God's Love & Winter Pictures

I listened to a sermon yesterday that Noel Piper had posted on her blog by a pastor in Minneapolis named Rick Gamache.  It really helped my thinking on God's love for me.  I love God's grace.  I love that I am justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  But, in my thinking, I've been missing the next step in God's grace and love for me.  Pastor Gamache was preaching from Ephesians chapter 1:

"...he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved." v. 4-6

The thing that's so amazing is that God didn't stop at justifying us.  He did more than declare us "not guilty", although that alone would have been glorious and undeserved.  As Pastor Gamache put it:

When we were adopted, God the judge put down his gavel. God the judge stood up and he stepped away from bench and he took off his judicial garb. He came to us and took us in his arms and he said to us, “my child, from now on call me Father, and he rejoiced over us with loud singing.”

We are not only forgiven of our sins, but we are adopted by God.  As believers in Jesus Christ, we were once enemies of God, but now he holds us in him arms and declares us to be his child.  WOW! Seriously?!?  "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God." - 1 John 3:1  I love when God gives me a fresh and new understanding of something that's been under my nose all along.  I'm praising God today for my adoption.

That's my thoughts for the day, now here's some sweet pictures of our winter in Louisville.

  

Benjamin is learning to sit up!

...more sitting up pictures

  

 Oh, Dad!

  

 Benjamin loves playing with his dad! Derek gets the biggest smiles out of him!

  

 We have had a lot of snow lately! I'm told winters are not usually this white here in Louisville. This is the view from our back porch just yesterday. Derek and I measured 5 inches of snow at one point. 

 

 That's our car covered in snow!

  

 Benjamin and I had to check out the snow flakes. I don't think he was too interested in them!

Alright, I hear him waking up from his morning nap. That's all for now!

Benjamin's First Snowman!

 

 

  

  

The snow is about melted now, but I like it that way. It's pretty for a few days, and then I want it to go away! Benjamin didn't seem to think much of it. He wouldn't smile or look at the camera or anything. He did stare at the snowman which was pretty cute!  I think he was mostly just cold and wondering why we were outside to begin with!

A picture worth a thousand words

 

I don't know the story behind this picture, but I really wish I did.  Praise God for everyone pulled alive from the rubble, and especially for one so small!

A story worth praising God over!

A friend of mine in Austin, Lynn, sent me the link to a blog written by a missionary family in Haiti.  I'm not sure, but I think her church may help support them.  Their names are Tara & Troy Livesay, and they are in Port Au Prince.  I've been reading their updates since the earthquake so I don't forget and so I know some things to pray for specifically.  This is a story Tara posted today that is awesome!  We've been praying for orphans to be reunited with family, and it is happening!! To God be the glory. Read on to find out more... 

I wish we had more time to make note of every single story that we've been blessed to watch unfold. I am basically picking one in twenty to share ... and that is just us and our one clinic. I'd have to imagine there are a half a million stories to be told.

A couple days ago a little guy came in from Simone Pele. They picked him up and he seemed disoriented and no parent or guardian could be located. He needed treatment for wounds from the earthquake so they took the risk and brought him in without a guardian.

His wounds were treated and he went to recovery. In recovery he started seizing. He ended up seizing about twice a day for the next two days. We still had no idea if he had living parents or what his story was. The Docs speculated that he is a kid that has always had seizures.

There are two amazing Paramedics from New York City working with us. We found them by accident when Scott Salvant, a super-cool guy we know, found them in the D.R. as they were trying to get here to work. Their names are Christophe and Rhona and they are truly awesome at what they do. They have been riding the truck in and out of the slums picking up patients and they begin to work on them in the truck before they ever get to the clinic. Christophe was very troubled about our little mystery orphan boy. He took personal responsibility and brought him back into Simone Pele today and walked around asking everyone if they knew him.

It turns out he comes from an intact family. His mother and father had been looking for him since the earthquake. He is autistic and had run away during the earthquake.

He is now at home, reunited with his family and doing well.

That's how God rolls.

Homemade Marshmallows

I've been wanting to try homemade marshmallows since Food Network Magazine came out with a recipe in December.  I didn't think I had a candy thermometer, so I put the recipe away for a later day. Then, as we were moving, I came across a candy thermometer still in the packaging! How convenient!  Here's the recipe I used.  As a side note, I used Lyle's Golden Syrup rather than Corn Syrup.  Lyle's is imported from Britain, and is a pure cane sugar syrup with a mild caramel flavor.  The Pastry Queen says, "It has more flavor than corn syrup, which is cloyingly sweet but entirely lacking in character."  If the Pastry Queen says it, it must be true!!  Anyway, I could definitely taste the caramel flavor in my marshmallows.


Homemade Marshmallows
Makes: 40-50

3 packets (about 3 tablespoons) unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
1 -1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions:
Combine gelatin and 1/2 cup cold water in a medium sized heat-proof bowl. Let it sit for 20 minutes.
Combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/3 cup of water in a small heavy saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Turn stove to high and heat until mixture comes to a very brisk boil, stirring occasionally. Let boil for about 2 minutes. If you have a candy thermometer, the temperature should reach about 240 degrees.

Take pan off heat and very carefully pour contents into the bowl containing gelatin. Add vanilla extract. Using an electric mixer, beat mixture on high speed for at least 10 minutes. When the mixture becomes very thick and white and has at least doubled in size, it is done.

Butter a wooden spoon and scoop mixture into a 9×12 casserole dish that has been generously dusted with powdered sugar. Dust tops of marshmallows with powdered sugar as well. Let marshmallows sit at room temperature, uncovered, for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Don’t panic if they look incredibly sticky at first. They will thicken up as they cool. Cut into squares. They’ll still feel quite sticky as you cut them, but cut them as cleanly as possible with a wet knife. Then dust cut edges with additional powdered sugar, and they will feel like ‘real’ marshmallows.

 

They were pretty yummy on their own, but also good in a cup of hot chocolate!

This picture has nothing to do with marshmallows, but is good for a laugh.  This is Benjamin in his exersaucer.  See all those fun toys he's surrounded by?  Notice what he's actually playing with?? He's just as happy playing with the labels on the toy as the actual toy itself!  I've learned when we take him out, we don't need to bring baby toys.  Just give him a straw or even a straw wrapper for that matter, and he's just as happy!