Connected Kingdom

I just finished listening to Connected Kingdom Podcasts by David Murray and Tim Challies. Anyway, if you ever have any spare time, it's worth listening to (I listen to it while I do my ironing - I actually look forward to ironing then!) Last week I listened to their topic on children with disabilities and the church's responsibility towards them - convicting. Today, I listened to episode 6 on the role of elders in the church. Very fascinating. One of the requirements that an elder-to-be is put under (in Tim Challies' church) is the entire church fills out a qualification checklist to see if the candidate is suitable according to Biblical standards. (Actually, I don't know if the woman in the church do so). But the wife of the candidate does so - this makes a lot of sense to me. Who knows your husband better than you do? Listening to these podcasts will start provoking questions about a whole range of topics relating to the christian life. So I'm looking forward to the next podcast - (they are about 30 minutes in length). Happy listening!

Roth Food Memories

I love funny memories. I just finished reading my brother Dan's girlfriend Esther's blog (phew), and she wrote about a memory she had as a kid and it sparked a few memories that I have growing up. These are all food memories (and yes, it's almost dinner. The boys that left this morning gave us a gift card to Fridays. Who am I to waste such an opportunity? We are going tonight! No cooking. I suppose I will try to limit myself to the "healthy" items on the menu. Wish me luck). So here are a few food memories, Roth kids. Do you have any more?
1. Chips! Sunday night. Never any other time. They were a luxury, right? Orange plastic bowls, Dad faithfully doleing them out, and Vincent squawking that his bowl didn't have quite as many as...anybody else's! Sitting in front of the fireplace, (Vincent having started the fire), munching on our chips and seeing how long you could sit there before your back became too hot. It didn't take too much to make us happy, it seems.
2. Mom's cupcakes. Not your traditional from the cake mix variety. I don't even know how to describe them, other than that they were good and I liked the ones that didn't have jam in them. Plain, please! It was the best coming home from school, going in the kitchen, and smelling them come out of the oven. Mom has to find the recipe, because I have NEVER seen them anywhere since those old school days.
3. Rice Crispies (topped with a good spoonful or two of sugar). We had them for dessert. I have no idea why. But I thought for the longest time that they were a dessert item not a breakfast cereal.
4. Mom's macaroni with a spice mix that I can't remember the name of but it came from the Dutch store. It was so good and you could smell it outside when she made it.
5. Houtspout (however you spell it). I wasn't a fan of it. It was always served with fish sticks. Now I like it, but I don't make it because I think you have to grow up with it to like it.
6. Brudecole (yeah, another one I have no idea how to spell. Quit laughing at me, Lora!) Another not-so-favorite meal, but I like it now. Served with? Kielbasa.
7. Old Faithful (Sunday meal). Mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, beans, and roast. Served with a gravy like none other, and everything topped off with a good ole' spoonful of applesauce.
8. Mom's applesauce. It can't be beat. Smooth with nary a lump. You are ruined for store-bought applesauce after Moms.
9. Mashed potatoes with cabbage. Mom would try to disguise the cabbage by putting it into the potatoes, but your truely, Vincent, would always pick up on the fact that there was "cabbage in the potatoes" and loudly proclaim it to the rest of us.
10. Dutch pancakes. Thin, slightly crispy and so good. We had them for dinner. And the best syrup was that corn syrup in the yellow bottle.
11. Remember trying to swallow those yellow pills in the morning? What were they, fish oil pills or something like that? The problem was, you were trying to swallow them with your morning cup of tea, and they would start to melt in your mouth and taste HORRIBLE. I think it was Andrea who had the worst time of it.
12. I think Mom, me and Lora are the only ones who like this. Brown beans (some variety that I forget what they are called) with cut up onion, bacon, lettuce leaves, a little bacon grease and a dollop of mayo. Mix it all together and you have a delicious side dish.
13. Strawberry jam. All time best jam. Ever.
Well, that's it folks. Time for Mike to come home, and time for me to start getting ready to go out. Cheerio!

Proverbs 31

I shall be forever indebted to Mrs. Westerink. Why, you ask? Well, she mentioned at our Bible study the other day that the Proverbs 31 lady that we (as woman) hear about a great deal, WASN'T A REAL PERSON. Hurray! (Well, maybe not 'hurray', but you get what I'm saying). Solomon used an example to show what a godly woman looked like, but she was never a real flesh and blood human being. Because, if you ask me, there is no possiblity for such a woman to exist. Every woman has days when they are moody, yell at the kids, say something they shouldn't when they stub their toe, eat too much cake, grump when the dishwasher breaks, you get the drift. And so I shall forever comfort myself with the knowledge that she was not a real person.
And now, enough so-called "woman issues." There's so much out there in the Bible to discover that I think as woman we can do a real disservice to ourselves if all we ever do is study topics on "Biblical Womanhood" and the like. Wouldn't you agree?

"What's in a Name?"

My dear sister Irene posted a wonderful article by Andre Seu (from WORLD magazine) and I am going to post the link here as well. The article says what I think in a much better way than I would be able to write!
http://www.worldmag.com/articles/16451

Oh God, My Faithful God

Oh God, my Faithful God

Oh God, my faithful God,
true fountain ever flowing,
without whom nothing is,
all perfect gifts bestowing:
give me a healthy frame,
and may I have within
a conscience free from blame,
a soul unstained by sin.

Give me the strength to do
with ready heart and willing,
whatever you command,
my calling here fulfilling -
to do it when I ought,
with all my strength; and bless
whatever I have wrought,
for you must give sucess.

Keep me from saying words
that later need recalling,
guard me, lest idle speech
may from my lips be falling:
but when, within my place,
I must and ought to speak,
then to my words give grace,
lest I offend the weak.

When dangers gather round,
oh, keep me calm and fearless:
help me to bear the cross
when life seems dark and cheerless:
help me, as you have taught,
to love both great and small,
and, by your Spirit's might,
to live at peace with all.

-Johann Heermann

That First Year of Marriage

I don't think anything quite prepares you for when you first are married. You go from having to help Mom out every Saturday for two hours or so (for me it was cleaning the upstairs bathroom and dusting the livingroom -whoopdeedoo!- all done with a fair amount of groaning and complaining, I regret to admit) to having a full blown house to upkeep. Then you have your hubby - who if he lived at home, simply had to take the garbage out once a week (and then to have Grandpop move in and do it for him!!!) I'm exaggerating, of course, but I remember the shock of having to clean an ENTIRE house ALL BY YOURSELF (and with your husband if he does that type of thing). Not only did you have this house to clean, if you were like me, you were working full time, and then you had to come home and cook a meal. Good food is in your tummy and you start to feel tired. That glass of wine has finally relaxed you. But the dishes are calling and the stove is screaming to be cleaned. Your husband says, "Leave it for tomorrow," but you've done that before and you remember the food stuck on the bottom of the pan that refused to come off. Doesn't that sound like a recipe for disaster? So you reel in shock, start to wonder about this blissful first year of marriage that everyone is always talking about (talk about rose-colored glasses!) and you thank the Lord you survived it. And we haven't even mentioned the whole endless talks into the night trying to figure out what in the dickens makes your husband tick - which, ironically, doesn't need a whole lot of explaining in the end. I am thankful that first year of marriage is over. Mike thinks I am entirely too pessimistic and views our first year of marriage as one of wedded bliss. So, I don't really know who is right, but I have a feeling most men and women view their first year of marriage a little differently. Anyway, if I think about what I do now, I'm probably just as busy as I was then but the shock of how much work it is to keep a house clean has worn off. In fact, I'm happiest when I'm busy doing something!

Fire Alarms

Last night our fire alarm went off at 4:30 in the morning. It wailed for about ten seconds or so, then abruptly stopped. At the first sound of it, I bolted upright in bed and threw my covers off of me. Mike lay beside me unmoving. I whispered urgently, "Mike, MIKE!" Mike woke up in a hurry. "WHAT IS GOING ON?" And then the sound stopped. We stumbled around the house half asleep. No smoke anywhere. Mike climbed on our tall dresser in our room and looked at the smoke detector while I nervously waited below for him to come crashing down. He looked funny up there, trying to reach the detector without falling off and grunting at the effort. Monkeying around in the middle of the night is for the birds. Thankfully Mike didn't fall off and soon we were back in bed under the warm covers. It was hard to get back to sleep after that. I kept imagining smoky scents wafting through the air.... And if it wasn't smoky air, I was convinced that we were all under the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning (no joking matter). I couldn't sleep until I thought, "maybe God made the alarm go off, and it scared off a thief waiting to rob us." That comforted me and off to sleep I went. Interesting how the mind works in the wee smas.

Pan-Grilled Pork Chops with Grilled Pineapple Salsa

*As I said earlier, I use porkchops with a bone. Secondly, you could easily grill the porkchops outside on the grill if you wanted to. Thirdly, I don't know if this is a kid-friendly recipe. Juliet didn't go for it, but she doesn't go for pretty much anything. Lastly, seed the jalapeno if you prefer a milder salsa.

The FIVE ingredients:
4 (4 ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick)
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, divided
4 (1/2 inch thick slices) pineapple
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
1 tablespoon minced jalopeno pepper

Directions:
Compine port and 1 tablespoon juice, let stand for ten minutes. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pineapple and onion, cook 4 minutes on each side or until onion is tender. Coarsely chop pineapple and onion; combine in a medium bowl with remaining 2 teaspoons lime juice, jalapeno, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle port with 1/2 teaspoon salk and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper. Heat grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork; cook 4 minutes on each side or until done. Eat with the salsa.
Serving Size, 1 porkchop with 1/2 cup salsa.
Calories: 250 Fat: 7 grams

Foodie Wanna-Be

I'm thinking of coming up with a secret recipe. Have you noticed all renowned cooks have some secret recipe of some delectable dish that they only impart on their death beds? Obviously, I've been reading way too much Jan Karen (Esther Bolick's orange marmalade cake, anyone?). I was thinking of making my icecream cake my secret recipe. Of course, I will burn the cookbook and hope noone ever stumbles across THE RECIPE. And I will have to make some well-thought out tweaks to the recipe so that it is officially mine. Anyway, all of this is just the ramblings of a foodie wanna-be. I can remember me and my sister Joanne cooking in the kitchen in Ancaster (when she lived in the house on Garner Road) and putting on phony French accents and pretending to be on a cooking show. (Don't ask me to speak like a French man. I stink at accents, as my husband would all to willingly concur). But I do enjoy cooking most of the time. I am always trying new recipes. Right now I am in the midst of cooking through a number of recipes from our Cooking Light magazine. Monday night I made Flank Steak with Roasted Endive, Spring Onion Agrodolce, and Arugula. Doesn't that sound delicious? And it tasted good, too! The best part about cooking light is that even if you eat a little too much, it isn't that feeling you get when you eat a huge portion of comfort food, (for example, pasta casseroles slathered in cheese sauce and served with all the fixins') that makes you waddle the rest of the night like a duck. No siree, you will still have a spring in your step after eating dinner and I'm all for that. Last week, for the first time, I made a middle-eastern dish and I loved it. It called for tahini, which I couldn't find, but was able to substite and it still tasted great. I will post it one of these days. First, though, a pork chop recipe. The recipe calls for pork without a bone, but I am of the opinion that pork without the bone has way less taste and easily becomes dry. But by all means, do what you want. Best of all, this recipe is EASY and FAST!

A Few Thoughts on a "New" Movement

I don't know a great deal about "New Calvinism". I've read a little about it and from what I've read, I'd say there's a lot to be enthusiastic about. Here is the definition according to wiki: New Calvinism is a growing perspective within conservative Evangelicalism that embraces the fundamentals of the 16th century Calvinism while also trying to be relevant in the present day world. People interested in reformed literature? Sounds good to me! People interested in holy living? Getting better and better. What I can't figure out is the doom and gloom attitude I've witnessed from well-respected Christians. I am not saying that there is never cause for concern in any christian "movement". But if fear and distrust is the overiding emotion one feels when hearing about new christian movements, I really don't understand it. If the Holy Spirit is moving in people's hearts in our country, shouldn't that cause joy and thanksgiving? We may not embrace every aspect of a movement, but I would think a Christian's overiding emotion would be of happiness that others are learning about God and wanting to be conformed to Him. Sometimes I think it must be easier to feel distrust and worry than it is to rejoice and give praise. If there is reason to be seriously alarmed about this movement, by all means, inform me!
Thabiti Anyabwile wrote a thoughtful article in response to Time Magazine making New Calvism one of the top new movements. Here it is if you are interested:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/thabitianyabwile/2009/03/17/why-time-magazine-trumpeting-of-new/

Mother's Day Memories

It was the start of a rather unpromising mother's day. I woke up, and it was cold and dreary outside. I dressed and fed Juliet, woke Mike up and hustled off to church. (I am one of those people that say they don't make a big deal about "secular holidays and institutions" but that is hogwash. I say that but the truth is, I like presents and I like compliments and I like romantic cards filled with mush. The mushier the better.) Well, back to my story. Mike stayed home from church with a somewhat sick Juliet. I hadn't even remembered that it was mother's day until the pastor mentioned it in prayer. Oh! Mother's Day! And Mike hadn't wished me a happy mother's day yet! My feelings were in that somewhat tenuous state between hurt and slightly miffed. I arrived home after church and waited for Mike to mention it to me. Hmmmm. He needs a little reminding, I thought. I opted for the casual yet discreet reminder. "Hey, hon, you should call your mother and wish her a happy mother's day!" There. That should fix it, I thought. Mike ignored my hints - for good reason. While my back was turned and I was busy with Juliet he hauled in my gift and hid it behind me. Hurray! It was my long wished for reclining lawn chair. I love it! I can put my feet up, and even take a nap in it! (If you don't own one, put it on your wish list for next year. You'll love it for when you watch the kids play around outside. Or you will be the envy of the town when you haul it to the beach). Well, my mother's day was definitely looking up! But it doesn't end here. Ladies, if you have a tendency towards a jealous nature, you just might want to skip the rest of this post now. You might view your mother's day with some dissatisfaction after this. Yep, my darling Cuddles had more surprises for me. After church, I put Juliet in bed and walked into the dining room. The notes of music were heard (romantic Andre Bocelli) in the background, and before my eyes on the kitchen table, candles glowed. It was a pleasant scene that assaulted my senses. I breathed in deeply. Salad, artfully prepared, sat waiting in the wooden salad bowl. No wine, but this was a spur of the moment thing, so who cares about that. And then...chicken wings. Yep, you read correctly. Chicken wings in a barbecue sauce and chicken wings in a Frank's Red Hot wing sauce - good stuff!!! So that was my mother's day. Just when I start to think I am the only one in this relationship with my head in the clouds oozing romantic notions, the hubby proves he can be too. Well, it's time for me and Mike to sit outside on our lawn chairs and solve the world's problems so I'll bid you all adios. Now that I've read this post, I will have to write another one less about myself and more about my mom and thanking her for being such a good mom. Goodness, what a selfish post!!!

"Farther Along"

Here's something I've been thinkin' about for awhile but haven't actually done (I'm very good at this). I've been wanting to memorize christian songs to add to my repertoir. I have quite a few psalters down pat in my memory, know some hymns (but could definitely learn some more), but what I am particulary interested in learning (by memory) are some negro spirituals (is that the correct term? It sounds very politically incorrect, but that's the phrase I grew up with. Perhaps those songs are just called "Spirituals" now.) Anyway, I grew up listening to negro spirituals, but I haven't heard them in awhile and would love to learn some off by heart. One of my favorites is "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." I think the reason why people like them so much is because the lyrics to many of these songs have a great longing for heaven in them. If you were a slave, you probably didn't have too much to look forward to in this life. Why not sing about the coming glory? And I need to be reminded of that too; long for heaven - forget this earth below. So my plan is to learn a new song say, every two weeks or so. My goal is to type a song out, put it right above my kitchen sink, and whenever I am washing the dishes, I can sing it and hopefully memorize it! By the way, does anyone have a cd of negro spirituals that you would recommend because I would love to get one. Well, here is the first song I am learning. I grew up hearing this song, but I tried to sing the chorus the other day and butchered it (all I could remember was the "cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine" part). So I looked it up and here are the first and third verses along with the chorus. (Couldn't find the author). Oh, and this is an old Southern hymn - don't know if it is a negro spiritual. I just read the song through and it kind of reminds me of the man who wrote one of the psalms and he questioned why the wicked seem to prosper. Don't know what psalm it is though. I think it was Asaph. (And, yes, it wouldn't hurt me to memorize some psalms, either!)

Farther Along
Tempted and tried we're oft made to wonder
Why it should be thus, all the day long
While there are others, living about us
Never molested, though in the wrong.

Chorus:
Farther along we'll know all about it
Farther along we'll understand why
Cheer up my brother live in the sunshine
We'll understand it all by and by.

When we see Jesus coming in glory
When He comes down from His home in the sky
Then we shall meet Him in that bright mansion
We'll understand it all by and by.

HodgePodge

There is something refreshingly honest about children. I have been babysitting my nephew Jeremy for the past two days and you won't find a more honest little boy. I asked him if he was excited about Mommy having a baby and he paused for a moment, looked at me and said, "Excited? No! I don't like babies!" He made me laugh! He and Jules get along for the most part. Right now they are outside fighting over the new bubble lawn mower. I can hear them and I debate with myself: Do I intervene or let them duke it out? (Lora is never going to ask me to watch him again!) If I were to intervene every time a squabble arose, that's all I'd be doing! I'm one of those moms who sometimes just lets the kids figure it out on their own. Juliet is bound to realize that Jeremy is bigger so he just might be able to muscle away a toy or two. But Juliet is no shrinking violet either. (In church nursery, when I've asked the babysitters how Juliet was, I get vague responses along this line: "She was good but she is having trouble sharing," or "Well, she played nicely for the most part..." In other words, she was a stinker who bullied toys from the smaller kids and who only knows one word: "MINE!") Sorry, folks, let's just hope it's a phase. It's a little hard to combat seeing she is an only child and doesn't have to share anything at home. But these past few days have been a little different for her with Jeremy around. This is sort of along the lines of when it's too quiet in the house. You don't know what the kids are up to, but do you want to actually find out? Should you enjoy the quiet and try to get to that basket of laundry, or do you investigate? Usually I continue with my work and figure I'll find out about it soon enough.
And now, for a complete change in topic, I just read this this afternoon and it made me smile: (I love most of Jan Karen's writing)!
"Rodney passed a basket of ham biscuits his mother had sent. "Let's bless these ham biscuits, boys," he said, and launched into a prayer covering world hunger, food stamps, stray animals, firewood, the Baptist conference, Little Mitford Creek, Big Mitford Creek, the sick, the unsaved, an unwelcome forcast for more snow, the town council's decision on sidewalks for Lilac Road, the president, the Congress, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the local fire and police departments.
"Amen!" said Homeless. "That ought t'last me 'til this time next year."
-At Home in Mitford, Chapter Eleven
She has a knack for making me really LAUGH.
And lastly I haven't been able to post pictures because I have been using out mac laptop since our big computer (aren't I technical) bit the dust. So, no pictures of the lighthouse/party hat birthday cake. (p.s. does a lighthouse with pink polkadots make any sense to you??? Now I will forever hold my peace). It is annoying using our mac laptop because the cover of the "C" key is missing - compliments of yours truely, Jules. And for some reason, the spell check doesn't work on this computer when I blog so if you see errors, that's why. It annoys me exceedingly when I see posts abounding in spelling and grammatical errors, but here I am filling my blog with them. Oh well. Here is the end of this hodge-podge post. Phew!

Lighthouse

I promise this will be my last post on cakes. Yesterday, Mike came walking into the room and having just read my blog asked me,"Juliet's birthday cake was in the shape of a party hat? I thought it was a lighthouse! I told everyone at the party that it was a lighthouse!" Well, if that doesn't just add insult to injury! A lighthouse!!! Why would I do a lighthouse for a two year old?