God's Word for Today

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

What do these stones mean?

In bible study last week we covered some familiar territory, however the unique things about That The World May Know is that is puts a wonderful slant on those things that may have been very familiar to you.

To quote Mr. Vander Laan  “to understand the Scriptures, we need to know more than what the words mean, we need to understand them from the perspective of the people who thought and spoke in terms of those images every day of their lives…”

It really does put a different flavor into the scriptures when you are studying them through the eyes of our Israelite forefathers.

What did Peter mean when he called Jesus the Living Stone, what did he mean when he challenges us to be like living stones?

To fully understand what Peter was saying we must first examine what the stones were, what they stood for so to speak!

All through the Old Testament we see examples of how amazing God is. How powerfully he worked in the lives of the Israelites. There are many instances when immediately after a powerful encounter with God someone felt compelled to set up a stone pillar in remembrance of His power. There are also many instances when God himself commanded that stones be set up as well.

After confirming the covenant (Exodus 24) Moses set up twelve stones to remember that very pivotal moment. The stones represented something important. It was a physical reminder of a powerful encounter with God, but it was also a tangible reminder as well. Each time they looked at those standing stone they would remember God and how powerful he worked in the lives. These stones stood as immovable reminders of God’s steadfast promises and his unchangeable character.

They were hard to miss.

They were markers of something important. They were also opportunities for discussion, for re commitment, for remembering how great God really is. They were real markers for all to see, the Israelites and even the people who lived around them. The stones were a witness to what had happen.

Everyday they would pass by the stone pillars and were reminded of how God brought them out of slavery in Egypt and how he again had been faithful to his promise to lead them into the promise lands.

In the Book of Joshua we read about another powerful miracle. God gives Joshua very specific instruction and sends them all down to the Jordan River that is also at flood stage. The priests carrying the ark of the convent had to take a serious leap of faith and had to actually step into the rushing flood waters, only then would God’s awesome power be displayed. The waters parted and all of Israelites crossed over on dry ground and entered into the long awaited promised land. (Joshua 3-4) God commanded that twelve stone be brought up out of the river bed and set up as a reminder.

Joshua 4:20-24 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea[b] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.”

The Jews were masters at using word pictures as teaching tools, they told stories to teach critical lessons. They used images that were familiar to their listeners. Take in Peters words, listen with the image of a standing stone in your mind. See the power of God as he holds back the waters and the Israelites pass through on dry ground. Think about what the stones stood for and what they represented and why they were set up!

1 Peter 2

The Living Stone and a Chosen People

 

4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:

   “See, I lay a stone in Zion,
   a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
   will never be put to shame.”[a]

7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

   “The stone the builders rejected
   has become the capstone,[b][c]

8 and,

   “A stone that causes men to stumble
   and a rock that makes them fall.”[d]

   They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

 

I have to ask myself, what do people see when they look at me. Do they see my good deeds? Am I a living standing stone or have I allowed the world’s bulldozer to knock my pillar down?

It is something to strive for and it is something to remember.

Blessings

R

 

 

Taken from the “Follow The Rabbi” website: “The Hebrew word translated "standing stones" is massebah and means "to set up." The Israelites followed ancient customs by setting up standing stones as a reminder of God's covenant and supernatural acts on their behalf.  The story of the stone was passed down from generation to generation through oral tradition.”

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Project 365 ~ Week 39…comfort food and shopping

I think I have lost my P365 mojo…I can’t claim a hormonal funk but I can claim being unmotivated in certain areas of life and at times a bit obsessive in others (i.e. getting ready for my bible study to start, now that it has maybe I can get back into the swing of things and put my summer laziness behind me!!!!) . Over the last six weeks the hubs has been out of town almost every week and he left again on Saturday and will not be back until Thursday of this week. Confession, I enjoy it on occasion when the hubs is away because it lightens my load in the dinner preparation department. However having him gone consistently every week for six or more weeks and him only being home on the weekends does tend to scatter things a bit! I can only speculate when his schedule will lighted up. Being on the road/in the air each week takes it’s physical toll on the hubs and me.

I actually did more than just eat this week, but I guess little else caught my attention in the photograph department.

Monday, September 19

What do you do with stale left over French Bread. Make French Toast for dinner.

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Thursday, September 22

It was one of those “It was what we had…” dinners. I lightly pan seared some cut up chicken tenders, sautéed off some onion, carrot, roasted red pepper and a minced cayenne pepper for some heat and the few remaining leftover veggies in the frig, tossed in a can of cream of chicken soup with a splash of brandy and a turn of heavy cream and then tossed in some egg noodles….it was really good y’all!

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Friday, September 23

The hubs was home from a particularly difficult road trip, lots of technical difficulties on top of some rather unpleasant business associates that from time to time make his life less than fun. My prescription, I may not be able to do anything about unpleasant business associates but I can make sure there is a good meal at the end of the day. The hubs is rather partial to my homemade pinto beans with a ham bone. I served them over rice and I made a big ol batch of buttermilk biscuits. That will almost guarantee a smile on anyone's face after a long hard day!

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Saturday, September 24

Here’s the question: How many teenage girls can you fit in the dressing room at the JC Penny….the world may never know (but I think they may have been going for a world record….I counted at least seven filing out of one small dressing room each laden with pounds of poufy, lacy, shinny, frilly, satiny dresses in hand)

The DD and her best gal pal spent the afternoon at the mall shopping for homecoming dresses. I can defiantly speak to the fact that along with my DD and her best friend I think possibly every other teenage girl within a hundred mile radius was also at the mall shopping for homecoming dresses.

She is happy with the dress and mom was happy that it was on sale…..yea for 40% off!

She found shoes too!

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and my final question for the week…just how many rolls of saran wrap does it take to completely encase a Volkswagen beetle?

As we were leaving the mall on our way to the car we had to stop and get a picture of this VW completely wrapped in saran wrap….

For more P365 y’all head over to Sara’s and link up!

I’m off to hopefully regain my mojo….

Blessings

R

Monday, September 19, 2011

Mommy Treasures

Last week when I was with Muffinhead she turned and looked at me. It was a very simple gesture but in that second it’s amazing how quickly the mind works. All the mental images I have stored in my memory banks begin to roll past. She looks so much like her dad it is startling at times. She plays like him too.

This morning I was flipping though one of my bibles and I came across this picture.

It was 1993, I remember this day. It defiantly falls under the category of a Mommy Treasure. I went outside to check on him in the back yard and he came running up from the very back of the yard and he was covered from head to toe is dirt! Y’all he had been having a high ol time!

I remember the smile on his face, how he smelled, that little boy dirty sweaty I’ve been having fun smell. He was totally oblivious to his physical state and was only filled up with how much fun he had been having.

Now fast forward to last Wednesday!

1993                                                            2011

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Thank You Lord for placing another precious memory in my Mommy Treasure Chest!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Project 365 ~ Week 38…only three days y’all….Major Bummer!

I only managed to get a picture for three out of the seven days this week. Major Bummer…….It was a busy week for me with the unexpected trip to the vet with the dog and a few other things as well. So such as it is here is my regretfully un-photographed week.

No pictures on Sunday, September 11

Monday, September 12

One day they will design a camera that will accurately capture how impactful a night sky can be. Until that time it is a bit of a disappointment to try to capture. It was such a lovely evening that I took a stroll after supper. As I was coming up my street I had to run, well not run but I went to retrieve my camera to take a picture of the moon. I can promise as I was coming up the street it looked HUGE!

In this pictures …NOT  so much!

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No pictures on Tuesday, September 13, I spent the morning putting the final preparations on my orientation meeting for That The World May Know class.

Wednesday, September 14

This is one unhappy puppy. This is now the second time we have had to have him treated for a broken nail. This time it was the opposite foot from he last time. Unfortunately it was a bit more sever this time. They had to sedate him to adequately take care of the nail. We are contemplating having them removed. The vet told me that the nails on the side of the foot are the most easily removed. There is no weight carried on those tiny side toes so it is only a matter of a small surgical procedure. All we need to do now is come up with the cash to have it done. Seeing as this is now the second time we have had to have this taken care of there is a good bet that it probably will happen again. Decision, decisions, decision……

This is a picture of Buster curled up in the floorboard of the car on the way home from the vet’s. Under normal circumstances he is sitting up front busting with energy. He was a bit unsteady on his legs after having been sedated. Poor Puppy!

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Later that evening Muffinhead and family came to church for supper. Her new favorite thing to do is to play with the markers on the white board. We push a chair over to the marker board and she enjoys a few minutes scribbling and then moves on the pulling all the caps of the makers and then placing all the cap on her fingers.

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Thursday, September 15

The day after having the nail repaired is always the most uncomfortable. They practically have to take it off to the very nub. Then they wrap it pretty tightly with adhesive gauze. Buster lazed about all morning long. His favorite place to be was not to far from where I was.

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No pictures on Friday, September 16 or Saturday, September 17

Here's hoping for better luck next week.

If you want to visit some folks who actually did take a picture every day this week then make a visit to Sara’s and link up.

Blessings

R

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Perspective

Yesterday was a very busy day.

My morning stated at 6:15 when the alarm went off. I lazed a few minutes in bed but did not linger due to the very busy day I had ahead of me.

I had spent the past two week getting ready for the orientation of my bible study that is about to start next week.

Arriving at the church a full 30 minutes early in order to give myself PLENTY of time to get my room ready AND have a bit of quiet time before the rest of the member arrived was my hope. Now one of my pet peeves is tardiness. I don’t like to be late and I don’t like folks who are chronically late. However I was looking forward to a few moments of quiet to focus my thoughts when just after I walked in the door to my classroom one of the members shows up and there went my plan. So much for my focus.

Seeing as it was orientation our business was conclude rather quickly and thankfully I was able to move on the the next item on my list. Taking the dog to the vet. Several months ago he had an unfortunate incident and broke one of the nails on his paw. It was a rather painful situation not to mention a bit costly. Well I had to take him to the vet again as he had broken the nail on the opposite foot. This one begin a bit more severe and required some sedation for the vet to be able to fix the broken nail.

So after handing  over the credit card and calculating the amount of time between standing in the vet’s office and the amount of time it will take me to get the dog back home and get to the school and pick up the DD and then get to our next appointment on time I begin feel the stress begin to build up within my overflowing mental basket.

So I hop out of the car still running in the driveway take the dog into the house settle him in his crate upon a comfy pillow hop back ion the car and drive the high school to get the girlchild and then drive to the doctors office for her last visit with the orthopedic surgeon.

“Ma’m it’s been a year since you have been in the office, you will need to fill out this paper work!”

“But none of our information has changed….”

“I’m sorry ma'm you still need to fill out the forms….”

So I had to fill out about a billion forms and sort through the multiple pages because there was one paragraph in English and then one paragraph in Spanish and I had to give them all the very same information that they already had in their computer so they could make sure that all my information was exactly the same.

The one bright spot, the doctor did tell us that unless there is a problem we will no longer need to have any further follow up visits. He still advises against placing her in extreme situation such as bungee jumping (I feel safe that for now I don’t have to worry about that) but other than that she has been released to normal activates. This is a good thing.

We move on on to the next scheduled stop of the day which was the church, but before arriving there we have to turn my mini van into a taxi and pick up the required friend before heading to supper then the weekly youth and prayer shawl activities.

By this time we where running a bit ahead of schedule and the Lord was kind to me and provided me with a wonderful few minutes of quiet in the family center before the general population came in for supper. So I sat in the cool place with my feet propped up in a chair and just let the quite (and garlic bread aroma) swirl around me.

Muffinhead and family came for supper so I got a wonderful influx of grandbaby love which did this tired woman a world of good.

We get home to a relieved puppy who was limping around with a bandaged paw looking very pathetic…poor thing!

The hubs was out of town so I took pity on my puppy and allowed him to sleep at the foot of my bed. Y’all don’t tell the hubs or he would have a fit!

I woke this morning after having a fitful night of rather unpleasant dreams. Not the horrible nightmare kind of dreams, but the kind of dreams where I was in all kinds of really stressful situation. You know how dreams flit from one situation to another with no connection or explanation. I was lost and couldn't find something really important, or I had muffinhead with me and we were in a very large crowd and I was very concerned that I would not be able to find the place where we we supposed to be or find her parents and I knew that the hubs was somewhere waiting on me, there was one random part of the dream where I was having to explain to some rather angry authority figure why the books were not in balance and he wanted to know where all his money had gone….needless to say I woke feeling a not so good. I think it was leftover residue from the long and stressful day I had had yesterday.

But here is where the bit of perspective comes in.

I was feeling a bit out of sorts, overwhelmed and a bit unprepared for the day activities. All mostly connected to balancing checkbooks, sorting mail, paying bills, and doing all the thing that make me a little nuts.

Coffee first….bill second, that is always the best order of alignment. So I was nursing my first cup of coffee and pulled up my facebook and began to catch up on all the new status updates. A friend shares about a loved on who is in the end stages of a debilitating illness and is days, even hours from joining our Heavenly Father.

My fitful night and previous stressful day is instantly put into perspective.

Lord forgive me for whining and complaining. Help me to remember that there are those who truly understanding the meaning of suffering and to keep them in my thoughts and prayers every day.

 

Blessings

R

 

Isaiah 55:8

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.

Psalm 94:18-19

18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
   your love, O LORD, supported me.
19 When anxiety was great within me,
   your consolation brought joy to my soul.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Project 365 ~ Week 37

Well I hope you all are having a wonderful Sunday. I for one spent a wonderful time in worship this morning. It was a bitter sweet moment of remembrance for where our nation was ten years ago, remembering how sad and awful that day was. I had mixed feelings of sadness as well as hope for how much things have changed over these last ten years. We all remember what we were doing ten years ago today! I am thankful that for today my activities included worshiping in peace and safety.

Click here to read my previous September 11th remembrance.

Here is my week!

Sunday, September 4

It was Communion Sunday at church. On these Sundays the prayer shawl ministry places shawls on the alter for members to take to person’s they know who are struggling with difficult life issues. At the close of the service all the shawls except one had all been claimed.

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Monday, September 5

It was a good lazy Labor Day holiday. The weather was a bit uncooperative so I had to finish off my ribs in the oven and a miracle happen and the corn I purchased was actually good. It was the first really good corn we had had all summer long.

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Tuesday, September 6

I finished off this prayer shawl Monday evening. By the time I had finished attaching all the fringe it was too dark to take a good picture. For as much as I love the dark bold colors there is something very tranquil about a nice soft monochromatic color scheme.

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Wednesday, September 7

I finally got the last of my That The World May Know leaders guide put together. My need to be prepared and organized is fulfilled with a nice large three ring binder. Give me some dividers and a few pocket dividers and I am a happy girl. All I have to do is make a few copies and I am good to go.

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No pictures on Thursday, September 8

My small group went to see The Help on Thursday evening and then had a late supper at IHOP, regretfully I did not take any pictures. 

Friday, September 9

This is my first and maybe my last attempt at this pattern. I am continuing to struggle with the difficulties of working on a knitted piece. Thankfully one of the members of the prayer shawl ministry is a knitting expert and is able to un-work any major mistakes that I may make. I can share with you that this one was moments away from being completely unraveled before she took pity on me and got me back to a place where I could begin again. Thankfully I was able to figure out my mistake and forge ahead. I continued on and as soon as I got it to a size that I thought was adequate I finished off the piece before I made another mistake.

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Saturday, September 10

I spent the morning working in he backyard. It was nice and cool and very pleasant as I began to re work some of the problem areas. Here is a little before and after action.

This picture was taken on September 28, 2009……can y’all say BLANK CANVAS!!!!

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Here is what the backyard looks like now. I’d call that a huge improvement. We started on the second phase of the landscaping.

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We are planning to continue the bed all the way around the perimeter of the back yard. The hubs sprayed the grass in the reaming area and now all we have to do is wait for it to die so we can begin to get the ground ready for some planting.

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Well that’s it for me for this week. For more 365 fun y’all head over to Sara’s and link up!

Blessings

R

On this special day of remembrance please join me in continuing to pray for our nation.

2 Chronicles 7:14-15

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

The joy of being the mother of a teenager….or knowing when to keep your mouth shut!

We were driving home last night from church. We had a wonderful supper. I got to see my son and his family. Anytime I get to spend some time around the table with Muffinhead and crew is wonderful. The conversation after dinner was equally pleasant. It was a good night!

On the way home I had a moment of clarity. It was like the heavens parted and God filled up the car and said “Robin, Honey…you just need to let this one go! No matter what you say it is going to be WRONG and it is going in one 16 year old ear and right out the other!”

My experience with my son at 16 was very different. His interests leaned towards electric guitars, rock and roll, mayhem and basically doing the exact opposite of whatever we told him to do. He was a whirling dervish of rebellion and chaos all rolled into a handsome blonde curly head with devastating blue eyes.

Teenage girls are a different animal.

Our conversation on the way home went something like this. The names have been changed to protect the privacy and the integrity of all individuals involved, but I am sure there were similar conversations happening all over the world in similar mini vans with similar 16 year old girls.

“But MOM I know that Mary Jane wants me to help her! Why would Mary Jane say that (whatever Mary Jane said obviously motivated my daughter towards the role of matchmaker) if she didn’t want me to help her? I know that she really likes Bobby but she won’t say anything to him.”

“Well……bla bla bla bla bla….”

“But Mom, Mary Jane likes Bobby and Bobby likes me and I like Billy and I don’t know if Billy likes me and Bobby keeps NOT taking the hint that I don't like him and I want him to like Mary Jane and how can I get Billy to ask me out!”

“Well Dear, bla bla bla bla bla…..”

“Mom how can you say that! You don't know Mary Jane like I know Mary Jane!”

“OK, well what about bla bla bla bla bla!”

“OMG MOM! That will never work…..”

Can y’all say teenage drama!

It was a whirl of romantic entanglements and unrequited love! After all was said and done the DD came to the conclusion that boys are just dumb!

The one piece of advice that I think she actually did hear, “Sweetie, Just remember cute boys are a dime a dozen but best friends are hard to come by.”

Blessings

R

PS: Two random and completely unrelated thoughts…..

1. I made more chicken salad with red grapes yesterday and it was really good!

2. I am going to see “The Help” with my small group tonight.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Project 365 ~ Week 36: experimental canning, a sweet mommy moment ,a bit of knitting, junk mail hell, biscuits and some really fast cars

Let’s get at my week!

No pictures on Sunday, August 28

Monday, August 29

More canning or more accurately defined as re-canning….Click here to visit my post about my O.C.D. (Obsessive canning Disorder)

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No pictures on Tuesday, August 30 

Wednesday, August 31

Y’all I have the best girlchild. I woke up on Wednesday morning and came out into he kitchen and found this waiting for me.

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Later that evening I turned in my first knitted prayer shawl. I have done other knitted projects but this was the first one where I actually did a stitch that was more than just the basic knit back and forth kind of thing. I turned this one with a big learning curve. There were many places when dropped stitches and other error’s were a bit obvious, but I think that just comes with the territory. One day I will learn how to correct my mistakes but for now I am just happy to have learned a few new stitches.

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Thursday, September 1

I saw on Paula Deen’s Facebook page that September is National Biscuit Month. In honor of this auspicious occasion I decided to make a biscuit topped skillet Chicken Pot Pie.

It was pretty good y’all!

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Friday, September 2

I was in junk mail hell y’all! I tackled a task I have been putting off. I hate opening the mail, sorting and shredding. One day I will learn to sort and shred as I go so it does NOT pile upon me…..in a PERFACT world maybe…….

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Saturday, September 3

We took advantage of a promotional offer from Great Clips. They were offering discount tickets to the Nationwide Race on Saturday evening. I think I may work up a post about the entire experience later in the week. Nascar is a wonderful opportunity for people watching.

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Well that was my week.

For more 365 fun y’all head over to Sara’s and link up!

Blessings

R

Friday, September 2, 2011

An Internal Dialog: An exercise in avoiding the things I don’t want to do….

Roll over and look at the alarm clock on the night stand, I slept late this morning, I’d better get up.

Wow, I have a headache!

I hate waking up with a headache.

I'll have a cup of coffee that will help.

Remember you said you were going to tackle that HUGE pile of mail today!

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Coffee first then the mail, my head still hurts!

Bummer the coffee did not help my headache …maybe I’ll take some Goody’s……

Ok, OK, Ok, I’ll let you out….but first another cup of coffee.

WOW! It feels really nice out here this morning, I think I’ll sit a bit and drink my coffee.

Now it’s hot, that last about 10 minutes.

Where’s my knitting, where did I leave off last night,

You need to sit down and work on that pile of mail.

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My head still hurts, I can't open mail with a headache……..what’s on television????

Oh look Star Trek Next Generation, I love that show. I’ll sit and drink my coffee for a few more minutes and add a few more rows….

My head still hurts, you forgot to take your headache med’s, get up and go take some.

Walk into the kitchen fix a glass of headache power and drink it.

Look into the sink and see the cast iron skillet left to soak from dinner last night. YUCK….

Leave the kitchen immediately to avoid thinking about that.

Maybe I’ll sit a few more minutes to see if I can get this headache to go away.

I’ll work on crochet project #2 for a while.

Why did I make this one so long, it really takes to long to do one row.

Oh look there’s Data, he’s my favorite character on Star Trek.

You really need to get out of this chair and go through that pile of mail sitting beside the computer.

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Why I think my headache is gone, I love goody’s they always work….great stuff.

I think I’ll get dressed first.

OK, OK, OK I’m sitting at the computer, I’m going to open the mail.

But first maybe I’ll check my facebook.

Oh look Skoots1mom sent me a Words with Friends request, I’ll do that first.

Hmmm what this new game request she sent……….

Don’t look over there, that’s where the mail is……..

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Why do we get so much mail and why do I hate opening it and sorting it so much?

Yea I finally won a game against skoots!

I’m logging off to bask in the afterglow of my win.

Look at those leftover glasses still on the coffee table, take those into the kitchen and then do the mail.

There is that nasty pan again.

I think I’ll clean that nasty pan in the sink, anything to avoid opening the mail…

OK, OK, OK, I’ll open the mail………….

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OK, OK, OK….I've shredded, I’ve sorted, I’ve tossed…..now all I have to do is file it all away.

Y’all I hate the mail!

Calgon take me away!

and it’s almost time for the DD to get home from school and her job is to check the mail box……it never ends y’all!

R

Thursday, September 1, 2011

OK, OK….so I couldn’t just let it go……or “How I diagnosed myself with O.C.D Obsessive Canning Disorder”

Y’all remember about two weeks ago I did a bit of canning.

Pepper Jelly….SCORE! Tomato Jelly….not so much.

I let it sit for a few days with great expectation that it would come together but with no luck. Not having the patience to wait the full two weeks I compromised and waited about 7 days and then re worked the recipe according to the directions included in the pectin package.

Bla ba bla bla, bla bla bla……….yea, not so much AGAIN!

At dinner one evening last week the Hubs asked me what I was going to do with all ther jars of failed tomato jelly sitting on my counter.

Before thinking about it said that I was just going to let it go.

Let it GO!

It’s a great concept.

A great concept in somebody else's kitchen maybe!

The next day I was cleaning up the kitchen and de-cluttering the kitchen island and there was my nemesis lined up very neatly.

Taunting me……  “Nanner Nanner Boo Booo you can’t make Taaaaomaaaaato Jeeeeeeelly!”

Visions of little glass jars filled with sloshing red tomato juice prancing around on my kitchen counter doing the happy dance shaking their little silver lids in my face.

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Ya know I think life would be rather pleasant except for my internal dialog….

I popped open one small jar and dumped it down the disposal then it happen……

“Now Robin you worked really hard peeling all those tomatoes, are you really just going to toss them down the disposal?”

“Think of all the starving children all over the world and you are tossing food away, what would Caroline Ingalls think?”

“Think….there has to be something you can do with this……are you really going to just let this one go?????”

OK, OK, OK….so I’m standing at the kitchen sink watching one jar run down the drain and I realize that letting it go is not working for me.

It wasn’t like Apollo 13, there were no stranded astronauts with their life hanging in the balance. All I had was a few tomatoes and an about an hour of my time but as I stood there watching one jar of tomato jelly drain into the disposal I realized that failure was not an option.

Can y’all say prideful, how can I live with myself if I let a little jar of jelly defeat me.

Can y’all say stubborn, how can I NOT figure out how to fix this?

Can y’all say obsessive, I mean seriously it’s only  jelly…..LET IT GO GIRL…..MOVE ON……IT’S JUST JELLY!

Well whatever it was, hormones, pride or just my need to be successful I simply cold not let it go.

There had to be something I could salvage.

I pondered for a few minutes and began to formulate a plan for resolution.

#1….how to solve the problem……what do I do when something it not thick enough?

#2…transformation, what can I add to it to help things along a bit

I got out my large skillet, it has a wide flat bottom with lots of surface area. That would facilitate even simmering and reduction.

I popped open all the jars tossed them in my pan and set it on to simmer.

After it had reduced down by about half I gave it a taste.

Regretfully it was a bit bland, in thinking about it the original recipe did not call for any salt. I tossed in a teaspoon and then added a teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Then I thought……hmmmmmmmm what else.

Caramelized onions. That was just what it needed.

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I let it simmer down and reduced by almost half, a bit of salt, red pepper flakes and about three onions diced and caramelized added to the mix.

My tomato jelly is now Caramelized Onion & Tomato Jam.

I think it will be great as a topper to my next meatloaf!

And y’all this is what I called “set up".

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The trick will be to see if I can duplicate the recipe again.

Blessings

R

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