50th Birthday Celebration Weekend

We had a fun time celebrating my birthday all weekend!  Celebrating my 50th in the 50th state was just the ticket! I started it with an early morning run at Ala Moana Park on Friday morning...

We were able to get a rental car from Enterprise for a weekend special of $9.99 a day!  Normally a rental car in Waikiki can be $60 or more for a single day.  Birthday blessings!!  The car had to be picked up on Friday and returned on Monday.  This worked out perfectly for us.  Les' boss loaned us her parking pass for the weekend.

Cruise ship coming in

Since I had a car, I got up early Saturday morning and ran Tantalus mountain.  10 miles with wind and lots of rain.  It sprinkled off and on, with a downpour during mile four and again during mile nine.  I just kept smiling and enjoying the view!

No rain, no rainbow!!

Yesterday we headed to the North Shore.  Matsumoto's Shave Ice with creamsicle flavor.  Les had declared that from now until August 19th, everything will be 50-50 since we are both 50!

We finally got to stop at Tropical Farms, a macadamia nut farm.  We've been by it numerous times but it's been closed.  Pineapple snow?  We were offered a sample and swooned over the flavor!  White chocolate flavored with pineapple covering macadamia nuts!  Mmm, mmm!

Last night at New Life Pentecostal was the last service (for now) for the Acasio family.  They are transferring to Germany this week.  They have been part of NLP for many, many years and will be missed!

So how do I feel about turning 50?  Blessed beyond measure!  I serve an amazing God, I am married to the greatest man on earth, I have wonderful family and friends, I'm healthy and still in my right mind (most of the time!)  Blessed beyond measure indeed!

50-50

Blog Update

A couple of blog issues that I want to clear up:

If you subscribe via email, you may be not getting the posts anymore.  Yahoo and Hotmail have both blocked emails coming on "behalf of" Yahoo.  I guess this is because of viruses.  At this time Google, Charter and Juno are still accepting them.  It took me a while to realize this because the Delivery Status Notification message was going directly to my spam folder.

Mary asked the other day if I am going to continue keeping my blog private.  I've given this a lot of thought and the short answer is Yes.  I'm posting this from a hotel room on Oahu, which means our house is sitting empty.  We have an alarm company monitoring the house, but after two break-ins in recent years I feel it is best to keep my blog from unknown prying eyes.  Maybe I'm a little paranoid, but better safe than sorry.  And it's been really nice not getting rude anonymous comments!

Thanks for sticking with me!

Happy Birthday, Kim!

Happy birthday to You!

 

Happy birthday to You!

 

Happy birthday Dear Sister!

Happy birthday to You!

Love you dearly, my sis.  Hope your day is great!!

Aloha!

We are back on Oahu for a few days.  Yes, we still live in California, but since Les' employer is here he needs to come back a few times a year.  I was able to fly for free thanks to all the miles we earned last year.

So far we've eaten more than we should...

Strawberry shortcake at Bubba Gump's

Haupia (warm coconut sauce) Sundae at Angelo Pietro

I've been running and Les has been riding his bike...

Koko Head as seen from Diamond Head

Yesterday, I started out with an early morning run at Ala Moana Park.  Lots of people setting up for picnics at 6:00 a.m. and a sunrise service!

It is hard to tell, but there was a very large crowd

Last night at New Life Pentecostal there were many new faces.  181 in attendance broke the all time record.  There were many souls in the altar and three were baptized!

Unworthy

I saw this quote today:

We are so unworthy of the price that was paid.  For there is none righteous, no not one.  But Jesus paid it all.  Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday tomorrow.  Go to iTunes and download this song by Keith Green (the 2nd Chapter of Acts version is a favorite in our home!)  Crank it up loud and rejoice!

Easter Song

Hear the bells ringing
They're singing that you can be born again
Hear the bells ringing
They're singing Christ is risen from the dead

The angel up on the tombstone
Said He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell His disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah!!

Friday Foodie Week

Today's recipe is just a little revision on one I have made before.  Catalina Chicken is a simple three ingredient dish.  I simplified it even more by putting everything in the crock-pot.  One day last week Les had plans for early evening so I knew we wouldn't be eating together.  This worked out just right!

Catalina Chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup fat free dressing
8 oz. can crushed pineapple

1. Cut chicken breasts in half. Flatten chicken to uniform thickness.
2. Pour dressing in crock-pot
3. Add chicken and coat on both sides with dressing.
4. Top with pineapple.
5. Cook on low 5-6 hours.

The chicken was very tender and juicy this way.

Nutritional info: 142 calories / 12 g protein / 11 g carbs / 1.5 g fat / 0 g fiber / 3 WW PointsPlus. Serves 4

Think About It!

I saw both of these quotes the other day and had to share:

I could say a lot about each of them, but since it's "Foodie" week, I'll let you chew on it yourself.

Friday Foodie Week

The Pioneer Woman posted this recipe for Tortellini Primavera a few weeks ago and it sounded so good.   I'm not a fan of cauliflower, so I substituted red and green bell peppers.  This made great leftovers, the vegetables didn't get soggy even after a few days.  I forgot to take a picture, but you can see step by step photos here.

Tortellini Primavera

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 3 whole Carrots, Peeled And Diced
• 1 cup Cauliflower, Broken Into Small Pieces
• 1/4 cup White Wine
• 1/4 cup Chicken Broth
• 1/3 cup Heavy Cream
• 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 8 whole Basil Leaves, Chopped (or Chiffonade)
• 3/4 cups Cooked Ham, Diced
• 1 cup Frozen Peas
• Extra Parmesan, For Serving
• Extra Basil, For Serving
• 1 pound Cheese Or Spinach Tortellini

Preparation Instructions

Cook tortellini a couple of minutes less than package directions call for. Drain and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the onions and garlic and stir to cook for 1 minute. Add the carrots and cauliflower, stir, and cook 1 minute.
Splash in wine and broth, then cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the liquid reduces a bit. Stir in cream and Parmesan and stir.
When the mixture is hot, stir in peas, ham, salt, and pepper. Allow them to heat up in the sauce.
When the sauce is hot, stir in the tortellini. Check for seasonings, add more if needed, and serve with extra Parmesan and basil.

A couple of other changes I made - I didn't have white wine or even white grape juice on hand, so I just used a little more chicken broth.  I also didn't use heavy cream, just almond milk.  This did make the sauce a little thinner than I wanted.  I probably could have added some flour to thicken it, but didn't think of that while I was cooking.  It still tasted great, Les really enjoyed it!  Of course I should have cut the recipe in half because our leftovers lasted a LONG time!  I think we got 8-10 servings out of this one, although the recipe said six servings!

Friday Foodie Week

Back in February I posted a recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala.  My Indian food adventure continued with Aloo Mutter.  This is a traditional vegetable dish with potatoes and peas.  {Can I just say that for the first time in my life I have been buying frozen vegetables instead of canned and they are SO much better!  I can't stand canned peas, but the frozen are so good, not mushy at all like canned peas.}

Aloo Mutter

Before adding the peas

Ingredients:
2 jars Archer Farms Yellow Curry Simmer Sauce 11.8 fl. oz.
1 cup frozen peas
4 potatoes, peeled, chopped and cooked

1.  I cooked my potatoes a little differently this time.  I usually peel, then chop and cook.  This time I cut them in quarters and boiled them until tender.  I let them cool, then the peels practically fell off and I was able to easily cut them into smaller pieces.  (It only took me 50 years to figure this out!)
2.  Pour sauce in crock-pot, add about 1/3 jar of water to each jar, shake well and add.
3.  Add potatoes.  Cook on low for several hours.  The sauce will seem too thin, but the potatoes will absorb much of the liquid and by the time it's ready it will be nice and thick.
4.  Add peas about one hour before serving. Serve over basmati rice.

This was fabulous!  I made way too much, but we really enjoyed it!  I had two crock-pots going that day - one with Aloo Mutter and one with Chicken Tikka Masala.

Friday Foodie Week

I have been slacking on posting new recipes lately.  I have now collected four so I decided this would be Friday Foodie Week.  We'd all like a few more Fridays in our week, wouldn't we??

Let's start with desert, shall we?  I made this dish almost two months ago while we were in revival.  I wanted a nice desert for Pastor and Sister White and our evangelist.  Pastor White is so careful with his eating that I knew I needed to work hard to find something he could enjoy.  I found this wonderful recipe for baked pears on Health.com and knew it was the winner!

Baked Pears

• 2 large Bosc pears
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries or dried mixed fruit (such as Sun-Maid Fruit Bits)
• 1/4 cup low-fat granola
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1/2 cup vanilla low-fat frozen yogurt, divided into 4 small scoops

Preparation

1. Peel pears; cut in half lengthwise. Use a melon baller or grapefruit spoon to remove core and seeds, creating a hollow.

2. Place pear halves, with cut sides up, in a glass pie plate. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over pears.

3. Combine cranberries and granola; mound into hollows of the pear halves. Pour the apple juice in and around pear halves. Cover dish loosely with wax paper.

4. Cook in microwave on HIGH 6-8 minutes or until the pears are tender when pierced with a knife. Let stand in the dish 5 minutes. Use a large slotted spoon to transfer the pears to serving plates.

5. Drizzle juices from pie plate over pears and serve with frozen yogurt.

I also made a little extra for Les and me - it was so good!   I think if I was making this for a large crowd I would probably slice the pears instead of just halving so the portions could be smaller or larger depending on the appetite.

Martha, Martha

Happy 100th day of the year!  Time is flying as usual.  I'm happy to report that I am still on track with my Bible reading.  I'm working my way through Luke now and the story of Martha has been on my mind for several days.

Luke 10:38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

I think Martha is often portrayed as the ugly older sister of the sitting-at-Jesus'-feet Mary.  We hear her in a stern voice, glaring at her lazy sister.  But I think this story is for our learning, as all others in the Bible.  If that is the case, what can we learn?

First, what do we know about Martha?  Martha was the owner of the house that Jesus visited, probably the oldest of the three siblings and possibly a widow.  She felt the responsibility of guests that came through the door.  Jesus loved her (John 11:5) - in fact Martha is named in that verse while Mary is not.

What happened on this particular day?  Jesus came to Martha's house, with his followers.  We don't know if that was just the 12 or a large multitude.  We don't know how much warning Martha had.  Did the little boy down the street coming running to her house, "Martha, Martha, Jesus is on His way!"  Perhaps she received word 30 minutes prior to their arrival, but probably no more than that.  Jesus did not have a home, He relied on the kindness of His friends to provide food and a place to sleep.  Surely He was hungry when He arrived and would appreciate a good meal, right?

After reading a number of commentaries, the problem wasn't in Martha wanting to serve food.  It was the amount and variety.  A simple meal would have been sufficient, but it is thought that Martha prepared numerous meats and side dishes.  She was for much serving; plenty, variety, and exactness.  If we look a little more closely at the punctuation of verses 41 and 42, it could have easily have said, "thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful."   One simple dish would have satisfied the hungry group and Martha could have rested at Jesus' feet as well.

So ladies, what can we do?  I know I love to prepare a beautiful meal for company.  I want things just so.  The dishes, the table cloth, the food.  But we can never exchange serving for loving.  Pare down the menu so you can be present with your guests.  Check your stress meter - are you in the red zone, ready to chew out the person who isn't helping because you are going so overboard you can't be helped?  Will your guests enjoy their time with you more if you pulled something out of a crock-pot that required little work or that six course meal you've spent three days working on?  If you're so exhausted you want to cry and your guests think they should probably head for the nearest exit, was it really worth it?

After studying and thinking about Martha, I really think she had a good heart.  After the death of Lazarus, it was Martha who first went to Jesus.  I re-read that story, without the stern voice, and found Martha to be a true believer.  Twice she says, "I know" and once she says "I believe."  This is not a woman only concerned with food.  I think Martha was a great help in the early church.  She knew who Jesus was and she knew how to get things done.  I also think that she got her priorities straight and we present day Marthas can do the same.

Perfectly Okay

I saw this quote the other day and loved it!

It is perfectly okay to want to quit...
as long as you don't.

I completed the book of Deuteronomy this morning.  The death of Moses.  I wonder just how many times Moses wanted to quit leading the children of Israel.  Forty years of whining, complaining, and rebelling.  Times that God wanted to kill the whole lot.  I can only imagine how often Moses wanted to walk away from the entire congregation, leave them wandering on their own in the wilderness, and find a peaceful people to lead.  But he didn't.

This month we will celebrate the greatest act known to mankind - the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Surely on that road to Calvary, the Man wrapped in flesh wanted to quit.  When the first lash hit His back, when the crown of thorns was placed on His head, when the nail went through His hand, He must of wanted to quit, but He didn't.  He willingly laid down His life for all of us.  There is no greater sacrifice.

So if you've been thinking about quitting lately, that is perfectly okay... as long as you don't.

What Happens "Over the Hill"

We got a little bit of rain Monday night/early Tuesday morning, so I decided yesterday morning would be a good time to ride the trail.  It's been really dry and sandy and tough to ride lately, a little rain makes a big difference.  Yesterday was the first day of my birthday month (you celebrate all month, don't you??), the month I will turn 50... some would say I'm going to be "over the hill."  Well this is what "over the hill" looks like in my world:

Up the hill, through puddles...

down the hill, through  more puddles!

I'll admit that I'm not what I thought I'd be at 50.  I'm much more active than I thought a 50 year old could be and I'm loving it!  Onward to the next hill!

Outreach Explosion!

Several weeks ago Victory Tabernacle embarked upon an outreach contest.  The red, blue and green teams had three weeks to work with steak dinners as the prize at the end.  As a church we had a goal for each week - 50 visitors the first week, 100 the second and 200 the third.  We exceeded our goal every week!

We were on the red team led by Sis. Raquel.  Her children first started riding our van to Sunday school.  Some time last year she and her husband also started coming.  God has now filled the entire family with the Holy Ghost and some of their adult children have also started coming and seeking God.  During our first team meeting she said, "I'm going to take you to a scary neighborhood."  Of course the only way to enter a scary neighborhood, after a time of prayer, is with candy, balloons, and clowns!

The first Saturday the children were hesitant and only interested in the candy.  Many said they wanted to come, but when Sunday morning rolled around not very many came.  We were back the second Saturday with a candy rain and more balloons.  And more children came!  The third Sunday was when Les and I were in Fresno, but the numbers continued to grow. The contest ended a week ago Sunday night.  Each team did such an outstanding job that Pastor White said we all get steak!

Just because the contest is over doesn't mean we are finished.  For the next seven week the contest is for the children.  If they come every week, they will receive a ticket to Six Flags Magic Mountain.  The final Sunday is Mother's Day and we are praying that there will be many moms in attendance that day.

The above picture was taken Sunday morning.  Each of the children and young people standing in the front are brand new in the last four weeks!  Many are from the "scary neighborhood" that has opened their doors to church folks bringing candy, balloons, and the love of Jesus, and they are in the altars at the end of the service being touched by the mighty hand of God. We are so excited to see what God is doing.  Les and I helped transport three children this past Sunday morning.  They became our new BFFs when they guessed our ages - they thought Les was 40 and I was 30!

Wall to wall children in Sunday school rooms and cars that are packed because our vans are already full is one of the greatest problems a church can have!  Pray that we continue to connect with these children and their parents.