Flowery

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.”  And it was so.  Genesis 1:11 (NIV)

Sweeter Dreams

This morning, I attended one of Sweet Dream in a Bag's Pack and Pray events.  It's always great to help out and find out what is going on with the ministry.  Today, two thoughts came to mind.  One, kids' home lives continue to be turned upside down by domestic violence and the poverty that often comes with it.  Two, God has been faithful to provide Sweet Dream with additional volunteers and resources as the organization continues to grow.  Tuesday, they expect to distribute 45 sets of bedding at a treasure time in the North Metro area.  I'm still hoping that a church in Boulder County (hint, hint) will host a a Pack and Pray event.  It makes a great Youth or Local Missions project.

Pop Goes The Kitty

When I was in preschool (I was blessed to be in a preschool class for Special Needs kids at the same place I had PT and OT), we sang a song that ended with the words Pop Goes The Weasel.  Unfortunately, I my fifty-something brain does not remember any of the rest of the words.  Anyhow, today I received my flour storage jars from Crate and Barrel.  They are just what I was looking for and I got them for a song.  Like Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel does an excellent job shipping fragile items.  Ebenezer, who just celebrated his first birthday, spent about twenty minutes frolicking in the packing materials and popping bubble wrap.

Bookbag

I like books - particularly those that aren't on a professor's required reading list.  Here are a few I've read recently.

MY BREAD
Jim Lahey is founder of the Sullivan Street Bakery in Manhattan. His no-knead method of making bread has been popularized by a number of food writers including Mark Bittman of the New York Times. This coffee table book, which now has buttery fingerprints in/on it, teaches neophytes how to make artisan-style bread in a Dutch oven. So easy and so fun! I will never buy another boule in which to serve dip, soup, or stew.

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED
I frequently feel as if I’m an outsider in the so-called Christian community, so the refreshingly honest Anne Lamott almost always makes me smile. A tremendous writer, Lamott is perhaps best known for her Salon.com essays and books such as Traveling Mercies in which she describes her faith journey, and Operating Instructions where she chronicles her adventures as a single parent. Lamott’s latest volume written with son Sam, Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son's First Son, is tremendous. I was laughing uncontrollably by page 10. In it, she provides a poignant and humorous look at her grandson Jax’ first year.

JUST A MINUTE
Wess Stafford is president of the non-profit Compassion International. Compassion is perhaps best-known for its child sponsorship program that impacts the lives of some one million children in the developing world. In Just A Minute, Stafford who spent his childhood as a missionary kid in West Africa, encourages readers to make a difference in a child’s life. All of us, according to Stafford, are qualified to make such a difference. “You all deserve an honorary doctorate in ‘childhood.’ You have done a minimum of eighteen years of ‘field research’ in this complex subject.”

SAYING IT WELL
In terms of theology and the role of women in the Church, Chuck Swindoll and I likely differ. Still, he’s a tremendous teacher and I would love to sit and listen to him (and also Eugene Peterson and Walter Wangerin) tell stories. In this book, Swindoll emphasizes that we must know who we are, accept who we are, and be who we are. Though Saying It Well is targeted towards people in full-time ministry, the content he shares is applicable to everyone. We all have a message we wish to communicate.

STILL
Lauren F. Winner, who teaches at the Duke Divinity School in Durham North Carolina (and wears the greatest vintage eyeglasses), is the author of several amazing books including Mudhouse Sabbath and Girl Meets God. Her most recent book, Still: Notes on a Midfaith Crisis, came out in January. In it, Winner discusses her mid-life, mid-faith crisis. Ordinarily, I stay up late and read Winner’s books in one sitting. I struggled to finish this one.

Risen . . . and I'm not talking about bread

For Christians, the Resurrection is a central tenet of our faith.

Breaking Bread

I’ve been itching to make homemade bread for quite some time. The first kitchen gadget I bought when I signed the contract on the Little Condo on the Prairie was a Kitchen Aid mixer with a dough hook. My Grandma Evie, who died of cancer when I was four, baked bread from scratch.  My mom?  Not so much.  Have I opened the Empire Red monster that I coveted for so long? No.  Have I made bread?  Not until today.

Mark Bittman, New York Times food writer and author of How to Cook Everything, first popularized Jim Lahey’s no-knead bread method in his Minimalist column. Just flour, salt, instant yeast, warm water, and a Dutch oven. No dough hook necessary. I bought Lahey’s book. My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No Knead Method. I scoured the internet to find the optimal temperature for the water. I was SO afraid that I would kill the yeast and end up with a tortilla or a pita instead of a boule.  It turned out great.  Next time, I'll bake bread in a smaller pot so my loaf is round rather than egg-shaped.  The LeCreuset I used this time is HUGE.

Sprung A Leak

Sunday was 80, windy, and percipitously dry.  Today was snowy, foggy, windy, and wet.  Frankly, I am glad it snowed.  Here on the Front Range, most of our moisture comes from snow.  Unlike Chicago and South Bend, we receive precious little rain in the spring and summer.  Last week, officials brought in helicopters and hot shot teams to fight a fire that destroyed several homes near Conifer.  Ski season isn't even over yet.