Mumsey’s Lemon Cheese Muffins

The other day I went to visit a friend. She had sent me an email, that I really wanted to talk about in person rather than just click on a reply. Sometimes I like to see a person to chat.
We had a hot cuppa and chatted and then by the time I went home I was blessed with lemons, mandarins, silver beet and sage all grown at her place not to mention the fresh duck eggs, cow’s milk and homemade cream cheese.
Straight away a put some of the ingredients (duck egg, cow’s milk, cream cheese and lemons) together with this recipe I invented from something I had tasted at a café once.

Mumsey’s Lemon Cheese Muffins 
2 cups of self-raising flour
¾ cup sugar
1 large or 2 small lemons (Grate rind and juice lemons)
Milk to make up to 1 cup (see recipe)
1 egg
80 grs butter
100gr cream cheese

Well grease a 12 muffin tray or place paper muffin cases in the tins.
Mix the flour and sugar together in a large bowl and add the grated rind from the lemon(s).
Juice the lemon(s) and pour the juice into a 1 cup measure.
Top with milk to make 1 cup of liquid. This will become lumpy which is fine.
Melt the butter and add the egg beating well.
Add the milk mix to the butter and egg, mix together and then pour into the dry ingredients.
Fold liquids into the dry ingredients about 14 times until just mixed.
Some little bits of flour can still be seen.
Fill the tin muffin tins to about 1 centimeter depth and then make a bit of a well in the middle. I use my fingers to gently form the hollow so I can ‘feel’ that the mixture isn’t getting squashed.
Add a dollop of cream cheese (about a heaped teaspoon full) in the middle and then top with more mixture trying to cover all the cream cheese and using up the muffin mix.
Bake at 200ºC for 15 to 20 mins.
Check as you just want the tops to be slightly browned.

Tomato and Ham Pasta

This is an adaptation to one of Alison Holst's recipe for Friday Night Pasta that we have had over the years.
The original recipe calls for bacon but I don't buy it much and we always have ham as Harry uses it for sandwiches, so I use this instead.

Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil 
1 onion diced
50g sandwich ham
1 tsp flour
Mixed herbs (dried about 1/2 tsp; fresh about 1 dsp) 
440gr diced tomatoes in juice
Cream cheese 100gr
Pasta spirals

Bring a large pot of water to boil.
Heat a large frying pan.
Once the water in the pot is simmering add pasta and salt to taste.
Add a few drops of oil to the pasta when you add it to the water so it doesn't stick.
Cook while making sauce.
Add olive oil to the pan and soften the onion in it.
Add diced ham and cook a little.
Sprinkle in flour and brown. (about 5 mins)
Stir in tinned tomatoes and mixed herbs and bring to boil.
Turn off the heat and add the cream cheese and squash into sauce but don't allow to cook.
Drain pasta and add to sauce.
Serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley 


Serving Size: makes 4; 1 1/2 cup servings
  

Nutritional Info

Amount Per Serving

• Calories: 363.2
• Total Fat: 11.1 g
• Sodium: 312.0 mg
• Total Carbs: 54.1 g
• Dietary Fiber: 0.4 g
• Protein: 11.8 g

The Way

Today at the Lay Ministry training day I went to we saw the movie The Way. I didn't realize it was on at the movie theaters at the moment and I would recommend you go and see it as it is a most inspiring film.

Martin Sheen plays Thomas Avery (Tom) who is an American ophthalmologist who goes to France following the death of his adult son, Daniel (played by Emilio Estevez), killed in the Pyrenees during a storm while walking the Camino de Santiago, a Catholic pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, also known as the Way of St. James. Tom's purpose is initially to retrieve his son's body and return home. However, in a combination of grief and homage to his son, Tom decides to take the historical journey on this path of pilgrims and so to walk the same ancient spiritual trail where his son had died and honor his son's desire to finish the journey.

What Tom doesn't plan on is the profound impact the journey will have on him and his "California Bubble Life". Inexperienced as a trekker, Tom soon discovers, while walking the Camino, that he will not be alone on this journey. On his journey, Tom meets other pilgrims (three in particular), from around the world, all broken, each with their own issues and looking for greater meaning in their lives. Along The Way, Tom discovers the meaning of one of the last things his son said (in a flashback) to his father. “You don’t choose a life Dad, you live one.” He reluctantly falls in with three other pilgrims in particular. Joost (Yorick van Wageningen) is an overweight man from Amsterdam who says he is walking the route to lose weight to get ready for his brother's wedding and so that his wife will desire him again. He is a warm extrovert who is the first to start walking with Tom. Sarah (Deborah Kara Unger) is a Canadian fleeing an abusive husband, who says she is walking the pilgrimage to quit smoking. Jack (James Nesbitt) is an Irish travel writer who when younger had desires to be a great author like Yeats or Joyce but never wrote the novel he dreamed of. He is the last to join the quartet and has been suffering from "writer's block." As the pilgrims travel the Camino, they occasionally meet and talk with other pilgrims — two Frenchmen, a young Italian and an elderly priest from New York named Father Jack.

From the unexpected and, oftentimes, amusing experiences along the way, this unlikely quartet of misfits creates an everlasting bond and Tom begins to learn what it means to be a citizen of the world again. Through Tom's unresolved relationship with his son, he discovers the difference between "the life we live and the life we choose"

The Way is a 2010 American drama film. It is a collaboration between Martin Sheen and his real-life son Emilio Estevez to honour the Camino de Santiago and promote the traditional pilgrimage. Saying he didn't want the film to appeal to only one demographic, Emilio Estevez called the film "pro-people, pro-life, not anti-anything."

"The Way" is a powerful and inspirational story about family, friends, and the challenges we face while navigating this ever-changing and complicated world. 

Fit To Be Tied – Making Marriage Last a Lifetime

I have just finished reading a book that took ages but was really quite short. “Fit To Be Tied – Making Marriage Last a Lifetime” written by husband and wife team Bill and Lynne Hybels in 1991 It is only 271 pages but the print was big. It seemed to take long because I’ve been so busy but each new aspect had me thinking. It is like a hand book for those who are going to become engaged but also for those already married and perhaps going through a rocky time.


I found in particular some of the last chapters very interesting and one in particular struck a bell with me.

In Part 2 chapter 12 “Getting Lost Along the Way” Lynne specially talked about what was happening to her as she was trying to support her husband in what he was doing. In one section “Crossed Boundaries”, they wrote:

"Excessive caretakers, or people with weak boundaries, often look extremely responsible – and they are – for other people. But they don’t take responsibility for themselves. They tend to worry more about how others feel than how they feel, solve other people’s problems instead of their own, yield to other people’s desires and deny their own, and live with the consequences of other people’s choices and fail to choose for themselves. They frequently take what others think more seriously than what they think, and often facilitate the development of other people’s skills and abilities and neglect the development of their own. In short, they assume the responsibility for other people’s success, welfare, and happiness, and fail to assume that same responsibility for themselves….they often believe that such behaviour is right and necessary, perhaps even their Christian duty. But regardless of their motivation, they end up in the same unhappy condition: frustrated, angry and resentful. 

Excessive caretaking appears to be a loving thing to do. But it isn’t. It actually produces what Melody Beattie calls a “triangle of hate”. People rescue others in unhealthy ways. Later they get mad at those they have rescued because they felt forced to do things they didn’t want to do, Then they feel used and sorry for themselves. This pattern fosters self-hate, and generates negative feelings toward other people."

I realised this was what had happened to me over the years of looking after Harry with his mental illness.
It then went on to say in “Taking Care of Me”:

"Many relationships are laced with the anger of crossed boundaries. Many people resent the fact that their parent or child or spouse always gets his or her way. They resent feeling that they have to rescue people. They resent never having the time or freedom to live their own life. But that can change. There is a way to move out of resentment. 

It is called personal empowerment. It means that people start taking care of themselves. They reclaim the responsibility for their lives, for their happiness, and for their future. They own their plight. They quit focusing on what someone else has done to them and start thinking about what they need to do for themselves. They start behaving as adults and making choices they can live with. They give themselves permission to feel their feelings. They start doing what they want to do. They admit their needs, and when appropriate, ask other people to help meet their needs. They quit calling themselves victims – and quit acting like victims. Many of these victims really were true victims at one point in their lives: victims of abuse, neglect, abandonment, alcoholism, or some other situation against which they truly were helpless to protect themselves. But many people perpetuate their victimization, or even create it, by allowing other people to take advantage of them. Part of their healing process is to acknowledge their part in their victimization. If they helped get themselves into the situation they are in it follows that they have the power to get themselves out. 

Another part of the healing process is for victims to forgive those who have truly caused hurt or offense, or who have taken advantage of them. Most people who feel victimized have tried forgiveness – time and time again. But each time the anger and resentment return, they realise that their attempt to forgive didn’t work. Obviously, they assume, they weren’t sincere or caring or godly enough; so on top of their other troubles they heap loads of guilt. Often, however, the real reason their forgiveness doesn’t “work” is that they are still allowing the other person to hurt them, or take advantage of them, or overpower them. Only when they begin taking responsibility for their lives, and crawl out from under the burden of another person’s problem, can they really forgive. Melody Beattie says,’ Forgiveness comes in time – in its own time – if we are striving to take care of ourselves … If we are taking care of us, we will understand what to forgive and when it’s time to do that’. 

When we start acting like adults and taking responsibility for our lives, we force other people to act like adults too, and to face the consequences of their actions. This is better for us, and it ends up being better for them too."

I felt this was all so real to me and I realised that even though I have been down the path of forgiving and trying to let go new things arise and that feeling of forgiveness was lost. So then I was “still allowing the other person to hurt me, or take advantage of me, or overpower me.” Its time to “take responsibility for my life, and crawl out from under the burden of another person’s problem, (so I) can really forgive”

I feel I have been trying to do this but not taking a strong hold when the hurts come back.
I feel like I have had a breakthrough in this whole process so I can forgive, be healed and move on victorious instead of a victim.

I have posted this here not just for you to read but for me to come back to and be reminded of what I need to do if it all heaps up on me again. 

Matthew 18:21-22 

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 

 

Luke 6:37-38

37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

(All scripture is from New International Version 1984)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Today I went on my own to the movies. And when I get there I was running late by ten minutes.
I asked at the ticket counter if there were shorts first or did the movie start right at the beginning hoping I hadn't missed the start.
Well they said they were running late and it hadn't even started yet. What a pleasant surprise. Then I heard the lady tell the projectionist he could run the movie. I was told to go straight in and it would start shortly.
So buying a nut and chocolate dipped vanilla ice cream cone I headed in to find a seat.
Well I was the only one so I sat at the back in the middle and put my feet up on the seat in front!!!

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close 

I had read this book a couple of years ago and was quite intrigued to see how close to the book the movie was going to be. The novel  was written by Jonathan Safran Foer and certainly left a mark on me as too did the movie. I will try and buy to add to my collection of good movies, books.

Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close", by Jonathan Safran Foer, is the story that unfolds from inside the mind of one young boy and the journey from heart breaking loss to the healing power of self-discovery, set against the backdrop of the tragic events of September 11. Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an exceptional child: amateur inventor, Francophile, pacifist. And after finding a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11, he embarks on an exceptional journey--an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. As Oskar roams the city, he encounters a motley assortment of humanity, who are all survivors in their own ways. Ultimately, Oskar's journey ends where it began, but with the solace of that most human experience: love.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is narrated by young Oskar Schell (newcomer Thomas Horn), a precocious boy who is trying to cope with the loss of his father and whose thirst for exploring and learning about the world is encouraged by his kindly father, a jeweler, Thomas (Tom Hanks). Thomas was at a meeting on the 105th floor of the World Trade Center in New York City on the tragic day of September 11, 2001 when the twin towers collapse, leaving his son and wife (Sandra Bullock) emotionally-shattered and unable to connect with one another.

Oskar hears his father's final answer machine messages, left on that fateful day, which he conceals from his mother. A year later, on what Oskar calls "The Worst Day," he discovers a key in his father's belongings and, as he used to do with his father, sets out on a quest to find the lock that matches the key embarking on a scavenger hunt to find the matching lock. He is determined to keep his vital connection to the man who playfully cajoled him into confronting his wildest fears. The journey crosses the five New York boroughs and is not only one that leads him to encounter many a lost soul in New York City, but one which could possibly provide some closure for Oskar and his grieving mother. He encounters an eclectic assortment of people along the way and he begins to uncover unseen links to the father he misses, to the mother who seems so far away from him and to the whole noisy, dangerous, discombobulating world around him, documenting his journey in a scrapbook. 

The Laying Down of Your Cloak

It was Palm Sunday again last week and I preached at the 8.00am service of our parish. The following is the message.

In the gospels we read the story of the first Palm Sunday.
Jesus was in Bethany with Lazarus and His sisters Martha and Mary. Mary had anointed Jesus' feet with expensive perfume wiping them with her hair.
Jesus was about to enter Jerusalem for the Passover.
As He came to the Mount of Olives He sent two of His disciples to the village Bethphage ahead of them. Bethphage is a suburb of Jerusalem.

Mark 11:1-6 

The Triumphal Entry 

1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’” 4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 

Jesus probably has friends in many, many towns where He has stayed before, who have told Him, "If you need anything -- anything! -- just let me know!" Jesus is not telling His disciples to engage in "grand theft donkey," but is taking up a friend on His long-standing offer.
Notice that once the disciples say, "The Lord needs it," there is no further argument. The owners are happy to have the Lord use their possessions for his work.

How small is a colt? He would have had to ride it with his legs sticking straight out in front or curled up behind Him so they didn’t drag on the ground.
Hardly a way a King would ride but in Biblical times royalty would ride on a donkey during periods of peace rather than a horse which was associated with war. Jesus' instructions are clear that the donkey must be one that has never been ridden. It is set apart, consecrated for a specific use -- for the Master's use.
He is initiating a public, kingly act. He is revealing openly that He is the Messiah.
He fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy that a king would come in peace and humility to Jerusalem.

Zechariah 9:9-10 

The Coming of Zion’s King 

 9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. 

In Zechariah's prophecy the gentle king that comes into Jerusalem riding a young donkey is the same one who will defeat chariots and war-horses and bring peace to the nations.
The irony may have been lost on the people at the time, the way it is lost on most of us today, but Jesus’ “triumphal entry” was not that of a General or a warrior.
No, such men ride stallions.
Jesus rode in on a donkey. This symbolized that Jesus came on a mission of peace. The donkey revealed Jesus to be a humble peasant on a peace mission, not a military warrior.
Note that it was a donkey that had carried Jesus and Mary at the beginning of His life just before He was born as they rode into Bethlehem. And now a donkey carries Him into Jerusalem just before His death. Jesus shows us that, that which we think has no value, has tremendous value in God’s eyes.

 Mark 11:7 

7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 

They use their cloaks as a makeshift saddle.
In 2 Kings 9 we read the prophet Elisha summoned a young man, a prophet, to go and anoint Jehu in Ramoth Gilead. When he got there he told Jehu he had a message for him so Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the prophet poured oil on Jehu’s head and declared, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anoint you king over the LORD’s people Israel’ “. When the prophet had left and Jehu told the people what had happened, they hurried and took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, “Jehu is king!”

Spreading clothing to carpet one's pathway was a way to honour the person.

Mark 11:8

 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.

The words translated "cloaks" or "garments" can refer generally to any garment, "clothing, apparel," or specifically to outer clothing, "cloak, robe."
The cloak of bible times was a distinctive outer garment made of two pieces of thick woolen material sewn together, with slits rather than sleeves for the arms. A typical Hebrew slept on the floor with his cloak used as a covering to keep him warm. This was especially true for travelers, shepherds or poor people, so a person’s cloak was not to be kept as collateral for a loan.


 Exodus 22:26-27 

26 If you take your neighbour’s cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, 27 because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. 

Deuteronomy 24:12-13 

12. If the man is poor, do not go to sleep with his pledge in your possession. 13 Return his cloak to him by sunset so that he may sleep in it. Then he will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the LORD your God. 

We read earlier in the gospels of the significance of Jesus cloak. The story of the woman who had suffered bleeding for 12 years.

Mark 5:25-34 

25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 

And then the power of healing

 Matthew 14:35-36 

35 And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed. 

Acts 5:12-16

The Apostles Heal Many 

12 The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed. 

 We must not think the clothes on our backs to dear to part with for the service of Christ.

Mark 10:46-53
Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight 
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” 52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. 

This prompts the question: Why did the model disciple, Bartimaeus, throw his cloak away while Jesus' followers throw theirs at Jesus' feet?
Bartimaeus was throwing off the "cloak" of royal and hierarchical power. Jesus had condemned such power in Mark 10:42: “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them." Bartimaeus is throwing off the way of power-striving and following "on the way" of Jesus which is opposed to hierarchical power.
The crowd, by strewing cloaks onto His path, is treating the humble, donkey-riding, Jesus as true royalty.
Those that take Christ for their King must lay their all under His feet.

Is there something in your life or possession that you hold very dearly to?
Do you want Jesus to use you for His work?
We must take what we hold onto and throw it to the ground and allow the King – Jesus to pass over it.
It may be a possession; a talent; an area in your life that you struggle with even.
We must be ready and willing for Jesus to claim use of our possessions and positions. Since He is our Master, they don't belong to us, but to Him.
When He sends a message, "The Lord has need of it," we must relinquish our control willingly and immediately.
Let the power of the spirit rest on it so that we can take it up again to be used for the glory of God.
Then we too can call out…

Mark 11:9-10
 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna! “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest!” 

Prayer
Lord, please help me to be willing to obey your instructions, even when I don't understand all the details or their importance. Thank you for the immense privilege you grant to me and to my brothers and sisters to be participants in your mission, to play important parts in what you are doing. Help me to rejoice in you and praise you with an open heart, not resist because of my pain or from the wound of a doubting or distrustful heart. In your holy name I pray. Amen.

Psalm 118:25-29
25 O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you.
27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Facebook Games

When I wrote the sermons I have shared in the previous few posts God brought me through something which I shared in the 10.00am service as an example.

I spend a lot of time on the computer – too much time

I am addicted to some of the games on Facebook. One was called Egg Buddies.

While staying at Titoki I thought I would use that time to break the habit.

There is a computer there you can use and I was on it a couple of times.

I prayed about it and asked God to help me break the addiction.

While I was there God showed me and had some things put to me, that showed me a glimpse of what he has in store for me if I am obedient to Him

When I got home I deleted egg buddies, word buddies, a farm game and gardens of time from my profile.

But I couldn't stop do I started another user to just play games. I thought this would help hide what I was doing.

Over the next few weeks God showed me the stupidity of the games. It’s playing with pixels. It’s stealing my time. Part of me had this secret desire to be better than everyone else. To be the winner and beat them all. I would play nicely sometimes and then other times wouldn’t give points, gold coins or eggs to any other players so I wouldn’t help them because I wanted to beat them. I would stay up late just to gain a higher score. I would get cross if I couldn't get on the computer to play the games.

I was addicted to the games.

God showed me the realization of this. Was I prepared to be this addicted to Him.

I so wanted to.

I deleted the games user I had created and other games off my user.

Its been nearly two months since then and I had to ask one of my daughters what one of the games were I had forgotten it.

I have found more time and God is using me.

This became my prayer

 

Psalm25

 1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;

 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.

3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.

4 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;

5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long.

6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.

7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.

8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.

10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant