In a Jam

It's been a while, I know.  I am ready to share something different with you, but first, let me tell you a story.

This year when I started working at the high school, I got to know the home economics teacher (HE was always my favorite, and I like to learn new things!).  She asked me if I had a bread maker.  I told her that I had a KitchenAid mixer and didn't need a bread maker - nor did I have the space for one.  She wasn't convinced that I didn't need one.  She went on how she hasn't bought bread in years (okay, so that was convincing since I'd been buying bread).

Fast forward a few months - I was looking for new shoes in Ross to no avail.  So before I left, I decided to peruse the clearance aisle.  One never knows what one will find there. I was walking and looking. . .and looking and walking, and on the bottom shelf, in a rather plain box was a bread maker.  A Cuisinart bread maker.  A Cuisinart stainless steel bread maker.  For $28.99 (plus our lovely sales tax of 10% put it around $31).  I couldn't resist.  If I made 12-15 loaves of bread it would pay for itself. . .  I couldn't help but buy it.  On the way to the register, I saw a manager and made sure there was nothing wrong with it.  There wasn't.

Once I got it to my car, I opened the box and looked at it.  It was beautiful. . . and had so many buttons!  What fun!  But I had to go to Zumba first.

I went home and set it up to have a loaf ready when I woke up in the morning.  It was a wheat loaf, but I forgot to adjust the flour to have half white and half wheat - so it was hard as a rock.  But it smelled REALLY good waking up to freshly baked bread.

Do I have room for a bread maker now?  Not really.  Does it matter?  Absolutely not!  What a freeing feeling it has been to be able to just add the ingredients, press a few buttons, and clean the house!  My internal timer keeps telling me that I need to check or knead or punch down, but then I remember the machine does it by itself.  I'm hooked.

Now that I've done bread and dough, I decided last night to do something different.  So last night, I made jam.  In my bread maker.  Yes, I did.  My inspiration was from King Arthur Flour's blog, The Baker's Banter. I edited a little. . .

If you can read the bottom of the picture, you can tell I was looking at the Cuisinart Strawberry Rhubarb Jam.  I used relative proportions between that recipe and the one in The Baker's Banter.  I started with half of the strawberries and sugar and mashed them, then added the rest of the strawberries, sugar, and pectin.

I then decided to add vanilla seeds, lemon zest, and lemon juice.

 And yes, I did pull out every gadget imaginable! (That's what dishwashers are for)

Here is my strawberry mixture in the bread maker bucket.

My new machine!

And here it is after I started the jam cycle. . . do you like my sophisticated way of looking in the little window!

WHAT I LEARNED:

1.  Out of 3 cartons of strawberries, I got a whole quart mason jar of jam.
2.  I needed more pectin.  I added the amount that my Cuisinart manual             recommended (1/4 cup), but I think I used too many strawberries and needed more.
3. Regarding sugar, see number 2.
4.  I love not having to do much to get homemade jam!

It's All in the Details. . .

God loves us all. . . but when we are human, we don't always realize it.  Psalms 139 verses 1-3 say, "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.  Thou knowest my downsitting  and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways."

There is so much to be said about those verses. . . and so much more than we will ever be able to express according to verse 6.  The Lord loves us, but more specifically, He loves me.  More than that, He truly understands me.  He comprehends my schedule . . . and when I'm not adhering to it exactly. :) The Lord knows where I live and where I work and where I like to buy groceries.  He understands why I think the way I think.  He understands my dreaming mind when others get annoyed with my unattainable thoughts.  The Lord knows what makes me mad and what makes me upset.  He knows what hurts me and what makes my day.  The Lord knows my goals and dreams - and whether or not they are in His plans for my life.  He knows my habits.  He knows the schedule that I take my dog "potty outside."  He knows that I am forgetful - even though I try to find ways to not forget, I still do.  He knows I am prone to organize my life with technology opposed to paper.  He knows I like my shopping list to be on my phone and my menu planner on an internet calendar and my budget on a Google spreadsheet.  He knows I like Google better than Yahoo.  The Lord knows that I nurse my coffee from 6:15 AM all the way to 10:00 AM, and that 10:00 AM is snack time because I always get hungry at 10:00 AM.  I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the point.  We all have different ways, but the Lord is acquainted with all of them.  He understands them.  And He loves us all the more for them.

Please feel loved by God today and make it a practice to feel loved by Him every day. . .because He has a purposeful thought of you AT LEAST 2x per second.  That's something to think about. :)

Daisy at Work

Throat Coat

During the Christmas season, I had a singing engagement. . .that I would have had a great voice for, except that it had to be postponed a few days because of snow.  The day that it was rescheduled for brought me a cold with it.  I could not have sung if it weren't for this tea that I nursed all day long - who knows how much work I got done. . . between making tea, drinking tea, and getting rid of the tea!  Oh, wait. . .it was for my job too!  How could I possibly answer phones with a sore throat?

I had heard of this tea over the years, but had hesitated trying it because of the price.  It's about $5 per box.  That day, I knew just cough syrup wouldn't work (and one can only have so many doses in 24 hours!).  I bought the tea - Throat Coat tea.

It is my new favorite remedy.  The only catch is that once your water is boiling, you have to steep the tea for ten minutes while it is covered.  I have drunk the tea after only a few minutes, but the main property of the tea that I needed wasn't there.  You see, one of the herbs in Throat Coat makes the tea more viscous - which means that it is more thick. . .not a gel, but between liquid and a gel.  On a sore throat, it feels wonderful.

P.S.  I recently read that drinking boiling water can attribute to esophageal cancer! :)

Room to Breathe

This morning, as I drove to work with my dog in my lap (yes, I took Daisy to work with me ;) ), I pondered a conversation I had yesterday with a co-worker.  She was venting about mentioning a fact to someone, and that person acted as if she never said anything!  How frustrating.  I know what she is talking about.  For some reason, I don't remember encountering this problem in other places that I have lived, but very often I realize that there are now people in my life who really do need me to repeat something a minimum of three times.  When I first moved here, I remember changing my car and renters insurance to the agent that my in-laws used.  I cancelled it after a month.  I remember the conversation I had with the lady as I was trying to cancel the policies.

Me:  I would like to cancel all of our policies with your company.

Her:  Okay.  (Minutes pass)  All done.

Me:  You cancelled my auto, my husband's auto, and our renter's policies?

Her:  Oh, I thought you just wanted your auto cancelled.

Me:  No, I want to cancel my auto, Josh's auto, and our renter policy.

Her:  Okay.  (Minutes pass)  All done.

Me:  So you cancelled my auto, Josh's auto, and our renter policy?

Her:  Oh, I thought you just wanted to cancel your auto and renter policy.

Me:   (While pulling out my hair!)  No.  I want to cancel MY auto, JOSH's auto, AND our RENTER policy.

I hope she understood - that was the reason I cancelled our policies with that agent.

I then recalled part of a book I had read that talked about a man who often traveled to foreign countries.  Every time he came back from a travel, he would be angry because someone had either stolen from him or charged him more money than they should have.  To solve the problem, he did not call the police or go back and talk to the people.  He simply added a line to his traveling budget for "extra traveling expenses."  When someone overcharged him on his next trip, he just deducted the amount from his extra traveling expense budget and went on with his life.  No worries.

I've learned a lot about patience in the past few years - especially regarding this matter.  I understood this morning that I have eventually done the same as the traveling man.  I have given people some room to breathe.  I have lowered my expectations a little.  I used to expect people to listen the first time, but that doesn't always happen - and that's okay (didn't God sometimes have to repeat things a few times?).

To and Fro

I've been attempting to compile a short Bible study on mercy for this blog. It still needs. . . tweaking. :)  Maybe it is one of those that will take months.  In fact, I started it over a year ago, but lost the paper in our big move - only to find it again this week when I cleaned out our "office."  I feel that God is teaching me so many things about mercy, but I am struggling with putting it all (or even part) into written form.

I will share one verse.  I love this.  It's Hosea 6:6, "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings."  I want to know God.  With my whole heart, I desire to know Him.  I want to be like Him.  I want so badly for others to see Him when they see me. . .that's a hard one considering that I am overly human.

I feel that sometimes when I read my Bible, random thoughts pop out at me.  Sometimes they make sense.  Sometimes, they don't.  Sometimes, I can get a great outline in a minute, while other times - well, let's just say that God still has time to show me what it all means. :)

I remember once (translation:  many times) reading the passage in I Corinthians 7 about the married woman looking after worldly things and the single woman looking after the things of God.  That makes no sense to me.  It bothered me and bothered me and bothered me.  Then one day, I was on Facebook (of all places), and it hit me!  When I was on my own, it would take me a maximum of two hours to clean my whole apartment.  I normally did it on a Saturday . . . and had the rest of the day to do as I pleased.  I worked a full time and a part time job.  I was involved heavily in my church. I was dating the man of my dreams. Life was good.

Life is still good.  Now that I am married, at times I would get frustrated with how my house was not clean.  I feel that I am constantly cleaning, but never getting anywhere.  How do people do it?  I love God and do my best to serve Him and learn about Him, but a lot of my time is spent cleaning, meal planning, budgeting, grocery shopping, organizing, and cooking - not necessarily in that order!  The list is endless - and so far I've only added a husband and a dog to my life! So anyway, back to Facebook.  I was scanning through the many statuses and saw the status of an unmarried friend who is between 5-10 years older than I am.  I don't remember exactly what she said, but I was shocked at myself for being annoyed at her comment - it was a comment either about God or a good godly book that she had recently read.  My conversation with myself went something like this:

Me:  What in the world.  Does she never do anything else but read?  Doesn't she have a life?
Holy Spirit:  I Corinthians 7:34
Me:  I feel embarrassed that I am annoyed at her!  How mean-spirited could I be?
Holy Spirit:  I Corinthians 7:34
Me:  But still, how can she be reading all the time?  It is so annoying (I just realized that maybe I am jealous because I don't get to read as much as I once did. :) ).
Holy Spirit:  I Corinthians 7:34
Me:  Okay, Holy Spirit. . .OH, that makes sense now!

I finally realized after. . . probably years. . . that the "job" of a single woman is to "care for the things of the Lord."  Even though a married woman will love and serve the Lord, she also is to care for her family and "the things of the world."  I looked up what the word "world" meant in the Greek - it means: an apt or harmonious arrangement, constitution, or order.  In other words, a married woman is to care for her world.  Her family.  Her home-and God is the One Who told her to prioritize her life that way!  I felt so much better - for finally understanding that verse and for feeling that I am always concerned about my home!  I also felt better because once I understood the passage, I had more of an understanding for the ways of my friend and I don't get annoyed at her statuses anymore.  She is doing what God wants her to do, just like I am doing what God wants me to do.

The Prayers of Children

I've loved my new Sunday school class.  I was a little nervous at first since my favorite age group is teen girls. . .and my class is comprised of 7-9 year olds.  There is quite a difference.  I prayed at first that Jesus would help me to understand them and have patience for them.  I have to say again - they are COMPLETELY different.

The first positive thing I experienced with them was that it took very little to get them excited about serving Jesus on their level.  My first Sunday with them, I started a contest - "Fall in Love with Jesus."  They loved it.  I am doing another contest.  They are so excited.  They have been asking about it for months.

One of the things that have been difficult for me is putting the Bible on their level.  I tend to get too deep for them.  Thankfully, they are great at helping me teach them.  Another thing that helped me was that my mom got me a Bible curriculum that had pictures.  The pictures help me keep things simple.

Another thing that I learned was to change my terminology.  To a seven-year-old child who has only been coming to church for a few months, "prayer request" is a foreign term - actually, to some of mine, even prayer was a foreign term.  When I started the class, I began every morning by making them tell me something good about their week.  That was my platform to teach them a little bit of gratitude.  A few months ago, I added asking them "what they wanted to tell God."  How very interesting.  The first week I did it, I got responses such as, "He's nice,"  "He's a good God,"  "I love Him," "that I want to be a superhero,"  and "He's a really good God," and "I want my own bedroom."  Wow.  The first time I ever asked, that is what my little 7-9 year-olds thought of God.  They still like to tell Him that He is nice and good.  I hope they always remember that.

"Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 18:4