Upside-Down French Toast (with coffee!)

(from Menus for Entertaining, (C) 1960)

Suggested as a "second-wind breakfast / second breakfast" for 2 or 4;

Menu:
1. UPSIDE-DOWN FRENCH TOAST

2. COFFEE OR TEA*

*Use cold water when brewing coffee - it has fewer impurities, according to the Coffee Brewing Institute.

Upside-Down French Toast

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. crushed pineapple

1 egg

3/4 c. milk

1/8 tsp. salt

4 slices bread

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 9-inch square baking pan.

3. Into the butter stir 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained of almost all its syrup.

4. Spread this mixture evenly over bottom of pan.

5. In a bowl beat together 1 egg, 3/4 cup milk, and 1/8 teaspoon salt.

6. Soak 4 slices bread in milk mixture until soft, then lay over the pineapple and brown sugar in the pan.

7. Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned, and cool 1 minute before inverting on a heated serving platter.

way old new Christmas cards!

I just found this neat idea - and a great way to get rid of clutter HERE. :)

(re-using old [Christmas or other] cards to make cute, new ones!)

props!

*also, I shall post some newer-completed-project pictures soon. :-)

way old new Christmas cards!

I just found this neat idea - and a great way to get rid of clutter HERE. :)

(re-using old [Christmas or other] cards to make cute, new ones!)

props!

*also, I shall post some newer-completed-project pictures soon. :-)

bits and pieces

I am going through my old papers and tossing them into the recycle; however, I want to save some of the thoughts and words I found therein. Some of them are my own, others are pieces of sermons heard while on the road and may or may not have original authors' names applied (unintentionally, of course, because highway driving is only conducive to so much writing before accidental lane-changes ;) )So this may seem very bits-and-pieces, but that's what it is. Mayhap it shall inspire conversation to the furthering of sanctification; if that is so, God be praised!

"I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing."

~Does that mean Christ promotes sin?
~~It becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners.

"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go & bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you." - John 15:16

In the very act of believing, you are experiencing God's begetting. {Left to yourself and your deadness, you will not believe!} -Piper

ANTINOMIANISM: (Antinomianism comes from two Greek words: antimeans against and nomos means law. So antinomianism means against the law, against God's moral law. It means lawlessness.)

"I want to live all You died for me to be" -Ray Boltz

Labor is easy to those of a cheerful spirit.

twins in community

A friend recently gave me a book to read. (Not very many people these days hand me a book to read; usually, they suggest books, but this person gave me the book). . . I am reading it, and finding it very interesting and enlightening, and very applicable in light of life as of late. Here is an excerpt, an example given in chapter 2:

"Imagine a young couple, Bob and Mary, who are involved in a local congregation. Mary gives birth to twins. Bob and Mary are now facing the prospect of trying to cope with babies who constantly need feeding and changing. In the first model, juggling the church ball alongside the new family responsibilities becomes impossible. Bob and Mary decide they will have to forget being involved in church activities on anything more than a minimal level for quite some time. So they make a unilateral decision to absent themselves from much of church life.

"In the alternative model, it is not only Bob and Mary's issue when the babies are born. It is an issue for the whole church. The congregation takes on some of the responsibility because their identity and life is that of persons-in-community. So perhaps a couple of people go around early each morning to bathe the babies so Bob and Mary can have some time together over breakfast. Or someone offers to take Bob to work for a few months so that on the way Bob can sleep or read his Bible, or they can pray together because Bob is not getting much chance to do these things at home. Bob and Mary may not be as involve in the church meetings, but they are more involved then ever inthe life of the community." (from the chapter entitled "Why Community?" in the book Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis)

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this li'l bit, or pass the book your direction when I'm finished =) Holla.

Lady of Reckless Abandonment

Mel and I are going through "Lady in Waiting" (by Jackie Kendall and Debby Jones). It's possibly my fifth time reading the book, and high time I shared with someone else what I've been reading. Lady in Waiting (can I dispense with the quotation marks after using them once? please?) is a very challenging book for singles (even for guys!).

The very first chapter is entitled, "Lady of Reckless Abandonment." Two women are memorialized in this chapter - Ruth, and the sobbing, perfume-smearing woman of the New Testament.

Some thought-provoking quotes from this chapter are:
(quoted from another book, "Learning to Be A Woman") - "A woman is not born a woman. Nor does she become one when she marries a man, bears a child and does their dirty linen, not even when she joins a women's liberation movement. A woman becomes a woman when she becomes what God wants her to be."

..."happy indeed are those people, married or single, who have discovered that happiness is not found in marriage but in a right relationship with God."

Then, the authors mention the Woman with the Alabaster Box. "She... not only anointed Jesus for burial, but gave her all to a heavenly Bridegroom." (Mark 14:3-9, Luke 7:37, Matthew 26:13)

"How do you know if you have broken your alabaster box at the feet of Jesus? Such a decision will be reflected in reckless abandonment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ."

"Take your alabaster box, with your body, soul, and dreams, and entrust them to Jesus. when He is your Lord, you can joyfully walk in the path of life that He has for you."

The authors then mention Ruth as a prime example of a woman who recklessly abandoned herself to follow the Lord. Just recently widowed, she stuck it out with her mother-in-law to be an encouragement to her and followed the Lord she had recently "met." She left Moab **

**(called the "washbasin," / "washpot" (Ps. 60:8)(108:9)

and went to Bethlehem ("house of bread").

The authors commend Ruth's move as being beneficial to her spiritual growth; "even today there exist 'Moabites' who will undermine your growth if you spend too much time with them. Sometimes mediocre Christians resist the zeal and commitment of a dedicated single woman. Realizing that one's friends drive you either toward or away from God, you may need to find a 'new people' who will encourage your growth and not hinder it."

he who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. pr. 13:20

"you mirror those who influence you. . . when a woman stops growing spiritually, the lack of progress can often be traced back to a friendship that undermined her commitment to Jesus."

do not be deceived. bad company corrupts good morals. (i cor. 15:33).

"your best friends should be cheering you on in your commitment to Jesus."

let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. (heb 10:24)

"like Ruth, look for something that will stimulate your growth in the Lord."

Sometimes this may mean moving to a different city, or state, or country. If you are in a desert currently, and growth is hard to "find," it may be time to move on to a new location, or find a different place to serve - one where you can be a spur and be spurred.

I have found that baby steps come in very handy here. It is crucial (at least, right now for myself!) that I surround myself with believers and focus on Scripture. I am memorizing Romans (and some other passages!) to keep my heart where it ought to be - focused on Christ, not this or that man! Carrying around notecards with verses written out is a great example of a baby step in keeping my heart focused on the Lord, and an excellent motivation to keep me excited on this "reckless" journey. :)

Also, more often i am seeing - in the various books I am reading - an undertone of this: Are you content to offer Jesus that which cost you nothing? ... "are you influencing those around you to consider a life-changing commitment to Jesus Christ"

I know I have been "influenced" by others - or rather, spurred, if you like the Hebrews terminology. I have been really enjoying being back in Michigan, simply because of the fellowship I find much closer now, less than an hour away! Being part of the earth-wide Body is also an encouragement, as many of my friends are migrating to distant shores, and the following quote I have taken as my "challenge" for the next few days (to start!)

Does your commitment to Jesus cause those around you to seriously consider whether Jesus is Lord of their lives?...

and the final chapter the authors give is this, and you can ask me how this is going:
Choose right now to put mediocrity behind you; courageously determine to pursue Jesus with your whole heart, soul, and mind. As a single woman, this is the perfect moment to establish a radical relationship with Jesus and remove any tokenism from your Christian walk.

:) All this I leave with you, readers, because I desire to challenge you with my "challenges" as well! May God grant you the wisdom to read between my lines and hear what He has to say on the matter!