Skip to main content

Rest, Reflection, and Revision

I have decided that July and August will serve as a type of Sabbath rest from blogging. Instead of writing something new, I will repost from my archives.  

This week, I am reposting from March 4, 2023. The title is "Low and Slow." I hope you enjoyed it. It certainly was a good reminder for me. 


LOW & SLOW

   I am trying a new pot roast recipe with a surprising ingredient: dill pickle juice. Garlic is one of the not so surprising elements. Aw garlic... extra garlic, onion, and herbs have always found their way into dishes I prepare. Recently, I upgraded from minced garlic to fresh garlic that I roasted myself. Yum!

    Today, I am especially grateful for my friend of busy days, the crock pot. A long list of demands and errands will fill my day, but I still would like a nice dinner, and pot roast is one of my favorites that does not require constant attention.  All I had to do was get everything in the pot so it could cook low and slow.  Once all the tasks of the day are done, the aromas will welcome us to enjoy a juicy and tender roast with veggies.  Double Yum!!

    Peeling the garlic cloves out of the bulb proved tedious, and I was starting to go through the ever-present "list of things to do" in my head. Suddenly, I remembered just how much I enjoyed learning about garlic confit, the succulently textured and spreadable form of garlic.  My first batch was a big one, and I extracted many cloves with joy for the excitement of something new.

    Moments like these are inclined to remind me of a counterintuitive detail of the gospels: Jesus never seemed to be in a hurry, yet He had a lot of crucial tasks to perform. There is no exaggeration in the word “crucial” because many of His tasks were to tend to life-or-death situations. His last charge was the most crucial job of all time!

    Despite it all, He went through life humbly and slowly. He bewildered His disciples then as He does today. We still want to hurry things along and get more done. We would be wise to humble ourselves more often and live slower lives. Maybe the slower pace would allow more joy to creep in and less passion to leak out.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Considerate Restoration

A powerhouse mentor recently expounded on the topic of disappointment in light of the beauty of God. Tearfully she testified that beholding the Lord’s beauty utterly obliterates disappointment. The recipient of majesty is left with only one response: God is worth it all. But what exactly is disappointment? An AI overview explains: “Disappointment is the feeling of dissatisfaction, sadness, or frustration that occurs when one’s hopes, expectations, or desires are not met. It is a psychological response to a gap between reality and what was anticipated.” A psychological response to a gap between reality and what was anticipated—disappointment is a gap! What I see in Scripture is that disappointment is a place almost all believers will eventually find themselves. Some may even live there for a season, because believers are in a constant state of trusting God’s goodness while living in a fallen world. Joseph is often preached as a prime example of overcoming disappointment. Yet when I read...
Post a Comment
Read more

Revisting: If I Were a Bird & The Season of the Ox

Today I'm revisting two posts from June of this year. My regular devotional reading has me back in Ezekiel and back to the four living creatures. With the Hebrew calendar ending in September, today was the first day I asked the Lord for my word for this upcoming Hebrew year. All things considered, I felt it necessary to revist these posts. Now, I know of at least one dream that was not from the Lord. I'm not sure I am done learning about the ox, but I've learned a little.  If I were a Bird Recently I had three separate people, in three distinct settings begin a thought with, "If I were a bird."  Bizarre, right? At the first comment, I began to joyfully hear Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird" song in my head. By the third comment, in a matter of just forty-eight hours, I was curious. I could not recall ever hearing anyone share such a thought before, and then to have a few in a short matter of time had me wondering. Seemed either an odd coincidence...
Post a Comment
Read more

Resisting: Wisdom & Worth

This week's revisited archived post is from May 26, 2023.  Yesterday I finished the short series Howard's End . The main character, Margaret Schlegel, gives a beautiful explanation of worth in regard to her marriage choice. Margaret's wise words to her sister, "I do not intend to correct him, or reform him. Only connect. That is the whole of my sermon. I have not undertaken to fashion a husband to suit myself using Henry's soul as raw materials." Wisdom & Worth Wedding season is peaking! What better book to read than the Song of Solomon in a month full of marriage? The book of poems is rather sensual for biblical times and reflects God's intense desire for us, His bride; but there is more... Interestingly, the Song of Solomon is considered one of the five books of wisdom and, more specifically, one of the three books of Solomon's wisdom.   In chapter two the bride says, "My lover has arrived and he's speaking to me!" (MSG) What is He ...
1 comment
Read more