Remember Me For Good

I finished reading the Bible for the year this morning.  The final phrase I read was Nehemiah 13:31, "Remember me, O my God, for good." I've been thinking about that phrase for a few hours.  I think it can be taken two different ways and wanted to read what commentaries had to say, but first I Googled the meaning of the phrase.  According to the Free Dictionary, there are two very distinct definitions:

 

for (one's) (own) good

For one's benefit, even though it may not be enjoyable or desirable.

for good

Permanently; indefinitely; forever. 

 

Here are a few different translations:

 

The Amplified Bible:

O my God, [please] remember me for good [and imprint me on Your heart].

 

Christian Standard Bible:

Remember me, my God, with favor. 

 

Complete Jewish Bible:

My God, remember me favorably. 

 

Living Bible:

Remember me, my God, with your kindness.

 

Wycliffe Bible:

My God, have mind of me into good.  My God, remember me for the good things which I have done.

 

Young's Literal Translation:

Be mindful of me, O my God, for good.   

 

I also looked at various commentaries:

John Gill:

to bless him with all good things, temporal and spiritual, to keep him faithful, to make him useful in church and state, and protect him from all his enemies.

 

Joseph Benson:

The best services done to the public, have sometimes been forgotten by those for whom they were done, therefore Nehemiah refers himself to God to be recompensed by him, and then doubts not but he shall be well paid. This may well be the summary of our petitions: we need no more to make us happy but this, Remember me, O my God, for good. 

And finally, F.B. Meyer:

The faithful servant and the dying thief join in the same petition. To be remembered by Jesus Christ is enough reward for any of us!

I don't know which definition was on Nehemiah's mind when this phrase was written, but I believe both apply.  I want God to remember me forever and when He remembers me, I want it to be for my good.  Not because I deserve it, but because He is merciful.

2022 in Review

Here we are at the end of another year!  I will say that 2022 felt more normal than the previous two years with one exception - we only took one trip to Hawaii.  We definitely miss our Hawaiian church family and friends.  I thought I'd take a look back at 2022, the year goes quickly, but January still seems like a long time ago.

 

January

I didn't blog until January 21st!  We started revival at church, then Les and I (along with a large majority of our church) got sick with the flu (or COVID for some.)  I started the year almost 35 pounds lighter than I started 2021.  I also kicked off another year of reading my Bible through and am on track to finish tomorrow.  I made my first trip of the year to Fresno for my niece Lauren's baby shower (which I did not blog about.)

 

February

Two very fun things happened in February.  First, we went on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera with Lance and Monica.  We had such a great time and really enjoyed a cruise ship that was only at 30% capacity.  The day we got home from Mexico, our family welcomed Robert Michael!  Little Bo has captured all our hearts.

March

Our dear family friend, Irene Wilkinson, passed away.  I was able to attend her funeral in Fresno and finally got to meet Bo.

April

My pictures from April are a mix of trail running and Bo!  I am so thankful for digital photos.  Multiple texts each week has helped me stay connected and watch our baby grow.  I did celebrate my birthday with breakfast at Black Bear Diner.  We also had a short visit from Pastor and Sis. McGriffin who were on their way to a cruise.  We enjoyed a day at the Ronald Reagan Library and didn't take a single picture!

 

May

Les and I traveled to Tennessee for Mother's Day.  It was a short visit but we enjoyed it very much (and again didn't take any pictures!)  We also had visitors here at home - Lance, Monica and Hannah came for a week of cycling and shopping.  I'm sure you can figure out who did what.

June

We stayed home and didn't have any company in the month of June.  This would be the calm before the storm - July kicked off traveling and more traveling that took us through the end of the year.  I started running a new trail and have turned into a bit of trail junkie.  I love the quiet of the trails and the only traffic I have to look for is other adventurers.

July

We took our long anticipated cruise to Alaska with our dear friends, Doug and Lori Long, and had a fantastic time!  The week before our cruise Les had a crazy business trip - he flew in to Boston and was in 5 states in 5 days.

August

We celebrated Les' birthday.  Les had another trip - this time to Philadelphia at the end of the month.

September

We spent 10 days in Hawaii to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Decision Research (Les' employer.)  

 

 

 

Les had another trip - this time to Las Vegas for a conference. I made another trip to Fresno and Les flew from Las Vegas to Fresno so he got to meet Bo for the first time.

 

October

October took a stressful turn when Les' mom had a fall at the end of September and was in the hospital.  Les decided to make a trip to Tennessee before continuing on to Orlando, FL for a work conference.  We then returned to Tennessee at the end of October to celebrate Pop's 90th birthday.

 

 

November

Our visit to Tennessee continued and we celebrated Dolly's 85th birthday.  We got home on Sunday, November 6th, and Les went to San Diego on Tuesday, November 8th.  We were home the rest of the month and enjoyed a Thanksgiving for Two.

December

Les had one more trip - another work meeting in Las Vegas.  We repeated our September routine, with me driving to Fresno on Thursday, Les flying to Fresno from Las Vegas on Friday, and the two of us driving home together.  That was my fourth trip to Fresno this year - what a difference a baby makes!  Our little guy is crawling everywhere and we expect he'll be walking before too much longer.  He reached out for me to hold him several times and melted my heart!

 

We had our Christmas recital at church on December 18th.  Christmas morning found us at church.  Shouldn't that be the case?  If we're truly celebrating the birth of Christ, being at His house is the place to be! Les and I enjoyed another quiet holiday at home.  We spoiled each other with a variety of gifts.  We both got new trail shoes and coffee mugs among other things!

Merry Christmas!

I hope your day is filled with joy!

Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let Earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

 

 

Joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns
Let all their songs employ
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy

 

 

He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonders, wonders, of His love

Friday Foodie

Two Friday Foodies in one week!  This time it's all about pizza.  A few months ago Les asked me to make homemade bread.  I've owned a bread maker for years but I've never really cared for how the bread turned out.  The crust is almost burnt while the middle isn't quite done.  I ordered Krusteaz Hawaiian Sweet No Knead Bread Mix from Amazon and just baked it in my oven.  It turns out perfect every time.

About a month ago I made spaghetti. Les suggested that I use the sauce as a base for pizza.  We then decided that using homemade bread for the crust would be an excellent idea.  The Krusteaz website had a recipe for Sourdough Pizza, so I knew it was doable.  It finally happened this week.

Homemade Pizza

Ingredients:

One box Krusteaz Hawaiian Sweet Bread mix (or Sourdough bread mix)

Spaghetti sauce

Pepperoni

Salami

Olives

Italian cheeses

Garlic salt

 

1. Prepare spaghetti sauce and let simmer in crock pot all day.  FYI - My spaghetti sauce is NEVER the same!  Sometimes I use ground beef, other times I use ground sausage or sausage links.  I usually add diced tomatoes, bell peppers and mushrooms and season to taste.  A great starting point is Rosalie's Marinara Sauce.

 

2. Prepare dough as directed on package adding water and yeast.  Let dough rise as directed (about 2 hours.)

3.  Preheat oven to 400°F.  Punch dough down and transfer to lightly floured surface. Press dough into 14-inch circle. Place on lightly greased pizza pan. Let rest 10 minutes. Press again to edge of pan. Pierce with a fork at 1-inch intervals.  Sprinkle garlic salt on dough.

4.  Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Top with your favorite pizza toppings. Bake an additional 10-15 minutes.

This is exactly what we were looking for!  So many wonderful flavors.  As you can see, my #1 taste tester was thrilled! 

This won't be the last time I make pizza this way!  There are so many ways you can make this.  Choose your own toppings.  Go with a white sauce.  You could also split the dough in half and bake two smaller pizzas if you want to keep toppings separate.  My side had about twice as many olives!  Les even got a small bowl of the sauce to dip his pizza crust in.

Next up, I'm making fresh bread on Saturday so we can have French toast for our Christmas day brunch.

Tuesday Sky

Our sky has been so amazing lately.  I headed out for a run this morning and hadn't gone more than a few minutes before I had to stop:

Most of the time once the sun starts coming up there isn't much to see, but today was a different story.  A couple miles later, I took these:

A couple miles later, I took these:

There won't be any snowman building in this meadow, but I sure do love our green hills!

And finally, the sun peeked through...

Amidst the busyness of the season, don't forget to take the time to see the beauty that God's hand has created!

Friday Foodie

When I was trying to decide what to make for our party last week, I Googled easy party recipes and found quite the selection.  I ended up making Ham and Cheese Pinwheels.  These are similar to something my Mom use to make as part of our Christmas morning breakfast.  They are the perfect savory offset for cinnamon rolls, pancakes, waffles or French toast, so I decided to post this recipe on Monday just in case you need one more dish for this weekend.  The original recipe is HERE and the only thing I changed was letting them bake about 5 minutes longer.

 

Ham and Cheese Pinwheels

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 (8-oz.) tube crescent dough
1/2 lb. deli sliced ham
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
8 oz. sliced Swiss cheese
4 tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. freshly chopped parsley
1 tsp. poppy seeds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8-x-8" baking pan with cooking spray.
On a lightly floured surface, unroll dough. Separate the sheet into rectangles and pinch together the perforations to seal. Spread mustard onto each rectangle and top with sliced ham and cheese. Starting with one short side, roll up each rectangle into a small log. Pinch edges to seal. Cut each roll into 4 to 5 slices. Place cut side up in baking pan.
In a small bowl, whisk together butter, garlic powder, and parsley. Brush over pinwheels, then sprinkle poppy seeds on top.
Bake until the rolls are golden, 12 to 15 minutes.  (20 minutes was about right.)

 

I made these, then popped them in the oven while I got dressed for a our party.  I didn't take the time to snap a picture since we were running out the door.  They were very easy and very tasty!  We ended up with a few leftovers and they re-heated nicely (microwave for about a minute, then put in toaster oven for 3-5 minutes.)

Saturday Sites

The wind was howling when I got up this morning but I headed out for a run anyway.  I first noticed the sky:

Just past the two mile mark, I turned a corner and saw this guy:

 

 

I call him "Skeletal Santa"

Around another corner was this painting:

Last, but not least, there was a tumbleweed farm:

Friday Foodie

We have our VT Toppers Christmas Party tonight - those of us over 55 will be gathering for a good time of food and fellowship.  This is a potluck and I tried something new for my dessert!  I'm always looking for peppermint ice cream this time of year and have only been successful once this year.  I decided to make Chocolate Eclair Dessert and add a peppermint twist.

 

18-20 Graham Crackers
3 cups milk
2 pkg (3 oz) French vanilla instant pudding
8 oz. cool whip

Approximately 3/4 cup crushed peppermint candies.
1 tub chocolate icing

Mix pudding, milk and cool whip together.  Add about half the crushed peppermint and stir.
Line bottom of 9" x 13" pan with graham crackers (my pan is slightly sloped so it took about 7 for the bottom)
Put 1/2 pudding mixture over crackers and top with another layer of crackers (this took 8 crackers for my pan.)
Put remaining pudding mixture over crackers and top with another layer of crackers (another 8)
Spread chocolate icing over top of cracker layer.

Sprinkle remaining peppermint over icing.

Refrigerate for several hours.

 

Since I had not tried this combo before, I decided to make two miniatures.  We sampled them last night and this is going to be a hit!  And if no one else likes it, I will happily take the leftovers home.

Repost: Crying Over Jingle Bell Rock

I originally wrote this post in 2009, the second year of my blog's existence.  I thought I had re-posted it a bunch of times, but I've only re-posted it twice.  So here it is again...

I believe it was Christmas 1989 when Rod and I first "performed" our version of "Jingle Bell Rock." Our version included a crutch guitar and me as an elf or something. Ryan, Krysten, and Lauren were all 2 1/2 and Christmas was a crazy, delightful time!

Fast forward to Christmas 1994. Just a few months earlier we had said goodbye to Rod, this would be our first Christmas without him. It was a Saturday and I was in one of the many malls in the San Fernando Valley. Hundreds of shoppers rushed in and out of stores. Parents and kids waited for their chance to have a picture taken with Santa.

I wasn't really thinking about Rod until "Jingle Bell Rock" started playing over the mall sound system. An overwhelming feeling of loss immediately came over me and I just started crying! Now if you know me well, you know I don't cry at the drop of a hat. Tears don't always come easy - but they flowed in the mall that day. I quickly left the mall to get away from all the Christmas cheer, shopping was done for that day.

I can look back on that day now and smile. "Jingle Bell Rock" makes me laugh again. But I know there are people who will experience that same feeling this Christmas. The loss of a loved one - grandparent, parent, spouse, sibling, child, or friend - leaves a hole that does not quickly heal.

You can find dozens of articles on dealing with grief during the holidays. A Google search brought up 2,610,000 links (this morning in 2022 that number is over 16 million!) My personal experience has been that the pain comes when I'm not expecting it. In years past, I've prepared myself for specific days, but it's the unexpected - a song, a smell, a change in the weather - that bring my loss to mind.

If you're experiencing a "first Christmas" this year, I pray that you will find memories that warm your heart, a special recipe or decoration to bring a smile, and the comfort of friends and family who hold you dear.

Wordless Wednesday