tidbits

I'm sorry everyone. I do not have a meatball recipe to share. I make them different every time.

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I wish my camera was working! Just a few blocks from my house, the Mennonite farmers are plowing their fields with their old farm implements and preparing their fields for planting. Today I saw a little Mennonite boy, dressed in a button down shirt with suspenders, playing in the apple orchard while two ladies wearing long sleeved dresses and black bonnets sat under a tree doing some needlework. Peaceful.

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I have to have some tests for a health problem I've been having. I covet your prayers.

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Here's a post by Beth (Kuwaiti Beth) that I really enjoyed. Very insightful. (And with a very Lutheran perspective.)

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My husband came home yesterday with 2 new-to-us bicycles! A client of his wanted to get rid of them and offered them to my husband - for free! Mine needs air in the tires and some WD-40 on the chain. I haven't ridden a bike in about 10 years so I am hoping not to embarrass myself.

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I have some plans this for this summner that I am dying to share, but I can't yet. And, no, this time it does not involve a trip to North Carolina :) Hoping to let everyone in on the secret soon though!

Some (belated) Mother's Day reflections

Note: I wrote this on Mother's Day, but looks like I hit "Save Now" button instead of "Publish Post".


First, I should tell you right off the bat, I'm not a big fan of Mother's Day. I'll tell you why in a minute, but keep that in mind when I say that this was probably the nicest Mother's Day I can remember.

Ok, so I do love being able to honour my own mother on Mother's Day. She deserves every bit of love and honour that she receives. My mom is Simply. Incredible. She is, and I say this with absolutely NO bias whatsever (smile) The World's Greatest Mom. Ever.

Mom is kind and generous and self-sacrificing and utterly undemanding. She was born to be a mother. And now that she has raised her own children, she has turned her attention to children in our neighbourhood whose own mothers, for whatever reason, have difficulty raising their own children. You might recall that she runs a school breakfast program at a public school in our neighbourhood. Some of those kids come because there's not enough food in the house; some come because their moms must leave early in the morning to work to support them and aren't home to fix breakfast and see them off to school; others come because their moms have been out too late the night before and can't (or can't be bothered) to get up and feed their kids in the morning. (I'm sorry. That sounded harsh I know. For what it's worth, the can't-be-bothered moms are few. It just makes me sad that's all.)

Anyways, my mom strives to give the "Breakfast Club" kids not just a meal, but a real family atmosphere to get them started in the morning. She makes the rounds each morning, chatting with the kids, asking about their day ahead and encouraging them as she is able. She gets to know them. She notices when a child needs a pair of socks, or a hat or mitts (yes, even coats or boots) and makes sure one is found for the child. She pays extra attention to the kids who need it: the hard-to-love kids, the social outcasts and the naughty ones. They are more than just little empty bellies to her. And she is more than just the "breakfast lady" to them. She loves them because Jesus loves them. I dare say she is much like a grandma to many of those kids. I am honoured and humbled to be able to share my mom with them.

I, on the other hand, am not a natural born mother. Mothering comes hard for me. Even with my mother's excellent example, I fall so short of the mark, and Mother's Day is a reminder of all that I am not.

Today, I shared this thought with my pastor's wife, Elizabeth. This is how she ministered to me: "Oh no, Anita (she said) no, don't you do that. You are who God made you to be. Exactly as He planned with the gifts that he wanted for you. And you share those gifts with your family. For the rest, there is grace." (Ok, I'm paraphrasing a bit here...but this is the gist of it.)

Elizabeth, if you happen to stop by here, thank you. God's grace IS sufficient for me. Sometimes I must be reminded of that. *smile* Thank you for your words - they were an unexpected, but treasured, Mother's Day gift.

This is a family favourite

This is not - and never has been - a homemaking blog, but I do have some ideas to share once in a while! Since I work during the day now, I don't have the time I used to have to prepare weekday meals. Dinner prep time is at a premium and my family likes a nice, sit-down meal for supper. Every supper. Ask anyone who's seen us - we are all big supper eaters. Canned soup and crackers is just not going to cut it for this family.

I have developed a repertoire of fast meals that are acceptable to my family. One of our favourites is sweet and sour meatballs on rice with boiled carrots. It's a very tasty combination. Actually, many of our favourites have meatballs so I make them often in large batches and freeze them for later use. They're handy to have around and there are lots of different meals that you can make with meatballs: spaghetti and meatballs, meatball and sauerkraut soup (Ok, so maybe YOU won't be making that one, but we like it!), meatball stroganoff, etc. etc.

Here's how I get sweet and sour meatballs on the table in under 30 minutes:

1. I get a pot of rice going in the microwave first because it takes the longest. (I cook rice in the mic instead of on the stove.)

2. Then I put a bag of frozen meatballs in a big pot. I empty a can of pineapple chunks with the juice into the pot and turn it on low. While those are heating up a bit I fill the empty can half full with water and add in some ketchup, garlic powder, vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce. I mix in about 2 tbsp. on corn starch and add it to the pot and let it simmer while I make the carrots.

3. Then I peel about 6 or 7 large carrots and run them through the food processor so they are sliced nice and thin (they cook faster like that). The carrots go on the stove to boil.

4. While the carrots are boiling, I chop up a green pepper and add it into the meatballs.

5. By the time the carrots are finished cooking, the rice is finished and the meatballs are done.

6. Serve the meatballs over the rice with the carrots on the side. Quick and easy!

Certification and Call Service, 2008

Lutherans believe that God has established the office of the public ministry (ie. the pastoral office, referred to in Scripture as "shepherd", "overseer" or "elder") for the purpose of proclaiming the Gospel and administering the sacraments in accordance with the Gospel. For Lutherans there is but ONE ministry and that is the public ministry - the ministry of Word and Sacrament, carried out through a called and ordained servant. There are other kinds of service to be sure, but the pastoral office is unique.

Lutherans refer to the entry into the public ministry as the Divine Call. Not just anyone can be called to the pastoral office. An individual may feel he has an "inner call" to ministry, but to be called to the public ministry, that "call" should be confirmed by the church (as in Acts). Lutherans adhere to the qualifications for pastors that are set forth in the letters to Timothy and Titus. As well, for the sake of order and the preservation of correct teaching, Lutherans require their pastors to be prepared for ministry with specialized knowledge of the Bible and theology. Specialized training most often occurs through a Lutheran seminary, although some provisions are made for alternate training and education in extraordinary circumstances.

When a candidate for ministry has completed his seminary education, he is eligible to be called by a congregation to serve as their pastor. Usually a congregation in need of a pastor will directly call a pastor from the list of rostered (ie. eligible) pastors, but in the case of first time candidates the Council of Presidents "call" on behalf of the congregations and work with the seminary to place a suitable candidate with a congregation. It is NOT a process of applying and interviewing for a "position", but neither is it a bureacratic assignment process either. The process of placing candidate in their first congregaton can take months, and is done with much prayer and reliance on the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

This Saturday at Grace Lutheran Church, St. Catharines, our dear friend (and former vicar) Galen Purpura will receive his first call. We will be travelling to St. Catherines to be there for the service. I am tremendously excited about it, but at the same time very humbled to be able to witness the Lord of the Church calling and placing His servant. It is a truly awesome thing.

We will also learn this weekend who our new vicar will be! We don't know if he is coming from the St. Catharines seminary or the Edmonton seminary. If he is coming from St. Catharines we will meet him on Saturday. We have plans to drive down and attend the service with our current vicar and his wife, Scott and Linnea Lyons. I think it would be so cool if we could meet our new vicar and have past, present and future vicars all together!

A good time was had by all! (Sorry this took so long)

I have been working on this on and off for over a week now! I'm a little busier than normal - both at home and at work - right now. I'm working an extra hours a day for a couple of weeks while my boss is on vacation and coupled with doctors appointments, last minute income tax forms and a couple of family birthdays, I've been run off my feet. But I am determined to get this finished and posted tonight! So, without further ado...

...we left Thursday evening a little later than we originally planned, but the traffic was light and crossing the border was a breeze so we soon caught up and were back on schedule. We still had sunlight almost into Pennsylvania and we marvelled at how much greener everything was just a few hours south.

We drove until we hit Morgantown, just into Virginia and then stopped for the night. I slept really well and woke up early. A quick shower and quicker breakfast and we were back on the road. It was warm enough to drive with the windows down and we did! We saw all these lovely trees with pink blooms - I think they were crabapple but I'm not positive. Again we made really good time and didn't have to drive hard. It was a nice, relaxing drive and we saw a lot of pretty country.

We made it into town around 5 and I called Debbie's place; her husband gave me directions over the phone to the hotel. They picked out a really comfortable hotel for us to stay in and it was handy to everything too. I should say here that I don't want to say precisely where we were, just to protect Debbie's safety. I also don't ever recall her referring to her husband by name on her blog, so I am just going to call him "Junior". Bwaaaaahaaahaaa! That's a bit of an inside joke. Actually, that's what my husband has taken to calling him. Either that or "my brother". 'Cause they could be you know. Brothers, that is. They might be even more alike than Debbie and I (more on that later).

Oh, also, I am going to let Debbie post the pictures. I didn't have a camera with me (ours croaked a few weeks ago). But I will do my best to paint a picture with words.

Ok, so for dinner Friday night we went to Olive Garden at my request. We don't have Olive Garden here, so it's been about 15 years (or maybe more...) since I've been but it was as good as I remember. I had spaghetti and meatballs, which Debbie admitted she didn't really care for. Hmmmm.....a hint of things to come?

After dinner we went back to Debbie's house. They live kind of out in the country. Not too far out of town, but far enough that you feel like you are away from it all. They have a HUGE yard in front and in back! Debbie has a porch that runs all along the length of the front of the house - I could imagine us sitting out there and rocking. But it was getting dark so we went inside to visit for a while. Poor Junior was really tired because he had worked the night before and only had a few hours sleep. But we still had a nice long visit. Caleb had a friend over so we didn't see too much of him and Nathan wouldn't look at us at all! What a little lamby he is. If he came into the room for something, he covered his eyes the whole time he was in there. But he seemed to like the hockey stick I brought for him. And the Smarties (Canadian m&m's)! Amanda came out to greet me with a big hug. I really, really like that girl. *grin*

Since we were going to the beach the next day, we made it an early night (early for Debbie that is! That girl is a night owl! but waaaay past my normal bedtime. Another difference.....hmmmmm......)

We met up again the next morning and headed off to Holden Beach. On the drive there, Junior was a good tour guide, pointing out to us different places of interest along the way. At the beach, Ken and I acted like tourists and took off our shoes to get our feet in the water. It was SOOO cold!! I stuck my toe in and that was enough for me. I couldn't believe that people were actually swimming in it. It was a nice calm day and the tide was out, so we wandered up the beach and picked up interesting shells as we went. At one point Debbie and I both spotted what appeared to be a curly little Auger shell but it turned out to be bird poop (cleverly disguised as an auger shell). For some reason Debbie and I thought this was hysterical so Debbie took a picture of it.


After a while we went back and looked at all the beach houses. They are really something to see. They are all up off the ground on stilts incase the surf comes up during a storm. We took a peek inside a couple of units and I could definitely see myself vacationing in one of them (but I'd probably have to win the lottery to afford the rental fees!) They were definitely out of our price range.

Around lunch time we headed over to a little town called Shallotte where Debbie took me for my first visit ever to Bath and Body Works. Hoo boy! What a place that is! It smells sooooo good in there. It was here that Debbie and I began to suspect that we might not be long lost sisters after all (wink). Debbie took me around the store, pointing out the scents that she likes but I didn't really care for any of them! We tried about 10 without success. Then finally I found the fruity smelling products, which I like...but Debbie doesn't! They were having a sale, so I chose some Vanilla Raspberry scented body cream and some Mandarin Mango. Nice stuff! While we were shopping, the boys went over to Wal-mart and poked around. Then we met up and stopped for lunch at a little place called The Purple Onion. Debbie and I both opted for a really nice California salad, which was very good except for the house dressing that it came with. It was supposed to be poppyseed, but it was more like cream of raw onion. EWWWW! We swapped it out for a homemade raspbery vinaigrette which was out of this world. I would have drank that stuff.

Anyways, we got back on the road and headed down to Myrtle Beach!! Junior had been hinting all day long at a surprise he had for us that evening. Debbie guessed what it was, but I had no idea. Finally, he had pity on me and revealed that we had tickets to see The Carolina Opry! I didn't know what it was going to be like but I thought it would be a country show (a la the Grand 'Ole Opry) but it was more like a variety show. There were some really funny parts and some really talented singers. My favourite part of the show was when they did the old Ike and Tina song "River Deep, Mountain High" - but they did it like Celine Dion does it! (Who, you know, I like just a teeny bit.) During the intermission they had some commercials for one of their other shows called "Good Vibrations". Debbie had already seen it. "I didn't really like it," she said. "So you'd probably love it!" (She's right, I probably would!) So now we are operating on the principle of If-Debbie-likes-it-Anita-doesn't and vice-versa. She cracks me up!


After the show we hightailed it over to Cracker Barrel for a late dinner. I serenaded everyone with my best rendition of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man". I must have been really good. People were staring. Debbie and Junior had a bet for a foot rub over where our server was from - she had an accent which Debbie correctly identified as being from...oh shoot, I forget where now. I couldn't hear anything different, but Debbie and Junior knew she wasn't local.


Before we left we browsed through the store a bit and Debbie found me a sign that said: ASAP - As Southern As Possible. So of course we got a picture of me with it!


Then we headed back to the hotel for the night. At the beginning of our drive to the coast, Junior told me if I saw anything I wanted to stop for, just let him know. So when I saw the Krispy Kreme with the red light on I told him to PULL OVER NOW!!! I was really tired but I still ate 2 donuts. When we got back to the hotel I got right into bed and Ken decided to go down to the pop machine to get a drink. I asked him if he would mind getting me a Coke Zero. Well, the machine on our floor was empty, so he went off in search of a machine that had Coke Zero. He had to check 2 more floors before he found one. When he got back to the room he found that I had (of course) already fallen asleep! He's a good man.


The next morning we had to head back already. We weren't really sure where there was a church so we missed going to church, bummer. Before heading back to Debbie's place we went to Calabash where we visited the coolest Christmas store I have ever seen! Do you know there are people who will pay hundreds of dollars for one teeny weeny Christmas ornament?? People! That's ridiculous! But there was a lot of really neat stuff that I had never seen before. Debbie and I poked around in the shops until our men dragged us out of there. Then we went to a restaurant called Ella's and ate seafood! Mmmmm....


We made a quick stop to Wal-mart on our way back where I picked up a few groceries that we can't get in Canada and then began the drive back to Debbie's. At some point I noticed a Piggly Wiggly store and I wanted to get a picture of the sign so Junior pulled over and took a few pics of it for me. For some reason the name Piggly Wiggly cracks me up and I've always wanted to have a picture of it. Small things amuse me, I know. As we drove back Debbie and I killed ourselves laughing as we tried to take pictures of ourselves. Those pictures were so terrible they were hilarious! I nearly peed my pants laughing over them. We were wiping away tears for quite a while and we both agreed "that's not going to make it on the blog!".

Ken had wanted to be on the road to go home by about 3 - 3:30 but I think it was close to 6 before we actually got on the road because we streeeeeeetched out our goodbyes, to the point were Ken was thinking we might end up staying another night! We got some final pictures, one of the 4 of us and some of us hanging out in the front yard, talking and prolonging the inevitable. I tried to get a little hug from Nathan, but he was still covering up his eyes! But I got a big hug from Amanda *smile*. Debbie and Junior prayed over us and then it was time to (reluctantly) leave. And as we were backing the car away from the house, I looked over to see the kids playing on the trampoline, and there was Nathan, waving to us and calling goodbye to us! It was very cute and very funny because he was so enthusiastic to see us going! Little monkey.

Our drive home was relatively uneventful - we had rain most of the way the first night, but fine weather the next. Instead of taking all interstates, we took some back roads and saw some really nice scenery. It took us longer, but it was a more enjoyable drive.

So that's the big story! Hope you enjoyed it. We sure did!

Off to the beach...

I'm leaving in an hour to go visit Debbie and her family! I'll be back next week with lots of pictures I'm sure!

Coming to America

Well, yes, I AM actually coming to America this weekend, but I was referring to the Pope. Pope Benedict the 16th, as you may know, has come for a visit to the United States.

I gotta tell you, I like this Pope. The last Pope, John Paul II seemed like a loving man of faith and I liked him well enough, but he was a little too wishy-washy for my taste. This Pope though, he's a traditionalist and he doesn't seem inclined to compromise with secularism. You won't see any women priests or a lifting of the ban on artificial birth control while he's at the helm. I admire that.

You may be wondering why a dyed-in-wool Lutheran like me would be so interested in the Roman Catholic Pope. After all, didn't Luther kind of have a problem with the whole idea of the papacy? Well, regardless of my own personal convictions surrounding the papacy (which I may get into one day, but not now), I think that Christians of all stripes will ultimately benefit from the strength of this man's convictions. The Roman Catholic church has over a billion believers all over the world. Like it or not, the RC church is an enormous worldwide Christian presence with tremendous influence. And I happen to think that this Pope can have a positive influence on all of Christendom.

Pope Benedict has an agenda to bring the Catholic Church back in line with their traditional teachings. He acknowledges that the church may lose some adherents along the way - those who will not like the back to basics approach and want to have it their own way. (As in, "I'm a Catholic, but I don't agree with what the church teaches about...") But Benedict believes that the Catholic church will be the stronger for it even if they shrink in number a bit.

I think ALL denominations could take a page from his book. The Western church has become far too accommodating of secular influence - to the point where in some cases the Gospel message has become obscured. It's ironic that it was probably done with the best of intentions - a desire to attract the lost by making the church seem more "relevant" is often cited for softening the church's teachings on sin and eternal damnation. The problem is, we've ended up with a lot of "baby" Christians who don't really know what the Bible teaches about sin and damnation...or the Gospel and salvation.

Yes, I think this Pope has the right idea. Catechise and re-catechise the people until their understanding of what the church teaches is solid. And then keep on catechising. Stick to our guns and stay faithful to what the Bible teaches. Admonish and discipline those who cling to error. Forgive and absolve those who repent. Get rid of the stupid "marketing techniques" used to evangelize and return to preaching the Word and administering the Sacraments. That is how God draws the unbeliever to himself after all.

So yes, this is one Lutheran who admires Pope Benedict XVI. Hey, I'm a complex person, what can I say?

Thoughts on Confession and Absolution

The beginning of each Divine Service begins with Confession and Absolution.

Below, "P" is for Pastor and "C" is for Congregation. Note that the Pastor says both parts, as he also is in need of absolution. The Pastor stands in the transept for this part of the service. He does not enter the chancel area until after we have made confession of sins and received absolution. This is a symbolic reminder it is not the pastor who forgives sins - only God can forgive sins. The pastor, by the authority of Christ, speaks that forgiveness to us and since he also is in need of forgiveness, he remains outside of the chancel until absolution is pronounced. The Scriptures from which the words of corporate Confession and Absolution are drawn are in brackets below.

P - In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C - Amen. (Matt. 28:19b)

P - If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
C - But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1John 1:8-9)

Here we kneel and take a few moments for reflection on God's Word and self-examination.

P - Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.
C - Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.
P - Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C - Amen. (John 20:19-23)

Lutherans also practice individual Confession and Absolution, although it is not widely used. I have only ever made an individual confession (ie. just me and the pastor - and God, of course!) once in my life. It wasn't for any particularly spectacular sin - I was simply feeling overwhelmed with the awareness of my own sin and really needed to hear the words YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN.

I know that for many of you, the concept of making a confession and hearing absolution pronounced by a pastor is foreign to your experience. You might even have been told that such a practice is improper. I can tell you that Lutheran churches teach and believe that confessing one's sins before God and hearing His pardon pronounced through a called and ordained Servant is proper and biblical. I can also tell you how I personally benefitted from making public confession. It's true, I can always privately (ie. just me and God, no pastor) make a confession and be forgiven. A pastor isn't needed for that and that kind of confession is no less valid than a public or individual confession made before a pastor. I make public confession because there I receive forgiveness AND I hear the words, just as if Christ was standing before me: Your sins are forgiven. That pronouncement is life-giving. It is balm for my tortured conscience. I want so badly to live up to God's high, holy standards, but I don't. I fall flat, over and over again. And believe me, the remedy for a burdened conscience is NOT "try harder". That only makes you feel worse when you inevitably fail again. The remedy for a conscience burdened by sin is: "Your sins are forgiven".

That is the whole point of public confession and absolution and it is why God gave the task of pronouncing absolution to the Church, through her pastors. We need to hear it, and we can never hear it enough.

I got a promotion

Yesterday morning we had a team meeting here at work. We were discussing our dispatch portal and how we could make better use of it to schedule our resources. My boss John had the program open on his laptop and used the projector to put it up on the screen for everyone to see. He was pointing out that each person's schedule for the day showed up in the portal beside their name. Under each name is their job position within the company.

I noticed that my job position said "Office Manager". Now, I've never really liked that title. I don't know, it sounds kinda stuffy and self-important to me. So at the end of the meeting I spoke up and asked if we could change my title from Office "Manager" to something else.

"What would you like to change it to?" my boss wondered.

"I don't know," I replied. "Maybe 'administrator'?"

Then there was some good natured discussion about what my title should be. In a small company like this everybody wears several hats and my job duties are all across the board. I do some administrative work, some sales and marketing, and some technical stuff. It's hard to find a single word that encompasses all that I do.

So my boss says, "I know!" and clicks open the page to edit our personal information. He quickly typed a few keys and then this flashed up on the board:

(Can you see that? It says "Office Queen".)

"Bow before me and tremble," I said and adjourned the meeting.

50!

Man, am I ever whipped.

Yesterday was my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary celebration. Their anniversary was actually on January 21st, but since they were in Florida in January, February and March, we had the party for them yesterday.

It was a super nice day, but SO much work! Almost like a wedding. (That, btw, is why I've been missing the last week or so - I've been busy pulling all the last minute details together.)
Unfortunately, my camera crapped out yesterday soon after the party started and I wasn't able to get any pictures. We took lots of pics on my mother-in-law's camera so I'll see if I can get her SD card from her so we can have some pictures. I'm just kind of disappointed that I don't have anything to show you.

We hosted an Open House for them yesterday afternoon at Golf's Steakhouse. We weren't exactly sure how many people would be coming but we thought it could be as many as 200. I think we got more like 125. We had the Open House in the Golf's Ballroom - a beautiful room! Some friends and family members (about 35 people) stayed for a lovely dinner upstairs in the restaurant proper. After dinner the immediate family came back to our place and my in-laws opened their cards and gifts. It was nice that it was just the immediate family - we all got changed into comfy clothes and plopped ourselves onto couches and put our sore feet up!

The highlight of the day was a multi-media presentation that my dear husband put together for his parents. While they were in Florida, we went over to their house and got their photo albums from over the years to put together a display. We also took the old 8mm film that they had of their wedding day. My husband took the film to a production house and had it converted to a digital format. He scanned the old photos and then put them and the film footage all together into a little "through the years" movie. He found the perfect music to go along with the movie too. Then we took the finished movie with us and showed it throughout the afternoon on a laptop. Everybody - especially my mother and father in law loved it! (After they watched it for the first time they cried.) It was very emotional, seeing all the old memories.

All through the afternoon, my in-laws kept lamenting that they would love to have a copy of the movie, but they don't have a DVD player to play it on. Well, that was our last surprise to them! As a gift, we gave them a DVD player along with the movie Ken made and a DVD collection of "Grand Ole Opry" performances (they are big fans).

All in all, it was a really nice day. But I have to tell you...I am SO ready for a few days off!