Give Us This Day…

photo by holamaria

“Money is a good and useful thing, Jo; and I hope my girls will never feel the need of it too bitterly, nor be tempted by too much… I’m not ambitious for a splendid fortune, a fashionable position, or a great name for my girls. If rank and money come with love and virtue, also, I should accept them gratefully, and enjoy your good fortune, but I know, by experience, how much genuine happiness can be had in a plain little house, where the daily bread is earned, and some privations give sweetness to the few pleasures.”

More sweet wisdom from Marmee.

Four Freedoms

In January of 1941 in his annual message to Congress, FDR proclaimed the Four Freedoms.  Freedom of _ _ _ _ _ _,  freedom of_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, freedom from _ _ _ _, and freedom from _ _ _ _. 

Up From Slavery

“No man… black or white, from North or South, shall drag me down so low as to make me hate him.” 

Booker T. Washington, “Up From Slavery” 1901

A Different Kind of Discrimination

Until the 1960 election of John F. Kennedy it was taken for granted that no person of this (ie which?) religious conviction could ever be elected President.

World's Most Expensive Spice

Derrived from the the crocus flower, this spice requires the hand picking of 75,000 flowers to yield 1 lb.

Clue. It is most often used to cook in rice and stews.

Appetizing. A Lesson in Diversity.

Changing the format of these “Did You Know” posts a little bit, to make them more interactive. Just like Jeapardy, I will give a teaser fact and you are invited to guess or provide the answer. No googling allowed! These are all facts that are news to me, so don’t feel dumb if you don’t have a clue, just take your best guess!

In this country, bird’s nest soup is a treat. It is made from the nests of small birds called swiftlets. The nests are made from the swiftlets’ spit. The birds’ nests float like dumplings in the soup.

This one is kind of a dead give away but… ew?

Grace is the Key

Image by; Evgeniy Lukyanov

Max Lucado devotional notes on Philemon;

"Paul doesn't ask Philemon to free Onesimus from slavery, but to free him from anger. He urges Philemon to offer grace rather than demand justice. Does this short letter have any application for your life? It does if there is an Onesimus in your world. It does if someone has betrayed you or offended you or turned away from you. What they did wasn't right. And to demand justice is only natural, which is precisely the problem. Getting even is natural, it's not spiritual."

Marmee's Letter

photo by Mattox

I can see that Marmee is a cherished personality not only in this home but also by many of you. For those of you who haven't yet read this book, here is another beautiful picture into the heart of this wise and gentle mother. Louisa May Alcott captures her mother's tender spirit with so much love and sentimentality it is nothing short of precious.

From a letter that Marmee wrote to "Jo" and tucked into their own little household mail box.

"My Dear, - I write a little word to tell you with how much satisfaction I watch your efforts to control your temper. You say nothing about your trials, failures, or successes, and think, perhaps that no one sees them but the Friend whose help you daily ask, if I may trust the well-worn cover of your guidebook. I, too, have seen them all, and heartily believe in the sincerity of your resolution, since it begins to bear fruit. Go on, dear, patiently and bravely, and always believe that no one sympathises more tenderly with you than your loving

Mother

And, lest Marmee be painted with a saintly air, it must be shared that personality-wise she sympathised with Jo on so many levels, having been as a younger, less experienced woman short of temper, prone to rash response and hot headed. But oh how sweet the years of experience lay across her shoulders, a woman who learned to tap into the fruit of the Holy Spirit and produce it in her own life.

Truly inspiring.

A Beautiful Success.

 

“Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well.   Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life become a beautiful success, in spite of poverty.”

Marmee, Little Women.

It’s All About Balance

Still pursuing balance.  And having fun with it.  Days are pretty full around here now that school is back in session but I am loving being back in the swing of things.  About the only me time I get on a normal day is the 1/2 hour or so that I get out for my interval walk (up to 5 minutes jogging 90 sec walking, hooray!) in the evening right about sunset.  I am LOVING this time.  The quiet, the exercise, ALONE time.  I don’t get a lot of that.

I’m also working on building in quality girl bonding time without the kids.  This is something that has fallen by the wayside in my life for many years.  I know that this is my home,  my family, my ministry, my work.  But everyone needs a little down time.  Last night I got some down time and oooooooooooh was it lovely. 

A cross country drive at day’s end with the crimson kiss of sunset touching fields of gold.  Swathers crawling like busy ants across the fields, leaving trails of neatly stacked wheat in their train.  A harvest moon, swollen and coppery hued rising on the opposite horizon and the kicked up wheat dust in the fields filtering everything through a blue gray lens of autumn wonder.

Meeting up with friends for a late night foray into the big city, laughing at ourselves and life as we go, finding the perfect parking place, walking through the heart of downtown on a beautiful fall evening to the 2nd Avenue Grill to visit and laugh some more over their divine Chocolate Torte followed by a smile-all-the-way-through-gasping-twice-when-caught-off-guard viewing of Julie and Julia. 

Getting home at 1 am, steeping some chamomile and having your dear, sweet husband come down to sit at the table with you and enjoy a quiet moment before bed.  It was a perfect evening.  But then again, tonight will be too, as I bathe my kids, and read to them from Little Women and Mrs. Frisby and the the Rats of Nimh.  Because after all, it’s all about balance.

How ‘bout you?  Pursuing balance?  How do you refuel?   

Baking Powder Biscuits

4 C all purpose flour

8 tspns baking powder

1 1/2 tspn salt

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbspns shortening

1 1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450.  Combine dry ingredients, cut in shortening, add milk by half cup portions while mixing into doughy ball.  Form ball on floured surface, roll out to 1/2 inch and cut with round cookie cutter (I use a pint jam jar ring).  Bake for 12 mins, turn off heat and let sit in oven for 2 more minutes till browned.

Hearty Ham Soup

The day after I make this... I make this with the left over ham and stock.

8 cups ham stock
2 cups string beans
2 cups shredded ham plus hock
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 coarsely chopped carrot
1 stalk coarsely chopped celery (not essential)
1/4 tspn pepper
1/2 tspn seasoning salt
1 bay leaf
1 can condensed tomato soup

sautee onion and celery in olive oil (or margarine or butter, I just pop them in a glass measuring cup, mix in a dollop of olive oil and put them on high in the microwave for 3 minutes)

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot and let simmer on high for 5 hours. I throw any other favorable left overs in here as well. Tonight it was peas, some scalloped potatoes and some left over risotto. Sounds crazy but it was a winning combination. We eat this with Navajo Flatbread or Baking Powder Biscuits.

Honest Scrap

The Honest Scrap Award. This award is about bloggers who post from their heart, who oftentimes put their heart on display as they write from the depths of their soul.

Prairie Bren passed this on to me (love this lady) and truly I think there could be no greater compliment. This morning as I read from the book “The Remarkable Prayers of the Bible” by Jim George my heart was warmed by the following quote;

“Abraham built altars as he moved through the land God promised to him. He offered sacrifices on these altars. These altars of worship, set up in the midst of a pagan world, served as a public witness to Abraham’s commitment to the one true God…

By this one act (building a public altar in a pagan world) you make a statement. “I owe everything to the providence and provision of God. I am one of HIs people, and I am acknowledging my dependence on Him, even down to the very food I eat.” Have you built any altars lately? Have you publicly shown your devotion to God?’

The book equated praying publicly over meals as a simple “altar” in a pagan culture. There are many other examples. For me, I’ve come to see each blog post here is a little verbal altar of confession, devotion, worship and fellowship, little "scraps" if you will, of my devotion to God. I count it a joy and privilege to mark the journey with simple sticks and stones, gems and jewels, whatever it is that graces my path on this journey of life and I count it a gift to count each of you as friends.

There are some simple rules to accept this award:
List 10 honest things about yourself, hopefully interesting.

Well, I’m not going to reinvent the wheel here, I will direct you to this post and let you pick the ten that tickle your fancy *grin*.

Pass the award on to 7 bloggers.

Jennifer at Getting Down With Jesus (you know I love you).

Cynthia at Girl in a Glass House (nothing hidden with this girl, and the glimpses within her glass walls reveal passion and beauty laid bare in every nook and cranny)

Deb at He Gave Me a Dream (what a beautiful Titus 2 example)

Ann at Holy Experience (what’s to be said? Her heart is an open book that is laden with endless gifts to to the giver of grace..)

Emily at Imperfect Prose (newly discovered home girl, just LOVE the raw and honest glimpses into her poetic and beautiful heart).

Jenni at One Thing. (it doesn’t get more raw, real, roll-on-the-floor- laughing one time or suffer-a-lump-in-your-throat-while-you-cry the next than this.)

Andrea at The Flourishing Mother. This girl is beautiful. She is grace personified, even when life is flying apart at the seams. Love her.