Friday, October 28, 2011

Just a Few Misadventures

My husband Samuel's birthday was the 20th!!  (HAPPY 24th BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT TO THE BEST HUSBAND!)

Knowing that a birthday cake was in order, I found a recipe for wacky cake that my mom gave me for my bridal shower and decided to give it a go.  It's SUPPOSED to make a very delicious and moist (almost wet) cake.  My mother was shocked at my misfortune, for this recipe has been well received for generations.  Here is what it is supposed to look like, which actually looks almost just like what it actually  turned out to be.  But it is NOT what I bet this cake tasted like...

To my dismay, the cake was not moist at all, not even a little bit!  It actually tasted bitter (after eating one of his bites Sam even asked, "did you forget the sugar?").  I don't know what happened!  My only hunch is that when the recipe says "vinegar," I should assume "white vinegar."  Not apple cider vinegar.  But who knew!!!!!  Poor sammy.

In other news, I work at the hospital two blocks away from my apartment.  I walk to work (thank the Lord for His many blessings and provisions!) and spend my time either in the nutrition office or delivering patient's food trays to them (it's a work out, for reals.)  The other night I was working as a tray passer.  After delivering all of the trays, I have to go back and pick them up when the patients are done eating.  Towing my huge metal cart encasing the numerous food trays tucked safely inside the cart's closed door, I walked into the elevator to travel 5 floors to the basement to finally drop off to the kitchen the last of my carts for the day.  When the elevator reached the lower level, the doors opened and I exited...that is, I almost did until the cart's front wheels got wedged within the elevator door tracks.  In horror I lunged my body forward to grasp the cart firmly before it would have opportunity to either crash on the floor or onto me.  Success, except, the lone food tray sitting atop the cart resulted in failure.  In a blink of an eye the whole tray flew through the air and landed feet away from a doctor (innocently awaiting an elevator ride).  Plates broken.  Vanilla pudding all over the walls.  Cleaning crews.  Embarrassment.

(cart. empty, unlike mine)

The next little story I want to tell you all involves a very important lesson to be learned about COFFEE!  (The water of the North).  Let me just premise my experience by saying that I was fasting this day, or at least attempting to, for a family request that still needs prayer.  (If you want to lift this need up for a few seconds right now I would appreciate it :)  So anyway, Sam and I decided that caffeine headaches are NOT a good thing to experience all day while classes and jobs had to happen all day.  So we innocently each had some coffee in the morning just to get our caffeine fix so we could wake up and live.  The whole day went well...but fast forward to 5:00.  Sitting in my Media with a Christian Worldview class, I suddenly felt nauseated.  I WILL spare you any more detailing except that 4 hours later, I had by then suffered violent vomiting totaling of 5 separate times.  I guess that if you have coffee on an empty stomach, it's pretty harmful.  Yeah, case in point, my tummy.  But my loving hubby was spared of all sickness and disease and bought me gatorade and tums.  By the next morning, I was healed.  However, my feelings for coffee have been a tad soiled these past few days of post-illness.

May the peace of God be with you!  Seek His face, not His hand!  He wants to get to know you, yes, He wants fellowship with you!  Follow after peace.

Cake recipe!  If any of you try to make this, please tell me how it turns out for you!  (Hopefully better than mine...)


Wacky Cake:
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, 2 cups sugar, 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 1/2 tbsp vinegar, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 2 cups cold water
Preheat the oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar, cocoa, soda and salt. Make three wells in the flour mixture. In one put vanilla; in another the vinegar, and in the third the oil. Pour the water over the mixture. Stir until smooth. Divide evenly into cake pan.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool in pan on wire racks for 15 minutes.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Nothing

Greetings! 

I am at work right now with literally nothing to do.  There hasn't been anything to do for like, an hour now.  I could read my book for class, but I'm not feeling that well and don't want to use my brain too much (lol).  I tried wasting time on facebook, but my work recently blocked it. 

So, blogging it is.  About what?  Oh, nothing.

In other news, I'm 24 as of yesterday!  I'm almost to the point of being embarrassed to share my age.  By next year, I think I will for sure be silent on the matter.  Mid-twenties!!  Uffda.

Praise Jesus for my sweetheart husband who made the day soo happy and meaningful!  We went to Stillwater, MN, where he proposed last year. :)

I miss my family terribly.  Joey's visiting from school in Alabama and I'm not there for it.  December can't come soon enough!

I ate some beef barley soup from the hospital shortly before I started feeling sick.  Is that the reason?  Hospital food...you can never be too sure about it.

Minneapolis is not the place for me for very much longer.  It gives me sadness.  Either Missouri with my family or Moorhead, MN, with Sam's family; that's my goal.  But the Lord will bring us where He wants us.  I just pray we won't end up in Timbucktu...or someplace foreign like Texas. ;)

Well, here ends my post about nothing.  Well, it certainly has many somethings to it, but I feel like it's really about nothing.  Haha!  I need to go home.

Here I go!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Jared Anderson in Chapel

Today in chapel at North Central University (we meet every weekday as a whole university for a time of musical worship and teaching), we had the pleasure of having Christian singer/songwriter/worship leader Jared Anderson.

The music was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the students and faculty totally surrendered their hearts to Jesus.  The songs were not "me" focused (oh you love me, fill me, help me, bless me, give me....), they all glorified God just because HE IS GOD.

All of the songs song of His majesty in Heaven and on earth.  The presence was strong as it felt like the Heavens were opening up to reveal to each person more of the awesome power of God.

My favorite part of the hour long service was that it was an hour.  It wasn't all crammed in 20-30 minutes like so many churches try to do.

Don't you feel that when evangelical churches keep to a tight worship schedule, it quenches the Spirit?  Where is there time to just worship Him with our own words?  Where is there time to just rest in His presence and let Him speak to us?  Where is there prophecy?  Where is there true healing?  Where are people turning around and praying for each other?

I saw that today when more time was devoted to just praising the Lord and allowing the Holy Spirit to move.  For about 10 minutes there was just instrumental music as each person in attendance were encouraged to sing to the Lord new songs that come from within their souls.  

The Bible is full of verses that encourage singing new songs to the Lord from your heart and from your soul as the Spirit leads you.  (Psalm 33:3, 40:3, 96:1, 98:1, 144:9; Isaiah 42:10; Revelation 5:9, 14:3).

I believe that in those free times during worship sessions that allow the congregation to speak/sing to the Lord on their own is crucial.  It teaches them to not always rely on the words on the screen to speak their hearts for them, and it teaches them to mature and talk to Jesus on their own.  Jesus will answer.  And if we are open enough, He may lead us to pray for/speak to others around us, as we allow Him to work through us to bring healing, restoration, and love.

That is what church should be about.  Love.  For God.  For others.  Unashamed.  Unhindered.

P.S. Sam was in the choir, I am a proud wife!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Starry Night

In reading the book The Divine Commodity, I have learned some interesting facts about Vincent Van Gogh!  He had imagined his most famous painting, "Starry Night," for years before he actually painted the beautiful scene.

The story behind the painting is this: Vincent always designated the color yellow to represent God and all things holy.  Blue represented mystery.  Thus, the sky itself is a portrait of the holiness and mystery of God that is present throughout the earth.

If you notice the small buildings in the painting, you will see that every house has lights on, illustrating God's love and peace throughout the earth.  But one building ironically does not have lights on, and that is the church.

Why?  Because Vincent felt that the church in his day were too cold towards the less fortunate.  The church became too stuck in religion and not relationship (with God and with other people), that truly the source of God's light shown brighter through people who cared deeply about other people, as he himself had.

Do you know that for a part of his life Vincent gave up all material possessions that he could have easily enjoyed so that he could live with and be as one with poor miners?  He lived with them, loved the people, helped them heal from mining accidents when the doctors refused to, and he was their friend.  Through this wonderful act of sacrifice and love, he had embodied the true love of Christ.  Through showing the love of Jesus, he lead many of these spiritually lost people to the Lord.  Many are in Heaven right now, praising Jesus forever, because of Vincent's sacrificial love.

I can't even write the words "sacrificial love" without thinking of my dear Lord Jesus.  He paid the ultimate sacrifice for the people He loved (loves).  He died on the cross AND rose again!  He was the sacrifice paid for our sins, and people no longer have to sacrifice animals for their sins to be forgiven as was the custom.  Jesus was the Lamb that covered all of man's sins for eternity!

Now all we have to do to accept this payment for our sins is to ask Him to forgive us and ask Him to be the Lord of our lives.  We now have to sacrifice our lives of sinful and selfish desires and act according to His will, which is exactly what Vincent did to the community of miners.

What are you going to do to show Jesus' love today?