Lift him up!

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor; for if they fall, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls and does not have another to lift him up!" Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Ever felt low? Ever felt down?

Been there! Well, I think we all have.

Lately I have been discovering that life is not easy. You are probably thinking, what took you so long... well, for some people discovery takes longer than others...

C'est la vie!

In french there is a phrase, "C'est la vie." In plain English it means, "that's life!" We all know and have experienced this phrase. We know that no matter how much we try to plan out our day and have our 5 year or 10 year plans, "life" comes in and we have no real control over it. "Life" sometimes comes in the form of sickness, death, new job, new city, new co-workers, bad co-workers, bad neighbors, and on and on.

Oh, the wisdom of God!

As Christians, we know that these "life" events are no coincidence. There is a sovereign God on the throne who knows all things and is working all things together for good (Rom 8:28). Why? Because He loves us and we love Him, and He has a divine purpose that He intends to carry out.  And the way He carries out His purpose is mainly by using all these "life" events. Romans 8:29 says that God wants to conform us to the image of His firstborn Son.

God is so wise! I love Romans 11:33:

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and untraceable His ways!"

The Lord knows exactly what environments we need to be in that He could transform us and conform us to His image.

It is so important to have this kind of bird's eye view of "life". But what do we do while we are in the middle of these "life" events? Is it kind of like when you are a kid and you need a bandaid to come off? You grit your teeth and turn the other way, while someone quickly tears it off... "okay, ready, go! AHH!" "Okay, done." Somehow, I don't think so.

Crucial element: companions

In my experience, there are some really crucial elements that we need in order to keep going on and not get discouraged in our Christian life. One of these elements is having companions.

Actually, I recently got to see an old friend I hadn't seen in a while and we got a chance to catch up for about 1 1/2 hours. While it was really good to hear how she was doing, ultimately we ended up sharing with each other verses and different Christian books we had been reading that had been encouraging us. That was so awesome because then those verses became not only a supply to ourselves but to each other. Finally, we ended with prayer. To give all of our "life" weight to the Lord together was the most encouraging thing out of the whole time. Let me just say that was one of the most profitable 1 1/2 hours of my life.

Leviticus 26:8 is awesome. It shows that God really has the way to move and destroy His enemy through the principle of groups or companions. He says that 5 of His people will chase 100 of the enemy and 100 of us will chase 10,000. You do the math! Those are pretty awesome statistics. Check your experience. When you are all alone, it's really hard to stay encouraged, to read the Bible, to pray, etc. But when you have at least one more with you, there is strength and supply and encouragement.

May the Lord have mercy on us that as we continue on through all of "life", we would not try to go through it as individual Christians. BUT, we would have some we could open to, fellowship with and pray with in order that we might be "lifted up" (Ecc. 4: 10) and encouraged to press on!

Morning Revival: the breakfast of champions

Have you ever woke up in the morning and were so hungry? BUT somehow because of your crazy schedule you didn't make any time to eat? 

So what happened for the rest of the day? Let me guess... you were starving till lunch and even after eating felt like you were in a funk for the rest of the day. 

Am I right? 

This has been my experience many times. And somehow Saturdays seem to be the most common day for this to happen. 

Why do I mention this? It's not because I want to promote everyone eating breakfast every day, but because this is actually God's real life example of our time with Him in the Word of God. 

This morning I was faced with both of these experiences: not wanting to eat breakfast or read my Bible because I had a huge list of "to dos" and not a whole lot of time to do it.  So what happened? I remembered my past experiences of not eating breakfast and realized it probably wasn't a good idea to skip it. And I remembered that every time I don't have some time with the Lord in His Word in the morning I just am not that joyful of a person the rest of the day... it's true!

Real life picture: breakfast

According to Web MD (and really anyone you ask) breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It not only gives you energy to get the day going but has many health benefits, like:

• A more nutritionally complete diet, higher in nutrients, vitamins and minerals
• Improved concentration and performance
• More strength and endurance to engage in physical activity
• Lower cholesterol levels

 

So what about the Bible? 

Actually the Bible refers to itself as being healthy. Paul in 2 Timothy 1:13 says that the words he spoke to Timothy were healthy. And in Titus 2:1, he is exhorted to "speak the things which are fitting to the healthy teaching."

The Bible can nourish us. Check out 1 Timothy 4:6:

"If you lay these things before the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, being nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which you have closely followed."

In fact, the word can be likened to milk that nourishes and strengthens a newborn (1 Peter 2:2).

Why is the morning so necessary?

No human life is easy, so we need nourishment in order to strengthen us to carry out our daily activities. Similarly, the christian life is also not easy. If we are not strengthened and supplied spiritually at the beginning of the day how also can we progress?

 

I don't have a lot of time!

Perfect! Not many of us do have a lot of time laying around to just muse over the word for hours. Again, just like breakfast, we don't need a lot of time to be revived spiritually in the morning. Even five minutes is a good place to begin. I recommend:

1.  A quite place where no one will bother you
2. 1 to 2 verses to focus on and use as prayer
3.  And an open heart to allow the Lord to move as He wills 

 

Not complicated...

Most breakfasts we eat are not that memorable. By the end of the day we might not even remember what we ate. But if we didn't have breakfast, we definitely remember. Same with our morning time. We don't have to expect anything spectacular every day. Sometimes the Lord will really touch us in a specific way and we will never be the same, but most of the time it will be very normal and unmemorable. However, we will be strengthened and supplied and over time we will realize how much we have grown and advanced in the Lord.

Happy eating!

P.S. I'd love to hear your experiences of time with the Lord in the morning...

More French cooking adventures: Boeuf bourguignon

 If there was ever a french recipe to cook, this would be it: BOEUF BOURGUIGNON!


Don't be intimidated by the name. In English it means beef stew in red wine. Now you might be thinking, "I'm not really that big of a fan of beef stew" or, "what can be so special about beef stew?" Let's just say you have never known beef stew until you have tried Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon.

Let's start from the beginning.

There are definitely certain ingredients that make this dish what it is.

The ingredients in question:

• A chunk of bacon (the word "chunk" may not sound that appetizing, but when stewed for about four hours, believe me, you won't regret having it)
• stewing beef that when cooked falls apart in your mouth
• one carrot and onion
• salt and pepper
• flour (sounds strange I know)
• a bottle of red wine: this is the key ingredient (I'm not exactly a wine connoisseur, so I just walked around the grocery isle till I found one on Julia's list. Chianti was the lucky one to be chosen).
• a lot of Beef stock
• tomato paste
• a bouquet of fresh garlic, fresh thyme, and a bay leaf wrapped in cheese cloth
• The bacon rind (from the "chunk" up above)
• brown-braised white onions (you may think this doesn't sound that important, but let me tell you that these onions made the meal)
• and fresh mushrooms sauteed in butter to finish

The pot:

A dutch oven is very crucial to this endeavor. Almost every bit of the adventure takes place in this little gem. It should be large (ours was about 6 quarts), and preferably nice looking, because according to Julia that is what you will serve your dish in when it's all said and done.

The procedure:

After the bacon gets sauteed in oil and set aside, the beef is added a couple pieces at a time into the sauteing pan until everything gets cooked. Then the vegetables are cooked in the leftover fat (I know... it's not exactly the most healthy procedure).

The bacon and beef are combined into the dutch oven and then the salt, pepper and flour are added. Then, this concoction is browned in the oven for a few minutes.

The key ingredients, wine and beef stock, are then added. And the herbs top it off before everything gets sent into the oven for 2 1/2 hours.

 
Meanwhile...

The white onions are specially prepared and sauteed in more beef stock to where they appear caramelized afterward, and the mushrooms are sauteed in butter (see previous cooking adventure).

 

 2 1/2 hours later...

Once the meat is tender, all the contents in the dutch oven are sieved over a saucepan and our beautiful cooked onions and mushrooms are added to the meat. The sauce gets simmered, the fat removed and added to the rest of the contents.

And FINALLY after half a day's worth of labor, the boeuf bourgignon is ready to enjoy!

 Now, you may be thinking, "This seems like a lot of work just for some beef stew." And I would say, yes it is quite time consuming. However, if you plan it out (maybe on the weekend) you will not regret it. The tastes are delightful, savory and rich. We basically sat there for a good while slowly eating ours because we didn't want the meal to end. It was totally worth it and I'd make this dish again and again.

Happy eating!

Christians on Campus in Austin, Texas

In my last post I talked about how the Lord brought me back to Austin, Texas and my world was basically turned upside down. I felt like the Lord had left me high and dry with no Christian fellowship or support. However, at a certain point I began to realize the group Christians on Campus, while at first glance seemed strange, maybe had something more to offer me. Here is the rest of my story of how Christians on Campus in Austin, Texas encouraged me in my Christian walk and helped me to grow in my faith and knowledge of the Bible. 

After going to the Christians on Campus event my friend encouraged me to attend, not a whole lot changed. However one girl, Kristen, from the club really wanted to get together so she offered to drive me to work once a week to spend time together. It was so nice. We just hung out and then sometimes she would ask me to read to her some verses from the Bible as she drove.

It wasn’t much, but through Kristen’s care I realized the Lord had not forgotten me.

After my first semester my work schedule remained the same, but I was able to have a little time to meet with some Christians on Campus girls once a week. We would read some of the Word together, and mostly just talked about how we were doing. But that little time kept me going for yet another semester. 

Bible Study:

After a year had gone by, I appreciated Christians on Campus a lot more than when I had first met them, and I thought maybe it was time to try out another Bible study. 

The Bible study I went to that summer was on the Gospel of John. I had read John many times but never before had I seen its intrinsic significance. However,  my view was totally changed! I saw that through the Lord Jesus changing water into wine at the wedding of Cana in chapter two we can see His desire to take us vessels of clay who are filled with deadness, water (as in Genesis 1:2, 6, Exodus 14:21 and Matthew 3:16) and make us full of life, wine, with Himself as the source of that life (John 11:25). I was utterly amazed!

Through the Bible study I began to not only understand the book of John but the entire Bible began to be opened up. I began to realize that God has a purpose, a grand plan, and this purpose is described and unveiled in the entire Bible. I realized that God wants to be my life, not only eternally but daily. Through that Bible study the Lord had a way to show me so many things. 

Fellowship and prayer:

The more I became involved with the club, the closer I got to graduation. I had many important decisions to make. I wanted to follow God's calling. Sometimes I just needed someone to be there so I could open up all of my considerations. The more I realized that these Christians really loved the Lord and His Word, I realized I could also fellowship with them about my life problems. So that is what I did. The most amazing part was that whenever I would open up to my friends no one ever told me what to do. These friends, these Christian brothers and sisters, always and continuously would simply do one thing: pray for me and with me. They were faithful to lead me to the One who could really lead me in the right direction. What a lesson.

After College Life:

I am no longer a student in college. And I have moved away from Austin and come back yet again since then. However, I believe that moving back to Austin the first time and meeting Christians on Campus was the best thing the Lord could have ever done in my life. At first it seemed that the Lord had abandoned me, however actually I feel He was teaching me a lesson. I realized that I should be open to Him and not dismiss other believers just because their practices are not what I am used to. Through the Lord’s sovereignty and mercy I was able to meet a group of Christians who really helped me to grow in my knowledge of the Word, relationship with the Lord and fellowship in the Body of Christ. And for that I am eternally grateful.

The Pursuit of Finding Christians on My Campus

Have you ever had a time where your life was turned upside down and you didn’t know what to do? 

This happened to me after moving back to Austin, Texas from Marquette, Michigan. I had been pursuing the Lord in a definite way with a group of Christians on the campus there. At a certain point, however, it became clear I needed to move back home to Austin. I was worried that I wouldn’t have the same kind of support in Austin as I did in Michigan. Thus, the one thing I was definite to pray for was a group of Christians to have fellowship with on campus. And so this is my story of how my world was turned upside down and how I met and came to really appreciate my fellowship with Christians on Campus.

Transitioning back to Austin:

In Michigan, I made some awesome friends who love the Lord and the Bible, and we spent basically all of our waking hours together when we weren't in classes. When I moved back to Austin I really hoped I could find something like this again, and considering that the University of Texas was so big I assumed it would not be too difficult.

But then came the clincher: my work schedule. It ended up that the job I got was during the hours when it seemed every other Christian group met. Let's just say I was pretty distraught. Actually, I was angry with the Lord for bringing me back to a place where almost all my friends from high school had moved away, except my roommate, and then leaving me high and dry with no Christian fellowship. What was a girl to do?

Prayers of desperation: 

The only thing to do was pray. So I did! I had one moment where I basically told the Lord He had to do something. How could He leave me here without fellowship? So you know what happened? The next day on campus as I was walking to class I saw a club table out with a sign in big letters saying, "Bible Study." These words were pretty attracting to me because, well, I love the Bible. So, I walked up to the table and found out that the group, Christians on Campus, also loves the Bible. I met a girl named Yobel and immediately we hit it off.

 

Something was not quite right: 

 

Now you would think that all of that doesn’t sound too terrible. However, when I started meeting with Christians on Campus and going to Bible studies it seemed there was something strange about them. I didn’t feel extremely comfortable when they would pray, and so after the first study I decided this group was not for me. So I left pretty angry at the Lord for leading me on and decided to keep looking. I tried another Christian group, but with the little time I had available, what they had to offer was not meeting my need. 

 

So there I was:

alone on a huge campus, going to difficult classes, working nights and with no spiritual supply except on Sundays.

Let’s just say I got pretty depressed. 

How was the Lord supposed to teach me and grow in me and even use me for ministry if I was not connected with other Christians where I spent the majority of my time?

 The turning point: preaching the Word of God and much care

 One day after all of these considerations had been looming in me for a while, one of the girls from Christians on Campus called and invited me to an event. I really wasn’t going to go, however my friend from Michigan happened to call me the same day and really encouraged me to go and give it a try.

I’m really glad I went because even though the club was a lot more vocal than I was used to, I realized they were genuine believers who preached the Word of God. 

This is only the beginning! You have to read Part 2 where I went again to the Christians on Campus Bible Study. It changed the course of my life. So, check out why!

Cooking adventures with Julia Child

Lately I have had the chance to cook a few more recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Each recipe has been so different and challenging in its own respects, but when the work is done my taste buds seem to be saying "thank you."

Here are some of my latest cooking adventures:

Bifteck Sautés au Bercy, Champignons Sautés au beurre, and Carottes à la crème

 The steak was sautéd in butter and then this delicious white wine sauce was soaked into the steak with some parsley to garnish and add freshness.

The mushrooms also were sautéd in butter and green onions. They were really delicious and fresh, and I wish I had made more!

Surprisingly the carrots were my favorite. They were blanched and then boiling cream was added. Finally, I topped it all off with minced parsley. The cream really made the carrot dish! If your children ever don't want to eat their vegetables, I recommend this dish. It was almost like dessert because of the sweetness of the carrots mixed with the decadent cream.

Unlike a lot of Julia's recipes, these three did not take that much time. I prepped and cooked all of this in less than an hour. So it seems delicious food does not always need to take a really long time. 

Stay tuned for my next adventure!

Selah

Have you ever heard of the word "Selah" ?

Someone recently asked me what the word meant after seeing it in a verse.

For instance, this verse says,

"Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
    and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah" Psalm 39:5

It is actually a Hebrew musical term that means to stop and think about what was just said. Probably the statement right before 'selah' has a lot of meaning and the writer wants us to take a second and consider.

There are so many passages in the Word of God that get passed by because we don't take a second to consider or muse over it. That's what I like about that word, selah, because it's a little hint or reminder to stop.

Lately, I haven't been feeling very well so I haven't been able to go as quickly through my days as usual. In a sense, you can kind of call these past days a selah. Isn't it amazing how it is so easy to pass through the day and miss what the Lord is trying to speak or even miss the Lord Himself?

This past weekend I took a little "Selah" out to a ranch about 40 minutes east of Austin and got to spend some time with some older Christians.

Normally I am so busy I don't get a chance to spend time with them. However, after just a day I was amazed at how much I received. Their experiences were amazing and I really felt taken care of. Physically I felt better after going out to be with them, and even spiritually I was encouraged.

Amazing!!!

What about you? Have you had an experience where by taking some extra time you either saw something more in the Word or experienced something special in your day you might have missed otherwise?