A letter from Chala

I got a letter from Chala today. Chala is my little boy that I sponsor through Compassion. I've been sponsoring him for about four years. He lives in Ethiopia and lives with his Mother and siblings.

I'll never forget how we were blessed with Chala in our lives. I'd heard about Compassion on the radio. I went to their website to see about sponsoring a child and the tears just ran down my face as I looked at all the little faces. How could I ever select JUST ONE I thought? Well, I couldn't. So I wrote to Compassion and asked them to select a child for me, and that is how we were blessed with Chala.

From the beginning Devon and I have included Chala and his family in our prayers at night. In addition, I pray for him at other times....for him to do well at school, for us to be able to send his family extra money, etc.

The letters that we receive are short because they have to be translated, so normally there isn't much that shocks me in them. Today's letter, however was different. There were only 9 sentences in the entire letter. 2 of them grabbed my attention.

One sentence told that he bought a mattress with the money we sent at Christmas time. Devon and I discussed what he may have been sleeping on before? A mat? A blanket? The dirt floor? Well the letter did not divulge that information, but it made Devon and I stop and thank God once again for all of our blessings. We reminded ourselves that even if we feel like we don't have much here, we have so much more than so many people in the world....including our little Chala.

The other thing that really got my attention was the last sentence. Chala asked for his prayer requests. He was asking for prayers that his Mom would received Jesus. I thought to myself what an amazing God that we have, that He goes to this extent to reconcile everyone to Himself. Now I'll start praying for Chala's Mother's salvation and we'll see how God moves in this little boy's life AND the life of his Mother.

April 15th - Oceanside Tea Party

Today's Tea Party in Oceanside was another success. Police estimate between 4,000-5,000 people showed up. The nationwide estimate of attendees is around a quarter of a million. Each day we get closer to the November, the more faith I have that people are getting sick of what is going on in this state and this nation and are getting off the couch to do something about it! Thank God!

A personal relationship with Jesus

Pastor Larry gave a great message today. He talked about having a ‘personal relationship with Jesus’ and what the phrase really means to a Christian. So often we take these phrases that roll around the church and say them, without really knowing what they mean…especially what they mean to us personally. This phrase means different things to different Christians, and I thought Pastor Larry did a great job of reminding us that “although the ‘house rules’ (the commands in the Bible) remain the same for all of us, our personal relationship with God is as different as we are."

I liked that thought. I also thought to myself, ‘I wonder why I’ve never heard this before?’ I am about to celebrate my fifth birthday in Christ and I’ve never heard that. I’ve always felt I had to conform to someone else’s rules (or tools). And I loved the way Larry said, those “TOOLS” might be great for you but don’t try to force them on someone else.

My first mentor, an amazing Christian woman, did have the ‘rule’ you should spend XYZ…amount of time with God each morning, first thing. It’s a guilt thing, that eventually, if that doesn’t work for you, you not only end up dreading…you end up feeling very guilty and inadequate over.

So thank you Larry, for giving us more Godly advice and helping us to focus on our walk with Jesus.

Stand Down Coming to San Diego!

Veteran's Village of San Diego will be hosting the annual Stand Down

http://www.vvsd.net/standdown.htm

Friday, July 16 through Sunday, July 18, 2010
 
What is a Stand Down?
In times of war, exhausted combat units requiring time to rest and recover were removed from the battlefields to a place of relative security and safety. Today, Stand Down refers to a community-based intervention program designed to help the nation's estimated 200,000 homeless veterans "combat" life on the streets.

A hand up, not a handout philosophy of Stand Down is carried out through the work of thousands of volunteers and numerous organizations throughout the nation.

Trusting God

Why is it so difficult for us humans to trust God?

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 declares.

We humans are inherently selfish. We want what we want, and of course lacking patience, we want it now! We are especially impatient when it comes to trials and wanting God to “fix” the situation. Somehow our thoughts get twisted during a trial and we may begin to think “why are you doing this to me God?” Proverbs 3:5-6, states “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Hmmm, maybe that means we are not to try and figure God out; just TRUST Him.

Job suffers intense physical and emotional pain at the hand of Satan. The scripture clearly shows that God “allowed” this trial to happen to Job, and yet Job continues to trust God. Job 2:9-10 “Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

Trials will come and go in our lives. Some trials will be small, some will be large and some may feel like they are going to crush us. But what’s the worse thing that will happen, in all honesty, if a trial “crushes” us? We die right? And if we die, then we just get to start eternity with Jesus a bit sooner. That doesn’t sound like a bad alternative. In fact, with that eternal perspective, this trial doesn’t seem so crushing.

Psalm 62:5-8
“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge. Selah”

Stop Taxing Us!

The Whopper.  April 15th in Oceanside, California

It's more than a rally.  It's an experience. 

 

http://www.stoptaxingus.com/

UPCOMING EVENT:

Tax Day Tea Party
 April 15, 2010
Oceanside Pier Amphitheater
5pm to 7pm
Rick Roberts from AM760 KFMB
Confirmed Guests:
Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Poizner
Senate Candidate Chuck Devore
Attorney General Candidate John Eastman
Sheriff Candidate Jay LaSuer
Candidates to take your questions in town hall format.
Other candidates in information booths.  Activity area for children.
Stay tuned for more details!

Amazing chicken breast with panko breading

Ok guys ~ here is another amazing recipe I've stumbled on that I want to share. Now this one comes from my own kitchen and let's just say, I don't do much measuring when I cook my own recipes. So work with me here because these are rough estimates. ;-)

Thaw breasts (I use the ones frozen with the ice glaze).
Rinse and pat your breasts dry with a paper towel and set them aside.
Get three bowls, wide and flat style work best.

• one flour
• one egg beaten (I add some water to my egg)
• one panko crumbs ( panko has the texture, but not much flavor, so I heavily season mine with garlic powder (NOT garlic salt), salt, pepper, italian seasoning, chili powder and dry mustard)

Have your pan (I use a glass 13x9 pan, but anything with a lip would work find) at the end of your dipping line so that you can plop them right into your pan. I find doing the turning works best with a fork so that you don't remove any of your coating like with tongs. Add a few tablespoons of room temperature butter as evenly as possible around the chicken in the pan.

Put your chicken into an oven pre-heated to 425 degrees. Cook for 10 min on one side then turn. Cook for another 10 min, then check with your thermometer. Depending on the thickness of your breast you may need another 5-10 min. At this point just continue to check with your thermometer on the thickest part of the thickest one until it's ready. And voila' ! An amazing dish, so quick and easy and yummmmmmmmyyy!!!! Enjoy!

Dreaded Words

Devon and I were in the car on a day trip of adventure. Driving with the sun shining, the radio playing our favorite Christian band, and my favorite person by my side I was just having an awesome day.

As it often does when we are in the car, conversation turned serious. Devon said, “I’ve been thinking about careers, I don’t know why.” I quickly shot him a look, as I tried to focus on the road. From an age of 5 or 6 years old, he’s always wanted to be a scientist, but this sounded different. The tone of his voice was intense and I braced myself. Well, I finally heard the words that every mom dreads…. “Mom, I think I want to join the military.”

Now remember, this is a Mom who served 10 years in the USAF proudly. I’ve been there, and done that….I have a pretty good idea of what it might entail. Yet, as a Mom, my heart raced and I clinched the steering wheel. I said a prayer and asked God for guidance. The conversation ensued…. What branch? What type of job? Why the military?

I recall the amazement in his eyes the first time he realized what the “military” is. Around age 3 or 4, those little green army men came to “life” when he saw pictures of me in uniform and saw my medals that hang on the wall. The first time he saw my “dog tags” he asked, “why do they call them that?” Now this awe mixed with curiosity was perhaps becoming more concrete.

I think back to the election of 2008 when as luck would have it, we were studying the birth of our nation. We read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; even posted them on the wall to look at every day. We read the biographies of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and others. During that time, I sensed a change in Devon’s understanding of democracy, the principles that founded the nation and I believe, that was the turning point in both his appreciation of and respect for our nation.

Good job, Mom. You taught him well about the nation’s heritage and patriotism. Well enough to hear those ‘dreaded words.’ Who knows what will happen with the career, I’m just proud of my son, the patriot.

Faithfulness

Today’s morning devotional was on the topic of faithfulness. “Faithfulness,” it said “can be described as being true to one's word, promises, or vows.” While there are several definitions for the word, I really like this one. Then it said, people “approach too many commitments with the option of, ‘Well, if this doesn't work, I can always get out.’”

I couldn’t get that idea out of my head all day. I couldn’t stop thinking about the times in my life that I’d approached something with that attitude; things like places I’ve lived, jobs, even my marriage.

I consider myself to be an extremely honest, loyal, trustworthy person. According to the definition stated above, I would have even described myself as faithful. But the idea of this attitude “if it doesn’t work…” it just struck a chord with me.

As God is so faithful to us, so I desire to be faithful. Faithful to friends, family, and principles like homeschooling. So the next time a thought of putting Devon in public school comes to my mind or close to my lips, I pray one simple word will cross my heart….faithfulness.

Extremely delicious recipe: Broccoli Cheese Soup

Broccoli Cheese soup

Ingredients:

1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon butter 1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon all -purpose flour 5 cups chicken stock 5 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon white pepper 2-3/4 cups fresh broccoli florets 13 ounces processed cheese, shredded 1-2/3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

You have scaled this recipe's ingredients to yield a new amount (10). The directions below still refer to the original recipe yield (18).

1.	Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat, and mix in the flour. Reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Mix in the chicken stock and milk, and season with salt and white pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer about 10 minutes.
2.	Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place the broccoli in the boiling water, and cook 2 minutes, or until just tender. Remove from heat, drain, and set aside.
3.	Gradually mix the processed cheese and Cheddar cheese into the large pot until melted. Mix in the broccoli. Continue cooking about 5 minutes.

 JUST A NOTE FRIENDS: the recipe did not call for chopping up the broccoli but I did. The picture looked chunky and I didn't want that, so I cut up the broccoli into bite size pieces. It was absolutely delicious.

Why boys love sports….or do they?

I begin this post with a question…why do boys love sports?

Is the love of sports in a boy’s genes or does our sports loving society ingrain it? I have a lot of questions about this subject because I have been so personally affected by it.

When my son was born, he was dressed in clothing with sports themes. His room was decorated in baseball and football décor. From the earliest age, his gifts were balls, bats and every type of sporting equipment imaginable. All of the typical “sports” trappings, we Americans seem to inundate our male children with where bestowed upon my son.

Yet from the age of about two, I could tell there was little interest in the balls, the bats, the bikes, the skateboards, etc. When the other boys at the park were riding bikes and kicking the balls to one another, my son would be off somewhere examining a plant or reading the little books that he took with him everywhere. He noticed the differences in the shapes and sizes of the plants and flowers and knew which types were likely to bring which insects. He could tell you the names of the types of clouds.  He loved to read, but had no interest in what most of the other boys were doing.

By age six, when all the other boys were riding their bikes and skateboards like crazy, my son’s brand new bike and skateboard sat unused. When I would ask why he wasn’t interested he’d just shrug and say “I don’t know.” About that time is when people start asking boys, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” My son’s response was “a scientist.” And that’s when the light went on for me. No amount of sporting equipment was going to change who he was on the inside.

I took him to the park today to throw around an old Nerf football that’s still in the bucket of balls we have. He’s got a heck of an arm and over time has learned to catch some. Seeing him running and smiling made me so happy. Seeing how well he throws the ball made all those memories come flooding back (the ones when I realized he’s not interested in sports) and I had to fight the urge to pressure him to play football next year in school.

In this family, Mom is the sports nut….and the boy? Well, let’s just let him be a scientist.

The Ocean brings me Joy!

Questions for God: 

How does each wave curl so perfectly? 

How does it know it’s time? 

How does the sound make music in my ears? 

How does the sand feel like precious jewels surrounding my feet? 

How does the horizon always look like I can touch it? 

I hope God lets me ask some questions when I get there.