Just wanted to share two awesome baking blogs I’ve been loving lately:

Piece of Cake - Shauna Sever, a mom and local TV personality from San Fransisco. I just tried my hand at her plum tart. The posts that go with her amazing recipes are hysterical. I do get a little jealous of the fruit options in California (meyer lemons, anyone?) but there’s plenty of easy, creative recipes.

Sprinkle Bakes - This girl’s confections are absolutely gorgeous. Check out her post about Narnian turkish delight! There’s also a video on her post about fondant petit fours that was absolutely amazing (the whimsical French music in the background doesn’t hurt)! She inspired me to make banana upside-down cake last week =)

Sorry for not including pictures… you’ll just have to check these sites out and see for yourself =)

A couple weeks ago I saw a commercial for some arthritis medicine that got me thinking.

Hm, weird sentence. Better press on.

There was a quote at the beginning that is borrowed from Newtonian physics. It goes,

“An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion.”

I was thinking about this in reference to my own life and habits. What do I put in motion daily? The more often I do something, the more likely I am to keep doing it.

For me this meant making a list of the things that don’t always make it onto my radar on an average day (working out, baking and cooking one new recipe each week, emailing/calling friends, writing, etc.) starting things in motion that I want to become habits!

Any things you want to put into motion? 

I just finished reading the Divine Romance by Gene Edwards. It’s basically the Bible from the perspective of heaven, starting with creation and ending with Christ’s resurrection.

This is not, however, a book review. I just wanted to quickly share a few scenes that have really been on my mind for the past few days.

The first is God looking down on the people of Israel while they’re waiting for Moses at Mt. Sinai in the wilderness. First we see a young Levite tell his parents he wants to enter the priesthood to serve the great God who delivered them from Egypt. Next, a wife discusses with her husband how they should give the wealth they had in Egypt as an offering to God since he had blessed them and shown the Israelites such mercy. A third scene shows a group of young men declaring their obedience to their God, dedicating their lives to prayer and following his law.

And reading all of this I was encouraged by their passion and devotion. It was thrilling to think of this young nation so willing and ready to give whatever they had to the Lord!

But this is what God said…

“Do I, the Mighty One need to be waited upon? Neither did I ask of you your worship or your prayers nor even your obedience, I have asked but this of you - that you love me, love me, love me…”

Another scene: Jesus is in the house of one of the Pharisees, sitting down to dinner when a woman enters to anoint his feet with oil. What Jesus knew was an incredible act of sacrificial love (the perfume probably cost all she had in the world), the Pharisees only saw as an unclean woman allowed to defile their evening. They look at her in disdain as the watchmen call out the evening psalm, “You must love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, with all thy heart, with all thy might.” Yet no one seems to hear.

It is the first and greatest commandment! What God desires from me more than anything! Yet sometimes when I think of “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength” I substitute love for “serve the Lord your God” or “obey” or “honor” or “bring glory to”. But that’s wrong! My love must be the reason I follow him - not thankfulness, or gratitude, or awe. It must be love.

And that makes me so glad. I wouldn’t want it any other way. It has been so refreshing the last few days when I’ve met with God in the mornings because I LOVE him, and prayed because I LOVE to speak with him, and served because I LOVE how he served.

Are you inspired by love today?

I was listening to the Suitcase Song by Copeland earlier this week, and these lyrics brought a smile to my face. Not because I want to run away from anything - I was thinking about it in the terms of “swing away” or “happily work away”, like an encouragement to go ahead and get going.

Andy has been running with our Xmin students in the mornings this year. I was totally supportive of their daily jaunts around midtown Detroit, but felt absolutely no need to take part myself. My Real Church United group even talked about doing a 5k at the end of the summer and the only thing that came to mind was “why?”

Enter Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run. Andy and I picked it up by accident at Borders one Monday (the book we were looking for wasn’t there) and we both had it finished by Thursday. My favorite part about this book is that it’s really just several dozen stories woven together each leading the reader to discover that running is not supposed to be some horrible self-inflicted punishment to get us in shape, or something to survive so we can get an endorphin kick and feel accomplished by the end of it - it’s joyful and natural and makes you feel more alive.

One of my favorite stories in this book was about a Czech runner named Emile Zatopek who loved running wherever his legs would carry him. He qualified for the Olympics and since there weren’t enough Czech runners to fill all spots, he had his pick of the distance events. So he decided to do all of them. Actually, the decision to run his first marathon came after he had broken the world records in the 5000 and 10000 meter races.

For his first attempt at 26.2 miles, he decided to pace Jim Peters, the British favorite for the gold, and see what happened. It was an unusually hot day and Peters decided to go out extra fast so the inexperienced Zatopek would tire out and fall off because of the heat and distance. 

Off they went. Zatopek kept up with Peter’s blistering pace and halfway through the race trotted up beside him to ask, “Excuse me, I’ve never run this race before, but aren’t we going a bit fast?” Peters, keeping up with his masquerade, said “No, too slow.” “Oh, all right” said Zatopek, picked up the pace and won the gold, breaking the Olympic record. 

How can you not love a guy like that?

Anyways here are a few things I’ve learned over the past weeks that have changed my hatred of running into a interest nearing a passion.

1. Also a tip fromBorn to Run - “Think Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast. You start with easy because if that’s all you get, that’s not that bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless” Then if you can get smooth down, you’ll be fast. That’s not so bad. I’m still working on the easy part.

2. Running is fun,  not self-inflicted punishment.

3. Run somewhere interesting. Look around. Say “hi” to people. If you can’t speak, back off a little. Try not too look so in pain that people just stand to the side and look after you with pity. 

3b. Running somewhere interesting changed my perspective of running distance. I used to be a swimmer and hated distance events because all you did was swim up and down the pool freestyle for what seemed like an eternity. Running isn’t like that, you’re much more involved in your surroundings.

4. Worship music is GREAT company. You know that feeling when you’re worshipping God and just want to jump up and down because He’s so awesome? That energy is perfect in a run. The joy of the Lord IS my strength.

Anyways, I haven’t been on too many runs yet, but I did run a 5k last night and enjoyed the majority of it. I’m definitely still learning. But if anyone wants to join me for a run sometime, let me know. I’m not aiming for a marathon or anything…yet.

I was thinking about the Comcast commercial when they talk about their epic customer service. One of the representives says “We’re only as good as our word… and our word is good.” Now, this is not a blog about whether or not comcast stands up to this promise - I’m very thankful that they provide our internet and are the reason I can write this blog post right now - but I’m not dependent on it. If my internet goes down, life goes on.

But it got me thinking, how serious are we about keeping our word? We try, but if something doesn’t work out, plans change, we forgot, “things just got SO BUSY you know?”, or something else came up, things can slip through the cracks.

I was reading 2 Corinthians 1 in the message and Paul says,

I try to be as true to my word as God is to His.

Let me play that back one more time.

I try to be as TRUE TO MY WORD as GOD is to HIS.

I am dependent on God’s promises. I’m dependent on the fact that His mercies are new EVERY MORNING. That his GRACE IS SUFFICIENT. That he knows every hair on my head and loves me more than I can imagine and he never forgets me for ONE MOMENT.

I am not saying it’s wrong to have to reschedule or respond to wrenches in our plans or forget something or just drop the ball occasionally. But maybe this post has been inspired by the fact that I want to take my word more seriously.

There was a document of the early church called the Didocai that basically had practical information for new churches that were springing up all over the Roman empire. One of the things they really focused on was keeping one’s word. Because once you say you’re going to give, or serve, or help, that statement should be as true as if it’s already done.

Soren Kierkegaard wrote about the parable in Matthew 21 of the two sons whose father asked them to work in the vineyard. The first said, “sure” and didn’t go. The other said, “no way” but decided later that he would go help. Neither one did the right thing - but Kierkegaard says that the one who said yes was probably pretty pleased with himself - he promised to help, he was the obedient one. But he didn’t follow through. It was like walking backwards away from someone, saying “I’m coming,” while getting further and further away.

It’s really easy to say “yes” when we’re challenged or asked to do something. I want to make sure that “yes” inspires action.

My husband is an amazing cook. He has this ability to throw things together at a breakneck speed, all without the help of a recipe (he treats them like the rule book to a board game - if you’ve never played it before you give it a quick glance and then figure it out as you go along and MAYBE use it as a reference in case of emergency) and the results are, almost universally, fantastic. The man got me to enjoy eating vegetables on a regular basis. I mean, that alone was reason enough for me to snatch him up.

Somehow, whenever I try to copy his recipes, they never turn out quite as well as they do when he makes them. And, more of than not, when we talk about why this or that flavor isn’t prominent, or why the ingredients all kind of melded together, he brings up the same point.

It’s ok, but you didn’t salt it enough.

Salt? Salty foods are bad for you, salt masks other flavors, salt overpowers things, salt is BORING.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Andy explained to me that salt is the reason cooked vegetables have flavor. When you salt them FIRST THING it keeps them from soaking up the other flavors around them (so a tomato tastes like a tomato and not a zucchini-tomato-asparagus-eggplant) and highlights the spectacular flavor of the ingredient so it gets to stand out and wow your mouth with it’s texture and taste. You barely notice the salt, but it’s ESSENTIAL.

Salt is just as vital in baking. Especially the sweet stuff. It evens out the effects of baking soda/powder, it tightens up the dough, and it changes a one-dimentional sugary snack into complex riot of flavor - bringing out the taste and texture of the butter and flour and other ingredients that bring breads and cookies and cakes together.

That being said - just adding the salt on top after the cooking process? Not going to cut it, that’s when salt stands out and becomes all those overbearing things I mentioned before.

“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:6

This verse took on a whole new meaning for me this week - suddenly seasoning my conversation with salt sounded like a pretty exciting thing. Rather than dumping some spiritual catch phrases on top to remind the other person that I’m a Christian, I want my words to be infused with Christ’s love, to be wholesome and interesting and delicious. To share Him in my conversations as naturally as I would share food.

YUM.

I GET to submit to my God and my husband. A lot of time this word has such a negative connotation in our minds - connected with slavery, unargued obedience, brokenness, deference, not being able to stand up for yourself.

Even when we think of it in the biblical sense toward God or parents or husbands it can seem more of a sacrifice - something we’re doing to make us more holy, like forced exercise or dieting or any kind of other self-inflicted punishment.

But I want to throw this word into a different light.

SUBMISSION IS FREEDOM. Yup. It means giving up the tyranny of all your wants (most of them pretty selfish, and often conflicting with each other) and being led by Christ who knows your desires and wants what’s best for your life. For wives, it’s the safety of following a godly husband as he follows Christ and leads the family.

I was also thinking about this in terms of the media and what we allow ourselves to watch, listen to, accept, experience, etc. When it does not fall under Philippians 4:8 (true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy…) we’re allowing things into our minds that are going to be stuck there FOREVER. But by submitting to a life of pursuing holiness - we’re free from having to deal with that crap and imprinting our brain and heart with things that we’re going to have to battle with as we strive towards Christ. 

So our submission, HIS protection, is a surefire way to freedom: a running-outside-in-the-sunshine-till-we’re-out-of-breath-and-collapse-on-the-grass-to-look-up-at-the-sky kind of free.

I was reading Psalm 115 in the message - this exhortation to Israel really struck me. 

“your helper…your ruler”

I don’t have a good understanding of an absolute ruler who is my helper. I don’t think there has been an earthly example of this. The saying “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” rings true more often than not.

Most earthly empires have been fairly short-lived - monarchies only succeed when there is a solid system of delegation. Charles V, Napoleon, George Washington, and King David (to name a few) were men who knew how to trust others to help them lead.  The United States system of government is filled with checks and balances to avoid corruption and absolute power - not to mention a population who is more than willing to critique their elected leaders when their flawed human nature does show up.

In Exodus 18, when Moses’ father-in-law Jethro comes to visit and gives his son-in-law advice to find competent men to help lead the individual tribes and families within the tribes, I was all for it. I mean, did Moses really think he could lead millions of people on his own? And deal with each and every issue personally? No man could do that!

But God can.

God can hear and answer every one of our requests and emotions and not be overwhelmed for a millisecond. He can never be corrupted because there is nothing corrupt in him. He can hold the world in his hand and see the beginning to the end all at the same time.

Now that’s a Ruler.

I’m afraid that sometimes I model God after earthly examples of leadership. That I put Congress to a vote (poll friends and family) or ask my advisors (seeking advice from trusted sources) rather than going straight to the King. I trade in the intimacy of relationship for other, lesser methods. 

But that’s as silly as thinking one man can truly rule and help a ninth of the earth’s land area (sorry Russian tsars).

Going back to the Word to soak up God’s immensity for awhile.

My freshman year of high school, I ran track. It was a bad, nay, catastrophically horrible idea. I am much better suited to water than land - I can swim further than I can run, seriously.

However.

On the days when I was particularly miserable, I would start making up scenarios in my head - something I was running towards (or away from). These scenarios varied from chocolate cake, to escaping slavery, to getting some precious artifact I had in my possession to safety, and that small sense of purpose somehow lightened my feet and kept me going.

And the very worst thing I could do was STOP RUNNING. The relief of rest would instantly be outweighed by the idea that my momentum was gone and I still had SO FAR TO GO.

This is exactly what happens when I let myself get stuck in focusing on my inadequacies, when the things I need to “work on” get me so involved in looking at “me” that I stop running toward Jesus.

Brother Lawrence put it really simply. If you catch yourself away from God’s presence, get in God’s presence.

Or, if I may, 

If you realize you’ve stopped running, start running! 

For me, this may include turning on some worship music to stop negative thought patterns, reading the greatest story ever told, or talking to someone about what’s so great about our God!

Who knew I could be this excited about running?

Not willing to slow down,

Kathryn

It seems like everywhere I’ve turned in the last few weeks, I’ve been learning how God is the only one meant to have my heart. If I want to follow him, he has to be my priority.

You might find it interesting that the word priority didn’t have a plural form until the 20th century. There was no such thing as “priorities” because only one thing could hold that role. It was nonsense to say otherwise.

Unfortunately, I am far too quick to fall into that rut of making myself a list of priorities. Even if God is at the top, other things crowd to distract and take my attention - things that seem more urgent in the moment. 

AW Tozer talks about the awful switch of putting the things God has given us on the throne, rather than the giver,

“(Things) were made for man’s use, but they were meant always to be external to the man and subservient to him. In the deep heart of the man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come.”

Why would I want to be a servant to my priority list (family, friends, commitments, money, talents, possessions) when I can serve the one who gave it all to me! “What do you have that you have not received?” (1 Cor 4:7)

I drew a picture in my journal of a podium where the three platforms all had “first place” on them. I know I’m a long way from Jesus being the one priority, but I’m committed to weeding my heart to get rid of what doesn’t belong there.