Make It Monday

Rhubarb Dessert Topped With Ice Cream

The other day I was digging through my freezer looking for some hamburger to use for supper. I ran across some bags of rhubarb that I had frozen last year. I decided I should probably make something from it as it will not be long and there will be a whole new crop of rhubarb to freeze.

I took one of the bags that I had marked “3 cups” and decided to turn it into a crisp. I think I found the recipe on Facebook last year and I have no idea who the original creator of this recipe is!  If it is yours, please let me know so I can give you credit.

Rhubarb Dessert

2-3 cups chopped rhubarb (can be fresh or frozen)
1 3/4 cups white sugar
3 Tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon corn starch
2/3 cup boiling water

Spray bottom of 8×8 or 9×9 inch pan
Put fruit on bottom of pan
Mix: 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, butter, flavorings, flour & milk
Put over fruit
Mix rest of sugar and cornstarch
Sprinkle on top
Pour boiling water over all
Bake at 375° for 45 minutes

Let cool before serving and top with ice cream if desired.

My husband has always said that rhubarb is a fruit that really wants to be an apple. He really never cared for anything with rhubarb until he tried this dessert last year. He is now a believer that you can make something good from it!

A few weeks back he even went so far as to put the corn tunnels over the rhubarb patch. He decided it should be saved from our group of marauding chickens. I have girls who cannot resist digging through that patch when the plants just start peeking through the dirt in the spring. I am not sure what they are looking for as the bugs aren’t even out yet!

The plants are growing nicely under their cage and I am looking forward to another nice crop to freeze for next year. It is always good to have things on hand to make a sweet treat. Let me know if you give this recipe a try and how you like it!

One of the secrets to a happy life
is continuous small treats.
Anonymous

 

 

 

Projects and Ponderings

The “after” photo of the desk

The last weeks have seemed to be the time to catch up on projects that have been waiting a long time. I am wondering how many craft rooms are being slowly emptied of the stored up paper, fabric, paint etc.

I know that I am slowly….really slowly….getting a few of those things done. I have had a desk sitting in my back hallway for a long time. It came from my in-laws and was set in place with intentions to paint it. Somehow those intentions did not transform into doing…..until now.

The paint had been purchased months ago for this project and with the warmer weather I encouraged my husband to help me haul it into the garage so I could start working on it. I also discovered I had some TSP hanging out in my storage closet to use to dull the finish so I could paint without to much sanding.

This was not the first refinishing project I have ever done, but I did learn some new things along the way. I learned to read the paint can when it says “do not paint in the sun on a warm day”. The paint on my drawers is not as nice and smooth as I would have liked it to be…..next time I will read before painting!

As I worked on the desk I had time to think. Working on the desk took some time but I knew that the effort would be worth it. The prep work was not as fun as the painting and I think that might be true of a lot of things.

Prep work is rather tedious and dirty. Sanding is not my favorite thing but then again being “sanded” in life by my Maker is not my favorite thing either!  It is good to remind myself, when being “prepped and sanded”, that the end result will be worth it.

When I envisioned, as I sanded, what my desk would end up looking like It was good to remember that He has a picture in His mind of what He wants my life to look like!

I also wondered if the last few weeks have been some prepping and sanding for all of us? I kind of hope so….I hope that when this virus settles down we will come out better people than when it all started.

May you be blessed in this season of change.  May you have time to think some deep thoughts, be kind to those around you, share a smile with someone (even if it is from 6 ft. away). And may we all end up much better for having been “sanded”.

And once the storm is over,
you won’t remember how you made it through,
how you managed to survive.
You won’t even be sure,
whether the storm is really over.
But one thing is certain.
When you come out of the storm,
you won’t be the same person who walked in.
That’s what this storm’s all about.

Haruki Murakami

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Questions Without Answers

Years ago, many years ago, we had a Bible teacher named Mr. Feenstra. He would ask us questions for which there were no answers. At the time we thought they were really dumb questions because there wasn’t an easy answer.

I am finding during these last weeks that there are a lot of questions without answers. I am also finding that the older I get…the more questions I seem to have. I find that my world gets grayer right along with my hair!

I have been reading a lot of posts on social media these last days. Probably because I seem to have time to do that. I also am curious what people are thinking and what my friends and family are doing.

Many of these posts raise more questions for me, about this time in our world. I read posts about how, staying home is what a “good Christian” would do. I read posts saying that saving a life is the top priority. I read posts about how people are suffering during this time and how they are overcoming.

Some of the questions I get to thinking about in the wee hours of the morning: Am I a better Christian staying home and staying safe and keeping others physically safe or am I a better Christian going to the home of a person who lives alone and desperately needs someone to physically give them a hug? Is the need for physical safety higher than the need for emotional and mental well-being?

I wonder if the need for physical safety trumps the need for spiritual well-being and worshipping with community. I wonder if physical safety is better than financial safety and at what point does financial insecurity become physically unsafe?

Where is the tipping point where self-isolation becomes harmful in more ways than physical? At what point do I sacrifice my well-being to tend the very real needs of someone who needs me to be physically there?

I read stories of those who are hurt by the lack of physical contact that comes with hugging someone you care about, but does not live in your home. They are hurt by the glares they receive if they come within 5 feet of someone in the grocery store instead of maintaining the standard 6 feet. Is one persons need of physical safety higher than another’s need of emotional, mental, financial and spiritual safety?

I don’t know the answers to those questions and I am struggling with them as I watch the farmers in our area grow more and more concerned about how they will make it. I watch small business people worry about the employees they had to lay off and furlough and wonder if they will have a business to go back to. I see teachers aching for their students.

I see pastors struggling with the fact they have to do their job long distance. I see stories of domestic abuse on the rise due to being stuck at home where it is not safe. There are stories of families going hungry because their parents do not work at an “essential business”. At what point do these issues become as important as staying healthy? At what point does staying isolated become selfish instead of selfless?

I wonder if following all the rules, while neglecting all my questions makes me a “good Christian” or a “good Pharisee”? Does posting judgmental comments on social media against those who are not reacting the same as me, make me socially responsible or a social bully? At what point am I just surviving instead of living? So many questions……very few answers.

I do know that history will judge us. It is always easier to judge after the fact. I wonder how we will look through the lens of time. Will we look like people who cowered in fear? Will we look like people who sacrificed for the needs of others? Will we look like people who were discerning and had wisdom? Will this just be a blip in the timeline of our world or will this so change our world that we no longer recognize it? Will we be judged on our lack of ability to listen, really listen to someone who had a different opinion than us?

What I DO know is this…now is the time to encourage and lift each other up. Now is not the time to beat each other over the head with our presumptions of how others should live or react. Now is the time to listen, to hear each other….to talk with each other and connect.

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way…” 1 Corinthians 13:4,5a,b. I also know I must not fall into the trap of thinking that this verse is perfect for so and so because they are, or are not social distancing…..because that is not really love at all.

You may wonder why I posted a photo of rocks. For me rocks are solid. They are not easily chipped. They are not tossed about by random winds of change. They become smooth and shiny and beautiful with the pounding of storms. They stand firm.

Soooo…..a big thank you to Mr. Feenstra….the teacher who taught us to think beyond what we see. He taught us discernment and we never even realized that is what he was teaching. He taught us to plant our feet on solid ground…something that will never shift. He taught us that when firmly planted; we can truly listen, hear, see and be love to those around us. He taught us to be rocks…….and maybe that is our answer to all those questions…….

“Lord,
give me firmness without hardness,
steadfastness without dogmatism,
love without weakness.”
― Jim Elliot

 

The Waiting Time

 

To be honest….there isn’t much in my life that has changed too much with all the confusion in this world. As farmers we kind of roll with the seasons anyway; and this has always been a time of waiting.

We wait for the winter storms to be done. We wait for the earth to dry up enough to till the fields that have been resting since they were harvested last fall. We wait for the warmth of those Spring days…when the sun shines and warms the earth enough for the asparagus shoots to peek through the earth. We wait.

In a way it is a blessing for us that we are used to this waiting season. It makes the staying home a bit easier to do.( It does not make it any easier to think of the hugs I am missing from my kids and grandkids!)

My heart goes out to those whose waiting is very unusual….to those who are laid off or furloughed at this time. To those waiting for a loved one to get over the virus….to those who wonder if they have caught it. The anxiety of wondering how long this will last can be incredibly hard. The not knowing can be the worst.

This past week my sister did a video with Pastor John (the pastor of her church). He has been doing this with various members of his congregation to keep everyone in touch and to make sure they are all doing well.

After I watched this video I was extremely proud of my sister. She is a private person and this was a step of faith that she took, because she realized it might help others during this time. She gave me her permission to share the link for this video.

I hope it inspires you during this waiting time. I hope it eases your mind and calms your soul. I pray it makes you realize you are not alone in any of this. There are others waiting and wondering. There are others with fear.

I pray her testimony blesses you as much as it blessed me….and yes I may be biased (okay I AM biased). May this find you seeing the blessings in the small things like flowers, birds and a good jigsaw puzzle.

May this post find you looking for the good in this time of waiting and finding the treasure hidden in it…the treasure of time to be still. May you know the comfort that this season will pass and may you come to treasure this time of waiting.

The sun is always shining,
you just can’t always see it.
John S.
(my dad)

 

 

 

Easter Blessings

Easter Blessings to all of you!  During this time of staying put and not seeing to many people I have been blessed by a lot of talented people.

There have been the blessings of humor in the memes people have posted on various social media. These have totally brightened my days!

I have been blessed by pastors who share their Biblical wisdom on live streamed church services. I have been blessed by pictures of pastors who stood in the snowstorm this Easter Sunday (yes we are having a snowstorm!) and preached to a parking lot of people sitting in their cars.

I also relearned, from Pastor Brian, that “the empty tomb isn’t to just keep us from dying–it is to show us how to live.”  Abundant life in Christ, changes everything.

During these day I have also been blessed by a gal named Janene. She is a talented piano player and has been sharing those talents on Facebook. She takes requests for old hymns, new hymns and uplifting songs.

Today I wanted to share with you; her song for Easter Sunday…..Low In The Grave He Lay. I hope it blesses you as much as it has blessed me. (And I do hope the link works for you!)

Low in the grave He lay Jesus my Savior
Waiting the coming day Jesus my Lord
Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes
He arose a victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever with His saints to reign
He arose He arose
Hallelujah Christ arose
Vainly they watch His bed Jesus my Savior
Vainly they seal the dead Jesus my Lord
Death cannot keep his prey Jesus my Savior
He tore the bars away Jesus my Lord
Christ the Lord is risen today alleluia
Sons of men and angels say alleluia
Raise your joys and triumphs high alleluia
Sing ye heavens and earth reply alleluia
Lives again our glorious King alleluia
Where O death is now thy sting alleluia
Once he died our souls to save alleluia
Where’s thy victory boasting grave alleluia
Love’s redeeming work is done alleluia
Fought the fight the battle won alleluia
Death in vain forbids Him rise alleluia
Christ hath opened paradise alleluia
Soar we now where Christ has led alleluia
Following our exalted Head alleluia
Made like Him like Him we rise alleluia
Ours the cross the grave the skies alleluia

I have included the lyrics so you may also sing along!  Have a blessed Easter Sunday and live life fully.

He is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!

 

 

Good Friday 2020

 

Today is Good Friday. A key part of Holy Week for Christians around the world. This year hardly feels like a normal Holy Week probably because it is not normal. There is no Maundy Thursday service, no somber Good Friday service, no gathering on Easter Sunday to celebrate our risen Savior. No sharing of communion with a body of believers.

This doesn’t mean there is no Holy Week. It just means that it looks a bit different than we are used to. Services are watched online or on tv. Communion is taking place in our very own living rooms. And we will be celebrating that empty tomb on Easter Sunday!

I went back….waaaay back, to a post I had written in 2016. It still rings true today. I tried to reblog it to my blog  but my wordpress buttons don’t seem to be cooperating so I have copied and pasted instead.

REFLECTIONS ON GOOD FRIDAY

Even as a kid I wondered why they called this day Good Friday. In looking at the cross it never seemed like a good thing. Reflecting on good things makes me realize that many things in life do not, on the surface or while in the midst of them, seem like good things.

I am pretty sure everyone can look at their life and the hard, dark places that come with living and wonder where that good part is hiding. Sometimes you have to look pretty hard to find even a slight glimmer of the good. This is true, especially when you are in the middle of a hard place. There are some hard things that you may not see that shimmer of light for several years and some maybe never while on this earth. I am guessing that is where faith comes in and the hope of things unseen. (my slightly garbled version of Hebrews 11:1)

Do you ever wonder about Good Friday? Do you ever wonder if the disciples felt like their entire world was crashing down and dying on the cross with their Lord and friend? I wonder how they found the courage to take that next breath and wake up the next morning. Did they find themselves sighing deeply, hunching their shoulders to ward off the next psychological blow, swallowing back the tears and looking for anything to relieve the incredible pain? Did they spend those next three days asking “What if” or saying “If only”? Did they for an instant see the glimmer of the good that would come from this violent, brutal killing of the one they loved? Or was the darkness just to deep and the hurt so bottomless that there was no comfort and there were no words?

As a mom I cannot imagine how Mary survived those days. The memories of Jesus as an infant, the images in her mind of him taking his first steps, saying his first word. Did she remember if she was angry that he had stayed back in the temple, as a child, rather than leaving with his family on that trip home from Jerusalem? Did she ponder all these things and remember the words and promises that her son had told her? After having that horrible image of her son hanging on a cross stamped indelibly in her mind was there a small flicker of hope that he would rise from the dead or was it just to much to even think at all? There is no way I can begin to comprehend the despair that she, as a mom, felt at that point.

If you are going through a hard time that seems so dark that no light can penetrate; remember the promise of this day….this Good Friday. Yes, it is a good day. The promise of this day makes the living through the tough times less difficult. Not necessarily easier, just less difficult. This good day has brought grace. It has brought forgiveness. It has brought redemption. It has restored us to our place as God’s dearly loved children. That is a gift that is beyond imagining and I am ever so grateful. This day does not protect us from what life brings but it gives us hope for an amazing future. It is a promise.

So look for that glimmer of good, that glimmer of hope, that little sliver of light in the circumstance you are in. Hang on to the promise of this day. Hang on to the One who loved you enough to die for you and more than that, who was raised to life and is even now at the right hand of God and is interceding for us (Rom. 8:34)

May you be blessed wherever you are on this Good Friday and remember Sunday’s coming!!

I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness
Jeremiah 31:3

The cross at the top of this post was drawn by my youngest son when he was in high school. I love the way how this drawing reminds me how much Jesus loves me and each of us. I love being reminded that I am free, really free because of what happened on that one day…..that Good Friday so long ago.