Neighbors!

We have a next-door neighbor, Andy, who makes a huge lovely garden every year on the lot between his home and ours, and he works that garden diligently; in the fall he burns leaves and turns the ashes down into the soil; in the spring he turns the soil again before planting. Nearly every summer evening he tends to his plants and the soil, as well as the lawn surrounding the garden.

Then, when his plants start producing in later summer, he takes what he can use and puts the rest out on a table for the neighbors - no charge, just generously shares the fruits of his labors.

On Tuesday I made a big pot of chili with peppers and tomatoes from his garden and sent him over a big bowl of it (several servings). Yesterday evening Pete and I went out for a while, and when we came home, there on our porch was our clean bowl, plus 2 boxes of fresh tomatoes and peppers! I think I will dehydrate the peppers, because I want them to last; the tomatoes we can easily use up, even though there are a couple dozen of them. I can make tomato sauce to freeze, or we can just eat them!

Anyway, we love our little 3-block neighborhood here, and our neighbors are great, but Andy is pretty special, sharing what he has with anybody who will enjoy it.

A Successful Squash Dessert Thrown Together

Made a buttercup squash tonight, just sliced in half, seeded, and roasted, nothing special. Planned to have it with our pork steaks, but the timing wasn't exactly right so we ate the steaks (they were HUGE) alone.

After supper I scooped the squash out into my mixing bowl and started mashing it up with the KitchenAid. Thought I'd add some butter, cinnamon (great for blood sugar control!), and DiabetiSweet brown sugar sub. Hmmm, thought I, it looks almost creamy...maybe it can be dessert. So I added a generous scoop (1/2c or so) of full-fat ricotta to cream it up a bit, then some ground cloves, since I was out of pumpkin pie spice and nutmeg both (how could that happen??)...some SF vanilla syrup...a little xylitol (because a combination of sweeteners always tastes better)...and finally some heavy cream (1/4c-ish). Then I combined it and turned the mixer on high until it got almost fluffy - certainly much lighter.



This is DEFINITELY a keeper recipe. Made enough for 4 generous servings. I don't know the carb count but the carbiest part of it was the squash. Next time I'll try it with that can of pumpkin that's been sitting in the cupboard since last Thanksgiving.

Oh my goodness, I want MORE!

Of Animals and Heaven

Yesterday I had to have my 15½YO cat put to sleep. His health was failing rapidly, and there wasn't anything I could do for him except stop his suffering... I received an enormous amount of support from my family and friends, more than I'd have ever expected, and that really helped me get through the day. Life without Bruce will be difficult until the grieving is replace by happy memories. My last words to him were, "See you on the other side, buddy..."

But will I really?

A lot of people find comfort in the story of the Rainbow Bridge. I don't believe in a physical, actual bridge where our pets all wait for us, but a lot of people do and I won't say they're wrong. And there are those that argue we will - or will not - see our animals in heaven. Those who are certain that we will also get great comfort from that. The Bible does mention animals (ie, the lion will lay down with the lamb), but is silent on whether we will be rejoined with our pets or not. So, so am I. I believe we'll know when we get there.

But in seeking comfort yesterday, it had little to do with whether Bruce and I would ever be reunited. My vision of heaven has never been about reuniting with my past pets. In fact, it doesn't even include them. If they are there, I'd certainly be happy about it, but it isn't a reason for me to want to get there.

Animals in general are a wonderful blessing that God has given to us, and they serve us on so many levels: companions, coworkers, inspiration, food, clothing, protection...but there are some things that He puts into our lives for our time on earth. Marriage is one such example. In heaven we will be the bride of Christ. While on earth, we have husbands and wives to work together to do God's work. Our lives center around our spouses, here. They make us complete, here. They support us, here.

In heaven, we will be complete. We will be made whole. We will be changed, made new. Our lives will center around Christ. We, as his Church, will be His bride.

So will there be a need for our pets? In spending eternity in praise and worship of Christ, will I want a cat on my lap or a parrot on my shoulder? Or would they be a distraction from the One Whom I will be worshipping for all eternity?

I don't know.

What I DO know is this: while I have been given both the blessing and the responsibility for my dear wonderful pets, I will honor God by caring for them to the best of my ability as I strive to serve Christ in all that I do. My heart is homesick for a place I've never been, and when I get there if my past pets run and fly to greet me I will rejoice in that. But my goal in getting to heaven isn't to see my dead pets; it is to praise and worship the One that I love and serve now, during my short time here on earth. For all eternity.

LowCarb Eating, and Bread: My Own Experience

This won't be a bunch of recipes; a google search will turn up a bazillion of them. But it's about what works for me.

First, I do buy lowcarb breads of various types for my husband, as he loves his sandwiches and I think they're better than the carby breads. And about once a week I will make a couple of slices of toast with it. But they all contain wheat in some form and I do my best to minimize my wheat intake, which brings us to my second point...

Second, I try to avoid wheat. When I was a child I had an allergy to it. As an adult, I've suffered various problems from heartburn to bloating, from acne to insomnia...and all of them stopped when I did Atkins' induction over 5 years ago. As I added back grains, the symptoms recurred as soon as I added wheat back into my diet. The next few years of experimentation, as well as the experience of countless others, have proven to me that wheat is indeed the culprit. So I try to avoid it.

That said, however, sometimes I weigh the consequences and eat it anyway, usually in the form of Vital Wheat Gluten for my baking, or when I have purchased Carbquik in the past, or when I choose to have lowcarb bread or a tortilla or other premade lowcarb product. (A package of 10 torillas lasts me several months - I freeze them .)

I should note again here that, even though I'm still 100# above my desired weight (which differs from weight charts), I am not wanting to lose any more right now. The reasons for that are irrelevent here, but if I were, I would probably avoid most grains altogether since in the past they have slowed my weight loss incredibly.

So...back to bread. My current favorite way to eat a sandwich, or toast, is using my own version of one-minute microwave bread as inspired by this video . However, I've made a couple of changes to it: for the dry ingredients I use a combination of protein powder, flax meal, and almond flour in approximately equal quantities. I also add a tad less of the dry ingredients, so I don't get as heavy a bread. I whip my egg until really frothy, then I add in my baking powder, cream, and oil while still whipping to keep the volume. Then I stir in my dry ingredients so I don't lose too much volume before I nuke it. The difference between the video and my version isn't huge but I just like it a little better :). I've never followed a recipe in my life without making my own changes, and this is no different!

So, those are my answers to bread :). With the plethora of recipes online there seems to be a bread solution for everyone. If you have a favorite I hope that you'll let me know!

Sadder Than I Thought I'd Be

I'd written before about changing churches recently, and our reasons for that move. We've been attending a tiny little country church for the last few months, and have grown to love it. It's very low-key, and every Sunday we leave saying, "Wow, I never thought of it that way before!" about the pastor's Sermon that week. The old hymns have been soothing to the soul, and the people friendly and welcoming.

But this morning we learned that the board had voted to close the church, and the building had been sold. It didn't really hit me until later this afternoon that I was starting to grieve. The pastor does have another church, and we will attend there...but it's 20-some miles away instead of 4. That wouldn't be a big deal, really, not for once a week. But if God moves in that church and it grows and becomes more active - or if for any reason there would be any more involvement, it would take its toll. Especially since I don't drive, and Pete is working so many hours...

(Interrupting myself here - in my proof-reading I see that I'm trying to second-guess God. And that NEVER works. See below.)

I'm sure we'll meet and enjoy the people in the other church just fine. And we already know David and Trish, at least to a degree given the short time we've been attending...none of that is the point...

Maybe I can explain it a little better: When we first went there, it was nothing that we wanted. No CCM, the preaching was drier than what we were used to, they used canned music for accompaniment...pretty much the opposite of our last 2 churches. And frankly at first we were wondering why we'd been led there. But 2 minutes into the sermon, I was riveted. And a few minutes later I had my first epiphany. And, by the time we left, Pete and I both knew this was it. As the weeks have passed, we've found the old hymns to be soothing to the soul, and the simple nature of the service to be strangely attractive to us. We started thinking of it as home. And there's a different feeling between "the pastor at the church we attend" and "our pastor". David had become our pastor, and his wife someone I looked forward to exhanging a few words with each week.

It struck both Pete and I directly that this is where God wanted us, as clearly as if He'd been standing there in person and talking to us. (His sheep know his voice.)

So now, today, I'm left wondering, why? Why were we led to a short-lived church experience?

That's one thing about living by faith: If you know what's coming, there's no need for faith. So God tends to keep us in the dark about things.

So, we'll go where David and Trish are, and we'll see how things progress. We never know what God will have in store for our future church family or activities...and we'll of course let Him use us as He sees fit.

But I will still miss "our" little country church...

Just thinking about the news...

...and I am so glad that we have the internet now so we're not at the mercy of the mainstream media. Foxnews, who doesn't simply parrot what the other news sources opine, is a singular option for those who want to make up their own minds. Even so, it seems that reporting has given way to commentary and opinion in the name of "news". The multitude of web sources gives us options, shows us "the rest of the story" and exposes commentary and opinion for what it truly is. Which is not "news".

More Than We Can Bear

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (NIV) ICor.10:13

God's Word is often misquoted, omitting the all-important word "tempted". I've even had pastors misquote God in an attempt to comfort me during trials.

If the idea that God never gives us more than we can bear WERE true, then why would I need God?

Today I found a blog entry that says it much better than I ever could. If I did it right, my title should link to it.