This has been, and will be, my breakfast. My friend, Tasya, gave me the recipe, so I made it while my parents were here, and am still enjoying it. I doubled the recipe because I have a 6 qt crockpot, but for all you 2-4 qt crockpot peeps, this recipe is as is.
1 1/2 cups steel-cut oats (Irish oats, McCann’s, etc)
4 3/4 cups water
3/4 cup maple syrup (not pancake syrup, this is much less flavorful and more watery than real maple syrup)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c dried cranberries
1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. salt
Stir together in crockpot, turn on low for 6-7 hours. Enjoy. I topped mine with cool whip and/or milk. Other additives would be walnuts, chopped dried apples, dried pears…
This is me thinking aloud…
There are some focuses right now in Christianity/churches that focus on being living, breathing examples of the gospel. These focuses are biblical and needed, and true. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these emphasises. One is marriage and the other is adoption. Marriage, for some (and I don’t believe this view is right) allows you to better display the gospel than being single. I think it may give a you different way of displaying the gospel, but not better. I am, in my singleness, just as much a portrait of the gospel of Christ as if I were me, only married. Adoption, many times I here (and rightly so), is “living the gospel”. You are, yes, praise the Lord. But, again, like marriage – adoption isn’t the only way to “live the gospel.”
With so much emphasis on both marriage and adoption – which single people can’t do either of (obviously we aren’t married and not many adoption agencies will let a single person adopt a baby) – are we not living out the gospel. This post isn’t just for singles, it is for everyone.
Marriage is a great way to live out the gospel. I love the Ephesians 5 passage where clearly it says that marriage proclaims the mystery of Christ and His church. We are the Bride of Christ. I love the picture of Abraham and God in Genesis 15 about God walking through the sacrificial blood. His promise kept. I pray that your marriage is an amazing mirror of God, Christ, the Spirit – and the Church. I pray that husbands will sanctify their wives, and wives would respect, honor, and submit to their husbands. This is unique and special and privileged way to portray the gospel.
Adoption. This is probably the newest “fad” to hit the church. I don’t use fad in a bad way, but why has this emphasis not been in the church before the last 5 years? Have we been ignoring the commands of “true religion” in the Bible for over 2000 years. I hope it isn’t a fad. I hope the trend of seeing adoption come to life in American families, and families all over continues long after I’m gone. I wonder if you see Italian Christians adopting American children. I wonder if the trend of adoption is an American Western Christianity thing right now. To some people, if you haven’t adopted, then you just aren’t living in obedience. At least that is what it seems like. But, there are other ways to live out the command of true religion – to take care of the orphans – without actually adopting. You can give to mission trips that support orphanages, you can donate to families who are trying to raise support to adopt their own babies. It seems the trend now in my emails, blogs, facebook updates from across the world – hey, give to me, we’re adopting. Family of believers? Hopefully, mostly, being the body of Christ. There are girls out there who don’t want to have their own children because adoption is better. Motherhood is great, and if God allows you to have children, please do. If God calls you to adopt, please do. But, one is not better than the other. I hope this isn’t a passing trend in American Christianity, much like the WWJD bracelets and FAITH Evangelism strategy.
Now, what about for the rest of us. I hope I do get to live out the gospel in a marriage one day – but I’m not going to settle for an average marriage. I want the most God-glorifying marriage I can possibly have. one that will be hard, but joyful. I know marriage is hard – not perfect – just God-glorifying.
If God impresses on our hearts to adopt, then I will (hopefully, walking in obedience), but until then I can give to missions to orphanages and support those adopting. I can love on those adopted children.
But, I can live out the gospel every day too. I can give grace where grace is needed. I can live in the love that Christ offered me at the Cross. I can do my work diligently. I can submit to authority. I can…. the list goes on. I am Christ’s friend – obey my commands (John 15.14).
Marriage and adoption is not a better picture of the gospel. We can live out the gospel without doing these specific things (being married, adopting an international child). But, these two ways and living daily life in the grace of God are wonderful ways to live out the gospel.
“What about the practical stuff? Surely there comes a time when we move on from the gospel just a little, so we can focus on the everyday issues of our relationships with other people. This is tempting to believe, but it’s just not true. Regardless of your relationship to others, whether you’re single or married, a husband or a wife, a father, a mother, or a grandparent, your faithfulness and effectiveness in your relationship are directly tied to your understanding of the cross.” – CJ Mahaney
Vacation over: Thanksgiving ahead.
1. Vacation was great: hiking, eating, sleeping, photoging, seeing friends. Beautiful weather.
2. Parents come in town tomorrow.
3. I’ve decided not to do the half on Thursday. That would take out 9 hours of what my parents and I could do together (drive, run, drive), so we will find stuff to do in Raleigh without going to Charlotte.
4. Friends are crucial to my wellbeing, but I also love downtown when I don’t see another soul. I’ll have to find a time to do that after my parents leave. Hmmmm. Maybe New Years.
5. It just wasn’t a pretty football weekend, except for the GATORS. I was in Boone (home of ASU) and loved saying GO GATORS. One of the signs I saw read “Gator: It is what’s for dinner. Go App.” – Well, that didn’t happen.
6. Short week in the office, busy week of editing and reading.
7. To shed some weight this holiday season (instead of put it on): one meal a day has to be either oatmeal, egg white omelette, or veggies. That will definitely help cut some calories during the day.
8. Got some new things in the works for after New Years. Thinking and excited.
Link Love:
1. Girls Gone Wise blog hits up entitlements and rights of women.
2. I think I would like to host one of these. Anyone in RDU interested – good way to start the new year.
3. These will definitely be making their way to a holiday party near you.
4. These will also be making it to a Christmas party near you (if you live in RDU or Lakeland).
5. Love this article that Justin posted on his blog. Often as Christians we ignore culture. But, here are some wise ways to engage and redeem. Hopefully a post will be coming on that by a friend of mine.
6. I would like to try this Chicago-style pizze at home one night, maybe while the parents are here.
7. Ed Stetzer to the rescue – especially if you are flying this holiday season.
8. I thought of these videos a lot this wknd while scaling 23 feet up a ladder on a side of a mountain.
This post actually has nothing to do with the Harris brothers’ book by the same title. But, as I was thinking of titles for this blog, that is what came to mind. Others that came to mind: Things I Learned from Randy Stinson, Spiritual Laziness, What I Don’t Like To Do, but Need To. The Do Hard Things stuck and is shorter.
So…what am I talking about? One of the best part of my jobs while administrative assistant in Louisville was transcribing my boss’ talks or sermons. Sometimes I get to hear them live, but other talks I basically memorized because of the time I had to rewind, and rewind again to get the talks just right. It was a period of growth and memorization for me.
Mostly he spoke to men, but I learned a lot. He would tell the men that a lot of the younger generation is lazy. Not because they don’t like to do things, or they just sit around (which some of them do), but more than that he was talking about men who don’t do hard things. They may be really busy, but they don’t like doing things that are hard for them. They would rather live passively with their wives than bring up the issue that both of them know they need to deal with. They would rather let the slacker keep going at work than to confront him and call him on his laziness. They would rather play video games all day than prep for that test or sermon, or fix the toilet that is leaking in the guest bathroom. Do hard things. The boss would always say, do them first: write that note, send that email, fix that toilet, study for that test, ask that girl out, apply for that new position. Whatever is most hard for you to do – do it first, get it off the to-do this first and then you’ll have plenty of time to do the not so hard things.
So, I was thinking about this all day and really the past couple of days. There are two things in my life right now that are harder than the rest: and I haven’t done them because they wouldn’t be easy. I guess I should say I haven’t done either of them with sincere regularity, and my whole life reflects it.
Exercise/Healthy Eating. It is much easier to not exercise, to sleep in when the alarm goes off because it is cold outside, or to not run that extra 2 miles when you’ve already run 3. It is easier to eat brownies and roasted chicken than it is to eat carrots and roasted beets.
Personal Quiet Time. I spend all day writing curriculum, in books, digging into Scripture for my job. I love it. But, what I’ve not done with regularity is sit down in the morning – pre-work – and dig into the Scriptures for myself, for my soul, for my walk with the Lord.
I need to set my alarm, get out of bed, put my feet on the floor (and not hop back in bed) and do the hard things.
What are your hard things?
Is it cleaning the house?
Is it carrying on a conversation with your husband or wife?
Is it asking for accountablity?
Is it reading the Bible?
Is it exercising?
Is it cooking healthy meals for your family?
Is it asking that girl out?
Is it losing weight?
Is it serving in your local church?
Is it giving some of your income away to missions or service projects?
Is it opening your home to strangers or friends?
Is it practicing the spiritual discipline of prayer, worship, giving, evangelism?
Is it not buying any more “toys” because you already have too many?
Whatever your “hard thing” is – DO IT.
1 Timothy 4:8 “Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
Halfway through November today. Wow, the holidays will be here before we know it and our schedules will be super busy.
1. Busy weekend, but good: Meta 2010, Tedd Tripp Conference (see live blog notes here), great sermon I sat through twice, fall foliage, photog with a friend at the American Tobacco Campus in Durham (love.for.photos.)
2. Ate too much this weekend.
3. Much to do tonight when I get home at 9pm and it doesn’t include watching MNF.
4. The Gators looked HORRIBLE on Saturday night – but thankful, if we had to lose, we lost to Steve.
5. This week: 1.5 lessons to write, hang out times with friends, photog sessions, and hiking with a friend. 4 days off in a row. Love. I never thought I would appreciate vacations – now I do.
6. Cooking this week: roasted chicken tacos, balsamic roast chicken, zucchini, wheat bread, asian chicken and vegetables, and something for dessert which I haven’t decided on yet.
Link Love:
1. This is a great post on theology and photography. Thanks Kerry and Devin for pointing me to it and writing it!
2. Gils Gone Wise has done it again – great post about dating and dating the right person. I’ve been thinking about settling – just to have a date – NOT worth it.
3. I think I will participate in this for the next two months…I have way too many cookbooks I don’t use!
4. Love this post by the Resurgence on great women of the reformation. Great women we can aspire to be (or exam their lives).
5. Love this piece on culture and influence, especially for my friends who are pursuing this regularly…
Short and sweet this week!