Nailed It.

Want to know how my first attempt to bake on my own went?

If I was, in fact, trying to make a giant pineapple sugar cracker. 

Operation: Recipe Swap Status Update

It may seem like my Operation: Recipe Swap (herein “ORS”) posts have been lagging.  This is true.  I have many excusesreasons.  This  hierarchy of concerns has been on my mind, showed up in my shoulders and possibly affected my immune system.  How have I dealt with these priorities, the grandest of which is a half-finished Wesleyan theology paper due at the end of the month?  I’ve effectively procrastinated myself down to the lowest determinant on my TO DO list.

I find myself polishing my mirrors and plucking my eyebrows a lot lately in order to avoid finishing the things of utmost importance.   This means that hardly anything of intermediate value gets attended to.  But I’m working my way up! My windows are so clean, I am now forced to blog. I’ll finish the paper… tomorrow.

For the wives

There is a thought-provoking blog post by Lara Ortberg Turner about the “role” of pastor’s wives, Let Pastor’s Wives Do Their Own Thing, in reaction to the new TLC reality TV show Sisterhood, about wives of mega-church pastors in Atlanta, who call themselves “First Ladies.”

In the trailer, one of the First Ladies says, “When you’re married to a pastor, you’re held to a higher standard.”  And yet, Turner proffers, “It is an antiquated and strange notion to view a woman as an extension of her husband’s occupation. Yet for some reason, we insist on doing this with pastor’s wives.”

Going Old-School, Heirloom Spaghetti Sauce

My friend Christa said she would be thrilled to teach me a recipe and how about the whole family come over on a Sunday afternoon!  The girls can cook while the boys watch football.  Which is like blowing off the dust on the sexology file,  How Men and Women Should Spend their Sundays.   Hey, why not?  This could be *retro fun!

For those of you who know Christa, you probably think of her as a gentle soul, calm and patient, the perfect temperament for teaching a novice to cook.  As I’ve gotten to know Christa, however, what others might mistake for a shy demeanor is actually really, really good listening skills.  I was looking forward to being in her company and listening to her this time.  This Sunday, the roles would be reversed in more ways than one!

Made to Crave, best served with friends

If you are a Facebook friend or have been sharing tweets with me lately, you’ll know that I’ve been committed to studying and leading our women’s group through Lysa TerKeurst‘s book,  Made to Crave.  I read this book, about “satisfying your deepest desires with God, not food,” at the recommendation of my sister-in-law, at a time when we both wanted to break the pull that chips and chocolate and second helpings had on us.

But here’s a secret: sometimes when I’m reading a good book, I assent in private and say, “This is good stuff!” only to miss out on the impact because I choose not to put  it in practice.  I sat on the truths of this book for almost a year before realizing that I needed to get some girlfriends on task with me and be accountable to doing this.   And shhh… sometimes I think this is the only reason why I lead the women’s ministry, to set up my own accountability system.  And for such a study as this, where the truth shows up visibly, above the knees and below the shoulders!

Deciphering Idolatry, that Christian Term

Posting a reflection on Jeremiah with absolutely no football references on Superbowl Sunday demonstrates yet again how I have my finger on the pulse of society.  Now, what are these “Ravens” and “49’ers” that everyone’s talking about?

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The word “idol” is used most in the Canadian vernacular in these two ways:

• to identify a top level of celebrity, such as “American Idol” or “teen idol”; or
• when “idle” is misspelled.