Our favorite Valentine’s stopped by to give us some love and we returned some love to them.
We got a special homemade Sour Dough loaf from Jamie and Dan. She has the bread skills down!
This Friday will be busier than usual. Hope all is well in your corner of the world.
Thursday February 15th
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!
Ephesians 5:1:
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
From Vera:
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them. “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.“
Exodus 15:11-13 ESV
From Leonard:
Ecclesiastes 5:7
“Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead.”
From Willow:
Psalm 29:1-2
Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
From Karen:
Psalm 18:2
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
From Cheryl:
“So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.” Luke 5:11
It’s a Valentine’s Day Hodgepodge! Thank you Joyce From This Side of the Pond for the love filled questions this week.
1. What does love mean to you?
I’m fighting between being trite or deep with this question. Have you read The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman?
I think Words of Affirmation speak love to me and Acts of Service.
Understanding God’s love for us is important in knowing how to express our love for others. God’s love is complex and perfect. It never compromises from the Truth of God’s Word.
“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:21-23
~~~~~
2. Is love blind?
These were a nice change from regular pancakes made with yogurt instead of milk. We enjoyed them with a dollop of plain yogurt and pure maple syrup. Since childhood our family has enjoyed pancakes with sour cream and syrup. If you’ve never tried it you should.
Ingredients:
Method:
Yield: 8 pancakes
Double the recipe to serve more people.
We did not grow up with the tradition of Pancake Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras or Lent. We have always joyously celebrated Easter ~ Resurrection Sunday. In fact we never stop celebrating Christ’s resurrection and what His death, burial and resurrection mean to us as Christians.
It is a good day for pancakes.
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
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
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!
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.
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
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.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 