest news to my friends and then discuss it to smithereens? The basis for all of my actions should be love. If I want to help someone and am willing to spend crazy amounts of time with them and try to mentor them and guide them, that's great. But if I do it out of duty or out of beating them back in to line, it will avail nothing. I must love them. The adage is very true that people want to know you care before they will listen to what you say. So my challenge for myself and for everyone who reads this is: Love!!! Make that your ever present motivator for every decision you make, every word you say, every action you pursue. It takes a conscious effort, and I have a long ways to go yet, but I want my life to be rooted and grounded in love. First off in love for the Lord and then in love for my husband, my family, and all those around me.
Freedom? Today is Independence Day. Are we really free? What does freedom entail? Is it the freedom to do whatever I want, whenever I want? Is that really freedom? Some would say it is--those who would say that rules are boundaries that restrict my rights. I think of freedom as a big fenced in area. In the middle of the field there is a central Figure that is set there to guide us and direct us. There is lots of room to move around inside the fence and as long as we stay in the middle and look to the Central Figure, we don't even think about the fence. We are just happy following our Guide. It's when we take our eyes off of the Figue in the middle that we look at the fence and start wishing to be on the other side. But once we are on the other side, there is nothing to hold us, nothing to draw us and then we are wandering aimlessly and wondering how we ever thought this would be free. I don't know if this is an accurate description or makes sense to anyone or not, but this is what came to mind when I was writing.
I think it is very true for a Christian--if our focus is on Christ and doing what He wants, we won't allow the things that are not for Christians to bother us. They will not even draw our attention, because we are so busy doing what Christ wants. I have a lot of growing to do in this area--to just focus totally on Christ and not on those around us. No comparisons allowed here. It's all or nothing for Christ.
I need to move along here: sometime I want to blog a bit about the book I am reading on abortion.
TaTa
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