Bread without Yeast

I should be doing something else right now. But instead I'm looking up recipes to make bread without yeast.

Why?

I'm not sure.

At least the only reason I have is because it is a thought that I believe comes from God. It's come to me at least 4-6 times in the past month. What a weird thought..."hey - I should learn how to make bread. And I don't think it should have any yeast."

I know there's a lot of biblical stuff in yeast. Can't say I know too much about it all except that God generally thinks we should avoid it. And it typically represents bad stuff. (Is this right - any yeast bible experts out there?)

In any case - I think God wants to me have on hand the recipe (and maybe an attempt or 2 under my belt) and all the ingredients.

How long do things like cornmeal, shortening and flour last? A long time, right? It just hit me that this could be some sort of preparation... a suggestion by God to have this knowledge and this preparation on-hand. Similar to my garden-thing... well, I'll let you know how my first bread-attempt goes. Probably about as good as my garden is going (not good - look for an update on that soon).

I sure hope God works well with fumbling attempts to follow. That's all I've got.

The Last will be First

Lately Andrew is concerned about whether he gets to go first (mostly vs his brother!). "Mommy - can I have the first Capri-Sun? the first turn? the first cup of milk? is this the first bath?" And on and on.

A few days ago I began to tell him about what Jesus says...that if we are following Jesus then we need to know that He says the first will end up being last and the last will end up being first. I explained that could mean something as simple as giving Luke the first cinnamon roll instead of asking for it himself. At first he didn't like this. But today he began saying "mommy - luke can go first...I'll be last." I don't know if it'll stick but I told him that made mommy's heart happy!

I was putting pasta into bowls for dinner tonight and Andrew said "Mommy - can I have the pink bowl? Jesus doesn't say anything about bowls, does he?!"

We're having a baby!!!

Yep, that's right. The Pattersons are having number 3. Woo hoo. We've told many of our friends now and our family. So - why not post it on the blog, now right?!

This baby is because of the timing and plans of the Lord. No doubt.

I had been diagnosed with a condition in my past called "PCOS." Basically - good luck ovulating...maybe a few times a year at most. Our first son we had the help of fertility medication. Each time they'd say "sorry - you didn't ovulate." But eventually we ended up pregnant. Our second one, we took one pill; the doctor told us it didn't work. And then the next month we got pregnant. So we weren't quite sure what happened there. And this time: nada. Just us and God.

God began telling people (Bill, me and a few friends) that He had planned a third baby for us. I think it was almost a year ago now when we first heard that. He's been doing that to a lot of people lately. Check out this post on my friend's blog: http://www.stevemanuel.net/Steven_Manuel/Blog./Entries/2009/6/3_The_God_Who_Makes_Babies.html

When I went in for the "confirmation of pregnancy" visit, the doctor (not my normal doc) said to me "in my experience it is highly unusual for this condition to reverse itself. And what you're telling me about the regularity of your cycle leads me to believe that that is, in fact, what has happened."

I wanted to say "Yep. Do you know Jesus? Guess what? Turns out He still heals people."

Anyway - I'm almost 10 weeks. Due January 15. And yes: we'll find out what we're having. That'll be a post sometime in September!

Snake Bite!

About 2 weeks ago I had a weird dream. I got a snake bite on the hand (between the thumb and first finger in that fleshy part). Not a backyard-kind-of-snake, but a SNAKE. It was black. It looked sort of like the picture I selected here. In the dream, I had to grab it by the tail and actually pull it's 2 fangs out of my hand and then throw it away from me. And, weirdly, I didn't seem to be hurt.

This dream happened right before I woke up in the morning, so I awakened thinking "ooohhh gross. That was awful." And I promptly dismissed it and moved on. It definitely left an impression, but I didn't have a feeling it was spiritually important at that time.

I'm reading a LOT in the book of Acts lately. And about 4 days ago I re-read the part at the very end when Paul is on Malta. He gets a snake bite - on the hand! And the island people want to treat him like a god because they're waiting for him to die and nothing ever happens to him.

So - I stop cold while I'm reading. And immediately remember my dream. But then I get myself confused thinking "did I just read this same passage a week or 2 ago and THAT's what I'm remembering?" But nope - I sure did have that dream.

I'd love to know what you think. I now believe the Lord has something for me in this. Any thoughts or interpretations? On my dream or on that passage in Acts?

Season of Blessing

We've definitely been in a season of blessing lately. Our family is close. Our boys are growing like weeds and are secure and loving. Our friendships are deepening. There are babies being born in our community everywhere we look. We find ourselves genuinely enjoying our home and our life right now. Sure, there are days when none of this is true for a moment but, overall, looking back at the recent past, we've been in a season of blessing.

So, I got curious.... what does God say in scripture about these times? Does my version of being blessed line up with God's? I like this verse in Ezekiel and the description of God's blessing that it gives:

Ezekiel 34:25-27

25 " 'I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety. 26 I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. 27 The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them.

Peaceful Rest

God fights off our enemies

Growth

Fruit and harvest

Security in Him

Freedom from oppression or slavery of our past

So, yeah, I think it's lining up well. And important to note; there's nothing to do here but receive it. And know that it glorifies the Lord. I guess He can bring himself glory in any number of ways, but one way he sometimes does it is to bless those who follow him. Occasionally I find it hard to accept - hard to just sit back and go "ok - bring it on." My flesh wants to figure out when something is going to go wrong or think up reason I don't deserve it or wonder if it just simply isn't true - like I'm delusional or something. But - the truth is - God's heart and character is to bless those who remain faithful to Him. Simple as that.

Morning Coffee = Love

Every morning Bill makes coffee. He gets up around 5am and I get up around 6am, so the coffee is ready and waiting when I come down. To me, this is love. There used to be mornings when I would get up and Bill was so engrossed in work that he hadn't yet made the coffee. I think the look of disappointment on my face said it all. That hasn't happened in a long time. We both acknowledged that when he makes coffee for us in the morning, it's a way that he loves me.

Last night we were going to bed and I noticed he was doing something with the coffeemaker. He said "I'm just making your coffee now since I won't be here in the morning."

That's love, people.

And PS - Our favorite is Seattle's Best: Cinnabon flavor.

Celebrating! Joy! Bahamas!

Bill and I are here in the Bahamas. We are celebrating! My 32nd birthday and our 10 year anniversary. And we're just celebrating with joy all the goodness and blessing that is in our lives these days.

And since I'm paying $10/day for internet, I thought -- why not put up a blog post with some pictures so that you can all celebrate with us?!

The Hilton staff sent up a chocolate dessert for my birthday last night. The restaurant we ate at was quaint with top-quality food - a real treat. We've been sent a bottle of wine and gift certificate for dinner from my parents. There's lots of sunshine and beautiful water. We have time to read and talk together. We get to sleep in a little and have dinners out. All in all, it's just a treat. So - join us in celebrating!

We miss our boys. But I just keep thinking that I would miss out on the joy of these moments if I was so focused on them that I couldn't experience what's right in front of me. So we rest in the fact that our family is caring well for them. And we just enjoy the blessing we've been given.