Perspective

What is it all about? What does Yahweh want from us? What is the point? What are we supposed to do?

The Lord had lead me in the last six months or so in a journey through motivation and identity. Simply, I have wrapped up my identity in the things that I do and accomplish compared to what the Lord says about me; how He identifies me. The Lord has used these and a few other key verses to speak Truth in my life.

Micah 6:8 - He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Matthew 22:37-40- Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Isaiah 58- Long chapter so look it up. It reveals God’s heart towards what he really wants of us in a fast: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house, when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

The desires and commandments of God are really pretty simple, yet I try to make them complicated and difficult. I am not saying that following the Lord is easy, far from it; I am saying that following the Lord is simple. Golfers have a saying, that golf is a simple game, get the ball from the tee box to the hole in as few strokes as possible, but it is hard to do. I need to be reminded that God gives me value, and I need to not believe the lie that the world keeps speaking that I am valuable when I get some stuff, make a certain amount of money, or accomplish an unreachable amount of tasks. “Do the best you can trust God for the rest” is something that comes to mind. Perspective is crucial.

To finish, God wants us to love Him fully, love our brothers the best we can, desire to see His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. He does not desire for any to perish but wants everyone to come to repentance. Our God is kind and good, as well as righteous and judgmental. He will only tolerate evil for so long, which I am glad. Yet I am also glad and grateful that He gives mercy now, which I benefit from fully. So praise be to God, for in Him I will trust.

Jude 1:24-25- To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Michael Houck

Children

We are blessed to be apart of and active in the lives of so many children.  To nieces and nephews (even if they do live in England), to my younger sisters, and to that of our friends' kids who live near us and then to those that we serve at church.  Our lives are continuously surrounded by children.  And we love it!

We had the privilege to go to Galveston yesterday with my best friend/roommate from college, Leigh Anne and her husband Ryan.  We were able to spend the day with them at the beach and at the pool along with their 3 boys ages 4, 2, and 6 months.  Another couple was there who also have a 6 month old.  If you know me, you know I love kids!  Always have and always will and I believe that this is how God created me.  It is slowly becoming true for Michael as well.  Don't get me wrong.  He doesn't hate kids or not like them, but his experiences with them have not been in abundance like mine and therefore he is learning more and more about them as well as learning how to interact with them.  It is a really cool process to see and to be apart of.

We started our journey of marriage with just trusting in God.  We decided not to use any form of birth control and just go with whatever happens.  Each month it's been fun yet challenging to see if we are pregnant or not and so for it's been the latter.  I say challenging because I have always wanted children!  Always!  I want to experience the gift of pregnancy, I want to experience the gift of birthing, and I want to experience the gift of child-bearing.  I also want to experience the gift of parenting.  Some who might read this will be thinking I am totally insane and others may be able to embrace those same feelings and yet some may feel indifferent.

On our way home we got into a conversation about children.  We talked about how good the boys were that we had just spent time with and discussed how different our lives were.  Leigh Anne and Ryan now have 3 boys to care for each and every day and what a blessing that is.  However, it is not always easy.  As the day was wrapping up the boys were getting tired, cranky, and just needed to go to sleep.  Not only did they have to deal with packing up all the stuff they brought (which Leigh said she felt like they brought the whole house), but also the boys that were crying, fighting, and just plain being cranky.

I sort of had a revelation on our way home.  Although I have my ups and downs each month when I realize I am not pregnant and that it feels like everyone and their brother are pregnant around me (that's a bit of sarcasm by the way), I am thankful for where I am.  I believe that because Michael and I both stayed pure before marriage and that we saved ourselves for one another, God is blessing us with time for each other now.  

I believe that God is allowing us time to enjoy one another.  That He is giving us time to work out things in our marriage and to learn how to love one another deeply and to put each other as our number 2.  I believe He is giving us time to learn how to love one another as He has called us to love.  He is giving us time to travel and experience His creation.  He is giving us time to spend with family.  He is giving us time to learn how to be selfless.  He is giving us time to learn how to better raise the children He will give us.  He is giving us time to spend in Austin and experience politics at their best.  He is giving us this season in preparation for children.  Not that we couldn't do all those things with children.  I am totally confident that those around us with children do this just as well.  God is preparing us for children right now.

Each night in our prayer life, we lift up our children and ask God to bless us with them, to guide us as their parents, and for their future salvation.  We want children and we trust that God will bless us with them in the future, but for now we need to be satisfied.  I still struggle and sometimes get discouraged and question what is wrong with me, but I know that my hope comes from the Lord and I need to trust Him.

I will leave you with a funny story from yesterday.  Michael and I were on the beach playing with the boys along with Leigh Anne and Ryan.  Michael was squatting, building a sand castle and I tried to push him over with my foot.  He in turn tackled me down on the ground in the sand.  He finally let me up and I began to chase him into the ocean.  Their oldest boy said, "Daddy, what are they doing?"  And Ryan's response was, "Son, they are playing.  That's what married people do when they don't have kids!"

Father, help me to be satisfied in You and in the things that I have.  Help me not to want what others have and help me not to sulk in what I don't have.  Teach me to be grateful for all You have given me.  Teach me how to love my husband as Christ loves the church.  Teach me your ways, O Lord.  Amen.

Rahab

I have made it to Joshua!  I am so excited to be truckin' on through the Old Testament.  It's been quite a journey and I am realizing why God has me in the Old Testament.  The Israelites needed to fully trust in God in order to conquer the promised land.  This resonates with what God is teaching Michael and I and what He has been teaching us since our marriage began.

The Israelites finally get to enter the promised land!  YAHOO!  I am sure they were doing some major rejoicing as I would if I had lived in the dessert for 39 years.  Joshua sent out a some secret spies to see check out the land.  He wanted to see what they were going to be up against.  When he sent those spies, there was a prostitute near the city gate named Rahab who allowed the men to stay with her.  She even hid them on her roof so that the officials in the town would not be able to find them.  She risked her life for these two men whom she did not know.  Here is her story.

Joshua 2: 1-24 "Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. 'Go, look over the land,' he said, 'especially Jericho.'  So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

The king of Jericho was told, 'Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.'  So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: 'Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.'  But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, 'Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from.  At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.'   (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.)  So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.  Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof  and said to them, 'I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.  We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.  'Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them —and that you will save us from death.'  'Our lives for your lives!' the men assured her. 'If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.'  So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall.  She said to them, 'Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.'  Now the men had said to her, 'This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house.  If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads;we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.' 'Agreed,' she replied. 'Let it be as you say.'  So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.  When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them.  Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them.  They said to Joshua, 'The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.'"

I think that Rahab was a woman of pretty incredible faith.  I mean she didn't even know God personally at this point and yet she is willing to hide these spies in her house and risk death by her own people?!  Incredible!  

Are we willing to step out in great faith like this young woman?  She was even a prostitute in the city...a known sinner.  Why did God use her?  I believe He uses people like Rahab all the time.  People who have sinner and they choose to accept it, repent from their sins, and ultimately trust the Lord.

Lord, help me to be a woman of character like Rahab.  I want to have faith like she did that she would risk her life for these men whom she didn't know and whom loved a God that wasn't like the ones she was used to serving.  Help me to have faith.  Amen.

Snickerdoodles

Tonight I found myself having a very bad aversion to cooking and food.  I tried to make some almond flour tortilla's and that didn't work out so well.  My husband was so kind and made it like a sandwich instead and dinner was still great.  After dinner, I was browsing Pinterest and found this recipe from The Urban Poser on Snickerdoodles!  They turned out pretty good!  I do think when I make them again I will add some coconut palm sugar to the cookie batter though...they weren't sweet enough for me.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:
2 cups almond flour
a scant less than a ¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ cup coconut oil
¼ cup honey (and this is where I would want it sweeter so I add an extra ¼ cup of raw cane sugar or coconut palm sugar)
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Cinnamon coating:
3-4 tbsp. coconut palm sugar
3-4 tbsp. cinnamon

Instructions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350°
2.  In a medium sized bowl, combine dry ingredients; mix together well. In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, honey and vanilla. Add the liquid ingredients to the almond flour mixture and mix till combined. 
3.  Combine the coconut palm sugar and the ground cinnamon in a small bowl.
4.  Using a rounded tablespoon, scoop out the dough, then gently form into a ball. Roll in, or sprinkle all sides with, the cinnamon mixture. Place the balls of cookie dough on baking sheet, about 3 inches apart. 
5.  Using the palm of your hand, slightly flatten each cookie. 
6.  Bake in the oven for 8-9 minutes. Leave cookies on the cookie sheet while cooling. They may seem under-baked at first, but they will firm up to just the right texture as they cool.

The Heart

My dear friends mom recently had open heart surgery.  All was well until this week when her heart rate soared and they had to take her to the ER in which they admitted her and got her heart rate stabilized and then took her downtown so that her doctor could actually see her.  We are praying that she is well and healed of what is going on by tomorrow so that they don't have to reopen her and drain the fluid from her heart.  Please join me in praying for Sandy.

As I reflect on this and try to grasp my tiny brain around what is going on with all of this, I want to stop and think about our hearts.  

Jeb Kolby was the guest speaker at church this morning and he did a phenomenal job!  He is doing a 2 part series on sharing Christ in the marketplace.  You can listen to it here.  He wanted to give some practical ways to do this in the marketplace.  However, as he was preparing for this, God clearly showed him that if our hearts weren't right then the practical ways wouldn't matter.

He took us to Genesis 50 where we have the story about Joseph, the son of Jacob (Israel) who was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery.  He then worked as a slave under Pharaoh in Egypt and because God was with him (or his heart was right with God) Pharaoh showed him favor and he became the number 2 man in all of Egypt.  Pharaoh's wife tried to seduce Joseph and Joseph wasn't going to stand for that, he was wrongly accused and therefore sent to prison.  But get this...even in PRISON, God was with Joseph!  He was able to interpret dreams and the story goes on to show the he did some pretty cool things because God was with him.  

Let's stop right here.  This story is pretty incredible.  I think what Jeb was trying to say was that Joseph's heart was in the right place.  He was put in some pretty crappy conditions: rejected by family, sold into slavery, wrongly accused, thrown into prison and I could go on.  The crazy thing is that even through all of this trash talking, mud slinging filth from anyone and everyone JOSEPH STILL PURSUED GOD and he did so with the RIGHT HEART.

You and I are far from perfect and so was Joseph!  But if we truly examine our hearts...and I mean truly examine our hearts.  Look deep down and do some soul searching.  Ask yourself these question:  Why do I do the things I do and who do I do them for?  If our answer is not Jesus and Jesus...then our heart ain't right!  It is such a challenge in today's society to stand for truth and not to give into our flesh.  So many times I want to call people out on their hypocrisy or to tell them how wrong they are.  That is what my flesh wants and Satan would LOVE that!  I do it...I mess up.  I get angry and say things I shouldn't or make commitments that I don't always follow through with or hurt the ones I love the most.  

The key for me is that my Daddy God is Heaven is looking down on me and says, "Sweetheart, I died on the cross for your sins and just confess them to me, make it right with those around you, and here is My grace!  My love!  My truth!  Relish in it!  Forget about it and move on!"  One day when I am standing before the gates of Heaven and my Father is looking at me, I want Him to say, "Well done my good and faithful servant!  Welcome Home"  will be the happiest moment in my life.  

I encourage us all to do a heart check.  Where are our hearts?  

Lord, You know all that is going on in mine and You see my hurt.  I pray for healing and restoration.  Father, continue to show me where my heart needs to be changed and where I need to lay down my sinful nature.  Teach me Your ways so that I might not sin against You!  Amen.

Blueberry Bars

Last night, Michael took me on a much needed (he and I) date night!  We went to Goose's Acre on the Waterway.  This is where we first started dating almost 2 years ago and we haven't been back there, just the two of us anyways.  So it was quite nice, however we encountered some troubles.  We are fasting for the month of August.  We decided to just stick with whole foods with things being as minimally processed as possible.  That is such a struggle when you go out to eat.  Generally we have to eat salads and use olive oil as dressing.  We managed just fine, but we were both wanting a treat or dessert afterwards.  I haven't made a new dessert in awhile so I decided to find one today!  Here is my go although I changed the recipe a tad.  I borrowed this from Lori and her post for Paleo Blackberry Bars.

Blueberry Bars

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups almond flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup coconut sugar (or honey, maple syrup, agave; whatever you'd like)
2 bananas (about 1 cup)
2 eggs
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted (or olive oil)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½-1 cup almond milk
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (or your choice of berry)

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 13×9 baking pan and set aside. (Or you can use an 8×8

2) In a large bowl, mix together the coconut flour, shredded coconut, cinnamon, baking powder and soda, and salt. Add in the NuNaturals Baking Blend or sugar sub, if using, mixing again.

3) In the same bowl, add in the bananas, eggs, melted coconut oil, vanilla extract, and 1/4 cup almond milk. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated, adding in more almond milk, as needed for mixing. Amount of almond milk varies as the almond flour soaks up the liquids. Add in enough almond milk so the batter is the consistency of cookie batter (but might be slightly drier).  

4) Fold in the blueberries and spoon the batter into the greased pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until the sides are golden.

5) Remove from oven and cool. Cut into about 16 squares.

Mine actually came out a little more moist than I would have liked them and really banana flavored.  Next time, I might try adding in 1 less banana and use more almond flour.  

Biscuits and Gravy

Michael was probably more excited about trying this recipe than I was to actually make it.  Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy making new recipes.  However, I had already ruined one batch because I didn't follow the directions.  So I was a little anxious about this.  Let me tell ya...another amazing recipe that I will be making again!

Biscuit Ingredients: (updated biscuit recipe from Elana's Pantry)
2 ½ cups blanched almond flour, plus about 1 cup for dusting the dough
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup ghee
2 eggs
1 tablespoon agave nectar.

Instructions for biscuits:

1. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda.
2. In a large bowl, blend together buttery spread, eggs and agave.
3. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until a nice dough forms.
4. Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to 1 ½ inches thick.
5. Dust dough with extra almond flour if it is sticky and/or misbehaving.
6. Cut the dough into biscuits using a mason jar with a 3-inch wide mouth.
7. Using a spatula, transfer biscuits to a parchment lined baking sheet.
8. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes, until biscuits are browned on the bottom edges.
9. Serve with gravy, jelly or whatever else your heart desires.

While those were baking, I worked on the gravy mixture.

Gravy Ingredients:
1 pound of ground pork or turkey sausage
1 tbs. almond flour
1 tbs. of arrowroot powder
1 can of coconut milk
2 tsp. sage (I didn't have any and so I didn't use this)
1 tsp. paprika
½ cup chicken stock (if needed...and I didn't need it)

Instructions for gravy:
1.   Sauté sausage in a large skillet until completely cooked.  Remove sausage from pan, saving about 2 tablespoons of the drippings from the sausage.  Keep these drippings in the pan.
2.  Add the almond flour and arrowroot powder to the skillet, and whisk with the sausage fat over medium-low heat, until paste is formed, working to scrape up some of the sausage drippings.
3.  Pour in about ¼ of the coconut milk, the sage, and the paprika at this point and bring to medium heat, stirring often and scraping up the browned sausage bits.
4.  Add remaining coconut milk, stirring as you go, and bring to light simmer.  Add sausage back in and simmer until the gravy reaches desired thickness.
5.  If the gravy becomes too thick you can thin it out with some of the chicken stock.
6.  Pour over the biscuits and serve!

This is what the dough looks like before the egg whites go in.  

Frothy egg whites

This is what it looks like in the muffin tin.

This is what they look like on a cookie sheet. 

Here is the finished biscuit.

And an up-close version of the finished biscuit.

The gravy without the sausage.

The gravy with the sausage.

Biscuits and Gravy in a bowl per my husbands request!  DELICIOUS!