Tea Cup Story

This story was shared in PWOC today. It struck a deep chord...and I was surprised to find tears spilling down my face.  I may have heard the story before, but I want to save it here to remember.... when He says, "Not yet," there is a purpose. Tsunamis, health challenges, ministry losses, personal losses.....God knows what He is doing.

Teacup Story - God knows what He's doing (for all of us). He is the Potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us, so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

“Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.” ~ Jeremiah 18:6

There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup. They said, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful."

As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke. "You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'Let me alone', but he only smiled, 'Not yet.'"

"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said, "and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. 'Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!' I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.'"

"Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, 'Not yet.'"

"Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better', I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'"

"Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head saying, 'Not yet.'"

Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and I couldn't believe it was me. 'It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.'"

"'I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you would have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.'"

MORAL:

God knows what He's doing (for all of us). He is the Potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us, so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not tempt you beyond what you can bear; but with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.

~ Author Unknown 

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Science Love

My darling is striving hard for a GOOD attitude about this Biology lab her heartless mother has inflicted on her. ::snort::

Um....Nolan is GOOD....STEALTHY....check out how he is plugging his nose while he observes these new life-forms which they've created in my new vintage Ball jars. ::snort::

Nothing stealthy about Zander...tell us, son, what do you really think? 

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

What Could It Be?

It's Yuuki, the wonder dog. She wrestles me for the blanket early each a.m. She loves to wrap herself up in a blanket....fleece is best but she's lost her fleece blanket.  She really, really wants my animal print, fuzzy blanket.....but I refuse to let her take it. 

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Michael preached today from Luke 7. This was snacky Sunday and we enjoyed a bit of fellowship before the building cleared out. 

We were tired today. It is also much cooler today - 59* as opposed to 77* yesterday. I KNOW that is NOT cold compared to places such as Alaska or Northern Japan - but it is cool for HERE. ::wink:: 

In a fit of brilliance I remembered we had a gas fireplace.  ::snort:: I did NOT realize the fireplace puts out real heat. I'm going to have to rethink some decorating in that corner.  Arielle claimed my chair and my blanket and enjoyed watching Jumanji with Michael and Nolan. I enjoyed a call with family and a nap. 

I came downstairs to a warm family room/kitchen.....Japanese music playing on the system and this.....feels like home...it isn't doing much for conquering the homesickness for Japan....but it does feel right.

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Finding Fall in Grass Valley/Empire Mine

We set out to explore. My secret desire was to find green hills/meadows and fall. The weather got cold a week ago but the last few days have been in the mid-high 70's again. Perfect weather to explore. 

We debated which direction to head and finally headed out to Brown's Valley. We drove by the home we had  thought we'd move in to before it sold....and realized it was nice....pretty area....where we are is much more conducive to being involved in relational ministry. We also have a MUCH quicker drive to base. 

Next we headed to Grass Valley. I had no real idea of what we'd find there. I thought I had heard there was a state park nearby. I hoped  hiking trails, with nice picnic areas, would materialize.  We ended up in a public parking lot....I took this shot to add to my "Outhouses Across CA" portfolio.....seriously, we miss squatty potties - you don't have to TOUCH anything - but we are thankful  the places we've visited in the last two weeks have all HAD outhouses! 

Note the fall colors! 

Thrilled to be out of our subdivision! 

We enjoyed our picnic out of the back of the van (::snort::).....and set out to  investigate Historic Downtown Grass Valley.  We will be back! I will go back again someday with those who want to "shop" vs "window shop." 

 We fell in love with these sand pictures...the lady wouldn't tell me the price on the big one - always a bad sign.  There is liquid and air and sand in these and the designs are always different. Zander loved watching this.....They had some with backgrounds that were sort of fun. There was a bright one that reminded me of the Northern Lights in AK. 

All heartily endorsed the Lazy Dog  Chocolateria! The kids enjoyed hand dipped ice cream bars; Michael and I indulged in hand dipped dark chocolate covered honey comb and dark chocolate dipped toffee (respectively). 

I found the acceptable answer to the age-old burning holiday question, "What does a vegan do at Thanksgiving?"

A nice shopkeeper had suggested we drive up to Empire Mine State Park and thought there would be a lot of things the kids would enjoy there. The electricity was out today at the park. We couldn't go down the shaft....but we did walk around, talk with docents and got a good feel for the spot. We'll be back. This place will be fantastic in the summer when they have docents doing various jobs and tours. It will also be great dressed up for Christmas.  We think this would be a fun outing when all are down for Thanksgiving....though we are wondering about renting a couple of wheel chairs. 

These stamps were impressive! They were used to crush ore...and the noise could be heard from miles away.

Clubhouse

The Empire "Cottage" was fantastic. I hope we can go back during the Holidays and get a tour. It was built to look like an English Cottage - formal gardens and all. This was a great spot to get some photos - maybe we'll go back when all are here.

We didn't make it out of the compound early enough to hike the trails. There ARE lots of picnic tables here. Next time we'll have our lunch here instead of the public parking lot. 

We also drove by a few campgrounds on Rollins lake and one in Grass Valley. It was RENEWING to see TREES and GREEN meadows and fall colors. Several commented we need to do this every couple of weeks. LOL 


Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Thankful for FRIDAY

Michael gets a CTO off on the weeks when he preaches. He preached last Sunday. Today (Friday) was to be his day off.....so he came home early! I was proud of him for coming home early - then I found out the whole staff went home early to celebrate the end of the inspection. ::snort:: 

We took advantage of Michael being home to go scoop swamp water. Into my new "vintage" ball jars....with soil, straw, egg yolk...and swamp water. I'm sure wonderful new things will shortly be growing on the counters....on purpose. 

We searched out a "little branch" for this year's Thankful Tree....I'm not sure THIS is exactly the branch I will use. We'll work on it tomorrow. I'm printing leaves this year here . We've enjoyed past trees we made...all the leaves we cut out and each filled in...but this house really doesn't have a wall which we want to tape or staple leaves on.  And Ann's leaves are ready to go.....so I plan to make an arrangement with some "small" branches and hang the leaves on them.......

Honestly, we try too keep a thankful heart year round (thus Choosing Joy); but it is fun to list things out in the month of November.  Rather than leaves and/or journals, I  like the idea below this year. 

Via Facebook 

We left the river park and headed directly to Papa Murphys for a Chicago Style stuffed pizza and a Gourmet Veggie pizza - hold the cheese. ::snort:: The African Queen and Road to Bali is on our schedule for the evening.

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

"Chick Pea" Tacos (Vegan)

We celebrated Michael's PT test with tacos (meat, cheese, and lots of it).  He was looking forward to this. I thought it would be an easy meal after the park. LOL  It's a good thing I've been cooking dried beans for the freezer.  As Nolan and I cooked, we discovered we had no Rosaritas. We like home-made better; but I'd gotten out of the habit of making them.   We whipped up some refried beans, started the rice steaming, started the taco meat simmering...and then I decided to try something new for Arielle and me. 

I didn't have chick peas, but I had pinto beans left....I used those and they were great. I have no idea if they would have been better with chick peas. This recipe is from The Happy Herbivore Cookbook - I LOVE this cookbook. 

Ingredients: 
1 T soy sauce (low sodium)
1 - 2 tsp lemon or lime juice
1 T chili powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp cayenne powder
1/4 tsp marjoram or oregano (I didn't use either)
1 15 oz can of chick peas drained and rinsed OR 1 1/2 C of cooked beans

Directions: 
Pre-heat oven to 400* F.

Grease cookie sheet - or line with parchment paper.

Whisk soy sauce, juice and spices together. Add beans or chickpeas and stir to combine.

Transfer to cookie sheet in a single layer.

Bake for 20 - 40 min until chick peas are as crisp as desired.

Spoon into taco shells and top with greens and tomatoes......

We do a Tijunga Taco here.....which will illustrate how essential the refried beans are to Taco night in our home.

Take heated tortilla, spread on refried beans, add a crunchy taco shell, add rice, greens, and taco fixins.....cover with salsa.... These little beans worked great in place of meat and I didn't miss the meat a bit...Michael said it reminded him of Chipotles.

I had thought of skipping the refried beans as we always have over 1/2 the can which doesn't get used....but they ate ALL the refried beans - all of them. I must keep making my own. LOL

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...