Tough, Wonderful, Together Life

I recently started running.  I was always the one to say that the only way I would be running is if I were being chased with a knife.  But to support my husband and two of our friends who are running a marathon in January, I am officially running.  I suspect that there will be much more blogging, possibly a whole blogging novella about this subject eventually.  But I'm not yet convinced that I will transition from supportive jogger to actual runner.....so we shall see.

Back on subject, I am slowly training myself to run far enough to finish the 5K (which is about 3 miles) a couple of days before their marathon.  Surprisingly I don't hate running, but I have noticed something interesting.  My last stretch, when the house on the end of my block is in sight and I know my own home is right around the corner, that's when I run the hardest and the fastest.  Running is tough, but that last turn is wonderful.  Tough and wonderful.

Now to the reason for the running illustration. On Sundays and Wednesdays I have two amazing groups of women who are studying  through my Chains Falling study with me. This week was like running. Tough and wonderful. Together we've studied through some of the hard parts of Hosea. On Day 5 this week we rounded the corner toward a beautiful passage; Isaiah 35.  The subtitle in my ESV Study Bible says, "The Ransomed Shall Return" Ahhh, after some doozies like, "Do not Grow Weary," "Israel's Sin" and this gem "Job Laments His Birth" we really needed a happy subtitle.   

Here are some of my favorite parts of Isaiah 35......

"And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness.....It shall belong to those who walk on the Way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray." (verse 8).

I just love this description of God's Way.  I belong there, even though I'm often foolish and don't always have it all together. He protects me from getting lost as I follow along this Way.

"And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." (verse 10)

This journey becomes full of glad, sigh-free, joy!  I really love a happy-grin sigh and often add them in little [  ]s when I write, but those frustrated painful I can't take much more sighs are what is absent on God's Highway [happy sigh here].

"Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, "Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come......He will come and save you." (verses 3-4).

This part is what I really want to get to in this post.  The week of study started with the subject of God's discipline in Hebrews 12.  After all the discipline part God tells us this, "Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed."  (verse 12)

See the similarities? I like that the Hebrews passage comforts in the context of discipline and hardship.  I adore that the Isaiah passage promises in the context of a certain future. Discipline is actually a stamp of God's approval and acceptance over us, but it's still stinkin' hard.  Discipline strengthens us but only after it drains us and right in the middle of that we need each other.  Did you see in the Isaiah passage what we are to say to one another when we are feeling weak and anxious?

Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come......

He will come and save you. 

In other words, when dear ones around me struggle I need to be the voice saying, "Hang in there and do not let fear get the best of you.  Remember I am here, God is here. He saves, and He's coming!" 

As I was writing this post I remembered this picture of my husband and son at the Grand Canyon.
Sharing life, leaning into one another to hear, speak, listen, instruct, learn and encourage.

What if we did this?  What if instead of my busy self-centeredness I shared life with those on God's Highway around me and together we reminded each other:

     of His goodness.
     of the benefit of His discipline.
     of the memories of His past wonders.
     of the exact Truth of His Words.
     of the future we will share with Him.
     of the blessing it is to have one another.
     of His Saving Nature.

     of HIM.

Maybe you are like me and find yourself emptied by the monotony of daily demands.  Maybe you are in a season of loss or transition that has made everything around you including yourself feel like a stranger. Hear it,

Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come......

He will come and save you. 

We are running this race together and it's supposed to be Tough and Wonderful, but it's also supposed to be Together.

Cakes, My Favorites

Just finished annual Birthday Week.  My husband and daughter have birthdays one day apart and we tend to celebrate all week long.  I thought it might be fun to post a few of my favorite birthday cakes.  My very favorites were pre-digital days, and I don't have them on my computer.....maybe someday I'll find, scan, and post them.

This year we did a Tie-Dye Cake.

And here's a Sunflower Peeps Cake my sweet girls and I made together - one of the rare times we just made a cake for no reason.

This year's cake for my chocolate lovin' Baby - really fun and SOOOO many things you could do with this.  Change up colors and candy bars to personalize.  I blogged about her party here.

I really love this Dora Cake too.  I found the original instructions from Nick Jr's website.  This link has a great sheetcake recipe, easy to cut for shaped cakes. I added the fruity pebbles shirt myself.  The pictures from this year have a bunch of wet cousins running around the backyard having a ball.  Makes me smile remembering.



I don't have a great picture of this cake, but this it's still a great EASY idea!  I ordered the stripes from Oriental Trading, they have some fun ones.....I just cut to fit and stuck the sugar paper to the icing. Wilton makes some called Sugar Sheets now.  You can buy them readily from Hobby Lobby or Walmart (we used them this year for the zebra stripes).

This one is an all-time favorite! For months before my baby's third birthday she would ask me EVERY DAY for a worm cake like the one Max makes on Max and Ruby.  I made a dome-shaped cake baked in a batter bowl and then iced and covered with crushed oreos.  This cake went straight onto a plastic tablecloth in the middle of the dining room table - complete with oreo dirt spread all over the tablecloth.  TIP - crushed oreos make good dirt, crushed cinnamon graham crackers make good sand. The rocks are halved coconut covered marshmallows. This one was fun.  One of the best parts of this cake was the fluffy pudding frosting, you can find the recipe here on allrecipes, perfect for a summer birthday.

And for my son's camping birthday a few years ago I made dirt cupcakes (same idea as the worm cake) - I put Swedish fish on top of some too.

A few years ago I found this wonderful recipe in a Southern Living magazine.  This completely from scratch Turtle Cake is completely wonderful.  It's lots of work, but so delicious and so beautiful.  This one is a great grown-up cake.

So there are a few of my favorites.  Maybe someday I'll pull out pics of my Pink Pony Cake and my Firetruck Cake....maybe.

Taco Soup

My dishwasher tells me when my life is too busy.  True.  This morning when I unloaded my dishwasher it was all spoons, coffee mugs, and glasses.  This means that the only dishes being dirtied at my house are for coffee, cereal, and water.  Sad stuff, that. 

This realization motivated me to make a wonderful meal for my family tonight.  I went to the grocery store, bought food, and made supper - Taco Soup in the crock pot.  Then I realized that busy week is not over.....I AM THE ONLY ONE EATING AT HOME TODAY.  I'm not making that up.  I made dinner for my absent family completely forgetting that they wouldn't be here.  [Aaarrgh, pirate sigh].

So, instead I took a picture of my soup and scarfed the whole thing down so I could write a blog post before I have to go pick up my busy kiddos.  Now this makes sense.  I'm smiling, I love this crazy life and it's been a wonderful, amazing week - and tomorrow is Friday.

I chose this yummy stuff because my friend Rachel was talking about it last night and I couldn't stop thinking of it AND it is rainy and cold-ish today for the first time since Spring.  If you've never heard of Taco Soup, give it a try.  This is fantastic stuff - kind of like chili but better.  Here's how I do mine:

Brown 2 pounds of hamburger meat with 1 chopped onion and 2 cloves of garlic.  Season with seasoned salt and pepper.  While you cook the meat pour 2 cans of Ranch Style beans, 2 cans of Ro-Tel tomatoes, 1 can of hominy, 1 small can of Niblet corn (or skip the hominy and add 1 regular sized can of corn), 1 bean can of water, 1 packet of Taco seasoning and 1 packet of dry Ranch dressing seasoning in a large crock-pot.  When the meat is finished browing, add it to the other ingredients and stir it all up.  Heat on high all afternoon or low all day (depending on how far ahead you've planned).  If you are really behind you can mix it all up on the stove top and simmer, but watch it closely - especially if you are like me and tend to scorch stuff. 
Serve with grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips.

Nothing is better than a recipe you can type onto your blog from memory.

So now I'm off to round up kids and head into the weekend, but first I must change into my stretchy pants.....Enjoy!