Sunday Scriptures

Out of Focus

Recently, I had an infection in my eyes.  Everything was a little hazy and out of focus there for a few days.

Sometimes things are right in front of us, but we do not see them.  I am sure that every mother has heard this question and probably multiple times a day: “Mom, have you seen my . . .?”  I saw a quote the other day that said that if Mom cannot find something, then it is really lost.  Many times, if the children just focused a little, they would find those missing items all on their own; it is much easier to hit the panic button and call for Mom!

Many times, things become out of focus in our daily lives.  We get overwhelmed by problems or circumstances.  Instead of lifting our eyes to the hills where the source of our help is as is mentioned in Psalm 121, we try to fix the problems ourselves.  Things quickly become “out of focus.”  Many times we go to God with our problems as a last resort.  If He was our first resort, just think how much more quickly those problems would be solved.  If we start each day focused on God and we keep our focus there, we will not have to worry about the trials that we are facing.  We will still face trials, but we will not be overwhelmed so easily if we keep our focus on God throughout the trial.

Until next week, keep your sunny side up!

Short and Sweet for Thanksgiving

On this Thanksgiving Day, I have a simple question for us all...

Is it a Mary or a Martha kind of day?

“I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”   
Martin Luther

Wishing you all a VERY Mary Thanksgiving!

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P.S. Check out the giveaway at Women Behind the Scenes.

It ends tomorrow, so don't put it off too long.

Thankfulness

(Photo Source - Google Images)

As we approach the Thanksgiving season, it has taken on a new meaning for me this year. Being on the field has been an awesome experience for me!

A couple of verses that our youth pastor uses quite frequently are very special to me also. I Thessalonians 5:16-18: "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

What do these verses mean to me? In everything, including the struggles and trials and homesickness and anything else that might happen in my life, I am to rejoice and give thanks. :-) This is not always easy! However, if I am in the state of prayer at all times, the Lord is going to give me the grace to be thankful no matter what happens. As I look back over some of the difficult and hard things that have happened in the last few weeks and months, I cannot be discouraged. I am even more thankful that the Lord has protected me in some very tough situations.

What does the word "thankful" mean? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the first and third definitions of "thankful" are as follows: 1) conscious of benefit received and 3) well pleased.

Therefore, we need to be conscious that God has given us so many benefits. As single missionaries, we are given even more benefits than married ladies. We have the opportunity to reach out in our ministries in so many different ways. Are you thankful for what God has given you in your ministry? Are you thankful for the obstacles God has placed in your life? Should we be thankful only for the month of November while approaching the Thanksgiving season? Of course not!!! What does verse 18 of our text say? "In EVERY THING give thanks." This means to be thankful 365 days of the year, 12 months of the year, 52 weeks of the year, 24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour, 60 seconds a minutes, and so on!!!!

What are you thankful for?

Written by Keren Burdick
She is a single missionary, serving the Lord in Honduras.

You can find here website here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm sure everyone is busy getting ready for Thanksgiving!
First, I just thought I'd gather up the recipes you might need this week in one place!

No Stove-Top Stuffing where you live? Never fear! Make your own!

No Thanksgiving is complete without pumpkin desserts!
For those who like tradition ~ pumpkin pie!
And for those who want to branch out? the best pumpkin cake ever!

No feast is finished without something special to drink ~ try my Nina's Cranberry Punch Recipe!

Second, something delicious to do with the leftovers!
{Because more than half the fun is eating up everything left :)!}

Turkey Stock

enough water to cover carcass {8-10 cups}
turkey carcass, broken
any leftover pan juices or gravy
1 onion, quartered
2 lg. cloves of garlic, peeled and slightly smashed
1 carrot, cut into large pieces
4-5 stalks celery, cut into large pieces
1 tsp. dried marjoram
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried sage
a few sprigs fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
freshly ground pepper

In a large pot bring water to a boil.
Add all ingredients.
Reduce heat to a low simmer.
Cover and simmer for at least two hours.
Remove from heat.
When cool enough to handle, pick out any meat that has fallen off the bones to add later to the soup.
Strain, pour into container and refrigerate.
Once cooled, freeze or keep in refrigerator until ready to make soup.
{The fat will rise to the top and make a seal. Remove it when ready to make soup.}

 
 Turkey Soup

1 lg. onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. olive oil
8 c. turkey or chicken stock
1 1/2 c. carrots, sliced into thin circles
1 1/2 c. celery diced
3 turnips or small rutabagas, halved and sliced thin {if available}
3 med. potatoes, quartered and sliced thin
1 c. white beans, cooked or canned
2-3 c. leftover turkey, cut into bite-sized pieces
1-2 c. leftover cooked green beans
cauliflower {optional}
fresh parsley, finely chopped
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Using a large pot, saute onion in oil until limp.
Pour in stock and add carrots, celery, turnips or rutabagas, potatoes, cooked white beans {but wait on canned white beans}, turkey, and cauliflower {if using}.
Cover and simmer about 30 minutes.
When vegetables are tender, add canned white beans {if using}, and cooked green beans.
Warm through.
Top with grated cheese and chopped parsley.

Turkey Hash

6 medium potatoes, cut into cubes {about 3 cups}
1/2 c. turkey or chicken broth
1 med. onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped {about 1 cup}
1 lg. clove garlic, minced
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
2 c. cooked turkey, chopped into small pieces
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
salt
freshly ground pepper
paprika
parsley, minced {optional}

Put potatoes and broth in a large skillet.
Cover and simmer for 15 minutes until broth has evaporated and potatoes are tender and lightly browned on one side.
Add onion, celery, and garlic and saute for a few minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Add the rest of the ingredients, with the exception of the paprika and parsley.
Let cook for a few minutes on one side, then flip over in sections.
Don't overstir.
Add a little oil if pan is too dry.
When celery is tender and has is browned, serve sprinkled with parsley and paprika.

Have a wonderful time of giving thanks with family and friends, wherever you may be!

Without Grumbling and Complaining

Missionaries can find a lot to complain about. Going to a place that usually has less than before--less privacy, less amenities, less flexibility, less availability, less efficiency, less of everything!--makes it so hard not to be unhappy and discontent when the inevitable comparisons happen. "Ugh! In America...this wouldn't have happened!" or "I miss..." or "Why does it have to be that way!"

Sometimes we even give ourselves the right to our grumblings--after all, we can only take so much sacrifice, right? Are we also supposed to be happy and thankful about things that we see as the obvious fruits of sin all around us? We may even be tempted to loudly complain, so that the nationals will "see things the way they ought to." You know, help out their worldview issues.

I remember feeling this way on one harrowing occasion of trying to renew our visitors' visas. It was one of the most stressful events in our ministry to that point, and I actually wondered if I would go nuts from worry. It was incredibly hard not to visibly lose my temper, even with a national in the room to check my emotions, when my husband came home with more bad news about the situation that year.

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings," says Philippians 2:14.

And the opposite course of action is given in 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

How many times had I heard or memorized those verses in my youth? But they seemed impossible on the mission field.

But a few years ago as I attempted to memorize the book of Philippians, I realized that the thought doesn't end there. In fact, Philippians 2:14 is directly related to missions! Here's the whole passage:

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life..."

When I made the connection between verse 14 and the following verses, the sword of the Word cut through all of my self-justifications for why complaining was allowable in my situation. Missionaries should not be given a pass on complaining. If anything, we should be more careful to guard our tongues and spirits from complaining, because complaining directly affects our testimony.

When we complain, we hurt our testimony. Complaining makes us so that we cannot truly be called "blameless and pure." But if others see us in times of trial thanking and praising our God, with a spirit of peace and trust, then they can marvel--what is it that makes them able to respond that way? If you can keep yourself from complaining, you are helping the Gospel.

In fact, the inspired Word even admits that we are in the middle of a crooked and perverted nation. Those national sins and foreign factors that can be so angering and my-rights-destroying do not give me an excuse to complain--just to vent and get it all out! No. Instead, they remind me that I am a STAR (as another version translates) shining in their darkness, holding out life to them!


Wow! I do not feel like a star; do you? Too often the stress pot of life on the mission field causes my remnant sins and unaddressed temptations to boil over, and all of the blackness and poison still in my heart spills out of my mouth and on everyone else. But it is true--like Galadriel's phial in Shelob's lair, we are supposed to be a rebuke--our brightness, a pain--to the darkness.

Let those sins and the frustrations that come along with the darkness all around you in whatever crooked and perverse nation you live in remind you--not that you deserve better, or once had better--but that the darker the darkness, the brighter you shine (a star!), when you live blamelessly in that darkness.

Zip, Boom, Bang!

Last week, I mentioned a story about a zip-line which would have to be told another time.  Someone asked about the zip-line story.  So, I will share it with you today.

One summer while I was attending Oklahoma Baptist College, I traveled in a singing group.  It was an ensemble made up of six young ladies.  We traveled with various staff members and their families throughout the summer.  At some point during that summer, we were up in Minnesota.  We were travelling with a couple who had four children.  We were in a fifteen passenger van with a luggage trailer behind us; there was plenty of room for everyone.

We arrived at a church early in the afternoon.  We did some exploring and found a zip-line out behind the church.  It was about fifteen feet high with sand underneath it.  Some of the girls were afraid to try it out.  So, I was going to show them how to do it.  I climbed up to the top, sat down on the edge, and prepared for take-off.  A couple seconds after I pushed off, the handle apparatus bounced up off of the track, and I fell straight down.  I was a little shaken, but I did not want to give up.  So, I tried it again and had the same results.  I zipped for a couple feet and then found myself straight down on the ground again.  You know the saying, “If you fall off a horse, get back on and try it again.”  The other girls were watching with wide eyes.  I had done nothing to help them not be afraid; that is for sure!  I decided to try it one more time only to fall straight down again.  By that time, everything was starting to tingle.  My hands were sore from having the handles jerked out of them.  My whole body hurt.  I said, “Three strikes, and I’m out!” One of the other girls tried it, and she was successful.  Another girl worked up the courage to try it, and she had the same results as I did – falling flat on her back.  At that point, we went to find the staff member who was travelling with us.  He said that he had never heard of anyone falling from a zip line.  He had his oldest son get up there and try it, and he rode it all the way to the end.  I do not know what we did wrong, but to this day, I have never touched another zip-line!

While we were singing at that church that night, my arms were going into muscle spasms.  That night, the other girl who fell and I ended up staying at the same house.  We were both quite stiff.

The next day, we visited the Mall of America.  I was not among those with their arms raised up in the air on the roller coaster that day; I could barely lift my hand to my mouth let alone above my head!

Until next week, keep your sunny side up!