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.

A Leaf Vacuum

I saw this cool lawn tool. 

A leaf vacuum is a new concept to me! Like a giant wet vac the leaves were raked together and then this large hose sucked them up!

 It was so cool! 

Standing there, standing and staring at the might and vacuuming power of this machine, lost in thoughts of how similar God is to this vacuum!

He takes our mess and cleans it up.  

If we will come to Him, be honest about our mess,

then he will take our sins and remove them! There is no mess to big or messy for Him. Many people think that they must get their lives together before they can come to God.

His might and cleansing power is amazing.  


The bible is clear about what God's deep love for us.

He does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear Him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

As a Father has compassion on his children,

so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

Psalm 103:10-13

End this year with a clean slate! 


Let God remove, restore and renew you!

Lord, I desire that you would take my sin and remove it!  Thank you that you say because of Jesus you will remember them, no more! 

All Saints Company

All Saints, (believers) are in need of repair. 

This picture reminded me of that simple statement.

Restore us, O God; 

make your face shine on us, 

that we may be saved.

Psalm 80:3

God has began a new work in us, to make us into what he wants us to be. 

This requires a bit of sewing. 

When repairing a garment there are a few things that it may require;

Some fabric may need to be cut off Matthew 5:30 

Seams might be ripped out Colossians 2:11 

A patch may be applied. Psalm 103:12 

I constantly struggle with those things that have attached themselves to me.

Bad attitudes

Sarcastic remarks

Selfish actions and desires

Meanness 

What can save me from myself? 

Only the Master Tailor! 

Only Jesus can restore me, recreate me, refashion me. 

Father, I come before you knowing that I have things that must be remade in order to serve you. Even though I know it is necessary, I confess I am afraid of the pain that it may take to under go this process. Trusting you.

Don't Get Wet!

Memory Monday

This morning my mind was flooded with the memory of sitting on a wooden bridge with my brother Chuck.

Earlier that crisp autumn day we had decided that it would be fun to go down to the creek and sit on the bridge. We rushed into the presence of our mom to ask if it would be okay to do so. Her exact words were, "Don't get wet!" Off we ran brimming with giggling excitement. After trekking through the overgrown path to the bridge we decided to walk along the creek's bank to collect some rocks. We needed an arsenal to throw into the water. What happened next is pivotal to the story. I slipped and did what my mother asked me not to do, yes, I was all wet! Slush, slush, slush was the sound of my shoes as I climbed up to the bridge. "Mom is going to be so mad at me", I whimpered! 

In a few minutes we were dangling our feet over the water and throwing rocks into the water. That's when It happened!  The idea to rectify my situation was so simple. "Chucky, mom won't know that I got wet if I tell her that my shoes fell off into the water" I exclaimed proudly! 

It is true, I threw my new shoes into the water and watched them float away! 

There was more evidence however and those 2 socks also met their demise into the creek. What my elementary mind did not think through was that my mother had much more wisdom and experience than I did.  She quickly caught me in my lie and the consequences followed.


Looking back I understand that my carefully planned excuse and cover-up was a lie, no matter how I try to sugar coat it.  It reminds me of Adam and Eve in the garden trying to hide and justify their sinfulness. 


Thankfully we have the good news of Christ!  We do not have to hide from Him!  He loves us and knows all about us!  He has seen our sinfulness and has forgiven us! 

God is sheer mercy and grace;
      not easily angered, he's rich in love.
   He doesn't endlessly nag and scold,
      nor hold grudges forever.
   He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve,
      nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
   As high as heaven is over the earth,
      so strong is his love to those who fear him.
   And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
      he has separated us from our sins.
   As parents feel for their children,
      God feels for those who fear him.
   He knows us inside and out,
      keeps in mind that we're made of mud. 

Psalm 103 The Message