For God so loved the world

This year has gone so quickly and as we enter into the second half of Advent I am reminded to stop and reflect on the coming of the birth of our savior. I heard a sermon last week in which the priest asked us to take this Advent to put a pause on our busy lives and look inward to find the way in which we could change the world for the better. For if the world does not change with Christmas, if we do not usher in the light of our savior, what hope is there for the year to come?

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life

John 3:16

Summer Blessings

This summer has been filled with adventure.
Starting at a new school.
Living in a new place.
Beginning my journey to become a medical professional.
But the most beautiful and wonderful adventure is just beginning...........
We are engaged!!!

friendship

Good friends are such a blessing and as you grow older you realize how wonderfully rare it is to connect with another person on so many different levels.

A good friend came to visit me today and although I was sad to see her car pull away, I am thankful that our paths crossed and look forward to the next time we get to meet.

Little things

When a lot of big things are going on around you, it is nice to be reminded of God's presence in even the most minute things of your life.

A loaf of homemade bread

My favorite tea in the morning

A beautiful flower

How wonderful that we can continually discover His unending love for us in new ways.

The lamp of the body is the eye.

if your eye is sound your whole body will be filled with light

but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness.

And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.

Matthew 6:22-23

Those cookies don't look very good

Today was our last religious education class so I decided to bring in some special treats for the kids. Having witnessed the effects of cupcakes, brownies, oreos and pop on small children, I decided to go with a healthier but hopefully equally tasty menu.

Well...the homemade blueberry muffins and home popped popcorn went over well but I thought I would share this gem in regard to my fresh out of the oven honey bee cookies (that I should mention I LOVED when I was a child).

Chris: Um Ms. Kate, I don't like these cookies
Brian: Oh man, I took 3 of them!
Andrew: Oh oh! Ms. Kate!!! (frantically waving his hand)
Kate: Yes Andrew
Andrew: Ms. Kate, I didn't take any of those cookies because I came in and looked at those cookies and thought "Those cookies don't look very good!"

I love first graders, where else can you get that kind of honesty? :)

Two conversations too good not to post

(These conversations were from two different but equally cute little boys that I babysit for)

K: O.k. let's pick a book out before bed, how about "If you give a moose a muffin"
A: Um Kate can we please not read that
K: Sure, but why not?
A: If we read that book I am really going to want a muffin

Conversation 2
K: O.k. its time for bath
M: Umm Kate, I really don't like my bellybutton. Actually I don't like all bellybuttons.
K: Why is that?
M: They are too distracting.
(distracting from what, I do not know)

Spicy Bean Salad

Here is a recipe I made up today for a picnic. It turned out really good especially with our homemade crispy cajun bread!

Spicy Bean Salad
1 can of black beans (or 2 cups cooked black beans)
2 cups of frozen corn
1/4 small red onion diced
2-3 slices jalepeno pepper sliced

1 T. olive oil
juice from 1/2 a lime
1.5 t. cumin
1/2 t. cayenne pepper.

Combine beans, corn (thawed), onion and jalepeno. In seperate bowl mix together oil, lime juice, cumin and cayenne pepper. Pour over salad. Enjoy!

Some of my favorite things

Last night I went to a talk held by a local university. It involved two of my favorite things:

1. Ending malnutrition in children in developing countries

2. Peanut Butter

Don't think those two go together? Project Peanut Butter does. Dr. Mark Manary, Pediatrician, teacher, and founder of Project Peanut Butter gave the speech last night. As someone who worked with malnourished children in India, I was intrigued by his research and innovative solutions to solving severe malnutrition. It started with a simple study to see if severely malnourished kids could recover at home (instead of in the community health centers or hospitals) with a peanut butter RTUF (ready to use food) that had extra vitamins and minerals and some sugar to make it taste good! After discovering that this supplement worked and worked better than previous supplements, Dr. Manary went about finding ways to use local ingredients and to produce this peanut butter locally. And he did! It was a very hopeful story, a beautiful blend of assessing a problem, finding a solution, and making that solution sustainable (both culturally, financially, and environmentally).

Dr. Manary was very knowledgeable individual and he talked about the difference in malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa and in India. In Africa, the problem is a lack of food which is different from India, where cultural beliefs about food are the root cause of malnutrition in children. The talk just illustrates how important it is to know the culture and situation you are going to serve. What I liked most about Dr. Manary's talk was that he lives in Malawi, he lives in the villages, and it was through trial and error and careful observation of daily life in the village that Dr. Manary found what worked. Once he did, he worked to make sure that the food was culturally acceptable. Once he opened up the plant to make the food, he employed Malawians. He took an idea and gave it over and let the people of Malawi make it their own. I am really convinced that that is the only way to make sustainable change.

I could not figure out how to attach his website but just google Project Peanut Butter and you can learn more about it!

Here are some pictures of the kids I worked with while in India. I especially like the first one, I keep it on the cover of my binder to remind me why I am going into medicine.

Lapidary Arts

If you knew what the title of this post meant, I am impressed.

If you are like me, however, and happen to pass a small building in a small suburb outside of Chicago and see a large sign that says "Museum of Lapidary Arts" you would be slightly confused. That is until you see a large rock outside the museum and realize that yes, you did stumble upon a rock museum. As I see it, there are two ways to respond to this finding

1. Chuckle and walk away, never again to think of the lapidary arts

2. See when its open and make plans to go

Obviously I fall into category 2 and I did go back and I am happy to say that:

1. Lapidary arts are much cooler than they sound (they carve all sorts of amazing figures out of precious stones, and fit together pieces of stones to make incredibly intricate pictures)

2. I now know what a snuff jar is

3. I have visited the ONLY museum in the United States completely devoted to the lapidary arts (or so said the lady that greeted us)

Above is a picture taken by Joe, who I should also credit for planning the outing to the museum :)

If my camera was working....

I would take a picture of the amazing cheese bread or Pane con Formaggio that I made for dinner tonight.

It is amazing because
1. It requires almost no work
2. It requires no weird ingredients (just flour, salt, yeast, water, cheese and a little pepper)
3. It comes out extremely impressive and looks just like an artisan loaf
4. Did I mention there is almost no work involved??
5. It costs very little to make
6. It tastes soooooooo good

The recipe came out of Jim Lahey's cookbook "My Bread" which was a very sweet gift that was left on my doorstep a couple weeks a go by a very generous person.

Tomorrow night I am trying the Irish brown bread recipe which has Guinness in it...we will see how it tastes!

Why?

Because sometimes you just need something to make you smile!

A thought...

Ezra read plainly from the book of the law of God, interpreting it so all could understand what was read...."Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not be sad and do not weep"-- For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law. He said further "Go eat rich foods and and sweet drinks and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; For today is holy to our LORD do not be saddened by this day, for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength! "

-Nehemiah 8

There are two parts of this passage that I find intriguing. First of all, I am struck with the reaction of the Israelites. It made me wonder about my own faith and reaction to mistakes I make. Do I ever weep when hearing God's law? Do I truly repent when I do not follow His way, completely, wholeheartedly, lovingly? It seems like, in today's world, that it would just be simpler to not be bothered by God's law. We don't have to rely on God for anything anymore...right? Or if we do rely on God's law it would be easy to think that we are bargaining or perhaps building a big mansion in heaven with every good deed that we do. But it doesn't work like that. No, instead God loves us in a unconditional way. In a way that the prophet Ezra expressed to the Israelites and told them that EVEN THOUGH they forgot God's law, even though they had sinned, even though they had not been perfect, they were to rejoice because the Lord rejoiced in this day and in essence in them. So really it is not God who needs us to follow His rules but instead it is us that need to follow His. What a humbling thought.

Six is a good age to be

I love first graders...because they are still innocent, they still think learning is cool, and they will happily sing a new song about God and when the time comes they will clap with all their might and shout Amen (clap clap) Amen!

Today was Valentine's craft day in Religious Education so we wrote a Valentine to God. The best part of the day was when one six year old raised her hand and asked if God had heard our Valentine to Him. When I said yes her eyes got really wide and a big smile spread over her face. If I teach these children one thing I want them to know that God always loves them and He always listens to their prayers. No matter where they are. I think that sunk in today, at least with one student.

There is a special place in my heart for those first graders who just can not seem to focus on the lesson, who add to the spice of our class by intermittently interjecting things like "I once made a Valentine for a girl, actually it was yesterday,....it was because she was going somewhere...where was it, where was it? (muttering to himself)...oh yeah it was close to Illinois. A few minutes later he exclaimed "CANADA......SHE WAS GOING TO CANADA!" Life would be so boring without these sweet wonderful kids!

I pray that as my little first graders continue their educational journey they always cling to the excitement, joy, curiosity, and love that shines so clearly through their hearts. May they continue to write Valentine's to God long after February 14. May they come to know the God that loves them deeply and calls to them "Come, follow me."

"Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

Contra Dancing

I love contra dancing and am thrilled that it exists outside of rural Minnesota. Here is a video and picture from two different contra dances that I have been too. It is so fun and everyone can do it, previous dancing skills are not required!

Mornings

I am definitely a morning person. Everything seems so much better when you have the whole day in front of you, especially if it is accompanied by a hot cup of coffee or tea. I also love mornings because of breakfast, the greatest meal of the day! Filled with fruit, grains, nuts, and of course one of my favorite foods in the whole world muffins, there is nothing like a sweet wholesome breakfast to get your day going.

As much as I love my sweet breakfasts, I am sometimes in the mood for something more savory. I have never been a huge egg person but the recipe below (which I made up one morning) is really good...and contains whole grains, vegetables and protein.

An Unusual Breakfast Sandwich
1 bunch of collard greens (or turnip greens, chard, mustard greens, or kale*)
2 cloves of freshly pressed garlic
fresh grated ginger** (as much as you want, I think I use about 1/2 T)
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
small green bell pepper (optional)
sun dried tomatoes

1. Heat olive oil in pan. Add ginger, garlic, pepper, and greens and cook for a couple of minutes on medium high until they start to wilt. Add some water and continue to cook the greens until they turn a bright green and start to soften (you can cook longer if you want them to wilt more, I prefer them less wilted). Add balsamic vinegar (I use about two T. but I like a lot of vinegar) and sun dried tomatoes (4-5) and a little more olive oil (1 t) and cook for a bit longer. Remove from heat when they seem to be dark green but not yet completely wilted. Put greens on a plate.
2. In the same pan melt one pat of butter. Crack an egg into the pan and fry the egg.
3. Meanwhile toast some rye bread (whole wheat works too but rye is really good). Drizzle toast lightly with balsamic vinegar.
4. Assemble sandwich: Toast, egg, and greens.

Using a bunch of greens will give you enough for two-three sandwich's depending on your consumption of the greens so fry as many eggs as necessary. I eat this breakfast as an open-faced sandwich but you could definitely add another piece of toast if you like.
*Kale- needs longer to cook and is a little tougher, I prefer collard greens or chard with this sandwich

**If you buy a fresh ginger root (so good!) you should store it in the freezer. It will last a lot longer and then you can have fresh ginger whenever. Just thaw a little before you use!

One final comment- if this does not sound like an appetizing breakfast try it as a fun (but super easy and cheap) dinner. Broil some french bread drizzled with olive oil and then drizzle on the balsamic vinegar and add the egg and greens.

Sabbath

I have always been inspired by people, especially really busy people, who manage to consistently set some time aside for rest and rejuvenation. Last night, I met two very busy people, who managed to set aside a whole day just to do things that they truly enjoyed. I loved the way they described their decision as "a way to recognize that our worth is not determined by our work." I hope that when I enter my graduate program I can carry a similar attitude with me.

Since I am blessed with more free time this year, I have been able to consistently rest on Sundays, but today I felt especially eager to really enjoy the day. So I baked some bread, made two delicious meals, cooked a pumpkin and roasted its seeds, took a walk, and had dinner with my grandmother.

Teach me, O Lord, your way that I may walk in your truth;

direct my heart that it may fear your name.

Psalm 86:11

Winter Salad

I love salad, all types, from tuna to arugula nothing makes me happier then a tasty, nutritious, filling and easy-to-make salad. As much as I love greens, it is sometimes not feasible to center a salad around them. Therefor, I am ever on the quest for new salads that offer vitamins, protein, and fiber to fill you up! Here is one of my favorite non-lettuce salads that evolved from things that happened to be in the fridge.

Balsamic Broccoli Salad

1 Head of Broccoli washed, chopped into smaller bits

seeds from 1/4 Pomegranate

1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts *

2/3 cup diced red onion

4 small to medium radishes sliced (optional)

Dressing

2 T Honey Mustard

1-1.5 T. Balsamic Vinegar (depending on your tastes)

1 t. canola oil (or other neutral flavored oil)

Mix all ingredients for salad. Mix dressing ingredients in a separate container, you can control the thickness and the tartness by the amount of vinegar you add. Pour dressing over your salad, toss and enjoy!

*Walnuts can be toasted by putting them in a dry pan over medium heat on the stove for a couple minutes (until they have a nice fragrance).

A small victory is still a victory

When caring for people with dementia it is easy to become depressed. To feel as though nothing will get better and it only will get worse. It is tempting to let yourself slip into a sort of apathy, thinking "what does it matter if I engage him in conversation, he doesn't even know it's me?"

But you can't! Because there are victories to be had, lessons to be learned, and joy to be given, even amidst the pain. That point was driven home today as I talked to my grandfather as he ate his dinner. Every day for the last two weeks I have, in addition to our normal conversation, asked him the same three questions. One he always gets right, one he sometimes gets right, and one he never gets right. But tonight, when I asked him the question that usually stumps and confuses him, he sat up, thought about it and then proudly proclaimed that his dog's name was indeed Seamus. A victory!

On the topic of victories, the flowers in the pictures began blooming a couple of weeks ago (evidently unaware that it is the dead of winter) on a beautiful green ivy arrangement we have in our home. What a wonderful present!

National Soup Month

As I read the paper this morning I was delighted to learn that January is National Soup Month.
How perfect for my winter of soup making (which I really have to credit my boyfriend with since it was his idea). Tonight was Spicy Black Bean soup, accompanied with some home made whole wheat tortillas.

Soup is pretty no nonsense, you get what you see. It is not really the most attractive dish (although some squash soups do dazzle with their brilliant colors) and it definitely is not as flashy as a souffle or a rich quiche. But it seems like a very practical, content, and economical food. So, it seemed perfect that today in my book "A Shepard Looks at Psalm 23" by Phillip Keller he was talking about humbleness and contentment. The best few lines had to be:
"It is the humble heart walking quietly and contentedly in the close and intimate companionship of Christ that is at rest, that can relax..."
What a beautiful thought to remember, that amidst this crazy world we have an everlasting source of true peace.

My adult voice

It seems like a short time ago that I was sitting at my desk, with my pencil, listening to my teacher who seemed so knowledgeable, together, and so much older.

Today I found myself as the teacher....of 11 squirming second graders. For a whole hour and a half, these 8 and 9 year olds must sit still (or relatively so) and learn about Jesus. Not an easy feat after a full day of school, and especially difficult due to some sugar laden cupcakes and juice boxes brought in for snack....

Due to these circumstances I found that I had to use my "adult voice" much more than usual. This voice seems to appear when needed most (i.e. some boys take it upon themselves to, take your pick: stand on chairs, frantically close and open the lockers at the back of the room, try and eat one of their classmates' cupcake) When the effects of my "adult voice" began wearing off attention was garnered using a short game of Simon Says (involving religious trivia), and 30 seconds of wiggle time.

*Next time the cupcakes are going to wait until the last 15 minutes of class

Beauty

"For from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen." WIS 13:5

The pictures are thanks to a wonderful trip to the Conservatory. A warm respite from gray winter skies and piercing cold winds. A step into a magical land filled with exotic ferns, bright orchids, and the almost too perfect shrimp plant. What could be better?

Lloyd

Once again I was taught a new thing by a 7 year old.
Lloyd, the friendly golden lab decided that he was going to sneak a piece of Twin 2's pizza. Luckily I caught him and shoed him away while saying "Stop eating the pizza Lloyd."
Twin 2 looked up from his project and in a very matter of fact voice said:
"Kate, Lloyd is an animal. Actually he is a dog and dog's don't understand our language." He then resumed going about his project.
Who knew that after 4 years of college we still could learn something from first graders? :)

Presents

Blessed the people who know the joyful shout; in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk. At your name they rejoice all the day, and through your justice they are exalted. For you are the splendor of their strength, and by your favor our horn is exalted. For to the LORD belongs our shield, and to the Holy One of Israel, our King.
Psalm 89:16-19

Just when you need it most, God provides words of encouragement, signs of beauty and moments to renew your soul. Sometimes I like to think of these moments as little presents from God; my present today was the above psalm read at mass, just when I needed it.

Granola

This is one of my family's favorite recipes and makes a great breakfast or snack. It is wonderful on plain yogurt!

The recipe is adapted from Mollie Katzen's "Very Crunchy Granola" and it lives up to its name!

3 c. rolled oats
1 1/4 c. bran/whole grain flakes cereal (look for a kind with less then 4 g. sugar per serving)
1 c. oat bran
1 c. sunflower seeds *
1 c. whole almonds *
1 c. pumpkin seeds *
3/4 c. canola oil
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. REAL maple syrup
1 heaping T of vanilla extract
*seeds and nuts should be raw and unsalted (buy in bulk when possible, can be pricey!)

1. Preheat oven to 325 F and grease two cookie sheets (I use a little canola oil)
2. In a large bowl mix: oats, cereal, oat bran, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and almonds.
3. In a small bowl mix: oil, honey, maple syrup, and vanilla extract
4. Pour liquid mixture over dry mixture and mix well or until the oil mixture is evenly distributed.
5. Spread out the granola on the two cookie sheets and place in oven.
6. Stir granola and flip trays every 15 minutes. Granola will take between 30-45 minutes depending on how dark you like it.
7. When granola looks to be at the right color pull it out of the oven and let it cool. Enjoy!

*Note: The granola gets crunchy AFTER you pull it out of the oven. So your granola will still look kind of "soggy" when you take it out. Let the granola sit for 10-15 minutes before you stir it and it will get nice and crunchy.

New skills

Last night I had the pleasure of sitting for two seven year old twin boys.

The highlight of the night had to be:

Twin 1: "Hey Kate, want to know how to get up off the floor with no arms?"

Me: Of course!

Twin 1 stuffs his arms into his pajama shirt and flops onto the floor

Twin 1: First you put your leg like this (demonstrates), then you move your other leg like this, and then you just get up like this (successfully pulls himself off the floor with...you guessed it no arms).

Me: Wow, who taught you that?

Twin 1 beaming with pride: I taught it to myself!

Other highlights included:

A rousing game of Twister

Hot Lava (jumping from blue foam square to blue foam square)

And a secret mission which ended with them getting (happily!) into their beds and going to sleep.

Success!

Wisdom

"Love justice, you that are the judges of the earth. Think of the Lord in goodness and seek him in simplicity of heart." Wisdom 1:1


As I read this verse I couldn't help but think of my time spent in South India last year. I went to India hoping to bring my talents and gifts to help out those in need. A week into my four month journey I realized that I was the one in need of help. One of the reasons that I really liked this verse is because it links justice with simplicity of heart. I think that those two virtues often are seen as opposites. We have come to view simplicity as a dull, static, state of being. But it is just the opposite! Jesus calls us to come to Him with a simple heart, aware of our limits, our faults, our sins and through that awareness share in His work to bring the kingdom of God to earth. My time in India humbled me to the core of my being and brought me closer to Christ in ways I could not have imagined. The Bible shows us that it is through our simplicity, our humble nature, that we may begin to truly understand and seek Christ which will allow us to bring about justice.

Simple Food

I have had soup on the mind lately. I can't think of a better food that provides such a large variety of flavors, textures and ingredients while filling you up healthily and inexpensively.

Home made soup seems to be a lost art. Just looking around the grocery store you can see rows and rows of canned soup...which is great for a convenient meal, but have you ever read the back of those cans? Do you really need MSG in your meal? My grandparent's grew up in Ireland and as my Nana says have "never bought that canned stuff". Maybe some of that desire to make my own food (and know what I am consuming) got passed down from them. In any case, I am enjoying my winter of soup making. There is something very satisfying about putting some ingredients, some water and a few spices in a pot, going for a walk and coming back to a house filled with the delicious smell of your meal.

In the last few weeks I have had the pleasure of indulging in:
Onion soup with home-made croutons from Jim Lahey's "No Knead Bread"
Sweet split pea soup (secret ingredient...sweet potatoes!)
Tortilla soup (with homemade salsa and some fresh cilantro)

and last night my personal favorite
Roasted sweet potato soup with curried apples accompanied with fresh out of the oven Ballymaloe Bread (a whole wheat soda bread from my Celtic cookbook) and a pomegranate, roasted walnut, Parmesan cheese and mixed green salad. A perfect winter meal!

Next on the agenda: Spicy English Parsnip soup

"I think all Christians would agree with me if I said that though Christianity seems at first to be all about morality, all duties and rules and guilt and virtue, yet it leads you on, out of all that, into something beyond. One has a glimpse of a country where they do not talk of those things, except perhaps as a joke. Every one there is filled full with what we should call goodness as a mirror is filled with light. But they did not call it goodness. They do not call it anything. They are not thinking of it. They are too busy looking at the source from which it comes. But this is near the stage where the road passes over the rim of our world. No one's eyes can see very far beyond that: lots of people's eyes can see further than mine." -C. S. Lewis Mere Christianity