black

Red-winged Blackbird

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Thursday Challenge

Next Week: EMOTION (Happy, Joyful, Contented, Surprised, Fearful, Distressed, Angry,...)

new - 12

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

- Revelation 21:1-5 NKJV

"it's God here..."

Does God still speak? Does He speak to you? How? What does He say?

Acts 16 has an interesting story of a time when the Holy Spirit spoke to Paul and his entourage giving them the unusual command NOT to spread the gospel. We're not told how God communicated this -- through inner promptings, prophetic utterance, external circumstance, an audible voice, or...?

Later when they were in the place God told them to go (through a vision) and there were problems, they did no second-guessing, no questioning about whether they had actually heard right. Instead they faced arrest and jail with their trademark reaction: joy, prayer, praise.

God does still speak today. Last night I listened to an archived It's A New Day TV show where Todd Bentley gave his testimony. You'll be amazed at how God got through to this profane, addicted 17-year-old ex-con biker-boy raised by a single (deaf) mother and alcoholic father on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast. (January 22, program 33042 - linked on this page)

I love the verse: "Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, 'This is the way, walk in it.' whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left" (Isaiah 30:21). That's how closely I'd like to be tuned to God. That's how clearly I'd like to hear Him.

But it doesn't end there. Hearing demands a response. May my response be like that described by Oswald Chambers (I quote the original Chambers edition):

"Be resolute when God speaks, act in faith immediately on what He says, and never revise your decisions. If you hesitate when God tells you to do a thing, you endanger your standing in grace. Take the initiative, take it yourself, take the step with your will now, make it impossible to go back. Burn your bridges behind you -- "I will write that letter, I will pay that debt." Make the thing inevitable."
- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (May 10)

"Get into the habit of saying 'Speak Lord,' and life will become a romance."
- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (Jan 31)

new - 11

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it." - Revelation 2:17 NKJV

book review: Talk of the Town by Lisa Wingate

Title: Talk of the Town
Author: Lisa Wingate
Publisher: Bethany House - February 2008
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
ISBN: 0764204904

Twenty-one-year-old Amber Anderson, gospel country singer, has made it to the final five on the American Megastar Show. Of course no one is supposed to know that until the moment of the big reveal in her home town of Daily, Texas. Now it’s American Megastar’s associate producer Mandalay Florentino’s job to make sure that all the plans for that disclosure are made but kept secret from Daily’s Amber-crazy townsfolk. Not that Mandalay’s presence hasn’t already caused a stir in Daily. Word at the café is that she is only the first of a horde of journalists and paparazzi about to descend on the town.

For Mandalay’s part, the sudden rainstorm that introduces her to Daily is only the first of a chain of catastrophes that threatens to tank her career. In Talk of the Town Lisa Wingate takes us through that whirlwind weekend that not only changes the course of Mandalay’s life but introduces her and us to a whole townful of salt-of-the-earth Texans who make us laugh, cry and promise ourselves to look for other books by this warm and funny novelist.

The tight time frame of the story is the perfect vehicle for Wingate to spin her comedy-of-errors plot. Of course she throws every possible obstacle into the mix -- from Mandalay getting arrested to a missing starlet -- so that the action never stops (although it does slow down with some days going on until it feels like we’ve lived through several). Using a dual point of view to tell the story (alternating first-person chapters by Mandalay and Imagene Doll, a Daily widow) help us keep on top of how things are playing to both sides. A hunka love interest for Mandalay and close-up glimpses of Amber’s family toy with readers’ emotions and help spin this into a tale with just the right balance of laughter and heart.

The characters in Talk of the Town are each one of a kind and go hand-in-glove with the setting. Imagene shines as the voice of the Dailyians. Her way with a story, told in the language and cadence of small-town Texas, had me laughing out loud in places. (Wingate could have gone lighter on writing in the accent though.) Imagene’s friend Donetta, proprietor of the beauty parlor complete with exercise room and choice of three exercise tapes, is another star on the comic side. Carter, on the other hand, is the straight and is just mysterious and strong enough to be a match for feisty first lady Mandalay. She would have come off as a somewhat cold and trying-to-be sophisticated bumbler if the chapters narrated by her hadn’t been countered by Imagene’s segments where we see her vulnerable side. Ursula is the ultimate in evil bosses and comes to life mostly in Mandalay’s imagination via her thick Swedish accent.

The themes Wingate addresses range over singleness, love, community values and faith. Both Imagene and Mandalay are single and facing their share of issues over it. I enjoyed watching Imagene morph from the timid, depressed widow to someone eager to again take risks. Wingate explores family love through Amber’s family, especially the way her brothers treat their drunken granddad. Romantic love also gets lots of space. The story plays out in a town where the Christian faith is a foundation value and loyalty to the town’s own comes before pretty much everything else. Finally, Carter plays a big role in showing us how faith comes to the rescue in tough times.

This lively tale of Hollywood getting its comeuppance is sure to delight. I expect Talk of the Town to be a big hit when it comes to bookstores next month.

frivolous friday

nature

Angora leggings

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Thursday Challenge

Next Week: BLACK (Night, Dark, Licorice, Clothes, Animals, Cars,...)
rose

make this tasty versatile food

Is this a picture of

a] sour cream?
b] ice cream?
c] pudding?

Would you believe none of the above? It's homemade yogurt.

On our trip to the prairies last fall, several family members served us the most delicious yogurt. To our surprise we discovered they made it themselves.

Now I once had a yogurt maker. It was a Salton, a longish contraption with round holes into which you put glass cups filled with cultured milk. You then covered it, plugged it in and some hours later, it was yogurt. But I found the product was unreliable, usually runny and all the pouring into cups made it fussy. So the Salton got retired and sat idle in the cupboard for years. I finally graduated it to the thrift store last summer when we moved.

The Yogourmet yogurt maker that my brothers had was different. It consisted of one large tub into which you put the milk. That feature along with the great taste and the fact that E. and I like yogurt a lot convinced us we needed to splurge and buy our own Yogourmet system. We found one at a little health food store in Saskatoon.

The first batch I made was pretty much a runny disappointment though. One percent milk alone doesn't make great yogurt. So I decided to follow the additives advice in the recipe book that came with the it. After a little trial and error we've come up with yogurt that we figure is well-nigh perfect. Here's how I make it:

Ingredients:

- milk (I use 1%) enough to fill my 2 quart casserole bowl to about 3/4 inch from the top.
- 1 1/2 cups skim milk powder
- 1 package gelatin
- yogurt starter (I use a few tablespoonfuls of unsweetened yogurt from the last batch)


What you do:

Pour the milk into casserole bowl, cover, place in the microwave and heat at high temperature for 14 minutes.

While this is heating pour a little cold milk into a glass container and sprinkle gelatin on top to soften.

When the milk in the microwave has started to warm, take a little out and mix with the cold milk/ gelatin mixture. Stir to dissolve the gelatin in the milk entirely (I usually place the cup of milk/gelatin on top of the covered casserole dish in the MW for about a minute to totally dissolve the gelatin -- but watch that it doesn't boil). When the gelatin is totally dissolved, add it to the milk and continue to heat.

After 14 minutes the milk will be near boiling point. It should get to 80 C or 180-185 F.



Place the casserole dish with hot milk in a sink full of cold water to cool the milk. Let it cool to about 40 C or 115 F. (The Yogourmet system comes with a handy little clip-on thermometer that has the add culture temperature marked. One could also use a candy thermometer.)


Pour the warm milk into the Yogourmet container.

Add the culture and mix thoroughly.




Pour a little warm water into the large Yogourmet container, place the small container into the large one, cover and plug it in. (The warm water rises between the two containers and that plus a small element keeps the yogurt at the right temperature during the process.)

Five hours later - voila! Yogurt - the best you've ever eaten!




Of course it's possible to make yogurt without a yogurt maker. Here's one set of directions.

new - 10

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." John 13:34 NKJV

blogging the weather

We're having a stretch of stellar weather and here's proof.

The photo below was taken on Sunday (driving east on Highway 91, Burnaby highrises in the distance). Note the fresh snow on the mountains and the clear blue sky.



Monday was just as beautiful. And no matter which weather web site I consult, the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday are just as grand. It's cold (for us) but the sunshine is so welcome!







For more blogland weather, see Rebecca Writes.

He shoots, he shoots ...

This story about an autistic boy and basketball will warm your heart.

did you say 'establish'?

Has it ever happened to you that you keep bumping into the same idea?

One of my new year's resolutions this year is to memorize a new Bible verse every week. Here are two I've been working on so far:

"Roll your works upon the Lord -- commit and trust them wholly to Him; [He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed." Proverbs 16:3 (Amplified)

"Let Your work [the signs of Your power] be revealed to Your servants and Your glorious majesty to their children. And let the beauty and delightfulness and favor of the Lord our God be upon us; confirm and establish the work of our hands, yes, the work of our hands, confirm and establish it." Psalm 90: 16, 17 (Amplified)

Now one of the good things about memorizing Scripture is the way it causes me to focus on words. When I focus on words, I want to know exactly what they mean. So I go to the dictionary and look them up -- even the ones I think I know the meaning of.

A word that appears in both of these verses is 'establish.' Of course I looked it up. Here are some meanings:

1] To make secure, stable or permanent; fix firmly in a particular place or condition.
2] To set up, found or institute on a firm or lasting basis: to establish a government, colony or business.
3] To cause to be securely or permanently settled in a particular place, position, occupation, etc. : to establish oneself in a new home.
4] To introduce (a law, custom, practice, etc.)and gain lasting acceptance for; initiate and cause to last: to establish a precedent.
5] To cause to be widely or unquestioningly recognized and accepted: to establish oneself as a writer.
6] To clear from doubt; demonstrate convincingly, prove: to establish one's innocence.

I believe there is something inside all of us that wants to feel our work and life are important, count for something, have significance. These two verses talk about that longing. We're promised that when we roll our work on God (commit and trust it to Him), he will establish it or make it fixed, secure, stable, permanent, lasting, recognized. In the Psalm 90 verses, God's establishment and confirmation of our work is spoken as a prayer and pronounced as a blessing.

On Saturday my daily Bible reading was Psalm 40. Verse 2 says:

"He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay
And set my feet upon a rock
And established my steps."

Do you see that? Another 'establish'! I'm beginning to wonder if there's a message here. Perhaps God is telling me personally to keep alert and watchful for ways that He wants to / will do some establishing in my life in 2008. (Of course I'll need to keep up my end of the bargain and entrust that work to Him in the first place.)

How about you? Have you been stubbing your toe on the same idea over and over. Perhaps God is trying to get your attention about something He has for you in 2008.

new - 9

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

sneak peek

I'm having a lot of fun posting my children's devotional, Bible Drive-Thru. One of the things I enjoy most (and which takes the most time) is finding graphics to go with the stories. In my hunt for public domain illustrations, I've run into some wonderful sites with pictures that bring to mind Sunday School paper illustrations from my childhood, like this one, and this one.

In case you haven't gone over to take a peek at the kids' devotionals, today I'm posting one over here (I have had emails from a few adults who said they enjoyed them too!)

And if you know of any kids who would enjoy such a devotional, please pass along the URL: http://bibledrivethru.blogspot.com. It's updated daily.

(This devotion, "Perfect Timing," is for February 5)
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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Genesis 41:1-16, 39,40

TO CHEW ON: “Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has made this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.’” (Genesis 41:39,40)

Two years passed after the cup bearer was set free, Joseph was still in prison.

One night Pharaoh had a dream. It scared him and he wanted to know what it meant. But when he called his wise men and magicians, they couldn’t tell him the meaning of the dream.

Then someone remembered a dream he had had, and the young Hebrew prisoner who told him what it meant. It was the cupbearer. At last he remembered Joseph!

Servants came for Joseph. They took off his prison uniform, put new clothes on him and brought him to Pharaoh.



Pharaoh told Joseph his dream – and Joseph told him the meaning! Then Pharaoh did something amazing. He made Joseph the second boss in the whole land.

I’m sure Joseph often wondered, will the cupbearer ever think of me? Will I ever get out of here? But when it was God’s time, Joseph went from being a prisoner to a prince in one day!

PRAYER: Dear God, You have a perfect time for everything in my life. Thank you! Amen.

SUPERSIZE IT: Luck, Coincidence – or God?
Sometimes when things fit together perfectly, we call it good luck, or coincidence. But such times are really examples of God putting things together in the perfect way, at the perfect time.

Can you tell a story of a time when God did this for you?

new - 8

"This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness."

- Ephesians 4:17-24 NKJV

small

Clematis and guest

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Thursday Challenge

Next Week: NATURE (Birds, Bees, Trees, Rocks, Mountains, Rivers, Clouds,...)

"A system part Kafka, part Stalin"

Words Ezra Levant used in his opening statement to describe Canadian Human Rights Commissions.

In the YouTube he makes his opening statement, then goes on to answer the commission examiner's questions.



Hat tip: Muslims Against Sharia Law

Sign petition "A Free Dominion Against HRCs"

book review: Searching for Eternity by Elizabeth Musser

Title: Searching for Eternity
Author: Elizabeth Musser
Publisher: Bethany House, 2007
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
ISBN: 076420372X

America with its strange food, impossible-to-understand English, and terrifying school -- bullies the size of football players -- is the last place Emile de Bonnery wants to be. Even finding a friend is small comfort. For he belongs back in France, living in the Lyon chateau with grandmother Mamie Madeleine.

He longs to be close to Papa, who comes and goes at the whim of his mysterious work. He wants to hear the story of the watch -- the birthday present Papa gave him two months before his fourteenth birthday. Always before Papa was there to tell him the stories behind his curious birthday presents. But a few days after he got the watch, he and Mama had to leave. “He’s taken up with another woman,” Mamie Madeleine told him. Then she sent Mama and him home to Atlanta to live with Grandma Bridgeman. Now Papa is out of his life entirely.

Elizabeth Musser begins Searching for Eternity by plunging us into these early days of Emile de Bonnery’s in 1960s Atlanta. She goes on to tell the story of how Emile makes his fatherless way through the next decades.

The plot is captivating, full of surprises and set within actual historical events. Despite appearances, Emile is sure that his father is really a spy and in trouble. After all, he was part of the French Resistance during the war and has always disappeared without explanation for weeks on end. Only this time he hasn’t come back.

Eternity, his one friend, a girl who is as much of an outcast as he is, mocks his theory until they make a discovery about his birthday watch. Eternity has her own issues which complicate things and entrench her and her siblings firmly into Emile’s world.

We follow Emile closely for the first while and then drop in on him at more sporadic intervals. Several decades after the narrative begins -- at the time of Klaus Barbie’s arrest and subsequent trial in the 199os -- all the various plot ends tie together.

The characters in the book are strong. Emile, who tells the story in first person, is convincing in his early days of homesickness as he substitutes French words for elusive English ones and aches for the familiar atmosphere, friends, food and family of Lyon. Our sympathies with him only grow as he matures into a thoughtful young man.

Strong, determined Eternity develops from a somewhat bossy, chip-on-the-shoulder adolescent into a beautiful, accomplished yet always mysterious woman. Grandmother Bridgeman gives the story a firm emotional center with her warmth and wise spiritual counsel. Finally, Jean Baptiste de Bonnery, Emile’s father, overshadows the whole book, though he makes appearances mostly in flashbacks in Emile’s memory.

Musser has a captivating storytelling style. We are party to Emile’s thoughts as he tries to make sense of the mysterious pieces of his father’s life, understand why his father abandoned him and gain the courage to embrace adult life in spite of the disappointments of childhood. During this coming-of-age process Musser always manages to be appropriate to Emile’s changing maturity level. Introspection interspersed with action give the story depth -- as in this bit of conversation between Eternity and Emile from his first months in Atlanta. Eternity begins:

I’ve never felt homesick for a place I’ve known ... but sometimes I feel homesick for something I’ll know in the future. Sometimes I can almost see it or feel it. A place where children are happy and grownups get along and there is respect and order and sunshine and I’ll never run out of books to read!'

It was a new idea, being homesick for the future, but I understood and smiled. "Like a gigantic safe room."

…I sat on the steps trying to make this ambush of strange feelings go away. I missed Lyon, missed Mamie Madeleine….Part of me longed to get on a plane a fly straight back to Lyon. But the other part of me ached for Eternity Jones and her family. And I wondered how it could hurt so much to be thinking about people I had known for less than three weeks.

Musser handles the growing relationship between Emile and Eternity with an ever-so-deft touch, making it believable and sweet but never saccharine. Additionally, her familiarity with the French language and culture as well as the city of Lyon makes the book a rich and convincing read.

In the theme department the story explores love in various guises including the love of fathers for sons and sons for fathers, parents for children, extended family and friends for each other, the love of sweethearts, and the love of God for us all. Bullying, from schoolyard bullying to the behavior of abusive parents and war criminals, is another thread that winds through the story. Eternity’s journalistic interest in the civil rights movement focuses our attention on the racial bullying that society sometimes sanctions. Betrayal, revenge and forgiveness also play big parts in Emile’s narrative.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Searching for Eternity. It opened my eyes to an element of World War II -- the French Resistance -- that I had heard of only in passing. Its double-edged title had me guessing till the finish. And its ending left me with a sense of hope. If you’re looking for a book to liven up the cold, dull days of winter, Searching for Eternity is an excellent choice.

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And a few more goodies...
Elizabeth Musser on the web.
Elizabeth Musser interviewed by Ane Mulligan at Novel Journey.

new - 7

"Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."

- Hebrews 10:19-22 NKJV

life on the pond

Yesterday felt like spring with sunshine and cheery birdsong. So we went for a long walk in Rotary Park.

For most of the way the paved path follows Nikomekl Creek. But the pathway and the surrounding grassy marshes are low, with water spilling over the pathway in many places. In other spots the path has accumulations of rippled sand or mud where water has recently receded from covering it altogether. We also pass several largish ponds. One of these is home to half of Langley's winter mallard population I'm sure. Here is a glimpse of life on the duck pond in winter.