God is good

I have been struggling with the idea of sin lately; well a little longer than just lately. I fully support gay marriage I believe love is love, and that God made us each and every one of us perfect. We were also given freewill the freedom to chose our beliefs, and make our own choices in life. In an odd twist I also totally (maybe slightly hypocritical twist) believe in fate and that God has a plan for each of us. A plan we can listen to or go against. You may ask me how do you know what the plan is? I would tell you loudly (so you can hear me. You may be thousands of miles away from me or next to me in the living room) that it is the voice that tells you what makes you happy. You know that thing you daydream about doing, or that thing that fills you with a sense of wonder. That is the thing you are meant to do. We are meant to be happy. For examples I will turn to

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

1 There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2     a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3     a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6     a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7     a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8     a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

  Psalm 118:24

This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Proverbs 15:13

A joyful heart makes a cheerful face,
But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.

Proverbs 15:30

A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Ecclesiastes 3:12

I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.

Ecclesiastes 11:9

Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.

If we follow the bible or I am sure most other religions we can find God telling us to be joyful and happy. Back to the topic of sins. Can we judge a person on their sins? The short answer is no. Honestly, it is the only answer.

Luke 6:37

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned

So what are sins? Well the bible tells us the top ten. I am using this website to help me site them http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/command.htm. You caught me it is The Catechism of the Catholic Church but you can find them in any Bible.

Exodus 20 2-17

1. I am the LORD your God:
you shall not have
strange Gods before me.

2. You shall not take
the name of the LORD your God in vain.

3. Remember to keep holy the LORD'S Day.

4. Honor your father and your mother.

5. You shall not kill.

6. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor.

9. You shall not covet
your neighbor's wife.

10. You shall not covet
your neighbor's goods.

These are the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament. That's it. I think that as humans we are complicated and we are limited by who we are and what we know. I am not talking about education level.  Anais Nin said it best, "We don't see things as they are, and we see things as we are." I am pretty sure God knows that about each of us. He sent Jesus his son to us to suffer and die for our sins. Jesus gave us the golden rule:

Matthew 22:36-38
³⁵ Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
³⁶ Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
³⁷ Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
³⁸ This is the first and great commandment.
³⁹ And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Who is the Neighbor Jesus is talking about? Well friend that is everyone. Not just the people in your community but those people everywhere.

John 13:34

³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

I am getting to my point via the very long and wordy route. I am a sinner. I sin all the time. I struggle with forgiveness, and keeping the Sabbath day holy, I curse, honoring my mother is especially hard for me to do, sometimes I covet things (I do have a huge want list), I get angry, and can be judgmental. I am guilty as you can see I break the Commandments. I am sinful. I believe we all struggle with the guilt of the things we do wrong none of my sins are greater than yours, and none of yours are greater than mine. We are equal. There is no score card to keep, there is no judgment from me against you. That is not my job. So in the Catholic Church we confess:

 I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

An Act of Contrition

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most of all because I have offended you, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.

 

Do you want to know the best part?

We are forgiven when we ask for it because we are loved. You are loved.

I hope that your day is filled with love and laughter. Be well my friends.

My faith in the begining

Faith is a personal journey. Each of us has to our own path that fits well with our families and lives. I believe that there is more than one path, religion to God. Today I would like to share with you how I came to God. It is only a puzzle piece to the whole story. Before I found God I lost him. It is true, I have always had a feeling that some supreme being was out there watching over all of us, and I personally was not alone in this world. A few years ago, about four since you asked my husband had cancer. As a result he started researching religions. He is a very meticulous man (One of the many reason I love him) he watched documentaries, he read books, he looked for the beginning until he was satisfied. He also discovered Asherah, God’s wife. There is a story that in the early Jewish religion that all of the priest that worship Asherah were taken to the top of a mountain and slaughtered ending the teachings of God’s wife for political reasons. When I learned about this I realized that all religion is manmade, I felt torn apart. Broken. I struggled for a very long while whether God exists at all. I told you I lost him. I no longer want to celebrate arbitrary holidays, that had lost all many and seemed to become over night about greed. At the same time our family was attending church irregularly. Churches that our friends liked. Churches that did not fit us. Not that anyone of those churches were wrong, they were spreading the word of God and praising him, helping each one of those people to grow. I felt lost, completely and utterly lost. Then Rob and I were asked to go to a small group about marriage. We agreed. This is where I begin to see the beauty of the Holy Spirit. It was through those women that spoke about God that I found the light. God is in each one of us, and if we let him he will work through us. I also joined a MOPS group around this time and again I found God not in the words of the bible (I have 6 versions) but in the hearts of the women at my table and around me. These women who were grateful for life, and were kind to me showed me who God wants us to be. I also watched The Case for Faith and found that faith is a choice. We can choose to believe or we could choose not to. It is a choice. I know believe that all Holy works were inspired by God by written by man. Man is flawed and cannot fully understand the Glory of God. We cannot know the truth. Why else would there be so many beautiful religions that Glorify his Name. None of them are wrong they are each only a small piece of the puzzle, none of them are perfect. We can only strive to do what is virtuous and honor God with our actions towards one another. Because you never know when you inspire an Atheist to believe, you never know when your hope raises another person’s heart .  You never know when or where but as long as you are striving to be better in the name of God he will work through you.

As you know we are working on becoming Catholic. One of the reasons that we chose this path is because the Church allows people to take a journey. Before you can be baptized, confirmed, or take part in the Communion you have to take a class to be sure that you want to commit to the Catholic Church. Many of the other churches we went to in search of the “one” would baptize anyone who wanted to be saved, and you could be saved by raising your hand. There is nothing wrong with this God is supervising and loves all of his children. God knew that I needed to take a slower path, I needed to come to him slowly. Now we have been attending Mass for 2 ½ years and at Easter we will be Catholic. That is not to say that our journey is over, no quite contrary it is only beginning.

Why am I writing to you about my faith today? I wanted to share part of my story, and I wanted to remind you to be gentle and kind and loving to others. Of course I know that you are wonderful as you are. Sometimes we can say things that seem very small but can cause great joy or distress. Be mindful of others. 

I hope that your week is bright with the sounds of Love and Laughter. Be well my friends.

Garden News

I am excited to show you what is growing on in the garden. First thing first the new additions to our garden. When we went to the local nursery to look for new trees, (we want to add a pecan, lemon, persimmon, and more pomegranates for our hedge row) for once Rob did not find anything he wanted and we came home with three half priced roses. I happily told him that they would add some beauty, and attract bees for the vegetables.

This has the sweetest smelling flowers!

This is an Olympian Rose.

This is a pink promise.

Let's just say I fell in love with this rose and I have never been so happy to receive flowers.

This is not where they will be planted, well maybe we will plant the pink one here so that I can open the window and have a sweet breeze to fill the house.

I hardly ever get flowers but when I do I am glad they are alive.

Sad news comes from the garden. Rob pulled out the melon plants. They were covered in aphids. Did you know Ants farm them? Once the ants brought them over to the melon vines they exploded. We planted them to late in the season. We learned a lesson and hopefully we will apply it next year.

Zucchini is still growing well. The squash are slowing down. I am incredibly happy with all the squash I have gotten to feed to my family.

I was surprised to find this lovely yellow squash this morning.

I think we will be able to have at least one more meal made from garden squash.

The boys may get an acorn squash before the growing season ends.

Jelly bean tomato, with a side of beets please. This little jelly bean tomato has flowers which means the boys may get a couple of tomatos after all.

I think these are called purple hull beans. Rob planted them with the squash. They are kind of sweet. So we have decided to plant a whole bed of these next year.

Butternut squash! It is a little bitty one but it will taste just as good as any. I am sure. We had two bigger ones but the boys attacked them and throw them over the fence to hide what they had done.

These are pie pumpkins.

I am currently dreaming of pumpkin pie.

Lots of pumpkin pie.

When Rob pulled out one our amaranth plants he shook out the seeds along our fence and two of those little seeds took root! God is good. I love a surprise.

I think that this a purple potato plant. We planted potatoes in the spring and we thought we had lost them but here they are making a wonderful entrance.

We planted more than a dozen different pepper plants and the Rats ate them all. These two some how came back. We may not get any peppers but it does add more greenery to the fence line.

Purple asparagus. This is another plant we thought was gone but it is a true picture of perseverance. It struggles because I often forget to water them but some how it keeps trying to grow.  

One day these little purple asparagus will turn into something truly wonderful. They may even make us a meal in a few years.

Pineapple pear flowers.

We have struggled with fire blight on our pear trees. The Bartlett pear is a lost cause.

Here is hope on a branch.

We spent the summer fighting the battle of tomato's. We finally gave up surrendering to the harsh elements.

We ignored these black cherry tomatoes

Now it is completely covered by little green tomatoes

Sometimes the lessons you can learn in the garden are not just when to plant. This year I have learned more about God's love, and his plan for us. I have no doubt that God is a loving God. I can see that he wants us to have hope, to persevere even when it seems as if there is no way to survive.



Miracles happen everyday, sometimes we don't see them because we are so busy doing what needs to be done. These small miracles are there and it is easy to see them in the garden but I have to wonder if I am missing some that happen in everyday life. I know God is with me and my family. I hope that I will continue to grow in his light.

I hope that your week is filled with small Miracles, Love and Laughter. Be well my friends.

Bible verse

I have been thinking about this verse since Sunday after my RCIA class and today I would like to share it with you.

1 Corinthians 12

New American Standard Bible

The Use of Spiritual Gifts

¹ Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. ² You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. ³ Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking ^[a]by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is ^[b]accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except ^[c]by the Holy Spirit.
⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. ⁶ There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. ⁷ But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸ For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; ⁹ to another faith ^[d]by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of ^[e]healing ^[f]by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ and to another the ^[g]effecting of ^[h]miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the ^[i]distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
¹² For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. ¹³ For ^[j]by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
¹⁴ For the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵ If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason ^[k]any the less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason ^[l]any the less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. ¹⁹ If they were all one member, where would the body be? ²⁰ But now there are many members, but one body. ²¹ And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, ^[m]it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; ²³ and those members of the body which we ^[n]deem less honorable, ^[o]on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, ²⁴ whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, ²⁵ so that there may be no ^[p]division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is ^[q]honored, all the members rejoice with it.
²⁷ Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. ²⁸ And God has ^[r]appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then ^[s]miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. ²⁹ All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of ^[t]miracles, are they? ³⁰ All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? ³¹ But earnestly desire the greater gifts.
And I show you a still more excellent way.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&version=NASB

Maybe you have already read this verse, maybe you haven't either way it is a good reminder that we are all part of one body, together we create one, that each of us have different talents and weaknesses but that we are all equal. This verse calms me, calms the very core of me. Jesus tells us that we are all special put without one another we are not. That we need each other to be complete. I think this is incredible  Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
¹⁴ For the body is not one member, but many. I think this is about all the different religions and christian churches too. I think sometimes we as humans get wrapped up in what we are that we forget that we are all one. I mentioned in a earlier post how I got caught up in a discussion on facebook with a friend of a friend. It ended badly. I (I am by no means perfect. I am very flawed.) tried to be respectful and do the research so that I could answer his questions. The person turned to attacking my beliefs because they are different then from his own. I in turn got upset and posted some insanely long reply about everything he had attacked me on. Then I refused to answer his questions any further. If we could all spread joy instead of hate the world would be better. I am learning and I will be learning for a long time no one religion can be learned over night. I enjoy doing the research and having a friendly debate but please do not attack me, or anyone else for that matter. I believe that God calls us to where we need to be. He brings us to learn and grow in him in the best way he knows we need. You do not have to believe the same way that I do. We are all different. Maybe we can grow and learn together. I may need you and you may be surprised by me. Together we are one body.


I hope that this week is filled with kindness, joy, Love, and Laughter. Be well my friends.

Lessons learned October 9, 2011

Lessons learned a weekly debrief
October 9, 2011

I know I am a day late on my Sunday lessons learned. I hope that you will forgive me.Saturday I got into a discussion about the meaning of Jeremiah 10 with a friend of my sister in law on facebook. I did a crazy amount of research so that I would sound like I knew what I was talking about and that I made my point very clear. Which turned into a debate over Christmas. It has reached an out of control level of craziness on my part. I am compelled to answer and research and answer again. I got to read large parts of the bible because I always read ahead and further after the verse given to me. I find that the meaning of any verse when taken out of context can mean anything you want it to mean. When you see the whole picture it becomes clear, and beautiful. I found this article that said everything about Christmas trees and it is worth reading. I am posting the last few paragraphs because it sums up the whole article.

Jeremiah 10 and the “Pagan” Christmas Tree by Dr. Richard P. Bucher
From the foregoing, it is abundantly clear that the "decorated tree" to which Jeremiah 10 refers is an idol, very likely the Asherah. Therefore, it is very superficial Bible interpretation and pure silliness to understand this passage as directly referring to the use of a fir tree for Christmas! If, and I repeat, if those who set up a Christmas tree fall down and worship it as a god or goddess, complete with altars and incense stands, then Jeremiah 10 applies here. Or if someone loves their Christmas tree more than God, then such a thing might also be considered spiritual idolatry. But apart from these exceptions, I think it is abundantly clear that Christians who erect Christmas trees are NOT worshiping them as gods or goddesses, nor are they loving them more than their Savior Jesus Christ. They are simply using the Christmas tree as a fun custom, one that can remind them of Jesus who is the branch of David (Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15), the root of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1). One that can remind them of the tree that led Adam and Eve to sin, but more importantly, the tree on which Christ Jesus died to make atonement for the sins of the whole world (Acts 5:30; Gal. 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24). Christians should know that they can use a Christmas tree with a good conscience. It is unfortunate and wrong when well-meaning Christians call something sin that is not sin, and enslave the consciences of their fellow believers with imaginary sin! Shame on such Christians! Those who continue to believe that the Christmas tree is pagan and sinful, even after having their conscience correctly informed, should not use them. For it is not right to sin against conscience. This is regrettable, however, since there is absolutely nothing wrong with using a Christmas tree.

http://www.orlutheran.com/html/jer10.html

Today I learned who the Chocolate Pilot was. Sometimes I am taken off guard by something so profound that it changes a piece of me. Damian is reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for a unit study I checked out every book I could find with the words Chocolate or Candy in the title. I didn't know anything about Berlin or what the people faced after War World II. This randomly chosen book Candy Bomber The Story of Berlin's Airlift's Chocolate Pilot made me cry while I was reading it to the boys. I kept thinking how will I teach my boys to be so giving, and how do I become a better person? I hope that this story stays with me always.

I learned about where Chocolate comes from, a huge pod, from a tree in South America.

I learned that if I jump on our little trampoline with James he will say the Alphabet and count to 20 with me and he thinks it is fun.

I also learned about Confucius through his books The Doctrine of Mean and The Great Learning.

I learned all about Live Oak Trees for forestry.

I read two chapters of my science book then took a test but now I don't know what I read. I am sure it is in the well I told you about in another post. I will need to drop the bucket for the final for the information but today, right now I am tired, and my brain feels full. The learning must go on!

I hope that your week is filled with learning, love and laughter. Be well my friends.

Lessons Learned 2 October, 2011

Lessons Learned
2 October 2011

My top five google searches this week all involved Tree Identification based on leaves, bark, and fruit.

I spent the whole week rereading my science book for my midterm. I got an 84 because I second guessed my self out of the right answer.  Really if my teacher looks at my test I might get an 88. One fill in the blank question was really close.

I lost 2 pounds by osmosis this week. I only hope I can continue all the down to 153 by the end of the year. That is five more pounds to make a total weight loss of 20 pounds this year. If I could lose more so that I can zip my wedding dress up by our anniversary I would be very pleased. One can dream.

Today my family started RCIA, we are converting to Catholicism. Today's lesson was God The Father. The first part of the holy trinity. I really like how they explained Creation vs Evolution either way it starts with the Father.

Earlier in the week I was watering some of our plants and I randomly started thinking about how I should pray for a storm that will filled the cracks in the earth, and quince the the thirst of the land. It is Texas, south Texas so the sky was blue and clear and it was hot 95 degrees. Round about 6 o'clock dark clouds rolled in. It stormed. The wind blew everything across the yard, and I rushed out to save the lawn mower, and rototiller from the rain. I thought I might be lifted up off the ground and land in the cow pasture behind us. Really I felt like God said, "I heard you."

Every drop of rain is a beautiful commodity. In order to break the drought we need 15-28 inches of rain.

This drought might last until 2020!

I want to move, no I want to stay until I finish school. No, really I want to move north, Then again we bough the house and I love it. I have no say in anything! We are staying for at least three more years maybe more. All we can do is wait and see. All I do is ask my husband if he can make things happen. He basically gives me a verbal pat on the head. "Silly woman. I have no say either."

 Right now we have squash growing. Really growing. I can almost taste the fresh squash sauteed in butter. This is the first time since we've moved here that we thought we would get to eat something that we grew!

Right today I realized that there are 83 days until Christmas! Eek! Santa is not ready this year. I am making a list, checking twelve hundred times, and hopefully I will start shopping soon.

I hope that the Autumn brings you brisk breezes, pumpkins, apple cider, hot chocolate, and that all your days are filled with love and laughter. Be well my friends.

Inspiration

I was looking through lap books and unit studies to do with the kids. Something to shift "school work" from boring to fun or at lest give us a breather from everyday work. I found one called the Scripture Adventure a twenty-one day activity to memorize bible verses So I decided to download it and give it a try. You know they are crafty and very smart with verse order. I am going to share it with you. I looked it up in two bibles our King James version and the New American Catholic reader edition.

Today's verse is

Joshua 1:9
I command you: be firm and steadfast. Do not fear or be dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.


I hope your day is filled with Wonder, Love and Laughter.

Lost in a book

I have been missing in action this last week or so because I got lost in a book or two on the way here. Well that and my Mother in Law was in town. My kids love having her here so it was a good visit over all. I just need to relax and trust in God. It would make things easier and a lot less stressful. This post is one about books not Company.


The first book is one that I have seen mentioned in book groups online, I have heard whispers about it for a long while. My husband had even brought it up when he had a conversation about it with a co-worker. I blew it off, ignoring it, dismissing the message I was hear all together. Then one day I was wondering down the fiction section of the library, ( I like to see what book will call my name) I stopped in front of a bookshelf with only two identical books in the middle of the shelf. It called my name, it screamed at me, nearly jumping with anticipation. I reached out and picked up one of the dark books up. The Shack by WM. Paul Young.


It is an amazing book about forgiveness and the depth of God's Love. In the forward the author explains how he came to writing the book. It is the experience his friend went through. He even says that at times it seems far fetched and hard to believe but he wants it to be true. Right now having read it and soaked it in I hope it is true too. Some more the hope is while I was reading it I felt a shift in myself. I new understanding that turned the light on and opened my heart.


The first and sudden shift came when I was reading Chapter 11 Here Come Da Judge when Mack is asked to judge God. I am guilty of judging people based on their decisions or actions that I do not agree with. I try not to be judgemental but it creeps up as good intentions. We know what they say about good intentions, the road to hell is paved with them. (this is not in the book at all! Just a common saying I am using to describe myself.) Mack is told to chose two of his children to go to heaven and three to spend an eternity in hell. He refuses to chose and instead offers his own life to go for his children. Then God tells him he has made the right choice. "You have judged them worthy of love, even if it cost you everything. That is how Jesus loves." ( found on page 163).  Even now tears are in my eyes, this judgement chapter was one of the most moving parts for me because it opened me up for a later bigger lesson.


Forgiveness, I don't know about everyone else but I needed a lesson in the purpose of forgiving others. I am going to add a quote from the book but it doesn't mean there are not better quotes, or that this is the best one. All this quote is, is one example that moved me. This book is filled with good solid examples of God's love, of forgiveness and many other things. "Forgiveness is first for you, the forgiver, . . . to release you from the something that will eat you alive; that will destroy your joy and your ability to love fully and openly." One more quote on the subject, "I want to help you take on that nature that finds more power in love and forgiveness than hate."


I feel like I am giving you a fragmented version of this beautiful book. All I can really tell you is I am changed forever because I read this book. It helped me to understand pieces that I have been missing in my life. I hope that you read this book. I would love to hear what you thought of The Shack.




Now for the second book. My sister in law called and while I was on the phone she told me to read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. I at first said I would try but I was going to busy starting next week. Then for some reason when I got off the phone I felt compelled to look for it and found out my library had it available. I went and got the book and read it in two days.


Redeeming love is a retelling of the book of Hosea. I must not have been told the story of Hosea when I was young because I had never heard of it. The book is about Love, and forgiveness. It is told in a simple way that focuses on the message. I recommend this book.


This is a story about a young woman who was sold into prostitution as a child and how she finds God. Angel finds herself working in California's Gold country in 1850 for a madam. A farmer is told by God to marry the soiled dove but Angel has learned not to trust men. He marries her and she slowly learns to love Micheal through much trail and error. Micheal learns forgiveness and patience. Angel turns away from Micheal's love and goes back to the only life she has known. Her journey to God and Love is a hard road to travel. I was captivated from the first chapter on. I know I am not doing a very good job explaining this book. I is a simple, complicated love story. It really is worth reading.


I hope your day is filled with Love, Laughter, and a good book.

Cooking is love

I know that I had motioned how I wanted to use my blog to share my journey to finding God and adding him to our daily lives. I know that I post mostly on menus, and recipes, and even lessons learned for the week. Today I wanted to focus on my love for cooking and why I put so much energy into sharing it with you. When I cook for the people I love I am giving them love. When I am in the kitchen mixing, chopping, kneading, stirring, baking, and tasting I am at peace. Although I am never absent from what is going on around me I allow my mind to wander in relief. I often spend the time chopping, dicing, mincing, or slicing onions with whatever worry that is there. By the time I am finished with the onion my soul is quieted by the simple task of cooking. In the peacefulness that surrounds my activity I can explore my theology, my relationship with God, what I believe God is. When I am quieted I can hear whispers of the truth as I brown the meat, or saute the vegetables. I am also very grateful for the love our small family is blessed with. I know with out a doubt that God loves us, and that God is everywhere we allow him to be.

I may not be rooted in a faith, but I do not find that a hindrance to my belief. It allows me to be open to thought and option without being trapped by what others believe is righteous. I believe that all thing that happen, happen for a reason, that it is all part of God's plan to teach us a lesson we need to learn in order to grow. That doesn't mean I want something bad to happen so that I can learn forgiveness, or grief, or any of the other lessons that come from a bad situation. I know that we are not alone as long as we are open to the idea, belief, possibility of the Love God has for each of us. I also Know with out a shadow of a doubt that some of the lessons we learn stem from love, joy, and gratefulness. I know because the biggest lesson I learned was how to love completely when I first held each of my sons. It was a sudden unexpected gift that calmed my anxious soul. I can love and deserve to be loved.

If you know me at all you know that some of my beliefs, or ideas can be a bit of a stretch. I hope that I do not but limits on my children. I believe that God does not want us to be boxed in to one idea because God is all ideas. No one religion is different from another God is there. He/She is the idea behind every religion and there may seem to be many but we can not all fit into the same idea and God made it easier to find him by giving us choice. Some people need to feel confined by the written word in the various books of the lord, others hope only for guidance. He enlisted the help of human men to write his word, and since he gave man the gift of free will we each interpret his words differently. The bible for instance has been rewritten to make it easier for people to read and understand. It is different from the original text but most of the meaning stays the same. It is a guidebook for lost travelers. We are all lost travelers trying to return home.

What moves me the most is the fact that Jesus came for the lost gentiles, me and people like me. I am a sinner unworthy of his love. Yet he came to earth for my sin, to forgive me, to set me free. This applies to you as well. We are not alone. One of the reasons that my family is choosing to become Catholic is because it is not about solidarity, meaning all about me, we pray together for each other. I do not know the faith completely so I can not comment on the whole picture, when I only have a small piece. I have a feeling some of the beliefs I have are not the same as the church such as birth control, and gay marriage and I am sure a few other things. I am unwilling to change my opinion that it is a human right to be married regardless of sexual orientation, I believe God made them and that makes them the same as me even where they are different. Love is love. I believe in birth control. I believe that God loves me for who I am regardless of my own ideas.

I am thankful for the life I lead and the life my husband and I are making for our children. I will continue to ask for guidance, and forgiveness. I hope that we are building a solid foundation for our children to become men on, that they will grow into strong, healthy, kind, good heart men. I trust the Lord will lead us.

I have to admit when I am cooking I don't always actively think about God, but it is a good time to bring him to our family. When I set the table with the meal it is filled with my love always. I was once told when I was a young girl that it will always turn out just right when you make it with love. So to me cooking is love. When or if you ever get the chance let me cook for you. I am happy to feed you and your family. So here it is if you are worried about your cooking abilities just remember that you are cooking for someone you love and loves you back. Regardless of how the meal turns out it will be perfect.

I hope that your day is filled with laughter, love, and a comforting meal with your loved ones.