Crazy for Quinoa!

Tonight is one of those nights...

All by myself

Lonely

Abandoned

Everybody having fun but me


See, my husband and two sons took off with barely a warning for an NBA game tonight.  I had planned a nice Daniel Fast dinner for day 17 of our fast, and I was working diligently when my husband came home and said he needed to eat right away because he and the boys were heading out to the game.  He was visibly excited.

So I quit typing and quickly made dinner and he gulped it down standing over the counter in the kitchen, kissed me goodbye, and took off for the game.  I was left standing in the middle of the kitchen, bowl in hand.  So I ate my dinner standing up too, then went back upstairs to finish my shift.  When I was done working, I went back downstairs to do the dishes.  Then I decided to end my pity party and blog some more recipes!

So I've got a mug full of Daniel Fast hot cocoa and my laptop and a fire in the fireplace.  It's a dark and rainy night and the house is silent.  No one but me and the cat.  Perfect atmosphere to write!

I've liked quinoa for quite awhile, but I'm just discovering how very versatile it is.  I've now cooked with red, white and black whole-grain quinoa and used it in place of rice, in salads, and in soups.  I've made it into a hot cereal, a breakfast bowl with fruit and nuts, and mixed it into cookies.  I've tried quinoa pasta, crackers and breads.  I've got quinoa flakes that make an excellent thickener in baked goods and thin soups.  It really is a wonder grain!

But when making a yummy quinoa bowl, I started really thinking about some fun combinations.  I thought I'd share them with you.  And maybe these will stir your imagination a little, and you'll come up with some great combos yourself!

Lebanese - Add turmeric, a bay leaf and lemon zest to the pot while cooking the quinoa.  When done cooking, add diced tomato, artichoke hearts, sautéed onion and sliced black olives.

Tabouleh - Serve the quinoa cold.  Mix in olive oil, fresh lemon juice, lots of minced parsley (until it's more green than grain!), fresh tomato, cucumber and green onion.

Greek - Add a good balsamic and olive oil vinaigrette, then mix in romaine, tomato, cucumber, yellow bell pepper, Greek olives, fresh basil and feta

Mexican - Sautee onions and bell pepper.  Add black beans and then cooked quinoa.  Season with cumin, cayenne, chili powder and a dash of salt.  Top with fresh cilantro, pico de gallo, and guacamole.

Asian - Use Bragg's aminos in place of soy sauce, a drizzle of sesame oil, rice vinegar and fresh ginger to make a dressing.  Then toss it with the quinoa and add edamame beans, sugar snap peas, shredded carrot, green onion, mango, red pepper, bean sprouts, shredded cabbage, sesame seeds and even some crumbled nori.

Mushroom - Cook your quinoa in vegetable stock and a bay leaf.  Saute a shallot and cremini mushrooms.  Add some thyme and spinach.  Stir together with hot quinoa.

Thanksgiving - Add parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme to cooking liquid.  Sautee onion and celery.  Add dried cranberries and heat until softened.  Stir everything together.  Add more sage if you want more "stuffing" flavor.

California - Cold quinoa mixed with mandarin oranges or grapes, almonds, avocado, green onion, cucumber and arugula.  Add a splash of orange juice and avocado oil to make a light dressing.

Oregon - Mix up a berry vinaigrette or buy Bragg's (so good!).  Pour it over cooked and cooled quinoa, then add hazelnuts, blackberries, green onion and crumbled goat cheese.

Winter Salad - Roast chunks of butternut or acorn squash that has been tossed with olive oil and sea salt.  Then mix it with quinoa, diced apple, chopped walnuts, green onion, and kale cut in ribbons.  Nordstrom Café makes a bottled dark cherry balsamic vinaigrette that would be wonderful with this.

Indian - Cook with quinoa in vegetable broth with turmeric, bay leaf, clove, and curry powder.  Toss sweet potato chunks, cauliflower and onion with olive oil and sea salt and roast until tender.  Mix with quinoa, add in chickpeas, and then top with raisins, cilantro and pomegranate arils.

Broccoli - A twist on the classic broccoli salad.  Mix cooled quinoa with a bit of Greek yogurt, olive oil and tarragon, then stir in broccoli florets, mandarin oranges, diced red onion, raisins and sunflower seeds.

And there you go!  Get fresh and have fun.  Let me know which one sounds best to you or your favorite if you try a few!

Tabouleh Quinoa

Daniel Fast - New Year, New Challenge, New Recipes!

It's our annual Daniel Fast and I'm excited about the new challenge I'm attempting!  This year I'm going for 40 days and I'm also eliminating wheat and corn.  No, I'm not gluten intolerant.  I just don't like the idea of how wheat and corn are notorious GMO foods (that's Genetically Modified Organism, for those of you who aren't really into the organic food scene).  Since corn is often substituted for wheat by gluten-free people, it's one more major grain crossed off my food list that really narrows my carb options.  But I really felt I wanted to eat "cleaner" this fast.  As long as I am filling myself with such healthy fruits and vegetables, I think I should also eat healthier grains.  Of the remaining grains (oats, quinoa and rice), I'm only eating quinoa (whole and flaked), organic oats (sprouted when I can find them, whole served cooked or raw, depending on the recipe, and also ground into flour), and sprouted brown rice.  In fact, I'm eating a lot more sprouted foods this year.  I bought a bag of delicious sprouted pumpkin seeds that taste almost as good as popcorn!  And I have sprouted mung beans to add to soups and GoRaw bars with sprouted everything in them.  What's so great about sprouting?  Well, as soon as a seed germinates, it suddenly is alive and bursting with enzymes.  That seed becomes super healthy with living nutrients that---ready for this?---make your body process them as a plant rather than a carb!  We all know by now that carbs are what makes our waistlines grow, so any time I can eat a piece of bread and make my body feel like it's eating salad is worth a lot to me!  I even contemplated doing a "raw food" fast, which is probably the way Daniel really ate back in Bible days, but I'm lacking some of the equipment to make it possible to eat that way for a long time.  I definitely have incorporated more raw foods into my fast, though.

So how does all that good eating make me feel so far?  Well, on day 3 I feel bloated, gassy and hungry.  How's that for honesty?  To comfort you, though, so you don't feel like quitting, I'm actually starting my fast with a 3-day cleanse (almost zero carbs, just fruit, lots of vegetables and seeds), then going into a 7-day de-tox (not quite as stringent, adding in quinoa, oats and rice), and finally easing into a more relaxed fast for 30 more days, where I add in the sprouted bread, goat's milk cheese, a touch of raw honey here and there, and even wild salmon on occasion.

All year I've been collecting new recipes.  I actually enjoy eating these dishes all year round, so I'm excited to share some of them with you!  I'm going to categorize them so you can find what you're looking for easily.  Want a great breakfast smoothie?  It's under Breakfast.  Looking for a super healthy, hearty soup?  Try searching under Lunch and Dinner.  What about a quick, nutritious snack?  There's a snack section too.

Enjoy!  Let me know how your fast is going.  Tell me what you've learned, what you've tried, how you feel, and how you've benefitted.  I'd love to hear about your experiences!

Bountiful Breakfasts

Breakfast Smoothie
1-1/2 c. almond milk (unsweetened, but vanilla flavored is fine)
3/4 c. strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 c. cucumber
1-1/2 c. spinach leaves or kale
1 T. chia seed
1 T. flax seed
1 T. matcha green tea powder

Banana-Oat Breakfast Bars
3 mashed bananas (not over-ripe, like for banana bread, or the bars will be too moist)
1/3 c. applesauce (unsweetened)
2 c. oats
2 T. ground flax seed
2 T. nuts, toasted and chopped
1/4 c. almond milk
1/2 c. raisins
1 t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon

Mix and bake at 350 for 15-20 min. until set.  Try variations, like shredded unsweetened coconut, dried cherries, cocoa nibs, chia or hemp seed.

Breakfast Bowl
1/2 c. cooked quinoa
1 T. coconut oil
3/4 c. berries
1/4 c. nuts, toasted and chopped

Overnight Oats
(This is a great to-go breakfast)
1/2 c. coconut-almond milk (unsweetened, vanilla)
1/2 c. rolled oats
1 T. flax seed
1 apple, diced fine
1 T. cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a container with an air-tight lid.  Allow to sit overnight.  Ready to eat in the morning!  (If you find this too blah, add 1 t. raw honey)

Luscious Lunches
Kale and Mushroom Wraps
2 T. olive oil
2 leeks (white and pale green part)
1 c. mushrooms (cremini, shiitake or baby bella)
1 c. kale, stemmed and chopped
1/4 c. vegetable broth
1/3 c. unsweetened dried cranberries (not Craisins)
1/4 c. feta, crumbled (goat's milk or vegan feta)
4 wraps (sprouted, if you can find them, otherwise multigrain)

Saute leeks and mushrooms until soft. Add kale and saute until wilted.  Add broth and cranberries.  Stir in feta.  Divide filling among wraps.  Roll up like a burrito.

Asian Coleslaw
I had this for lunch yesterday and loved it!
4 c. shredded cabbage (add some bok choy for a truly Asian taste)
2 c. shredded carrot
1 c. edamame beans
1/4 c. green onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 mango, diced (or mandarin orange)
1/2 c. cilantro
1/2 c. peanuts or cashews, chopped

Dressing:
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. rice vinegar
squeeze of lime juice
1 T. Bragg's amino acids (similar to soy sauce, but much healthier)
1 T. sesame oil
1 T. peanut butter or almond butter
1 t. sambal oelek chili paste
1 T. ginger root, freshly grated
1 clove garlic, minced

Mix dressing and pour over veggies.  Toss until thoroughly combined.  Note:  If you want to make it a meal, add some cubed tofu (non-GMO, of course).

Roasted Beet Salad
1 small beet, scrubbed and rubbed with olive oil
1/3 c. orange segments
1/3 c. beet greens
1/3 c. spinach leaves
1/3 c. arugula
1/4 avocado
3 T. hemp seed

Dressing:  1 T. raspberry vinegar or balsamic vinegar, 1 T. olive oil, 1 t. caraway seed, salt

Roast the beet at 400 for 45 min. until tender (if you don't mind staining your fingers, you can dice it first when raw, drizzle it with olive oil and sea salt, and then roast it and it will cook much faster).  Cool, then peel and chop into bite-size pieces.  Toss all veggies and fruit together.  Mix dressing ingredients and pour over salad.  Toss to combine.

Delicious Dinners

Daniel Fast Zuppa Toscana
(When I made this, not one of my very picky family members guessed there was almond milk in this soup instead of heavy cream!)
1-1/2 lbs. diced Tofurky Italian sausage (this tastes better than you think)
2 red potatoes, diced with skins on
1-1/2 c. kale, cut into ribbons and tough ridges removed
2 T. olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
3 c. vegetable broth
2 c. almond milk

Saute onion, carrots and celery in olive oil until soft.  Add garlic and sauté until fragrant.  Add vegetable broth, sausage, kale, potatoes and seasoning, and simmer until potatoes are tender.  Add almond milk and heat through.

Sautéed Green Beans or Brussels Sprouts
(Great side dish)
1-1/4 lbs beans or Brussels sprouts, steamed until tender-crisp
3 T. oil
1/3 c. shallots, sliced thin
2/3 c. dried, unsweetened cranberries (not Craisins, which have sugar and usually hydrogenated oil)
2/3 c. hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Saute shallots in oil.  Add beans/sprouts and sauté 3 min.  Add nuts and cranberries and sauté 1 min until combined and hot.  Season with salt and pepper.

Thai Red Curry
(I LOVE this!)
Vegetables:  Sweet potato (pre-roasted until tender, peeled and cubed), onion, mushrooms, zucchini or broccoli or cauliflower, red pepper, carrot, spinach
Sauce:  1/2 c. red curry paste (comes in a little jar), 2 c. vegetable stock, 2 cans coconut milk, 2/3 c. basil leaves, 2 t. lime juice
Garnish:  Sprouted brown rice, fresh cilantro

Saute vegetables, add sauce ingredients and simmer until veggies are tender.  Pour over hot rice and top with cilantro.  Note:  After the fast, add chicken to this!

Super Snacks

PBB Smoothie
(This literally saved me today...I just couldn't seem to get full on fruits and veggies.  My stomach kept growling and I felt almost irritable and anxious from low blood sugar...good thing no one was home!  Then I made this and it was so satisfying that it carried me beyond dinnertime and enabled me to work late.  And it was delicious!)
1 c. almond milk (unsweetened)
1/2 banana
1 T. raw peanut butter or almond butter (no added sugar or oil)
1 T. chia seed
1 T. cocoa powder
Throw everything in a blender and whip until thick and frothy.  If you like yours cold, you can pre-freeze your banana or add ice.

Crunchy Chickpeas
These are great when you want something crunchy, salty and spicy!
2 15-oz cans chickpeas, rinsed, drained and dried
1/4 c. olive oil
1 T. curry powder (or spice mixture, like masala...I use my favorite blend I bought in India!)
1/4 t. salt

Preheat oven to 400.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Mix all ingredients in bowl and toss until well coated.  Spread on cookie sheet.  Bake for 30 min. until dry and crisp.  You may need to stir and re-spread them halfway through.  Store airtight.

Avocado-Pom Salsa
4 avocados, diced
3 mandarin oranges, diced
2 c. pomegranate arils
1 c. green onion, diced
1 c. cilantro
6 T. lime juice
1/2 t. salt
1 T. avocado oil (or olive)
dash cayenne or tabasco sauce to taste)

Mix all ingredients and allow to "meld" a couple hours.  Serve with organic whole-grain, non-GMO corn tortilla chips.

 

The Weakest Link

I learned something new this week...one of those things that you feel you always should have known but somehow just didn't.  I got to preach this Sunday and I was assigned my topic, because Jeff is in the middle of a series and he didn't want to break the flow.  My passage of scripture was that sort of infamous verse about women being weak.  I've never studied it before, so I was actually interested to find out what it really meant and how it applied to my life.  It was a great verse, and I thoroughly enjoyed studying it.  I thought I'd share it here, just because I thought you might enjoy it too.  And after you've read it, you can get your husband to read it because it's even more applicable to him!

Jeff makes me feel like an 8-cow woman!
(You'll get it later!)

So here it is...The Weakest Link

I Peter 3:7 - Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.


The word "likewise" in this verse is there to remind you of what was just discussed above, because the principle that applied in those passages also applies here.  The theme was submission, everyone's favorite word!  Since you're not sitting in a pew listening to a sermon right now with your Bible on your lap, I'll just re-cap what the previous verses said for you here:
 
- Everyone - submit to laws, ordinances and ruling authorities, for that is the will of God

- Servants - submit to your master, because Christ suffered for us

- Wives - submit to your husbands, so they will be won by their wives’ conduct

- Husbands - know and honor your wife, that your prayers may not be hindered


 I Peter 3:7 is a misquoted, even disliked verse. All the good words and admonition in this passage of scripture are completely overshadowed and even ignored in the light of the phrase, "the weaker vessel."

No one wants to be weak...weak-minded, weak-kneed, weakling, the weakest link, showing signs of weakness...

Does anyone remember the game show, "Weakest Link?" That was the game where contestants had to answer a long string of questions unbroken by a wrong answer. If they failed to answer a question correctly and broke the chain, the host would say in her crisp British accent, "Karyn, you are the wwweakest link. Goodbye!" and Karyn would slink off the stage in shame.

My kids really liked this game show when they were young, and I remember one day Kate was struggling to open a door where the latch always stuck. Jeff reached over and opened it for her, and she laughed and said, "I’m such a weak link!" mixing up the word "weakling" with the title of the show, "Weakest Link." We all laughed.

But being weak is no laughing matter. Personally, I hate being weak. I hate asking for help and I hate feeling inadequate or useless. So a scripture like this immediately gets my defenses up, and I start affirming myself..."I’m not weak...I can outrun Jeff, I can outwork Jeff, and I have more stamina than Jeff."

But when it comes right down to it, he’s stronger. He’s almost a foot taller than I am and he has more muscle mass. He can lift things I can’t. He can carry things I can’t. He can open things I can’t. He can reach things I can’t. And then there’s my youngest son, who gets the greatest kick out of scooping me up like a sack of potatoes, tossing me over his shoulder and running up the stairs with me. I haven't done that with him since he was a toddler!

I realized what a weakling I truly was when I joined the gym this year. I went to a HIIT class, which stands for, "high intensity interval training." When I first walked in I thought, "This will be no problem...I run every day and I’m in pretty good shape." The instructor had us planking on huge exercise balls, doing push-ups with our feet suspended, holding a plie squat and bouncing with tiny little pulsations until our legs quivered. She called out encouragingly as people began to groan in agony, "Come on, you can do it...you’re stronger than you think!" And I argued back inside, "No, you’re wrong. I’m weaker than I think, because I thought this would be a piece of cake, but I feel like I am about to collapse!"

So, I admit it: I am weak. And I have really wimpy arms! And before you laugh at me, most of you do too!

But let’s not get hung up on this fact! We get our feathers ruffled over being the weaker vessel and miss the rest of the verse, which is just begging us to pay attention, because there are some precious gems waiting to be discovered!

Let’s compare the two husband-and-wife passages: Wives, you are to be submissive to your own husbands. Husbands, you are to dwell with your wives with understanding, giving honor to her. It’s a give-and-take scenario...the wife submits and the husband honors. When the husband honors, it is easy for the wife to submit. When the wife submits, the husband finds it easy to honor.

The beginning of verse 7 commands the husband to dwell with his wife with understanding. "To dwell" means to live together domestically as husband and wife. It comes from the Greek root word that means "to stand beside, accompany, or preside." Husbands are to stand beside their wives and preside over the marriage. It’s a position more than it is a place. The first thing a husband can do to strengthen his marriage is to take his God-given position...

- stand beside your wife, which speaks of commitment, loyalty and support

- preside over your marriage, which means to take the spiritual leadership in your relationship

Husbands are to be the initiator of spiritual things---the one who should make a stand for morality and integrity, the promoter of a godly life, the protector of his family against spiritual attack by the enemy, the first to pray, the first to speak faith, the first to bless, the first to love and the quickest to forgive and say sorry.  Husbands are the leaders over their home, and they also live in that home together with their wives.

Secondly, you are to do this with understanding, or knowledge.

Although in Peter’s day, a man had the legal right to dominate, control and even physically abuse his wife, the Bible here takes a stand for women by admonishing men to be considerate and understanding of their wives...to honor them, not hurt them, even though they had the brute strength and legal right to do whatever they pleased. Peter was calling the men of his day higher than what society taught, allowed and even accepted. This is a beautiful verse that expresses God’s great care and value for women.

The Bible says husbands are to dwell with their wives with understanding or knowledge..."Okay," men say, "so just how am I supposed to treat my wife?" And that’s what the rest of the verse is about. So after today, men can’t plead ignorance! James 4:17 says, "for him who knows to do good and does not do it, it is sin." Here what the Bible teaches on how to treat a woman, summed up in just one word, because God knows that men like the short version!

 Give honor to your wife

I’ve done a lot of clean-up projects over the years, and one thing that intrigues me is how people value things. As the one cleaning up, I see very little value in the objects I’m sorting...but for the person they belong to, there is great value. After mercilessly tossing aside someone’s treasures, I then go home and do some cleaning out of my own. I pick up an object and think about parting with it, but suddenly I can’t. I paid good money for that. It was my favorite! I’ll never find another one like it. So I hang on to it when I know very well someone else would look at it and say, "Really, Karyn?" See, because I paid a price for it, it has value to me, and because it has value, I honor it by placing it in a special spot, taking good care of it, speaking fondly about it, admiring it, and keeping it for a very long time. That’s what the word "honor" means in this passage. It is "value based on a price paid for a person or thing that is bought." In Bible days, a wife was purchased. A man had to pay a dowry for his bride, and then in a legal contract she became his property. You know that romantic line in wedding vows, "to have and to hold from this day forward"? That word "hold" has nothing to do with taking the one you love in your arms. It meant to hold as in business holdings...property, real estate. You own it, you hold the title. Sorry, ladies, but that was just the way it was!

But again, the Bible takes the side of the woman, not society. This scripture tells men to treat their wives worthy of the price they paid for them. I don’t know about you, but if a dress is hanging on a hanger in a store, I may admire the dress for a moment but if I don't buy it I’ll walk away, and if the dress falls off the hanger and gets trampled on the floor, it really doesn’t matter to me. But if I purchase that dress, suddenly I want that dress wrapped in tissue and placed in a bag to keep it clean and safe until I get it home. I value the same dress entirely differently once I’ve paid the price to purchase it and it becomes mine.

Here’s another old story that I learned waaayyy back in Bible college...a story that because the campus joke for quite awhile!

Johnny Lingo and the 8-Cow Woman

Johnny Lingo was a shrewd but honest and well-liked Polynesian trader.  He came to one of the islands to bargain for a wife. The young woman he desired was considered by her neighbors and even her father to be of little value, as she was sullen, ugly and undesirable. As the bargaining was about to begin, women of the island bragged to each other of how many cows their husbands had given for each of them and commented that the father would be lucky if he got one cow as dowry for his daughter.  The tribal counselor advised the father to ask for three cows so that hopefully he would get at least get one.  The bargaining began and, as the counselor suggested, the father asked Johnny Lingo for three cows. The Islanders laughed, waiting for Johnny to make his counter-offer.  But Johnny surprised them when he said, "Three cows are many, but that's not enough for my girl!" He then offered the unheard-of price of eight cows for her hand in marriage. The next day Johnny brought the cows and subsequently married the daughter.  He and his new bride then left the island on a trading trip.  When they came back, to everyone's astonishment, the homely bride was now a beautiful, happy woman. Johnny, the honorable husband, had proven to her that her she was valuable.  He had paid the highest price for her.  When she realized how precious and priceless she was to Johnny, she blossomed.  His love and honor for her made her beautiful and desirable.  She was an 8-cow woman!!

Wives need to be treated as though they are valuable and precious...worth 8 cows, at least!

I Peter 3:7 tells us there are two ways that husbands should honor their wives:

1. As the weaker vessel

We already agreed that the wife, generally speaking, is weaker. There are always exceptions...some women have Olympic gold medals and are bigger, stronger and faster than any ordinary man, but most women are physically weaker than men.

The "vessel" concept is a funny one. On researching this verse, I came across analogies that state "weaker vessel" must surely mean "delicate," like fine china. So then men, you must handle your wives as though she is a piece of fine china, delicate and valuable. Now that’s a nice picture, and I suppose there is an element of truth to the analogy, but if you really want to know what the "weaker vessel" is, it is very simply, "the weaker body."

 The word "weaker" doesn’t mean delicate or fragile, it means weaker...not as strong. And the word vessel is a common Greek metaphor for body, which the Bible uses in other scriptures in the New Testament.

So how does a husband honor his wife as the physically weaker one? By using his physical strength not to hurt her but to help her.

- physical abuse vs. physical affection (touch her romantically, not just sexually)

- physical force vs. physical freedom (encourage her opinions, desires, interests)

- physical laziness vs. physical labor (work for her, assist her)

- physical desertion vs. physical defense (cover and protect her, physically, emotionally and spiritually)

- physical absence vs. physical awareness (spend time with her, listen)

- physical control vs. physical care (love her as your own body)

The greatest key to understanding this verse is this: A husband, more than anyone, should know his wife’s weaknesses, and a husband, more than anyone, should know best what she needs...from him.  Husbands honor their wives when they know her weaknesses, when they understand her needs, and when they strive to meet them.

2. As joint-heirs of the grace of life

The second way a man honors is wife is by recognizing that she is a joint-heir with him of the grace of life. Once again, the Bible is championing for women. Only in scripture was a woman elevated to a place of equality with her husband. Men and women have different functions within the marriage relationship and different levels of authority, but they have equal value and worth. God gives grace to each of us, both male and female. God offers salvation to each of us. God grants forgiveness to each of us. God brings each of us into eternity. Once a man realizes that the fact that his wife is weaker than he does not mean that she is less spiritual than he, then he will be able to honor her the way God commands. A wife is a husband's partner. Together they stand before God in covenant relationship, together they serve Him and work in His kingdom, and together they reap all the spiritual blessings that enhance and bless their life and, ultimately, the lives of others.
 
So why is it so important for a husband to honor his wife? Can’t they just agree to disagree? Can’t they just live their own lives before God? Can’t the husband just be the boss and tell the wife what to do?

No. God has given a command, and with his commands come either a blessing or a curse. The blessing is a strong, committed couple who walk in the grace of God and fullness of life. The curse is hindered prayers.
 I Peter 3:7 says for husbands to honor their wives that their prayers may be not hindered

When husbands aren’t communicating with their wives properly, God won’t communicate with them. It’s that big of a deal.

The word "hindered" doesn’t mean "get through with a little bit of difficulty," the way we might think it does. It actually means, cut out and cut off, like a tree.

The very same Greek word is used in these scriptures:

Matthew 3:10 - And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Matthew 5:30 - And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Rom. 11:22 - Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

When a husband's prayers are hindered, he is actually cut off from God.  God will seem distant and not very real. That man will go to bed at night and lie there staring at the ceiling, thinking, "God's not listening." When he tries to pray, he'll feel hypocritical. 

Here is a thought-provoking quote from commentator Wayne Grudem:

No Christian husband should presume to think that any spiritual good will be accomplished by his life without an effective ministry of prayer. And no husband may expect an effective prayer life unless he lives with his wife "in an understanding way, bestowing honor" on her.  

When a husband doesn’t honor his wife, he...and not the wife...is actually the weakest. She may be weaker than him physically, but he is the weakest link in the chain between the blessing of God to his family.

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands...
Likewise, husbands, dwell with your wives with understanding, giving her honor...

If we purpose in our hearts to do this, we will see our marriages revitalized. We will see our spouses change. We will see our prayer life flourish. We will see our relationship with the Lord grow and strengthen. And we will walk out our days side-by-side with the one we love, enjoying the full blessing of the grace of God on our lives!

Staging the Seasons

Are you familiar with the concept of "staging?"  You know...it's setting things up very carefully to make it look as though it happened naturally.  We stage all the time, often without realizing how deliberately we're trying to be nonchalant!  We do it for pictures, in our homes, and in fashion (think about how long it takes to get your hair to have that casual-curl "tousled" look!).

But the strangest staging to me is the staging of the seasons.  It fascinates me to think of how we drag pumpkins, stalks of corn, bales of hay, sheaves of wheat and colorful leaves onto our porches or into our kitchens for an autumnal atmosphere.  We make apple pie, butternut squash soup, roasted root veggies and mulled cider.  Then we light apple-cinnamon candles, sip pumpkin spice lattes, and go to the pumpkin patch wearing our plaid flannel shirts, infinity scarves and skinny jeans tucked into our boots!

And it's not just fall we've fallen for!  At Christmas, we're decking the halls with holly and evergreen, baking Christmas cookies, lighting fir-scented candles, sipping peppermint mochas, and wearing red mittens, jackets with fur-trimmed hoods, and infinity scarves and skinny jeans tucked into our boots!  And we even go the extra mile to add music to that season!

In the spring and summer, we stop lighting candles because we can bring fragrant flowers right inside.  We gorge ourselves like bears out of hibernation on all the fresh berries that ripen in glorious waves of strawberry, raspberry, cherry, blueberry, blackberry and peach.  We ice our lattes, and we finally toss the boots into the closet and wear strappy sandals with our skinny jeans, and our infinity scarves lose a lot of weight as we switch out the knits for airy cotton!

This staging of the seasons is nothing more than replicating a by-gone era.  We reproduce something we've never known and make it our own.  Think back 100 years ago...

A century ago in autumn, the fields were ripe for harvest.  The wheat was golden, the corn stalks towered in height, the hay baled and ready for winter feeding, and pumpkins gathered to be roasted and canned, not carved.  The apples and root veggies were gathered in baskets, wooden crates and tin pails not because they were vintage, retro or charming but because industrial-strength plastic crates and clam-shell packaging hadn't been invented yet.  Then those fruits and veggies were stored in cold cellars so there would be produce to eat during the long winter months when nothing grew and no one could run to the store for grapes from Chili, mangoes from Mexico and hydroponic tomatoes from a greenhouse.  Ladies bought canning jars for (gasp) canning, not for flower vases, drinking glasses, or smoothie shakers.  Kitchens were filled with the fragrance of good food because the harvest must be preserved...a huge, messy job that was necessary for survival, not a couple batches of pretty peaches or jelly in jars displayed on a shelf, but the true process of "putting up" produce...beans, tomatoes, corn, peaches, pears, pickles, beets, squash, plums...everything that could be canned would be canned!  They ate butternut squash soup and applesauce and kale because that's what was in season and available, not because it was cozy "fall food."  And if there were colorful leaves all over the yard it was because they didn't have a leaf-blower to remove them in 10 minutes and they were too busy in the fields and kitchen to bother raking them until later in the season when they were dry, brown and broken down.  All those pumpkins sitting in a happy heap in a wagon?  Well, they were simply loaded up like that so they could be hauled to market to sell to townfolk.  And the bales of hay were stacked up not to look like a pretty decoration, but to fill a barn with insulating warmth for the animals, bedding for their stalls, and food for the winter months of no grass to graze.  Plaid flannel shirts were great for working...warm enough to keep away the chilly autumn air but light enough to buck those bales of hay, pick the apples, and dig potatoes.  Boots were necessary for working in mud.  And pumpkin spice lattes and eternity scarves didn't even exist.

I've thought about this "season staging" over the last few years, but it was just this weekend that I had the epiphany that inspired me enough to actually name the phenomenon (by the way, that is my original phrase!).  On Saturday I went to the pumpkin patch for the sole purpose of buying donuts.  There is a local farm that makes homemade pumpkin spice and apple cider donuts and serves them fresh and hot in a paper bag.  They are really the only donut I like and I buy them every year.  I took my daughter and her friend along for the ride on that gorgeous morning---a truly quintessential autumn day at the peak of the season.  The leaves were bursting with color and still mostly on the trees but with enough fallen to the ground to produce the perfect "crunch factor."  The fields were golden, the sky was blue, the barn was red, and the pumpkins were plump and jumbled together in a kaleidoscope of orange, yellow, pink and white.  Because it was Saturday, the place was packed with people.  We parked and walked towards the sounds of laughter and humming motors and came upon a huge inflatable "barn" for the kids to jump in.  How fun!  Then the pony rides were right beside that...patient little ponies tethered to a ring, walking in circles with both crying and laughing kids on their backs.  On the other side of the ponies was the pumpkin patch.  Yeah, right.  It was just a gigantic pile of already-picked pumpkins scattered on the ground so all you had to do was pick up your favorite and take it home.  Beyond that was a hay maze, a haunted barn, a giant slide into a pile of hay, a little "cow" choo-choo train and a wagon full of hay pulled by a tractor for rides, a guy strumming a guitar and singing country songs, a petting zoo, a big barn gift shop selling pies, candles, apples, cider and whimsical fall décor, a booth that popped fresh kettle corn, a concession stand for hot dogs, and....DONUTS!  We skipped all of the above and headed straight for the donuts.  Then we took our greasy paper bags and walked away from the madding crowd of noisy kids and excited parents (I'm obviously very much in between having little kids and grandkids...when you have neither you really don't enjoy being around those who do!).  There was a little path that curved down around a hill towards tall trees, in which nestled a real barn with real horses and an irrigation pond beside it.  From there you could see the real fields where the pumpkins actually grew and the brittle stubble of a harvested hay field.  We found some clean hay on the ground to sit on, and we made ourselves comfortable.  There, in the quiet countryside, we enjoyed our treats---salted caramel lattes we had grabbed to-go on our way to the farm, cinnamon-sugary donuts, and a healthy organic apple to counter the carb deficit of the donut.  As I took the first bite of my donut I suddenly looked at myself...pumpkin spice donut in one hand, latte in the other and my apple balanced on my knee, sitting in the hay wearing skinny jeans and boots and an infinity scarf.  Yep, I really was.  I thought I was avoiding the hype of the pumpkin patch but had actually plopped myself down right in the middle of it!  I said to Kate, "Take my picture."  I knew right then I was going to blog this "ah-ha" moment!

So, here I am contemplating the silliness of staging and the satisfaction of it.  Why do I go to such effort to both avoid it and embrace it?  I long for the natural, genuine beauty of fall, but I enjoy just as much bringing that beauty into my home (and my tummy!).  So I sit here and blog about it, listening to the leaf-blower outside my window, swishing away the lovely leaves I just crunched my way through on my morning run, while I sip my latte and enjoy the fragrance of my "Fall Leaves" candle that I can light now that my allergic husband has left for work.  I've decided it's too difficult and no fun to separate the two but to enjoy each just the way it is.  This is our culture and our day.  We don't live 100 years ago when harvest was harvest and fall was just one of the four seasons.  We can be thankful for the harvest, eat of the harvest, and even bring the harvest right inside our homes.  We can go to the pumpkin patch and the apple festival and absorb the whole 21st century "farm" experience.  We can light spicy-sweet scented candles in our kitchens and bake an apple pie.  We can drink hot spiced cider and pumpkin spice lattes to our hearts' content.  And we can walk in the solitude of a wooded path where the leaves fall and no one blows them away.  Fall is both staged and unrehearsed.  So put on your infinity scarf and get out there and enjoy it!

 

She's Making Herstory

Is it still your blog if you tell another person's story?



My daughter Anna is on an adventure in India.  She is teaching English for 6 months at a Bible college and an English Medium School, preaching at youth meetings, working with orphans, and doing whatever else she is asked to do.  She is eating rice three times a day, wearing covering clothing on hot, humid days, dealing with almost daily power outages, unreliable internet connections, crazy traffic, and cyclones.  She is a celebrity...the very, very white girl with the very, very blue eyes.  Everywhere she goes people stare and the brave ones ask to have their picture taken with her.  Her students loves to pinch her skin, fascinated with how that white flesh turns red.  They are concerned about her losing weight from eating rice three times a day: "Ma'am, you are losing all your nice fat," they say worriedly.  The littlest orphans cuddle up against her, tucking their small bodies underneath her arms to feel the security and nurture they miss from their mothers.  She takes care of sick people and kills snakes.  She washes her own laundry and hangs it out to dry.  She prays every day, sometimes three times a day, and gets up early to do it.  She cooks regularly.  She is the first white teacher in the whole state of Andhra Pradesh.  She is a history maker!

Anna isn't a writer like Kate and I.  But she is pretty good at text messages like this: 

They call my braid an "elephant's tail."
The warden's wife thinks my zits are mosquito bites.
Jaya thinks the reason my hair sheds is because it's straight.
The girls are fascinated with my chubby cheeks. 

What Anna does best is talk...when we Skype, we talk a loooonnnnggg time!  She tells great stories and makes me laugh.  She sees humor where others would see poverty or dirt or communication barriers or culture clashes.  She sees the beauty and fun in a place of brokenness and hardship.  Not only does she make me laugh, she makes the kids laugh.  Her pictures are full of laughing children...they look like the most joyful, fun-loving group of children anywhere.  Why?  Because when they are cutting the grass by hand with bladed curved sticks, Anna takes pictures and makes it look like they are playing golf.  When they are scrubbing their clothes with a bar of soap on a concrete floor, Anna takes pictures and makes it look like the most fun job ever.  When they are standing in line for their plate of rice at lunchtime, Anna takes pictures and makes it look like they are at a hipster community lunch place in Portland.  When they are studying in their dorm rooms, Anna takes pictures and makes it look like a slumber party.

But in her heart, she is moved.  She bought a set of clothes for one little guy whose pants were tied up with string and shirt was reduced to two buttons.  She hid her camera when visiting the mud-and-thatch hut of one of her students to spare him the shame of making his home a Facebook spectacle.  She praises the orphans who say, "Ma'am, watch me!" when they do a trick or stunt for her.  They have no mothers sitting on a park bench smiling encouragingly at their children as they climb to the top of the slide or jump from a platform or hang from the monkey bars.  They have no one to say, "Mom, look at this!" to, as they color a beautiful picture.  There is no one to listen when they read a full paragraph aloud from their favorite book  So Anna is the "Watch me!" "Listen to me!" surrogate mother.  They love to perform, and she loves to praise.  She allows their little hands to explore her face, hair and white skin as they poke and pinch her in curiosity.  The littlest ones are simply content to hold her hand, soaking up the physical contact and warmth of an affectionate mother figure.  It's already breaking her heart to think of how she will have to say goodbye.

Who is most blessed?  The kids...because they are not only learning English---the ticket out of poverty in India---but they are learning it from a native-born English speaker.  They are in a godly atmosphere, learning that they have a destiny, purpose and call in a place of hopelessness and despair.  They are fed, clothed and sheltered.  And they are loved and touched affectionately.

But maybe it's Anna who is most blessed...because she is seeing a world so different from her own, where the simplest things have the greatest value.  She will learn to give sacrificially and work while everyone else on the other side of the world plays.  She will do things she was never trained to do, and do them well.  She will grow up.  She will be more compassionate, and more passionate.

But then again, maybe it's the rest of us who will be blessed...because our eyes are opened our hearts are touched by the stories and pictures someone else shares of a people we didn't even know existed.  And we, with our vast resources of time and money, can invest in those little lives across the globe.  We can share in their destiny on earth and their eternity in heaven.  We can affect millions because of one who affected a few.

Anna has only been in India for a little over a month.  She has five months before her.  What else will she see and do?  What else will she share with us?  I'm excited for her on this amazing adventure.  But I'm excited for all the people who will suddenly be awakened to the potential of redeemed lives in other nations.  Because of Anna, perhaps someone else will help people in Niger, Tibet, Dubai, the Amazon, Nunavut, an unnamed island, a remote mountain village, a slum in a city of millions.  I've already done some world travel, and yet she inspires me to do more.

Be inspired...be motivated...be used!




From youngest to oldest, beautiful girls in vibrant colors!





Anna's boys on wash day




Worship

The Saddest Scene in Oregon

For those of you who know me, you'll know this:  I love Oregon.  I was born here, right in the beautiful city of Portland and spent my teen and young adult years in the quaint town of Newberg.  I am both a city girl and a country girl (hence, the title of my blog!), and I love the aspects and nuances of both lives.  Sometimes I even have daydreams that would border on being a tree-hugger---living in the forest, foraging for berries and wildflowers, letting my hair go curly and wild, skipping the make-up, and cozying up in my cabin to write books.  Then once a month I'd get all dressed up with high heels and pretty hair and spend a weekend in the city shopping and eating at great restaurants, soaking up culture and drinking coffee!  Ahhh, wouldn't that be the life!

But anyway, here I am in my small-town subdivision caught somewhere in the middle of those two lives.  This week, my husband and I are in the city to attend a conference, so I am getting my Portland coffee fix and eating yummy food every day.  One afternoon when we had some free time between sessions, we decided to go on an adventure.

Jeff had read a few years ago that there were some large waterfalls just off the I-205 freeway that we often travel.  They are the second widest falls in the U.S. next to Niagara Falls and the 17th widest falls in the world.  So why hadn't I ever been there, he wondered.

I didn't have an answer.  Yes, I'd heard about them, but only vaguely.  I, who have hiked too many falls to count and even got engaged beside one of them, had never seen these grand Willamette Falls that Jeff was so curious about.  Well, that made him even more curious.  Why hadn't I ever seen them?  Why did I know nothing about them?  He decided he wanted to see them, so one day when we were driving down the freeway, we pulled over at the view point and peered through thick foliage to catch a glimpse of nothing but mist down below.  Well, that was disappointing!  Now we were both curious about the hidden falls and why they were so unknown and unaccessible.  We decided that one day when we had some free time we would search out a way to see the falls.  That free time came this week.

We first drove into the town of Oregon City for lunch and coffee.  I had read about a little café that was supposed to have good food.  After an incredible amount of rain this past week, the sun was finally starting to break through the heavy clouds and the rain actually stopped for a couple hours just for us!  The café was cute and cozy, and we enjoyed paninis and lattes and the art gallery before our adventure.  Jeff asked the girl beside us if she knew of a way to get to the falls.  She apologized and said no.  Jeff asked the girl taking our order, and she also didn't know.  We drove away on our own, following what I had learned online:  There are four viewpoints, one from the bridge, one from the bluffs, one from the highway and one from the freeway.  We headed down the hill toward the river and parked alongside the edge of the river walkway high above the water below.

We looked over the rusty rail separating the walkway from a steep river bank that dropped straight down to swirling brown water that carried foam on its surface, picked up from the polluted liquid that pumped out of the many pipes feeding directly into the river.  We could finally see the falls in the distance, but they were obscured with mist and hidden by the many mills lining the banks.  We walked along the sidewalk towards the falls, noting how decrepit the railing and the promenade were.  We got to the "view point," and realized we were still nowhere near the falls.  We could see them now, but they were too far away to appreciate their beauty or power.  So we got back into the car and took the highway up to the bluffs above us.

Here was the best viewpoint so far...an eyeful of ugly, dirty industrial buildings in a terrible state of disrepair, sucking the beauty and the life out of the churning falls.  A few other people were also "admiring" the view.  I remarked out loud how sad a scene this was.  A woman next to me overheard me and said, "Why?" in a puzzled tone.  "Well," I explained, stating what I thought was pretty obvious, "The falls are ruined.  This could be a beautiful spot."  She shrugged nonchalantly and walked back to her car with her daughter, who had been reading aloud the history of the industrialization of the falls from a memorial plaque.  I walked a little further down to try to get closer so I could take some pictures.  When I returned, Jeff was talking to a big man in a dirty mechanic's jacket with unkempt hair and scruffy beard.  He was reciting the history of the mills very matter-of-factly and, like the woman, didn't seem bothered at all by the desecration of the falls.

The mills were some of the creepiest buildings I had ever seen.  They were built in the late 1800s and were still standing...and still used...today, 150 years later.  The metal siding was rusted right through in places, the windows were shattered, the iron railings and staircases were rusted, the roofs were thick with moss, and the black smoke stacks continually spewed gray clouds while the river thrashed wildly over the rocks and locks.  I found a metal staircase and climbed to the top to get a better view.  There were no great views...these falls were purposely ignored by the public  The forgotten falls were life to this small town, providing jobs for a majority of the workforce.  They were also the source of power---and therefore life---to the big city of Portland.  Suddenly it all made sense.  The silence of all the activists, native Indians, nature-preservists, outdoorsmen, earthies, and hippie tree-huggers was due to the fact that without those powerful, awesome falls there would be no powerful, awesome Portland.  And for the little city that once bore the name of the falls, all those power plants and mills provided employment for many of the residents.  No one wanted to see the mills close down or the source of power eliminated, but no one wanted to see the rape of the falls and the ravishing of their beauty either, so they were tucked away out of sight and not spoken of.

So now we knew the story.  We walked away without much to say.  All my "for shame!" ideologies were quieted by the knowledge that the most populated area of my beloved state drew its very life from these falls.  The scenery was sacrificed for the city and its citizens.  When we got back to our hotel room, I went online one more time and clicked on the link for the Willamette Falls Legacy Project.  This is what I read:

Willamette Falls Legacy Project
For the first time in 150 years, Oregonians have the opportunity to rediscover a cultural and scenic treasure: Willamette Falls. A public vision and master plan are taking shape, with the goal of transforming a 23-acre industrial site nestled along the Falls in historic Oregon City. This former paper mill could someday serve as an economic engine, a waterfront destination, a unique habitat, a window into Oregon’s past – and a bold step into our future.  Whatever develops on the landscape will be shaped by Willamette Falls, roaring in the Willamette River below. The largest waterfall in the Pacific Northwest, it was long an important cultural and gathering place for Native American tribes. The Oregon Trail ended here. And throughout the 1800s, the Falls made history by generating energy for Oregon’s early industries and cities and fueling the nation’s first long-distance electrical power transmission.

So I am encouraged!  There is hope that one day the beauty of the falls and power of the falls can both be appreciated.  Maybe I should join the committee!!

Here are some fascinating pictures...I wish I had more than my slowly dying, ancient iPhone to capture the scene.

Far down the river, the foam floats by

Could be a beautiful view, but the brown water looks dark and dirty

Nothing is cared for here, not even the promenade beside the river

The first real view

I climbed these stairs for a better view of the buildings

I lined everything up so that only green trees
and water was visible.  You'd never guess
this was the same place!



The Change of Seasons

Summer is over, and today is the official first day of fall...and it arrived with great gusto!  The weatherman actually said it would come in "with a roar," and right on cue the wind began blowing, tree branches snapped, the sky grew dark and heavy, and the rain came down fast and hard.

I really love summer, but I also love fall.  Rather than be torn between the two, I simply give my affections to both!  Although I'm always a little wistful when I put away the lawn furniture, clip the last of my hydrangeas, and forage for one final handful of blackberries, I actually welcome fall and all the glory that it brings...vivid color, golden light, crisp mornings, warm drinks, spicy treats, cozy sweaters, and misty mountains.

This year, there was a very sharp delineation between summer and fall.  Usually summer's long days and languid pace picks up gradually, until it finally gives way to the quicker march of the fall routine.  But this year we had a week of 90-degree weather under a hot September sun, then suddenly a cloudy curtain was pulled down over the bright light and the wind blew Autumn in overnight.  I went from fresh blackberries, sun tea and sheets on the line yesterday to slow-simmered boeuf bourguignon, a raincoat, and candles today!

This summer also brought a rapid change to the seasons of my life.  Kate returned from her year in Bosnia, unpacked, re-packed, and then left for college.  Tyler graduated from college and moved back home.  Anna left for a six-month mission trip to India.  Justin started an internship and began making plans to move out on his own.  In the space of two week's time I moved Kate into the dorms, looked online for apartments with Justin, saw Anna off to India, and lost my job.  Now wait...that certainly wasn't on the calendar!! Suddenly, with a lot less kids and a lot less money, Jeff and I began tossing around phrases like, "Maybe we should downsize."  "A 5-bedroom house is too big for one kid." "Maybe it's time for a change."  We haven't done anything...we're just mulling it all over.

The seasons of life are just so...seasonal.  And that is why each season should be savored for exactly what it is.  I want to give my affection to every season of my life.  I want to enjoy each one to the full and savor the sweetness and the bounty each brings.  And then, despite the wistfulness I may feel as I put away things no longer needed and bid goodbye to a season I love, I want to welcome the next season with anticipation and expectation.  I know it will bring color and warmth to my life, and I'm certain it will be both sweet and spicy!

I finish with this quote by a Turkish playwright.  I have no idea who he is, but I agree with his musing: 

“Love all the seasons, because every season has its own treasures! Winter does not own the treasures of the spring; the spring does not own the treasures of the winter! If you know only the autumn, you are poor; if you know only the summer, you are poor! To be rich, love all the seasons and live all the seasons! A wise and rich man is the one who knows all the treasures of all the seasons!” (Ildan)

And an even better quote:

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." (Ecc. 3:1)

Enjoy the change of seasons!  Give your affection to them all!

The first branch to change color!

Mist over the mountain

After the rain



Welcoming Fall with a
Browned-Butter Caramel Apple Cheesecake...

...made with these apples, gathered with
these early-fall fresh-picked fruits