DRINK....your veggies

About a month ago, I was blessed to be able to get a Vita-Mix.  If you've never heard of one, they're a blender - on STEROIDS.  I had heard how wonderful they are for years and as food gets harder to eat I thought that it would be a wonderful way to be able to still eat fresh fruits and veggies.  Well, IT IS!  I LOVE it! One of my favorite things is the "Everything Smoothie".  The ingredients are: soy milk, red grapes, pineapple chunks, an orange, frozen peaches, carrots, broccoli, spinach, frozen strawberries, frozen banana and ice.  Blend until smooth!  It tastes DELICIOUS!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

God’s Timing: Trusting It

Most of you don't know this, but we applied for "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" a few months ago. We need a makeover. Our house is so cute, but it is groaning under a plethora of small not-so-small problems. As my disability progresses, the needs for home modifications will increase. The irony in this is that, today, they are bringing a family back to their new home just 60 miles from us. The feeling of "not quite" getting what we need is almost indescribable.



God is working on me, teaching me to trust Him to meet our needs and to do so in HIS time. How hard that is!!!! This morning the devotional below was in my email inbox. God does have a knack for timing. Thank you, Father, for loving me and for meeting our needs in Your way, in Your time. Amen.



His Vision, His Way, In His Timing
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman
10-27-2009

"Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about'" (Gen 22:2).

Have you ever wanted something so bad that you would do almost anything to get it? Have you ever gotten so close to fulfilling a dream only to have it disappear right before your eyes? Such was the case for Abraham.

God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. He would have a son. However, Abraham panicked when Sarah aged beyond child bearing years and tried to help God by birthing Ishmael through Sarah's servant, who was not the promised son. Eventually, Isaac was born, who was the promised son.

However, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son on an altar to demonstrate his obedience to God. Truly, this is one of the hardest instructions given to one of God's people in all of scripture. It compares only to the Heavenly Father sacrificing His own Son. God intervenes and allows a ram to get caught in the bushes nearby, symbolizing the Lamb of God as a prophetic sign of what is to take place in the future.

God often births a vision in our lives only to allow it to die first before the purest version of the vision is manifested. This has happened several times in my own journey. Oswald Chambers observes, "God's method always seems to be vision first, and then reality, but in between the vision and the reality there is often a deep valley of humiliation. How often has a faithful soul been plunged into a like darkness when after the vision comes the test. When God gives a vision and darkness follows, waiting on God will bring you into accordance with the vision He has given if you await His timing. Otherwise, you try to do away with the supernatural in God's undertakings. Never try to help God fulfill His word."*

When God's vision is finally birthed, nothing will stop it. Our job is to allow God to birth His vision through us His way and in His timing.



Oswald chambers, Not Knowing Where, Discovery House, Grand Rapids, MI.

Fall Foods

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Brown Sugar Sauce

Raisins or chopped pecans can be used in place of the dried cranberries, or try another chopped dried fruit.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces French bread, torn into small pieces, about 5 cups
• 2 cups half-and-half, or half milk and half cream
• 3 large eggs
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• cinnamon sugar, optional

Preparation:

Butter an 11x7-inch baking dish. Heat oven to 350°.

In a bowl, cover the torn bread with the half-and-half; set aside.

In another bowl, combine eggs, sugars, pumpkin, cranberries, melted butter, spices, and vanilla; blend well. Pour pumpkin mixture over soaked bread and stir to blend.

Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle top with cinnamon-sugar, if desired. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until set.

Serve with a vanilla dessert sauce or brown sugar sauce, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.
Serves 8.

Brown Sugar Sauce

A delicious brown sugar sauce for bread pudding, fruit desserts, pound cake, ice cream, and other goodies.

Prep Time: :

Cook Time: :

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce to medium-low and let boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Sauce will thicken as it cools. This sauce is delicious with bread pudding, plain unfrosted cakes, ice cream, or other desserts.

Morally Reprobate Judges the Physically and Mentally Handicapped

Tonight I believe I got a loud and clear message from God! I'm still reeling, actually, but I just had to share. It was church "Ladies' Night Out" and we had a wonderful meal at Olive Garden combined with some fellowship. Our waiter was a handsome, dark-haired, dimpled young man from Israel. As I looked at him, it dawned on me that he was "what Phillip would look like if he didn't have Fragile X Syndrome". Now, don't get me wrong, I think Phillip is handsome, but the protein deficit caused by Fragile X has made his face long, his muscles droopy and his mouth hang just a bit "open" most of the time. In short, he "looks" disabled. My mother's heart felt sad seeing a living, charming young man who was virtually the image of what might-have-been. Then it dawned on me... that IS what Phillip is going to look like in Heaven!

Then I came home, and found a Facebook link to this article. After reading it, and being suitably appalled it hit me: PHILLIP IS EXACTLY LIKE GOD WANTS HIM TO BE! God didn't WILL him to have Fragile X, but God allowed it, so that people like you and me could learn to value people for more than what they look like, what they can "do" or how much "stuff" or power they have!

Although I haven't set eyes on Phillip since Olive Garden tonight, I know that I will look at him differently now. I will see not only the gift that he is to our world (and he IS) but the handsome young man that God created him to be. I pray that when I get to Heaven with Phillip, he's able to put his arms around me and say "Mom, thanks for loving me like I was... and seeing who I WAS"!

Tough Times

Is this economy causing you to struggle? Wonder where the money for the bills is gonna come from? I DO!

I have a suggestion...... GIVE!

Sound insane? Maybe.

But unless we all start giving again, WE are the ones who are going to suffer! Find your favorite "worthy cause" and give a little. It doesn't have to sink the budget.... you'd probably "find" $20.00 for something you really wanted to do, right? Why don't we all REALLY WANT to help someone else???

I've taken the step myself. In my case it is another step of faith, along a pathway of faith. Don't let fear rob you of the joy of giving! The governor or Illinois put it this way:

"Service to others is the rent we pay for our place in God's earth."

Service and giving are the ONLY "rent" that pays US back more than we give!