Dinner

Tonight, we had a yummy summery dinner.

Now I don't usually like Tilapia... it's pretty bland and I'm not a big fish lover.  But this recipe is awesome!! and easy!  We had herb roasted potatoes on the side and they're delicious.

Tilapia
Mix together the following ingredients in a shallow dish (i use a cake pan):
flour
salt
pepper
garlic powder
thyme

(i don't have amounts... discover your inner chef and just guess. i use enough flour to cover the bottom of the pan and then some.  everything else... less. you pretty much can't go wrong).

Heat up oil in a non-stick pan on the stove.

Then dip the tilapia filets in the mixture and cover BOTH SIDES of the filet.

Sautee the fish a few minutes on each side.  It'll get brown and crispy-ish.  It's finished when it easily flakes with a fork.  After it's cooked, mix equal parts melted butter and lemon juice and pour over the fish.  (don't go too crazy - a little lemon butter sauce goes a long way.)

If you'd like better directions, click here for a short video (the video includes 3 way to cook tilapia but it's super short and helpful!)

Herb Roasted Potatoes (from mi madre)
the best part about this is i usually have everything on hand and just have to pick up $2 worth of potatoes at the store. EASY!!

1/4 c. oil
1 1/2 TBSP fresh lemon juice (i use the stuff in a bottle)
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried marjoram
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 1/2 lbs small red potatoes cut in wedges (i cut them into small bite-sized pieces)

Preheat oven to 400. combine all ingredients except potatoes in a LARGE bowl.  Stir to blend well.  Add potatoes to seasoning - toss/ stir to coat well.  Transfer potatoes to a large rimmed baking sheet, spreading into a single layer.  Bake until brown and tender, about 40 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking.  (i usually spray my cookie sheet with non-stick just to make life easier.)


if i get my act together i'll throw up some pictures but for now, happy cooking... and more importantly, happy eating :)


xoxo,
renee

Waiting

Yesterday, I went to the fabric store!  eeek! it is so fun to get new fabric for a new project. 

I wander up and down the aisles starring at all the beautiful colors and patterns as i start to form a better picture of what the quilt will look like.  Picking some up and holding them next to each other.  Putting some back.  (and everyone around you is doing the same thing).

Then you wait in line to get it cut.  If you're getting 10 different ones like I was, you probably have a nice little chat with the lady who is cutting your fabric.  Then you wait in line to pay.  Then you rush home so excited to start your project.

but, then you have to wash it all, so you can't start your project. 
you just have to wait.
and you can't combine colors because they could bleed.
so, depending on your fabrics it could take 2 or 3 loads.
wash and dry.
wait .
wash and dry.
wait.
wash and dry.
wait.

and it seems to take forever!! (for me anyway, who has the patience of a child when it comes to waiting for fun stuff)

isn't that how life is sometimes often?
we want something.
God says "wait."

that message is all through scripture.
Noah waited for the flood.
Abraham waited for a child.
The Israelites waited for the Messiah.
Joseph waited for his dreams to come to pass (meanwhile, he was in prison).
David waited to become king (meanwhile running away from the psychopath who was trying to kill him).

so sometimes, we just have to wait.
for our fabric to be done in the wash so we can make pretty quilts
or for more important things in life.

wait on The Lord.
He will do as he promised every time.

"Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!"  (Psalm 27:14)

waiting,
renee

size 27.

Don't you love when you're going along, reading scripture and God shows you something awesome?  Well, at least it seems awesome to you because God just made that verse look like a size 27 font on the page!?

So I'm reading along in the gospel of John, thinking about getting to the end of John by Sunday (to prepare for Easter) and i stumble across John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  Now, if you grew up in church, you've probably heard that verse a million times.  Maybe, (if you sometimes have pride slip in like i do) you saw John 14:6 and before you read the verse, you were thinking oh i know that one...  [no? am i the only one who gets mildly impressed with myself... only to realize seconds later my big memory verse accomplishment is nothing stacked up next to God!?]  i digress.

But what actually stuck out to me in size 27 was the previous verse (John 14:5) which reads "Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

Thomas asks that in response to Jesus saying he was going to his Father's house to prepare a place for his disciples and that he would come back and take them with him so they could be together.

Now, since we're on this side of that moment and we know the ending to the story (if you don't, see the entire book of Revelation), the answer to Thomas' question seems rather obvious.  Duh Thomas... Jesus went to heaven and He'll come back for his followers and He is the way.

But Thomas' questions jumped out to me this morning. Isn't it the heart's cry of every generation in humanity's long existence:  WHERE IS GOD AND WHAT IS THE WAY?

Thomas wanted to know, and so has everybody (on some level) since Adam and Eve.

You know, when i'm driving to some place new, i often think "how did people get to new places before GPS?" (seriously, no joke.) like, did they use maps? okay maybe their friend at the destination told them. but what about before then? before phones? people just rode their horses and hoped they ended up in the right place? what about people that were directionally challenged... they were trying to get to nebraska from illinois and all of the sudden they're in canada because they thought north was west?

i'm just saying... maybe in our era of GPS and mapquest and free wifi on airplanes it's hard to imagine Thomas' question as legit... If we don't know where you're going, how can we know the way? (just google it, Thomas.)

have you asked that question? God, where did you go? what is the way to you?

I love Jesus' answer (although I wish I could have heard his tone- did he have a duh tone or a gracious tone? or a 2nd grade teacher tone? probably gracious.) 

I am the way!!!

That's what Jesus said.  Stick with me, Thomas.  I'm the way.  You'll get there. 

Jesus is saying it to you too.  "Stick with me, [fill in your name].  I'm the way.  You'll get there." 

That's Easter for ya. But before we get to the part where Jesus raises from the... well, I don't want to give away the ending. Let's just say, there's a lot of pain and tragedy to go through before we get to Sunday's celebration.


reflective & thankful,

renee  

where am i?

there are lots of clothes that are too tightthere are also lots of sweatpants (i think looking apathetic is in here)
there is lots of screaming & cackling
and running
and eyerolls
and drama.
there are people from over 15 countries.

so... where am i?

Come back wanderer

This past Tuesday marked the last teaching from Beth Moore on the book of James.  It's hard for me to articulate in words all that I've learned.  Today, I'll just try to articulate one thing (because if I tried for ALL, this post would be at least 12 pages long, and none of us wants that... especially you, i'm sure).

Have you ever read the book of James straight through?  or at least the ending?  it seems to have an atypical, abrupt ending.  These are the last 7 verses:

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins. 

The end.

Keep in mind, it's a letter.  So, no goodbye, no peace out, no farewell, no see ya on the flipside.  Just "whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins." 

Beth suggested that perhaps this ending was intentional and personal for the letter's author.  

James was Jesus' brother (well, half brother...)  Can you imagine being the sibling of Jesus? Talk about the "seemingly" perfect oldest child.  Scriptures tell us that Jesus siblings thought he was crazy.  More specifically, "OUT OF HIS MIND" (Mark 3:21).  Fast forward to the crucifixion.  No doubt the siblings would have known He was being crucified, and although they may have thought He was nutso, they likely were still disturbed and devastated.  I wonder if there was any regret... like, you think someone is going to live until they're old and gray and your personal issues with them will go away and then before you know it, they die a terrible death at age 33 and you wish you would have said something.

But then, check out 1 Corinthians 15: 4-7 

[Christ] was buried, he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James...  

Beth (Moore) taught me that perhaps this might have been the turning point for James.  Here he thought Jesus was dead and gone.  He would have heard people claim Jesus was God but he also thought his brother was crazy.  And he didn't have the scriptural accounts we have today, so he didn't know the end of the story.  So, Jesus, (dead and gone in James' mind) APPEARS TO JAMES.

Do you think that maybe James was walking along, going to the market or something when he heard someone call out "James" from behind him?  And you know how you can recognize familiar voices even though you can't see the person... well imagine if you heard the voice of someone who was supposed to be dead.  That'd sure as heck stop me in my tracks.  Then James would have turned around, seen his dear brother who he thought he had heard, and probably have been speechless.

I wonder if that was it.  That was James' moment and everything suddenly made sense, and he knew in fact, that Jesus was not a lunatic, but rather, He was who He said He was - the Messiah.     

AND furthermore, this Messiah did not condemn James or give him an "I told you so."  He didn't spit in James' face or act superior or... all the other things James would have deserved.  Rather, He graciously appeared to James and James' eyes were opened.  

When you think about it that way, the seemingly abrupt ending of James' letter makes more sense.  Read it again:

My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

James was a wanderer. and his BROTHER brought him back to the truth.  Jesus graciously and lovingly turned James from the error of his way, saved him from death, and covered over his multitude of sins in the ultimate way. 

This ending isn't abrupt or weird.  It is personal.  It's real.  It's the most important moment of James' life, and he shares it with his original audience and with us today.  As if to say, don't forget you were wandering and someone turned you from the error of your way, saving you from death.  Now, do the same for a brother or sister- point them back in the right direction that they may run back home to the sweet embrace of Jesus who is always full of mercy.

Wow. I am in awe.

Grateful, 
Renee   

Wednesday

I stumbled across this website today.  It looks full of delicious & healthy recipes! I can't wait to try something from it on next week's menu.

Tomorrow, i'm headed to Chicago.  I'm trying not to call it "home" because right now, our home is Lincoln, Nebraska.  And I want to be at home here in Lincoln rather than always be longing for my previous home.  At the same time, Chicago and its greater suburban area have a special place in my heart.

I'm almost done with this book.  It's good.  Especially if you are married or ever think you might be married ;) 

Speaking of books, I requested books at the library that had long waiting lists and they all came in at the same time! And they're all big!  Yikes!  Meanwhile, I haven't been reading because I've been a crazy sewing nutcase.


We have been without a car yesterday and today, (it's @ the mechanic) so i might resort to a run instead of the crazy exercise class i usually attend.  keyword, might.

I came here to blog and kill time waiting for my 10:30 lesson to show.  He never did.  So I think I'll go sew until the next estudiante arrives.  I find it semi- irritating when people just don't show up.  But actually, it means i get paid and don't work, so most of the time, it's no big deal.  It happened yesterday too. 


Happy Thursday,
Ren