Easy and Decadent Chocolate Mousse

Holy Easy Recipe, Batman!!

Seriously. It’s easy. It’s delicious. It’s decadent. It’s chocolate. Chocolate mousse.

The first time I ever had chocolate mousse was on a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico with my Girl Scout Troop and I was 14. It was drizzled with Kaluhua and oh man. It was delicious.

I had intended to make this at Christmas but I just never got around to it. So here we are coming up on Valentine’s Day and oh what a treat this would be to make for your favorite chocolate lover(s).

What you will need:

8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

2 cups of heavy whipping cream, evenly divided

24 1 ½ inch pastry shells (or make a parfait with champagne flutes)

Raspberries or strawberries for garnish

 

1. Put the chocolate chips into a 2 quart mixing bowl (glass). Bring 1 cup of the heavy whipping cream to a boil (stirring regularly) and pour over chocolate chips. Let sit for a few minutes to melt the chocolate. Stir until smooth and let cool to room temperature.
   (If it looks like it’s cooling off before fully mixed together, put about 3 cups of water into a pot on the stove, place the mixing bowl over the pot and stir. Steam from the pot will heat the bowl just enough).
    
2. While the chocolate mixture is cooling, whip the remaining heavy cream until stiff peaks form, then fold in chocolate mixture. *Be careful not to over whip or you will end up with butter.*  Pipe or spoon mousse into pastry shells. Garnish as desired with raspberries or strawberries

I folded the whip cream into the chocolate mixture and it turned out fine so I suppose it could work either way. One thing to note when folding, try to keep motion going in one direction like clockwise or counterclockwise.

The first time I made this recipe, I created a raspberry “compote” or syrup and layered into champagne flutes to make a sort of parfait. You can make the mousse ahead of time and keep chilled until you need to spoon or pipe it into pastry shells or other dish. As is with the pastry shells, it should make 24 servings…fewer if you go the parfait route.


** I will be adding a photo soon - Blogger is giving me issues **

Pistachio Balls

Easy, quick dessert that is great for those holiday parties and can be a little on the “rich” side of desserty sweetness.

I had this recipe written down somewhere on a piece of paper which now is nowhere to be found. Usually I am great about keeping up with those tiny pieces of paper – I have a box of mementos and things like movie ticket stubs. It could be in a journal or small notebook that is filled with other random things like my thoughts, budget/account balances, and old work schedules when I worked in retail.

I thought about renaming the pistachio balls to Grinch Balls because they end up a light green in color but the implications and my inner censorship board nixed that idea. Maybe it is a little 4^th grade juvenile humor but I try to stay away from wording that creates an unwanted double entendre.

Lesson learned: keep all recipes in a binder or index card box.

A short list of ingredients usually indicates the level of simplicity. If you have one that contradicts my theory, please let me know.

You will need:

1 – 16 oz. box of confectioner sugar/powdered sugar

1 – small box of pistachio pudding

1/3 cup of light cream (or just cream – I used light whipping cream and it turned out ok)

¼ cup of margarine (or butter – unsalted – I used softened butter. It was what I had in the fridge)

*Powder sugar, colored sugar, nuts, or sprinkles for decoration*

 

Combine the sugar and pudding into a medium to large bowl

Add the cream and butter

Knead/mix until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Shape into 1” balls and roll in chopped nuts, sprinkles, or colored sugar as desired

 

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Makes about 2 ½ dozen depending on the size of your “1 inch”.

Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Bread

I wanted to try roasting garlic as well as make some bread so I went on an internet recipe hunt. I found two different blogs that were entertaining and easy to follow recipes for both.

For the roasted garlic, check out my previous post that includes a link to the site where I found the recipe.

This is the blog post I found for an easy rosemary garlic bread recipe to rival that of Macaroni Grill.

Rosemary Bread recipe link to My Man's Belly

I did a few things differently – possibly on accident…

For starters, I wanted to cut the recipe in half. After all, this is my first time making it and I didn’t want to “waste” the extra yeast, flour, rosemary and garlic if it turned out horrible.

I had “rapid rise” yeast packets on hand. One packet equals 2 ¼ tsps.

How did I figure this out? 1) the packet said it equaled about 2 ¼ tsps. and I know 3 tsp. equal one TBSP.

1 TBSP = 3 tsp

½ TBSP = 1 ½ tsp

So the recipe called for 1 ½ TBSP of yeast as well as salt – which equals 4 ½ tsps. Cutting that in half, I get 2 ¼ tsps.

It also calls for 3 TBSPS of fresh rosemary, halved equals 4 ½ tsps. or 1 TBSP and 1 ½ tsp.

Does your brain hurt from that entire section of fraction math we just completed? Do you have a child that struggles with fractions? Get them in the kitchen. Seriously. They are learning at the same time they are making food to eat so it will not occur to them that they are doing “Math”…but it may cause an “a-ha” moment on their next test! (Off the mini soap box)

I did not read the instructions correctly and added the salt in with the flour and rosemary instead of adding the salt in with the water and yeast. It did not seem to make a difference and this could be because my yeast was “rapid rise” and not regular yeast.

As I was trying to rough chop the roasted garlic I noticed the bits were all sticking together. So I put a small amount of the flour mixture in a small, ½ cup dish or measuring cup. As I chopped the garlic, I put the pieces into the small dish to coat them with flour so they would not all stick together. I wanted to make sure they would be dispersed throughout the bread and not end up in one large clump.

One thing I do with all my dry ingredients – regardless of what I am baking – is to stir them together and get the baking powder, salt, flour, whatever – evenly distributed. This is something I’ve always done. I don’t know if it’s all that important and I often do not see chefs on TV take this step. Maybe that’s part of the reason why many people say their baking never turns out the same as so-and-so’s…just a thought.

This bread is a “no knead” bread and does not require that you have a KitchenAid Mixer with a dough hook…though that is something on my ultimate kitchen wish list…

Sometimes your utensils make a difference. I use glass bowls to mix in and I have bamboo “spatulas” that I use because I do not have a wooden spoon to stir with (another item on the wish list).

I live in Southern California and the weather is often so nice, I never close the windows. To have a space warm enough for the dough to rise properly, I microwaved a damp sponge for about 10 seconds and then put my covered dough in and let rise for 2 hours. I did not microwave the dough – just the sponge to create a little bit of a warm and humid environment so the dough would rise.

After I baked the bread, I brushed extra virgin olive oil on the tops and lightly sprinkled with sea salt.  I had to taste one after it cooled for a bit. I mixed together a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper to dip the bread in. I seriously almost stood there in the kitchen and ate the whole loaf. Well, the loaves are not very large any way. I made two loaves and put one in the freezer.

I tried making this bread again but froze the dough before I baked it to see which worked better: freezing uncooked dough or freezing the bread after it baked. Well, this is one bread dough you are better off baking first before freezing. I found the freezing and then baking affected the height or rise of the bread during baking.

 

 

 

 

Ok.  I am seriously considering renaming my blog or something.  It seems my more recent (and frequent) posts have been about food.  I like food and I love to cook.  I have an index card box and 3-ring binder full of untried recipes that I long to weed through.  Then there are those pins I've pinned on Pintrest to try and other blogs I find when I'm looking for recipes that work with the ingredients and tools that I already have in the kitchen...and those recipe books too.

Which brings me to roasted garlic. GARLIC. That wonderful aroma and pretty good for your health food/spice/whatever.

It is soooo easy to roast garlic.  I do not know how I have lived this long and NOT tried it sooner!!

Let me just say this – if you love garlic and have never roasted your own – what in the world are you waiting for????  It is so easy to do but does take some time. Note the definition of easy and quick are completely different. These are not quick, as in speedy; expedient; or rapid. They are easy as in not overly complicated, requiring little to no knowledge or skill.

Roasted garlic – You will want to use a pie pan or shallow cake pan or an old muffin/cupcake pan that you do not plan on using for any further baking (cakes, pies, cupcakes, etc.). I used the only cake pan I have and after washing a couple times, it STILL smells like roasted garlic. I’m not really complaining – it’s a wonderful smell – but I didn’t realize this until after I roasted the garlic.

You want to go for the larger heads of garlic and look for ones with a relatively “flat” bottom because these will have to sit upright in the pan to the best of their ability. If you use the cupcake tin, you might be able to get away with some unevenness.

I found an old blog posting from the Pioneer Woman online. She has lots of photos! The link below will take you there and open up in a new window.

Pioneer Woman roasts garlic

Preheat oven to 375*F

Cut the tops off the garlic, trying to expose all of the cloves.

In your pan, you want to coat the bottom liberally with olive oil.

Put your topless garlic in the pan and drizzle the tops with olive oil, sprinkle with a little bit of sea salt and black pepper.

Cover your pan with aluminum foil and roast on the middle rack for 40-45 minutes.

Let the pan and garlic cool completely before you start removing the cloves. Some of the cloves you may need a small knife to get out. The cloves are soft, some may break open, but most should easily pop out whole. I have mine stored in a small container I keep in the refrigerator.

Now you have roasted garlic for a myriad of uses – add it to hummus, smear on toasted bread, throw some roughly chopped cloves on pizza, in a salad, marinades, sauces, etc.

Quick "Crazy Crust" Pizza

Last night I really wanted pizza but did not want to spend the money on delivery. Lets face it, by the time you pay tax, delivery fee and a tip for the driver, you could have bought three pizzas for carryout or stocked your freezer with DiGiorno, Tombstone, or Totinos pizzas from the grocery store. 

 

I've been going through my recipe box using recipes I've never tried or have not used in quite a while.  Fast food is convenient for sure but it is not always healthy or gentle on the monthly food budget. So if you have about an hour to spare - you can have pizza at the cost of a few pennies - maybe nickels and dimes.

 

This recipe makes up about one 12-14" crust which is enough for 2-4 people depending on whether you have a pizza monster. A pizza monster is cousin to the cookie monster.

 

Ingredients for the crust can be mixed up in the time it takes your oven to preheat to 425 degrees (give or take depending on how hot/cold your oven runs).

 

1 cup of flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. oregano

1/8 tsp. pepper

2 eggs

2/3 cup of milk

 

I also added 1 tsp. of McCormick Perfect Pinch Garlic & Herb seasoning into the dough mix.

I would think you could substitute a blend of Italian seasonings (rosemary, thyme, basil, etc.) if you did not want just oregano. Experiment.

 

Combine the crust ingredients in a large bowl. The mix will be runny like cake batter so the pan you use must have definite sides. I have a round pizza pan with about a 1/2" lip. If you only have a rectangular cookie sheet - use it.

 

The cookie sheet should be greased and floured.

 

Bake the crust in the oven at 425 degrees on the low rack for 20-30 minutes or until the edges turn brown. You can lift it a little towards the end to make sure you are also getting a nice golden color on the bottom.

 

 The crust will appear bubbly - don't worry about trying to "pop" the bubbles. Once you take it out of the oven to add sauce and cheese, the bubbles will deflate almost entirely.

For the sauce I used what little spaghetti sauce I had left in a jar.  It does not take a lot of sauce. You will want to spread it out to the edge but not all the way to the edge, maybe about 1/4 to 1/2" from the edge. Sprinkle your cheese (your choice) over the sauce and pop back into the oven for about 10-15 minutes on the low rack in the oven. Remove, cut and serve.

 

My oven is sensitive - or rather - my smoke detector is sensitive. So I put my sauced and cheesed pizza on the middle rack for about 8 minutes to melt the cheese. Then I set the oven on broil for about 3 minutes to get the top of the cheese a little golden. If you broil, keep checking on it. It can go from golden to burnt in a matter of seconds.

One additional thing I did to the edge of the crust - I sprinkled garlic powder on the edges before putting it back in the oven. Once it came out with the cheese all gooey and melted, I brushed the edge with butter and sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

 

All in all, the pizza was very tasty.  The crust edges were nice and crispy but the rest was maybe a tad chewy.  This could be a result of baking it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (my oven is not typical).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cinnamon Rolls Part Deux

So I thought I would write a follow up post once I tried out the frozen portion of dough.

I seriously think these turned out even better than the ones I baked up over the weekend.

There were a few things I did which may be helpful. First, I took the frozen dough out and put it in the refrigerator for a little while. I was not sure my knife would slice through the frozen dough, so I let it thaw just a little.


When I sliced the dough, I made my slices a little larger, maybe a full inch to inch and a quarter. I put them in the round pan spaced equidistant and then let them sit out for about 10 minutes to let the dough lose a little more of the chill. Then I baked them up at 425 degrees for about 11-13 minutes until they're a little golden brown on the edges and you can smell that cinnamon goodness.

 

I still had some leftover cream cheese frosting in the fridge so I did not have to deal with making more.  The dough and the icing work up so nicely that you could have cinnamon rolls for breakfast during the busy week. Take the dough out the night before so all you have to do in the morning is slice, rest and bake!

Something hot, fresh and homemade for you, your family or take them in to the office for your coworkers!

Cinnamon Rolls!!!

Who wants cinnamon rolls?  

Cinnamon rolls that can give Cinnabon a run for their money?

 

Cinnamon rolls that you can freeze the dough and bake up only what you need?

 

Have I got a recipe for you!

 

I've had this recipe for a few decades since my freshman year in Home Economics and have only baked these a handful of times. 

 

This past weekend I made some and they turned out better than I remember.

The ingredients you will need for the dough:

 

1 package of yeast (I used rapid rise)   1 tsp. salt

¼ Cup warm water                             ½ Cup of shortening

2 ½ Cups of flour                                1 Cup of buttermilk

1/3 Cup of sugar                                ¼ Cup melted butter

1 TBSP baking powder          1 Cup brown sugar (I used dark)

½ tsp. baking soda                              1 TBSP cinnamon

 

• Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let proof.

• Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Use a pastry blender and cut in shortening.

• Add buttermilk and yeast mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring with a fork until well blended.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture.

• Put on a floured surface/board and knead – sprinkle more flour if dough is sticky.

• Roll dough out to a 12x18 rectangle and baste top with the melted butter.

• Sprinkle with the brown sugar & cinnamon mix, covering to the edges.

• Roll the dough in a jelly roll fashion from the longest edge (18” side) and wrap in cling wrap.

• Let the dough rest/chill for a little while in the refrigerator so it will firm up a little before slicing.

• Slice into 1” and place on baking sheet or in a round pan.

• Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes  (every oven is different – so adjust accordingly)

This should yield about 1 ½ dozens.

Since I’m single and I do not want to bake up all the rolls at once, I sliced off enough to fit in a round pan with about ½ inch between rolls so they have room to expand (and they will expand). The rest of the log I wrapped back up, put in a freezer Ziploc bag and placed in the freezer.

 

The cream cheese frosting is made up from 4 ingredients and very easy to whip up: softened cream cheese, softened butter, vanilla and confectioners sugar.

 

For an 8oz. package of cream cheese, it calls for 1/2 Cup of butter, 2-3 cups of confectioners (powdered) sugar and 1 tsp. of vanilla.

 

To make a smaller batch of frosting, use 2-3 oz. of cream cheese, 2-3 TBSP of butter, 1/4 tsp vanilla and powdered sugar. I think I used about 1/2 cup.

 

• Let the butter and cream cheese come to room temperature so it is easier to cream together (with either a fork or a mixer).
• Add vanilla
• Add enough powdered sugar so that the frosting is not runny but is also not stiff. I may have added about ½ cup or so.
• You will want to frost the cinnamon rolls after they’ve had a chance to cool quite a bit but are still a touch warm. The frosting will melt a little but not much – we like this. We like this a lot.
   
  
   
   

 



When you want to bake up the frozen dough you will want to let the dough thaw a little bit. It may be easier to cut the dough frozen and then place on a baking sheet or round pan to thaw for about 15-20 minutes and then bake as directed.

 

 

Seasons of the Unemployed.

So, I’ve been in the search for a new job now for almost two months. This season has been a little frustrating in part because I do not have graduate school to keep me fully occupied as I did over a year ago when I was in the same boat.  

To keep myself occupied while I search, I’ve brought my plants back from the brink of certain death.  I now have an explosion of Snapdragon sprouts and not enough containers as they grow. Anyone care to adopt several?

       

I’ve worked on several knit and crochet projects, designed a couple of scarves and done a little painting. In addition to all the crafting and gardening I’ve had time for a little more baking. This week I made cinnamon rolls with a cream cheese frosting that can give Cinnabon a run for their money. That will be in my next post.

I do not think I will retire. Ever. I like being busy, having some semblance of structure or routine. I manage time more wisely when life is somewhat hectic (not stressful, mind you). Is this a season I need to learn how to manage my time while there are absolutely NO demands on it from other sources?  Maybe it's time to get more serious about writing. Maybe it is a whole lot of things both internally and externally that need to shift in this downtime.

 

 

I love this spicy peanut sauce.  It is super easy to make and requires NO cooking!! It is also vegan friendly.

 

You can serve it as a dip with chicken satay (or other dipping items) and as a sauce over pasta.

I like to increase the recipe so it's a quick go-to when you want a break from regular spaghetti. Grab some vegetables to sauté or stir-fry, boil some pasta, heat up the sauce and toss it all together!

 

1/3 c. hot water

1/3 c. peanut butter

2 tsp. soy sauce

2 tsp. rice vinegar

1 tsp. sugar

2 cloves crushed (or minced) garlic

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 scallions, finely chopped

 

Combine all the ingredients, adding the hot water last, and whisk until the peanut butter is completely incorporated.  Let it sit for at least 15 minutes before serving.

 

Fear the Spear

Sports Illustrated has ranked Chief Osceola and Renegade as the #1 mascot in all college football and I may be biased as an alumna of Florida State University, but I have to agree.

 

The tradition at Florida State University of Chief Osceola planting his spear into the ground on home games started in 1978 and may have its origins from an old Florida legend.

 

  

Legend that suggests Osceola stabbed a treaty with his hunting knife as a declaration of war against the US government when they were attempting the removal of Indians from Florida. There is not a record of this actually happening although there are drawings depicting the incident.

 

 

 

In 1835 the ambush and murder of an important chief, Charley Emaltha, was attributed to Osceola and a band of Mikasukis. They would be suspected in future events for any acts of violence not easily explained. And this is how legends get started.  

 

So the next time you catch an FSU home game whether it be on TV or live at Doak Campbell Stadium, just remember when Chief Osceola plants the spear on Bobby Bowden Field, the Seminoles are declaring war on their opponent.

 

GO SEMINOLES!!

 

** I am not a historian but the legend does put an interesting twist on the FSU tradition. **

 

 

 

The Unmarked Path

"Uphold my steps in Your paths, that my footsteps may not slip." Psalm 17:5

I recently spent a weekend out in the wilderness and desert of Joshua Tree National Park for a class in my Masters program. I really did not know what to expect other than some generalized statements about activities like hiking, rock climbing, and rappelling.


I'm use to hiking trails being marked out by color for distance or degree of difficulty. We started out on a sandy trail a little ways from the rocks and I thought that was all the hike was going to be. Then we started to climb over some rocks. The people who were ahead kept going higher and sometimes disappeared from sight. Every time we reached a flat area, the guides took us higher. I kept saying "Are you serious?!".


There were many places where I needed assistance from one of the guys to help me get up to the next boulder. It wasn't apparent as we were climbing just how high we were going because we could not see the end point. Going up was quite a challenge but coming back down was even more of a challenge. From this perspective you could now see how steep the climb was. Many times I wondered if I was really going down the same boulders I just climbed moments earlier because they looked so different.


My assumptions about the hike are much like how we want life to be. We want the path we are supposed to take clearly marked so we know just how far we're going and how difficult (or easy) it will be to finish. But God leads us up an unmarked path where we can only see the few steps ahead so that we have to rely on Him, have faith, and not be able to rely on our own strength or ability to reason.

Years ago I was listening to the mother of my former pastor speak about hope. What struck me in her talk was the mention of what we need to chart our own course when sailing through the waters (emotions) of hopelessness. We need an anchor. To have our "ropes" tied securely to something that is not going to give way. Secure knots that will not unravel. In boating, the ropes are perhaps some of the most important pieces of equipment (I am by no means a sailing expert). You have ropes tied to an anchor so that you will not drift off when you need to remain in the same place, ropes to tie up to a dock so you can move to solid ground and not fall in the water, ropes that are connected to sails so you can travel a charted course.

Going back to the anchor and the rope. See, it spurred me to thought because I found out a few years back that my last name (in Catalan/Menorcan) means "the rope that holds the anchor". That's a very important rope!

So I have a few questions to pose: What have you anchored yourself to?

Is it a relationship or relationships in general?

People and relationships shift over time like a sandbar shifts with the ocean currents.

Is it your career and the success/stature it brings you? Your accomplishments?

In today's job market, how secure is your career or position? How often do we succeed or fail?

Or is it what you've been able to acquire?

Does anything last forever? We're always looking to upgrade to the newest, latest, greatest gadget.

What is the one thing that remains constant? Never changing? Holds the same standards day in and day out? Never changes their opinion or the way they vote? Who never changes sides to prevent getting voted off the island?

-God. Simply, God.

He's the constant in a variable equation. Tie your rope to Him and get anchored.

HE Brews

As I sit here and enjoy a rather large cup of coffee I am being reminded of how God orders our steps.

Proverbs 19:21 says "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

Some may have heard the joke about how it says in the Bible men should make the coffee because He-brews. Coffee percolates. And so does the destiny and purpose God has planted in each and every one of us. So literally, HE (God) brews in us different strengths and abilities unique to only us.

It doesn't take much to realize you are not like anyone else on the planet..even if you have an identical twin. The process to getting a cup of coffee doesn't start with the grounds in the coffee pot and adding hot water to release it's essence. You start with a plant. The beans are harvested and roasted. The roasting process itself has to be very precise or you can ruin the whole batch. Similarly, we go through trials and rough spots in life where it would seem we are being roasted.
We get ground up and pulverized (some of us know this feeling more than others). In the whole process from plant to cup of coffee, the bean did not do it all on its own. There were relationships with machines and different environments that all had a part in the process just like we, throughout our lives, are shaped by those we have relationship with and the environments we grow up in. Some is because of choices others made. Some is a result of choices we made.

God sees us as we are and as we should be - which are two totally different things. It's seeing coffee grounds but also seeing those grounds as a cup of coffee at the same time. You can't get a cup of coffee without having to filter it with hot water. Heat always reveals, always purifies, and can be uncomfortable to downright painful but it's necessary. You cannot have a cup of coffee without grounds, a filter, and hot water. The filter is a healing process that we need to go through. It takes time. The grounds are us and all our mess. The actual coffee is us not being constrained or limited by our mess.

The flavor of coffee is a culmination of the whole process. So whether you're an extra bold Sumatra roast or a medium Costa Rica blend...be the flavor God created you to be.
And if you find grounds in your coffee don't be afraid to ask others for help.

Surrender

Surrender is linked to so many other things like humility and teach-ability but they all come down to one thing, the heart. In American culture where we rely so much on our own strength and abilities, surrender can be one of the hardest things we do. When I started out my Christian walk, I surrendered things and activities because that’s what you do. But what may have seemed like a motivated heart (looking back 20 years), was a heart motivated by rules and compliance. I did not have a good understanding of what grace really meant. I wanted to please God and I knew there were expectations of what a Christian did and didn’t do. Needless to say, I would have short bouts of where I slipped back into old habits. I never made any “re-commitment” trip down to the altar because I had never lost my faith in God and belief in Jesus as my Savior. I was just working out my salvation. The periods of my backsliding grew shorter and shorter until I got to the point I would think about doing something but not act on it. I had reached a point like the disciples in John 6:68 when Jesus asked if they wanted to turn away and Peter responded “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

While that may have been submission of the outward, the inner had a lot more work to be done. I was never very much of an outwardly rebellious child, but I believe it manifested in other ways like being a picky eater or inconsistent with school work and grades. Yes, most kids go through a “picky” phase but in my house it was more a battle of wills: mine and my father’s. I remember one particular night I refused to try something and my father said I would remain at the dinner table until I tried it. I don’t know how long I actually sat there, but the dishes were cleared, the kitchen cleaned, and the dining room light was turned off. I was perfectly content to sit there all night and miss TV and dessert. My mom finally took the plate away at some point and I probably went to my room to play until bedtime. I don’t think I would have allowed me to get away with that kind of subtle rebellious behavior. One of the great things about God is His amazing depth of patience He exercises with us. He will continue to take us around the same path on the mountain to deal with things that hinder us from growing closer to Him. Sometimes we have little victories and move “up” a level in our faith walk thinking we’ve overcome the whole issue. Then a few months or years go by and it comes up again. “I thought I dealt with this, Lord?” and yes, He helped remove what we could bear at the time but now He wanted to deal with it/us deeper.

Part of what has helped me is that I love to learn and I love to read the Bible. I seek feedback. “Lord search me and show me”. The process hasn’t necessarily been easy but as easy as it can be when you humble yourself and throw yourself on the rock instead of letting the rock fall on you because you're too proud or stubborn to surrender. To surrender is to admit you cannot do something. It is allowing someone else to take control. Everyone has difficulty giving up control. It takes faith because you don't know where the surrender will take you. What rocky terrain of trials and struggles you'll have to face. Or the experiences and emotions you'll have to think about.

It's becoming more and more apparent that we are all broken people to varying degrees. One look at the divorce rate or number of one parent homes today is enough proof. But there's also the increase in diagnosis of psychological disorders - not just among adults, but teenagers and young children. We're learning coping mechanisms to hide our disfunctions or have a pill that can do it for us - but we were never created to just cope with something - we were meant to overcome. And to do that requires us to surrender sometimes.

It seems almost contradictory - surrender to gain victory. But that's what happens when we surrender to Jesus. If we allow Him to work in our lives, to heal us and restore us, then we'll have to face the good, the bad, and the ugly. Like any surgical procedure, there is an element of apprehension on our part because we're putting our life in the hands of the physician. We're surrendering. But we also know that after the surgery we should feel better or see improvement. No one goes into surgery expecting to be worse off when they come out and begin recovery.

The "ugly" we have to deal with is something everyone has to come to terms with and that is we are all sinful. Since the fall of Adam there has only been one born without sin and that is Jesus.
The "bad" is those things that shape what we believe about ourselves - those things we've internalized that someone else impressed upon us. It's those things that have happened to us.
The "good" we have to recognize is that 1) we are made in the image of God and 2) once we surrender our lives to Jesus, we are made righteous.

Just a Thought

I've just been thinking over the past week or so about what we say and how we say it. The words we choose to get a point across.

In thinking about how to lead others into a deeper and more victorious Christian walk, sometimes we use terms that other people get lost on. If I'm leading, I'm teaching. If I'm teaching, what I say needs to make sense and be comprehended. You do not talk to a first grader about Calculus terms. But if you want to, are you really trying to teach them or show off your knowledge and IQ?

I'm Still Standing

Lookin' like a true survivor. Feeling better than I ever did..

If you're humming the Elton John tune..hahahaha - I did it on purpose.

I've made it through my first semester of graduate school after being out of the college atmosphere for over 10 years. It was quite an adjustment to get back into "student" mode AND adjust to living in a new state. At the end of it all I have my first 4.0 to show for it. Whew!

I've recently been comparing my trek across the US from GA to CA to that of Abraham picking up and leaving his "hometown" and going to the land that God showed him. Along the way, God promised to make Abraham a "Father of Nations" though he and his wife Sarah were yet childless.

It takes a lot of guts to pick up and move to a place where you literally do not know anyone. Ok, so I do have some good friends and several acquaintances from a vacation visit to CA last fall..so it was a starting point. While it has felt lonely at times, I had school to keep me very occupied.

In the past four months of living here I have experienced 3 earthquakes. One epicenter was only 11 miles away and woke me up at 4am. The other two were very slow rolling quakes that were centered down near San Diego. At first I thought it was my equillibrium that was off as the rolling wave motion made me feel a little off balance and dizzy. None of them lasted very long. This has to be a record of earthquakes felt by a new resident. They don't scare me. While it's a natural phenomenon of a different nature than hurricanes, it holds the same fascination.

Things that have frustrated me since moving to CA? The CA Labor Laws that require me to take a lunch when I'd rather just work my 8 hours and be done with it. Then there's the whole DMV thing. The process takes several hours - even with an appointment. You go from one window to the next - but occasionally you have to wait for your number to be called for the next window. I had to take a written CA driver's test to get my license. I kind of took it cold turkey and managed to pass missing one less than what would be a "fail". You have to get your car physically inspected there at the DMV. Oh, but before a visit to the DMV you have to have a passing smog test. This is slightly different from GA and costs about twice as much. For inspection at the DMV you need to have your VIN number in two separate locations. We all know about the one you can easily spot in the windshield. Well, a second location would be the sticker on the inside of your door (the one that shows your PSI for tires and engine stuff). My sticker was unreadable...so it failed. They gave me a temporary tag and told me I needed to take my car to a CA Highway Patrol office for verification. It would have been nice to have a list of those offices from the DMV - seeing as how I'm really new to the area and have NO CLUE how far some places are in relation to where I live. I prevailed, eventually. I found a CHP office not 5 miles from the DMV I went to...had I known I could have taken care of it the same day! Whatever. I also registered to vote while I was at the DMV - get everything over with in one place.

So I was able to vote for the primaries recently held in CA. This system is so antiquated! It's scantron - not computer. First, since the CA voter website didn't have me registered I had to call to make sure - and the live person on the other end said I was. The best part is my precinct is literally on the other side of the wall in the backyard! I was able to walk to vote. Well, I was not on anyone's master lists. I had to vote as a "provisional" voter. I was their first one...so the process took a little longer but no more than 20 minutes total. The voting booths are set up by party affiliation...so much for not letting others know how you vote! They have big signs over each one "Democrat" "Republican"..etc. And this is because you have to ink stamp your ballot with this old system. No, no hanging chad possibilities in CA..so the slots only have your candidates. I received my "I voted" sticker - in about 6 different languages - which is pretty cool.

One thing that has been slow coming is finding a church to call home out here. There are plenty of churches. I visited several which I quickly figured out were not a good fit for me and where I think I'm going. There were a few others that were great churches and I could easily fit in but again, I didn't feel that it was strategically where God wanted to place me. This past Sunday I visited a church I though could be the one..and I am satisfied. This has been a different season and hopefully, as Monday was the first "official" day of summer, I have entered into a new season.

It's a new season, it's a new day...a fresh annointing is heading my way!

It's a New Season

It is definitely a new season unlike any time in my life before.

I'm having to find a lot of new things. New friends, new church, new doctors, new grocery stores, new school, and new state.

This is the first time in my life where I have uprooted myself from people I've known and loved for many years and church fellowship with those same people. I (and my dog) drove cross country from Atlanta, Georgia alllll the way to La Mirada, California. Why? To follow God's purposes for my life. Part of which, is going to school at Biola University for a Masters in Organizational Leadership.

It all started in September. I went out to Newport Beach, CA for a real vacation to visit friends. I loved that every day was sunny and the beach so close. When I arrived back in Atlanta, GA we had 10 straight days of rain...and flooding. My room I was renting we found out, had a tendency to flood. Hard to discover that during 3 years of severe drought. So I just felt like I needed to start going through my belongings and getting rid of some things, packing up other things, and praying. More rain. More flooding. More packing. It was like the rain was nudging me in a not so subtle way that a move was coming. I knew a move was coming...I just wouldn't have thought it to be all the way to California.

I really don't know what possessed me to finally apply to graduate school. It was difficult trying to decide what program I wanted to pursue because I love to learn and everything sounded so interesting. I will say this in defense of my college transcripts that aren't quite so stellar: sometimes I was tired of jumping through hoops to get the grades from professors.

I believe that God's purposed me to start up some sort of organization. It may be a church. It may be a ministry. It may be some other non-profit organization. But to be practical, I decided to go with the Master's in Organizational Leadership at Biola.

Couldn't you have just found a school in Atlanta for that? Yes. I could have but you can't argue with how quickly my move came together and everything lined up. I decided to apply for school at the end of October. The deadline for the spring semester was December 1st. There were essays to write and recommendations from employers and co-workers to obtain - and I managed to get it all done on time! I had some plans of when I would move, what I would do for employment - because lets be real - the employment rate in California doesn't look so great, and where I would possibly live. Well, I didn't get accepted until January 15th. This just happened to be the weekend I originally planned to move because it would be a holiday weekend. I moved January 28th and arrived in La Mirada, California on February 1st. I still had no idea what I was going to do for housing. Luckily, an old friend from college and his family let me stay with them until I could find housing.

And as for employment? My office in Atlanta agreed to let me work remotely on a trial basis! How's that for provision?

But now I'm in the process of trying to find a church to plant myself. I could go to a number of different churches in the area and cities surrounding but I believe I am to be strategic in where I choose to root myself in this season of California dreaming.

Up to this point, I've always had a church to go to when I left the current one. In some cases, it was the truth being preached that I followed. In others, it was a global vision. Now? It's difficult to put into words and it may be I find it in a couple of churches. People passionate about Christ, loving people, training, and launching you into your purpose.