Missions In Action

There's a new interactive video series called Missions In Action. I've been poring over their website and I'm really impressed. It's quality work done by quality people. If you're a fan of The Amazing Race you're going to see some familiar faces.

Their mission statement:

Through our award winning storytelling, access to people and places rarely seen, and key sponsors and partners, we plan to educate, inspire, and enable people to make a difference by taking action to help others around the world.

They don't just present a problem or tell a story, they present a way for you to get involved. I like that.

Here's Episode 1: Hope and Survival in the Philippines


Check out their website. Follow them on twitter. "Like" them on Facebook. Get involved. Change a life.

Four years ago today

I know exactly what I was doing on this night four years ago.

I sat in a hospital ER waiting room and pretended that I was happy as a clam and everything was hunky dory while my mind was screaming that nothing was okay. A little boy needed me to be that way.

I sat at a kitchen table and listened to a mother-in-law talk about her loved one back in that ER and how everything was going to be okay, because it had to be. And I pretended that I didn't know that it wasn't okay and the loved one wasn't coming home. She needed me to be that way.

There are times I think I see her out of the corner of my eye. Jellybeans always make me think of her. Rabbit figurines and Thomas Kincaid paintings cause the same emotions to stir. Things happen and I want to call.

It's been four years ago today.

I got a letter

I got a letter this week from one of my Compassion kids. It is delightful, as always. Eury is in 2nd grade and is learning about David and Goliath. He understands that David's strength came from God.

He also sent a drawing of his family. I think someone drew it for him and he colored it. The coloring skills and the drawing skills don't quite match up. But, I could be wrong. Maybe he is talented with a pencil and not so much with a crayon.

I didn't pick Eury out of a pile of Compassion packets. He came to me. The center that my first sponsored child was involved with closed. It was very sad, because I had chosen him. He "jumped" off the table at me. I watched him grow through the pictures I received. And then he was gone.

So, Compassion paired me with Eury. We are beginning to get to know each other. He's told me that his family is very well and united. He asks for prayer that God will protect them.

It makes my heart sing to get his and Gabby's letters. If you like your heart to sing, I highly recommend sponsoring a child or two.

Embrace Me

I just finished Embrace Me by Lisa Samson. I'm a BIG Lisa Samson fan. I'm such a big fan that if I ever had the chance to meet her I would be in such awe that I would be speechless. Some of you know that speechless is hard for me.

I think I started crying pretty much nonstop at Chapter Nineteen and it stayed that way until the end of the book. It's not a sad book. I don't do sad. To me sad books are a waste of time.

This sentence from Chapter Three jumped out at me.

"These days, if he approved of me, I know I'd be doing something desperately wrong."

Just as the character's priorities have changed, so have mine. I can so relate to that sentence. There are many people in my life that have a different view of Christianity and The Church than I do. If I did something they approved of I would be scared.

But, as the character, Drew Parrish, grew and changed, I felt God showing me things in my life that he was dealing with in his life. Not on the same levels and exact demons, but still demons none the less. Things that could take over and do a lot of damage to Christ's name. The Christ I am suppose to be representing.

In a lot of ways through this book Lisa was "preaching to the choir" and I thought of the people who just don't get serving Christ in this way, the people that I butt heads with way too often, those who choose to ignore the Red Letters in the Bible. It helped me not think I'm as crazy as some people think I am.

It also deals deeply with pride and forgiveness, things I sometimes feel I will never get a grip on. I could relate to Drew when he talked of things that were too tempting.

So, thanks Lisa for putting it out there. Thanks for writing about what is real.

And, please forgive me for calling you Lisa. I feel as if I know you in a small way, even though, I would be horribly tongue-tied in your presence.

One Fine Day

I'm so glad no one could see the craziness going on in my closet and bathroom today.

My usual attire is whatever I happen to throw on whenever I get around to it. Today I had a meeting and I actually put some thought into what I was going to wear. Thought I had it all planned out. I don't own a lot of clothes that can be seen out in public, so I do sometimes have to think about what I'm going to cover myself in.

So, when I walked into the closet and pulled the purple blouse off the pole. It was dirty. Why did I hang up a dirty blouse? I have no idea. Who knows? I was probably asleep when I did it.

Remember I said I don't have a lot of clothes that can be seen out in public? I really don't. Panic sort of started to sink in.

I grabbed a black shirt that would work with a jacket (which is always fun to wear in high humidity), but not by itself. I grabbed my orange blazer from Salvation Army. What in the world was I thinking? I looked like I was ready for Halloween. And I remembered the shoes that go with the pants are brown, so the black shirt really wouldn't work even if I changed jackets. Now real panic started to sink in and I started to feel like Michelle Pheiffer's character in One Fine Day when she is forced to wear her son's dinosaur shirt she pulls out of her purse. I begin to wonder which child's room I could raid for a shirt.

Before I could decide which one to rob I spied a t-shirt I planned to give away and threw it on. It was beyond wrinkled. Thankfully I had wrinkle remover on hand. It works if you spray in all over the shirt while it's on your body and then you just stretch it out. I'm pretty sure that's not what they had in mind when they created it, but by golly, that's how I used it. Then I threw the orange jacket on because I didn't spray the back of the shirt.

Feeling pretty good about my ensemble I marched out the door 15 minutes ahead of schedule.

Only to find there was no car.

Fuel Diner Bread Pudding

A couple of friends and I started Fuel Diner. Our goal is to feed the hungry in our neighborhood. We've got some repeat customers (they don't pay) and are looking with great anticipation to feeding more.

One of our goals is to not be a stereotypical soup kitchen. I don't even like those two words together. We have a lot of fun coming up with recipes and some of our best could not be repeated if we wanted to. Karen is absolutely amazing at taking leftovers and turning them into masterpieces.

A few weeks ago I made bread pudding not realizing that Karen had made bread pudding while I was in South Africa. Now there is a running joke about bread pudding in the Diner.

I was really thrilled with how this bread pudding turned out, so I made sure I had everything written down. The fun thing about it is just about anything will work in it.

Fuel Diner Bread Pudding (according to Nancy)

The equal to 4 or more loaves of bread. You need to have at least 2 inches worth of bread on the bottom of your 24 x 16 pan. I used Country French, Sourdough, Italian Wheat, and Sweet Italian.
1 gallon milk
5 sticks of butter, softened to room temperature
16 eggs
5 cups granulated sugar
8 Tablespoons vanilla
4 cups brown sugar

Crumble the bread into a bowl. Pour milk over it and let stand for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 24-by-16-by-3 inch pan with 4 tablespoons of butter.

In another bowl, beat together 12 eggs, the granulated sugar and the vanilla. Stir this mixture into the bread mixture.

Pour into prepared baking pan and bake until browned and set. This could take about an hour and 30 minutes, depending on your oven.

To make the sauce, melt the remaining butter on the stove top. Add the brown sugar and stir together until the sugar has dissolved and is extremely hot. Don't let it burn. Stir it constantly.
Remove from heat. Beat the remaining 4 eggs and stir them quickly into the sugar mixture.

Pour the sauce over the pudding and serve.

Depending on how it is cut it can make at least 45 servings.

I didn't say it was healthy, but it is really good.

Maybe by the time you read this I will have stopped crying

Please read Kacy's blog post from today.

I got to be part of the miracle of the overflowing food.

Now my heart is breaking about this week.

If you can make a change in these kids life, please do so.