trust and obey

I've been thinking about my goals for 2011 and have come to the conclusion that they will simply be:

To trust and obey...the Lord.

The old hymn sums it up pretty well:

When we walk with the Lord
In the light of His Word
What glory He sheds on our way
While we do His good will
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

chorus:
Trust and obey,
For there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise,
Not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt nor a fear,
Not a sigh nor a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
(chorus)

But we never can prove
The delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows,
And the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
(chorus)

Then in fellowship sweet
We will sit at His feet,
Or we'll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do,
Where He sends we will go,
Never fear only trust and obey.
(chorus)

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What are your goals for 2011?

Behold your God (Isaiah 40:9)

He became the son of Man that we might become the sons of God.


If though seek Him, he will be found of thee (1 Chronicles 28:9)

FIND HIM!

Contented Living

Nine Requisites for Contented Living

*Health enough to make work a pleasure.

*Wealth enough to support your needs.

*Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them.

*Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them.

*Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished.

*Charity enough to see some good in your neighbour.

*Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others.

*Faith enough to make real the things of God.

*Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.

------- Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Beach walk

Sometimes the tide is very high when I go for my morning walk. This is about where I start, and walk around to the end of the land on the left.


Some days the beach is clear (depending on the winds), some days it is littered with branches and rubbish that has been washed up by the waves




I usually meet some birdlife...either in the water or on the sand




By the time I'm walking back the tide has gone out a little. Sometimes I collect shells on the way down the beach, and I always carry a plastic bag to collect rubbish (glass,plastic,cans, etc) on the way back. Unfortunately, most days I fill the bag!

Finally finished!

This is the crocheted blanket I started a year ago in Brisbane. I finally finished it today. It didn't take me the whole year to do...I was working on other projects in between. It was originally going to be a lap blanket, then I decided to make it single bed size...and it kept growing!!

It actually almost covers the top of a queen size bed now :o)

Irish Soda Bread

The following recipe is as it was given to me. I will add my bit at the end as to what I do differently.

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Irish Soda Bread

3 cups flour (I prefer whole wheat but white is great too)
1 cup rolled oats (like Quaker Oats)
1 cup dried non-fat milk
1 teaspoon sugar (honey)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons of lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350, Grease a large cookie sheet with sides (jellyroll pan).

Mix dry ingredients well, add water and lemon juice, stir until just mixed, don't over stir, if needed add extra water 2 tablespoons at a time (some flours are really thirsty and soak up the water)...you will now have a batter that may be very "firm" like yeasted bread or it may be a little thinner than you are used to with making bread...not to worry, it cooks up very well..."dump" the batter in the middle of the cookie sheet...slightly shape with dampened hands and cut an X in the top to let the gasses escape.

Put in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Serve hot...it is very good...it is not a traditional loaf of bread but it is great with meals...it is also nice for breakfast the next day with either cheese or peanut butter.

Variations: Instead of using non-fat dried milk in the mix you can substitute sweet milk with the lemon juice for the water or you can use buttermilk without the lemon juice. I had non-fat dried milk in the kitchen so I used what I had. You can add caraway seeds, raisins or ground flax seed to add variety. If you are using white flour and want to add fiber you can stir in bran or wheat germ. Soy flour or powder increases the protein content. Lightly toasted sunflower seeds are a nice addition. This loaf is very flexible -- variations are endless...one day for a dessert loaf of bread I added chopped dried fruit that had been soaked in orange juice. I also added some Pumpkin Pie spice and a little extra sugar...about a half a cup. This was very tasty.

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Lynda comments: I use a variety of flours to make up the 3 cups. This time I used 1 cup wholemeal wheat, 1 cup wholemeal spelt, 1/2 cup besan (chickpea) flour, 1/2 cup white wheat flour. I like to use some rye flour, but didn't have any. You can use any flours you like to make up the 3 cups. I also add some ground linseed and sesame and sunflower seeds.

I like to use molasses instead of sugar or honey.

I only added 1 1/4 cups of water this time and I found the dough was very sticky...almost like cake batter when I 'dumped' it onto the oven tray, so add the water gradually. I think that is why it didn't rise as much this time. The dough is usually a bit stiffer, but always stickier than yeasted bread. But even when it doesn't rise as much...it still tastes good :o)

I also find I need to cook it about an hour. Just stick a skewer or knife into the middle to see if it is cooked. If it's not, give it a bit longer. It will also sound hollow when you knock on the base of the loaf when it is cooked. If you've made bread before, you'll know what I mean.

I use to double the quantities and make 2 loaves, but as it's just for me now and I don't have a very big freezer, I just make the one loaf.

It's nice warm from the oven, but I actually prefer it toasted, so I slice it when it's cold and store in the freezer and just take a slice out as I need it.

If you have a family, it probably won't make it to the freezer :o)

I hope you enjoy it! Let me know if you have any problems.

Bread

this morning I got back into my bread making. Not your typical loaf of bread, but Irish Soda bread. Here are some of the ingredients I used:




and here is the bread. It usually rises more than this, but the mixture was a bit wetter this time. It's a very heavy, dense loaf...just the way I like it! I had some warm from the oven, spread with butter and honey, and a cup of tea :o)



If anyone is interested I can post the recipe.

Sprouting Seeds

the smaller seeds on the left are alfalfa and the larger ones on the right are fenugreek
I sprout them in my Biosnacky jar that Jefferson gave me. Soak about 1 1/2 tablespoons of seeds (I'm doing fenugreek this time) in water in the jar overnight or for about 8 hours
then drain them through the special sieve lid and leave to stand on the sink giving them 2 rinses (run the water in through the holes in the lid) morning and night and leaving to drain in between rinses.

this is day one:
this is day 3:
and this is day 4...and they are ready. Put in a covered container and store in fridge. I find they keep for at least a week
They are good on sandwiches, in salads, with scrambled eggs...I tend to put a handful on most things I eat...they are really good for you and the fenugreek have a sort of curry flavour. I'm going to do some alfalfa seeds next.
If you don't have a special sprouting jar, you can use a large, wide mouth jar and cover it with a piece of stocking/pantyhose secured with an elastic band. That is how I use to do it, but you have to leave it upturned to drain...that is why I like my BioSnacky, because I don't have to try and balance it on something to drain...it has it's own little stand :o)
It is really only big enough for one, so if you have a family you would probably need a bigger jar.

Happy sprouting!!

It's finished

finished Oliver's lap blanket today and mailed it off for his birthday on Sunday. The colours don't show up very well in the photo. The 2 that look like similar blues are actually blue and purple and they are quite different when you see them in 'real life'.

Amish Grace

Last night, instead of our usual mid week prayer meeting, some of the folk from our church watched the movie Amish Grace. The movie, based on the book, tells about the Nickel Mines School shooting in Lancaster Pennsylvania in 2006 when a gunman shot and killed 5 young Amish schoolgirls.

I have the book:



and started reading it today. I will be interested to see how it compares with the movie.

The theme is on forgiveness and how society in general where astounded at how the Amish could forgive, so quickly, the gunman who killed their daughters.

But what stands out to me is that even christians are astounded and can't believe this response, and many have said they could not forgive. I find this hard to comprehend! Don't they read their Bibles?

Forgiveness doesn't mean we forget or condone what has been done, but it is something the Bible says we must do.

Here are a few quotes from the book:

'The acid of hate destroys the container'

'If we don't forgive, we won't be forgiven'

'True forgiveness deals with the past, all of the past, to make the future possible.'

'"Do your people ever ask, why did God let this happen?"
Yes, probably a million times!'

I'll let you know how the book goes.