Bold Brussels

This evening we had an amazing trio! We prepared some cous-cous and sauteed mahi-mahi with red and yellow peppers. The star of the plate was a flavorful blend of brussel sprouts, asparagus, prosciutto, red onion, swiss chard all cooked and simmered with white wine and finished with balsamic vinaigrette. OOoohhh yeahh.


Jenna and I are embarking on a journey through a selection of books in the bible including Galatians, Ephesians, Philipians, Colossians, and Corinthians. Today we discussed Galatians chapter 1.
In sharing what verse stuck out to us most, we were both strongly drawn to the following one: “Am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.”
After reading that particular verse, some questions surfaced to my mind. Whose favor am I seeking? When God calls me to something do I run off to tell others? (i.e. “Hey, this is what God is telling me to do, what do you think?”) I feel that these days society makes us so insecure that we are geared to seek approval from others. Sometimes we may even do it subconsciously. Even though we don’t approach the person directly or talk to them often, we may still have them in our minds and perform according to what we feel they think may be good. A few weeks ago I heard a similar message on the radio about seeking the approval of others and trying to be “perfect” in their eyes. However, when we cease to seek perfections—we cast out all fear and live.

Jenna shared about another verse in the chapter that read: “…there are some who confuse you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.” The devil seems to be luring his head much more lately and constantly telling us lies that we too often accept or find it easy to agree with. He makes things simple for us or convinces that certain things are simple, that sex, drugs, getting into a drunk stupor.. is “no big deal” These are all lies. This is the false gospel. The one that confuses and conceals the truth which we as believers are called to share with others. As Jenna stated, we must be bold and stand up for TRUTH=the gospel.
Tune in for next time!

Squash and Solitude

So Jackie and I were doing our usual thing of making dinner and talking about God's pivotal part in our lives when we came up with the idea for this blog. We will be sharing our recipes and reflections on life and God.

Tonight's dinner was focused on Squash. We hollowed out some Mexican squash and stuffed it with jalapeno chicken sausage, sauteed red bell pepper, red onion, mushrooms, garlic, and some flesh of the squash using pepper jack cheese as the "glue" to keep the two halves together. On the side, we prepared roasted sweet potato, yam, and cauliflower and quinoa. If you don't know what quinoa is, it is a grain that when cooked becomes translucent and has a nice nutty taste to it.



While we ate dinner, we talked about a section in a book that I am reading called "The Way of the Heart: connecting with God through prayer, wisdom, and silence" by Henri J.M. Nouwen.

Here are some excerpts from the book that we discussed and pondered:

"In solitude, I get rid of my scaffolding: no friends to talk with, no telephone calls to make, no meetings to attend, no music to entertain, no books to distract, just me- naked, vulnerable, weak, sinful, deprived, broken- nothing. It is this nothingness that I have to face in my solitude, a nothingness so dreadful that everything in me wants to fun to my friends, my work, and my distractions, so that I can forget my nothingness and make myself believe that I am worth something. "

" To die to our neighbors means to stop judging them, to stop evaluating them, and thus to become free to be compassionate.Compassion can never coexist with judgment because judgment creates the distance, the distinction, which prevents us from really being with the other."

This is a great illustration!
"A brother committed a fault. A council was called to which Abba Moses was invited, but he refused to go to it. Then the priest sent someone to say to him, 'Come, for everyone is waiting for you'. So he got up and went. He took a leaking jug, filled it with water, and carried it with him. The others came out to meet him and said to him, 'What is this, Father?' The old man said to them, ' My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I am coming to judge the error of another.' WHen they heard that they said no more to the brother by forgave him."

Overall, our discussion revolved around how important solitude is and what the true meaning of solitude is. Solitude is not only being alone away from all the responsibilities in life. Rather it being stripped of everything and left with your naked and exposed self. During solitude is when you commune with God and start to be transformed into His image. It is not an easy process because we look our sin and flaws- the nothingness- in the eye. It is also a process that we cannot do alone. Solitude is done through the power and understanding of God!

Until next time...