The Accidental Pastor's Wife

Looks like I'm back in the saddle again. I was feeling overwhelmed from returning from vacation and couldn't think of anything to write...so here's a recipe that hubby said was "outstanding" and a keeper. We were brainstorming all the different things you could put in it, too: a cheeseburger braid (cooked ground beef, cheese, mayo, ketchup, cooked bacon, montreal steak seasoning) or a pizza braid (pepperoni, cheese, sauce, oregano) or a mexican braid (black beans, cheese, salsa, maybe some meat of some kind, cilantro) whatever! Here's the one I made tonight:

3 cooked chicken breasts, chopped
1 cup cooked broccoli, cooled and chopped
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. dill weed
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tubes crescent rolls

Heat oven to 350. Gently combine everything except the crescent rolls. Set aside. On a large cookie sheet press the crescent rolls into a large rectangle. Put filling down the middle about 6 inches wide. With a knife, cut slits on the long sides of the crescent roll dough almost into the filling. Now fold the first strip of dough over the filling on the left, then do the right side, and so on until you've covered the filling with a nice braid and covered it with dough. Seal up the ends as best you can.

Bake for 20 minutes or so until golden brown.

Let me know if you try this or if you have another filling idea!

This author is for all you Texans out there--I know you folks are brainwashed from a young age with Texas pride, (I hope you can see me smiling!) so you'll just love these Hank the Cow Dog books by former cowboy and theologian John R. Erickson.

I like to call these books the Don Quioxte of kids' literature. If you remember, Don Quioxte thought he was a very important and valiant knight, when in reality he was a deluded peasant riding a rather lame horse through the countryside performing "noble" deeds.

Well, Hank thinks he's "head of ranch security" and that his position is respected and terribly important to the safety of the cows, chickens, and Little Alfred, the rancher's young son. He can't seem to understand why Sally Mae, the rancher's wife, gets so mad at him for digging in her garden or eating something she's set out to cool, why the cowhands aren't more thankful for all he's done.

My 7 year old was on a Hank binge for the last six months and made it all the way to number 27 (there are close to 50 now in the series). He would just be reading and start laughing. When I read them, I noticed lots of dry humor and sarcasm that he didn't get yet, but I've been told by other moms that their their teenaged sons pick them up again and reread them, laughing all the way.

These are great to read aloud, too, to your younger kids, too. I'm thinking I might just buy the entire set, but most libraries do have them.

Here's the official website:
www.hankthecowdog.com

Enjoy!

As I've mentioned, we had the LDS missionaries show up today. I must say that every single LDS person I have encounted in my time in the Western US has been gracious and kind to me, even when we disagree. I hadn't talked to one in a while so I got on line and surfed about, mostly looking at actual stuff from the top (namely, what the LDS church puts out).

I was wondering what kinds of songs they sing, and I found their hymnal online. I will admit I was disturbed to see songs like "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" in their collection of songs, alongside hymns like this one, called Praise to the Man (and they're not talking about Jesus here):

Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
Jesus annointed that Prophet and Seer.
Blessed to open the last dispensation,
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.

Chorus
Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren;
Death cannot conquer the hero again.

Praise to his mem'ry, he died as a martyr;
Honored and blest be his ever great name!
Long shall his blood, which was shed by assasins,
Plead unto heav'n while the earth lauds his fame.

Chorus

Great is his glory and endless his priesthood.
Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
Faithful and true he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.

Chorus

Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven;
Earth must atone for the blood of that man.
Wake up the world for the conflict of justice.
Millions shall know "Brother Joseph" again.

"Great is his glory" "ever and ever the keys he will hold" "his kingdom" WHAT?? These are statements about a mortal man! Christians sing things like this about Jesus, our risen Savior and Lord. Mind boggling...that they call themselves Christians.

Which makes me wonder, should evangelicals vote for Mitt Romney for president? When he claims to be a Christian just like you and me? While I love the Mormons I know and grieve over the falsehood of the Mormon church around me, I absolutely cannot endorse someone who outright perverts the gospel of Christ. I almost think it would be better to deny it all together. *sigh* It honestly makes me not want to vote next year.

In one day, I had both the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons show up on my doorstep. I had prayed this afternoon after the JWs came that God would PLEASE give me someone to witness to because it strengthens my faith and I've felt convicted of how unevangelistic I am lately.

I was able to preach the gospel to them and I pray that something I said would take root in their souls. I pray that God would open their eyes to the truth of who Jesus is.

I've noticed a pattern in the ministry of pastors' wives, and I've written a lot about the loneliness of being a pastor's wife. Perhaps it's just my personality, but I tend to look for ladies in the community or the church who don't seem to have any close friends or even friends to do stuff with.

So I befriend them, call them, have them over and it's great for a while. If they have kids, we do playdates, if not they come for a meal with us.

Then, maybe they get plugged in at church or I introduce them to another person I think they might get along with, and I start to fall by the wayside. The relationship seems to gradually slip and the third wheel gets pushed out. This has really bothered me in the past, but I had an epiphany this morning about it.

No matter what we do as pastors' wives, there will always be that invisible barrier that exists between us and our church members. No amount of sharing or praying will make it disappear. There will always be issues going on in our lives or the lives of people we know that we cannot express, but that are heavy burdens to bear. I'm coming to accept this truth, even though it's difficult.

But as the PW, what I can do is to network. I'm friendly by nature and like to do things with people, so it isn't hard for me to be outgoing and initiate get-togethers. I also seem to have a sixth sense about if people will click or not, so I like to introduce them. Then, they go and do their own thing.

This has happened recently, and at first it was pretty lonely, but then another young mom has found a place in my life who is looking for a friend, whose husband isn't a believer, and who wants to work out in the mornings with me. Now I'm not trying to "pawn" her off on someone else, but I know of two different ladies who she might really gel with. I like this gal a lot, but I'm always her pastor's wife. I've become a networker.

This was a role I didn't expect. Thoughts, anyone? I love your input!

We just got back from Ouray, Colorado, nestled in a valley in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado.

We spent 6 days at the KOA with high temperatures and bloodthirsty mosquitoes, but with excellent customer service, a well-kept, clean campground, and friendly campers. Overall, it was a great experience. Our oldest son caught some snakes in the pond (YIKES!), our little guy had a ball getting down in the dirt, and sweet baby girl did her best to stay cool and happy (most days, she was neither). I'm not much of a camper, so I spent the first few days whining like a spoiled brat and making everyone miserable around me. I've apologized for that...and I'm thankful I have such a merciful family.

We shopped, ate out, hiked, swam in the hot springs pool, watched the water fights (teams with fire hoses trying to shoot each other off the hose!)and fireworks, ate out, played at two great parks, ate out, visited the Ouray County History Museum, ate out.

My boys went on a mine tour, white water rafting and rode the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Hubby said the train was the highlight of the whole trip. I didn't go with sweet baby girl. We went shopping and out to lunch in Durango then I drove to Silverton to pick them up after their ride. Boy, were they dirty from that soot! I'll find a link to our vacation theme song soon and edit this post on my PC with hyperlinks (I know I always say that and never do it...maybe this time I'll make the effort!).

We stayed in a clean, relatively comfortable MOTEL. I've already mentioned this, but it goes to show you how friendly innkeepers can make all the difference. Had these folks sympathized with the fact that we wanted to veg out on some satellite TV instead of blowing us off and making excuses for their false advertising, it would have been no big deal. But, see, we don't have TV at home so it's a treat whenever we're gone to watch Food Network, the History Channel, stuff like that. And after camping for 6 days, I was ready for some a/c and TV! The owners, who I discovered are trying to sell the property, acted like their guests were more of an inconvenience than a source of income. They seemed to have a philosophy of business that WE were doing THEM a favor by staying there. So their bad attitudes colored the whole experience there for us so that we will not go back. Just be nice already!

While we enjoyed Ouray, we feel like for us it's something you do once and that's it. There wasn't enough down there for us to want to return every year.

I will say that there is some mighty fine eating out in this area. If you know us well, you know how much we LOVE to eat out. We found Mouse's Chocolates and Coffee in Ouray (oh, baby) and restaurants in nearby Ridgway, CO that we frequented the most: the True Grit Cafe, The Dog House BBQ, Oriental Chinese and Thai Restaurant, the Adobe Inn, the Holy Grounds Cafe, Panny's Eats and Treats, and the best vanilla organic ice cream at the Season's Harvest. We'd go out to eat, then play in Ridgway's park. I got a fabulous local cookbook from Ridgway.

I also bought two books about some of the local history. Plain Anne Ellis is about a mountain woman who beat the odds (I'll do a post on her-she's fascinating!) and another one about the Walsh family, who found millions of dollars worth of gold in the Camp Bird mine near Ouray.

Reflecting back, it was a great trip. The San Juans are just stunning Maybe I'll post a few pictures soon, too.

Alida over at blackpurlsknitpickings tagged me and I'm not sure who I'll tag yet! But here are my 5 things, which came at a perfect time for me to ponder.

Here are the rules:

1. those tagged will share 5 things they dig about Jesus…
2. those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers…
3. those tagged will post a comment here with their name and a link to their “dig” Jesus list…


1. He is faithful-even when I am distracted by His good gifts, He continues to love me and draw me to Himself.
2. He is mighty-all powerful, totally sovereign over all. When the world seems to spin out of control into darkness, I know that He does indeed hold the whole world in His hands.
3. He has spoken-through His word. I love the hymn "How Firm A Foundation" which goes, "What more can He say than to you He has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled." What extra revelation do I need? NONE!
4. He will welcome me into heaven-Another song that reminds me of this is called "I Will Glory in My Redeemer": "I will glory in my Redeemer who waits for me at gates of gold. And when He calls me, it will be paradise. His face forever to behold, His face forever to behold."
5. He loves little children. So often, I fall into the trappings of the culture around me and see children as a nuisance, when Jesus presents the opposite example. In a time when children who were unwanted were just abandoned in the desert (hmmm...now they're murdered in utero, has much changed??), Jesus welcomed them.

So I'm tagging:

Anita at averagegirl.wordpress.com
Music Minister's Wife at musicministerswife.blogspot.com
Helpmeet at dustandrib.blogspot.com
Finish the Race at Finishtherace.blogspot.com
Kara Guffey at karaguffey.blogspot.com

This guy is pretty familiar to most people in Christian circles. I've not read much of his adult literature, but I just love his kids stuff.

We brought two of his books with us, Small Gifts in God's Hands and With You All the Way.

Small Gifts is about the little boy (Lucado names him Elijah), who gives Jesus the fish and bread he needs to feed thousands of people. Elijah in the story is the disciple Peter's nephew. I love how Lucado expounds on a familiar story and gives it some creative twists without changing the meaning at all. He makes you start to imagine more vividly the lives of Biblical characters.

The illustrator of this particular book has painted the most beautiful pictures. While some folks have problems with pictures of Jesus, Cheri Bladholm makes His eyes full of love and strength in a way that makes you wonder what He'll really look like when we get to heaven.

Lucado also intersperses other stories from the Gospels, like Peter catching a boatload of fish, the friends of the lame man lowering him into a house for Jesus to heal, the woman covering Jesus' feet with expensive perfume, Jesus healing the sick, and finally, closing with the little boy, Elijah, his cousin Aaron, and the apostle Peter watching Jesus pay the ultimate price for sin on the cross.

I bought this book for 50 cents at a garage sale and it's been one of my favorite children's Bible storybooks ever.

Another book we brought is called With You All the Way, also by Lucado, and illustrated by Chuck Gillies. It's more of a fairy tale. Without spoiling the ending, it tells the story of three knights all vying for the hand of the king's daughter. Each one must make it through a dark, dangerous forest and can choose one person as his companion. I'll leave it at that! Just know it's a fabulous book!

Lucado has also writen a series about the Wemmicks, little wooden creatures who learn all kinds of important lessons from their Maker.

Because I Love You is another favorite. A curious little boy learns just how much his father loves him. My boys really enjoy this one. Again, the illustrations are just gorgeous.

He has a whole series called Hermie and Friends, both books and videos. I've only seen one of the videos, but anything with Vicki Lawerance has to be good, in my opinion. She's hilarious.

I know Lucado is a prolific writer of adult, teen, and children's books. And while I don't always agree with all his theology, I think, for the most part, his books, especially for children, are helpful and fun to read.

Crying baby-better get her up from her nap!

I'm such a whiny spoiled brat. We're finally at the motel after having spent 6 days at the KOA in a sleeper cabin. I was pretty unhappy the first few days. I'm not a camper (AT ALL) and it was unseasonably hot so our little cabin (with electricity and nothing else) was a HOT BOX. Getting sweet baby girl to sleep was impossible in the afternoons because of the heat and the mosquitoes ate their fourth of july BBQ on my ankles. I finally adjusted and was so looking forward to coming to the Inn--but it's really more like a MOTEL. There IS a difference.

The two room suite is really just two adjoining rooms. The satellite TV is 8 channels. The kitchen smells greasy. When we called about the TV, the girl said, "Well, most people want to do things outside when they're here." That's fine and dandy, but we've been camping for 6 days and were hoping for some A/C, TV, cozy, plush Inn time. The owner says, "Too bad, so sad." He was rather rude to my very gracious husband. And there's no chance of a refund. When we're gone I will write a scathing review of this place. ARG. It's a MOTEL.

Just goes to show you that the internet isn't always accurate!