Guess Who's One?

Jade Mikah, 

the baby face we can't get enough of.

We remember those first glimpses a year ago 

as they came in on the phone.

The wait to go see you that seemed too long

and the joy of seeing you kissed and adored by your sisters.

Jade, you were seven months old when you moved here

and really had no way of knowing why we were all so happy!

We are loving the anytime surprises at the door,

the recognition in your eyes,

the grins, the giggles

and the excitement when you realize you're the star of the show.

We love your contentment and the expression in your eyes -

familiar yet new in innocence and beauty,

You are our baby of ten

loved by all

a precious gem we hold dear!

Happy first Birthday, Jade!
We look forward to so much more to come!

Love, Papa and Mimi

A Sentimental Memory

 Lately, several incidents have made me think back to my Grandmother, the one I called Omi. I have become so much more aware of what age she was when I spent most of my time with her. She was as old young as I am now! It really puts some perspective on how my grandchildren may view me now and how influential the memories of a grandmother can be.

One of the things I loved doing when she lived with us, was to go to her room to check out her little assortment of special cards she kept, especially one she had given to her mom when she was little. It was a Victorian style card of a child flying on a bird, with a letter in hand. Of course, what intrigued me about this card was a small ribbon attached, that you could pull to make the bird fly.

As she showed me how the card worked, she taught me the German song, 

Kommt ein Vogel geflogen

Setzt sich nieder auf mein Fuss

Hat ein Brieflein in dem Schnabel

Von der Mutter einen Gruss

Lieber Vogel, fliege weiter

Nimm ein' Gruss mit und ein' Kuss

Denn ich kann dich nicht begleiten,

Weil ich hier bleiben muss.

Some of the melancholy sadness is lost in translation, 

but it tells about a bird landing on her foot

with a letter and a greeting from mother in its beak.

The second stanza is her response

asking the dear little bird to fly back

with a greeting and a kiss

because she has to stay where she is.

In this room I also learned how true this song was for her

as she was separated from her dear mom for 17 years.

Right after her marriage, her whole family

escaped from Russia, while she and her husband stayed behind

with, most often, no means to communicate.

When she escaped all those years later,

she could not really take anything with her,

but this little card was tucked into her few belongings.

It went with her from Russia, to Germany, 

to Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and to Canada.

It's now in my possession and I

almost wished she could have taken it along to heaven.

What would it have mattered?

With a daughter living across the ocean now,

this song has come to have meaning between us as well.

A bird is often a symbol we use on a card or parcel,

reminding us of Omi's song. 

Movie Night

For the start of our Care Group meeting in this new year we decided to begin with a movie that came out in theaters last summer. It is an evangelical based story produced by Alec and Stephen Kendrick.
Depending on where viewers are in the scale of belief in prayer, the movie got varied reviews, to the extent of being laughable. Even so, we decided to let it challenge us. It was very well done for this kind of drama.

In the opening moments of War Room, the aged widow Clara narrates how we fight for power, riches, rights and freedom. She commiserates on how there is always something to fight about, but that few of us know how to fight the right way - fighting each other, rather than our common spiritual enemy who comes to "steal, kill and destroy." In this movie, we find out what Clara's battle strategy really is.

Elizabeth Jordan is a successful career woman, a wife and mother, who doesn't know anything about such secret spiritual places. As a real estate agent hired by Miss Clara to sell her home, she finds out about the prayer closet in Miss Clara's home and they begin a friendship in which the hidden issues of her not-so-successful life and marriage come out. The persistent Miss Clara sets out to teach Elizabeth how to fight for her marriage the right way. 
I would recommend this movie to anyone wanting to learn more about how to claim God's Word and use it to pray for loved ones or anyone they sense a battle with. One can't help but come away with some powerful truths about showing grace and using redemptive actions and words in any battle we may face.

My Oma's Blaettertorte

It all began some time ago with questioning my mom about a cake she used to make when I was young. It's not like she never made that kind of cake again; she just found a version she liked better and never went back to the original. Somehow I had a memory of the earlier version and wanted to give it a try. She said she could not find it until, one day last summer, she came up with it, written out on nice paper just for me!

It turned out, it was a recipe from her mom, making it even more special! One day I pulled the recipe from between my cookbook pages and showed it to Kari, excited to try it out. I did, but was disappointed. It doesn't tell you the amount of flour, nor how many layers to roll out or how long to bake them, but my biggest breakthrough was when my mom remembered that it had to be filled with hot pudding, not cold, like I had used. I decided I'd try it again in the new year.

I never knew what kind of inspiration I would get for this at Christmas, when I opened my gift and there was my mom's handwritten recipe burned into a cutting board! In secret, Kari had taken note of where that piece of paper went and sent Ben to our house when we were not home.

So here I was, this past week . . .

trying again with renewed zeal to get it right.

I mixed in flour until it felt just barely right for rolling out.

Shaping it into a log, I cut eight slices to roll out.

I rolled each circle up onto the rolling pin

and unrolled it onto a baking sheet.

Then I used a bowl to cut around it.

I found it kept it's shape best this way.

I baked them for about 10 minutes at 400 F and let them cool before stacking them

with hot vanilla custard.

Maybe I can see why the recipe changed over the years,

but there is something sweet about this story.

I had mom and Abe over for dessert and she said several times,

"this reminds me of my mom."

It seemed like it surprised her how this could be.

And the good thing is

this recipe will not be so easily lost again.

January Joy

 One more time I took a picture of the month

that went by so quickly . . .

 I put it away, replacing it with hope for another season.

I spent some time arranging the mantle in the living room.

And continued on the way we all do . . .

switching things up.

 In the kitchen I'm enjoying fresh cut flowers from friends.

They've  brightened my most loved space and 

I think they actually helped make it easier to put away the greenery and candles.

 In the kitchen also, I exchanged the manger scene in the cubby shelf  

with a plate on a stand and some chicks that I love moving from place to place.

And the cabinet-hung plate stand lost it's Christmas plate 

and has a brand new cutting board sitting in it.

A gift that has had me trying out an old recipe

with a few missing steps and vague instructions,

written in part English, part German.

I'm loving the challenge of this one and

will keep you in the loop.

Purpose for a New Year

There is something about turning the calendar to a whole new year

that gives us reason to contemplate what lies ahead 

and how we can make the days of the year count.

I think it is all of our desire to live in such a way

so as not to look back at the end and feel like we wasted our time.

But how do we do this?
What would my life look like if I daily sought
to find even one small purpose?
Maybe that is the beginning -
to ask for even just the will to act on that.

Psalm 138:8 says,

The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me.

Reading those words spurred me on to more

about God's purpose 

and I read in Proverbs 19:21

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,

but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Rather than these verses making me feel uncomfortable

I took them as encouragement to know that

God, who has shown His love for me,

is ultimately the one who has a plan for my good.

Knowing this, I want to look for 

His specific purpose for me, be it big or small.
Sometimes it will be easy;
sometimes it will seem impossible.
But I will trust that His purpose is
to work all things out for good.

For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Philippians 2:13