Trouble with the Curve

We are a baseball family. In fact it was almost mandatory that I love baseball for my husband to marry me! Particularly we love The Angels baseball team.  That being said it was a no-brainer that we would go and see the movie, Trouble with the Curve.  It is about a baseball scout played by Clint Eastwood and his relationship with his daughter. Lot's of curves in their relationship, and neither one of them do a good job of navigating the curves. 

Curves in our lives can be expected or unexpected.  

We expect curves when we try something new like
marriage
babies
career change
moving

Or curves can be unexpected
illness
death
relational issues
job loss
accidents

In one scene of the movie a high school baseball player pleads, "Please let me get a hit!" The pitcher throws the ball and the batter is struck in his side with the ball. That wasn't the hit he was asking for or even expecting. 

How do we respond with the curves that life throws at us? If God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow then no curve can really have a lasting effect on us.

In a Beth Moore study on Esther she reminds us If ________ then God! Let that sink in. If whatever the curve is comes at you, then right there in the midst is God! Always, never changing, faithful to His promises is God. Romans 8:38-39

I am not making light of some very serious issues that come our way.  Curves after all are curves because they twist and turn us! At times our insides are in knots from the stress of them. Curves can rock you to your core.

Today if you are having trouble with the curve I urge you trust in the one who has created all things and will work all things for good. Romans 8:28

Paleo Chicken Broccoli Quiche

Two of the things that I miss on our Paleo eating is bread and cheese. When I saw this recipe I began salivating.  All day long I thought about getting home and making it! The original recipe can be found at Fast Paleo.  I have adjusted it to fit our tastes.

Ingredients

Crust
3 cups Almond Meal
3 Eggs
4 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Filling
2 cups cubed chicken 

1 onion chopped

1 tsp garlic

1/4 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes

1 head of broccoli chopped

3 Eggs

1 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 tsp arrowroot

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp crushed black Pepper

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

Pre-heat the oven 350F.
Begin making the crust. Mix the crust ingredients until it it makes a dough. Press into a greased 9x9 pan. The dough can be thick, be sure to press it down with your hands and a fork. (You can use all or some of the dough depending on your preference of the thickness). 

Poke the bottom with a fork and a bake for 20 minutes. 

After removing the crust from the oven, increase the temperature to 390F.

Make the filling while the crust is baking.

Saute the chicken, onion and sun dried tomatoes in the olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper. 

In a bowl, beat the eggs, coconut milk, arrowroot, garlic, red pepper, salt and black pepper.

Next spread the chicken, tomato, onion mix evenly over the crust.
Pour over the egg mixture filling up every little cavity. Place the broccoli on top, covering the entire dish, pushing it down into the mixture with your hand.

Bake for 40-45 minutes.  Let cool for a few minutes and enjoy. It is so good!

What I learned

While trying to stay true to my Paleo lifestyle it can be difficult to abstain from certain things like cheese and bread. In the midst of this I have had to find other things to add to my recipes. There are things that God has asked us not to be a part of and in our lives as Christians we too must sometimes figure out how to respond to those things that we are asked to abstain from.  From the time of Adam and Eve each of us have had the same dilemma.

We really have 2 choices; abstain or give in.

I have many friends who have decided that it is too hard to follow Christ all of the time so they go the route of giving in and asking for forgiveness after. This makes me so sad. Instead of remaining strong and finding another way they have given in, given up and quite honestly made excuses! Living this way marks us with shame and justification. Like Adam and Eve we eventually begin to hide from God and hope that he doesn't notice our lapses in judgement.  There has to be a different way!

I believe that there is a way to live beyond sin, but it requires us seek God, and to humbly follow hard after Him. Seek Him and He will be found by you. You won't be disappointed!

He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8

OOH OOH that smell!!

Smells have an interesting effect on us. Some of these spark memories of mom's wonderful Thanksgiving meals, or loving thoughts of warm chocolate chip cookies placed in front of us. They can take us back into our childhood and remind us of special people. 

At times a negative response can also be experienced. Recently in California a putrid odor stretched over 150 miles from the Salton Sea all the way to Los Angeles. It reminded people of rotten eggs and was later discovered to be the result of decaying fish. 

Yesterday at school I walked into the lunch room to say hello to some of my students and as I knelt down to talk with one of the kindergartners I was overtaken with "the smell", instantly knowing it was the terrible odor of skunk spray. In 2009 our dog Spunky was sprayed and then proceeded to share that lovely fragrance with all of us inside our home. You can read about it here.

Today I am reminded that we have a choice as Christians to be a good smell or a bad smell.  To entice people to want to know more about Jesus or to be repelled by us. How will you be remembered?

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. 2 Corinthians 2:14-16

The Perfect Game, the Unexpected Play

My husband and I watched the movie, The Perfect Game this week. It was based on a true story about the 1957 Little League World Series. An unknown team from a steel town of Monterrey, Mexico was portrayed in the movie. It tells the story of how these small, raggedy boys won the little league world series.  The pitcher, Angel Macias  threw the only perfect game in the history of the championship. The movie was not just about baseball.  I loved how the coach taught and learned life lessons throughout the movie. One of his favorite things to demonstrate to the boys was to be ready for, "The unexpected play at the unexpected time". Woven into the movie was this theme, over and over again.

When this came up in the movie I began to think about how often God has done that. We see it throughout scripture that God will do the unexpected in His perfect timing. Remember the first time you heard about Moses taking the Israelites to the red sea?  Would God save them? Of course He did and just at the perfect time. In I Kings a widow serves Elijah and then her son grows ill. In anger she cries out to God. Will God let this child die? Her child is spared in God's time. Even Jesus as an unborn child in Mary's womb was in danger. We see the unexpected happen as He is protected from Herod. Jesus on the cross did not alter from this concept.  It would have been so easy to stop the whole circus. He did the unexpected thing at the unexpected time. He died, that we may live.  

In my life God has done this very thing. It may not have been as exciting as Daniel in the lions den or a burning bush but, none the less, He has surprised me with provision, protection and peace when I did not expect it. When I did not know what to do, where to turn or how to respond He showed up. Learning to trust Him to do and be who He says He is has been a journey. 

I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? 

Jeremiah 32:27

He is the God of the unexpected play. I always knew He loved baseball!

More than a Hair Net

I am an English language Learner (ELL) educator.  That means that I have the great pleasure of helping students learn English if they speak another language.  I love my job and love the students and families that I serve.  This year we had some changes in our district.  We reconfigured our school buildings into grade level sites; K-1, 2-3 and 4-5.  Practically it meant that all students in those 2 grade levels will be attending the same school. Breaking it down even further it means that my building houses hundreds of kindergartners and first graders.  

On the first day of school it is not uncommon for first time students to cry a little for their moms, be confused about where to go, not understand school rules, ask where the bathroom is, have trouble navigating the lunch line, and some may have bathroom accidents. This is to be expected and patience for these little one is necessary.  Now imagine that every one of the students in your school is crying, feels overwhelmed and requires attention all at the same time!  It was obvious after our first day of this new system that there were some necessary changes we would need to make for our little ones.

During lunch instead of expecting our students to scoop their own food onto their trays, we would ask adults to do this job. When asked who would do this I gladly accepted the task.  I love doing anything that requires conversations with my students. As soon as I said yes, it was noted that we would be wearing hair nets! Too late to un-volunteer, I donned the elegant hat and promptly went to work serving salad to students.  All in all it was fun!   

What I learned
At any time we are to be ready to serve. This means that we may

• Equip people Ephesians 4:11-13
• Be devoted to each other Romans 12:10
• Share each others burdens Galatians 6:2
• Encourage each other I Thessalonians 5:11
• Pray for each other James 5:16
• Share the truth II Timothy 4:2

Regardless of what we are called to do we can, Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 

Ephesians 6:7

Where are you called to serve?

Hard Boiled Eggs

Several times a week, my husband and I will grab a hard boiled egg to enjoy in the morning.  There is nothing more frustrating than trying to peel a hard boiled egg and having chunks of your precious egg whites falling off with the shell.  There have been times when over half of the egg have been lost to bad peeling. Don't laugh! When I am in a hurry,  my go to protein is the hard boiled egg. I love cooking and kind of embarrassed that this would happen to me.

Today after reaching my egg-disaster level I resulted to Googling it! This is what I found at the simple homemaker. Simple and straight forward.

How to boil an egg. 

This means start with cold water, add eggs then bring to a boil. After boiling turn off heat and let rest in the hot water for 10 minutes

Place the eggs into ice water as soon as the 10 minutes are done, adding more ice as the water warms up.  Here is what I learned (The ice causes the egg itself to contract, thus separating the egg from the membrane and shell). Thanks Simple Homemaker!

How To peel the Egg

Begin cracking the egg on the larger end. This side contains an air bubble that makes it easier to remove the membrane from the egg. Then crack both sides and roll the egg.  Voilà! The shell is suppose to come off

After following the cooking and icing instructions I began the peeling process.  Following the steps, crack the large side first, roll the egg, I nervously began peeling the egg.  It worked without a major casualty!

What I learned

We all get to our breaking points.  Those times when we don't know what to do any more. When the same things keep happening, over and over and over. When you begin to ask, "how did I get here?" A deep sadness that nothing is ever going to change, hopeless, alone, defeated.  Have you been here? 

David felt this way.  

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
    How long will my enemy triumph over me?

 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

When David got to his breaking place, Look where he got to after crying out to God!

 But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
 I will sing the Lord’s praise,
    for he has been good to me. Psalm 13:1-5

          

Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103

If you are at your breaking point, look to God and cry out to Him.  If you seek Him you will find Him.