Saturday, February 26, 2011

Waiting

Waiting. Nobody enjoys it--the proverbial 8 year old waiting for Christmas morning, waiting in the endless line for security at the airport or the interminable wait on hold when telephoning your doctor's office. I guess is just shows my impatient nature, but I do so hate waiting.

Larry and I are currently waiting on some important news. It's driven me to endless hours of American Idol recordings and cups of hot chocolate pudding to pass the wait that is stretching out beyond what we had hoped. How long will we wait on this one?

On waits of some consequence, I do find myself turning to God with my impatient prayers--the casting all your cares on him offer (1 Peter 5:7). I've persisted for years with a couple prayers of waiting. He know my desires, my needs, my impatience with the wait. I can rest when I trust him with that.

And on a back page of my Bible, I'm making a growing list of verses that talk about waiting. Exodus 40:12 recounts the Israelites waiting 430 years on God in Egypt! ugh. But Psalm 33:20 helps me "wait in hope on the Lord." There's a lot of waiting in that book.

I'm trying to learn to find contentment, even joy in the wait--like finding the fun in my 3rd graders when summer vacation looms on the horizon. I don't want to foolishly miss the good in "now." The wait could be time to reconcile myself to news I don't want to hear when the wait is over, to be ready. It could be a rest in the journey to read, or quilt or encourage friends while I wait, and wait... I think it's called "living in the moment" even as I impatiently wait. I know God is good. And I'm waiting...


Baked Oatmeal

We're in the depths of winter here in Socal. It rained! But this morning the sky is a dazzling blue, garnished with fluffy, puffy white clouds. Perfect. Anyway, for a winter's breakfast what is more satisfying than baked oatmeal? (with thanks to dear Debbie for the recipe)

BAKED OATMEAL
2 2/3 cups old fashioned oats
1/3 cup currants
4 cups milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tab. melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon (or I prefer pumpkin pie spice)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 medium apples, cored, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix is all up in a baking dish. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.

Serve with milk and any of these yumscious garnishes:
strawberries
almonds
brown sugar
dried cranberries
pecans
bananas
blueberries
granola
hazelnuts
boysenberries
raspberries
pineapple chunks

The more add-ons, the better-- a little like Yogurtland! Serve them in small bowls along with the big pan of oatmeal. Here's to a toasty, warm breakfast!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Cranberry Bars

These creamy, tart bars have been a favorite ever since I copied the recipe from my dear Aunt Mary Ann. They're a Christmas staple but this batch I baked up for a bridal shower dessert. And I've made a pan for a "tea" and cut them out into cunning heart shapes with a cookie cutter just to make them pretty...

CRANBERRY BARS
2 cups flour
1 1/4 cup "quick" style oatmeal
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
16 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
16 oz. can whole cranberry sauce

Crust: Mix the flour, oatmeal and brown sugar. Then cut in the butter with a pastry blender (or a food processor). Reserve 1/2 cup of the mixture and press the rest into a 9x13" pan sprayed with Pam. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Filling: With a mixer blend cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Pour over crust.

Topping: Break the cranberry sauce into bits and sprinkle it over the top of the filling. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of the oatmeal mixture.

Return to the 350 degree oven for 40 minutes more.


Just right with a cup of tea. These will keep for a week sealed well in the fridge. Enjoy!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Trust

I once sat with someone near, dear to me and listened to a daunting problem they were facing. Can we pray about that I asked? The reply--"No, I've tried that. It doesn't really work for me."

It makes me think of a recent sermon illustration (thanks again Tim Keller). He talked about the day Jesus was crucified on the cross. How many people that day, standing at the foot of the cross lost their faith, said "Well, I guess this didn't work out for me after all."? When God was, in fact, in the middle of his greatest work for mankind-- the salvation of all who believe.

That's what trusting God takes-- believing him, going to him, even when it's not working out like you imagined it all would. Lord help me trust.