Bloom Where You Are Planted

Bloom where you are planted,

Shine where you are sent,

Know that God has used you here,

Just the way He meant.

Love where you are living,

Serve where it's His will,

Know that God has plans for you,

Only He can fill.

Grow where you are going,

Weep when you're in pain,
Know that God restores your soul,

Makes you whole again.

Pray when you are breathing,

Laugh when you exhale,

Know that God is near you,

Never will he fail.

Cherish all the memories,

Make a brand new start,

Know that God has placed you

Forever in our hearts.

---A Missionary’s Poem

Taut Nerves

I think 'taut nerves' is a good description of where most of us are at in this world right now.  Some are stuck on their field of service. Some are stuck in their home country and can't return to their field of service.  Some of us are dealing with cultural issues in a way we haven't had to before.  We are tired of being cooped up and wearing masks and spending time alone and the seemingly never ending bad news...As I was thinking on this, this quote came to my mind.  

“The platform of taut nerves is not without its own kind of suffering. It may be He has to allow us to get so desperate that we will be willing to attempt the impossible with Him, before He sends us relaxation. Whatever the reason for His allowing those circumstances it is also a place where His fellowship is found. It is a place where His power will be manifested. And the end of it is that we know Him better. You renew my faith in God will be the testimony of onlookers.” pg. 134, In the Arena

Shadows and shine art Thou, 

Dear Lord, to me; 

Pillar of cloud and fire, 

I follow Thee. 

What though the way is long, 

In Thee my heart is strong, 

Thou art my joy, my song— 

Praise, praise to Thee. 

—Amy Carmichael

"From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I." 

~Psalm 61:2

Photo was taken at the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, Japan.

Abandon to God

It seems that a lot of my posts recently have been quotes from books. I love books!! I learn from the words of others. Even a simple sentence in a fiction book can stop me in my tracks and give me cause to think on the words. I even have a collection in my bullet journal where I record quotes that give me pause.

One word that keeps coming up in my reading is abandon, specifically abandon to God and His will. This total abandon is something for every Christian to meditate on, not just the missionary. The following quote by Oswald Chambers on Mark 14:6 is one that I had to read and reread. So many times we focus on personal holiness when in reality it is our total abandon that God wants.

For context, I have included Mark 14:1-6. This woman exhibits that total abandon.

After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.

"Abandon to God is of more value than personal holiness. Personal holiness focuses the eye on our own whiteness...fearful that we will offend Him. Perfect love casts out all that when once we are abandoned to God. We have to get rid of this notion-- 'Am I of any use?' and make up our minds that we are not, and we may be near the truth. It is never a question of being of use but of being of value to God Himself. When we are abandoned to God, He works through us all the time."   ~Oswald Chambers on 

Mark 14:6

*photo taken in the gardens of the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, Japan

Mc Donald's Hash Browns

McDonald's Hash Browns 

To start things off:

I haven't had a McDonald's hash brown in at least 5 years. 

But, I think these taste pretty amazing, and very similar to the real thing. 

Like I said before, I haven't had one in forever though. 

Either way, these are delicious and super easy to make! I made a recipe while I was cooking dinner tonight! They're super easy, and quick, and since they go in the freezer, it's ok if you forget about them for a couple of weeks. 🤦🏼‍♀️ 

Combine ingredients in a bowl, and gently mash while mixing. To make sure the hot potatoes (assuming you just boiled them me) don't cook the egg, rinse the potatoes in cold water after you drain them. 

Roll mixture out between two baking sheets on a cookie sheet, or between a bottom  sheet of baking paper and top layer of plastic wrap. 

Freeze until solid. Overnight should do the trick. 

Cut hash browns to the desired shape and size. 

Fry in enough oil to come up halfway the hash browns.  Flip and remove when golden - about two minutes. Flip only once please! 

Drain. 

Once cooled, fry again for 30 seconds to get an extra crispiness! 😋 

Enjoy!!! 

For more pictures and videos, follow my Instagram page

 @thirdculturecooking 

Amber Wells 

Papua New Guinea 

Honoring BMW 2020 Graduates - Free t-shirt giveaway winner!

In our last post regarding our 2020 BMW graduates I mentioned a giveaway for one of our college grads who had to have their graduation ceremonies postponed or canceled due to the COVID-19 restrictions. 

I promised to send a t-shirt from one of the designs below (of their choosing) to one randomly chosen Senior from our 2020 Grad post whose graduation was canceled/rescheduled/virtual in order to honor this historic moment in their lives!

Our randomly chosen Senior was...

Congratulations, Aaron! 

I will be contacting his Mom to find out which style of shirt he would like to receive!

Thank you to all of our 2020 Grads who participated in this post! We are praying God continues to lead and guide you in your future plans!

Discouraged??

I failed to keep my commitment to post in June and for that I am sorry. There are times when it is difficult to find the words to say. Now is one of those times. There is so much going on in the world. From corona virus to quarantines to travel bans to protests and violence, if you watch the news at all it will make your head spin.

I know many missionaries are discouraged. Some are stuck on their field of service and had to cancel furloughs and other travel plans. Some are stuck in their home country and cannot return to their field of service. Being confined to your house for weeks and months on end adds its own kind of discouragement.

I mentioned on my personal blog recently that my devotional this year is New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp. The author had no way of knowing what would be going on in my life the year I chose to read his book. He had no way of knowing what I would be enduring on a daily basis as I read his entry for that day. But God knew. I have no doubt this year was the year God wanted me to read this devotional. The entry for today, July 1st, was so fitting for this time. God is faithful. He knows our need. He plans in advance to meet those needs before we are aware we will have them. I thought I would share the entry here with you. It is my prayer that it will be an encouragement to you.

__________

Does discouragement preach to you a false gospel that causes you to forget that your future has already been written into the pages of God’s book?

It is discouraging to face:

     your struggle with sin;
     the disloyalty of a friend;
     the rebellion of your children;
     the souring of your marriage;
     the division of your church;
     the temptations that seem to be all around you;
     the injustice that lives in this fallen world;
     the pain and worry of physical sickness;
     the loss of your job;
     the hardship of old age;
     or the death of your dreams.

Yes, it’s hard to face all of these things. It’s easy to lose your way. It’s tempting to wonder what God is doing, if he cares, and if he hears your prayers. It’s hard to hold on to his promises. It’s hard to stay committed to good spiritual habits. It’s hard not to give in to discouragement and give way to the desire to quit.

But in the face of discouragement, there is one thing that you need to remember. It is captured in just a few powerful words from Psalm 139: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them” (v. 16). It is vital to remember, when trouble comes your way and discouragement begins to grip your heart, that every single day of your life was written into God’s book before you lived the very first of them. None of those days and none of the things that you have faced or will face in those days are a surprise to your Lord. He carefully authored the content of every one of those days with his own hand. He controlled every twist and turn of the plot that is your story. He introduced all the characters and determined all of the locations. Nothing will happen to you that he has not written into his book. And he has already determined how your story will end.

You see, what discourages you doesn’t surprise him because he authored it all with a glorious combination of wisdom and grace. Nothing is out of his control. Your Savior is sovereign. He knows what is best and will do what is best. This is where rest and courage are to be found when discouragement shakes the resolve of your heart.

For further study and encouragement: Psalm 135

Tripp, Paul David. New Morning Mercies . Crossway. Kindle Edition.

*The photo was taken at a flower park in our city in Japan.  It is wisteria, but in Japan it is called 'Fuji Flower.'

Sourdough Bagels 🥯

Sourdough Bagels

Bagels are probably one of the most favorite breakfast foods.

You can toast them, warm them up, eat them cold, make a sandwich out of them, or chop them up for a breakfast casserole. 

They come in so many delicious flavours, and it's so hard to pick just one or two favorite flavors! 

I recently started making sourdough bagels, and my family instantly begged me to make more. I currently, like at this exact moment, have a double batch in my oven right now! 

Bagels always seem like a daunting task. Reading through the instructions can make bagel making seem like a very complicated ordeal. 

I promise, these are not complicated!

Combine all the ingredients but the flour in your stand mixer or in a bowl. Gradually add the flour. Knead until you have a smooth dough. It will be very stiff! The first time I made this I thought the recipe was gonna be a fail. But, trust me, the dough has to be stiff. It you have to add more water to incorporate all of the flour, just add it by the teaspoonful. 

Allow dough to rise for 30-60 min. 

Divide into 12, or 6 depending on how large you want these. When I divide them into 12, they are still very big. Not quite as big as store bagels.  If I dived the dough into 10 they are pretty much the same size as store bagels. (I haven't had store bagel in a few years.... But my memory thinks 10 is the right size, haha). Roll dough into smooth balls. 

Allow to rest for 10-20 minutes.

Shape. Punch your thumb through the middle of the center of the dough ball.
Using your hands, gently make the hole bigger and shape the bagel to the desired size. The hole will close up considerably during cooking, so make it bigger than you think you're going to need.
Put the bagels on a floured cookie sheet and cover with plastic.
Allow to rest in the fridge over night. (Up to 24 hours)

Prepare the water for boiling the bagels, and turn your oven on. As soon as you remove the bagels from the water you're going to want to start baking them.

Add to the water: 2 tablespoons each of baking soda and sugar.

Boil the bagels in the boiling water. Flip after one minute, boil another minute.  Remove, drain, put on an oiled baking sheet, bake.

If you want to put toppings on your bagels, do it right after you boil them.

Everything bagels are pretty good! Just do equal parts of poppy seeds, garlic, onion, sesame seeds, and half the amount of salt.

Bake until the tops of your bagels start to brown.

Enjoy!!!!

Amber Wells
Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬