Wednesday without words

Sabbath Songs

To begin our worship service during this season of Advent, we are beginning with this lovely historical-redemptive song.  You can check it out here.

Rejoice by Todd Twining

All the earth rejoice
Your Creator reigns
As the only awesome God
The Alpha and the Omega
Who was, is, and is to come
Let the oceans roar and the mountains sing
He provides for all He has made
So be comforted as He rules with grace
Rejoice, all the earth, rejoice

All the world rejoice
For the baby comes
As a humble prince in the night
The Word made flesh, Emmanuel
The Everlasting Light
Let the warmth of heaven reach the coldest heart
With the gospel of His grace
For His heel will bruise the serpent’s head
Rejoice, all the world, rejoice

All the church rejoice
For your King returns
On a white horse wearing a crown
He will break the sky with the angel’s shout
Descending from the clouds
Then the dead will rise from the land and sea
All His people will ascend
We will reign with Him for eternity
Rejoice, all the church, rejoice 

Translating Canadian

I so love my Canadian daughter-in-love that I rarely even remember that she is from a foreign land.  She is just our Nikki, and that is that.  However, every once in a while, she says something that demands a bit of translation.

In preparation for their upcoming visit, Nikki was checking with me to see if I had various items available so she didn't need to pack them. "Do you have elastics?" she asked.  "Yes, I have elastic," I replied.  Every good seamstress has elastic, after all. We went on to discuss other items, but I kept thinking about elastic, and something seemed a bit off.  So I asked Nikki, "Do you mean flat pieces of elastic like I use for sewing?"  "Oh, no," she replied, "I mean rubber bands.  Sorry!"

So translation is sometimes needed, even from Canadian!

Wednesday without words

A Taste of Slovakia

These lovely items are the zemiakove placky (or potato pancakes) we made for out annual missionary dinner at church yesterday.  The "we" was myself, my mother-in-law, and friends visiting from Slovakia (thanks, Paula!)  The delicious recipe is below.  What fun it was!

Zemiakove Placky

• Grate 8-10 potatoes, and drain excess liquid..
• Add 1 egg, 6-8 cloves garlic, 1-2 TBS marjoram, and 1-2 cups of flour, and stir, until you have a fairly gooey mess.
• Put a little oil in a non-stick frying pan or griddle, and heat.
• Plop a large spoonful of the potato mixture onto the hot pan, and spread as thinly as possible.
• Cook until lightly browned and flip.
• Meanwhile, dice 3-4 chicken breasts and saute in a little oil. Add one chopped onion and chopped fresh mushrooms.  Cook until chicken is done and a little gravy is forming.  Add a little ketchup and mustard to form a bit more gravy, so it is moist but not runny.
• Pile the chicken filling on the pancake, fold the pancake over, and top with cheese.
• Eat and enjoy-- we certainly did!

Sabbath Songs

O God to Us Show Mercy, The Psalter, 1912

O God, to us show mercy and bless us in Thy grace;
Cause Thou to shine upon us the brightness of Thy face;
That so Thy way most holy on earth may soon be known,
And unto every people Thy saving grace be shown.

O God, let all men praise Thee, let all the nations sing;
In every land let praises and songs of gladness ring;
For Thou shalt judge the people in truth and righteousness,
And through the earth the nations shall Thy just rule confess.

O God, let people praise Thee, let all the nations sing,
For earth in rich abundance to us her fruit shall bring.
The Lord our God shall bless us, our God shall blessing send,
And all the earth shall fear him to its remotest end.

Delightful Duo

I wish you could be with us, Gentle Reader, to enjoy a visit from the Lundgaards.  They hail from Trnava, Slovakia, where they teach English, help with indigenous church work, and Paula leads a mom's group.  The combination of theircollective and individual hearts for the Lord, Kris' wry sense of humor and sharp mind, and Paula's bubbly interest and care is just delightful.  What a blessing to have them visit.

We first met Kris and Paula in 1988 when Kris was a pastoral intern here. He grew up in Los Alamos, which explains quite a bit about him, both good and bad.  You can get a little sense of Kris's personality and wide-ranging interests on his blog. I have been praying that they would feel refreshed here this weekend.  I don't know if they do, but I am certainly feeling refreshed!  And this afternoon Paula is teaching me how to make Slovakian potato pancakes (think potatoes, garlic, eggs in a cake, with a chicken sauce and cheese.  Yum! If I had a camera, I'd take a picture... but I'll just have to be content with stealing this photo off of Kris' facebook page, and with enjoying the potato pancakes without you, Gentle Reader. May you enjoy many such refreshing friendships.

Life

My blogging life has been very quiet as of late.  To my three or so loyal readers, I apologize for not giving you something interesting on your news feed.  But the good news is that it is nothing less than real life that has interfered with my cyber life, and that is always a good thing!  To live ones life, instead of just writing about it, is a noble thing.  At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

43 composition students at VPSA, 4 local students in Worldviews class, one adorable granddaughter and another on the way, company this week, family here for Thanksgiving, Arizona a few weeks ago, fall yard work,  Christmas projects... they have all conspired to keep me away from my computer. But I am healthy, busy doing things I love, and enjoying the life God leads me into every day. I hope the same is true for each of you, Gentle Readers (should I still have any...)

Wednesday Without Words

Wednesday without words