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I will be taking my PC to the shop for a tune up in about an hour and don’t know when I’ll be able to post again.  I’ll see you back here in a few days.  Enjoy the sun, sand and surf while I’m off the island.

This is a bread recipe from Jewish Cookery by Leah W. Leonard. According to Amazon, this book contains the dishes your mother used to make, from the cookbook your grandmother brought over from the old country.

CHALLAH

Makes 2 loaves

• 8 cups flour
• 1 tblsp salt
• 1 tblsp sugar
• 4 tblsp vegetable shortening
• 2 cups hot potato water
• 2 packages dry yeast
• 3 eggs
• pinch of saffron added to hot liquid

Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.  Mix sugar and shortening with the hot liquid.  If potato water is not available, use plain hot water.  When cooled to lukewarm, dissolve the yeast in some of the liquid and stir into the flour to make a sponge in the center of the bowl.  Cover and let rise 30 minutes.  Add slightly beaten eggs to the sponge and stir in remaining liquid to make a dough.  Turn out on a floured board and knead thoroughly until smooth and elastic.  The dough should not stick to hand or board.  Return to mixing bowl, brush top with shortening or dust with flour, cover and let rise in a warm place until approximately double in bulk.  Knead on floured board for 10 minutes and shape into coils for round loaves or cut in half and divide into 3 to make braided or twist loaves.  Place on greased or floured baking sheet and let rise again till about double in bulk.  Brush with egg yolk and water and bake 15 minutes at 400F.  Reduce heat to 375F and bake for 45 minutes.

It’s the 15th, time for the Non~FIRST blog tour!(Join our alliance! Click the button!) Every 15th, we will featuring an author and his/her latest non~fiction book’s FIRST chapter!

  

When Answers Aren’t Enough Experiencing God as Good When Life Isn’t

Zondervan (April 1, 2008)

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Matt Rogers is copastor of New Life Christian Fellowship at Virginia Tech. Eight hundred students call it home.

FROM THE BACK COVER:

On April 16, 2007, the campus of Virginia Tech experienced a collective nightmare when thirty-three students were killed in the worst massacre in modern U.S. history. Following that horrendous event, Virginia Tech campus pastor Matt Rogers found himself asking and being asked, “Where is God in all of this?” The cliché-ridden, pat answers rang hollow.
In this book, Matt approaches the pain of the world with personal perspective—dealing with his hurting community as well as standing over the hospital bed of his own father—and goes beyond answers, beyond theodicy, beyond the mere intellectual. When Answers Aren’t Enough drives deeper, to the heart of our longing, in search of a God we can experience as good when life isn’t.

Product Details

List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (April 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310286816
ISBN-13: 978-0310286813

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

 

A Heavy,
Sinking SadnessEmbracing the World That Is

One

Lately I’ve been walking in the evenings. I tend to do that when stuck on a question. Maybe I’m trying to walk it off. On days when I have time, I drive out to Pandapas Pond in Jefferson National Forest to be in nature. Once there, I set off through the woods or slowly stroll along the water’s edge, deep in thought or prayer.

Most days, because of time, I have to settle for the streets around my home. I can quickly climb to the top of Lee Street, turn around, and look out over Blacksburg, the Blue Ridge backlit by the setting sun. From there, I can see much of Virginia Tech. The stately bell tower of Burruss Hall rises proudly above the rest.

On nights like tonight, when I get a late start and the sun is already down, I head for campus. At its center, separating the academic and residential sides of the school, sits the Drill Field, a wide-open grassy space named for the exercises that the Corps of Cadets practices to perfection there. After dark, old iron lampposts, painted black, blanket the ground in overlapping circles of light.

It was here on the Drill Field, the day after the shootings, that students placed thirty-two slabs of gray limestone rock — Hokie stones, as they’re called — in a semicircle in front of Burruss Hall, to commemorate the lives of loved ones lost. Thousands of mourners descended on the place, bearing with them a flood of condolences, a mix of bouquets, balloons, and poster-board sympathies. They came sniffling, clinging to tissues and to one another, and lifting their sunglasses to wipe tears from their tired, red eyes. The world came as well, vicariously through television, watching us, kneeling with us in grief.

I also came, revisiting the stones day after day, and sometimes at night, drawn to them by a need to connect with the dead whom I never knew. Always there was something new here, some trinket that had been added. At times the items seemed odd: a baseball for every victim, an American flag by every stone, though some of the dead were international students.

People took their time passing by this spot. There was no need to rush; there were no classes to attend. It would be days, dark and long, before there would be any distractions from the pain. For a time, there was no world beyond this place.

By day, soft chatter could be heard around the memorial. After sunset, no one spoke a word. During daylight, masses huddled near the stones, peering over shoulders to read the notes left there. At night, however, mourners passed by in a single-file line, waiting their turn, patient with the people in front who wished to pause at every name.

The masses have since receded. The Drill Field now is vacant (except for these stones) and silent. The semester has ended, most of the students are gone, and only the sounds of insects disturb the stillness of the summer evening air. If I close my eyes and take in the quiet, I can almost imagine nothing happened here.

Almost. Except for the stone reminders that lie at my feet. On one is written a simple, anguished note.

Jeremy,

We love you.

Mom and Dad

These stones are more than rocks. Each is all that remains of a son, a daughter, a husband who will never come home again. I picture my mom and dad, heartbroken, kneeling by a stone for me, had I been among the dead. Moreover, I imagine myself by a stone for my dad, had he not survived his fall.

This is a summer of mourning. I am grieving the world as it is. And I am asking, “If I embrace the world as it is, in all its sadness — if I refuse to bury my head in the sand, pretending all is well, but rather think and speak of the world as it actually is — can I, then, still know God as good? Can my experience of him be more consistent than my circumstances, which alternate between good and bad?”

Is this too much to expect?

Before I can know, I must face the world at its worst.

 

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven on account of his name.

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

I am writing to you, young people, because you have conquered the evil one.

I write to you, children, because you know the Father.

I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young people, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Do not love the world or the things in the world.  The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world – the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches – come not from the Father but from the world.  And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.

I John 2:12-17

Or rather Etsy bitsy goodies.  I’m addicted to free standing lace and there are some adorable FSL items at Flutterby Stitches.  It’s an Etsy shop where I’ve purchased some lace butterflies and dragonflies to use as Christmas tree ornaments.  My tree theme is tropical since I live in Florida and worked at a job where I roamed the Caribbean for ten years.  I’m going to be purchasing a few more when I decide what I want next.  If you don’t see something you want, you can ask Elizabeth and maybe she can make what you want in the color you want.  She also has a personal website  where you can read about and see examples of her many needlework talents.  This lady seems to be able to do it all.   She is an inspiration.

I’m planning my escape.  I’ve been trying to figure out how to leave my job and make enough income to work from home.  That time has not yet come, but I am choosing to leave my job.  I work as a mental health nurse and have been told in so many words that my job is to do paperwork and not “consult” with the clients.  It’s difficult for the nurses who actually do their job to get all the paperwork done in a shift, therefore, it is not uncommon for us to clock out and finish up the paperwork part of the job on our own time.  It has been decided that we will no longer be allowed to do that.  I was told Saturday night that I was to concentrate on getting all the paperwork done and if any of my clients need to talk, they can talk to someone on Monday. 

Excuse me.  I work in a crisis stabilization unit.  If any of my clients are in the middle of a meltdown on Saturday or Sunday, I’m supposed to tell them, “Hold that thought.  Someone will talk to you on Monday.”  That’s going to stabilize a crisis?  In other words, I’m no longer allowed to be therapeutic.  I became a nurse to help people, not ignore them when they are in need.  Maybe some can do that, but I can’t. 

So, I’m planning my escape.  It’s not as easy as just turning in my two week’s notice and leaving.  I need to have another job ready to go.  I also have medical needs that I need to take care of first.  I may have to be without medical insurance for awhile, so I’ll be hustling to get everything taken care of now.  I have an appointment with a nurse recruiter this coming Tuesday.  I’ve already turned in an application and sent my resume, and from our phone conversation, I can safely say that I will probably walk out the door as an employee.  I will start out as a part timer and if it’s what I want, work it into a full time position.  I’ve already been given that option.  We only discussed some of the benefits thus far and will continue that discussion along with the important one of $$$.  I will be paid on an hourly basis.  I’ve already done the career thing and am no longer interested in anything more than a job right now.  The bottom line.  I’m working towards that debt free lifestyle.

The eagle still cries for 9/11 and so do I. 

I have had this image on my computer for years and it’s so beautiful and heart rending that I want to share it.  I do not know where it originated and am unable to credit it’s creator.  If you have this information I would appreciate it if you would share it.  Thank you.

This recipe comes from one of those cookbooks that are put together by churches and organizations as fund raisers.  I no longer have the cookbook, so I don’t know what group put it out.  I was bad and cut out the recipes that I really liked and passed the book on to someone else.  This dates back to my college years in Joplin, Mo.  I think it was a gift from my friend, Jeannie, who lived in Arizona prior to coming to Joplin, but for all I know, it might have just dropped down out of the sky.  Wherever it came from, the recipe was contributed by Rosemary Barnes.  Thank you, Rosemary.

MEXICAN CORN BREAD

• 1 can cream style corn
• 1 cup yellow corn meal
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup cooking oil
• 1 1/2 cup grated cheese
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 can (small) green chilies
• 1 egg

Mix  together all ingredients except cheese and pour into large baking pan.  Top with the grated cheese and bake 45 minutes at 400 F.

Who is wise and understanding among you?  Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.  But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false in the truth.  Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.  For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.  And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

James 3:13-18

If you construct garments for adults, sewing for children sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?  Instead of making big people’s clothes, just make them the same only smaller.  Well, it doesn’t always work that way.  How many little bitty people, such as toddlers, do you know with a grown up shape?  Those bodies just aren’t built like adult bodies.  At Sew, Mama, Sew, there’s a good article about modifying pants patterns for babies and kids.  Sew Mommy has some tips for sewing for children.  You can see a tutorial for some really quick, easy bandana pants at this site.

Many universities have sites to help out the seamstress.  Mississippi State University Extension Service has information here which includes charts of children’s body measurements.  That’s very helpful if the child for whom you are sewing is maybe a niece, nephew or grandchild who lives at a distance from you.

Sewing.org is a very good place for easy kid’s patterns and projects.  You can check out their patterns and if you are more of a beginner, there are guidelines to help with the difficult or unfamiliar techniques.  This site is very informative and user friendly.  If you have no children for whom to sew, consider making some new little garments to donate to one of your favorite charities.  Many children have never had something new, especially something that’s been made with love.