joy in the little things

On the way back from Pyatigorsk to St. Petersburg, Cavin and I were bunk mates. The four bunks across from us were shared by four members of a family. They were quite friendly and eager to practice their English with us. Cavin especially got to know them, playing games with them and trying to understand the Russian children stories. They were traveling north to St. Pete's for their son's wedding, and the day we arrived in the city was the father's birthday. They taught us the Russian birthday song and we held hands singing it. It was just so sweet.

Earlier on the train, I was talking with one of the girls in our group about oranges. She was reminiscing about a summer with her family where they had tons and tons of oranges. She said that her dad peeled them like a whiz. She had an orange with her, but didn't want to try and eat it on the train; it would be too messy. I could sympathize with this. For some reason, it was not until college that I was able to master the peeling of an orange. My dad has always loved oranges and if I asked nicely, he would often peel an orange for me taking a slice for his labor, a "food tax" as mom called it.

As we played Russian card games with the family on the train, only a few hours left on the journey, the father peeled an orange and a grapefruit. He graciously shared the juicy citruses with us. It was such a sweet picture of kindness and simple generosity, a little thing meant that so much!

Deep Dish Delish, Peach Pie

One of the best things about Blythe is fresh, and often free, produce! Some friends of ours recently delivered to us a box of beautiful peaches. We really love peaches, but as fast as we were eating them, it became clear we would need to find a recipe that called for a fair amount of peaches.

I thought, "Henrietta Scott's peach cobbler!" (which is actually called Deep Dish Peach Pie in her recipe book).

Now, Henrietta Scott is a Blythe treasure! She has lived here for many years. Her husband was an entrepreneur- farming, mining, raising sheep and cattle (herding them with dynamite sticks from an airplane! (at least once)). Henrietta owned and ran Blythe Florist for many years, her daughter now owns the shop. She is such a fun, warm and loving saint and she can bake and cook with the best of them! Please say a prayer for her too, she recently fell and had a bump on her head the size of a tennis ball. Another thing I love about Henrietta is that she shares her recipes! Here's her Deep Dish Peach Pie and her favorite Pastry Recipe.

Deep Dish Peach Pie
4 cups fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. butter

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange peaches in buttered baking dish (10x6x2 inches). Blend rest of ingredients and sprinkle over peaches. Roll out pie crust pastry large enough to allow 1/2 inch overhanging edge all around. Cut slits in top and put pastry over peaches, folding edge under and onto rim of dish. Press edges down firmly with a floured fork. Brush top with milk. Bake for 40 minutes.

Pastry Recipe
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Crisco
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup ice water

Mix flour, Crisco, and salt. Using pastry tool (or a fork), cut this mixture until it is a small pea size. Slowly add ice water and mix until fairly stiff dough. Shape into large ball and roll into a circle on a floured pastry cloth or sheet. Don't overmix or add too much flour while you are rolloing pastry dough.

I ended up doubling the recipe, we had a lot of peaches!
Here are the peaches in the dish covered with mixture.














Pastry dough in place!














Make sure you cut bigger slits in the dough than I did :) It still tasted delicious!

peachy keen, mostly

Thirteen years ago today, when I was ten, my family moved to Blythe, CA.

It was quite an adjustment for our family; not to the climate thankfully, that may have been too much to handle that first summer. The thirteen years have proved to be full of blessings and the Lord's faithfulness. My brothers and I definitely have experienced some different things growing up in this town and missed out on some others, but growing up in Blythe has played no small role in shaping us into who we are today, for better or worse.

God planted our family here and the roots continue to grow deeper. It is a sweet thing to sit and think about all that God has done, the people that we were when we moved here and the people that we are today. It is all to His glory, and thankfully we are not the same. I see God doing new things in the hearts of my dad and my older brother that excite me all the way down to my toes!

Oh Lord, may there be many reasons that we have yet to taste as to why You planted us here! May we grow wherever You plant us, remaining in You and bearing fruit that lasts.

worms squirm, FYI

Brandi thought it would be fun to go fishing tonight and I thought it would be fun to see Brandi fishing. We got some live bait, earthworms to be exact. Neither one of us had ever hooked a live worm before. One of my biggest fears was that worm juice would squirt on me when I punctured the worm. While it didn't happen on the first try, it did on the second. It wasn't so bad and after that the worms became something fun for me to play with.

<---See!!

Here are both of our first successes for your viewing pleasure.











Yes, I wave at the worm. You can also hear our friend Justin in the background.


Sorry, this video is a little long at the end... once the worm is hooked the action is over.

when the shadows of this life have gone...

I read C.S. Lewis' "The Great Divorce" earlier in the week and I thoroughly enjoyed it! It came recommended from a friend and I am oh so glad that their recommendation gave it a little more priority on my list of books to read!

Three Reasons why I liked it (without spoiling it for my beloved friends who have yet to read it):
-It was interesting... really interesting! I loved the imagery and the descriptions of the people....
-It was convicting...it made me think about my own sin, but also made me want to desire Christ more. I also appreciated the humility in which the convicting message was delivered.
-It was short and moved along purty quickly (deep, I know).

Following my read of the book, I have been thinking about "the shadows of this life." So much of this life is shadows: shadows of the past -experiences, places, feelings, shadows of the future-our hopes, fears, dreams, and even shadows of the present -all that we cannot fully grasp or understand. The thing about shadows is they get smaller when the light is directly above them, like at high noon. I think with us, we are least shadowed in the presence of God, in Christ. His light is eternal!

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn." -Isaiah 60:1-3

Man, I so look forward to this!!!:

"The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it." -Revelation 21:23-24

"When the shadows of this life have gone, I'll fly away..."

Zebra Mocha Chip

Today I went by the local Starbucks and on the window was their latest frappuccino of the week. It's called zebra mocha chip and was invented by Luke. Luke is my little brother, so I figured I should try it. It was good, but more than anything I was struck by how proud I was of my little brother. I sipped it, enjoying the chocolaty chunks, thinking to myself, "Luke made this."

I'm praying for some sweet times with Luker before Russia.

brown sugar

Today was a brown sugar kind of day; it was sweet and packed. Whenever you bake with brown sugar you always compress it and pack the measuring cup with every ounce of goodness.

First sweet instance was going to Starbucks to spend time with God. While I was there, a choir from Masters College came through. They saw me reading my Bible and I was instantly popular. The first guy that talked to me was really excited to see someone doing their quiet time and as we talked a bit more he told me that his parents were both saved in Navs in college! This gave me such joy! We didn't talk for long, but his parents have daily time with God and that was passed down to him, and he was excited to see a stranger doing a quiet time too! What a sweet reminder of the why we labor and of what we labor for...the spiritual generations. Sweet blessing number 1.

Followed by that I came home and cleaned the refrigerator. It is so clean. I like to clean, more than most people. Blessing number 2.

Then my parents and I went bowling. My mom's work was having a fundraiser so we met up with about 15 of her coworkers and spent the afternoon bowling. It was funny to sit by my mom and cheer for people; more than once we said the same exact thing encouraging our friends. I bowled my personal best today 137, which was also the high score in our group! What a fun time?! Number 3.

Blessing number 4 was just being with the family, catching up, laughing and getting hugs! Do not underestimate number 4.

The weather in Blythe was surprisingly spectacular. Apparently it is a cool May, it couldn't have been much over 90 degrees today and there was a cool breeze that made it feel in the 80's. It was great! I sat out back and read. Numero cinco.

My sixth and final big blessing of the day... a date with my dear friend Brandi. We saw Robinhood (finally)! I really liked it and am excited that there will be a sequel. It reminded me of Braveheart and while I don't think I will be going as Robinhood for Halloween this fall, I still enjoyed it. The best part was seeing it with Brandi, we laughed, sighed and feared the fate of our hero together. Catching up with her after the movie was also a grand time! Number 6!

Yes, today was a good day to be in Blythe! A day packed with sweet blessings from the Lord! God is so good!