don’t do squat

“Done with the entire coffee shop Christian culture where we sit around and analyze theology yet don’t do squat to help any one” - Matthew Barnett (twitter)

 

 

This quote accurately talks about a real church problem.  How it affected a friend.

 

A friend of mine told me how she went to coffee shops many days to occupy her time since she and her husband had both lost their jobs.   She’d sip coffee and check email, hoping for a response to the hundreds of resumes sent.  Nothing.  People were coming, going, sitting, drinking, discussing and then leaving.  While she was going through hell.

I imagined her sitting in one of those oversized chairs sorting thru her thoughts and trying to make sense of the mess their life was now in.  She would also be trying to find answers with God.  Nothing.  No answers.  No God voice.  I think this has happened to a lot of people who have lost jobs or have broken marriages or lost someone they loved … you get the idea.

Truly she was a hurting woman.  Friends have told me that she was wearing the pain.  Her countenance showed the misery.  Which was hard to visualize since she’s the kind of girl that usually carried a genuinely great attitude.  It’s been quite a few years since we’ve worked together, I remember her laugh being really contagious.

Going into a coffee shop is pretty easy to pick out the christians.  They love the religious Bible talk, delving into deep spiritual analogies or discussing “The Christian Culture.”

Nah, she’s not an evesdropper, but, hey!  it’s kind of hard not to when everyone is as close to ya’ as they are. And that is the fact I want to focus on.

Fact:

• Coffee shops are small.

• People are close together.

• Wouldn’t it be easy to see a women with tears streaming down a cheek?

Sad. No body stopped to say “friend, you look down.  Is everything alright?” of “Do you want to talk?”

How can a broken woman be surrounded day after day by God’s best (Pastor’s, church leaders and regular church people) and yet still be over looked?

I think that all of these people missed the meaning behind the Good Samaritan. Unfortunately my friend was at the coffee shop a lot and this ignorant behavior reinforced the fear my friend had ‘that even God didn’t care about her anymore.

God really does care.

And God was there with her, just very quietly.

I am aware that people’s problems are not mine to fix, but I can point them to Him (God) for their heart issues.  Listening and showing care makes a bigger difference than I have given it credit in the past.

When I heard how my friend was ignored.  I felt angry, but then I realized that many of us are just too comfy with our own lives to bother with someone else’s pain.

I resolved that I will look into people’s eyes and linger a moment when asking someone how they are … how they REALLY are, especially if they are sitting in a coffee shop … alone.

Your life makes a difference.  Be intensional about it.

My Birthday Lesson

*My blog post earlier today could have been misunderstood from the way I worded my thoughts.

I learned a big lesson.

My intentions don’t matter as much as my actions. “Say what I mean and mean what I say.” – Brady Boyd

My intentions were to write a funny little blog, but I am embarrassed to say is I made my family look bad instead.  I am sorry.

My husband is thoughtful and generous beyond me.  For a very long time he has been thinking of ways to buy me a new MacBook.  He was finally able to last month, even though it wasn’t my birthday, yet. He just didn’t want to wait and gave to to me early.  I received my beautiful new MacBook Pro complete with LighteningBolt and FaceTime.  I don’t even know what to do with those!

Friday was my birthday.

We had chocolate cake, pizza and hung out together as a family.  It was great!

Birthday morning I opened a beautifully wrapped gift.  It was a CAN OPENER!!!  

*Unless specifically requested, appliance shouldn’t be given as gifts.

Here’s the thing, I break can openers … while opening cans. How do I do that?

I can’t figure out what I do wrong, but the dumb things break.  It’s not my fault, of course.

It doesn’t matter if I buy a cheap one from a “Dollar” store or a name brand one.

The “can opener” to the right was my resolve from all the broken ones.  I “borrowed” it from my  husband’s camping gear. I think that he really wanted his back before I broke that one too. I needed a real can opener.

The gift was thoughtful and FREE, which scores BIG points in our home.  My husband is pretty good at being King of Free.

For anybody who thinks this was a cheesy of a gift, remember?  My real GIFT had already been given to me.

I am typing on it right now.

Apple is AWESOME!

Just because she asked

My daughter asked.  So I did.

It really wasn’t a difficult decision, here’s why.  She had cookie dough mixing, the hot oven ready  and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast was on TV (can you believe I have never seen it?).   I was sucked into staying up until 1:00 am to see the lunar eclipse with her.

She asked, so I did.

My child is growing into a beautiful person.  A privilege to be witnessing her life’s journey.

We watched the movie and munched on yummy chocolate cookies.

I heard her say “I think these are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made!”

How amazing is that?  It wasn’t arrogant, but just an honest realization that she had done something that was good.  I think that is a mom-treasury moment.  It made me feel good that she felt good.

When the eclipse finally came around, we wrapped up in blankets, ooooh’d, took some pics and went to bed.  That was it.

She asked.  So I did.  I am so glad I was there.

How a Stained Glass Lamp Shade is Made

Wow!  I made this lamp for DeeDee, a friend in Pennsylvania.   Here are the steps on how I did it.

Step # 1 … very important.  Pick out a pretty piece of glass.  And consider what parts of the glass would look the best.

I scored (scratched) the glass and broke them into the shapes I wanted.  The tool that scores the glass looks a lot like a water pistol except that it has a tiny wheel (made of carbide steel).  The metal bar in the pic is a my jig. Each piece is cut so that  all are exactly the same size and angle.

Next, each piece is wrapped with copper foil (looks like a roll of tape) and labeled for placement.  Also, so that I don’t solder the wrong side up and the right side down.  Uh, yeah I have done that!   Glass has two sides and both look VERY different, stripes on one side and not on the other.  Even the texture can be  different.

Each set of 3 pieces were then soldered together to make one side of the lamp.  This lamp shade had 6 sides.

Here the piece is starting to take a 3-D shape.  Masking tape works great holding the panels together until the solder is put to work.

Some decorative wire and a few beads were then added for a special touch.

Every stained glass piece I have ever made is unique.

I really like how it turned out, lovely, just like DeeDee.

A Powerless facebook Group

Did I every tell you about the first time I was commissioned to create a facebook group?  It was for a statewide Christian women’s conference attended by 2,000 + women.  So excited!   I love working on my Mac.  I also love social networks.   Perfect reason for me to research and learn a new computer skill.

I added links, loaded pics, had a promo video and over 250 members of the group right off the start. Yeah, I was very proud of my accomplishment.  Shortly after that, we moved out of the state and I no longer wished to be associated with group.  Since I had done it for free, I didn’t feel any obligation to keep running and updating the group’s page.

I politely bowed out, made sure that the right woman was listed as the administrator, told her how to manage it and removed myself from the group.   A few weeks later I started receiving intense emails of “Help” and “I don’t know what to do” from the admin I had left in charge.

Apparently, the group page had been hi-jacked by a porn group.  The New Porn Admin (NPA) had completely blocked the previous admin and would not give up control of the group.  And had posted her variety of “helpful information.”

Many of the Christian women in the group were panicking, posting, questioning and dialoging with NPA.

• “Is this was the kind of material that reflects Christian beliefs?”
• “I am uncomfortable with these photos”
• “Please take these pics off, please, please … please (little powerless voice)”

Of course they were uncomfortable.  Of course the photos were inappropriate.  Yes, this is the internet.  Hackers and scum are out there looking to discredit anything that is good and pure.  I have observed that many people associated with this group are unaware of how blatant porn is in our world today.  They also reacted weakly.

So, the NPA politely claimed that this was “healthy info” and “informative.”  When I read the posts and replies, I started laughing out loud.  The predicament was so ironic and yet so pathetic.  The group was stuck!  Once a group has been hi-jacked (for what ever reason), there is nothing that facebook can or will do.

The irony was in the fact that a Christian group, people who know the living God, had succumbed to trickery of the dirty and sleezy.  Maybe facebook didn’t have the group’s back by shutting down the group’s page, but every women who identified herself with the group had the power to remove herself from the group and to tell her friends to do the same!  Instead many hundred’s of women did nothing, and few said “tisk tisk, what a shame.  What can we do?”  Powerless.  They did nothing.

What do you think?

Mean letters are not loving

All morning I have been thinking about a person who wrote me a mean letter.  I did respond to her with a calm manner, but she was choosing unable to reciprocate.   I guess she hates me.  No, she never said “I hate you!”  But she never respond back to me.  Is that love?  uhh … No.  What else should I think?  In fact she never gave me a chance, she never heard my side of “the” story.  Too bad.  I didn’t do all of the things that she accused me of.  I am sad that we no longer have a relationship.  We have known each other a really long time.   I assumed we could understand each other’s faults and still get along.

I am glad that I chose to handle the “Mean Letter” with calm and not take the offense (artillery … OK I might have used my talking-guns in the past).  A month before this I received a different Mean Letter, by a different person that I refer to as “W.”  I chose to respond to her with gentleness, too.  That wasn’t good enough for her, I think she wanted an email fight.  ”You can win ‘W’ .  I am available to resolve misunderstandings, but I won’t fight with you.”

 

Mean letters are never never helpful.  Usually they come from many mental conversations.  I am talking about when you reherse a conversation and pretend that you know exactly what the other person will say.  And you have all the right words to convince them of how they wrong they are.  Over and over you talk in your head, blood pressure increasing, sleep at night is disrupted, no resolve.  I dare to say that most conflicts are exaggerated more than they are truly fact.  Get that facts!  Talk to the person right away.  Don’t put it off just because it is uncomfortable.  The greatest peace-makers do not run away from conflict and pretend that it didn’t exist.  A true peacemaker makes peace with a problem, and resolves it.

 

If you have a person that deserves a Mean Letter, you shouldn’t send it.

These two people who unleashed their wrath, could have talked to me.

If you receive a Mean Letter, listen to what is true and own up to real mistakes.  Then throw it away and move on.

 

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

 

Love matters.  Love.

 

 

 

Where in this world are you?

Yeah, I have been on a blog-break.  I didn’t plan to leave my blog out there dangling, but I did.  I have been doing some internal house cleaning and have been mentally  preparing my ideas for posts that are soon to come.

* The Bus Stop (AKA neighbors at some slightly-better-than-ghetto apartments)

* My new house

* ???

* Some of my new glass shop stuff

Moving has been a busy thing … gotta get going on that garage pile of boxes.  I will be back shortly.  The move will be complete in 12 days!

Spadini (spah-dee’-nee)

This Italian appetizer, reminds me of my childhood  favorite restaurant, Maria’s. I wonder, do they deliver?

 

For those of you who have never heard of a Spadini.  It’s a grilled cheese sandwich gone crazy.  It might even change your life!

A triple layer (mozzarella) cheese sandwich, battered and deep fried.

Drizzled over the top is a lemon-butter sauce with capers  (little green round things).

 

On special occasions, when I was a kid, my family would drive up the road and order pizza from Maria’s Restaurant.  I remember going there with my Italian grandparents and wanting them to be as impressed as I was.  Their pizza was chewy, cheesy & yummy.  After my brother had worked there a few years,  he’d experiment on us with his versions of their dish at home.  When my husband and I were dating, he’d occasionally take me to Maria’s.  It was a double love affair!  My then fiancee husband and Spadini!

 

Grocery List:

12 slices of white bread (crusts cut off)

4 eggs

1/4 Cup parmesan cheese

8 slices of mozzarella cheese

1/2 stick of butter

2 Tbs lemon juice

1 jar of capers

Oil for frying

Assembly:

1. Layer each sandwich:  bread-cheese-bread-cheese-bread
2. Slice the crusts off and make sure the cheese is tucked inside.
3. Poke 5 or 6 toothpicks into the sandwich to hold it together while frying.
4. Heat oil in a skillet (med high) or deep fryer.
5. Mix egg & parmesan cheese together.
6. Dip sandwich into batter and cover all sides well.
7. Fry the sandwich on each side.  Being careful to seal each side until golden brown.
8. Best results come from deep frying the Spadini 2 x.
9. Take tooth picks out and drizzle lemon/butter sauce with capers (drained) over the sandwich.

Crazy Cheese

Orchard Lake Mini Cheesecake

We have been practically inhaling mini cheesecakes lately.  I was practicing for a cream cheese contest. Fortunately I have inherited a fabulous recipe called Orchard Lake Cheesecake.  It has a sugar cookie-type crust, strawberries and chocolate sauce.  The recipe has been in our family for over 30 years.

 

Raspberries with red wine reduction sauce.

Thus, lots of practicing!  ”S” & “C” were a huge help since they love decorating the dishes.  They made (home-made) chocolate sauce, carmel and a red wine reduction sauce.  Do I need to say yum?  No kidding, the sauce was as decadent as the mini cheesecake.

My name is Suzanne.  I make cheesecake.  Really good cheesecake.  In fact my friends say it is a breakfast food.

 

Suzanne’s Mini Cheesecake Recipe

All ingredients at room temp. (very important)

Smear really soft butter inside 12 cup cake pockets, then dust lightly with flour.

Crust:
3/4 Cup All purpose flour
1/3 Cup sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons of butter
1 egg yolk

Mix all 4 ingredients with a fork until pea size balls.
Then press into 12 cup cake compartments.

Lightly pat the dough down on the bottom and slightly up sides.

This makes a sugar cookie-like crust.

Bake @ 350 for 7 mins. (Golden brown) Then cool.

Batter:
1 (8oz) pkg of cream cheese (not low-fat or Neufchâtel)
1 egg
1 Tbs milk
1 Tbs flour
1/3 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp orange juice

Mix cream cheese in a mixer until smooth.

Add egg, milk, flour and sugar one at a time. Make sure that each is mixed in well before adding the next.

Then add vanilla and orange juice.

Pour into the cup cake tin. Should fill all 12 about 2/3 full.

Bake @ 350 for 20 mins. leave them in the oven to cool (turn off the oven).

I filled the mini cheesecakes with fresh raspberries or strawberries and drizzled them with chocolate syrup or a red wine reduction sauce (my fav!)

You can store them in the freezer, too.

Leave a comment if you have questions.

God Will Never Let You Down – Part 2.

Through 2009, my husband and I had been pastors for 25 years.  We had brought good and advanced each church we were part of into better physical and spiritual condition.

*Disclaimer: I know we were not perfect.

In-spite of all the excellence, we were hurled into in a dead-end-life that we didn’t deserve.  My only resolve was in the thinking that our passion for quality ministry was more than their religious-selves could take, we’ve been sabotaged, fired and had a forced resignation (that’s when it’s made to look like you wanted to leave).  After the last forced resignation, we were fortunate to sell our home quickly and we packed our stuff into storage and got the heck out’ a there!  A few job opportunities have twinkled then faded away. Mostly nothing happened. No job for my husband.  No voice from God for direction.

Dead-end-life: noun; a situation offering no prospects of progress or development. Might as well eat dirt.

Where was God’s faithfulness and promise’s of overflowing and abundance?

Why didn’t God answer?

Why didn’t God provide?

Have heard these over used phrases  … “Ask and you will receive” or “anything you ask in my name will be given.”  I am not bitter,  I am not defeatist.  I am ticked!  We have asked God for help.  No answers yet, no resolve.

I wish I had an answer for why God allows suffering or better yet why life is unfair.

My real question sits on the wonder, how deep is my faith in God?  Is it associated with the amount of “blessing” and good fortune?   You may never know your own answer until you go through deep suffering.

A book in the Bible called Hebrews has a chapter (11) which is one of my favorites, it is often called:

The Hall of Faith

… stories of Noah, David, Israel, Moses, the prophets …

“They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection.

Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn’t deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.” - Hebrews 11  (message version)

I personally thought it was my right to be in the first group. Disappointedly, I admit, I fell into the latter one and almost lost my faith in God because I believed a lie.  The lie was that I believed that there was only one group, there are two. I didn’t get to choose.  Nobody does.

Even though I don’t understand why God allows suffering, I will trust him.  I will continue to look to Him for direction.  I will wait for Him to move us into our next phase of life.

My hope is in something more than just this life on Earth.