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Trust

October 18, 2010 By
earthenware pot on dirty throwing wheel

Recently the Lord has been speaking to me through the Old Testament ~ a lot. He has been working on me in many different ways, gently showing me those things in my heart and life that are not as they should be. Over the past few days the theme has been patience and trust, two areas I know I need to improve. Well, improve is probably an understatement. It’s more like I’m in need of heart surgery to correct my lack of patience and trust.

The Holy Spirit really is a gentle instructor. He tells us some difficult things sometimes ~ things we most likely don’t want to hear ~ but He is gracious to point out those things that are displeasing to God, and to show us that His mercies are new every morning. If you ask and are willing to actually listen for His answer, the Holy Spirit will show you where you have fallen short and need to confess your shortcomings to God.

As I stated earlier, patience and trust are two areas of my life where I continually fall short. I frequently lack patience and trust with human beings. Even worse, I struggle with patience and trust in God. I’ve been through this same scenario so many times I’ve lost count, but a perfect example of my lack of patience and trust is the story about when we tried to sell our house in Fayetteville, North Carolina. My husband Roger was in the Air Force at the time, and our children were young. We had been in North Carolina for almost 5 years, and we knew it was time for a new assignment. So, being the good military family that we were, we began preparing our home to go on the real estate market. We figured we knew what we were doing, and we didn’t ask God if putting our house on the market at that time was something we should do. We just did it ~ basically we made our plans, then asked God to bless them. But what we should have done was ask God what He would have us do first, then received His blessing by doing it. We had the whole thing backwards. And wouldn’t you know ~ our house sat on the market for a year and a half, with only one potential buyer coming to look at it.

Today I read Psalm 3, and it made me think of this example of my lack of patience and trust.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.  -Psalm 3:5-12 ESV

Eventually we figured out that our house wasn’t selling because it wasn’t God’s timing for us to leave Fayetteville right then. Roger received an assignment to Japan, but that eventually fell through. Since our house hadn’t sold yet, we still had a place to live! Then, slightly over a year and a half after we first put our house on the market, Roger was given an assignment to Little Rock Air Force Base. Within two days of receiving that assignment, the very next person to see the house ~ only the second potential buyer in over 18 months ~ made us a full offer! That, my friends, is something only God can do.

Since then, Roger and I have only had to remind each other a few times to trust in God’s timing. We both saw the sale of the house in Fayetteville for exactly what it was: totally and completely a God thing.

Even though I’m not the most patient or trusting person in the world, God has stretched me and molded me through many patience- and trust-testing exercises. And while I wholly and humbly confess my patience and trust shortcomings, God is ever so good to continually remind me of His love for me ~ in more ways than I can relate to you. Every single day I am reminded that I am His creation, that I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), and that He is the potter and I am the clay, being shaped by His loving hand into a vessel of His making (Jeremiah 18:1-4).

What about you? Do you know the areas of your life God is working on, gently forming you into who He wants you to be? If not, why not ask Him today ~ right now?

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Lord, make me curious!

October 6, 2010 By
curious cat

They say that curiosity killed the cat. But I’m not so sure. I think curiosity may have made the cat a whole lot smarter, a whole lot wiser. Because being smart isn’t really about having all the answers. Being smart is about knowing which questions to ask and then having the patience and perseverance to pursue the answers.

Curiosity helps us learn.

It helps us learn about places like the Petrified Forest as we drive across Arizona. It helps us learn about times in history as we wonder what it was like to travel across the country by covered wagon. It helps us learn how things like velcro and zippers and chewing gum were invented.

Curiosity makes us ask questions and gives us an appetite for the answers.

“Lord, make me curious!” What a wonderful prayer to pray as we study God’s Word. Rather than approaching a familiar passage with the idea that we already know what it means and all there is to know about it, curiosity helps us to pause and ask new questions.

  • I wonder what that word “fellowship” means in Greek?
  • I wonder what was going on in David’s life when he wrote that particular psalm?
  • I wonder what else the Bible has to say about “perseverance”?
  • I wonder what kind of character Moses had?
  • I wonder why that particular word or phrase is repeated again and again?
  • I wonder where Nineveh is on a map?

One of the best ways to study God’s Word is to ask questions. How many questions can you come up with for a particular passage? Pick a passage–even a familiar one–and see. List every question you can think of and then embark on an adventure to find the answers.

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Teaching yourself to cook. Just do it.

September 2, 2010 By
Red Chrysanthemums

People often say something to me like “Oh I wish I could cook like that,” or “Could you teach me to cook?” 

Honestly, there’s no big secret to it.  But I thought I’d share with you a little of how I came to where I am now.

If there was a secret to teaching yourself how to cook it would be this:  Just do it!

I know that sounds very “Nike” but it’s the truth.  You’ll never learn until you just get in there and get your proverbial hands dirty. 

While I did spend time cooking with my mom growing up, I didn’t really learn to cook from my mom.  I learned some things from her, but that only took me as far as grilled cheese and gravy.  I primarily taught myself to really cook in my adult years.

It’s much like what I had to do to get in my daily quiet time / devotional / Bible study routine.  I couldn’t rely on my past to get me where I needed to go in my relationship with the Lord.  I came to a point when I just had to throw down the gauntlet and decide once and for all I was just going to do it. 

So what does that mean practically in the kitchen?   Here are some tips that I think mirror how I taught myself to cook

  • Simply start following recipes.  Follow them exactly and to the letter at first. 
  • Pay attention to flavor combinations that you and your family like whether eating at home or eating out. 
  • I suggest that you make your kids try whatever you have cooked or try something specific to the restaurant where you are eating and don’t offer alternatives like making them a sandwich.  (In our family, dinner is dinner and I’m not a short-order cook unless it’s leftover night.  This may be a totally different post in and of itself.)
  • Periodically buy the little recipe publications at the check-out stand in the grocery store.  These provide some inexpensive and easy recipes that allow you to try some different flavor combinations and types of food.  
  • If you eat something out at a restaurant that you really enjoyed, do some investigating on the internet.  It is likely that it’s not all that difficult to make the same thing or something really similar at home.
  • As you get more comfortable, push yourself to try some new techniques.  I find that taking a cooking periodical such as “Cook’s Illustrated” is good for stretching and teaching.  The articles that are written in Cook’s Illustrated in particular are excellent for seeing the differences between and results of different techniques and ingredients.  The natural next step would be to actually put into practice some of those new techniques and more involved or difficult recipes. 
  • You may even challenge yourself to cook your way through a particular cookbook.  This is especially helpful if you have a particular genre of food (like Italian or Indian) or a specific area of cooking (like baking bread) that you want to learn. 
  • Gradually, as you learn what flavor combinations you and your family like, and as you become more comfortable with a variety of recipes and techniques, stop looking so much at the recipes themselves.  “Eyeball” some ingredients and play around with the recipes a little.
  • Begin to substitute different flavors and ingredients into a recipe to customize it to your own and your family’s preferences. 
  • Take some old recipes and apply new techniques that you’ve learned and see if you can improve the old recipes and make them something new and better.

In general, you can get to where you may only use a recipe that you see as simply a guide or even as inspiration to make something completely different.  It will take a while, just like it took a while before I felt like I was really fellowshipping with the Lord in my daily quiet time.  It takes time and practice.  But I do believe it can happen for anyone.  You just have to resolve to make it so.

Just do it.

I’d love to hear if you have other tips to share about teaching yourself to cook.

Blessings,

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