"God bless Mommy and Daddy, and God bless Harry, Ron, and Hermione."

“God bless Mommy, God bless Daddy, and God bless Harry and Ron and Hermione. Oh, and I pray that Voldemort doesn’t get the Elder Wand.”

From Harry Potter--Spoiler Alert!

The typical bedtime prayer. . .with a few twists. It’s not Candid Camera, either.

It’s actually what I think about praying.

And it happened again just last Wednesday when I was at a prayer meeting at my church. I was thinking of different prayer requests—my co-workers brother has kidney failure, a friend was taken in for a bacterial infection—when I suddenly added: “and Peeta was captured by the Capital.”

Whoa. Where did that come from?

Well, I had read the first two books of The Hunger Games trilogy in the past three days (all the credit goes to my sister, Carolyn).



An obviously computer generated
shot from The Hunger Games



I was so intensely engrossed in the series, the characters had become real.

But, wait, don’t leave me yet. I love fiction, and I think this is a great thing.

It just made me think—Katniss and Peeta (and Johanna and Beetee and Gale. . .) came to my mind before other real people in my life. Why?

Because I am spending so much time with them. It’s just like what we’ve been taught all our lives—chose your friends carefully, because you will end up acting like them!

It reminds me of the Patch the Pirate song, “Travel with the dog and you will get lots of fleas; travel with the hog and you will eat what you please.”



From All This, Heaven Too



When I end up praying for my fictional friends (yes, I’m even guilty of praying for Jake not to be deceived—Avatar, and Henriette Deluzy-Desportes not to be arrested—All This, Heaven Too), I realize that my heart and my thoughts lie with those I spend the most time with.

If I spend three months of my life with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, yes of course I will feel withdrawal after I finish book 7. It’s like suddenly losing three good friends.

If I am engrossed in Panem, and in cheering on Katniss and Peeta (The Hunger Games), I could turn around and say, “hey, did you see how Katniss almost died yesterday?” and expect to talk back to me like it was the televised Monday night football game.

If I’m trying to help Jane (The Thing About Jane Spring) act more like a lady, I’m going to go through my day thinking about crossing my ankles when I sit, counting to three before I speak, ect. . .

All this makes me wonder.

Do you think if I spent time around my friends, how might that affect my thoughts and actions—and yes, prayers?

How would their likes/dislikes/interests affect my own?

How would their actions affect mine?

Would it make me a better person?

So yes, I believe it is true, that you will become like the people you hang out with. Choose your friends carefully!

Angelic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Guess what this month is?? Pastor Appreciation Month.

I like this holiday because 1. Hallmark probably didn't invent it; 2. it's good to be thankful, especially for our pastors.
Our church pulled off a surprise pastor-appreciation day today (October 9th), and I wanted to bake something to give to some of our pastoral families. At first, I was just going to go with pumpkin- or banana-nut bread, but then I thought, "Hey, these pastors have 3 or 4 kids in their family! I'd better make something good!"
Well, it took me a while, so I didn't get to make all the cookies I wanted. I'll be whipping out this recipe again soon for my other pastors!
So here's the chocolate chip recipe I used. It's originally from an Amish cookbook that my dad bought for me a few years ago when we vacationed in Iowa. It's called Chocoalte Chip Angel Cookies. Ironic, huh?
But even though that's the recipe, who really follows one? Recipes are more like guidelines/ideas/suggestions. Here's the changes I made:
1. I ALWAYS add baking powder to baking recipes. I like fluffy. Flat, crisp cookies? Okay, who sat on my cookies?? It doesn't have to be a lot of baking powder, just about a tsp.
2. I had no veggie shortening, so I substituted cream cheese.
3. When I'm mixing things together, if it seems too dry, add some cream.
4. My Italian grandmother always taught me to whip my eggs in a separate little dish before adding it to any recipe.

Chocolate Chip Angel Cookies

2 C sifted flour

1 tsp baking soda (& I added baking powder here)

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 C butter, softened

1/2 C lightly packed brown sugar

6 oz semi sweet chocolate pieces (I just dumped in the whole bag of whatever kind of chocolate chips I had!)

1/2 C white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 C veggie shortening (remember, I swapped in the cream cheese here!)

Combine flour, baking soda (& powder), cream of tartar, and salt.

Beat butter & shortening/cream cheese & sugars until well blended (here's where I usually add a touch of cream if it gets dry). Add egg, and beat well. Add vanilla

Add flour mixture, blend well (but not too much!). Stir in chocolate chips. Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and roll in granulated sugar.

Place about 2 inches apart on a cookies sheet.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies.

Make some for your pastor, and tell him to eat, drink, and be merry!

Excuse me?

Excuse me: verb (used with object) 1. A phrase I say when trying to simultaneously camouflage my feeling of great disgust, while keeping my life rated G

“I will carry duct tape in my purse.” That’s what I used to tell myself in college. Because unless you wore knee-length skirts with almost-knee-length socks and a pair of boots, saying what you thought was not popular.



Yes, this was the style at my college! Tacky? Yes.



But now, I have found a phrase to say while I 1.) bite my tongue, and 2.) frantically think up something witty and still honest.

So that’s what I said yesterday when a certain lady at my work asked me, “So where are you looking for work?”

First of all, this lady (the guilty will remain nameless) hasn’t said “boo” to me since last Halloween. Secondly, her daughter was never friendly to me, either.

So where does she think she has the right to ask such a pointed question? Maybe I had the right to snarl back a colorful retort.

Me: “Excuse me?”

“So where are you looking for work? I heard that you were looking for work somewhere else?”

“Well, I guess I’m open to other things. But I’m happy here.” Pause. “Who did you hear that from?”

“Oh, well, me and someone else were talking.” This, she glossed over like it was no big deal. Then, “We just figured that if you wanted to stay here, you’d have your own class.”

Ouch. Was that an intentional dig?

I should have said “excuse me” again. But instead, I said, “Oh, well, I’m happy with what I’m doing here, now.”

Then, she digressed into a series of mumbles and "you knows". . .

Ugh. I probably sounded like a skipping CD, “I’m happy here—I’m happy here.”

But I am. And I didn’t feel like stooping down, and allowing myself to be pushed into the Corner of Depression again—especially by someone who has no place in my life otherwise.

I’ve had enough of people pushing me around. I’ve had enough of being pushed around, then crying or lashing out with tears and emotional words. I’ve taken control through a phrase. It helps me calm down; it helps me think.

So what about you? What phrase have you adopted to color (and simply?) your life?

Weekend Review!

Tell us how you spent your weekend! What activities colored your world? What was your special treat? New recipe? Hobby? Cool movie? Inspiration? Pumpkin farm? Did you get out and enjoy the fall colors?

You've heard enough from ME.... now, it's YOUR turn!!

Heap's Giant Pumpkin Farm

Have you ever tried to get five busy people together for an hour-long meeting? Well, it’s almost like trying to get my five-person family together for a whole Saturday. Improbable? Probably. But that’s what I wanted.

 My parents asked me what I’d like to do to celebrate my graduation, and I wanted to have the whole family get together one Saturday, go to a farm, and pick apples and pumpkins.

Why apples and pumpkins? Just because I love fall! Talk about coloring your world—autumn gives the world more colors than your HDTV can handle. Aramanth. Scarlet. Cranberry.  Cinnamon. Amber. Gold. Citrine. (who wants to say just plain old red, orange, yellow?)

So, we waited for four months after I got my diploma. When September finally did roll around, we haggled over the Saturdays it contained. I was covetous. I wanted EVERYONE for the ENTIRE day. No cop-outs. No excuses. No sick days.

Hey, I had just surfaced from college. I can be a little bossy.

We finally decided on what Saturday would work for everyone! I did lots of research on the farms in our area (PickYourOwn.org) and, being the Scrooge that I am, eliminated a lot of farms that charged ridiculous amounts. (Come on, people. It’s not like our money grows on trees!) I narrowed it down to about three farms within two hours driving time, and who didn’t charge for every step you took on the farm.

When the day finally came around, I looked out my window to see a cloudy, rainy picture.

Isn’t that just like my life? The day finally comes around, and it’s lousy.

My attitude was lousy, too—my family can testify to that. I kept trying to downplay it—who wants to go picking pumpkins in the rain? It’s going to be muddy. I’m going to freeze. My mascara’s going to run. . .

But we went anyway. It showered steadily for our first hour there, but nobody really noticed. We were simply enthralled by the myriad of pumpkins, gourds, and mums (oh my!).

This girl from the Chicago suburbs was swallowed up with fascination of the farm animals! Did I ever mention that I've always wanted to work at a zoo? When I saw this pig roaming freely, I wondered, "should I pet it, or call the cops?"

The farm also had donkeys, goats, chickens and roosters, and some other bird species (my brother Tony and I think they're pheasants or turkeys).

Then, we lost ourselves, and then rescued ourselves again from within a soybean maze and a giant corn maze.

Finally, we took a hayride out to the fields.

For me, this was the highlight. The five of us had the tractor bed all to ourselves. We all suddenly noticed a cheery blue sky and warm sun. When did this happen? Well, maybe somewhere between the pigs and the corn maze.

Farm life is peaceful, and quiet. At least to those of us who don't have to jerk awake at the sound of the rooster to run outside into the dark morning hours and keep it all going.

I wish everyone would take a day and drive out to a place like this. Experience the quiet, the peace. The contentment. The humbleness. The simple beauty.

"He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart. The trees of the LORD are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the pine trees. The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the coneys. The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down." (Psalm 104:14-19)

Has anybody else ever been to a farm like this? What do you think? Does it color your world?

Links:

1. Pick Your Own (links directly to their list of pumpkin patches) http://www.pumpkinpatchesandmore.org/index.php

2. Heap's Giant Pumpkin Farm (Minooka, Il) http://heapsgiantpumpkinfarm.com/

The Valley of the Shadow of Death

Does anybody else ever feel like the cat??

That's When You Find Yourself

Most girls have the entire lives planned out before they enter the first grade:

1. When I am 16, I will marry Prince Charming

2. My wedding will be in June. My colors will be pink and green, and my dress will look like Ariel’s (The Little Mermaid).

You get the picture. Maybe your life plan doesn’t start like this, but we all (boys, included!) plan our lives somehow.

For me, I wanted to study political science and journalism. My college summers were to be filled with internships with the top dogs (talk shows, news stations, state representatives). I wanted to marry right out of college, live in a big city (Chicago, NYC, DC), and get a job that was important and paid big money.

What happened?

I didn’t get in a car crash and travel to Heaven and back. I didn’t get visited by three spirits.

But some things did happen that changed what I thought about life. It was a kind of identity crisis.

Shortly, I am none of those things that I mentioned before. And sometimes I look back at my dreams for myself and I wish I had done it. I wish I were a fast-talking political pundit. I wish I lived in a chic condo in the big city, making a seven-digit salary. I wish I were married; that somebody would choose to intimately love me.

Right now:

! Job  I am a product of our recession—I’m underemployed, and frustrated in looking for full-time work. I want so badly to support myself, and to stand up on my own two feet.

! Relationship  I’ve never had a close friendship, and am not willing to enter a romantic relationship yet.

! Time  Because I don’t have a full-time job (nor much money to spend!), I have lots of time. I often feel like I’m wasting it because I’m not crazily busy. I’ve grown to love sewing, cross-stitching, audio books, reading , and playing piano.

So all this put together makes me feel like my life is a waste. “Is this my life? This isn’t what I planned. It shouldn’t be like this!”

And then I think, “but is it bad?”  What do you think?

Right now:

! Job  I love being a teacher. I love my four-year-olds. Who else could make me "swim" like a fish down a school hallway, or find me captivated while watching Pooh Bear's Great Adventure, or exuding more patience than an ant moving Mount Everest? When I am with them, I know I can change lives. I love the people I work with. They change me, too, for good; they are concerned about me. And, I love them, too.

! Relationship  Like I just said, I have my kids. I have my co-workers. Actually, I hate calling them co-workers. Some of them have become like a mother to me. Thank you. Also, my family will always be my family. My dad is one of the kindest, most patient people I know. Above all, I've learned that my God loves me and directs my steps. Thank you, Abba.

! Time  Is this a blessing? I’ve made a few crafty things, and enjoyed it. I’ve listened to some inspiring audiobooks, and read some quality literary works. I’ve even taken up piano again. Is it wrong to do this? I don’t believe so. I believe it is a gift.

Maybe these are “blessings in disguise.” No, it isn’t what I planned, but. . .

“When we go through life
So sure of where we're heading
And we wind up lost and it's
The best thing that could have happened
‘Cause sometimes when you lose your way it's really just as well
Because you find yourself
Yeah, that's when you find yourself.”

Yes, I'm happy. I'm blessed, whether I feel like it or not. Thank you, Lord, for being so good to me.

So good ahead and color your life. Be content. Grow where you are planted.