A Story About Family Reconciliation

I’m always saddened when I hear of a broken relationship – the heartache and pain on both sides of the fence. Sometimes it seems impossible to forgive, and sometimes the parties hardly know how they got there, but pride keeps them there. I know … it could easily be me caught up in this kind of a situation.
Recently, I heard a new approach to the story of Joseph. Our pastor had us focus on one of Joseph’s older brothers, namely Judah.

We all know the story of Joseph. (Genesis 37- 47) His father,Jacob, had 12 sons, but Joseph and Benjamin, the youngest, were his favorites. In fact, the older brothers got so irritated by their father’s show of special attention to Joseph, that one day the brothers, being egged on by Judah, played more than a mean trick on him and sold him into slavery to some Ishmaelite Merchants on their way to Egypt. Joseph ended up being bought by Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials.

When Potiphar noticed that the Lord blessed Joseph with success in all he did, he made him one of his attendants. He put Joseph in charge of everything he owned. In the course of time, Joseph was wrongfully accused and put in jail. But even there, he found favor in the eyes of the warden and made an impact on other prisoners, eventually gaining back a place of huge responsibility under Pharaoh. In fact, Joseph implemented a plan on how to get Egypt through a famine.

The famine hit the land of Canaan, where Joseph’s family was living. His father sent the brothers to Egypt to get grain, but he kept Benjamin with him. When the brothers appeared before Joseph, they did not recognize him, but Joseph did. Wanting to test them, he asked them about their family and then kept one brother with him, telling them to bring Benjamin in order to prove they were not actually spies. Then he would return their brother to them.

As reluctant as the father was to let Benjamin go, the time came when they needed food again, and Judah spoke up, “I myself will guarantee his safety… If I do not bring him back … I will bear the blame before you all my life.”

For the second time Joseph gave them grain, but to test them again, he put his silver cup in the mouth of Benjamin’s sack. When they were on their way, he sent his steward after them accusing them of stealing his cup. Benjamin obviously looked like the guilty one, but the brothers accompanied him and Judah stood up for him. With great emotional fervor he appealed to Joseph to let Benjamin return to his father and he himself would stay to remain a servant.
Several points that pastor Jeff brought out in this story:

1. Be careful not to judge the destination of one still on a journey (in this case Judah – as a young man)
2. Reconciliation requires taking your eyes off yourself. Even though Judah could have re-acted as the victim (an unloved son), he thought instead of what would happen to his father should he loose Benjamin
3. Reconciliation is possible when I admit that I may be the victimizer, rather than the victim.
4. Grace is amazing – Joseph could not hold their sin against them any longer and his family ended up living as kings in Egypt.
   

Illustrations used with permission =)

Stuffing Flower Pots and Baskets

I don’t know exactly when this happened, but I have become a little bit of a gardener … at least when it comes to doing flower pots. Last week I drove out to the nursery and got some bedding plants and a few trays full of basket stuffers for whenever the time and a nice day would come around. While there, I ran into a friend and told her how I’ve always been attracted to the violets, pinks and mauves but, since we repainted our house, those colors just don’t seem to go. She said, “Oh, what you need to do is, think Mexican.” Wouldn’t you know it, that thought helped me and off I went to choose bright reds, yellows and even orange.
Saturday was the day. My old pots and baskets were all lined up along the patio. I dug around the dirt in each of them, removing roots and old dirt from some of the tops and adding fresh potting soil. Then I took a pail with soapy water and scrubbed the outside of the pots to clean off last year’s stains, and snails that may have attached themselves over the winter.

Then the fun part began. I divided the plants amongst the pots, reading labels as to which ones like the shade and which ones like more sun.

Next, starting with the centre, I dug up in the loose soil and placed each little plant, pushing the soil hard against it to tuck it in well.

For my pots that get the morning sun and mostly shade, I planted begonias, fuchsias, torenias, lobelia and a white geranium in the middle. I know geraniums like more sun, but I like the way they fill the center.

My window boxes, facing the afternoon sun, got some fancy petunias and alyssum.

The hanging baskets by our back patio also got petunias.

The various pots on the patio were filled with dwarf daisies, a type of chrysanthemum,

a splash of trailing verbena,

yellow daisies with brown centers,

and a Figaro mix of dwarf dahlias.

A new plant I look forward to watching this summer is a climbing mandevilla.
It came with a small wire trellis, but when I re-potted it, I also stuck in an old wooden one, having big hopes for growth.

Every pot got a good watering with fertilizer and the job was done. Now I just need some patience. Which reminds me . . . I still plan to get some impatiens for some of my shaded areas.

Business Cards

Last week, one day, a few of us shared a vanilla late moment to celebrate 1 million visits to the mennonitegirlscancook site. Who would have thought?
As we chatted and dreamed, Lovella pulled out some sample cards out of her bag and I got my very first business cards to put in my purse!

Are they not the prettiest cards to look at? I mean, you'd want them in your purse just for comfort.

Throughout our marriage my H has used personal business cards as a way of advertising or just giving out information. I guess now he would say, “If I'd know you wanted business cards I would have had some printed for you.” But I know they would not have had Zwieback and jam and cheese on them!

Not sure where and when I will use these yet, but somehow it gives me a thrill to have my very own cards. You see, to me these cards represent more than just recipes. They remind me of a group of friends whom I have so come to appreciate! Nearly every day we check in, see whose recipe is up and via shared email and blog chat about our life or pre-post recipes. We laugh, cry and pray for each other as needs come up and cheer each other on as moms and grandmas.

But to those who might get a card from me, it’s just a card that tells you where you will find our recipes. And that’s my story behind our business cards.

A Proverbs 31 Mom

My mother is a woman of noble character. The German translation of that word makes you visualize a person with a big heart. She is probably the most unselfish person I have known and, adding to that, she is trustworthy, honest and faithful.

Her faithfulness to my Dad was shown by doing him good all the days of his life. My father was the decision maker in their relationship in a way that would make women today rebel, but she trusted him and supported him, through the good and the bad. At the end of his life, my Dad lived with the physical and emotional results of strokes for fifteen years, yet she faithfully thought about his needs. She was someone he could depend on to the end.

She has worked with eager hands, being a diligent and conscientious worker. She was never afraid of physical work, such as gardening or scrubbing a place to keep it clean and comfortable. Quite a number of my growing up years, she had a job on the side, but I never noticed that she used that as an excuse to go out or tell us kids we were on our own. She was very careful about how she spent money and never thought of a certain amount as being hers, to treat herself with.

Thinking back now, I realize that she must have gotten up early and stayed up late to make sure that our lunches got packed, homemade meals were ready and our clothes were washed, ironed and put back in our closets. She had to plan ahead and use her time wisely. She provided food not only for us, but also was always ready to invite someone who needed a bowl of soup.

When we were young, she sewed our clothing and our bedding, making sure we were clothed properly and warm. In her spare time, when I was older, I saw how she regularly collected used clothing and packed it up to send to the poor in Brazil.

When I reflect on all that she has come through, I must say that she is clothed with strength and dignity. She speaks with wisdom, and yet, when she doesn’t know the answer, I know that she continually commits all of her cares to her heavenly Father who sees and hears her cries.

We have been blessed with a mother who stands with us and also gets on her knees on our behalf. There are women who are more concerned about charm and beauty, which is fleeting, but she is to be praised for fearing the Lord.

Her children arise and call her blessed.

...

I can See Clearly Now

I had to get glasses at age twelve. Not a good age. In fact as a young teen, feeling rather self-conscious about my glasses, I would opt for not wearing them, to the point of making a fool out of myself. Those were the days. Lucky for me, my dad had a soft heart when it came to these kind of things, having lost his eye in an accident as a young boy. Maybe it was that, maybe it was just that he liked new technology. He bought me contact lenses and I've been wearing contacts ever since, with no problems.


That is until, a few years ago when, my age started doing some funny things with my eyes. My optometrist suggested something I did not want to hear - reading glasses.

Well, the good thing is that I had done my homework and found out that some people wear lenses in such a way that they can use one for distance and one for reading. I questioned her about this and she replied that it works for some people.

In this case a person would use their dominant eye for distance with a contact lens at optimum prescription. The other eye is used for reading with a prescription a little lower than optimum, just right for close up reading. The end result is a small compromise in distance vision, but not really not that noticeable. And no - you don't have to close one eye to focus either way.

We tested to see which is my dominant eye. You can do a quick test too. In fact, it might be good to know this for any kind of target practice.

1. Make a 1 1/2 inch circle or window with both of your hands by overlapping your thumbs and the top half of your fingers.
2. Extend your arms and look toward a target about 20 feet away.
3. Keeping both eyes open, move your hands back to your face, still looking at the target through your hands and keeping the target in view. Whichever eye your hands gravitate toward is your dominant eye.
4. Double check by extending your arms with hands forming a window to look through, and closing your non-dominant eye. The target should remain centered in the opening.

So, for now, no worries about suddenly needing glasses to read a menu and having to remember which purse I left my reading glasses in. I'm quite happy with my contacts and the freedom I can still enjoy this way.

Home

Ten reasons I’m glad to be Home:

1. A King size bed is nice for vacations, but I’m glad I don’t have to make one up every day.
2. Our ensuite is not big, but everything has it’s place and I don’t have to fish things out of bags.
3. I prefer having a smaller closet that is full of clothes, to a walk-in closet with just a suitcase full.
4. I love that I can exercise and sit on the carpet, knowing it’s clean.
5. I love that my mom lives close and feels free to leave soup, pie, milk, Havarti cheese and veggies to welcome us home, not to mention that most of our extended family is here.
6. Life is empty without friends and this is where our friends are, ever ready to pick up where we left off and do something.
7. Home is about being close to a body of believers that we fellowship with and grow with together. It’s not quite the same being a stranger somewhere on vacation.
8. The rooms in the house have character, holding treasured memories. Books, photo albums, knick knacks tell stories. My projects are close at hand.
9. My kitchen – oh, can I say I love my kitchen? A kitchen where I can find the ingredients to bake to my heart's delight . . . and share the joy with others.
10. My walking friend is waiting for me

It’s been raining, there are piles of laundry to be done and I have a dentist appointment this morning . . . but it’s good to be home!