Author Archives: Ellen

One Anothers…

This was in my drafts from a few years ago and since Valentine’s Day is on Wednesday this is a good encouragement on how to love ‘One Another’.

I recommend this easy study to any of you to do at home or in a study group. Grab your concordances and search and find all the ways we are suppose to behave with one another. I’m including one great passage from Colossians that covers a few and suggestions for what to look for. Enjoy!

Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV)

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances  you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Here are some helpful descriptions of some of these virtues; (taken from The Reformation Bible, ESV, R.C. Sproul – general Editor)

Kindness: Readiness to do good, even when it may be undeserved (Rom 2:4; Titus 3:4).

Compassion: An emotional, caring relationship with those whose lives are hurt and broken (Matt. 9:36; 14:14; Rom. 12:1).

Humility: A posture of lowliness and servanthood (Mark 10;45; Phil. 2:1-11).

Meekness: Or, “gentleness” in offering help, a non-coercive approach to encouraging change in others’ lives (Matt. 11:29; 2 Cor. 10:1; Gal. 6:1; 2 Tim. 2:25).

Patience: Willingness to take the long view in face of human frailty (Rom. 2:4; 1 Tim. 1:16).

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of the “one anothers” to look for; love one another, serve one another, accept one another, forgive one another, comfort one another, encourage one another, care for one another.

Our Christian life is meant to be lived in community. What a good challenge it is to be encouraging to one another as we grow in community.

Before the Throne of God Above ~ Hymn

 

Before the Throne of God Above

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high priest whose name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

Words: Charitie L. Bancroft, 1863

Egg Drop Soup ~ Happy Lunar New Year!

Today is Lunar/Chinese New Year. It was high time I made this simple soup that many Chinese Restaurants serve. Several recipes were very similar online so I really don’t know who to credit this recipe to. Our local restaurants call this soup Egg Flower Soup and another name is Egg Drop Soup.

Ingredients:
4 cups prepared chicken broth
2 Tablespoons chicken stock reserved from the 4 cups
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
2 eggs lightly beaten
2 green onions chopped
Salt and white pepper to taste

Make a slurry of the 2 Tablespoons broth and 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, set aside.
Pour the remaining broth into a medium sized pot.
Add the soy sauce and grated ginger to the broth.
Bring the broth to a boil.
Add the slurry slowly and stir to incorporate it all until the broth thickens for at least 2 minutes.
While the broth is boiling and the slurry thickens the broth add the beaten eggs slowly in a stream while stirring the broth in one direction.
Keep stirring and adding the egg as it becomes feathery in the broth.
After the beaten eggs are added turn off the heat.
Taste and see if you need added salt or white pepper.
Add the chopped green onions and serve.
Serves 4 people.

Happy Lunar New Year!

 

Sunshine Makes Us Smile

I finished this latest puzzle just in the nick of time before we needed the dining table for our dinner last Friday night. This was a fun puzzle to do. Garden scenes for each month of the year. There was enough variation in the patterns that it was easy to find where the pieces would fit.

We finally got some dry hours with sunshine breaking through on Wednesday the 7th and the grands enjoyed traipsing around their yard!

It made them giddy. Sunshine can do that to a person.

Truth for Today #87

Thursday February 8th

On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s dig deep in God’s Truth again this year!

The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you! 

Since Valentine’s day is just around the corner here are the verses I’m sharing for this week:

From Lauren:

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

From Dianna:

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.” 1 John 4:9

From Leonard:

Proverbs 30:2-3

“Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.”

“human wisdom is limited, the wisest people recognize their ignorance.”

From Vera:

”For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Sweet ‘Little’ Memories Hodgepodge

Our first Wednesday Hodgepodge in February is bringing back special memories of our dear Babushka Vera. We also called her our ‘little babushka’. The photo above was taken at Greg and my wedding in December of 1974.

Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for her questions this week.

1. Something you’ve waited for recently? 

Dependable hot water.

2. What’s something you loved to do as a child? 

So many things: Hide n Seek, Jacks, Tetherball

One of the best family memories is stopping at 31 Flavors (Ice Cream shop) on Beverly Blvd. after a church event for our two or three scoops! I chose orange sherbet and chocolate chip. One of my brothers always chose vanilla.

3. Something you learned from a grandparent? 

From our little babushka Vera we learned you could still do amazing things with only one hand. Her left arm was amputated at the elbow when she was very young. With one arm and hand, she managed raising children, cooking blintzes, baking piroshky and creating beautiful embroidery just to name a few. The photo of her above was taken at Greg and my wedding shower at Bethany Baptist Church in Los Angeles.

She made all those goodies on her kitchen table for Christmas breakfast before we walked a few doors down for church. All her ‘people’ would stop into her apartment before church for a treat and the most Merry Christmas start to the day.

This embroidered tablecloth and napkins was my little babushka’s wedding gift to us.

4. The most visited cities in the world last year (according to this site) were-Bangkok, Paris, London, Dubai, and Singapore. Have you been to any of the cities mentioned? Which would you most like to see? How do you feel about international travel in general these days? 

Of these cities, I’ve only been to London and would choose London to see again from this list of cities. Still hopeful for travel to the United Kingdom. I’m a comfort traveler so I’d avoid any country where I wouldn’t feel comfortable about language barriers, etc. There are enough wonderful International adventures for me in the UK.

5. February is the perfect month to ______________________.

February is the perfect month to be loving and kind to one another.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Our Babushka Vera was promoted to heaven to be with her Savior in March of 1980. She was a Godly woman who prayed for all her grandchildren and for all her grandchildren’s future spouses. She prayed for our Pop’s salvation and for the salvation of her own husband. After they were married and he became a follower of Christ, our Dzedushka Fedot became a Baptist Minister. He was killed in Iran just after our parents immigrated to the USA after World War II. Our little Babushka immigrated to the USA with my Uncle and his family without her husband. I am so looking forward to seeing Babushka in heaven and seeing Dzedushka for the first time in heaven.

A long post about our Little Babushka is here.

I’m way behind this week after a busy full and wonderful weekend and then our Hot Water Tank repair job that took our son Dan and Greg all morning into the afternoon on Monday to fix. Hey…but we have some hot reliable water now and it will hopefully last a while.

Candlelit Dinner

 

It was fun to set this table and a lot more fun to enjoy most of our family around it for a belated birthday dinner. I wanted it sparkly. After I lit all the candles Addy and JJ wanted the other lights off so we could just have the candles give us light. We had a wonderful candlelit dinner.

Monday got away from me because of some further work Greg and our son had to do on our Water Heater. They had to empty the water tank and replace the elements which were in horrible shape. New ones are in so we should be good for a few years or at least we hope for that. Our grands were here during the work on the tank and they kept me very busy. Hoping for a quiet day today so I can catch up!

Hope your week has started well.

Happy Weekend

Josh and Laura arrived to our side of the mountains on Friday afternoon and we enjoyed a belated birthday dinner for Josh in candlelight. After we lit the candles JJ and Addy asked if we could turn off the other lights and just have the candles giving us light. It was a special dinner and weekend together. Friday night after dinner and cake, checkers and Legos and ‘Don’t Break the Ice’ were the entertainment.

On Saturday we gathered on the ‘Mountain’ and had a delicious lunch of Beef Stew with Jamie’s amazing sour dough bread creations. This time she baked regular and one with siracha.

After lunch Addy had her nails done and then wanted to polish our nails, too. She did a fine job.

Saturday late afternoon and early evening it was time for the Awana Grand Prix. Addy was pleased with her car the Silver Star.

We were all there to cheer everyone on. We weren’t winners this year.

On Sunday we filled a row at church. It was good to worship together. We had lunch out and too soon it was time for Josh and Laura to travel back over the mountains home. We love you, We love you, We love you. Thanks for making the trek and spending good times with us!

Thank you, too, for sharing your photos!

Tomorrow I’ll post photos of the Birthday Candlelight Tablescape.

Our weekend was full and I did not spend time on the computer or make any blog visits. I’ll get caught up soon.

Savior of the Nations, Come ~ Hymn

Savior of the Nations, Come

Savior of the na­tions, come;
Virgin’s Son, here make Thy home!
Marvel now, O Heav­en and earth,
That the Lord chose such a birth.

Not by hu­man flesh and blood;
By the Spir­it of our God
Was the Word of God made flesh,
Woman’s off­spring, pure and fresh.

Wondrous birth! O won­drous Child
Of the Vir­gin un­de­filed!
Though by all the world dis­owned,
Still to be in Heav­en en­throned.

From the Fa­ther forth He came
And re­turn­eth to the same,
Captive lead­ing death and hell
High the song of tri­umph swell!

Thou, the Fa­ther’s on­ly Son,
Hast over sin the vic­to­ry won.
Boundless shall Thy king­dom be;
When shall we its glo­ries see?

Brightly doth Thy man­ger shine,
Glorious is its light di­vine.
Let not sin o’er­cloud this light;
Ever be our faith thus bright.

Praise to God the Fa­ther sing,
Praise to God the Son, our king,
Praise to God the Spir­it be
Ever and eter­nal­ly.

Pasta Carbonara

This is a pasta dish based on eggs, bacon or ham, and cheese.

Pasta Carbonara
Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 cup whipping cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 pound bacon or Pancetta, cut up into bite size pieces
  • 1/2 cup diced red onion
  • 1 clove garlic crushed
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup thawed frozen peas (optional)
  • 1/4 cup snipped parsley
  • 1 pound pasta of your choice
  • Pepper to taste

Method:

  1. Let eggs and butter stand at room temperature for 2 hours.
  2. Heat an ovenproof casserole dish (approx. 9 x 13) in a 300 degree oven.
  3. In a skillet, cook bacon or pancetta for a few minutes and then add red onion and continue cooking until red onion is soft, add garlic and heat for an additional minute.
  4. Remove this mixture and drain on paper toweling.
  5. Meanwhile, beat together eggs, salt, and cream just until combined.
  6. Add pasta to a large amount of boiling salted water.
  7. Cook 10 to 12 minutes or until tender; drain well.
  8. Turn hot pasta into the heated serving dish; toss pasta with butter.
  9. Pour egg mixture over and toss until pasta is well coated.
  10. Add bacon, onion, cheese, peas and parsley; toss to mix.
  11. Season to taste with pepper.
  12. The heat of the pasta and the casserole dish cooks the egg mixture…

Oops, on my Wednesday Hodgepodge I said I’d be sharing the Skillet Chicken today but that was scheduled for next Saturday.