a mess in the kitchen

If you've ever lived with me, you know what happens when I cook or bake...I make a HUGE mess. (But I almost always clean it up. ...almost.)

I've been making one of those famed messes today, and along the way, I've learned several things. I thought I'd share them with all of you, in case you'd like to learn from my...shall we say, struggles. Or occasionally, mishaps, even. Ha. ...

1. Tires are an effective way to crush oreos for making oreo truffles. Food processors, however, make CONSIDERABLY less mess, are far easier, and are much faster. (If you choose to go the tire route, however, please be sure to double bag the oreos. Everyone who will eat them will be grateful.)

2. If you need a fruit puree for your recipe, spend the extra money to buy fresh fruit. It's much less complicated than frozen fruit, and the extra money is well worth the decrease in effort and mental anguish over why the puree is so thick and how to make it thinner.

3. If a recipe calls for softened cream cheese...it means softened cream cheese. Cream cheese is like any man...you can't take short cuts; you need to give that cream cheese time to soften up! Your elbow will thank you later.

4. If you're melting white chocolate, DO NOT LET IT COME INTO CONTACT WITH WATER. Or food coloring. Or any liquid, for that matter. (This also means, be sure that if you wash the container you're melting it in, be sure it is completely dry.) Otherwise, it starts to look like the clumpy lard that it actually is. And nobody wants that.

5. Timing is everything. So be sure you know when you need things to be ready, and do as much before hand as possible. Things tend to take longer than you think they will, so if you're preparing these delicious treats for a party (as I am today), do as much as possible the day before. If you're not able to...have a stress reliever on hand. I find a simple glass of wine does the trick quite nicely.

coffee with Grace

So I know it sounds from the title like this post will be about grace...well, it is. Only it's Grace, not grace. With a capital G. Because Grace is a person.

Grace is a Korean woman auditing a few classes at seminary, and a couple of friends and I had coffee with her during our lunch hour today. (Hence the title-I know, I blow you away with my ingenuity.) I must give full credit for the plan to my sweet friend Rachel; I'd never even met Grace before Rachel suggested a few of us eat lunch with her today.

I have to admit, at first I approached the lunch with trepidation, because I am simply not good with unknown situations and/or new people. But goodness, y'all, it was simply delightful. Grace bought us all coffee, and we just sat and...well, peppered her with questions. And the more we asked, and the more she answered, the more the smile on my face grew. Because it was just so neat.

Grace had been praying since she was 9ish (I think?) to come to America. When she became a believer (still in Korea), she began to dream of coming to America to study theology. She told us of how she was a member of a church of 60,000. (Which was fascinating in itself, because we soon realized she meant that it was a bunch of churches, not 60,000 at the particular building. But the fact that she initially described it as her church--that's a pretty great perception of unity, if you ask me.) She eventually moved to Pennsylvania with her children, shortly followed by her husband. One of her pastors in Korea graduated from our seminary, and recommended it to her. Through various other twists of providence, here she landed.*

She hopes to pass her TOEFL so that she can pursue a degree instead of just auditing. When we asked her what she wants to do, she told us that she wants to use a degree to teach the youngest generation of Koreans who are growing up in America about the Faith, in English.

...

How exciting is that?! And how many acts of God and answered prayers and unique turns of events to bring her to us! ... And this is why I love being in seminary. Because I get to hear stories like that, of how God is at work literally around the world. And share them. =)

And if you think about it, pray that she would pass the TOEFL and be accepted as a student. Because she really is a wonderful lady, and it would be such an advantage to the Kingdom.

*I'm being vague in the post on purpose. I don't trust the Internets, so I don't like to give out the personal information of other people.

hymnody

A great video from the Gospel Coalition, talking about why we the church sing hymns today. Give it a viewing.

Old Hymns for Our Day from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

a glimpse of Zion

Last evening, I had the opportunity to hear R.C. Sproul preach at First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC. It was the first talk in a series of three, but unfortunately that will have been my only attendance.

(A side note: Apparently Sinclair Ferguson (head pastor of First Pres.) and RC Sproul are old friends. Which means they both ragged on each other quite a bit before the actual sermon began. ... It was kind of hilarious.)

Sproul taught from two Old Testament texts, Amos 8:9-14 and Hosea 4:1-6. Both of these texts speak of the anger of God towards his covenant people, for their lack of desire for knowledge of Him, and the ensuing famine of his Word that God laid upon his people. It was a powerful message, a challenge to churches today to spend more time (or place more emphasis on) proclaiming the Word of God, that the bride of Christ might grow in her knowledge of God, and so desire God, and through that desire the things of God, more deeply. It was a challenge to our generation, to pursue a knowledge of God, that this famine we are facing might be ended.

Yet perhaps the most powerful moment of the service, for me, was not in the midst of the sermon.

The entire evening was organized like an actual worship service, and the sanctuary at First Pres. was PACKED...I'm talking every seat (including the balcony and choir loft) full, people sitting on the stairs leading up to the balcony, and people standing along the sides and in the back. The capacity of the sanctuary is 1250 people, which means there were MORE than that present. And why does this make a difference?

Before Sproul's address, we all sang a hymn he had written for First Pres., for their bicentennial celebration. It is entitled Saints of Zion, and the final verse and chorus are as follows:

The church of God triumphant shall in that final day

Have all her sons and daughters home from the well fought fray.

Then come, O saints of Zion in sweet communion wed;

The bride awaits her glory: Lord Jesus Christ, her head.

There was something transcendent about standing in that beautiful, old sanctuary, with 1250+ people, singing in one loud, unified voice of the future of the bride of Christ. Knowing we'd all be singing together again, surrounded by even more than those saints present, in the presence of the Almighty. I tell you, I was filled with such shalom...I truly felt I had seen a glimpse of Zion.

lessons on lament

I read through the book of Lamentations (in entirety) today, for what I think is the first time.

...I was moved.

If you've never read through it, you really should. Probably right now. I won't be offended at all if you quit reading this post to go read it. Mainly because I wouldn't know, but also because I think you'll get more out of reading Scripture than reading my blog. (I know, how humble of me, to admit that reading the Word of God is more beneficial than reading my rambling thoughts.) (Also, if you're not catching the sarcasm here, re-read it with that in mind, please.)

There were three things that particularly struck me in reading through Lamentations: 1) The despair displayed/the author of its cause, 2) What's actually being lamented, and 3) The hope inexplicably (except not really) squished right into the middle.

1) I wonder if those who only believe in the warm fuzzy god of rainbows and sunshine have ever read Lamentations. Or if they have, what they do with it. Because there is simply no way to get around what this book of the Bible is saying--the entire second chapter expounds on how "the Lord has swallowed up without mercy all the habitations of Jacob; in his wrath he has broken down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah...he has withdrawn from them his right hand in the face of the enemy; he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob, consuming all around." (2:2-3) The author clearly is in despair, and he clearly knows from whence his suffering comes: it is from God.

And what a despair it is! 2:11 says, "My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies fain in the streets of the city." The speaker here is so consumed with anguish that he is physically ill. There are much more poignant verses than this, even.

2) But what is so distressing? Is it the physical suffering that Israel is being put through? No. For we find in 3:39-42 the true thing being lamented here: Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: 'We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.'

This particularly struck me. In the time of the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, in a time of such severe persecution, such a departure from the former glory of Israel that it is described as women actually boiling and eating their own children (v. 4:10, I don't know if this is a metaphor or what was actually happening, but regardless, the state of Israel is clear here), that all this despair and devastation is not the worst thing. To the author, forsaking the love of God is by far more lamentable than any physical affliction.

This lead me to consider, how often do I pray for deliverance from my circumstances, instead of examining my heart and praying for deliverance from my flesh, for repentance? A hard question.

3) Hope. In chapter 3, after admitting personal responsibility for such trials and the justness of God in his wrath (1:18), and then discussing at length the results of such wrath (ch. 2), the author breaks forth in extolling the love and goodness of God.

Wait, what?

I have to admit, I have quoted 3:22-23 for years, as a comfort to my soul. I had never checked to see its context. I was astounded. How can one speak with love for God after truly understanding and acknowledging such suffering as coming from his very hand?

To sum up my response to this whole book, I think the answer lies in repentance and humility. The author clearly realizes that the responsibility actually lies with the nation of Israel, with God's people. When we do not love God as we should, he chastises us. Yet this is for our good, because God truly is a God of love. And when we see how deeply we have wronged such a very good God, who has patiently and lovingly called us to him time and again (see ALL the prophets), we will truly lament our sin. This does not exclude lamenting our circumstances, and crying out to God for deliverance from physical suffering, but it cannot be separated from an understanding and abhorrence over our sin. And when we truly understand this, we can remind ourselves, as does the author here, that indeed God's "mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (3:22-23).

...one final thought: Note that the hope comes in the middle. The author does not end on a high note, but rather with uncertainty. ("Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old--unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us.") I am grateful that this book ends this way; for the Christian life is not a steady climb upwards in our awareness of our sanctification. There are times of hope and times of uncertainty; it would be false to think that there will never be another time of doubt after hope has been enjoyed. Praise God that he shows us in his word that this is not abnormal, that we might cling to this example as assurance.

procrasticrafting

The title is a lie. I wasn't procrasticrafting when I made this. (But I am procrastiblogging...)

This past Sunday, I combined a Pinterest idea with an idea from my boss's family and an old college practice. I used to write out Bible verses on notecards with colored sharpies and tape them to my bathroom mirror. I haven't done that in a while, for a multitude of reasons. But one of them was because it never looked nice. (Now I'll admit, I don't have the greatest handwriting, so that was part of it. Plus I was using colored sharpies. Really, self? What were you thinking?)

Anyways, I took a picture frame I got for Christmas, put some saved tissue paper in it, got out my dry erase pen...and voila!

I wrote a line from Henry Lyte's hymn "Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken" (one of my favorites) on it this evening (so maybe I've been procrasticrafting after all...), but the great thing about this is that you can change it whenever you want, but it always looks nice! At least a lot nicer than 3x5 notecards and colored sharpie...

Now every time I brush my teeth, I can ponder the words and be encouraged. Winning.*

*Clarification: I am NOT quoting Charlie Sheen here, but rather a friend from college who started saying that in 2006, at least. I have a video to prove it. I just want everyone to know that.