Love Till It Hurts

My friend Ellen recently posted about loving well. She admitted that she doesn’t love well…certainly not like Jesus.

Well, for goodness sake, who does??

Then this Sunday, in our study of Romans, our pastor shared the words of Paul. “Owe no one anything, except to love one another.” We should owe no one anything except the debt of love. It’s the one debt we can never finish and say… “Whew! I’ve paid that off!”

So who are we to love?

Anyone the Lord puts in our path.

Anyone {ie everyone. Think the Good Samaritan.}

God created us for LOVE. With Him, and for each other. We are set apart for ALL creation for just this… Love! A self-sacrificing love, just like Jesus.

Yikes. Even those people that have hurt us? The reprehensible? The cranky? The annoying? {We’re not called to like these people… but we are called to love them.}

Loving the way Jesus loves us is the heart of the Gospel.

Loving God and one another and saying “no” to ourselvees. Giving up self and loving others is where we will find LIFE.

Nothing says “I’m a fake” more than being of Christ and acting like the world… treating each other with disrespect and contempt.

Ouch. How can God forgive me when I hold others in contempt?

We are called to be the light to which the nations gather.

Do I love anyone but myself? I’m afraid the answer to that question more often than not tends to be NO. {I’m seeing my word for the year in all capital letters}

I sat there in church after communion and was just broken as I thought about several people I’m being called to love… and I have to admit that I have to grit. my. teeth. to do it. Thank goodness I don’t have to do this alone. Apart from Christ… I can do nothing.

Now it’s off to do some loving. What about you?

We Interrupt This Message…

While I’m sure this little vicarious trip to Colorado is scintillating and you can’t wait for the next installment… we interrupt to bring you a bite to eat.

We gotta eat, right??

I was perusing our local paper’s cooking section yesterday and spotted a recipe that goes right to my culinary jugular… curry. I had most of the ingredients on hand, so I made the executive decision to have that for dinner. A quick trip to the grocery for some citrus, shallots and basil and I was … uh … cooking.

Soon the celery, peppers and shallots were simmering in olive oil.

followed by a generous portion of curry…

Coconut milk, diced pineapple, chicken stock and more spices…

Reducing, then finally adding the shrimp. I served the fragrant sauce and goodies over brown jasmine rice and could have sprinkled the entire business with fresh basil… except the basil looked absolutely anemic at the grocery store, so I used the squeeze kind in a tube. I hardly thought a big green turd {sorry, but it is what it is} on top would be appetizing.

The Mister was skeptical at the sound of the ingredients. Typically he’s not a fan of sweet curries. This one delivered, folks. The perfect blend of sweet with a little bit of heat. Complex flavors, compelling textures… it had indian comfort food written all over it. All I can say is YUM {and that’s an understatement}.

Go make you some yourself. It. Will. Not. Disappoint.

Curry Shrimp with Pineapple

1.5 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 shallots, diced

2.5 cups bell peppers, diced

1/2 cup celery

1/2 c olive oil

3 T curry powder

1 qt chicken stock

1 tsp thyme leaves

1 T tamarind paste {fear factor in a jar… but do it. It’s yummy}

6 oz coconut milk {I used light}

2 T brown sugar

1 bay leaf

1 c diced pineapple

1 c diced tomato

1/2 c chopped basil

zest of one lime

zest of one orange

Saute shallots, peppers and celery with olive oil in 2 qt stock pot, cooking until tender. Add curry and stir for 1 minute. Add stock, thyme, tamarind paste, milk, sugar and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce by half.

Stir in pineapple, tomato, half of basil {reserve other half for garnish} and zest of citrus. Add shrimp and stir until pink and done. Serve over rice, garnish with remaining basil.

It’s simple. It’s delicious. It’s what I’m having for lunch {yay for leftovers!}.

{Pardon the poor iPhone photos. The Mister thinks it’s absolutely absurd that I write a blog… he thinks it’s entirely depraved to shoot photos of one’s cooking. Sigh. Men. Therefore it’s a quick snap and I’m too lazy today to edit my shots. I give you straight-from-the-iPhone-photos.}

Hanging with the Hipsters in Boulder

On Monday, we decided to give our Denver family a break and we took a little day trip to Boulder. It was a lovely January day with the trademark cerulean blue skies. A perfect day for exploring.

I just love me some Urban Spoon. We arrived close to lunchtime, so of course, our first stop needed to be FOOD. Sun Mountain Pub and Brewery had all the e-accolades so we thought we’d give it a shot. Yeah, and apparently everyone else in Boulder, too.

It being the day after New Years, meant no work for many, so I guess we weren’t the only ones with a day to ourselves {or an empty stomach for that matter, too}. I stood in line and waited while the Mister handled some business back home on the phone and BoyWonder and LaBarista explored the nearby shops. That’s the fun thing about cell phones… a quick text and everyone can reassemble without everyone having to wait in line.

I would argue I had the better end of the wait-stick as the staff kept coming by with sample platters. A hefty sample of their home-brew, some burger wedges and an entire basket of fries were the offerings… and the staff were so attentive to those of us waiting. I almost felt like a VIP.

The Mister joined me and we decided to continue our wait at the bar at the rear of the restaurant where we could watch the kitchen in action and sample some of the 20+ varieties of beer offered. A quick text to BW & LB and we were all adequately entertained while we waited. Yum. Tastiest wait ever! We had a chance to peruse the menu while we waited and got a kick out of this:

Most of you wouldn’t find this amusing, but from where we come from, it’s “Coke,” not “Soda Pop.” And if it’s not Coke, it’s listed as Fountain Drinks. Both BoyWonder and LaBarista cracked up the first time they heard “pop” from one of the relatives.

We could easily see why there was such a wait. Yum on every level. I had a grilled portabella sandwich and it was FANTASTIC! All of our food was top-notch. If you’re ever in Boulder… stop in. You won’t be sorry!

After lunch, we needed to walk off some beer lunch and headed down the block to the Pearl Street Mall. We stopped to watch a street performer {performing bare chested in January in the mountains… brrrr} and then poked in a few shops. The Mister would rather be water-boarded than shop, but he was a good sport.

I’m surprised they didn’t charge admission to enter. Dang that stuff is expensive. I think I’m more comfortable in this setting {incidentally, our first stop from the Denver Airport!}.

Next stop:

I’m surprised I wasn’t forced encouraged to buy a pair. On account of drool-damage. {Swoon} Dang again.

We did finally make some purchases, thankfully not these:

I mean seriously… cheddar cheese worms?? What kind of place IS this?? The “original worm snack??” Like are there copy-catters out there? Oh dear.

Honey… we’re not in Kansas anymore.

Clearly.

Rocky Mountain New Year

Tags

BoyWonder, Denver, the Mister

Even though resources are tight {thank you, Dental Trainwreck of 1998}, we cashed in some frequent flyer points and shacked up with some family members and crashed Denver for the New Year.

After visiting with family for a few days, we drove to Buena Vista, home of Young Life’s Frontier and Trail West camps. We met up with our church’s college students and enjoyed several days of skiing and awesome fellowship.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First things first.

Flying in on Dec 31 resulted in us propping open our eyelids for an additional two hours to ring in 2012. It’s not like the idea of really cheap champagne in wax Dixie cups wasn’t an incentive to stay awake… or maybe it was watching the ball drop on television knowing that it had already happened two hours prior. Weird.

BoyWonder and LaBarista {she’s an assistant manager at Starbucks and manages a full time school load while maintaining an incredible GPA… I should just call her WonderWoman!} were able to score some tickets to the Broncos/Chiefs game, so they spent Sunday cheering on Tim Tebow and crew {to a loss, but it was at least close}. The Mister and I met up with his cousin in downtown Denver, where we ate lunch at Maggianos and poked around 16th Street. I was always struggling to catch up. Yeah, I was “that lady” with the camera. I love remembering things later! {Even weird neon in the Jimmy Johns}

Mister was looking for May D&F’s, where he worked just out of college. Apparently, it had been torn down years ago, but we enjoyed looking! I love how the Mister is such a good sport. He never hesitates to do something, even if it makes him look like a doofus. I love that about him!

Denver is a beautiful city… so clean and we just loved 16th Street! Everything was still decorated for the holidays and it got prettier after the sun went down.Later that evening, we met the Mister’s former college roommate and his wife… whom in all these years, we’d never met. It was fun to catch up with them and enjoy some photos after dinner. We attempted “the jump” picture numerous times… never successfully. But it was fun just dodging traffic and enjoying the crisp evening.

Family, Friends, Fellowship and laughter. Life is good!

We’re Expecting!

Tags

exciting lifestyles of the mundane, expectations, photography

Oh dear lerd… not that kind of expecting…

It only takes 9 months to gestate a child. It takes way longer than that to get an orchid to bloom!

About this same time last year, our orchid bloomed. It was much like watching a fetus develop. Seriously… the buds kept getting bigger and bigger until they bust forth in a bloom. I sort of wish I had a time-release camera on it because I think it would be cool to watch.

{I guess it’s obvious I don’t get out much, nor do I have littles at home to distract me.} Don’t hate me because I’m boring.

On a related front, our Christmas Cactus is only about a month off schedule. Oh well. I suppose anything living in our house needs to get on the same timeframe. And I’m perpetually late. Why not my houseplants, too?

In other news, my iPhoto and Photoshop is misbehaving, resulting in some difficult photo sharing and editing. I’m working around my backhand, and should have some shots to share from earlier this month. There were some really good times {don’t get excited… this coming from the lady who wants to stare at her gestating orchid}.

I know this leaves you on the edge of your seat…

Oh the great expectations!

Extremes

Tags

extreme makeover home edition

Knoxville is all a-flutter over the Extreme Makeover Home Edition being here for the week. To be honest, I’m sorta all a-flutter too. It’s an ambitious undertaking and it’s really cool to see the community come together for a good cause.

The Watsons, the most deserving family, are the founders of Restoration House, a local non-profit, standing in the gap for single mothers.

Grab a kleenex and watch this. How can you not love this ministry?

Our company is going to the catering tent each morning with a day’s supply of our {slightly addicting} Hint-of-Orange Iced Tea, cups and our crunchity nugget ice. It’s just a tiny thing, but it is filling in the gaps between cokes and coffee. Here in the South, it’s as important as water, ha! We’ll be feeding the crew after the reveal. It’ll be nothing like feeding the army of people there right now!

I arrived yesterday in the middle of a downpour. I actually waited until a huge thunder and lightning storm passed… but the storm never blew over. And it stayed super soggy all day long.

The security around the site is intense…you better be on someone’s list or you ain’t gettin’ by. Don’t care how much you want a glimpse of Ty! I tried to shoot a photo, but a) I was driving, b) did I mention security?? and c) uhhhh POURING! I dropped of my wares {picked the wrong day not to own rainboots or a raincoat… YIKES!} and snaked my way through three checkpoints on my way out. Sheesh… all that’s missing is the razor wire!!

Imagine demolishing and building a home in one week. That’s extreme!

Now imagine it in a massive, all-day downpour. Can you say MUD?? How in the world does one pour footers in driving rain? It’s drizzly today, but I hear it’ll be changing soon. As in SNOW. That’s due later today. That’s more than extreme.

I’m sure this isn’t the first build that’s been hampered by inclement weather. But seriously… praying that things turn around for them and they can enjoy the beautiful January weather Knoxville often has. Yes. Beautiful weather and January in the same sentence. It happens here… alot. So c’mon, weather… cooperate already!

I can’t think of a more deserving family than the Watson’s. And how awesome that there is national attention being directed to the Restoration House, too. Awesome. Extremely awesome!

{sorry for the less-than-extremely-awesome photo, shot from my car, while driving and dodging security and freezing with the rain coming in through the passenger window… what I don’t do for you people!}

Never Too Late to Start a Habit

I know it’s January 11. Believe me, with deadlines and long lists of things to do, I feel every single minute ticking away.

And even though I still don’t have time to blog… I’m going to. Something is on my heart, and I better get it out, or it’s going to cause me to A.D.D. for the rest of the day. {I’m sure something else will distract me… something always does!}

Each day, A Holy Experience, Ann Voskamp’s blog, is sent to my email. Oftentimes I read it on my iPhone {sad, because then the music doesn’t play… and the music is delicious!}. Sometimes, I can’t read it. Not because I’m not interested, but because I’m afraid my heart might explode at Ann’s words.

I know I’m not explaining this correctly. Ann has a Holy Gift. She writes so poetically, so beautifully, that sometimes my heart can hardly accept what she has to say. The fact that she takes RIDICULOUS photographs {and by “ridiculous,” I mean crazy-good} that only add to the overwhelming effect of her words.

Last year, I read One Thousand Gifts. It was life-changing, but really, not as habitually life changing as it could have been.

Enter The Joy Dare.

A call to capture the gifts. One day at a time. The challenge is to record three things each day that coincide with the daily prompt. At the end of the year… over one thousand recordings of God’s blessings.

I dont’ know if I’ll make it for the rest of the 355 days of the year, but I’m sure going to try.

Today’s dare… “3 yellow things that that strike you as a fresh mercy.”

Would it be bad if one of mine is butter? Oh, sweet mercy… on popcorn {a guilty pleasure in which I seldom, if ever indulge}, on waffles… on anything, really. Real, legit butter. Not the fake stuff at movie theatres or margarine. But. Real. Butter.

Secondly, I would choose daffodils. They are a fresh mercy. Even though the winters aren’t overly harsh here, they’re still such a welcome of new beginnings. Of spring, warmer temperatures and the abundance of God’s blessings of rebirth.

Lastly… hmmmm. Yellow fresh mercy. Mmmmm. If I had kids still at home, I’d say the school bus on a mid-August morning!  But I think I’d have to say sunshine. Especially on a wet {understatement} grisly gray day here… it was a sweet mercy to catch some morning rays through the angry, black clouds.

Excuse me for not having the amazing photographic talents of Mrs. Voskamp. Or her writing talents. But I did share. Now it’s up to you to go get you some Ann. But you might want to stock up on your heart meds, first. She sure blesses, challenges and overwhelms mine!

Withdrawals

Gone for a week and home to Christmas piled up in the corner, and a fully decorated tree.

…and to a mountain of laundry.

…and to a huge to-do list for work.

…and now to a severely empty house.

Boy Wonder has gone back to begin his last semester of college.

BamaGirl left before New Years to go on a cruise with her boyfriend and his family. They came back in time to make it to NOLA for the National Championship.

{This is what she made for BamaGuy. It’s reclaimed wood from the tornado.}

I’m sure that was an incredibly exciting time. What a sweet reward for that bruised and battered town!{This was taken just before Christmas in a neighborhood decimated last April.}

The Mister left this morning for Atlanta for work-related meetings until Friday.

I’m here with the snoring trio of weiner dogs and the tick-tick-ticking of the clock.

For a house that was filled to overflowing much of the holiday break, this is just so quiet.

Quiet except for the washing machine.

And clothes dryer.

I hate to be a Scrooge, but putting away {that’s for you, Ellie} the Christmas things isn’t nearly as fun as putting them out after Thanksgiving.

No Elf playing in the background. No smells of baking cookies. No eggnog. No Bing Crosby.

{I actually managed to crank out some cookies during Christmas… Brown Sugar Shortbread cookies. Thank you, Pinterest!}

I’ll just grab my frosty glass of SlimFast and get busy.

I’ll busy myself with thoughts of how thankful I am that I have a wonderful family, a host of holiday traditions that bring a smile to my face, and the fact that I have special memories to pack away. Wrapping each with tissue and tucking them away until next year. We had an incredibly merry and wonderful Christmas.

So abundantly blessed.

Home Sweet Home

Home after a week in the rugged west. To say the climate there is arid may not be entirely accurate, but for this girl who lives in the humid southeast, I’d say arid is an understatement. Just ask the inside of my nose. Or my hair. For a week, I felt like I had my hand on one of those electrostatic jobbies you see at science museums.

source

Bad hair day doesn’t even begin to describe it!
We had a blast and I have scads of stuff to share, but for now, I have to make like a girl who wants to keep her job.
Even though I do sleep with the boss…
Stay tuned. {One thing I promised myself is to be a more faithful blogger in 2012 and not flake off like I did last year.}

{Word}

Instead of making a resolution I know I’ll break before midnight tonite, I am choosing a word.

A word to focus on this year. To strive for. To embrace. To challenge me. To press in to.

I looked back in my archives and can’t find a post related to it, but I know I’ve done this before. Much like previous resolutions, it ended up discarded along the way.

Not this time. I’m claiming this word and posting it right above my computer screen so I can be reminded daily.

It’s something I so struggle with. I have too much of the opposite of this word and it pollutes every ounce of my being.

I could choose Peace, but that doesn’t quite get it. I need peace… don’t get me wrong. Peace is certainly the opposite of striving… something I struggle with as well.

I could choose Joy, but that would be so blog title and I am reminded of that pretty much daily. Joy is certainly better than Anger… a poison that bubbles to the surface faster than anything else in my battered soul.

I could choose Truth, something that I have been working towards a great deal in 2011. Truth over sarcasm {my mother tongue}, truth over caginess, truth over circumventing important issues. This is a work in progress, and certainly not something to abandon in 2012.

My word for 2012 is HUMILITY. And won’t I be embarrassed if this was my official word for 2011??

It probably could be my word for the rest of my life.

Oh how I want to fast from ME and choose others.

Oh, how I long to not care about what others think about me, or if they notice the things I am doing. Getting my recognition so that I can feel important.

Pride is the ugly underbelly of my being. I will expose this cancer to the light and work hard to remove this… or make it so small as to be unrecognizable.

And with this new focus on Humility, I’m praying that the ugly anger and sinful sarcasm go down the drain alongside pride. Yes. Let it be so. May I continue to be mindful of me and not let myself get in the way of others.

Bring on yourself, 2012. I greet you with joy, hope and celebration of great things to come.

Welcome!