pinter-test kitchen: may

my friend jessica hosts a linky party called pinter-test kitchen.

you know, pinterest?

that website where you pretend to be super crafty and all?

well, this link-it-up fun is great excuse to 

try some of those fun things.

i've only worked about 6 days this past month, so i had some time to try a recipe that looked interesting.

i saw this healthy cookie recipe that was easy to make.

so i gave it a try.

first, i got all the ingredients together:

preheat the oven:

and get mixing! really, all you do is put the ingredients in and mix!

i tasted the dough at this point and i had a suspicion i should add some splenda or sugar, but i didn't in the spirit of trying something new.

one last step: add some cinnamon to the top.

the second batch in the oven, i put cinnamon and splenda on top. good life choice fo sho.

the finished project.

not as good as i had hoped.

it nipped the sweet tooth in the bud,

but something was missing.

like sugar.

and calories.

i do recommend this recipe, however.

just add some splenda or sugar.

happy pinning!

linking up:

what a month

wow. april 2012 will go down in history for my family.

the month started out with a week in hawaii.

and it was fantastic.

until the end of the week when we found out grandma had been in the hospital and subsequently released.

she died the monday after easter.

whirlwind trip to redding, back to work, and a few more days off.

this morning, i received a text from my dad that our dog had to be put to down.

wow. 

obviously, these two deaths are not exactly on the same spectrum.

nevertheless, the loss of a precious pet can be quite the jab in the heart.

my friend sent this blog story to me

and the crying started again.

but i am grateful that the Lord has allowed things like pets to give us glimpses into goodness and unconditional love.

so long, little pupster. 

because He lives

my grandma was a big fan of the gather singers.

she liked them before david phelps put them back on the map.

another reason grams is totally hip.

her favorite is "because He lives."

tried to find it with just david phelps, 

but that didn't happen.

and the video is totally cheeseball.

oh well.

the song speaks for itself.

o death, where is your sting?

in church yesterday, the pastor preached through 1 corinthians 15. 

i was impacted, as always, by verses 50-58

 "I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.  When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

 

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

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.

 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."

it was amazing to celebrate the triumph of the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus! i wish i would remember it more clearly every day!

* * *

this morning, my grandmother passed away. besides my parents, she is the most influential person in my life. she has taught me to love Jesus, to pursue prayer, and the importance of passing these things on to others. 

my heart aches (and so do my eyes and head from crying), but i have been reminded again and again today by dear friends and the Holy Spirit, of the scripture preached through yesterday. 

 

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

 

my grandmother is not not swallowed up in death, but is alive with Christ, because of Christ. what cause for rejoicing!!

 

and what about verse 58?

 

"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, 

immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing 

that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."
 

seriously, a verse so reflective of grandma j. through years of teaching sunday school and vbs, praying diligently for believers and believers to be, and testifying of Jesus whenever possible, her labor has not been in vain, he spirit utterly steadfast. 

i rejoice that my grandma knows Jesus, and i rejoice all the more that she is worshiping her Savior in person! the waiting is finally over!

homesick

tonight, i am more homesick than i've been in a long time.

well, i'm not really sure if most would call this feeling homesick.
i'm techinically at home, afterall.
maybe i use this word for lack of a better one.

what i mean by "homesick" is that i have a
longing for something that feels like home.
i long to be overseas serving the King and people again.
this feels more like home than anything i've ever done.

sure, remnants of this feeling arise

when i serve people here.

i experience and know a sense of purpose,

but that sense is magnified when

in a cross-cultural setting.

so much of me wants to drop everything and just go.
pay off loans little by little until i'm dead,
relying on the steadfast provision of Christ.

another part urges itself to stay,

be responsible and a good steward

of what i have here,

grateful for the provision as is.

both choices are logical,

both have benefits,

both have their own way of bringing

glory to the One worthy.

i'm not writing for answers or pity.

not sure this topic needs either at this point.

prayer? yes, i'll take prayer if you're offering.

however, again i am resolved to wait,

resting on the His timing.

"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
    for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
    my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Trust in him at all times, O people;
     pour out your heart before him;
    God is a refuge for us."

Psalm 62:5-8



 

go out

“'Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.'

When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities."

Matthew 10:40-11:1

peace v. sword

“'Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.'" 

Matthew 10:34-39