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A really late response to last weeks Five minute Friday.....

I am Indian , living in the Netherlands and grew up in Kuwait. 3 countries in one sentence and thats as confusing for me , as it can ever be.  So, when people ask me where is home, I say The Netherlands. Thast were we are now and thats were I began my married, family life. My kids were born here and this is were I make my own rented home. This is were we raise our boys, build my relationship with my husband, work, and have a wonderful church family and cell group. In all the confusion, I knew for sure the Netherlands was my home. For now.

Since Elijah was born , we have been looking for a house to buy. He is 3 now. The need to own a house wasnt the criteria. I wanted a bigger nicer house. Great kitchen and play/office space on the ground floor. Our current house was great, until 2 boys joined the equation. It still is fine.

We silently made fun of other friends who saw 30 houses before they bought there own. And now we realize we have crossed that number quite a while ago. We visited houses. Disagreed always on which ones we liked. There was always one person who didnt like the house. Thankfully, we didnt include the boys in the desicion making madness. Our budget was low and our wants were on the higher end. It seemed impossible to own a house with the money we had in mind. Or rather what Bobby had in mind. We bid for two house along this journey. Didnt get anywhere with the low figures we were prepared to bid. Bobby was patient. I was impatient. I mocked him for the magic low number he always started with. "We are never ever going to get a house we like for that amount"i traumatized him.

As we celebrated Elijah's 3rd Birthday, I huffed and puffed about never going to have that dream house.

On January 22, 2013, we went to see a house that looked promising. Like many other we saw. I pulled myself together and thought, one more, and thats it. Bobby can go see the others, if any. We saw it, we liked. It required a fair amount of  renovation. We went back home. The price was really low, that means it was within our budget. It was the right size we wanted. BIG. So what was the catch?

Long story short,The house was taken by the bank and they were selling it , at almost 100,000 Euro less than the original price. The owners got a divorce and they put it in the market. It wasn't moving, so they gave it for rent , who gave it to someone else, who was growing weed in a professional set up. Finally, the couple couldn't pay, the bank took the house. The weed people were busted. The house was a mess with the insulations ripped out (to take in the smell, so one would detect it), ripping out some plastered walls. It wasn't maintained for 2 years at least and hence a run down look.

But I wasn't sure because of the weed thing and of course its going to take some money to renovate and bring it back to its original glory. We went with our real estate agent to see it again. By the end of the week we put in a bid. Like we did 2 other times. No hope at this point, since Bobby has this number which is always too low to bid. And I give him the silent treatment. The real estate guy bids for us from a low number until our maximum which was 10,000 below the asking price. The carnival holidays come and go and we still havent heard from the bank. Monday morning after holidays, when I was at work, I get a text message from Bobby. "We got it for 225,000 Euros! We have a house. " That magic number of his worked. God gave us a house for Bobby's desired value. It was 20,000 below the asking price! I couldn't comprehend what happened, and it still didn't sink in a week later. How did we get it?

Was God that interested to get a house for us in the right price, and the right house? Was God into giving us material gifts too?

Now all of a sudden, I was feeling was this really from God full heartedly, or was it a response to my whining?

It took a while for  me to feel grounded with this gift from God, when  I was reading "Radical" by David Plaat. That God gives us material gifts to bless others and most importantly to show His glory and kindness.

We had to quickly apply for the mortgage since my residence permit was expiring on March 1 and we had to have valid permits before applying. As we send the forms on February 28th  and the next day, my permit expired, it was another challenge I trusted God to see us through. With this time in the housing market, it wasn't easy to get a mortgage, and anything could happen for it to get rejected. I would only get a sticker in the passport as an alternative, while I waited for my new residence card on the 13th of March. As I went to the immigration office to get this sticker, the lady behind the counter said, that she couldn't give me the sticker. My immediate response was wear burlap and throw ashes on myself and begin mourning. It was only a few seconds later , that she said that my card was already here and she rather give me the card, than a sticker. Okay! burlap out and mourning ended. How quick I was to sinking! And if this itself wasn't enough, the date on my card begins from February 27th . Even though I was technically illegal for the past 13 days, this card says I had continuos permit without a single day without one. I never even prayed for this and never had to two sense to do it.... But my God, even thought of the minute things....

Yesterday, we heard that we got the mortgage. As we sign the documents , on the 2nd of April and get the key, and as we begin the renovation, I only pray that I continue to trust Him in ALL things and know that He has a good plan for me and my family.

Beloved

Five minutes and more for My Beloved this Friday.

My Elijah turned 3 this week and I can barely contain myself with emotions. I can spend time looking at him, hearing his words put into long sentences, asking whether I like his drawing, and his endless requests for juice in the big boys cup and apples in the green bowl. I went through his pictures of the last year, and notice how he has grown. The baby look a little faded.His eyes bright and curious as ever.He didn't like much of hugging or snuggling early on, but now hugs me tight when he comes into our bed at 4 a.m. A strong willed child, I call him. 

Beloved Elijah,I pray you grow up to be a kind and compassionate man. Filled with His knowledge and wisdom.  And remember that by your name, "Yahweh is your God".

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Luke 2:52

                                                                                                 

Preparing to journey to the Cross and beyond

I can't remember if I went for the service for the beginning of Lent last year. But I am still touched and moved by yesterdays service in leading us towards the beginning of our journey to the Cross. The meaning of Lent became clear to me, its true meaning, in the introductory note in the Ash Wednesday Service booklet.

Here is what it said:

This Ash Wednesday Liturgy leads us into the penitential season of Lent- a season marked by stripping away the non-essential and the unimportant, by listening in quietness to the groaning of all creation as it writhes in sinfulness, by reflecting on our own sinfulness and on God's gift of forgiveness which comes through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

We begin the season with powerful prayers of confession, greatly expanded over our usual brief corporate confession. We stand before God with contrite hearts, knowing our weaknesses and failings and not hiding from them.

At this point in most acts of confession, we receive the absolution of forgiveness but tonight it is delayed. Instead, firstly we hear the words:" Remember that you are dust , and to dust you shall return,"and we are so marked with the dust of ashes. The non - essential is stripped away. The unimportant is removed. In this act, we finally confess that all our finery, our clothing, our possessions, our abilities- all that we think that makes us who we are- is not at all who we are. We are only dust, and in and of ourselves stand as dusty beings before the Lord.

I had the privilege of reading the old Testament passage for this service taken from Isaiah 58:1-12

The true meaning of fasting

True Fasting

58 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
² For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them.
³ ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers.
⁴ Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard on high.
⁵ Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness^[a] will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹ The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

Bare

    Life seems to run smoothly when you have everything and are not in want. And that is indeed a gift from God.But, one tends to end up taking things for granted. As if being born in a Christian family was just there all the time. Jesus was in the picture all the time, except that with age I need spiritual glasses to see Him more clearly. Went to Sunday school, did the rights things(most of the time), part of church and various ministries. Its like getting dressed for work and Mondays are unbearable. God being a gentle Father, as we would like to see that face of God at all times, we choose to not remember that He is a wrathful God against any sin. Scores of people have dropped dead because they went away from God. Consider, Ananias and Sapphira, who were members of the early church and dropped dead when they lied about giving money. We would have dropped dead a hundred times by now, we godly Christian people. Salvation and His love was given to us , passed down by our Christian family, we never had to suffer to get it. I was not  persecuted to denounce my faith nor was I evangelizing in dangerous countries. Do I really know how much it cost for me to be saved? To live a life of luxury? 

We dress up and put make up to look good, to feel good. To cover up blemishes, to hide those baggy areas. I come to God , crossing off "quiet time" in my "To -do List ", sitting on the couch, with my feet up, with a cup of tea. Failing to realize, that I have entered Holy Ground. Removing my shoes and crawling to His presence, because He is the Great I AM. He sees our bare nakedness.The condition of our soul.Not our costumes or accomplishments or what we think we are. .And I am great material to "drop dead".

I am shaken and brought to my senses when I read Jesus' Words at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.

Not everyone who says to me "Lord, Lord,"will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, " Lord. Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?" Then I will tell them plainly," I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doers!" 

Black and White cake

I have been enjoying Elanas Pantry every since Tracey , over at Intend to Live told me about it. Every Thursday I host a Mums and Tots Bible Study. And these Mums are usually my guinea pigs to my dessert experiments. I have been grain free (except rice and  one or two bites during weekends) for the past 4 weeks. Wow! that' s a month. I haven't realized that. Anyways, back to this recipe. So, I have a mum who is gluten, & nut allergic. Among many other allergies. So we try to bake sensibly.

This one caught my attention . Easy. looked yummy.
I made the first batch with the recommended almond flour, popped it in the oven and then realized... hmmm.. she is allergic to nuts. And this has almond. And its a nut. Hmm.Okay. No need to panic. I have coconut flour.

So the below recipe is as Elana wrote. And then for the non almond batch , I just substituted the same amount for coconut flour. Completely different results. The coconut flour Black and White cake batter was like a cookie dough texture, when spread on to the tray. When it was baked , it was dry but still nice. But the almond flour Black and White cake was incredibulous (not a real word). Moist and dark and yummy. And can you believe it, if I said there wasn't any sugar or butter in it?

Here it is....The italics blue version is my modification.

Easy Gluten Free Black and White Cake

1 cup chocolate drops (I converted that into 170 g of melted dark chocolate bar with 70% cocoa.)
1/2  cup coconut milk
2 eggs
1 1/4  cups blanched almond flour(you can grind blanched almonds in a food processor or get it at De Tuinen in Netherlands. Its not as expensive as in the Ekoplaza)
1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt (I used sea salt)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white chocolate chips (I get Hershey's when my brother comes from the States. I only used half a cup.)

1. Melt the dark chocolate bar and coconut milk in a small saucepan over very low heat.(I melted the chocolate in the microwave and mixed the coconut milk.Trying to do everything in one dish. I used a big glass microwave proof Pyrex bowl)
2. When the chocolate is completely melted, remove from the saucepan.
3. Stir eggs into saucepan containing chocolate/coconut milk mixture.
4. Next, stir in the almond flour, salt, and baking soda.(For my second batch, I added the coconut flour instead of the almond flour.Used the same amount.)
5. Fold in 1/2 cup of the white chocolate chips.(I folded in  only the 1/2 cup.)
6. Grease an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with oil of your choice.
7. Pour the batter into the baking dish,then sprinkle remaining white chocolate chips over the batter.(Didn't sprinkle any.)
8. Bake at 350 degrees F (176.66 degrees C) for 20-25 minutes.
9. Cool and serve. (Jump in and eat. Tongue burning at your own risk.)

Right: With the coconut flour. Left: With the almond flour.

Again

My Five minutes for this Friday.. rather... the weekend

GO

Again.....

There are certain things that need to be done again and again. I love it when I finish five loads of laundry, ironed and put away. the sense of accomplishment is mind blowing. The sense that my house is in order fills my eyes with tears of joy. And then, I am back to square one. This week I had another 5 baskets of laundry because I pushed it away for 2 weeks. Not wanting to get up to the attic laundry area and fold and iron the washed and dried clothes from two weeks ago.  All our cupboards were empty of everything.  I had to force myself to go upstairs and start this process all over again. So I took my laptop and put on the latest Grey's Anatomy and finished two baskets. And while I watched and forgot what I was doing, I put in a few loads of laundry too. Today another basket was done, another load was put in, while I watched BBC Casualty and Holby City. The kids were away at a friends place after church. I had the time and I couldn't make any excuses.

We all have to do those repetitive mundane things to keep going. As Elizabeth George puts it, We are an assignment from God to our family. We may not like many of the things we need to do, but we better find a way to do it, and the find some joy in it, because we have a family. I am blessed with a family to care for and to cherish.(and clean toilets, do laundry, cook meals.....)

Looking forward to seeing you next week Mr. Laundry.

STOP

Dive when He says GO

Joining Lisa Jo Baker this Friday.....

A new Year to change things, to try new things, and to attempt to never repeat mistakes from last year. Thinking about all these on the first day of year, has suddenly caught me diving into the 11th day of this new year. The past 11 days have been a blur. The next 354 days can very well turn into a blur if I dont wait and take a few steps back on that diving board.

This write up started Friday, dragged into Saturday after attending the monthly AGLOW for Women and now here I am on a sunny but cold Sunday afternoon after a wonderful all Age Service to finish out my Five minute Friday.(This is not anymore a Five minute write up or Friday! :)).

The AGLOW speaker spoke on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and something that we are all entitled to as the children of God. These are meant to be used in situations that requires the use of these gifts. So that means I can ask for the gift of tongues and prophesy, if He wants me to use it.

And this mornings All Age Epiphany service had us flying from Eindhoven to India to Ireland and finally to Nigeria and back home. Exploring the ways Jesus' Words reached the people. With adults and children from these parts of the world showing us our story, we  learnt how we became who we are because of our ancestors accepting Christ through St. Thomas in India, St. Patrick in Ireland and Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther in Nigeria. And the service ended with a short video clip of a recent scene(2010) taking place in Papua New Guinea on how a multitude was waiting for a plane to land, so they could receive their first New Testaments in their native language. The joy and tears of receiving this gift was unforgettable. And we have Bibles of various versions, one for women with special study notes, a few children's bible lying around in every room. The preciousness caught hold of me strongly.
Our ancestors did the diving so that we could enjoy the benefits of knowing Him and be saved from damnation. And we take it all for granted.

I can choose to make resolutions to lose weight, de-clutter the house, finish 15 books this year....
but I choose to be grateful for this free gift of salvation and become more like Him. I may not be able to reach out and go on mission trips, but I can be a helpful, listening friend. I can cook a meal, or fold laundry for an overwhelmed new mum. I can dedicate at least 30 minutes of my time building my relationship with people. I can pray for them at all times. I can pray for those unsaved in my family. I can pray that HE will show me how to be His instrument ..... wherever He wants me to be and do whatever He want me to do....

I choose to dive  when He says GO.