Spinach Roulade

My husband and I are 'near vegetarians' - meaning we eat meat, but not very often. We have no moral issues with eating meat. We believe the Bible is very clear on this issue, and it's alright to do. However, America's meat-centered cuisine leaves us feeling fat and lazy, so we usually opt out.

Since we've been living on our own, we're free to cook to suit our preference - which has meant alot more veggies! I've been experimenting with vegetarian recipies, and found an AWESOME one last night. It's called Spinach Roulade. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
4 eggs
3 packages fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 handfuls brocolli floretts
1 handful parmesan cheese
2 handfuls mozzerella cheese
Tomatoe sauce (to serve)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Boil the spinach leaves until droopy. Drain and press the remaining water out. Chop finely.
3. Beat the eggs with the nutmeg. Add the chopped spinach and mix.
4. Distribute the egg mixture evenly in a 9x13" bar pan (I use a stoneware barpan from The Pampered Chef. If you aren't using stoneware, be sure to grease the pan).
5. Bake for 12 minutes or until the eggs have set. When the eggs are firm, sprinkle the surface with the parmesan. Replace in the oven until the cheese has melted.
6. While the eggs are baking, steam the brocolli florettes until soft and shred the mazzerella.
7. Carefully coax the sheet of baked eggs out of the pan using a spatual. Make sure the Paresan has set, then lay the eggs parmesan-side down on a sheet of wax paper.
8. Spread the brocolli florettes and the mazzorella on the eggs. Roll up the eggs. Place roll on a large plate and cut in discs like a jelly roll. Serve with warm tomatoe sauce.

It's really yummy! It would make a great side dish as well - not to mention it looks cool. (This isn't what mine looked like, but it's the closest I could find. Picture the little red peppers in this one as brocolli.)

More than I can ask or think

I don't want my posts to habitually be this long, but I had a great time last night and want to share it with you! I had been planning for weeks to attend a party at a girlfriend's house. But the night before my husband had been hit with a bombshell: he'd have to work six days a week through the holiday season. This made the little time we had together even more scant. When I got to work I emailed my girlfriend and told her I couldn't make it - I needed to stay home with my husband. Then I began plotting...

When I got home, my husband had no idea what was going to befall him that evening. As far as he was concerned, I would be gone in 45 minutes and he'd have to occupy himself for the rest of the night. We proceeded with dinner as planned (Lamb and snow peas in sweet peanut coconut red curry!) and ate quickly. I tried to keep looking at the time as if I was worried I'd be late. When I saw that he'd eaten a whole serving, I asked if he was done. He said no, but that he'd take more after I left. I couldn't wait any longer or he'd start to get suspicious. I rose from my chair and said "Ok then, time to go." I went to our bedroom to 'get my shoes', but grabbed a blindfold instead. He approached to say goodbye and I slid the band over his eyes and grabbed him round the middle. I guided him into a chair and brought his shoes and coat. After telling him to put them on, I hastily gathered my own stuff. I guided him out the door, down the steps and to the car, where I declared myself in charge of the evening.

"Here are the rules," I said. "Tonight I'm in charge. You'll have to be smart, you'll have to use your brain, and at the end of the evening there will be a prize." I told him that there would also be questions throughout the night. "Here are a few to familiarize you: where were we the first time you told me you loved me?" He answered correctly and with confidence (which made me feel good!). He also remembered where we were the first time I told him I loved him. I explained that for every question he answered correctly, he got two points. We'd tally his points and the end of the evening and I'd reveal his prize. We'd arrived at our destination by that time (very exciting place - Target!) and all my attention was needed to get him into the store without being struck by a car or a shopping cart. I emplored him to run through the crosswalk and he refused, which held up the red necks in a stopped pickup long enough for them to see what was going on and laugh. I waved my thanks to them and we went inside.

Once in, I removed Stephan's blindfold. His face was pink with excitement. He loves this kind of stuff - surprises I mean - so he was bursting. I pulled a piece of paper out of my curse (I think you ladies call it a 'purse') and explained how the evening would proceed. He'd be given a riddle to solve, each riddle would flow into the next, and these riddles would reveal our activities for the evening. His first clue had a series of red and white stripes, and a little poem:

What is this?
We need two-
But you've only $2,
then get the next clue!

Another thing Stephan loves is exercising his mind. Anyone who knows him knows how he devours books and is a fountain of information on any topic. I could see that he dove into these riddles immediately. He was on his task.

Anyway, he put it all together immediately. He needed two things, had only 2 dollars, so he headed for Target's "One spot" (where all the dollar items are kept). His eyes lighted on the old fashioned, red and white stripped popcorn buckets immediately. He grabbed two and brought them to me like a child who'd drawn something for his mother at school, so proud and positive she'd love it. I dispensed the next riddle directly. This one said:

They lined your pockets in Europe,

The adorn our walls.

They're probably our most prized possessions from time in-country.

They're as seen from the sky

with all the details of the ground

but the rendition we seek only allows 7 miles sight

and won't let us fall of the edge.

Again, he was on it quicker than fire. "It's a globe" he said as I trotted after him, trying to keep up with his long-legged stride. We walked to the toy section and found the globes, and I instructed him to pull one down. I gave him the next clue, a set of longitude and latitude coordinates. He found the country quickly: Madagascar. "We're going to rent Madagascar!" I said. We replaced the globe and were off to pay for the popcorn buckets. On the way to the checkout we bumped into Mike and Janelle Bradshaw (whom we miss, but wish well with their new clique - I mean caregroup =). While waiting in line, I pulled out of my curse the list of questions I had mentioned earlier. I asked a few while we waited, ("What French dish were you and I excited to get in Paris, but the rest of the travel group was disgusted by?") then paid for the buckets and we were off to Blockbuster. I asked some more of the questions while we walked over ("What was my snack of choice while backpacking Europe?" "What nightsky spectacle were we surprised by on the rocks in Spain?" "What was Nico's one goal before leaving Italy, which he finally accomplished minutes before our train departed Ventimiglia?") He answered most correctly. We got to Blockbuster only to find that Madagascar was all checked out, so we rented Charlie and the Chocolate Factory instead.

On the way home, I inserted a surprise bonus question: I told Stephan that if he could tell a story from our time together that elicited a noticeable emotional response from me, he'd be awarded double points. He chose a story of when we were hiking in the Scottish Highlands. You must understand that in Scotland there are no trespassing laws. Everyone owns the hills. We followed a fence for a distance, then passed through a gate and found ourselves in a field full of long haired cows. Proceeding on, the grass grew tall and the ground grew squishy. We ignored the signs warning us against the path we were taking. Suddenly, Stephan (who was leading) shrunk about 3 feet. He'd stepped thigh deep into a bog puddle. He imitated his response to this perfectly. After a few steps, he stepped knee deep into another bog puddle! We'd finally crossed the bog, however, and arrived at the foot of a hill. Stephan went off into the bramble to change his pants (which, unfortunately, had already been ripped and mended earlier that day!). The memory was so vivid to me, and his imitations of himself were so perfect, I laughed hard and long, and decided to award him 5 points instead of just 4.

We returned home and set the popcorn to popping (three different kinds of popcorn that I'd surprised him with on Thanksgiving). While it popped, I gave him riddle number 4:

The recipe for our next treat:

Add one jalap to a handful of Norse chic-ps, then shred a dec eech.

He instantly unscrambled the ingredients for the next treat: jalapeno, corn chips and cheddar cheese - Nachos! We set them to baking and Stephan readied the computer to play the DVD. We rounded up the snacks and relocated to the library. I asked a few more questions before we started the movie. ("What poetry book did I flip a coin to decide whether or not to buy in the Borders in London?" "What small animal befriended us near the vineyard in Sienna, and what did you name it?" "What gift did you buy your father in the Baumer's gift shop in Interlaken?")

We watched the movie and ate our snacks. When the movie was finished, we went through the last of the questions ("What embarrassing incident almost made us late for our 3rd snorkeling trip during our one-year anniversary vacation to Jamaica?" "What did I earn for myself by befriending a Sri Lankan in Paris?") (Note: Ok, I have to tell you this: In Paris, I ate crepes about 6 times a day. I befriended the Sri Lankan man near our hostel that sold crepes. After a couple days, he allowed me to design my own crepe - a custom crepe - and not only did Stephan remember this, but he remembered the kind of crepe I designed: banana chocolate. This seals it: I have the most observant husband in the world!)

I digress. We tallied his points, and they totaled 81. I told him then that he'd been earning not points, but minutes all evening. He could use his prize minutes any time he wanted for any activity he chose, and I'd drop whatever I was doing and participate. (I trust his discression in calling me away from something to use his prize minutes, so this was safe to say.) He can use his minutes all together or in pockets, but they're his to spend however he wants.

The last clue was to close the evening. I told him that it was in something that was priced more than we paid, and was worth more than it was priced. He instantly identified it as my new Reformation Study Bible (which EVERYONE needs! It's awesome!). My parents-in-law had given me a gift certificate to my church bookstore, so we didn't pay as much as it was priced, but it's unquestionably worth far more than it was priced. I'd stuck a bookmark in Ephesians 3:14-21. I prayed this verse over my husband before we went to sleep. I'll close this post with the same passage.

Ladies, I'd encourage you to pray this prayer for your husbands and dads as well. They can often be wearied and sometimes discouraged by obstacles encountered daily in the Herculean task of leading a family. They need to be reminded that God loves them deeply, can stregnthen their spirit, and do more than they can ask or think! This passage does what we should all always do: pray for a stregnth of spirit that springs from knowing the love of Christ, ultimately demonstrated on the cross. Pray like Paul did for the Ephesians: that your husbands and dads would have "the strength to comprehend...The love of Christ that surpasses knowledge." Paul closes with ascribing glory to the God who can do abudantly more than all we could ask or think. Remind them of this. They need not let that weight of worry burden their hearts. Encourage them to take it to God in prayer, because he - and only he - can accomplish much more than we can imagine. What sweet promises. Pray them over the men in your life as they have the special calling to be leaders.

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Duck and Run!...

...As my great Uncle Dave would say. They're playing the corny christmas music in stores. The mall is lit up like a Chinese restaurant. Wal-Mart opened at 5 am this morning (to a line of hundreds who'd been waiting since 3 am in 15 degree weather). I'm at work because there was no chance that my husband (who works in retail) would have been allowed this day off - the infamous "Black Friday", the day after thanksgiving, when the sale signs go up and all sanity comes crashing down...

The holiday season has been doing it's reconesense for months, has strategically positioned itself in our very homes, and the signal was given last night when all the Turkey's came out of the ovens - ATTACK!!

Cover your tail - duck and run.

Can you guess I don't really like the holidays?

It's not really so much dislike of the holidays as dislike of the fanfare of the holidays. I hate fanfare. I only went to my high school graduation because my parents made me. I was married barefoot in a living room. I don't like big to-dos. I want to be wherever the fanfare isn't. I've never liked the holidays with all their parties and expectations. They're just one big to-do. And now that I'm married, there's twice the to-doing, because I've got two families who revel in the fanfare I've tried my whole life to avoid.

Duck and run.

Let me give you a brief overview of my holidays:

Night before Thanksgiving:
-Decorate parents-in-law's family tree

Thanksgiving day:
-Christmast #1 with Stephan's family
-Thanksgiving dinner with mother-in-law's family (she's the eldest of 12-it's BIG)

Christmas Day:
-In our line up it's Christmas #2, for just me and Stephan. No family allowed.

New Year's Eve:
-Christmas #3 with my family
-New Year's Eve countdown

Last year we had this same line up, and I hated every minute of it. Everyone was vying for me and my husband's time - including us. Stephan was still in school then, and I felt robbed of the sparse moments we could really take to ourselves - and no one cared. All they cared about was having 'their baby' and spouse come 'home' for the holidays.

But it's the day after Thanksgiving now. I've made it through round 1. I've crossed 1 and 1/3 major holidays off the list for this year. Was it as horrible as I discribed it to be?

Not really. So what changed? Nothing. My circumstaces are pretty solid. So what happened? Why was this year different from last?

Because my heart was different. I read a very helpful devotional on one of my favorite blogs yesterday:

"Sometimes the very people with whom we have the most difficulty are members of our own family. Since the holidays typically provide opportunities to spend time with extended family, it is important that we prepare our hearts to honor God on these occasions. This year (and every year that follows, of course!) let’s choose the way of the prudent, described in Proverbs 22:3: “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.” In other words, we need to think about the unique temptations that we face each holiday when we are with our families (this is seeing danger), and then we need to devise a plan to not sin and please God instead (this is hiding ourselves)."

(This was taken from Girl Talk, a post on Nov 17 by Carolyn Mahaney)

Here she's speaking specifically of struggles with family, but the principle can be applied to any temptation: even my dislike of the fanfare. The post goes on to suggest that we pray to prepare for the holidays, to fortify ourselves against our specific temptations to sin, and also that we pray to love our families. I have unsaved family members. What do I want them to remember about the christian they interacted with during the holidays? Do I want to be crabby on the holidays, or do I want to bring glory to God's gospel by pursuing godliness? My head difinitely wants the later, but my fallen heart must be convinced otherwise.

My quiet time yesterday was amazing. I'm reading through Romans, and yesterday the Lord met me with this:

"Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." -Romans 6:16-18

I wrote this in my journal: "I am presenting myself as an obedient slave to either my sin or to righteousness. Neither forces me - I present myself, I submit to the rule of that master." How amazing. I'm reminded of Gulliver when he arrives in Lilliput. The people around him are mere inches tall, but Gulliver presented himself as an all-compliant servant to the tiny king of that country. Those Lilliputians could not force Gulliver to do anything given his comparative size, yet he willingly presented himself as a slave to the king, and called him master. My sin has no more power than I give it. I have a clear choice of what I will be a slave to, and for so many years I've been choosing enslavement to my sins of judgement, pride, anger, bittnerness and just plain self-centeredness during the holidays. When I do that, of course I don't enjoy them.

This year? This year I was a slave to righteousness. I prayed before I interacted with any family. I asked God to help me see the blessing in my in-laws...all 6,000 of them. I asked God to help me put Philipians 2:3-4 into practice:

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

I kept this verse as my power verse for the whole day and prayed continually that God would enable me to put it into practice. Did it work? Well, when I said goodbye to one of my Aunts, she said "You and Stephan just look so happy..."

May God accept the glory for my happiness that day!
Have a great holiday season, and Remember the Gospel!

Something I'm Thankful For...

Well, thanksgiving is tomorrow. One more day of peace left before the hectic (yet illusory) holiday season sets in. But I appreciate the heart of Thanksgiving. Gratitude shouldn't be a holiday, however, but a lifestyle. The joy, laughter, giving of thanks - you know, the 'holiday spirit' - are all Biblical, but we're called to them on a daily basis:

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

My husband started a game on our 1-year wedding anniversary. Out of the blue he asked "What's something you're thankful for?" I was surprised how long my list was! When I really sat and gave time to pondering it, I had alot to be grateful for! And new things pop up every day!

But 2 things are always at the top of my list, and I mention them every time I'm asked. The first is my salvation.

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering." -Romans 8:1-3

No condemnation awaits me because of Christ's attoning death on the cross. I stand in awe of it every day. What greater service could anyone have done me than to reconcile me to my creator, the sustainer of my soul? None. And no one could have performed this service except God himself - and he did!

(If I may, for anyone who is unfamiliar or (even worse!) over familiar with the Gospel, I'd highly reccomend The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges. It breaks it down into digestable pieces and explains every angle. You're be glad you have a savior by the end of the first chapter!)

The second thing that tops my list in second place is my husband, Stephan. He is my chief treasure on earth. And since it's thanksgiving, I ask your indulgence while I tell you about a particular part of his character, one that I am so grateful for - and wouldn't you guess it has something to do with that which I'm most grateful for, the Gospel? Play the game with me. "What's something you're grateful for, Kari?..."

Stephan is the embodiment of love and leadership performed through service talked about in Ephesians 5, and I could write about all the minute ways he exercises this. But he excels in one particular area that leaves me absolutely gobsmacked and shaking my head at how awesome my God is - and that's just before I leave for work in the morning.

Stephan loves the Gospel. It permeates every area of his life. He is relentlessly reminds me of it. When he leads us in prayer (which he does frequently), he always begins with "Lord, thank you for the Gospel..." When I'm condemned over my sin, his first words are always "Hey, remember the gospel paid for this! You're covered!" When I'm believing lies that I'll never mortify my sin, he always reminds me "No, you WERE hopeless - NOW you're redeemed. The Gospel SAYS there's grace for change." When I'm storming about in sinful anger, he's right there again "The Gospel says you aren't' a slave to this - please calm down. Have you forgotten the gospel? Well I'm gonna tell it to you again" When we're feeling the squeeze of two very different work schedules leaving us little time to spend together, he puts it in perspective: "Hey, it could be worse - we could be headed for God's wrath. Because of the Gospel, we're saved from hell. Our biggest problem is solved - THIS is nothing." One of his favorite conversation starters is to ask me something I'm thankful for - when I ask him? "The Gospel." (after which he says "and you!" and gives me a big goofy smile). When he sins and confesses to me, he always shakes his head and says "Sure makes you glad you have a savior, doesn't it?" When God blessed us with our first apartment, ecstatic though we were over the material gift, Stephan's gaze was not diverted. "We give thanks to you Father for the apartment, but acknowledge the far greater gift of the Gospel, and reconciling us to you through it." Once he came to me after his quiet time, wide eyed and slack jawed, bible hanging from his hand. I looked up from my tea and raised my eyebrows questioningly. "Kari," he said, "Christ BECAME sin for us...for US..." and just shook his head in awe. He challenges the men in his caregroup regularly to remember Christs atoning death for them more than their sin. The Gospel proceeds every prayer, is recited during every conflict (sometimes multiple times...), and follows every correction. It doesn't matter what the circumstances are, he's always encouraging me to evaluate them in light of the Gospel. This inspires me to worship, pray, repent, confess, rejoice and glory in my redeemer. He is a true luminary in this - but only with the luminosity of a the moon, merely a reflection of the true light, the sun.

"...preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching." 2 Tim 2:4

Habi - you are the greatest example of 2 Tim 2:4 I know, not only in word, but in action. I am blessed to have you as my leader, companion, friend, and co-heir to the glory of Christ. Thank you. I don't deserve you any more than I did my Salvation. May I come to guard the Gospel with the same zeal that you do - by God's grace.

My Heart Tablet

I recently decided I wanted to keep a journal. It seems such a romanticized practice to me, one kept only by the sophisticated - the kind of people who publish memoirs one day.

Or is it?

The fluttery teenager, sitting in English class, scribbling in a brightly colored spiral notebook.
The contemplative college student, sitting in a quiet back corner of Starbucks, tapping into a word document.
The expectant mother, sitting in the rocking chair in the still vacant nursery, one hand laid on her gentle swell, one hand taking notes to relay to her almost-child.
The aging grandmother, sitting in an assisted living facility, recording what she can before it's claimed forever by death or dementia...

What's on those pages? What are those women writing when they journal? It seems a simple answer: Their thoughts.

So since I've decided to become a journaler, I am charged with the simple task of scribing my thoughts.

What a dangerous undertaking.

My thoughts are so often selfish, prideful, malicious, judgemental and discontent - amongst other things. Let me ask, if your thoughts were instantaneously published in a blog, would you be put ill at ease? I certainly would. And it was a painful realization that my thoughts are disproportionately God-grieving rather than God-glorifying. But what's to be done? I find myself screaming with Paul "wretched [woman] that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24).

Take heart - God's got the answers. First, I musn't forget that I have a savior! Not only am I removed from the ultimate threat of God's righteous wrath against my sin, but I am also delievered from the immediate and continuous struggles with sin. My thoughts don't have to be embarassing as I pen them on this page. With the Holy Spirit's help, I can have a thought life that glorifies God.

And practically? The author of Proverbs has an answer consistent with the rest of scripture:

"My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,... Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." -Proverbs 3:1 & 3

This is a principle reiterated over and over in scripture. Remember God's commands and hide them in your heart. Psalm 119 is a love song to God's word. The author is grief-stricken when he sees others not keeping it. I personally am not that passionate about scripture. And shame on me - because in God's commands there is wisdom.

Proverbs was written by a father to his son. He beseaches his son here to remember his commands and his teaching, to keep these in his heart, to write them on the tablet of his heart. This begged the question: what am I writing on my heart tablet? This must be a particularly special and even influencial place if this father, who obviously loves his son deeply, is imploring his son to keep God's commands there. Is my heart tablet filled up with other things than God's commands?

I'm afraid so.

This journal is an attempt to reclaim my heart tablet for God's glory - not my own indulgence. I invite the reader to email me with any kind of questions, encouragement, or corrections they may feel appropriate as my thoughts come pouring out. I need you folks - in your council there's protection.

Remember the Gospel