The Accidental Pastor's Wife

sometime after church today. I haven't fallen off the face of the blogsosphere--just been busy, like everyone else. I've been mulling over a few somethings for quite a while now and maybe I'll blog abot it. Don't give up on me!

We've done the Abeka cursive for two years, and it's great, too, but this series I bought from my favorite homeschool resource company, www.timberdoodle.com, is just wonderful. The children work on Bible verses to write in cursive. I have a son who loves to write in cursive and who has just beautiful handwriting. Once he's spent a few days practicing a verse, he writes it on a lovely sheet of paper with a border to hang up or give to a friend. That's why it's called A Reason For Handwriting.

Highly recommended!

I homeschool because our options are limited here in our Western town. I'm not sure if we ever moved if I'd continue to homeschool, but would probably put my children in a Christian school. With that said, I find it very unhelpful to hear comments like:
"I commend you. I could never homeschool."

This comment came after a family member who is visiting watched us homeschool. My almost 8 year old is a challenge, in every way, and if you've been reading over at Lisa Writes lately you'll notice her post about her contrary child. Well, he's mine.

This remark is more of a backhanded way of saying, "I think your kid is obnoxious and difficult, and you must be a saint to put up with him everyday when you could send him to school for free."

To which I think: "Yes, he's a challenge. But I know this is the right choice for our family right now and even if it IS difficult I will persevere. And I know the only way I can have any success is by God's grace and mercy on our family, because His power is made perfect in my weakness. Any gains we make spiritually, academically, emotionally will be because in His unmerited favor he chose to bless our endeavors. It's certainly not because I'm the most patient, devoted teacher. But I can see His hand in using the difficult season of homeschooling to mold me into a more patient and devoted mother, instead of the quick-tempered feminist I have been most of my life."

On our vacation to Ouray I picked up this book in the Colorado history section of a small bookstore on Main Street. It's autobiographical by a woman who spent most of her life in the Southwestern part of Colorado in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, cooking for mining camps, raising her children, and eventually getting elected Treasurer for her county! Here's some favorite quotations from the book:

"Why will people call cooking a menial task?-when it is the art of arts, and a good cook is a genius whose price is above rubies; who handles, daily, expensive materials, which, properly prepared are the foundation of all life and achievement. Of course, I think to waste good food by poor cooking is a crime and should be punished as such."

On her daughter moving away: "I hadn't expected to miss Neita the way I did miss her, and as the days passed I realized what Browning meant when he said something like this: 'We rear them and we love them, then we lose them.'"

"To read is almost as essential to me as to eat. And I feel far more hunger pangs when I am denied mental nourishment than I do at the loss of meals."

Anne Ellis lost her husband at a young age and had to make it on her own in a time when that often felt impossible. She had no formal education, but educated herself by reading. She won political victories to the astonishment of her rivals and kept whole mining camps full of men in line as the cook, knowing that good food can go a long way to make men behave themselves.

I've found this book fascinating!

Sunday is an exhausting day for the pastor, especially if he's the only staff member. Sometimes he must do Sunday School, music, and preaching. It's not a day of rest most weeks! So how do you encourage your man when he's physically, emotionally, and spiritually spent?

I LOVE this on fresh greens! Whip up a huge batch to keep on hand. It's so much better than store-bought!

1 c light mayo (I like Best Foods/Hellman's)
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. italian seasoning or just oregano
1 T. sugar or splenda
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Whirl in a blender or whisk together. YUM-O!

Got on my new fancy schmancy scale that gives you your weight and body fat percentage and BMI. I thought it would be cool to have, but it's really just depressing...anyway, I got on it this morning and I'm down a pound or two to 175.8. That's encouraging since I've been having knee trouble for almost two weeks. I'm hoping to take a stab at walking/running this afternoon the treadmill. Hoping for the best!

I'm not into your average contemporary Christian music. There are some artists I enjoy, but by and large, what you find at your local Christian megamart doesn't suit me. Either it's cheesy, trying to sound too much like some secular band out there (I'm sorry, but I grew up in the era of grunge and that guy who sings for Third Day sounds just too much like Eddie Vedder-I can't handle it.), or it doesn't say ANYTHING substantive (in other words, singing, "Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain" for 20 minutes doesn't say much about Christ and the cross, but maybe that's just me...).

With that said, a few years ago while at Seminary we stumbled across Indelible Grace music. In a nutshell, these are folks who take old hymns and put them to new music, and by new music that might mean new tunes or just a more folksy rock version of an old favorite. These people are part of the Reformed University Fellowship out of Belmont University in Nashville, TN. I've heard them three different times in concert and their music has become the soundtrack for my daily life.

There are four volumes: Indelible Grace, Indelible Grace II Pilgrim Days, Indelible Grace III For All the Saints, and Indelible Grace IV Beams of Heaven. The earlier albums have music that is more singable for a congregation (take note music minister's wife!). You can get on their website and download their entire hymnal (for free, I'm pretty sure!).

So if you want music that says something, that encourages you in your faith, then CHECK THIS OUT!

www.igracemusic.com

Let me know what you think!

What? A favorite swimsuit? Now THAT'S an oxymoron. With all my knee problems and because sweet baby girl is getting bigger and might enjoy the baby pool at the Rec Center, I purchased a swimsuit. And I LOVE it.

It's modest, easy to put on, comfortable.

Land's End has the best swimsuits around. I ordered the Original Sport Tankini (I tried to post a photo but it didn't take, so if you're really interested, just search for it at www.landsend.com) by mail order and it came quickly and was worth every penny. How's that for not having a Cathy comic strip moment in a department store dressing room?

I posted that silly video, noticed the date, and remembered that it was Patriot Day. Do you remember where you were six years ago when you heard the news?

I was about to go to a ladies' Bible study. We had just moved into an apartment in the city where hubby attended Seminary. It was his first semester there. My oldest was almost 2. I didn't really know anyone in the town, but I was going to this church's Bible study that was about---

the book of Revelation!

Can you imagine the thoughts that went through my paranoid head??

I remember walking my new puppy and hearing no airplanes for days. So bizarre.

And I still anxiously wait for something else to happen. One of these days, they won't foil a plot. It's at times like this I must trust in our sovereign God.

I changed the name of these from the recipe my wonderful friend Debbie sent me (you know who you are!) and I tend to halve the filling because I've found I didn't use it all. These are so, so good. I'm going to experiment with different cake mixes, notably a spice cake mix. I'll let you know the results!

1 box devil's food cake mix
3/4 c butter flavored shortening
2 eggs

Combine this and drop spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet, baking at 350 for 8 minutes. Let cool.

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c butter, softened
1 tsp. almond extract (I'll probably use vanilla for the spice cookie variation)
2 c powdered sugar (or a little less, to your liking)

Cream cream cheese, butter. Add extract and powdered sugar.

Using two cookies, put filling the in middle and watch them magically disappear! :)

I'm cheap, well, not trashy, but cheap like frugal so I've always made most of my own baby food. It's easy! And it only takes an afternoon every once in a while to make a whole bunch. Today I did green beans, peaches, watermelon, and zucchini. I've already done peas and carrots. There are lots of recipes online about it, but I'll share my favorite because I think it's useful and unique. It's stewed prunes. I've had constipated babies once they start on table food and stewed prunes with oatmeal or rice cereal really does the trick! And did I mention it's cheap?

Julie's Stewed Prunes for Baby's Tummy Troubles

1 carton pitted prunes
1 saucepan
water
food processor or blender
ice cube trays or cookie sheet with rim

Put prunes in saucepan and cover with water. Let set all day covered (or overnight). Then bring the prunes to a boil and cook for about 30 minutes over medium heat. Strain out prunes into the food processor, adding some cooking liquid as needed to make it mushy. Freeze in ice cube trays or in blobs on a cookie sheet, then pop them out or scrap them off into labeled ziplock bags. Ta-da!

Now watch out on the changing table, ladies. :)

You're getting three posts today since my family is down watching a movie, sweet baby girl is hanging out in dad's lap, and I have the MacBook (a.k.a. "my precious"). I really should be going to get ice cube trays to freeze all the baby food I made today, hmmm...maybe I'll do a 4th post on that. Anyway-

I was so excited to be running for the first time in my life when after Tuesday's workout my right knee started to ache and it was difficult going down stairs (a bad thing in a tri-level house!). I got on runnersworld.com and discovered I probably have runner's knee, a problem more common in women but common nonetheless. It said I needed to strengthen my quads and hamstrings and possibly wear a knee band when I work out. I gave it until today when I tried running again and my knee just wouldn't take it. I ran for maybe 3 minutes, then switched to the elliptical trainer, which felt fine. I took some advil this morning and it's been feeling better. I still lifted weights, but oh, I want to run like the wind and I can't!

Any of you out there have this happen?

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

I have a mad love affair with Europe. I've been to France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia. The history, the cobblestone streets, centuries-old buildings, gardens, trees, FOOD, and don't get me started on the castles and churches.

When my kids are grown up, my hubby and I are going to backpack through Europe, hiking, biking, eating.

I went to France in high school I would just have bread and cafe au lait for breakfast and eat at the bakery for lunch (in other words, I'd have crossiants, chocolate elairs, etc. Hey, I could get away with it then!).

When I saw this quiz over at I Was Just Thinking (who I've recently added to my blogroll because I like her stuff so much), I had to take it. One of my dreams is to travel to Britain and Ireland. Although I'm afraid once I got there, I wouldn't be able to return...

You overhear them say, "And now for our Feature Presentation."

Hiya girls. We start our new study of this next week. I'm pretty far ahead so I know what we're doing, but I've also ordered the DVD of Nancy Leigh DeMoss teaching. She is my FAVORITE Bible teacher (move over, Beth Moore) :).

I'm in the chapter now about grace. Check out this snippet from day 2:

"By His grace God did for us what we could not do for ourselves: He gave us life for death and pardon for condemnation. At the cross, God satisfied His own vengeance, met His own demands of justice, extended mercy, and then added the surprise of His grace. Having punished sin, God forgave sinners; then He went on to adopt all who would believe, making them fellow heirs with His only Son. Such is the extravagant love and grace of God." p. 87 Seeking Him by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Tim Grissom

THIS IS THE GOSPEL. This is much more than "asking Jesus into your heart." Think about this!

Here's our scripture memory verse (let's see if I can remember it without looking!)

Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16

(I got most of it, but switched a few words around. Better keep practicing!)

Great, great stuff here!

This movie was wonderful, but the soundtrack is just the best. It's been playing a lot around here lately!

I did 16 minutes of running today and 14 of walking uphill on the treadmill. I also lifted weights. 38 pounds to go!!

I love getting to dialogue with the cults. As I've mentioned, they seem to find me. Well, I was at the park today talking to an acquaintance of mine. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: So was that your mother-in-law [a devout Jehovah's Witness] I saw with you earlier?

Her: Yes.

Me: I think she's come to my door before to talk to me about stuff.

Her: Really? She'll actually talk to you?

Me: Yeah. She was very, very nice. I kinda like when they come to the door. I dated a JW in high school and he tried to convert me.

Her: Yes. She talks about it to me every chance she gets. I'll say something about some conflict I'm having and she'll pipe up and comment on how that was in the latest issue of the JW magazine. They have all this stuff they have to do. They get little rewards for completing so many door knocking presentations and stuff.

Me: You know, that's the difference between the cults like Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormonism. Those religions are about what you do, but Christianity is about what Jesus has done, saving us by grace alone. And we're not weird if someone leaves our church. We've had a few people leave for various reasons, mostly because they didn't agree with some teachings, but I don't act weird with them. I'm still nice, our kids still play.

Her: But doesn't that offend you, when they leave?

Me: No. I mean, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion.I can't force someone to see things my way.

It's true. If someone has not come to know Christ as Lord, to see him as beautiful and precious, I won't help them along in their journey of faith with my own witness if I'm a jerk to them if they disagree with me. I can speak the truth in love, that Jesus is our only hope for salvation by grace through faith so no one can boast. And then I can pray that the Holy Spirit will lift the veil from their eyes. That's it.

So this gal was brought up in church, but doesn't go anymore. She married a JW who isn't very active in the JW congregation. So I invited her to our Seeking Him study. It appears that it will coincide with her schedule, so I pray that she'll come.

Once the conversation moves toward religious things, it's easy for me to chat. It's getting it there that's hard.