Caramel Popcorn

A few days ago the girls and I decided to make popcorn balls. MMMMMMMMMMM !!!! Melted marshmallowy goodness flavored with Jello and coating the popcorn. Joyful, happy, wonderful, mouthwatering, tasty, happiness. I like these. We made black cherry flavored popcorn balls. Then in the midst of the mess making I decided caramel popcorn sounded good too. Because, you know, if the kitchen is already a mess you might as well make it worse. I discovered my recipe had gone awol, so I went looking for one on allrecipes.com. The first recipe I looked at had a 5-star comment that began, "Do NOT make this recipe unless you have iron will power or are giving it away. You will not be able to leave it alone."


It was so right. The stuff is beyond addictive!

My kids kept saying "there seems to be less in the container, Mom. Are you eating it when we are not around?" Well, of course! You try sitting in the same house with such a massively addictive substance as caramel popcorn and not eating it!

If there's one thing I know, it is that I do not have an iron will. There are so many things far less addictive than caramel popcorn that I allow to distract me. Making time to be with the Father is the one way I can come to know Him more. Making time to be in His word. Making time to listen for his voice. Yet like a dog when a squirrel runs by, my attention goes askew and I am off on a tangent.


I lean on the Father above to strengthen my will. Only He is is enough. As I sit nibbling on the caramel popcorn and thinking about all the things in life that distract me from the Lord, I am surprised at my lack of will power. I like to think I am mature in my faith, and then I am reminded that I have so far to go. I am blessed that He will go with me. He will pull me back when the squirrels run by.


Lord, today I give my focus to you, reign in my wandering mind.


Caramel Popcorn

Non stick cooking spray
4 quarts popped popcorn
1 cup brown Sugar
1/2 cup dark (or light) Karo corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla

Optional: 1 cup roasted peanuts


1. Spray large shallow roasting pan with cooking spray. Add popcorn and place in preheated 250 degree oven while preparing caramel.

2. Mix brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt in a heavy 2 quart saucepan. Stirring constantly, Bring to a boil over medium heat.

3. Boil for  5 minutes w/o stirring. Remove from heat. Stir in baking soda and vanilla; mix well.

4. pour syrup over warm popcorn; stirring to coat evenly ( if adding peanuts - this is the time)

5. bake for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally ( I did this every 10 minutes or so). Remove from oven and spread on foil or parchment that has been lightly sprayed with nonstick spray.

6. Cool. break apart. Store in a tightly covered container. ( I recommend something not see through.)

A season of busy

Well My friends.... My last post was May11th. Today  is June 8th.

Life is good. God is so good. This season has been busy, busy and productive. I am thankful. I was feeling seriously guilty about not posting. Then Father God reminded me that worry is not of Him. He is directing this season. I need to function each day in obedience to His leading not my own. I am making my time with the Father first priority. Writing must come last in this season. Please do not give up on me. I have posts they will be coming just not as frequently as in the past.
Following His leading, I have researched and built our homeschool curriculum for the 2011-2012 school year. My business - Aspire Productions LLC is getting lots of work. The many "Aspire events" are in various stages of planning and execution. We have almost completed room renovation for T's room. She will be moving is soon. Of course , Pixie is moving with her while we repaint her room. We are preparing for the the Aldersgate 2011 conference in Dayton OH.  This summer is loaded and we are ready to jump on the roller coaster. Life is so exciting! I am blessed.

Thank you each and all for reading!

More to come soon in the journey of chasing my God!

Caite

of Judgement....

Life brings judgment. Everyday in every activity we make judgments, receive judgments, process what those judgments mean to our lives. The misconception that life could be free from judgment is so prevalent we forget that all decisions come from judgments. Are we qualified to judge? how do we know?

I am finding that judgment is necessary. What I've found imperative is knowing your attitude. Are you making judgment on something that has no pertinence to you? Are you making your decision based on your compassion? Jesus made regular judgments - The money-changers in the temple were chased out in anger; The woman caught in adultery was not condemned. Do I make judgments based on my own frazzledness? We all do. I do it with my kids all the time. Lord, forgive me. Do you make judgments based on your own filters and understanding?  Yes. You cannot make them any other way. This is why knowing the Lord is so important.

Say you have a best friend whom you know really well. Someone asks you "Will Cherie like this?" Can you answer with confidence? Do you know Cherie well enough to make that judgment?

Likewise in our life as Christians. Do you know the heart of Christ intimately? Can you make judgments that reflect your faith and trust in Him?

This whole idea doesn't mean I think we should beat our opinions into those around us or place value on someone based on initial impressions. I think what I want to say is be cautious in your judgments that they would be thoughtful, compassionate, and focused. I pray that your judgments would not be snap, crass, or uninformed. May the Lord guide you as you are judging the world around you everyday.


Lord Jesus, Help me make my words and choices sweet since tomorrow I may have to eat them! :) In seriousness Lord, help me to be compassionate in my judgments. Help me to follow your example to love each person as you do, regardless of what they have done or how they look.

In the Moment...

A time of quiet. Sunday afternoon. Time to wrap up in ones own thoughts and ideas without disturbance from siblings. Sunday afternoon quiet. Moments of bliss.

One draws, curled up in an over stuffed chair, while her ipod rocks the tunes. The other colors  in the dining room. I sit down to write. Soon I hear a little pixie voice...

"Sing Pra-a-aise to the Father,

Sing Pra-a-aise to the Son,

Sing Pra-a-aise to the Spirit, who 

ma-a-a-a-a-kes us one."

My small one is coloring away to her own score and script that only she knows. My heart bursts. I watch from afar, her sister is enveloped in her own thoughts, as Pixie gives her mind and tongue over to the praise of the God she is only just beginning to know deeper.

I celebrate quietly within. Yet I know. I know I am not always the example I should be. I know there is so much to impart. I plead, 

"Lord ! Let me a vessel worthy to raise them to hunger for you. 

Please, Papa God. Lead me to show them the way to you."

The blessings hidden in quiet time. His peace pours over me like a waterfall of love. He  reaches into my soul.

"Dear one - I love them more than you can imagine.

I'll equip you for the job I have called you to."

I do not need to be perfect. I need His equipping to be the parent They need. I must trust Him to be my guide. I will choose to hum along ... In the Moment.

Does this have eterenal value?

Does this have eternal value?

I wrote that title down months ago. I keep passing by the page it is written on in my journal. I think that I do not really want to face this idea. The idea makes me uncomfortable. If I evaluate my activities by the standard of: "Does this have eternal value?" or "What is the eternal value in this?" I see I spend a lot of energy on activities that do nothing for the kingdom or the world.  I want to do what I want to do. I like playing solitaire or other computer games. I like reading frivolous novels. But what value do these activities have? Our society spends an incredible amount of our time doing things that do not seem to have eternal value.  How do I prioritize my actions, my to do list? So many things on my to do list are things that further my desire for a better, nicer, more comfortable life. I am not wholly focused on an eternal kingdom. I admit it. I hear myself saying "I am hungry for God. I am faith focused." Really? When I am playing silly FB games ad nauseum how is that eternally focused? When I read novel for the 4th time how does that deepen my faith?  At least crafting or scrapbooking is creating something.

Image courtesy of stock.XCHNG.

This is a struggle for me. Guilt pours across my consciousness. I think carefully about what the Lord would have me doing. Through months of struggling with this and ignoring it by turn, I find myself realizing that "frivolous things" can be engaged in without guilt. IF. If my assigned tasks are completed. If I have spent time with the Lord. If I do not let the frivolous overtake the purposes God has assigned to me. Likewise weighing the things I choose to do by the eternal value needs to be a daily occurrence. Daily seeking God's guidance for His will for my activities.  I cannot take on every need, no matter how noble or necessary. I must choose based on the Father's directions.

Lord help me look to you for guidance. Help me to seek activities of eternal value as you lead me forward. Lead me to work diligently so that my tasks are completed first.

God used flour bugs?

I had a plan. I had my day laid out. The first load of laundry was gurgling away. The task list for the week was developed. I had answered emails. It was time to bake. The plan called for 3 types of cookies to be made. Great yumminess!!!

The ingredients began to accumulate on the counter. I was excited to be in the kitchen. The flour canister was depleted, but I knew I had another bag of flour in the pantry. I grabbed the bag and disaster! Bugs! UGH! Tons of the little annoying beetles. Ack! I have had the flour bugs before. I am sick of them. I looked it up on the computer and found out my bugs are called "confused" or "red flour beetles." Confused? OK. Apparently there are two varieties so similar they don't bother distinguishing between them without a microscope. Their eggs are likely in the flour, corn meal, cereal, or whatever when it comes home from the store. Nice. How do I get rid of them? The overwhelming answer across many many web pages was clean, clean and clean some more. There went my plan.  So I pitched the flour and proceeded to pull absolutely everything out of my pantry. I vacuumed and soaped the shelves. I sorted stuff, relegating things to the basement or the goodwill box. I reorganized the shelves. The process took all day.

I was frustrated. I wanted to bake cookies. I didn't want to clean. I really didn't want deal with all the stuff I had crammed into this space. But I did deal with it. I didn't bake. The plan was totally scrapped. I pouted as I went to pick up my girls from school.  I muttered my way through making dinner and finishing dealing with the junk from the pantry. My attitude about the whole thing was ugly. Who wants to clean bugs instead of making cookies?  A very slight satisfaction at the clean and organized pantry helped to mollify my irritation.

Later the girls went to bed and the Admiral & I sat down to watch television. Soon I began feeling queasy. The Admiral had mentioned he didn't feel well. The night wore on and I decided to go to bed. Fast forward a few hours - We are both throwing up repeatedly. There are other horrid symptoms as well. The flu has struck us both full force. We are miserable, wretched people. I am exhausted. I get up with the alarm to get the kids ready for school and must keep running to the bathroom. Finally I call my neighbor and ask her to run the kids to school. I cuddle up to the Admiral on the couch and try to sleep.

Early Wednesday, 36 hours after it hit, the flu seems to be gone. It leaves me weak and very sore. I sit down for my quiet time. While studying the realization hits me like a freight train. If I had baked cookies Monday, I would have had to throw them away. All of them. Since I don't know where I got the flu from or when I was contagious I would have had to pitch everything just to be safe. But wait that means that God used... Bugs.  God used those aggravating little confused beetles to keep my unhealthy  germs out of the kitchen. I wish He has used another tactic. On the other hand I have a very organized, CLEAN pantry. Woot!

Isn't interesting how God works all things together for good? (Romans 8:28) So Monday God used confused flour bugs to keep me out of the kitchen so I wouldn't have to throw out hours of work. Therefore I must be thankful for the confused flour bugs. Scripture says "...rejoice in all things the Lord your God has given to you and your household." (Deuteronomy 26:11)

Lord Jesus - give me a thankful heart. Help me to be thankful in each situation. Guide my attitude every day as you know what is going on and I don't.

A Success

    ... Defined as meeting ones objective.
Hmm, So often I look at what I've done and question whether this project  or that endeavor was a success. Frequently my objectives (read dreams or visions) are so much more than the final reality. Yet others come and tell me how wonderful, how terrific or whatever the event was. So do their accolades make the event a success? I have started to revise my view a bit. Perhaps my dreams of an event are just that, dreams. Perhaps I need to listen more closely to what the Lord's objectives are for my projects. I strive to pay attention to God for IF I should do a given project. But often I do not listen so well to the HOW it should be done or the goals God has planned for an event or happening. I have suddenly realized this makes me a wide open target for the devil to whisper "You failed" "You never do anything right!" "Boy was that mediocre." I catch myself believing these lies of the evil one because I wasn't sure of where I was supposed to go in the first place.
       This is an example of Lordship and Leadership. As children of the living God we should desire to know Him so closely that His desires are our desires. Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."  A few years ago I heard a sermon that radically changed my view on this passage. "delight yourself..." This means to be so in love with our God that you are so excited about Him that you desire to work constantly to get closer to Him and His desires for you. "...he will give you the desires of your heart." God will show you what to be passionate about, what to desire. This verse doesn't say God will give what ever whim pops into your head. It tells us that he will teach us what to treasure what to desire. He will lead us.
       Will I follow? I want to. I want to give Him the most honored place in my life. I think I do. Often my actions don't bear this out.  I do it my way. I do not seek him. I want to change this. I want to work to change. He says He will lead me. I can trust Him. I cannot promise I will always have realistic goals. I cannot say every endeavor will be a practice in obedience. But I am working to be more focused on giving God Lordship & Leadership in my life.

Lord - Guide me. Help me to let you lead me. Help me to keep you as Lord of my life.