New Blog

Bethany and I, after having spent some time away from blog land, have decided to join forces and post on one blog together.  I will continue to blog about food and spiritual matters while she will continue to blog about our kids, decorating and just life itself.

Thanks to those of you that rode on the good fruit bandwagon for as long as it lasted.  Head on over to bethanyleann.blogspot.com to continue the journey with us.

Done For A While

Well, she's coming...our second child...our first daughter...on Thursday morning to be precise.  So, since I can see my next few months of sleep dwindling into nothing and the fact that almost all of my tomatoes have grown and been consumed, I think it is a good time for me to hang up my blogging apron and trade it for a burp cloth.

Thanks to all of you who followed and read along and participated.  I'll be back sometime in the next few months, hopefully growing better fruit and deeper in the same soil.  I'll leave you with my latest memory verse.

"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful natures, God made you alive in Christ!  He forgave us our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross.  And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a pubilc spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross!"

- Colossians 2 : 13-15

Peace and love to you all...

Wednesday Clarification

First of all, thank you to all of you who have responded to the Friday Questions.  It has been interesting to hear your responses and I thank you for sacrifcing a little bit of your time and effort into this little process.  I did want to clarify one thing, though.

Let's say that we lie to someone about some thing that happened (I mean, who hasn't lied to someone about something at one point...I think we can all include ourselves in this scenario).  Eventually, the truth comes out and (hopefully and ideally) we feel remorse or guilty for what we have done and (hopefully and ideally) that person who was the object of our offense, in turn, forgives us of the wrongdoing that we have done to them.

All done, right?  This is where I have to object and say that it is not done.

You see, just by someone forgiving you of an offense does not mean that you are no less guilty than you were before you were forgiven.  So, what I meant by the question, "What do you do with your guilt?", was not about what you do when you feel guilty about something, it was about how do you rid yourself of that blot on your character.  How do you rid yourself of the actual guilt that you incurred on your life?

One may say that since the person has forgiven you, the guilt is thereby erased.  But I would respond to that with this:  If we all have lied or done something to incur that guilt on ourselves and are all thereby guilty of something, how can we be cleansed of our guilt by someone just as guilty as ourselves?  It would be like a convicted criminal going to another convicted criminal and asking them for relief of their sentence.  You see, guilt can't just be forgiven and forgotten...it has to be paid for, and we as humans do not have the power (or authority actually) to do that in someone else's life because we are just as guilty of the same things.  Our country has ways set on how crimes are to be paid for.  Likewise, the God who made the intangible laws that we break also has a way that those crimes are paid for.  And that way is ultimately with our lives.

But this is the great love of God, because He didn't just leave us here to be guilty and have no way out.  He has made a way, and He offers it to all who would believe on His Son, Jesus Christ, and confess him before men. 

How can we expect the criminal to free us of our crime?  And why would we go to the criminal, when the Maker of the Law we violated has already made a way to be free?

Tuesday Answers

Well, if you didn't get a chance to read Friday's post, I had posed a few questions to which I asked you all to really think deeply about and I also said that I would as well.  So I'm here to post my answers to these questions as best as I can.

1) Can you think back to a time in your life where you have done or said something that you knew was wrong, even though you didn't break the law?

A:  Of course I can, and I don't have to look back very far to find one.

2) Why are those things wrong, if they didn't really break any law that our city, state, or nation has set into place?

A:  It seems obvious that there must be some other law that I am breaking.

3) If you're not guilty before mankind (city, state, or national law) for doing these wrong things, then before whom does your guilt lay?

A:  I would be guilty before whoever put those laws in place and stands in judgment over them.

4) What do you do with your guilt?

A:  I have to pay for it or reconcile it.

Now this last answer, in my mind, quickly leads to a follow-up question:  "How do I pay for it?".  And this is where the subject really begins to get meaty and a one sentence answer won't suffice. 

So, how do we pay for it?  Do we do more good things than we do bad things?  If so, what's the grading scale?  Does helping a little old lady across the street count as 2 good points and giving money to an orphanage count as 3 good points and stealing a dollar out of my mom's purse count as 3 bad points?  Is there a curve when it's all said and done "because, sure, I've done some bad things and some wrong things, but you know, Whoever-You-Are-That-Determines-What's-Good-And-What's-Bad, I've been such a good person, and I've got a good heart and I went to church every Sunday and I helped out a charity and I was a humanitarian"?

Does it seem like we can't get an answer without another question?
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So, here's where I'll put down my thoughts on this to sum up.  The reasoning I've just explained is probably the most common used among us as humans, but it's ultimate goal is only to make us unaccountable to anyone or any God.  Is it really that hard to believe that there is a God who made this world?  A God who created the things we can't explain, but know exist, like "good" and "bad", "right" and "wrong"?  A God so perfect, that not one of us has any chance in and of ourselves to pay off our guilt?  You see, if we just look logically at our world, we will ultimately come to the conclusion that God does have to exist, and you know what, He told us what he is like, too.  He is holy, completely just and completely unable to be in the presence of anything less than utter perfection.  Given our absolute inability to be perfect and the fact that this God is as much loving as He is holy, He cloaked His diety, His Godness, and lived life as a man here on earth.  He worked, he sweat, he ate and drank (which means he had to relieve himself, too), he cried, he grieved, maybe he got sick or ill (I don't know that for sure, but it's possible).  The point is, he experienced everything we experience here on earth, the highs and the lows, the exaltations, the humiliations, and is able to sympathize with us in our sorrows and pain.  Then He willingly died to pay the penalty for our guilt that we could not, because, you see, this guilt that you and I carry around can only be paid for with a life.  Not money, not land or property or possessions.  A life.  But this God gave us a way out of our guilt debt by offering His own life.

So, I'll ask you again.  What do you do with your guilt?  Because it will be paid for when you pass from this life.  The final question will be:  Who will pay for it?  You?  Or Him.

Thoughts For The Weekend

Nobody's perfect.  We all know that.  We've all done something wrong.  We've all broken the law.  But we don't have to necessarily break the law of the land (i.e. civil or criminal law of the city, state or country in which we live) to do something wrong, do we?  We can cheat on our spouse or our significant other.  Now, this won't bring about a jail term or cite us a fine, but is there anyone out there who would say that isn't wrong?  We can lie and say false and hurtful things about somebody behind their back.  This won't bring a court date and a verdict, but is there anyone out there who can honestly say that what I just described isn't wrong?  So, I have a few questions that I want you to think about over the weekend.  I want you to seriously think about them, as will I.

1)  Can you think back to a time in your life where you have done or said something that you knew was wrong, even though you didn't break the law?

2)  Why are those things wrong, if they didn't really break any law that our city, state, or nation has set into place?

3)  If you're not guilty before mankind (city, state, or national law) for doing these wrong things, then before whom does your guilt lay?

4) What do you do with your guilt?

I hope you all will seriously consider these four questions, and I'd like to hear what you honestly think, even if your answer is "I don't know".  I know this is a very personal subject, so if you still want to respond, but don't want to comment publicly, you can send me an email, located in the "Contact" tab at the top of the page.  It will stay private.

I'm going to think over these questions, as well, and I'll be back Monday with my response to them.

Random Weekend Feast

It's a bit late, but here nonetheless.  This weekend was my brother-in-law's 17th birthday, and instead of opting to eat out to celebrate the occasion, he wanted us all to make dinner.  Although it turned out to be quite the random meal, it was delicious in the end.  It included:

• Shrimp Cocktail
• Corn Pie (recipe forthcoming)
• Roast Beef
• Mashed Potatoes
• Sauteed Spinach
• Dinner Rolls
• Fruit Salad
• Banana-Chocolate Chip Cake

Tomorrow, we dive deeper into the dish that is Corn Pie.  Until then...

Flop

This is the story of my dessert in the making.  First attempt:  Progress.  Second attempt:  Regress.

I've had Paula Abdul's "Opposites Attract" stuck in my head ever since last night and I just keep singing that line over and over again:  "I take two steps forward, I take two steps back."  Curse you, Paula!!!!

Back to the drawing board...

Catching Up

My apologies for going a few days without a post, but I felt I had to at least put something down.  For a while there, I had a good amount of recipes ready to go for new posts, but they have caught up with me.  Not that I don't have more recipes to blog about, but I don't have any that I have tested and completed for posting, so it looks like I have a bit of catching up to do.

Tonight, though, I am making my second attempt at my "from scratch" dessert and I am quite confident of it being a success.  So, hopefully, tomorrow you will all get to find out the mystery dessert, and have it rise to the top of your sweets list, too.

Also, for the weekend, we'll have a GFGS Special Weekend Post from my in-law's house in San Antonio.  Saturday is my brother-in-law's 17th birthday and he has requested that instead of going out to eat, we all make dinner together.  I couldn't think of anything better.  However, from what I've heard so far on what he wants to make, there will be quite a motely collection of culinary endeavors all culminating to a grand feast on one table.  Check back Sunday for that Special Weekend Edition of GFGS.

And I also want to give a big thank you to those of you who read this blog.  I have spoken to quite a few people who have said that they like the blog and are trying the recipes and it really means a lot to me.  I hope these recipes offer you an opportunity to spend some time with the people that God has blessed you with, because when it comes down to it, food is just food.  Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God, so use those times when you are altogether baking or cooking or in the garden or eating to talk about what God has said to us about Himself, about His Son, Jesus Christ, and about each other and how we can spur each other on to obedience and faithfulness to the God who loves us so much.

until next time...