Please support the pork

I feel bad for the pig farmers. This whole "swine flu" thing has been hard on their already struggling industry. We are not supposed to call it swine flu anymore - it is now known as H1N1.

I heard this morning that China has halted the import of Canadian pork products into their country, even though there is no evidence that you can get the flu from eating pork. I didn't even realize we exported pork to China.

Some of our clients where I work are pig farmers/pig veterinarians. They have company names like "PigPharm" and "Swine Services Group". I kid you not! Funny names aside, they do have very stringent safety regulations. Our technicians have to shower before entering AND after leaving a barn to ensure that they are not causing any cross-contamination.

This is a big pork producing area, and I feel it is my patriotic duty to support the pig farmers in their time of need by consuming more pork products *grin*. (This despite the fact we are unable to produce a decent breakfast sausage around here. Why, oh why can't we have Jimmy Dean? It is a mystery.)

My family loves pork products of all kinds. Mmmm... pork chops, rolled ribs, schnitzel. Consider the triumvirate of bacon, ham & sausage. What would breakfast be without some sort of pork product?

I overheard Kirk tell Hope the other day, "I love you more than anything. Even bacon." What a romantic!

Around here we even eat pork hocks and pig tails. My mom makes wicked good pigtails. I'm not sure I would eat pig's feet though. I once saw a jar of pickled pig's feet. That was in South Carolina. I guess they are popular down there. Not so much here.

I also can't do pork rinds. Ewww.

My husband grew up on a pig farm. When we first started dating he took me into the barn to see the "weaners". That means the little pigs that had been weaned from their mothers. I misunderstood and though he meant "weiners". I wasn't so sure I wanted to know EXACTLY where my hot dogs were coming from!

Here is how I make schnitzel:

If you can't get schnitzel-cut pork where you are, use a pork loin roast. Slice the roast into 1/4 inch slices and then pound them thin. They will double or even triple in size when you pound them out.

Season both sides of the meat with a little salt and pepper.

Dip the slices into Catalina dressing and then into dried bread crumbs.

Fry the slices in a little vegetable oil. They cook quickly and you only need a few minutes per side (depending on how thin you pounded them).

You can serve these with sauce if you like - a mushroom gravy is a traditional way of serving them. My family likes them plain with mashed potatoes and red cabbage.

They're altogether ooky

My "Addams Family"!

A very dear lady where Ken and Kirk work returned to work this week from cancer treatment. The chemo caused all her hair to fall out. My sweet husband (that's the handsome one in the centre) arranged for all the guys at work to get their heads shaved in solidarity. They canvassed for pledges and raised money for cancer research. Kirk is on the right. That's Brent on the left. He doesn't work with the other two - he just thinks its cool to be bald.

This is what pro-life looks like

I am pro-life.

But I wasn't always.

I came of age in the late 1980's. Here in Canada there was a lot of attention on "the abortion issue" around that time. Up until the late 60's/early 70's (I forget exactly) abortion under any circumstances was illegal in Canada. It was illegal to perform one and illegal to have one. Then good old Trudeau decided that "the state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation" and the abortion legislation was changed to permit abortions that were performed in hospitals, reviewed by a committee and deemed to be necessary to protect the health of the mother. All other abortions remained illegal. Then in 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the existing abortion legislation as "unconstitutional". Since then, there have been no new attempts to legislate abortion, so in effect any and all abortion is legal in Canada.

As well, in 1989 there were two high profile abortion cases that made the national news. They both involved pregnant, unmarried women seeking abortions. Nothing new there, right? What made them of interest to the country was the fact that their boyfriends (the fathers of the unborn children) sought and were granted injunctions against their girlfriend having the abortion. The courts eventually overturned the injunctions and said that fathers can't "force" mothers to carry children they don't want to, but neither woman waited that long. Both of them defied the injunctions and had abortions performed in the United States.

I remember these cases quite well. I was pregnant at the time with Kirk, so they hit close to home. And I'll be honest...at the time I had mixed feelings about it all. I feel differently about it now, but back then I didn't think it was right that the man could force a woman to remain pregnant against her will. It just seemed wrong to me. But abortion seemed wrong to me too. I was decidedly conflicted on the matter.

Of course, those were different times. My attitude towards abortion has migrated into the staunchly pro-life camp. It's not because my attitude about men forcing women to carry babies has changed - I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's still something wrong about that to me. What has changed is my attitude and understanding of the sanctity of life. It changed over time; as I got older and my understanding of the Scriptures matured I became convinced that God regards all life as sacred and that we are obligated to protect life in all circumstances.

Lately though, I've come to understand that opposing abortion doesn't necessarily equate to being pro-life.

We have a new foster daughter. She has been living with us since the end of January. She is 18 and she is almost 6 months pregnant. We did not know when we took her in that she was pregnant - I'm not sure if it would have made a difference...but it might have. We might not have wanted to take that on. I'm not trying to justify that - just being honest.

In fact, there have been moments when I have questioned the wisdom of having her living with us. It has been, quite frankly, somewhat disruptive for our family. We've had to deal with things I never dreamt I'd be doing at this point in my life. We are now in the position of guiding and influencing the course of at least two young lives - Timika's and the baby's - and the burden of this responsibility weighs on me. I must admit I feel utterly unequal to the task. I've gone back and forth on whether we are doing the right thing. Would she be better served if we were to find her a maternity home to live in, with professional folks who are trained to help her deal with her situation? I've thought about it.

Recently, I heard the following quote from Dr. James Lamb, director of Lutherans for Life, on Issues, Etc.:

"We don't see it (abortion) as just a moral issue that needs correcting or a political issue that needs strategizing; it's a spiritual issue and that needs to take priority for us in our lives to move us in the decisions that we make, the issues that we support and defend and so forth.

We as God's people need to reach out and influence those around us who are not like us, living in the real world. And that means if we are going to influence our neighbor...we are to love our neighbor. And so the manner of reaching out becomes very important. So there's a call for sharing the truth in love and there's a call for acting out in love. "

I have taken those words to heart. Timika will stay here and we will walk with her through this. I think this is what Dr. Lamb meant by acting out in love. We covet your prayers.

True love

In Ontario, for every 100 women who find themselves in an unplanned pregnancy, 49% abort their children.

Another 49% choose to keep the child.

Only 2% choose adoption.

The ratio of couples wanting to adopt vs. babies available for adoption is roughly 70:1.

To the 2% - God bless you. What you are doing is heroic. It must be incredibly difficult to stand against the popular wisdom that tells you to put yourself and your own needs first. Instead, you have chosen to put the best interests of another life - your baby's! - ahead of your own. You have chosen to give this child life, and you have made a plan to give your child a stable home with a mom and a dad who are willing and able to raise and care for him. That is the definition of a good parent. That is what you are.

Your time as this child's parent will be brief, and soon the time will come for you to hand over that responsiblity to his adoptive parents, but the foundation of this child's life is being built right now in the choices that you are selflessly making for him.

Mother's Day is not too far away, and maybe your heart will break a little on that day. Mine will break a little too. But on that day, I will honour you as a good and true Mother.

God bless you.

In the shadow of the Cross

Been reflecting on the Cross. Some thoughts:

"His power is made perfect in weakness."

The cross is where God accomplished salvation for mankind. What looked like crushing, agonizing defeat was in fact victory over sin, death and the devil. Looking up at the cross from Calvary, it must have seemed like anything but victorious. There hung the supposed Messiah - abandoned by his followers, convicted as a criminal and sentenced to die in the most painful, humiliating fashion the Romans could devise, beaten, scourged, mocked and spat upon - and seemingly powerless to prevent any of it. The cross represents - no, IS - the worst of man's evil.

And yet this is precisely where God's power to overturn the evil forces in the world is made manifest. This so-called "defeat" is where our salvation was secured. The cross = power hidden in the form of weakness.

It is a paradox. Consider the words of this hymn:

How strange is this great paradox to ponder:
The Shepherd dies for sheep who love to wander;
The master pays the debt His servants owe Him,
Who would not know Him.

What kind of love does it take to die for those who will struggle to remain faithful to the one who paid their tremendous debt? Or for those who refuse to even acknowledge Him, let alone the debt that they have incurred? What kind of a God makes Himself vulnerable to man's continued rejection; paying all that is owed only to be rebuffed for his love?

We expect victory to look like victory, and power to look...well, powerful. And the Cross, when seen unfiltered through the eyes of faith, certainly does not resemble what we expect an all-powerful God to look like.

Yet it is the weakness that is the source of the power. Christ Himself said that no one takes his life from Him; He lays it down willingly.

So what does all this mean for me, living in the shadow of the Cross?

Well, first of all, if God demonstrates his power through the weakness of the Cross, then He does through my weakness too.

"All things work together for the good of those who love God..."

The Cross is proof of this. In the Cross, the devil was tricked and evil was subverted for good.

The Cross changes everything. It turns what we think we know about God on its ear.

The world sees suffering as a curse; through the lens of the Cross, we see it a blessing.

The world sees servanthood as lowly; the Cross exalts the servant-hearted.

The world views self-sacrifice as weak and submissive, but it is through self-sacrifice in service to others that I reign with Christ.

This is incredibly humbling.

Jesus promises to come again with glory and I can't help but wonder - in light of the Cross, what will that glory look like?

I think it might very well look a lot like suffering, and weakness and defeat.

Something to think about, isn't it?

Help! I have hungry, hungry hippos...

Is it mean to call my kids hippos? I don't mean to imply that they are big. It's just that they're always on the lookout for something to eat. Ravenous wolves. Vultures. Like that.



This time of year money is always tight for us, so I am looking for some frugal snack ideas that will satisfy the vultures kiddos. Except snacks is maybe not quite the word...mini-meals would be more like it. Anybody got any ideas they'd like to share?



Speaking of mini-meals, here's one that I've been making for years...



English muffin pizzas



Pkg of 12 english muffins (I get mine at the bakery "thrift" shop 2 pkg. for $1.75)

Tomato sauce (about half a can = 50 cents)

shredded cheese (cost varies, but I shred it myself and it is about $1.00 a cup)

parmesan cheese

italian seasoning

other toppings (use up leftover meat and veggies)



I'm sure you know how to make mini pizzas. The trick to keeping the cost down on these is in the cheese. You don't need to use much at all, and if you sprinkle on a little parmesan cheese you get a big boost in taste for very little $$$. I make a big batch, cook them and let them cool and then package them in twos. I don't bother freezing them (I keep them in the fridge instead) and they go pretty fast. But they can be frozen and reheated in a toaster oven or microwave.



So, what do you feed your hungry, hungry hippos?

Parish life

I have really enjoyed this Lenten season and the opportunity to gather with my Brothers and Sisters for mid-week Lenten services on Wednesday evenings.

Now, I confess that I have had mixed feelings about the sermon series that is being preached - it is about "repairing broken relationships". Each week the sermon has looked at behaviour patterns that contribute to unhealthy relationships - having unrealistic expectations of each other, the negative interpretation of motives, escalating responses, etc. I'm not quite able to put my finger on why I don't like them; they seem to be too law driven, almost "self-help" in nature, with too much focus on fixing broken human relationships and not enough on how Jesus fixes our broken relationship with the Father. There's nothing wrong with them per se, it's just not my cup of tea, I guess.

Despite this, I've still come away each evening fed and refreshed. It occured to me that this is one real advantage that the liturgy has over a non-liturgical worship setting: even if you get a less than stellar sermon, you still hear the Word - spoken by the pastor from the readings and spoken and sung to one another by the congregation. The Word runs through the entire service and you are immersed in it from beginning to end. I will miss having these midweek gatherings when Lent ends.

I've also REALLY enjoyed being in the choir! It kind of surprised me how much pleasure I've been getting out of it. We have a full docket for this upcoming Holy Week: leading the congregation in the canticles for Palm Sunday, and anthems/hymns on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I have discovered that I have a not bad voice too! It's not a "solo" voice to be sure, but it sounds quite nice when it is blended with other voices. I get a real sense of satisfaction in praising God in this way.

This past Sunday our church held a special candlelight service of Evening Prayer. It featured a men's choir, and several organists from around our district contributed their talents. It was not a heavily attended event (which disappointed me a bit) but the smaller gathering of people gave it a peaceful, intimate atmosphere. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Lutheran Liturgy: The Service of Preparation

Pretend that you are coming to church with me...

If you've never been in a Lutheran Church before you may notice that it looks different from what you are used to. A brief explanation about the layout of the church can be found here.

As we enter the sanctuary, you will notice that the atmosphere is somewhat subdued. Some people may be talking quietly, but others will be listening to the prelude music or have their heads down in prayer, preparing for worship. As we take our seats, I will silently pray a brief prayer of thanks to the Holy Spirit for bringing me to church and asking the Spirit to give me ears to hear the Gospel. You can pray too, if you like. There is a prayer for coming to worship in the cover of the hymnal if you would like to use it, or you can pray an appropriate prayer of your own.

By now, the church should be filling up and there will be music playing. Most often it is our beautiful organ, but sometimes there are other instruments: we have a handbell choir and quite a few musicians who lend their talents (on the clarinet, trumpet, guitar for example) and recently we've had a beautiful flute accompany the grand piano. The music helps to set the atmosphere for the coming service - somber on a Good Friday service, for example, or triumphant for Easter.

We see two acolytes enter the sanctuary to light the candles at the altar. The pastor enters and we stand to sing the opening hymn.

We will remain standing after the hymn and the pastor will face the altar and say "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" and we will respond "Amen". This is called the Invocation. The invocation is based upon Matthew 28:19a

Following the Invocation, we will kneel and confess our sinfulness and hear the pastor pronounce God's forgiveness to us. This is called Confession and Absolution. The words we use for our confession are from 1 John 1:8 "If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Following our confession, the pastor will pronounce absolution according to John 20:23, Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 18:18.

With absolution pronounced, we have finished the Service of Preparation and are now ready for the actual Divine Service to begin.

Ok, I can hear you now. Huh??? So, what just happened here? Well, let me try to explain...

To understand what's going on in the liturgy in general, you need to remember that it is focussed entirely on Christ and the saving work that He did, and continues to do, for us. The liturgy is a beautiful reflection of the order between God and man: God acts, we respond.

Our sin separates us from God and prevents us from entering into his presence. On our own we can't approach him - He must come to us. The primary way that he comes to us is through his Word and Sacraments.

So when we gather to worship, the first thing we do is acknowledge that we are not here by our own strength or reason but have been brought by the Spirit. We acknowledge this in the liturgy through the Invocation. When the pastor speaks the invocation, he does so outside of the chancel area; he is still in the nave with the rest of the congregation. As he speaks the invocation, he makes the sign of the cross (we may do so also) by which we recall our baptism and the name of the Triune God into whose name we have been baptized. It is on this basis that we may now approach him. Maybe that sounds like a no-brainer, but notice how it points us firmly back to Christ? It keeps us from thinking that we're here because we have something to "offer" to God. We're not here on account of any merit or work (even the work of praise) of our own - we're "name-dropping" if you will, using God's own name to approach Him, because of what Christ did for us.

But emboldened though we are by God's promise to hear us for Christ's sake, we have some dirty business to attend to first. We are sinful and constantly in need of God's forgiveness. How can we even contemplate entering into His presence in such a state? Our sorrow for our sin causes us to go to our knees and cry out for mercy and forgiveness. God in his mercy hears our cries and assures us that we have been forgiven for Christ's sake. As the pastor pronounces God's forgiveness to us, he remains outside of the chancel, reminding us that he is just a servant and in need of forgiveness as well. What he pronounces to us, he receives himself.

The Service of Preparation establishes the rhythm of our worship: God Himself serves us with his gifts of pardon and forgiveness and we respond in joyful thanksgiving. Now we are ready to begin worship...

There aren't too many things that I consider myself to be an "expert" on. I'm "pretty good" or even "good" at some things, but there's nothing that I'm really "accomplished" at or that I would feel comfortable giving advice on. The only thing that I think I am anywhere near competent to give advice on is marriage. I have a really good marriage - I cherish it, and my husband.

We had a pretty rocky start, you know. We both were young - I was 22 and Ken was 23 - and we were pretty foolish to boot. It took us more than a few years to "become one"; we didn't understand that it was more than just two people living alongside the other. but as the years went by, we learned to become one; to submit to each other in love and to serve one another humbly, always seeking for the other the highest good.

I am not bragging here. That we have a tremendous marriage is nothing other than a grace and I give all the glory to God for his mercy towards us.

And I pray the same for you.

I regularly pray for you, and your husbands and your marriages. Sometimes I pray "in bulk" - that is I make intercession for all the marriages of all my friends and family, but very often the Lord will put one of you on my heart and then I will pray specifically for that particular couple.

If you're wondering if I've ever prayed for you and your marriage, I can tell you that if you read this blog even semi-regularly, I have prayed for you.*smile* A good marriage is such a profound gift from God that I can't help but wish it for everyone.
I hope that knowing that someone is praying for your marriage is an encouragement to you.

A reader asks...

In an email, Beth from Arizona asks,

“Is the Holy Spirit within all people including non believers? If not, then how does God communicate with or guide us before we are baptized? Isn’t something leading us to the desire to be baptized?"

Blessings, Beth

Thank you for your email and your questions, Beth. The answers, happily, can be clearly drawn from the Scriptures.

The Scriptures indicate in a number of places that there are those who are in the Spirit and those who are not.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:5-8

Forthe one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:8

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:13

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3

Just as a distinction was made between the Isrealites - God's chosen people - and the Gentiles, so too is there a distinction between those who have been regenerated by the Spirit and those who have not. All are God's creatures, but not all are His children.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1

Believers have been adopted into the family of God and are heirs to the Kingdom. Believers hear and understand the that which is of the Spirit, while unbelievers do not - indeed cannot.

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18

But God does not speak to us exclusively through his indwelt Spirit - he uses ordinary physical means to communicate with us as well. Scripture teaches that God's grace is conveyed to us through the Gospel (that is: God's saving word about His love for us in Jesus).

When we hear the Gospel preached - which comes to us by sound waves carried across space to our ears - we hear God's very own Word spoken. When we read the Scriptures - paper and ink bound in a book - we are seeing the the Word that God wanted to preserve for us so that we may know about the Saviour. God uses all these physical means to convey his Word to us.

Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

The Holy Spirit creates faith in us by the Gospel, and all who receive this Word in faith are saved. If we desire to be baptized, it is solely by the work of the Holy Spirit in us. (1 Cor. 12:3 again: "no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit".)

I hope this is helpful to you Beth. Anybody else care to chime in?