John 2: 1-10 Water to Wine

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now, both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."

Now there were six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast." And they took it.  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!"

John 2: 1-10 NKJV

I've always felt like this was a curious little miracle.  Jesus's debut miracle?  Turning water into wine so a wedding party host wouldn't feel embarrassed because, for some reason or another he hadn't planned for enough wine.  They ran out!  Now, yes, it is embarrassing for the people putting on an event to run out of a main attraction.  But really...was Jesus's first miracle helping His mom's friends out of an embarrassing situation? I understand that God cares about every little detail of our lives.  But, didn't Jesus's later miracles point to a bigger picture?  Was He simply warming up here?  Is there more to this miracle than the simple face value?

I asked myself this today.  My intent is to read through the gospel of John during this Lenten season.  Unfortunately, I have been really bad at keeping up with my intentions.  I read chapters one and two and did some cross reference and some chewing on it a couple of weeks ago.  Today I came back to read more and was browsing over what I had read to get the context.  I read the heading of "Water to Wine" and wondered if I was just dense for not seeing the greater purpose of this miracle.  I have heard it preached on many times.  I listened to my Chris Tomlin CD this morning, and the opening song's opening line is "Water you turned into wine/You've opened the eyes of the blind/There's no one like You/None like You."  I don't get it.  How does turning water into wine trump opening eyes of the blind, healing the lame, and raising people who are physically dead?  Are we really that obsessed with wine? So, I started thinking about it, and it hit me with shattering shivers.  You know, the ones that make something so obvious to you that the revelation instantly becomes a part of you, and you wonder how you didn't already know this and wonder if everyone else will think you are silly because it is so obvious now, you have know idea how you could have missed it.


"'Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.'"

I've struggled with grasping the meaning of this passage. Let me flesh it out with you.  I've long taken it to mean that He wasn't ready to reveal His power,(but did to show respect to His mother? I don't know...). However, the previous chapter has the heavens opening up, and the Holy Spirit descending upon Him as a physical dove while the voice of God came down from heaven and announced who Jesus was.  Unless displays like that were more common back then than now, I think the time of subtlety had passed.   He has disciples following Him who believe He is the Christ.  They don't exactly know entirely what that means yet, but, they do have some sort of understanding.  So, maybe this means something else. The "My hour" statement always feels a bit out of place to me.  My understanding was that applied to His suffering upon the cross that lead to our salvation.  What does that have to do with wine?

"'Fill the waterpots with water. ... Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.'"

'Fill the waterpots, yes, the ones used for purification that no good Jew would use for anything other than purification.  Fill those up with water, and then go have the good Jew master of the feast drink a dipper of what you pull out of it even though drinking something from these vessels will make him technically unclean.'

The servants listened to Jesus like Mary told them to do.  I wonder what the ramifications for doing this would have been normally--a servant intentionally bringing his master a dipper full of unclean water.  We aren't told if the servants thought of that. But, miraculously, the water turned into wine.  Good wine.  Like, better than the previous wine that was good wine, but not as great as this second batch.  Who saves the good wine for last?

'Go. Fill the unclean vessels with water.  Your act of faith will fill them with good wine.  Good wine that is better than the old wine.'

New wine.  "Take and drink, this is the new covenant in my blood shed for you." (Luke 22:20)  "But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out." (John 19:34)

We are the purification vessels.  The laws of uncleanliness no longer apply under the new covenant.  Christ's perfect sacrifice undid the need for all of that. We are filled with the new covenant and no longer unclean and dirty.  The new covenant is better than the old!

That is why this miracle is important.  It has nothing to do with Jesus thinking wine is an okay thing to have at wedding receptions.  (He provided it, after all.)  It has everything to do with being a miracle and parable in one.  The unclean vessels become truly clean under the new covenant.

Can you imagine being one of those servants?  They knew what physically just happened.  Did they have any idea of what it meant initially?  Did they find out later after the miracle worker died and rose again?  I don't know, but it will be fun to find out some day!

What is this Christian going to do about Halloween?

Every year I struggle with it.  I loved Halloween as a kid!  I loved getting dressed up (preferably in a homemade costume), and going to houses where people would give me candy and comment on how cute I looked as a little pig, Christmas tree, a present, or whatever I was that year.  It was fun!  But, I never liked the "scary" houses, or the "haunted" things.  Why?  Well, I didn't like them.  That was enough for 8 year old me.   But, now that I am older and wrinkle my nose at Halloween, people ask me "why?! It's fun!", and I am left with needing something more to say than "Because I don't like it."  Usually I say that with enough apparent disgust that people drop the matter.  However, that isn't the best way to handle the situation.  Why don't I like Halloween?  Well, let me start by saying what I do like about Halloween.

Like:

1)  I think costumes are can be fun.

Having people come up with creative/funny/witty costumes is fun!   There was an image going around on Facebook recently of a man dressed up in a cow costume with pi (3.14...) as the spots.  Get it?  Cow pie?  That's funny.  The year I dressed up as a Christmas tree was a lot of fun.  I made a sandwich board style costume, cut out evergreen tree edges, colored and decorated my tree, strung battery operated lights on, and donned a warm winter hat we rigged a star upon.  It was fun!  Another year I was a present.  I had a kindergarten graduation cap we mounted the lid from a box on, and then we wrapped a box, put arm holes in it, cut out a hole in the bottom, and attached a gift tag to it that said "Gift from God" or something like that.  My mom was in charge of that.  Anyway, costumes can be a lot of fun, and I think we should have costume parties all year around.

A con is built into this point, though.  Well, several are, but I will address them later.

2) Community

Halloween tends to draw neighborhoods together.  Sometimes social or work groups put together a "trunk or treat" where they get to meet whole families.  Neighbors ask "what are you doing for Halloween" to see if they are handing out candy as well.

A con is here as well, though.  The reason Halloween originally would draw people together is avoiding the evil spirits (like the costumes, jack-o-lanterns, etc.).  Wait...con section is later...

3)  Candy

I was a sugar addict!  Having wheat and dairy allergies, people tended to give me my dessert treats as skittles, suckers, and smarties (to name a few).  I used to eat bowls of sprinkles, coconut, and peanuts from the dessert bar at buffets while my family ate ice cream.  I love(d) sugar!  Now, I tend to avoid it.  I still love it, but I feel a ton better when I don't eat it so much.

Other than obesity in children, I don't see a con here!

4)  I love pumpkins!

I don't like killing my pumpkin, though, by carving it.  So...maybe this isn't a pro for Halloween.

5)  People come straight to your house!  You don't have to go out to witness.  :)


Okay...time for the cons.  Why I do not like Halloween and find it offensive.

What is being glorified?

Yes, yes...I hear you.  "Stop over-thinking everything!"  But, really...I don't think we *can* over-think Halloween.  Did you know that Halloween has become more popular in most social circles than Christmas?  It definitely beats out Thanksgiving.  Why?  Well, because Halloween is just fun, right?  There is no big meal to make, no stressful or awkward situations with family members, no debt from buying presents...  Yes...that is part of it...  But...look at the history of it.  I won't get into it all here, but, Halloween--the costumes, the jack-o-lanterns, the cover of night--are all intended to disguise our souls/identity from evil spirits.  Where is a Christian's place in that?  I have Jesus for that.  Okay, okay, yes, I could claim back Halloween by bringing the name of Jesus into it.  However, there is nothing here to claim back.   This isn't taking back Christmas from Santa.  This isn't taking back Easter from a giant bunny.  This is a Satanic holiday.  If Jesus takes it back, it no longer exists.

So, here is the bottom line.  Halloween glorifies fear.  The intent of the holiday is to disguise, to scare, to mask, to be "creepy."  I am not sure where the candy comes into this, but think of the things associated with Halloween: haunted houses (the intent is to make you anxious and fearful), spiders and cobweb decorated homes (creepy...don't touch me), people in costumes of the dark world of spirituality (witches, zombies, serial killers, chainsaw massacres, comic book villains, red devils, etc), creepy music, etc.

As a Christian, how can I be a part of this?  Jesus has conquered the devil and his powers.  Why would I participate in glorifying the defeated world?

I will never forget the time I was handing out candy at the Christian nursing home my grandparents lived in.  They liked to see the kids, so I offered to pass out candy during the home's Halloween time.  I dressed up as a cat, with store-bought ears, a tail, and long gloves with long plastic nails on them.  I drew on a kitty face.   I was handing out candy, and surprised by the number of scary and disturbing costumes at the event.  Then, a little girl in a witch costume came up to get candy, and, as I handed it to her, started to cry.  She was afraid of my gloves.  "Jason" just walked by all "bloody-handed," and she, in her witch (satanic worship) costume, was afraid of my plastic nails.  She wasn't upset by the portrayals of evil, or feeling awkward because my grandma was a double amputee, but panicked because my hands looked funny...  I took of my gloves, and then she calmed down and received candy, walked past a snarling werewolf with his vampire friend, and went down the hall.  I didn't understand it.  I don't understand it.  I was not offended by her reaction.  Admittedly, 2 inch nails are a little creepy.  But, apparently, she was ignorant of what was going on around her.  People (including herself) were wearing costumes that glorified horrible evil.  She couldn't see that though, for whatever reason.  That was the last time I handed out candy because I could see that evil so many people were both blindly and willingly participating in.

Halloween is a spiritual holiday.  To not admit so is to ignore the obvious.  But, as I said before, it is somewhat of a catch-22.  There are enjoyable and benign parts of this "holiday," when taken out of the darkness context.  It is fun to gather together, drink hot cider, do an unsanitary bobbing for apples, eat a chocolate bar, and admire the art of costume.  But is it possible to celebrate the holiday without actually celebrating the holiday and bringing honor to evil?  I don't know.  I don't think so?  Maybe creating an alternate celebration?  We've tried that, and still the witches and goblins attend.  Do we just shut our blinds, lock the doors, dim the lights, and hope no one knocks on our door?  I kind of like that option (it is what I do every night, after all), but is it at all effective?  Isn't that the equivalent of my disgusted "I don't like it" response?  Does it have any effect at all?  How do I engage the culture while keeping my conscience clean?  I don't know.  I really don't.  This year, the hubs wants to hand out candy.  I do not, but since it is supposed to be 40* and raining/snowing tomorrow, I figure anyone brave enough to come to our door deserves a treat with a Bible verse attached and a "God bless."  Am I happy with this solution, no.  But, it is what I can do for now.  

Have a thought life!

"Uh-oh...she has a Bible...what did Black Jack do now!?"

"Be still and know that I am God..."

Isaiah 46:10

I am rediscovering the importance of having a prayer life an a thought life.  I encourage you to do th same.  Go outside, find a spot alone, leave only the "incoming call" volume up on your phone and toss it out of arm's reach, and talk to God and yourself about what is going on in your life.  Figure out what is good, what is bad, what needs forgiveness, and act on those things.  Determine some goals and actually figure out what needs to occur to make them happen.  If we don't connect with God and ourselves, we become shells mindlessly existing rather than thriving.  It is a beautiful day!  Go find a shade tree, feel the breeze on your face, enjoy the hot and cool air blown over you, and think.

Can I Protect God?

I am currently reading Robby Dawkins's book Do What Jesus Did. I am just getting into chapter 3 when I realized a bad attitude within me.

This book is primarily about outreach so far (as I assume will be the rest of it).  Robby cites examples of God using him to witness to the seemingly untouchable people in society.  He tells stories of witnessing to people in ways that they "feel" God and have radical conversions.

I had often wondered about this practice of witnessing about Jesus in a way that would encourage God to produce a tangible presence to an unbeliever.  I have had many doubting questions about this practice.  How can God touch an unbeliever when their unrepentant sinfulness is keeping her from having a relationship with Him?  Why would an unbeliever even care if a God in whom he didn't believe made him feel warm and fuzzy?  Don't I need to protect God from sinful grossness?  Now I realize these were largely unbiblical objections and are easily refuted.

How can God touch someone who is unrepentant? Doesn't sin separate us from God?

I'm not exactly sure how holiness can touch unholiness.  However, the Bible is full of examples of this happening.  A standout one in Acts when Saul is traveling to Damascus and Jesus appears to him, the glory of God literally blinds him, and he remains that way until he spiritually sees.  God touched Paul in his unbelief. In fact, God touches all of us in our non-belief!  The thought of needing forgiveness and saving is not a human idea.  Sinful humans are selfish.  We have no reason to believe we are not always right.  God is the one who has planted the longing in our soul to be close to Him.  He is the one who meets us.  And, He is the one who saves us.  Our conscious readiness isn't much of a factor here.


Why would an unbeliever care if the true God touches them?

Thinking they wouldn't care limits God and actually denies His power and reign.  How can someone encounter the living God and not be affected?

Do I need to protect God from grossness and sinfulness?

No.  I cannot do that even though I want to because I am gross and sinful without even having a good reason of not knowing better!  We cannot protect God from others.  And I don't think He wants to be protected even if we could.

I am still uncomfortable with this practice.  In some ways, I feel like it sets people up to be disappointed.  God is great even when one doesn't feel Him miraculously healing her, or speaking audibly while she is in the shower, or moving her to tears with His awesomeness.  Does this encourage people to come to God just because of the sign and wonder?  Can one truly come to God without a basis of the theology or knowing what they are confessing by coming to Him?  I don't know yet.  I do know, though, that I was wrong with the above objections and wanted to share my growth in that regard and issue a challenge to myself and my readers.  Challenge your objections and thoughts against Scripture.  Ask God to reveal the truth.  Do not hold onto something just because you have it.

The Day of Pentecost

During a recent Bible class, the attendees were asked to write a first person account of Acts 2:1-38.  Here was my response.  As with all of my posts, feel free to share this so long as you credit and link back.  No taking credit for other people's creative muses...

That morning, we had come together to celebrate Shavu’ot, or Pentecost, the 50^th day of Passover.  I was reclined on some floor cushions deep in thought.  As the others discussed the teachings of our dearly departed Lord and Friend, Jesus, I pondered the topic which we had much discussed. “When would the Holy Spirit, this new friend, the Comforter and Strengthener come?” Before Jesus returned to heaven, He told us to stay here in Jerusalem until after He and the Father had sent this gift to us.  Then we would be filled with power.  We wondered what power, exactly, the Holy Spirit would give us.  Would we be strengthened to defeat the Roman Empire?  Or would the power be for the “not of this world” Kingdom Jesus so often referred to?  I wondered how we would know when this Holy Spirit arrived.  Would we be different?  How?  It was time to give the directions for our meal, and I began to rise.  But I sank back into my seated position.  What was this sound?  This rushing sound coming from the heavens and pouring throughout the house?  The other followers of Christ and I looked at each other in amazement.  It was like a mighty gale blew amongst us!  We could not feel a wind, though, but an excitement and sense of boldness stirred and grew inside us.  Peter jumped up and opened his mouth and spoke, “The Lord!” but suddenly fell silent and stared.  Something secured the gaze of us all.  An object, looking like a smaller version of the pillar of fire of old, had come into the room.  It divided into a number of smaller, equal-sized flames, and one of them came and alit upon each of us. 

Upon this moment, we felt like a part of us had changed. We leapt to our feet and began to speak to each other about this and many other wonderful works of God, but in different languages than the ones we knew.  Others around us stared, but we continued speaking, praising, worshiping.  It seems as though they did not hear the wind or see the tongues of fire, because they instead began accusing us of being drunk!  Peter spoke readily to them, and somehow all of them understood.  He recalled a prophesy of the prophet Joel and proved to them that it was being fulfilled right in front of their eyes!  He went on to boldly proclaim the truth about our Lord Jesus, and the crowds were convicted in their hearts.  They wanted to repent and take part of this fulfillment in Judaism.  They believed in this Jesus as the Son of God and the ultimate sacrifice for the remission of their sins.  They, too, would eventually receive and be filled by this Holy Spirit that now dwelt in us—in me! 

I began to recall the teachings of Jesus, and had new revelations and deeper understandings about many of them.  I praised the Lord for His gift.  I now had His voice working in me.  The Holy Spirit would speak through me to fulfill Christ’s great commission given to us.  I was now filled with an eternal boldness to defend and spread the Kingdom of Christ—an eternal Kingdom far more powerful and significant than any earthly realm, including the Romans.

Happy Pentecost!

Everything you do

I struggle with feelings of insignificance.  What do I do that is important or worthwhile?  Because I like to try and be both therapist and patient, I ask myself what is something that is purposeful.   I think maybe a job would be helpful.  Or maybe volunteering would help fill this seeming void.  Then I realize nothing I of which I think would make me feel purposeful.  While I would be busier, I certainly wouldn't feel any more significant simply because I was filing, maintaining databases, or directing calls.

Recently, I decided to volunteer at the Creation Museum for a day.  I was all excited!  My parents have volunteered there in the past, so I was anticipating maybe a day's work in the gardens, or perhaps being in the office and helping send out mailings to donors.  I anticipated something bright, pretty, and maybe a little fun.  Instead, I was assigned to work in the hot, lonely, windowless cash room where I sat, locked in, and rolled coins for 6 hours.  Thankfully they have a machine that counts out the coins, and all I had to do was dump the appropriate coins in and then make sure the funnel and wrapper were all lined up properly.  "Monotonous" best described that job.  As I sat listening to the endless rattle of change, I became determined to amuse myself.  I decided to sing inside my head since at least four cameras were trained on me, and I didn't want to pain security too much.  I ran through several different hymns and quickly turned to popular Christian music.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your view of things, I starting mentally playing Steven Curtis Chapman's song "Do Everything."  I repeated an endless loop of a portion of the chorus "it all matters just as long as you do everything you do to the glory of the one who made you, 'cause He made you to do everything you do the glory of the one..." for the next 4 hours.  I wish I at least remembered the rest of the song so I didn't have to repeat the same few words over and over again.  It helped, though.  I wasn't discouraged.  I knew that what I was doing was important simply because I was doing it to the best of my ability.  I still felt rather sad at the end of the day because I didn't feel like I'd accomplished anything as people were dropping off that day's worth of coins from their cash boxes.  It is a never ending job!  I am happy I was able to relieve the full-time lady from having to do that for a day, though, so she could focus on her other duties.

In daily life, I have found this song and, more importantly, the Scripture verses, to be helpful.  There's not much glory to folding laundry.  There's even less in cleaning the bathroom.  Practically, yes, these things are wonderful, but when people ask, "So, what did you do today?" and the answer is, "Well...I finally found and removed the source of that nasty mystery smell in the refrigerator..." you don't feel like the most exciting or relevant person.  But, the point is, we all are appointed for or do different tasks.  They might seem inglorious from our perspectives, but everything we do brings glory to God.  Essentially the stuff we do here on earth is done for Him.  We are all caretakers in some way or another, and our work glorifies Him.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31


And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Colossians 3:17

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Colossians 3:23-24

Distraction

There once was a time I thought going to Sunday School and church Sunday mornings was all the training, growing, and informing I needed as a Christian.  Then about eight years or so ago I realized that, no, I should have a personal, private relationship with Christ, after all, He is my personal savior and friend.  Since then I have attempted to establish a structured, nearly daily Bible/prayer time.  My more successful spurts have ranged anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.  However, I find myself fading away from these times of study, contemplation, and simply resting in the Lord's presence until weeks (or months) have passed since I have opened my Bible for any reason other than Sunday morning Bible class or had anything much of a prayer life.  When I realize this, I am then overwhelmed with a hunger and urge to immerse myself in Scripture.  I set out with the best intentions.  I sit down with my huge NKJV Thompson Chain-Reference Study Bible, take a deep breath, look down at the cover of the tome in my lap, and am stumped.  Now what?  There are a lot of things I want to know, but where do I start?  What is right for today?  Should I read in the Old Testament or New?  A reading from the Gospels?  Or should I read something historical?  Or from a book by one of the prophets?  Or should I go to the epistles?  Maybe I should get a Bible study program so I know what to follow.  Bible in a year?  No, I've tried that.  Character study?  Maybe.  Beth Moore?  I heard her David one is really good.  Psalm and Proverb of the day?  There are more books in the Bible, though.  Hmm...I guess I'll just open to a random page and start halfheartedly reading... (which can actually be a really good strategy, I've discovered.  Well, not the halfhearted part, of course).

My wanting a program to follow in almost all areas of my life is problematic.  I want to be able to measure my "progress."  Did I read enough today?  Do I comprehend or at least remember something from what I read?  Am I dedicated enough?  I know no program can measure my spiritual growth.  I know it doesn't matter if I read Psalm 21 on the 25th (Wait! If I had been following that program, I could have been blessed by this four days sooner!).  Also, a program makes it far easier for me to not have to do the dreaded thing of making a decision about what to read.  Someone else has already decided for you!  Because I know these things about myself, I've decided not to follow a program at this time. There are some I am really interested in doing at some point, but I need to take charge of my own growth for a little while.  The program I am going to follow is to read about something on my heart. It sounds simple enough.  I think I can master that.  It is not as though I am going to run out of thoughts!  But, if I do, I know I can turn to a Psalm, a Proverb, or an account about Jesus and go from there.  

I pray to be spiritually full, but always hungry for more.

New blog

Hello, gentle reader!

I have sorted out some confusion in my mind in regards to how my blog should look.  In doing so, I have branched off and, yes, have created a food blog.  I'm hoping this will open up my mind to being able to maintain both these blogs in their purest form with one featuring my latest creations and the other detailing different discoveries I have made that apply outside the kitchen.

Thank you for your readership!  I hope you enjoy Homemade by Jeannie.

A "funner" time

Friday was a lovely summer day.  The sun was shining, the temperature was not too sweltering, and a gentle breeze stirred the air—a lovely day for padding barefoot through my crispy lawn to greet Chef Kellie at her car.  It had finally arrived.  July 15^th was sushi day!

Chef Kellie and Chef Jeannie

We embraced and exchanged pleasantries (Kellie: “Yay!  A real person!”).  And, after putting the Purely Decadent Cookie Dough Ice Cream she had brought into the freezer, we jumped right into sushi preparations.

Sous Chef Kellie
working magic

I had already made the brown sushi rice since it has a long cooking time and because I wanted to make sure it got cooled down before we started using it, so we began with rinsing the white rice.  The rinsing process is tedious.  The more starch rinsed off, the less clumpy the rice.  One is supposed to rinse the rice until the water is clear.  I have never made it that far.  After eight or nine rinses, I figure it is good enough.   I soon hope to acquire a mesh strainer so I can rinse the rice that way rather than in the measuring cup like I have been.  While I was engaged in this process, Sous Chef Kellie deftly chopped a delicious apple into matchsticks and removed the spine from some romaine heart leaves.

"This is a knife!"

Once I got the rice on the stove,  I had Chef Kellie move to her new work station where she formed mango sticks (after intimidating one of the world's most succulent mangoes into submission), buttery avocado strips, and luscious strawberry segments.  I was concerned we weren't going to have any fillers left for our sushi because of how perfectly yummy our ingredients were!  As she worked on those, I peeled and cut a cucumber, a couple carrots, and a small bunch of green onions.   Our green onions were thin enough that all I had to do was cut some of them in half, others just needed one of the green straws peeled off.

We ended up having a lovely tray of sushi ingredients about the same time our white rice was done cooking and resting uncovered on the stove for 15 minutes.  It was time to make it "sticky."  I used the recipe of 1Tbsp Rice Vinegar, 1 Tbsp Honey, and 1 1/2 Tsp kosher salt per 1 cup of prepared rice.  Some people heat it up on the stove top, but I prefer to warm my vinegar mixture in the microwave.  Simply put the rice vinegar, honey, and salt in a microwave-safe bowl.  Stir it with a fork to combine it a little bit.  Then, microwave for 30 seconds, stir to combine as much as possible, and then microwave for 15 seconds if necessary.  At this point, you should be able to combine everything.  Put the cooked rice in a large bowl so you can spread it out to cool faster, pour the vinegar mixture over the top, and use some flat implement to fold it into the rice (I used a rubber spatula/scraper thing).

Smoothing out the rice

During our prep process, I came across a few basic tips to share.

1.)  Use a vegetable peeler to get the skin off a mango, Then proceed to cut down one side of the stone and then the other.  I know many people suggest leaving the skin on while you pit it and then wedging the pieces out of the mango skin, but I find this process to be easier, albeit a bit sticky.

2.) The easiest way I find to get a pit out of an avocado is to make sure you have a sharp knife of a size you are comfortable using.  I like a mid-sized santuko knife.  Cut it down the middle, twist it, then take the side with the pit in it and with a confident whack, hit the center of the pit with the knife.  Twist, and remove.  Now...wear an oven mitt or cover your hand with a kitchen towel before doing this so as to protect your hand from a glancing blow.  Trust me.  Sticking a knife in your palm is not what you want to do.  Also, if you cut the avocado in the skin, you don't get gooey stuff everywhere.  Bonus tip: if you only need half an avocado, leave the pit in the avocado--it won't oxidize! 

3.)  Epic sushi discovery!  I have the hardest time getting my carrot match sticks thin enough.  So, I made use of the peeler and made my initial cuts that way!

Peel long-ways, then cut thin slices long-ways. I felt so smart!

Ta-da!

We moved to the table, and I proceeded with sushi making lessons.  Our first roll was a sweet one because we were compelled to have dessert first.  It was a brown rice roll with strawberry, mango, apple, and cucumber.  We drizzled a bit of honey on top and a bit of my soy sauce mayonnaise mixture.  It was good, but the apple over-powered the roll.  It was a good starter, though.  

Chef Kellie adding soy mayo to her first roll.

Then Chef Kellie and I began to craft our concoctions.  

Some of our rolls were better than others, but our two favorites were a sweet roll with white rice, green onion, cucumber, mango, strawberry, apple, and avocado with honey and cinnamon, and a brown and white rice roll containing cucumber, avocado, apple, green onion, and the soy mayonnaise mixture.

A happy roll 

When we began cutting up our sushi, my wonderful boyfriend arrived with flowers for me (he's so good to me)!  As we progressed through the slicing of our sushi roll pyramid, we enjoyed seeing how the insides our rolls looked.  Some were vibrantly colored, others had fun patterns.  The second to the last roll we cut up looked like a smiley face!  As I finished cutting the last roll, Kellie and I were overjoyed to discover our perfectionist nature could be satisfied. Our finished slices of sushi filled the tray exactly!  Then the feasting began.  Between all of us, we consumed half the sushi we'd prepared before eating the yummy ice cream and cookies Kellie provided.

Kellie modeling the sushi

I had a lovely time being able to relax and be creative.  Kellie made it even better by encouraging unconventional combinations and being a joy to be around.  Below are a few more pictures from the evening. 

My first roll (apple, mango, strawberry, cucumber)

The lovely Kellie. 

Kellie's a gifted photography as well!

She saw the light on the timer.  :).

Aww!  He likes me!  

I do not have to do it alone...

What a crazy few weeks!  Two weeks ago, my dad had to have an emergency appendectomy, both of my aunts were out of town, so my mom and I were responsible for helping care for my grandma.  I have learned a lot during this time, mostly life lessons, and but a few funny things as well.

 Just because I can do it all by myself, doesn't mean I should.  Also, delegation is very different from sitting back and watching people do my work for me.

We'd planned a week ahead to have an ice cream social at my house to celebrate my good friend Charlotte.  It worked out that the party fell the day after Dad's surgery.  Because I had been at the ER and with my grandma Friday, I wasn't able to get as much of the cleaning done like I had wished.  But, because I was determined to do so, I spent several hours to get the house in order.  During this time, I had two offers for assistance.  I did not accept these offers, though, because I was determined to provide a party for everyone to enjoy. Why should my guests have to work?  So, I was rather tired by the time the party started and groaned audibly when I saw one of the guests brought Risk.  Fortunately, my sarcastic sense of humor kicked in to save my guests from embarrassment.
Application: When people offer help and the task at hand is easily divided, take them up on it.  If they didn't actually want their offer of help accepted, they won't offer next time!

The Holy Spirit is a very good cook!

When cooking, I frequently have people telling me to follow my instincts.  In general, this is good advice.  I can call on past experiences, knowledge about good flavor combinations, etc. to increase and improve my current dish's flavor profile.   Throughout my past weeks (were they really only two?) of cooking, I kept relying on a little voice that wasn't "me."  I'd want to add something more to a dish because it was seemingly flat, but I would not because that authoritative voice told me to hold back.  This meal would go over well, especially for the convalescing patient.  But, He advises on more than how to make good hospital food.  Yes, He even guides the making of smoothies and helps improve existing "go-to"/"signature" dishes.  My stove-top (rather than oven-baked) curry chicken, for instance, was the best I've ever made.  My instincts told me to put in a can of diced tomatoes and increase the chicken broth, but the voice said to just stick with coconut milk throughout the cooking process.  What an enjoyable cooking experience!  I partnered with God to make supper!  What a simple yet profound time.

When unsettled feelings and anxiousness take over, turn on some Third Day (or whatever is appropriate), grab a tissue if desired, and plop down supine.

  

"Your Love, Oh Lord," "King of Glory," and "Agnus Dei/Worthy" provided me with a good refocus time and got me through a day where I was convinced I was going to explode (which would have been messy and just another thing I'd have had to deal with...).  This was the most important lesson I (re)learned.  I'm not exactly sure it was, but I think it was Martin Luther, who would spend hours in prayer daily.  The more tasks he had to complete in the day, the more time he spent in prayer.  When I first heard this several years ago, my practical mind thought it strange.  Now I understand.  The more hectic a day will be, the more overwhelming a task seems, the more I need to make sure I spend time focused solely on God so I can go through my day partnered with Him and His peace.  I feel called to be a beacon of peace and tranquility.  I don't know how well I succeed at that normally.  However, I know I certainly, utterly fail when I figuratively, and somewhat literally, plow over people with an attitude of "don't even talk to me!  I have to get this, this, and this--oh, and don't forget this--done!"  

 "Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep."

 Psalm 36:5-6a