Hard to believe another week is drawing to a close. I'm prepping a course, writing newsletters, and packing. We'll soon spend a few days in Thailand, before I teach in the Philippines in August.
Waldemar is still waiting for his USA citizenship interview. We're hoping it falls between engagements.
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| The line into the kitchen, almost through |
What a fun houseful! I cook all morning, nap a few hours, and then W moves furniture in the afternoon.
"We've seen your house before," someone said a few weeks ago. "We were there for movie night."
Um, in that case, they have no idea what the living and dining area usually look like. For movie night, we move the sofa, drag chairs around, fold up the big dining table (70" round), and toss floor pillows on the IKEA carpet. It's the only way to welcome in 40 people on movie night.
The college kids sprawl here and there, the older people find a comfy seat, and we start with a feast. Here, everything happens around meals. Cooking for 40 or 50 is like cooking for 15 or 20 ... just more of it.
The menu:
- Rice
- A few loaves of bread, baked the night before
- Sausages in barbecue sauce
- Homemade meatballs (Mom's recipe - but with ground chicken and beef, no bacon or pork allowed)
- Mixed vegetables in white sauce
- French toast casseroles (egg, bread, sausage - except in the vegetarian part, cheese, onion, milk, vanilla, orange juice, spices)
- Chicken wings (W made these, sous vide and grilled)
- Taco lasagne (yum, Veronica)
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| Part of the crowd |
At intermission, it's time for dessert:
- An apple crumble (from Veronica, a wonderful friend, cook, and baker)
- 6 kinds of home-baked cookies (from last week's 2-day baking spree)
- Marshmallows (thanks to guest)
- Fresh fruit - a huge bowl, chopped and doused with canned "tropical fruit blend"
- A spur-of-the-afternoon chocolate cake
It's Kiki's birthday - we don't ask how many years, but sing for him, light the candles, and cut the cake during intermission.
His chocolate birthday cake is my first attempt at baking a cake here. After warming up for a half hour, our oven temperature hovers between 400-425oF. (That's after repairs to the rat-eaten lining, the non-working stovetop, and other "fixes.")
I occasionally prop open the oven door to get nearer 350o. The draft from an open door can't be good for a cake! But it doesn't fall. In the evening, it's consumed before I get to it = a good sign. I'm not a big cake-eater anyway. I'll sample it next time I bake.
For the first time, our helper works a late shift (3-10pm). YAY!!! we don't have to do dishes after our guesets leave. She is happy to take home a few bags of food for her family.
Bedtime for us, therefore, is relatively early: after midnight. Am I getting too old for this? Nah, tomorrow I can rest.
Thursday
Our walk in the hills is canceled: most people are still returning from Ramadan visits with friends and family.
Academics and resting. That's enough. The day flies by, punctuated by left-overs for meals, and prayers. Always prayers.
The world roils in turmoil. Refugee crises around the world stagger the imagination and resources of generous and concerned caretakers. The coup in Turkey seems over. We pray only for peace and live with God's peace in our hearts.
Thanks be to God - who loves us and provides for his people.
Read more:
*You who love the Lord, hate evil! Psalm 97:10 NKJV
*For this is what the high and exalted One says--he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of me--the very people I have created. I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways.
I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel's mourners, creating praise on their lips. Peace, peace, to those far and near," says the Lord. "And I will heal them."
But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked." Isaiah 57: 15-21 NIV
*Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done marvelous things! Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; for the open pastures are springing up, and the tree bears its fruit; tThe fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you--the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
"So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you.
You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame. Joel 2:21-27 NKJV
*The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?"
Then Jesus told them, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, "May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea," and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it." Matthew 21:20-22 NLT
*For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. 1 Peter 2:15–16 ESV
Moravian Prayer: Jesus, Master, whom we serve, we are wholly yours: bodies, minds, and souls. We desire to do your perfect will in our lives; we desire to serve you and others faithfully all the days of our lives. Amen.
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