"bleep" or get off the pot!

Okay, okay, okay!
That title is a little harsh,
but it's how i'm thinking this morning!

This blog just keeps on going.................
I think about it every day.

Thirteen years now.
What direction do I want it to go in?

Do I want to put ads on and grow my followers and make a little money?

I'm not sure.  Sometimes I can be a bit opinionated!!!

Do I want to be honest?  informative?   inspirational?  helpful?   creative?  

All of the above?


...................I think I just found my answer.

It's time to get serious.

Or as the title of this blog insinuates..........

GET MOVING OR GET OUT OF THE RACE!

Not that blogging is a race.....I would love to get better about it.  I'm just so all over the place most of the time.  It's time to sit and think and write.

Let's get going!

Wasteland

"In this wasteland, where I'm living, there's a crack in the door filled with light.
And it's all that I need to get by."    (Needtobreathe)

Look up this song on youtube.  it's good.

Those two lines above are so filled with hope.

This world is temporary.
Heaven is eternal.

And it's right there.
God is right here.
With us.

There is a reason for all of this.
And the older I get, the clearer it becomes.

"All of these people I meet seem like they're fine........."

Knowing what I know,
Knowing what is truth,
We are all on the same team.
We need to look past the masks.
The way I feel.
The fears I have.
I need to see it in others.
Then I can have compassion.
Then I can feel free to share what I know to be true.

God is for us....not against us.

Our hope shines through that crack in the door and it is our job to point that out.

Unlocking treasures

God's Word

It has the power to save.
The power to convict.
The power to guide.
The power to teach.
The power to comfort.

The power to make sense out of life.

No one can just pick up the Bible and totally understand it.  We believe, then we trust in God's word.
The understanding takes time.  It takes immersion in the word every day.

Salvation is individual. personal.

But unlocking the treasures of God's word and understanding the seemingly un-understandable takes time.
It takes fellowshipping
It takes being willing to learn, a willing heart.
It takes patience and trust.

I promise it will all make sense one day.
A bit here, a bit there.
Those questions that non-believers ask about some Old Testament stuff.
One day you will see more clearly and have an answer.

The basics of the nature of God.
What a holy God requires from His people.
How to walk in the light.
These are the things to learn first.

So many questions.
Sometimes it doesn't make sense.  It doesn't "fit" with the world.

At some point in the future you will step back and see a glimpse of the whole picture....
and you will still trust.

Until one day it all becomes crystal clear and we see Jesus face to face.

Hold Us Together

What holds us together?.................love does

A married couple?   love
a friendship?     love
a family?     love
a neighborhood?    love
a community?   love
a church?     love
a country?    love
THE WORLD?   love

get the picture?

The opposite of love is hate.
There is an area in between.
It's called indifference.
eh.....
who cares?........
Am I right?

but

If you hate or if you are indifferent
then you can't hold anything together.

Love isn't the glue all slopped on everything making stuff stick.
Love is the center and we all spiral around it.
If you don't love then you are lost and you go flying off into space....so to speak.

What is the love at the center?
What is this force that holds us together?

It's God.

Because we believe
Because we choose
We are irrisistably drawn to His love.
It flows through us and into the world.

This.
This is what holds us together.

Granola!

These are a few of my favorite granola recipes!

Chocolate Granola

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
*mix these all together in a large bowl

2/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
*melt the oil and whisk in syrup and vanilla
*pour over the dry and mix well to coat
*line a large baking sheet with parchment
*spread mixture evenly over it
*oven at about 250  for 40 minutes, give a little stir halfway through
*leave it to cool on counter without mixing-it should harden as it cools
*you may sprinkle chocolate chips over the top when it comes out of the oven!

(this is very sweet and good for a dessert sprinkle over plain yogurt)

Maple Walnut Granola

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
*mix together in a large bowl

1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbs. honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla
*melt the oil and stir in the rest
*pour over the dry ingredients and mix well
*spread over parchment lined sheet pan
*oven at 300 for 25 minutes.  give a little stir halfway through
*will crisp when cool.

Peanut Butter Granola

5 cups old fashioned oats
*place in a large bowl

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
*melt and mix together
*pour over the oats and mix well
*spread on parchment lined sheet pan
*oven at 275 for 40 minutes stir halfway through
*crisps as it cools


****these recipes have been gathered from different places.  some have been adjusted to my liking or experience.

Dear Little Sister

dear little sister,

you are gone.
there is no time left to fix what was broken.

even when you were still here
pride kept ears shut and hearts hardened.

i'm sorry.
i'm sorry i didn't try harder.

once i was strong enough, secure enough, confident enough....
it was too late.

it became a God thing.
i love God more than anything or anyone.....
including family.

this is the power that drove me away.
i was being called to something different.
something great.
something that is the opposite of the world.
something the world hates.

i thought i spoke the truth in love.
i made mistakes.
i always do and i always will.
but forgiveness was not to be.

forgiveness is impossible
in a pride filled world.

i wish our lives could have been different.

i wish that i could have been an influence for good in your life.

but i went a way that you didn't want to go.
i'm so sorry for that.

i prayed for you every single day.

it feels weird to not pray for you anymore.

it's been hard to write this in so many ways.
one way is me having to speak guardedly

because my words will be turned into weapons.

which is not my intention.

you were my little sister for so long.
we shared a history
that you chose to re-write.

a history that i set out to make a distant memory
to change the results of
to change the direction of
to move on from.

this is hard.....

because this letter is not for the dead.......

................................but for the living.

with love,

your sister,

karen

 karen, liz, judy

karen, bob, judy 

 judy, karen

bill, judy, karen

Too much

This world is full of too much.
Too much of the wrong things and not enough of the right things.

Too much noise, and not enough quiet.

Too much chaos and confusion, and not enough calm.

Too much feast, and not enough famine.

Too much bad, and not enough good.

Too much lying, and not enough truth.

Too much running about, and not enough standing still.

Too much "virtual" , and not enough real

Too much news, and not enough solutions.

Too much indoors, and not enough outdoors

Too many opinions, and not enough understanding.

Too many vain strivings, and not enough selfless serving.

Too much apathy, and not enough empathy.

Too much mouth, and not enough hands.

Too much hate, and not enough love.

It is all too much