Rare and Beautiful Treasures: October 2008

Sent.

Sent
by John Fischer

Sometimes I act as if I'm just muddling through life. I'm lucky if I make it through a day. People ask me how I'm doing and I hear myself say -- "Oh, I'm hanging in there, just barely." Then I remember Christ praying to the Father: "As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world," and I have to ask myself: Do I sound like someone who has been "sent?" If I have been sent, then I am on a mission, and if I am on a mission, how can I just be muddling through life? Somehow I don't think muddling is in my mission statement.

I'm thinking of Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 where he says that he is always being lead in a public display and is manifesting, wherever he goes, something real about the nature of his faith in Christ, and it is always having an effect on people, and I realize God can accomplish this mission in spite of what is currently happening in my life. Paul even makes this statement right after he has confessed his anxiety over plans not going as expected (verses 12-13). Even then, he could still say he was being lead on a mission.

That means nothing can stop us because nothing can stop God's work in our lives. It would be great today if when people ask how I am, I could say, even if it's just to myself, "I'm on a mission," because I am. I'm on a mission to love God today with all my heart, and let that love reflect in all I do. I'm on a mission to love those closest to me -- to be ruled by care and compassion. I'm on a mission to tell my story to anyone who wants to hear it. I'm on a mission to manifest the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ wherever I go. All this can happen regardless of the circumstances in my life. I don't get to muddle through anything.

In the movie "Saving Private Ryan," a platoon of men in World War II are on a mission to find Private Ryan and bring him home. Sometimes they struggle with their mission. Some of them almost abandon it, but as long as they are moving with the mission of the group, they are all in on it. They were sent.

How about you today? Have you been sent? Then you aren't just hanging in there; you are on a mission. Be aware of it today, and look for what God has for you, because you were sent.

Believe.

We are lucky enough to be taking this great class at our church called "Foundations of Christian Spirituality: Asking the Questions that Matter." Part of what makes the class so great is that it is designed as a class for new comers to the church and the backgrounds of the people in the class are very diverse: Pentecostal, Catholic, Baptist, Jewish (to name a few).

Past evenings the topics of discussion have been "Responding to God's Grace," "Images of Jesus from Scripture and History," and "Why Should I Follow Jesus?" Last Thursday night the topic of discussion was "Discovering God in scripture." For me, this was the best class so far because I truly love the Bible and the beauty of scripture and the awesomeness of reading and absorbing the same words and wisdom that have been read for thousands of years.

This past summer I started on a personal quest to read the bible in its entirety (I'm only about 25% there). I was inspired by my cousin/amazing friend Sarah who has already read the whole bible and who is rereading with me. I have also read, at the same time, several books by Beth Moore (who is fantastic!!!) to help explore and understand different books of the bible. One of my favorites by Beth Moore is a book called "Believing God." The book focuses on the Old Testament books of Genesis and Exodus and God's process of leading the Israelites out of bondage and into the Promised Land. I love how God describes the Promised Land to Moses as a "land of milk and honey." I think that my promised land is one of Starbucks and dark chocolate, but I digress. Beth Moore in "Believing God," asks that we draw a parallel between the Israelites seeking the Promised Land thousands of years ago and our own quest today as children of God who are called by Him to reach and experience our own promised land of abundant life here in our own time, in our own imperfect world. Just how does one reach their own promise land?

By believing God.

Notice that I didn't say believing in God, but believing Him. Believing that the promises in His word are True. Real. Meaningful. Alive. As real and true for us today as they were thousands of years ago to God's chosen people wandering in the desert.

If we truly BELIEVE God, not just believe IN Him, but BELIEVE HIM, that He loves us, has a plan for us and our future, will never forsake us, that He will handle all of our fears, worries, concerns if we lay them at His feet, we may live our lives in that precious promised land where the world may rage around us daily, hourly, but the core of who we are, the place where our soul dwells, is unaffected-cradled in the cushion of God's love and faithfulness.

Scripture tells us that God is unchanging. He is the same today as he was yesterday, as he was thousands of years ago as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Think about the things that once consumed you with worry-last year, five years ago, last week-and then how He saw you through. We can look to the future with confidence in believing that the same God who saw us through the past will see us through the future. Because He says that He will. The same God who delivered Moses, who parted the Red Sea, is the same God who is with us today, who wants to take all of our worries, our doubts, our insecurities about the future and envelope us in His perfect Grace.

The struggle, of course, is that believing God is much more difficult than merely believing in Him. On Thursday night, our class focused on the passage of Mark 9:14-29, where a man brings his ill son to Jesus and begs Jesus to heal his boy- "if you can," he says to Jesus. Jesus responds, 'If you can'?" "Everything is possible for him who believes." (Mark 9:23). Wow. That is powerful stuff-EVERYTHING is possible for him who believes! The next part of the story is my favorite, what a brave and honest man this father was!

Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)

And so like all believers, like this father 2,000 years ago, I endeavor to bridge the gap between believing in God and whole-heartedly believing Him. Which is why I am continuing my journey through the Bible, because as I have come to realize in my adult life, I cannot believe what I do not know, and cannot know what I have not read! Blessings tonight to everyone, including all of my fellow believers who are struggling to believe just a little bit more . . .

Erin

Please feel free to leave a comment with what your promised land would contain, in lieu of milk and honey! :)

A Little Bowl of Heaven . . .

Welcome All! I thought it would be appropriate, if not lovely . . . decadent . . . divine, to make my blog debut with a gift of the following fabulous recipe for Butternut Squash Soup with Roasted Walnuts. This stuff is truly a gift from Heaven. And, I promise, very easy to make! I modified a recipe from Better Homes & Garden, Fall/Winter 2008 (eliminating the cheese ravioli seen in this photo), to come up with the following perfect fall soup.

Butternut Squash Soup with Sage-Roasted Walnuts

2 1/2 lbs butternut squash

32 oz chicken broth

1/8 tsp cayenne

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tbsp brown sugar

3 Tbsp unsalted butter,

1/2 cup walnuts, rough chopped

1 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped

Molasses, for garnish

Sea salt, for garnish

Make the soup:

Peel the squash, halve lengthwise and scoop the seeds. Dice squash into 3/4 inch pieces.
In a large sauce pan, combine squash, broth, cayenne, cinnamon, and salt. Cook covered over medium heat until squash is tender, about 30 minutes.

Transfer the squash mixture to a blender/food processor and puree until smooth (I kept it simple and used a masher in lieu of my food processor, which gave the soup a thicker texture) Return squash mixture to the pan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Whisk in 1 Tbsp butter, and brown sugar.

Make the walnuts: Preheat oven to 325. Rough chop walnuts and spread on a small baking sheet. Roast until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. When the butter begins to brown, add sage and remove from heat. Toss sage browned butter with toasted walnuts. These things are tastey right off the pan!!

Serve: Ladle soup into individual bowls. Drizzle with molasses, top with walnuts, and sprinkle with additional sea salt if desired.
Yields: 6 servings

I love to cook with Mr. Marvelous. And by cook with Mr. Marvelous I mean cook (me) and talk, have wine, and listen to music (both of us) with my best friend. And he makes a good assistant. As in sometimes I ask him to hand me a spatula and at least 50% of the time he actually hands me a spatula instead of a pancake turner. One of the many random joys of married life on a cold but beautiful, blessed Sunday afternoon.

Blessings to you all!

Erin

My writing and design ideas have been featured on the following, for which I am so grateful! (click each individual icon to be taken to the particular feature)

Welcome, dear friend!

I am so glad that you are here! My name is Erin and this site is the account of my heart.

It is the love story of a girl, the marvelous man who loves her, their long-awaited babe, and a most faithful loving savior. Don't know God personally? That is ok . . He is writing an amazing story here and I am humbled to tell it. Please stay awhile . . . He may just stop you in your tracks.

If you are new, you may want to start with this post- a tour of the "New Old House" we built in 2008. {I originally started this blog to document the building and design process for friends and family-God had bigger plans.}

You may wish to follow with this post, where I explained our decision to sell that house to free up resources to chase bigger dreams {I like to refer to this as "not settling for a tootsie roll life when God wants to give you Godiva chocolate."}

Want to see how real God is? The images in this post {written several months after selling our house and moving into a small rental} are for you. I dare you to forget them.

Now, a year after our big move, we are settling into an old beach cottage near the shore of Lake Michigan, where we are currently living and renovating.

This blog is about living a beautiful life. The life you were created to live . . . full of all the beautiful things that make this life worth the effort.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." -Jesus Christ