Worth the Read

I was able to go to visit a missionary friend last week.  We had a great time!  I have a cultural experience blog post whirling around in my head and hope to get to it before the weekend.  I came back and hit the ground running with several classes to teach and a guest from America due to arrive soon.  Will my life ever.slow.down???  I’m thinking not…

Here are a few things I read recently that I’d like to pass on to you.  Let me know what you think…

Tips to Stop Procrastination~“Dreading a task takes longer and costs more emotional energy than just doing it.”

When you start to pick your nose in public…~This is a cute read on how to know when it is time for a furlough.

10 Ways to Encourage a Missionary~Speaks for itself.

Building an Effective Scripture Journal~I like the extras that Susan has added to her journal and plan to incorporate them into mine.  Have you started a What Do I Know About My God notebook yet?  If not, there is not time like the present!

until the next time…

Bow the Knee

What a privilege to come into God’s presence,
just to linger with the one who set me free.
As I lift my eyes and see His awesome glory,
I remember who He is and bow the knee.

Bow the knee, bow the knee,
He is king of all the ages, bow the knee!
God alone on His throne,
see Him high and lifted up and bow the knee!

Kneel before Him, all adore Him.
As you live to love Him more, bow the knee.

In His hand He holds the power of creation.
With His voice He spoke and all things came to be.
Yet He hears each simple prayer I bring before Him
when I humbly seek His face and bow the knee.

Bow the knee, bow the knee,
He is king of all the ages, bow the knee!
God alone on His throne,
see Him high and lifted up and bow the knee!

Kneel before Him, all adore Him.
As you live to love Him more, bow the knee.

~Ron Hamilton

Church Work Day

We had a church work day today.  The weather was perfect.  We were able to accomplish A LOT during the morning.  We finished everything on the list.  We were thrilled.  After all the work, we played.  :)  We had lunch with grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and lots of other good foods.  Some played games and some just sat on the deck and enjoyed the beautiful spring day visiting.  It was a lovely day!

The Posts of My House

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.  And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

~Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Gluten-free Raw Apple Cake

I love Amish recipes.  Having said that, Amish and gluten-free are not usually used in the same sentence.  Raw Apple Cake has always been a family favorite, but I haven’t made it for quite a while.  My mother-in-law made an apple cake for me that was gluten-free, so I felt inspired to try this Amish recipe with a few modifications.  I used my favorite rice flour combo for the regular flour and replaced the whole wheat flour with oat flour.  I also added some xanthum gum since this always seems to help make things raise better.  If you’re gluten-free, give it a try.  We think it’s a keeper!

Recipe:

1 cup sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1.5 cups of rice flour combo

.5 cup of oat flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. xanthum gum

5 cups of raw apples, diced (about 4 large apples)

.5 cups of nuts, chopped

.5 tsp. cinnamon

.25 cup sugar

1.  Blend first 4 ingredients together in mixing bowl.  Add the next 5 ingredients and stir well.

2.  Fold in the apples and nuts.

3.  Spread batter in greased 9″ x 13″ baking pan.

4.  Mix together cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over batter.

5.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Enjoy!! 

*I apologize for the poor quality of my photos.  I will spare you the sad details, but I broke my good camera.  These were taken on my iTouch.  =/

the Word in our hearts….

I’ve have posted many times about the importance of memorizing Scripture.  It’s been such an important part of my life.  I have to admit that lately, I have not done as well in this area as I would have liked.  Instead of verse cards, I’ve been carrying around vocab cards.  Since I am not in language school any more, I dusted off my verse cards and started reviewing and reviewing some more.

I like to listen to Revive Our Hearts podcasts while I work around the house.  I was surprised when I heard Janet Pope, author of His Word in My Heart: Memorizing Scripture for a Closer Walk with God, on the broadcast.  It was such an encouragement to me that I wanted to share the links here.  It is in three parts and well worth the time.  I hope that it will encourage you to keep on keeping on in this important area.  If you haven’t started working on Bible memory yet, it is never too late to start…

How Busy People Can Memorize Scripture

You Can Memorize More Than You Think

You Need Hunger-This one was very convicting.  If you don’t have time to listen to all three, I highly recommend this one.

A Cultural Moment

The average Japanese woman wears anything between a size 0 to a size 4.  Sickening, I know.  :)  Recently, I was talking to a woman who was just hired by a company after a series of tests and interviews.  My guess is she is about a size 8.  She looks good and healthy to me.  Anyway, she was told that she would have to pass a physical to keep the job and in order to do that, she needed to lose weight.  I was shocked!  Imagine that happening in a America…