Dandelion Field

Sin and the Hot Stove

I was discussing in my Sunday school class yesterday the idea that sin in itself carries it's own punishment.  I used an analogy that a friend of mine used on me once. It's a lot like touching a hot stove. Your mom can tell you over and over and over again not to touch the hot stove, but it's not until you do that you understand.


That's HOT

Ouch!


And you don't do it again.




One of the kids picked right up on this idea and said that a lie you told at age 20 you could still feel the pain of at 86. I don't know why he picked those numbers, but what truth. THAT is it's own punishment.



So we talked about how God forgives and forgets our sins for His own sake, but for some reason we can or will not forgive ourselves most of the time. We talked about how annoying it would be if they forgave a friend for something and that friend continued to apologize endlessly about it. I also mentioned how we are usually harder on ourselves than on everyone else combined and I got an amen from another kid in the class.






So why did God let Eve eat? He could have certainly stopped it.




So we would KNOW.


?



You can't know how sin hurts until you touch the stove.
And you don't forget the burn so that you don't do it again.





God doesn't want to hurt us, but we have to learn. The hard way.







And there in is love that we can take comfort in the God who IS love that doesn't remember our stove touching, but is there to meet us on our way home.

Majestic Weeds

Linking up with NatureFootstep memes

Anticipation

More Possibilities

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for:







A steal on very ripe red peppers. I flash froze them to use in stir fry and on pizza.

 

 

 

 

 

Small gifts that make little boys happy.

 

 

 

 

 

Everything bagels....yummy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason, I keep forgetting to buy bandages, but they still keep showing up when we need them. I found these in the cabinet and I didn't even know they were there.

 

 

 

 

The fact that we're one day closer to summer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are you thankful for today?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflection and Shadow

Still Inside

Winter just doesn't want to stay gone. Now it won't stop raining, so my outdoor clothesline and I will have to meet up later.

All Things New

I  saw this last night:

It reminds me of what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans about the Law being dead and now we can be married to another. Christ is the end of the OLD way, the Old system of judgement, eye for an eyeness, retribution for every little infringement of the letter.


It seems as though as hard as we try as Christians, we can't seem to let the old stay dead.   The Old Covenant sneaks it's way into most every flavor of Christendom in some sense. But that's not really the point of this post, I guess.


It's what the picture says.






He makes all things new.

Trees in the Driveway

April

Once a Week Beans 8 & 9

I was very impressed with the use of the mashed beans in my normal bread.

 


It did take some prep work, though, so I decided to try using the coffee grinder and making bean flour to replace a bit of the wheat.  I knew bean flour was a thing, so when Jennifer suggested using bean flour to replace part of the flour in tortillas, I thought it would be a good idea to try it in my wild yeast bread as well.

 

I ended up using about a cup of ground up pinto beans plus 5 1/2 cups of  a combination of whole wheat and all purpose flour. It turned out to be too much bean flour. Apparently, beans are gluten free and that messes with the system. The bread was heavy and very dense even though it did rise some (I was afraid it wasn't going to).

It looks good, but the loaves are usually much bigger. It tasted different, too, which seemed odd for so little bean, but it did. It was kind of sweeter and much more "filling". I guess that is a good thing if that's what you're after. No one was a big fan so......

I froze it. That's my go-to move until I figure something out. I imagine thinly sliced with something sweet on top like Nutella or jelly, attractively displayed and set out as a snack wouldn't generate any questions about the bread's ingredients:) I'll have to do that soon.


That was week 8.


Week 9 brought a round of stomach flu to the house, so beans were the least of my concern. I did defrost some already cooked kidneys for taco salad. I'm going to count that.






Today's Photo: April

Lighted Sidewalk

The Door

I love all the reflections I get in this door. I hope we don't move it anytime soon.

Thankful Thursday

Thunderstorm season is upon us. I love thunderstorms.

The first of the mint and motherwort to add to my iced green tea has been springing up.

These awesome readers were given to us. They are just what one of the boys needs at this stage in his reading.

Our electronically minded son has been at it again. Our old Sega Genesis was not working so he replaced all the capacitors in it (he said it's called "recapping") and I couldn't believe my eyes. That's my boy:)

Abandoned cinnamon toast sparkling in the sun would normally make me irritated. But it was a thing of beauty this week.





What are you thankful for today?

Another Sunset

I know I post many sunset pictures. I like the sun:)

I played with the boost in the editing software on this one.

Cloudy Sunrise with a Touch of Color

Heavenly Gifts- Fancy Suit Jacket

My little guy's birthday was Sunday. It was Thursday when I realized that the day was fast approaching.



Our tradition around here is that the birthday boy or girl gets to chose whatever they want for supper on their birthday and they get a gift from us.



Well....I hadn't prepared properly and I was really hoping to just get something while out on my weekly shopping trip. I asked him what he wanted and he wanted a suit.


A suit.


What he meant by this was a suit jacket. For some reason a couple of my boys want to wear suits all the time now, it's cute.


So, I prayed that I would be able to find a suit jacket on Saturday in his size that didn't cost too much.


I headed off to my favorite kids' second hand store...


Marched right to his size...

And there it was.

He's checking himself out in the mirror

I was chatting with the cashier about it and she told me that they had just gotten this put on the rack the night before.



Thank you Father!

 

Reflection Self Portrait

Dawn

This hymn and especially this passage keeps coming to mind:

 O what peace we often forfeit,
 O what needless pain we bear, 
 all because we do not carry 
 everything to God in prayer. source and credit

When I first believed, I used to pray all the time, it seems like all things were answered and I saw miracles in my life.



Then, I stopped becoming like and coming to Father like a little child.

Stuff happened.

or

Stuff happened and I stopped coming, or maybe a little bit of both.



I became disappointed, confused, bitter, lowered my expectations, and eventually apathetic.




Prayer is so easy and so hard. I know I've said that before, but it is. I think about all those times, the prayer times, the hope times, the KNOWING times, and I am refreshed. He is never unwilling to listen, I am unwilling to come. WHY? I don't know, I guess I figure I'm too busy or I'm too sinful, or I'm too tired, or it "won't work" or whatever else.


It's not a magic formula, He's not a genie, He may not answer the prayer the way I think it should be answered  now or ever, BUT.....if I don't believe that He hears me, if I don't go....well, I lose connection with the head.  He IS good. He's not arbitrary and unloving.


He sends help, inspiration, peace, joy, acknowledgements that He hears us, always, if we will just look for them.


Pray this weekend, believe, trust, appreciate and be joyful.

Sawhorses

The Weekend in Black and White

Thankful Thursday

This week's summer like weather has been just wonderful.


Exercise is a word I do not like. It conjures up images of drudgery, sweat, guilt, and failure. However, I need to do something. But, it doesn't have to be exercise. So, here is my new walking track.

Okay, so it's been here all along. I've been inspired to start going outside and walking. I'll get fresh air, sun, and hopefully get in better shape. I'm really enjoying it so far.


Sun drenched school mornings make me happy:)

The Gorilla Glue I bought for something a long time ago made this broken chair good to sit on again.

Not super attractive, but it works for me

 

 

 

Say, what's going on over there?

Our neighbor is a regular Jack Hanna. Who knew we had so many creatures hanging around?

 

What are you thankful for today?

Early Spring Treeline

A Nice Surprise

I was thinking about things that would really be nice (I guess wishes) a few days ago and while looking through my gift bags, as I was wrapping a gift while thinking, this one was in the mix.

I reuse all gift bags received by me or the kids and I don't remember this one at all. But there it was.




Cool:)

Once a Week Beans 7

Bread!

Nice smooth dough, no bean chunks. I took about a cup of well soaked and cooked pinto beans and added a generous amount of water. My blender did a great job, surprisingly, of making it a nice (although pretty gross) puree. I added it, adjusting for flour and water, to the regular dough and was thrilled with the results.


The bread did seem to need a little extra cooking time, so I'll have to adjust for that, too.

Look at that, just like regular bread:)


Actually, I made this batch of dough into bread sticks. Since the Mr. told me he wouldn't be home for supper, I decided we'd go with a meatless meal of bread sticks, sauce and spaghetti.


I did go ahead and cook up a half pound of red kidneys to go along with the spaghetti. No one else would touch them, but I figured with some seasoning, they would make a nice meat alternative for me.


Not really. Have I mentioned that I just don't like beans? They were kinda blah.



Not sure what I'll do with the rest of these guys.

sigh

My pintos have definitely found their calling, though.

Boys will be Boys

It's Easy

There are a few members of my family getting married this year. My girls and I went to a  bridal shower on Saturday afternoon. To be honest, I really didn't want to go. It was kind of a hike, my routine would be upset, and I just wasn't feeling jolly.



We had a great time of course. It is great to see that love goes on. People find each other, want to get married and make more people. It is a strange and beautiful thing.


I was reminded of the Mr's and my wedding and how we used a very popular song with this in the lyrics:

This was hanging in the room of the church that the shower was held at Saturday

When we got married, I truly believed this. I wish the best for this couple. Don't forget why you got married. Don't ever give up on each other, on love. It is worth it.

1/8 Cup of Flower

Bright Ray

Shiny Handle

Thankful Thursday

I was so happy the other day when I discovered that I had these tucked away:

Crushed is now my new favorite style of canned tomato. Once I get through the stockpile of paste, I will be going with these.




I'm also thankful for kiddos who like my fried potatoes.

I cut these up, fried them and when they were nearly done, added a left over pork chop and a half along with a little smoked sausage.

This becomes a tasty hash.

Serve with ketchup (I sprinkle Parmesan cheese on mine instead).

I'm also thankful that we had cheese and crackers on hand for our more particular eater:

What are you thankful for today?