13 Hours of Rain

During my single days, I would often have bouts of "Mellow Sundays". While slowing down from a busy week of work and enjoying the quietness of Sunday afternoon, my mind would enter a state of reflective thinking. My thinking process would often spiral down to my perpetual agony of not being married. Oh woe is me! Now I am married. And I still have Mellow Sundays. I realize that in the past I would generally focus on one paramount area of discontentment: singleness. These days my Mellow Sundays focus on concentrated pockets of imperfections or dilemmas. Let me share some of my ponderings. 1. Renovation Envy Part II : Yesterday, our neighbor held an open house to showcase their renovations prior to the arrival of their new tenants. WOW. What a transformation! I felt like I was visiting a show home. As soon as I entered our home, I started to notice all the flaws on our walls, flooring, and furniture. I had to stop and remind myself that (1) even if we wanted to overhaul our pla...

My brother is overseas and is learning the art and science of cooking. He has asked our family for our favorite skillet recipes since he is devoid of an oven! So, bro, this is for you: Cashew Chicken Ingredients: 3 T sesame oil 1 cup cashews 3 medium chicken breasts, cubed 1/2 cup water 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced 1 1/4 cup chopped carrots 1 cup chopped celery 3/4 cup chopped red pepper 1 small onion, chopped 1/2 cup water 1 can chicken broth (284 ml or 10 oz) 3 T soya sauce 2 T cornstarch dissolved in 2 T warm water 1-2 tsp chili paste or sambal oelek* (optional) salt & pepper to taste Serves 3 - 4 people Procedure: 1. At high/medium heat, heat sesame oil in a large skillet or wok. Add cashews and toast until slightly brown. Remove cashews with a slotted spoon and place in a medium sized bowl. Do not remove the oil from the skillet or wok. 2. Add chicken breasts to the oil along with the first amount of water. Cook chicken breasts thoroughly . Remove cooked chicken with a slotted...

How I wish I could slow down time, Pause this moment, And relive your milestones. The day we brought you home: I was so scared. Overwhelmed. Exhausted. My emotions were chaotic. Forgive me For missing your initial discoveries. In spite of my failures, You fill my heart with hope. You remind me of God's faithfulness. You love me unconditionally And demand nothing less. You teach me precious lessons: Laughing at the simple things. Discovering the beauty in this world. Honestly expressing emotions. Yet, I am uncertain. Many lessons you must learn. Am I qualified to teach you as you teach me? I must believe. God chose me To be your Mother. He blessed me with a daughter. You, my beautiful princess. Therefore, wisdom He will provide For the journey ahead.

I've done it. Posted fifty times. Hard to believe. I guess I have more to say than I originally thought. So here I am in the wee hours of the morning. I really NEED to sleep. But I can't. Maybe my two hour nap yesterday morning has something to do with it! So I'll blog about random stuff, things that could take up an entire post but are not worth that much effort. 1. Last Saturday I gathered my gear and headed off to a city leisure center for my weekly step class. I showed up to find out that there was a track meet on, again. My class was cancelled, again. Why can't our instructor inform us the week before? Annoying. So I drove back to our area, determined to participate in some sort of exercise other than walking. I entered an elite gym with a free pass that I found in the recyclable material I was about to dispose of. Really snazzy place. Brand spanking new. I could have used a tour. No one offered. Kind of weird. Nonetheless, I participated in a boxer-step class. I w...

Thanks to theheresy.com and Google Reader, my two deleted posts have been resurrected from the tombs of cyberspace. Both articles are posted below. Yay! My research was not in vain.

(Oringinally posted in February 2009) Inaccuracy. Blatant stupidity. Poor research. Three things that cause a great deal of angst in the mind of my husband. I hear him vocalize his annoyance off and on within different areas of life. For instance, I have heard him yell at the T.V. screen with disgust when a hockey analyst gets his or her facts wrong. "No, Maguire, the GM did NOT negotiated a masterful trade to get Zdeno Chara. The Bruins picked him up as a free agent in the summer! Maguire, it is your job to get your facts right!" Stupidity? I don't know how many times my husband has expressed his righteous anger at the idiots that drive on our roads, especially when someone doesn't signal, cuts across three lanes of traffic, dumps a mini-van smack down in front of you, and then has the gall to drive ten kilometers per hour under the speed limit. As for poor research - you want to turn off my husband from listening to your sermon, reading your paper, or learning fro...

(Oringinally posted in January 2009) "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." (NIV) Apostle Paul, 1 Timothy 2:11-12 I am standing at a fork in the road. I am wondering which way to go. I have been wrestling with my beliefs and values. I am attempting to sort out the "truth" from opinion. My dilemma is whether or not women have the Biblical affirmation to preach in the church. Furthermore, do women have the right to pastor a church? Before I write any further, I must offer a disclaimer. First, I am not writing to defend one side over the other. Similarly, I am not claiming one view is correct and the other view is wrong. I am merely allowing you to be privy to my conflicting reflections. Second, I do not claim to be an expert in the arguments for or against the issue. I have not completed extensive research on the topic, though I have read a couple of position papers...