How Not To Make A Waffle

                Right…so I thought the first post of the new year would be something about looking forward to the changes coming in 2015.  You know, something about the new job, the anticipation of a baby, etc. Instead, I’m taking a moment to laugh at myself and have some fun.

                It all started after Christmas.  Since Renee was restricted from travel, her parents came down to see us for the weekend.  Sunday morning I was going to make waffles.  I had found a nice recipe in the Betty Crocker cookbook and had successfully made waffles in the past.  So this wasn’t going to be a problem…except it was.  The first two steps come from that weekend.  Step 3 comes from today, as I attempted to make up for my last attempt.  Here now – How Not To Make A Waffle:

1)      Make sure to put in too much of one ingredient.  I recommend doubling the salt.  It makes for a really unique flavor once the waffle is finished.  Perfect excuse for drowning the waffles in delicious maple syrup.

2)      Get two similar sounding but decidedly different ingredients confused.  I suggest replacing the baking powder with baking soda.  This will give your waffles that extra bubbly texture you are looking for.  It will also ensure that your waffle maker will be properly covered in batter.  Should you feel the need to make a second batch to correct the salt issue from the first batch, continue to confuse the ingredients in the second batch.

3)      Don’t grease the waffle maker.  You sprayed it like 3 uses ago, it’s still good.  Why waste another valuable spray of PAM.  This is perfect for making stuffed waffles.  When the timer goes off the waffle will separate into two perfect halves.  Once you remove each half from the maker you can stuff the middle with your favorite filling – blueberries, apples, peanut butter, etc.

Follow these three steps and I can guarantee you will NOT make a waffle.  Thankfully, everyone was very understanding and kind regarding my various adventures in waffle making.  It should be noted that steps 1 and 2 were very carefully avoided today.  So…Happy New Year and may you always make good waffles.

Psalm 34

                I’ve been focusing on Psalm 34 for the past few weeks.  Recent struggles have really brought the words of the psalm into focus.  David really focuses on the fact that God answers those who call upon his name.  He hears our cries and answers us.

                It’s no secret that Renee and I are expecting our first child.  Our journey to this point has been long and painful at times.  Simply getting pregnant proved to be a monumental challenge and even then we had some setbacks.  Exactly one year ago today, we found out Renee had miscarried.  After having to go through IVF to even get pregnant, it seemed like we deserved an easy pregnancy.  That wasn’t the case last year and it’s not the case this year.  Thankfully this year the challenges have been met and conquered so far.  Renee has been dealing with a sub-chorionic hematoma that has caused bleeding on and off for the last several weeks.  Bleeding during a pregnancy is never a good thing, but every appointment has shown a baby growing appropriately. 

After last year’s miscarriage we really wanted to make sure we were out of the first trimester before the holidays.  We crossed that bridge at Thanksgiving, but we aren’t out of the woods yet.  We find ourselves still hoping against hope that nothing goes wrong.  The bleeding still represents a major challenge that has to be overcome.  The doctors are hopeful that all will go well and it looks like things are healing, but it is still quite scary.

 Today we had another appointment with the OB.  The baby is still growing and looking healthy, we just have to keep praying.  There’s still a possibility of something going wrong, especially an early delivery.  We try to take it one week at a time, knowing that each week gets us one step closer.

Just in case a difficult pregnancy wasn’t enough for us we find ourselves faced with a second challenge – I lost my job.  I won’t go into details except to say that the company decided to make some changes and I became the odd man out.  Thankfully I still have my job with our church and I am able to collect unemployment.

Into this mess come the words of Psalm 34.  “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)  That verse seems to be an accurate account of me right now.  Losing my job has left me “crushed in spirit” and the possibility of losing another pregnancy makes me fear that my heart will be broken again.  But, the promise here is that God is close to us and he saves us.

Now, earlier verses show that this promise requires some active participation on our part.  “I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” (Psalm 34:4)  “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.” (Psalm 34:17)  Both of these verses suggest that we must cry out to the Lord for help.  That’s the key to this psalm.  God will deliver us from trouble and provide for our needs.  But (and it’s a big one) we have to be actively seeking God, crying out to him, following his commands, trusting him. 

In verse 8 David writes, “[t]aste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”  The notes point out that this is an invitation to try this because the psalmist knows it will be good for us.  It’s an invitation to try out the Christian life and find the blessings within.  Now, go back to verse 18 where David writes, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.”   While life with Christ is indeed good, it is not free from pain.  We will not always have smooth sailing, nor will we always find easy relief from trouble.  However, we can rest in the knowledge that God is on our side.  We may be sailing upon smooth waters, or not.  Our deliverance may come quickly, or not.  Regardless, we have to trust that God is with us and he will walk beside us through all of life, both good and bad.

God's Handiwork

            “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2:10). 

Our guest speaker yesterday referenced this passage yesterday during her children’s sermon.  Her point was that one person can’t do everything; they would break.  But, a whole bunch of people working as a team is much harder to break and we all have a role to play.  The verse struck me a bit differently, especially the second part.  We are God’s creation, and, as children of Christ, we are made to do good works.  Now those good works we are made to do – God has already prepared them for us to do.  The question is, how do we know what those good works are?

In our Sunday School class we’ve been reading SoulShift by Steve DeNeff and David Drury.  The book details 7 different transformations that take place in the Christian life.  This week we looked at the shift from asking others for advice to listening for God’s direction.  Asking others for advice is something we all do, especially when it comes to big decisions – taking a new job, moving, getting married, etc.  While that is not a bad thing, we also need to make sure we quiet ourselves and listen to what God has for us.  God has a plan for us; there are good works planned in advance for us to do.  The kicker is we have to be listening to God in order to accomplish them.

So, how do you listen for God’s voice?  How do you tune out the distractions of this world to find the good works that God has prepared for you to accomplish?

The Nature of God

                As I was reading Psalm 31 the other day I came across this verse: “Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.” (Psalm 31:3)  As I pondered that I realized there is another psalm with a similar line in it.  “He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:3)

                So, we have two separate passages that both indicate that God leads us because of his name.  That struck me a very profound.  God doesn’t lead us because we ask for guidance, although that helps.  He doesn’t guide us because we’ve suddenly gotten lost and need help finding our way again, although that happens as well.  He guides us because it is in his very nature to do so.  Not guiding us would be a complete violation of who God is; it would go against his very nature.

                A few weeks ago Renee and I took a small vacation down to the Hocking Hills area of Ohio.  It’s a beautiful area with lots of natural gorges, waterfalls, and caves.  It also has a multitude of trails to hike.  At the head of each trail is a sign warning hikers to stay on the trail.  A few trails are paved so it’s pretty easy to stay on the trail.  But most of them are leaf covered dirt paths that aren’t always so clearly defined.  Occasionally, staying on the trail meant we had to climb over and around rocks.  When we hit those rocky parts there were no guides to tell us exactly how to get over/around them; we had to figure it out for ourselves.

                We came across a few park rangers out along the various trails, but for the most part, the people we encountered were fellow hikers.  If we had found ourselves in a difficult situation we would have been dependent on our fellow hikers to help us out or go find a park ranger to help us.  Thankfully, God is better that a park ranger.  God is like the ranger who greets you and the trail head and says “Good morning, let me lead and guide you today.”  You don’t have to ask for it; you don’t have to need it; you just have to accept it. 

Of course, there are a few differences between a trail in a state park and the path God leads you on.   A state park trail has a set length and is generally free from very treacherous terrain (or there are warnings of difficulty prior to heading out).  If you so choose, you don’t have to hike any trails with difficult terrain.  You can stay on the “easy” or “slightly rugged” trails and skip the “rugged” or “very rugged” trails.  State park trails usually end at the same place they begin.  While hiking one of these trails, it’s usually fairly easy to see the terrain several steps in front of where you are.

God’s path is quite different.  It’s virtually guaranteed that there will be treacherous terrain.  We don’t know how long the journey will be, especially the treacherous sections.  We definitely will not end at the same place we began.  And, we may not be able to see more that a step or two ahead of where we currently are.  However, while we walk this path we can be confident that we have a guide who sees every step of the entire journey.  He will carry us through the rough patches and guide each of our steps.  God does not desire for us to wind up where we started; he wants to see us grow and mature into the person we were meant to be.  Knowing that is a very comforting thought, especially during the rough patches.

Purpose

I came across this Venn diagram on Facebook the other week and I've been pondering it ever since:

Clearly, the idea is that our purpose is something that fulfills each of the four circles.  So here's my question - is it an accurate model, or are there flaws?

I think it can be an accurate model, but it definitely has some flaws.  How do you define the parameters of each of the 4 large circles?

You Love It - this one seems pretty straightforward, so no real problem there.

The World Needs It - according to what definition of need.  Most people in the U.S. need financial advisors and retirement planners.  Most people in 3rd-world countries do not.  So, can working for Edward Jones, Charles Schwab, etc be your purpose?

You Get Paid For It - great, but does it have to be enough to pay the bills?  This is the big one for me, because it presents the largest challenge.  I think many people struggle to find that one thing that likely meets the other 3 criteria and pays the bills

You Are Great At It - who determines your greatness.  Is simply your own feeling?  Is it based off of performance reviews by your boss?  What about the opinions of your colleagues? Customers?

While I think the model is good, I think many of us spend our days working in two different areas of the model.  We usually have something that fits within two or three of the circles and then we have something else that fits within the 4th circle and, hopefully, one of the other adjacent circles.

What do you think?