Monday, January 30, 2017

Alistair Begg Quote

My church, Trinity Baptist posted a really thought-provoking quote that I wanted to share with you all.

As a Scotsman,
I'm subject to Queen Elizabeth II.
But I haven't ever had a phone call or a visit from her.
She doesn't know my name.
Her greatness is revealed in how isolated she is from me.
But God's greatness is revealed in His intimacy with us.
He does know my name
and He does know yours.
He knows about, and He cares about,
the responsibilities that weigh heavy on you,
the quiet disappointments that gnaw at you,
and the concerns that keep you awake at night.
He knows about your hopes and aspirations and the moments that make your heart sing.

The Creator is mindful of you, and that gives you value,
whatever the world sees when it looks at you,
and however you are treated by those around you.
He is mindful.

All of us, whatever our background or beliefs, have a picture of God.
Many of us have a God who we do not believe in because we do not like him.
If you do not believe in God because he is distant, uncaring, and unhelpful, I understand.
I do not believe in that God either!

Here is the God of Christmas, of history.
He is a God who knows you,
and he cares about you,
and he makes promises to you,
and he acts to help you.
He is the mindful God
-Alistair Begg

Well, I don't know about you, but this is just the kind of God I need and that I love!

Monday, January 23, 2017

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

The Rent Collector is the best book I've read in a long time. The author, Camron Wright paints pictures with words so well that I can nearly imagine it all. It takes place in a dump in Cambodia. It follows the life of a young wife and mother, Sang Ly. She and her husband, Ki live and work in the dump, collecting things that can be recycled for money to for food and rent. On top of all the challenges of living and working at the dump, Sang Ly and her husbands's infant son, Nisay is continually sick.

Their rent collector is a harsh, demanding woman named, Sopeap Sin. The woman is often drunk which adds to her harshness. Once while collecting rent, she sees a book that Sang Ly has stares at it. That makes Sang Ly think that the woman must know how to read. So, the takes a leap of faith and asks the cruel woman to teach her to read. Sang Ly thinks it could change her family's life. Surprisingly, Sopeap Sin agrees. She used to be a teacher, which shocks Sang Ly. They meet once a week. Sang Ly looks in the trash for advertisements and books.

The dump is a sad, dangerous place. Sang Ly's husband gets robbed and beaten. A little boy, Lucky who lives alone runs to Sang Ly for help. A young girl that he knows needs help. Sang Ly runs to help and sees that she is having her cycle for the first time. She's an orphan and lives with her brother who is in a gang. Sang Ly tells the girl how to tell her brother and what to do to take care of herself. It's explained to Sang Ly that since the girl is now a woman, she'll be sold as a sex slave. Sang Ly must help. They come up with a plan to help the girl get away from the dump safely and live a new life. Sang Ly helps raise money for the girl's travel costs.

Ki is trying to get people together to take on the gangs who rule the dump. This scares Sang Ly as she fears for the safety of her family.

Meanwhile, she's learning to read and it's opened up a whole new world for her. While Sopeap Sin is a harsh person, she's a good teacher and Sang Ly is a great student. They start studying literature and looking for the deeper meaning in those stories. They're nearing the end of what there is to learn.

Nisay is still so sick, nothing helps. Sang Ly feels her deceased grandfather tell her to return home and see the local medicine man. It's a long expensive trip and they must save up for it. Sang Ly takes a book for the ride. The bus ride gets longer as there's a delay. People get fussy including young Nisay, so Sang Ly reads her book out loud to him. She notices that others are listening along. They reach their destination, but her captive audience must hear the end of the story. The driver and passengers agree to wait for her to finish the book. Once the book is read and her family disembarks, everyone smiles and thanks her for reading to them.

Once in her home village, Sang Ly sees the medicine man, who it turns out was friends with her deceased father. The medicine man comes up with how to treat Nisay. As they leave, the medicine man, he shares a photo and stary of Sang Ly's father that she'd never known before. The treatment cures Nisay; finally!

Sopeap Sin is often sick, someone mentions that they saw her in the hospital and she has cancer. Sang Ly doesn't know how to broach the topic. Sopeap Sin says she must go away soon. Throughout their time together, Sang Ly learns that Sopearp Sin used to be married and had a child. Slowly the story rolls out. At that time, there was much political unrest in Cambodia and all the educated people were targeted and killed. Sopeap Sin and her housekeeper return home to see that rebel forces are there ready to harm her family. Her husband proclaims the housekeeper as his wife. The housekeeper plays along. They hear the baby cry and they beg the rebels not to, but they kill baby her husband and who the presume to be his wife who is actually the housekeeper. So, the wife takes the housekeeper's name as hers. It turns out she actually owns the property she collects rent for. She sends much of the money to the real Sopeap Sin's family. Sang Ly tracks down the family and learns more about the rent collector. She tells them that the real Sopeap Sin is dead.

Sopeap Sin the rent collector has disappeared. Sang Ly uses all the info she learns and with the real Sopeap's Sin's family she tracks her down. She's back in the house she shared with her family. The owner lets her spend her last days there. Sopeap's family thanks her for her financial support. Sang Ly spends the rest of Sopeap Sin's time with her and then she passes away. Sopeap Sin leaves Sang Ly and Ki her house with a huge library that's outside of the dump. How much their lives were changes by the rent collector.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Recipe #34: Toffee

Here's the recipe my mom and I got from a family friend for toffee. We make it every year, it's one of those great tried-and-true recipes.

Ingredients:

1 pound butter
1/2 cup water
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
16 ounces milk chocolate chips

Directions:

Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil over high heat in a 2-quart saucepan (nonstick works best) and stir constantly until temperature on candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees F (approx 10-13 minutes).

Pour into an ungreased 10x13 inch baking sheet and spread evenly to coat. Will begin hardening immediately so move quickly. Sprinkle milk chocolate chips evenly over hot toffee and wait 1 minute till they begin to melt. Spread softened chocolate evenly over entire pan (like frosting) and chill for 2 hours.

Slam pan once on counter to crack and break apart into about 2-inch or smaller pieces. Store chilled in a sealed plastic bag or container and let get to room temperature before serving.


It makes the best buttery toffee. Enjoy!

Monday, January 9, 2017

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

I never really understood what happened in Benghazi. I know it was a hot topic in our last election and I wanted to understand. I read some about it online, but was excited to see the movie, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.
Jon Krasinski from the Office starred as the lead character, Jack. He's there to make money, but it's a dangerous job and keeps him far away from his growing family.

So, what I learned from the movie is that help WAS available to the Ambassador and his team, but up the line, they weren't given the go-ahead. Jack and his contract security team wanted to go help, but his boss wouldn't let them. So, while Americans were being killed, help was being withheld. Now, the movie didn't point fingers as to who withheld help, but it was clear, that it was up the line. More security had been requested months previously, but due to budget cuts, it never came through.

Americans were left to die and be slaughtered while help was ready and waiting to be of use. We, as the United States, failed our citizens in Benghazi. Help should've been sent, those lives were worth it. All this happened on Obama and Hillary's watch and the blood of those who died are on them. Our leaders enjoy taking credit for good outcomes, but as leaders, they must also take responsibility for when they drop the ball. God bless, America and keep us safe!


Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Recipe #33: Iced Pumpkin Cookies

My mom went a little overboard with baking again...I thought we made way too many kinds of cookies, but these, Iced Pumpkin Cookies ended up being my favorite. For the record I was wrong, we should've doubled the recipe.

They are light with the perfect amount of pumpkin and the glaze was perfectly light and sweet. Too bad they're gone, because now I'm craving another. Make them, you won't regret it.

From Gina on Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg


Glaze Ingredients:
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons milk


Prep: 20 m
Cook: 20 m
Ready In: 1 h 20 m

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.

To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

Make these, you won't be disappointed! Enjoy!