Keep them drums rollin'!

Well, N.B. apparently must be on a blog fast for now, because I never heard back from N.B. after we did our contest and drew that name. Unfortunately for him or her, but fortunately for someone else, we had to redraw. So I mixed the names up and had Jonah pull out another slip of paper.
This time, it was Jacqueline! Yay! I hope you enjoy the gift certificate to Sacred Audio, Jacqueline, and Mikaela is e-mailing it to you right now!
Thanks again to all of our followers!

Hurricane World

We were on a seven year old’s dream vacation. Waking up at six a.m. to collect shells, running on the beach all day, building sand castles you could sleep in, digging to China, and being lulled to sleep with a cup of hot cocoa were all on my agenda when we went to the beach with some friends over a decade (-: ago.
One stormy night, my mother had promised a walk to all of us kids. The weather outside was really quite atrocious from a grown-up’s perspective, but to our minds it was perfect beach-strolling conditions. Our friends’ dad decided to come along as well, so he grabbed a jacket and we all headed down the sidewalk to the beach. When we finally made it to the beach, my comrades and I made some wonderful discoveries. 1) It was terribly windy 2) We weighed about 70 pounds each and 3) If we “let ourselves go” the wind actually blew us down the beach! This of course was much better than any hot cocoa, and we screamed with delight as the wind swirled around us and forced us backwards. That is the seven year old’s perspective, but being 18 now, it might be interesting to also look at it from the grown-up’s point of view. 1) These are 80 mile an hour winds! 2) These kids aren’t strong and could get blown away!! 3) There our kids go like the nannies on Mary Poppins!!! Wait—come back! And with those words our fun ended. We had to plant our feet down on the ground, but even then we sort of drifted backwards. “We’re going home NOW!” one of the parents yelled above the wind, and so we began to struggle forward. Our heads bent against the blowing sand, our progress was slow but steady. However, as soon as we stopped to take a rest or look around, we began to drift backwards again. When we finally arrived back at the house, we were exhausted and sandy, but we took our hot cocoa and lay down in front of the fire, and, boy, did we have a story to tell!
I can’t help remembering that story when I think about the world and our perpetual battle against its sin. We headed out to the battlefield of life as baby Christians—tiny, weak, and naïve. In many areas we remain still tiny, weak, and naïve. How often we even revel in some of the world’s neon pleasures and allow ourselves to be blown in whatever direction the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2) would blow us! Hebrews 10:32 says, “But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings.” It is only when our loving Father calls out to us that we stop, our ears tingle, and we breathlessly resume our journey towards that loving voice. At first we pause, wanting to change but unsure of what to do, and the wind still batters and blows us back. It is only when we begin the struggle through the temptations and cruelties ahead that we can actually resist going backwards.
Know this: if you are stalled in your Christian walk, you are backsliding. These winds that we face, they are not light breezes. They are not even 80 mile an hour gales. No—we face hurricanes and typhoons, the strength of which is unfathomable. Ungodly friends, sinful books, secret sins, and lustful thoughts all make up this force that seeks to blow us down. We are helpless in our feeble struggle up the beach unless we do it through Christ who strengthens us. “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.(Heb. 2:18)” And when we finally reach heaven, where crowns instead of hot cocoa await, we can at last see our Lord and bask in the warmth of His glory, and, boy, will we have stories to tell! So bend your head against the temptation, keep your eyes on Jesus, and join me in this struggle against Hurricane World!

Note: Picture from http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/01/17/massachusetts-oks-10-wind-power-requirement/

Family Camp

Last Friday through Sunday was Heritage Bible Church's 2nd Annual Family Camp on Loomis Lake (about ten minutes from the Pacific Ocean). Friday evening started off with singing around the campfire and a rather zany special music

courtesy of our family.

S'mores were then enjoyed by all...

...including our speaker, Dr. Murphy (at right trying to control his blazing marshmellow)! Of course, music was a large part of the whole weekend, and we often found it difficult to stop singing once we got started!

l-r: Joel, Mikaela, Lauren, and Joshua accompany the singing on Saturday.

Throughout the weekend, Dr. Murphy spoke on God and Jesus, with sessions titled such things as "God Is..." and "Jesus Is..." and "He Is Worthy." The deeper understanding of God that I gained through this weekend was even more precious because of my recent study on God's glory (see "The Glory of God: How it Changes Your Life"). We learned about His attributes, which are infinite. Knowing that God is sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal life, perfect, and unchangeable should change the way we interact with others, eat, sleep, entertain ourselves, spend our time, worship, live, love, pray, talk, and die. God is everything: I am nothing. Yet, somehow, He has allowed me to live because of and for Him, and what a privilege it is!

Dirt was the main attraction for the younger set (that's Jonah, Caleb, and Christiana l-r). I even caught Jonah instructing a younger, less-experienced dirt-player in the art: "Aidan," he said, "there's certain dirt for certain things!"

As the rest of us tried to avoid dirt, we had good, old-fashioned fun on Saturday with 1 1/2 hours of team games. As you can see by the two pictures above, Susanna is neither competitive nor determined. ;-)




Top left: Lauren, Christiana, and Mikaela; Top Right: Micah jumping off the dock; Bottom: Jonathan, Abbie, and Joel.

Of course, meals had to be prepared and cleaned up. Everyone did it in great spirits, and I don't think dishwashing has ever been so fun!

The night owls (and even some of the not-so-night-owls like me) stayed up into the late hours of the night lobbying for their favorite word in Bible Apples to Apples, or slamming down cards just in the nick of time in Dutch Blitz, or even learning how to play the card version of Monopoly. Friendly comaraderie, competition, and creativity reigned.

Sunday was a very special day in the life of my sister Melanie as she chose to take the next step of obedience in her Christian walk. She was baptized on Sunday, July 19th as a symbolism of Jesus' burial and resurrection, her new life in Christ, and her willingness to identify with Jesus. Because baptism is not the means of salvation, but rather a public testimony of salvation, Melanie shared with everyone that she had indeed been saved and was prepared to take this step.

She emerged smiling and triumphant as everyone on the shore began to sing "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus" with smiles and a few tears.

Sunday afternoon provided time to play a blistering game of soccer, pack up, clean the facility, and then get three final games of volleyball in before leaving for another year. I left family camp with a renewed commitment to glorify my great God and with strengthened friendships with many precious brothers and sisters in Christ.
l-r: Susanna, Susanna, Esther, and Abbie

Back Row: Mr. Murphy, Lauren, Melanie, Papa, Mama, Mikaela

Front Row: Mrs.Murphy, Micah, Susanna, and Jonah

All pictures are courtesy of Mama except for pictures #1, 19, and 21, which are courtesy of Jonathan.

Drumroll Please...

As a thank you to all twenty of our faithful followers, Mikaela announced last week that we would do a drawing today from those followers for a $5 gift certificate to SacredAudio.com. Well, the day has arrived, so you no longer need to hold your breath in anticipation!
I wrote every follower's name on a piece of paper, folded them up, and had Jonah (age 7) draw. He squeezed his eyes shut and pulled out...N.B.!
Congratulations! N.B., you have one week to comment on this post with your e-mail address. I will not post your comment--I will only use the e-mail address to send you the certificate. If I don't hear from you in one week, we will redraw.
Thank you again to everyone!

The Art of Pierogi-Making

I love learning about my heritage! I have also enjoyed seeing the heritage of all of you as you voted on our poll (see the results to the side). My heritage is primarily German, Polish, and Scottish, but I love the Polish traditions. For as long as I can remember, I have learned them from my German "Bobcha" (Great-grandma), who is really more like a Pole because she married a Polish man, lived in Poland for years, and now can't speak German--only Polish. I have memories of when I was six and she and Grandma came over to our house on a mission--to make pierogi. You must understand the seriousness of such an endeavor before I actually tell you what a pierogi is. Your pierogi must be just the right size. The dough must be just the right thickness, and the filling perfect. Most importantly, your pierogi must never disintegrate during boiling. If it should do this, your only hope is to slink quietly away and destroy the evidence. If you are so brave as to bring your pierogi to a family gathering, you must be prepared for examination and criticism of every facet of your pierogi. I cannot tell you precisely where tradition crosses over to obsession, but I think our family must be getting close.
So what are pierogies?

Technically, pierogi are the most delicious food ever invented. As for the details, it might be called a dumpling, made out of a noodle-like dough and shaped in a semi-circle. You stuff it with any number of fillings, our family's personal favorite being saurkraut and bacon. It is then boiled and often fried, and topped with butter (lots!) and salt and pepper. It is a Slavic food, with Belarusians, Russians, Ukranians, Poles, Slovaks, Lithuanians, and Latvians all enjoying it as part of their heritage. However, it is the same idea as the Italian ravioli or the Chinese wonton. Making pierogies is a long process, which I will share with you in this slideshow!

At the end of the day, we made 256 pierogies, including saurkraut and bacon, mashed potato, and cherry. We also made too many kluski (finger noodles) to count out of the leftover dough. So now our freezer's full, our craving is satisfied, and our pinching is perfected! It was a good day!

Pierogi recipe

Dough:

3 lbs. flour (about 12 cups)

3 eggs

1 TBSP salt

1 tsp. baking powder

3 cups water

Knead and knead to a very thick dough. Cover and let sit about 45 minutes.

Filling:

About 2 gallons saurkraut

2 lbs. bacon

Rinse the saurkraut out until it has only a hint of sourness, and then boil it with water, salt, and four bay leaves for one hour. When this is done, squeeze and squeeze the saurkraut until there is absolutely no liquid left. Mix in the fried bacon and some of the bacon drippings. Add plenty of salt and pepper.

Preparation: Roll out a small portion of the dough very thinly (perhaps 1/8 inch) and cut into circles with a cup. Roll each of these circles a little bit thinner. Put a spoonful of filling in the center, fold the dough over, and seal the edges by pinching them. Put on a floured pan and freeze. To serve, boil water and drop the perogies in. When the float to the top, remove them and either eat them as they are or fry them in butter.

This should make about 90 pierogies.

Enjoy!