Fasting for show

We have been going through the book of Mark in church, and today we are at chapter 2 verses 18-22.

John's disciples and the Pharisees are fasting while Jesus was feasting. There was really only one day that Jews were required to fast --- the Day of Atonement. Other fasts were voluntary to ask for help or forgiveness. However, fasts were added twice a week for some people to show how religious they were. It was not mandated anywhere in the Scripture.

They used these extra religious showings to show off, basically. It was for man, not for God. In Matthew, it was written to not look gloomy while fasting like the people who used it to show off rather than to worship.

Instead, fasting is supposed to be for God. A passage in Isaiah says that God loves people who are giving and who look out for the less fortunate rather than those who put up a show of fasting. Fasting itself does not even appear that important to God. Instead, he wants his people to be working in the world for the good of others, not to show off how righteous they were for themselves, for their gain.

Jesus gives two examples --- you can't sew a piece of unshrunk cloth on shrunk cloth, because the patch will shrink and separate, and you can't put wine in old wineskins or they will expand more and burst. He meant that the new gospel doesn't pair with old Jewish tradition. Jesus was bringing something new. He was bringing salvation through faith in him. The tradition of fasting was not going to save these men. They couldn't hang on to the old. They had to accept the new, accept Jesus.

Jesus is exclusive. Faith in him is the only way to be forgiven and saved.

A God that associates with sinners

This morning, our pastor talked about how Jesus was classified by his association with sinners. People looked down on the fact that he hung out with tax collectors, drunkards and people with ill reputations, but his response was that healthy people don't need a doctor, people who are sick do.

I am extremely thankful that Jesus loves and associates with sinners.

Unfortunately, this world is pretty messed up. Even the best of us fall down. We hurt people without realizing it, or intentionally when we feel like it. We lie. We swear. We are mean. We are crabby. We are sinful.

If Jesus didn't associate with sinners, this world would be a lost cause. We would have no hope. We would live the best we could and that would be it.

But Jesus does love sinners.

He loves us so much that he came into the world to reach us. He became a man, died on the cross and took on all the punishment for our sins and he rose from the dead to conquer Satan and death. If we just accept his gracious gift, we can overcome our sin and live an eternal, perfect life in heaven.

I read a comment on an Instagram post once about how morbid Christians are, that we live for another world that is not this one. That may seem crazy to people. However, when you think about how short this life is and how eternal death is, it makes sense. We live in a hope of a better place, a perfect place, a place that is how earth was designed to be before sin entered it.

I am thankful for hope beyond the grave. I am thankful for a God who so loves us sinners that he would extend the grace that we need to meet him. I am thankful for a God who not only associates with sinners but forgives them.

That's what I'm grateful for today.

How about you?

Kitchen experimentation

I am thankful for new recipes and for being blessed to live in a place where we can experiment with so many dishes in the kitchen.

There are plenty of people in the world who don't have enough money to eat and are thankful for a bowl of rice. There are cultures where people eat similar foods most of the time.

I love that we live in America and have so many cultural influences creating so many different and unique foods, and I also love that in the United States we have so many different climate regions that allow us to sample different foods.

This past week, I have tried a lot of new creations --- homemade croissants, In 'N Out copycat burgers, roasted garlic and caramelized onion bisque, Asian duck tacos, cream puffs and apple cinnamon walnut muffins.

I'll admit that some recipes have turned out better than others, but it is fun being able to try new things. I also have empanadas and papa rellanas on the meal list.

Tonight, I am attempting Parisian gnocchi.

It is actually made from the choux pastry, or pate choux, dough that makes eclairs and cream puffs. I have a traditional potato gnocchi recipe too, but it takes a long time, and I saw a woman make these little dumplings on the Food Network so I'm giving them a shot with some roasted brussel sprouts.

I'll let you know how they turn out!

Yay for long weekends

I am thankful for long weekends.

My husband and I get to spend evenings and weekends together probably less than half of the time. Our work schedules differ, and his constantly rotates, so we often miss out on spending time together. That's why we usually prioritize our time together when we our schedules do align.

This weekend, on a three-day weekend, we had three whole days off together.

I'm not sure the last time that happened. Honestly. It's probably been years other than our scheduled vacations.

And it was wonderful.

We had time to relax; we ran a couple of errands; we ate food; we watched football; we went to church together; we went to the gym.

And we smiled a lot.

Last night, we were going to Wal-Mart because we started wrapping Christmas presents and realized we were out of tape, and we talked about actually having time together.

"Is this how normal people live?" he asked me, smiling.

"I think so! Couples actually see it each!" I answered.

But you know what, a lot of couples don't prioritize their time together, because they are used to being together. One perk of having opposite schedules is that we put our time together above meetings and chores and we instead have fun.

So, I'm thankful for long weekends together, and I'm thankful for a husband I love spending time with.

A church that preaches from the Word

I am thankful for a church that preaches from the Bible.

There are a lot of churches, a lot of pastors, a lot of ways to listen to preaching. You can go to church, you can listen to podcasts, you can watch sermons on TV, you can listen to the radio. With technology, it's unending the ways that you can experience the Word of God in our country.

Yet, I think it is rare to actually hear the Word of God being taught. A message may start with a verse or two, but it often that turns into what we can learn from the verse, how the pastor interprets it, how it can be put into practice, what we're doing wrong.

That's not all bad, but I have seen many messages turn into opinion instead of staying true to what Scripture says.

When we moved here, we had to find a church that we would both like. Coming from a non-denominational background and a Catholic background, we knew it may be hard to find a place that meshed our expectations.

Our church though has drawn us because of its dedication to preaching the Word of God.

The pastor doesn't just pick a random Scripture, we study books of the Bible. We don't study just themes, but we go verse by verse. We don't just look at a verse and interpret in today's language, our pastors go back to the original text to figure out what the verse originally meant. Why did the author write it? What was the original intent?

I have learned so much since we started attending our church, and it has also changed the way that I read the Bible.

There is so much to the Word of God that we miss when we just race through it or glaze over while reading.

I'm thankful for a church that inspires me to learn more and delve deeper.

Weirdly thankful

I am thankful for yeast.

This is a weird one, but I absolutely love to bake, and I love to bake bread. It amazes me every time the way the dough comes together, and the yeast makes it rise. I love the feel of bread as the gluten activates during needing, and the smell of the yeast working.

Last night, I wanted to make cheeseburgers with a copycat In 'n Out burger sauce that I found on Pinterest and I realized that I was out of buns.

I didn't want to go to the store, and I had seen a couple of recipes for homemade hamburger buns, so I looked up "homemade hamburger buns" and found a 40-minute recipe.

In no time flat, I had whipped up the dough, kneaded it and made little balls, letting them rise for 10 minutes before going into the oven.

They turned out glorious.

Seriously, so good. So good in fact that I was going to take a picture of the burger but shoved it in my mouth before I remembered. And then I did that with the leftover burger I ate for lunch.

There is just something about leavened bread that makes you feel warm, cozy and satisfied.

I'm thankful we don't have to go through life with boring bread. I really am thankful for yeast.

Thankful for our great God

I am thankful for a God that is greater.

This week alone, a friend of ours was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and my best friend's aunt died suddenly.

Fear. Grief. Heartache.

This world is full of so much sorrow, and yet, in those moments we have hope. The response is typically, "You're in our thoughts and prayers."

But I don't think that means much to many people. Thoughts are nice, but they aren't going to help anyway. Prayers can though.

I keep coming back to this verse that I read in Acts about how Paul was shipwrecked, and when he built a fire, a cobra came out and bit him on the arm. The natives watched him, waiting for him to get sick and die.

But nothing happened.

Nothing happened!

I think that God is so big that he can work in situations, but natural things happen. If someone is bitten by a poisonous snake and doesn't receive help, that person is going to die. It's only natural.

Yet, God can intervene in those situations. He is bigger than poison. He is bigger than cancer. He is even bigger than death.

It blows my mind when I really stop to think about how great God is and how much he is in control.

He can heal. And when he chooses not to heal, it is still not a loss. When someone has accepted Jesus as his or her savior and is forgiven of his or her sins, he or she gets to go to heaven! Even death can't win.

I am thankful that in moments when everything seems lost, we can throw up our hands and reach for our Savior.

God is bigger. He is greater than we can even imagine.

Lifelong learner

I heard on a podcast that I like the hosts call themselves "lifelong learners."

I hadn't heard that before, but I realized that is exactly what I am.

I am so thankful that I have a job where I get to learn something new everyday. Sometimes it is something about the environment --- did you know that the fleshy flap of skin that hangs off the top of a turkey's beak is called a snood?

Sometimes I get to learn new skills. On Friday, I got to learn how to drive a Bobcat and also drove a wheel loader.

Sometimes I learn about history. While working on new exhibits for a historical site we run, I had to look up some of the Native American artifacts. I found out that eagle feathers were awarded to braves in battle, and our eagle feather, which is serrated on both sides, was awarded to braves who counted coup --- showed bravery in the face of the enemy --- four times in battle. I also learned about Native American headdresses and what the feathers mean.

I love our small group when I learn the history behind a book of the Bible, and I love church when I learn what the original Greek text said versus how I had always interpreted the English.

I also love working with volunteers and picking up life lessons along the way, like the day my volunteer quoted an Amish proverb --- "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."

I get so much joy from learning, and I had never realized before just how much it excites me. I'm thankful today for a job that lets me do different things every day and that lets me continue to learn.

Thankful month

It's November, and that means that Thanksgiving is approaching.

As I sit here, realizing again that I haven't blogged in a while, the things that keep popping into my head are things that I am thankful for.

So maybe what I should do is focus on thankfulness this month.

This afternoon, I was thankful that my husband is so good at anticipating my needs.

Last week, he picked up the leather boots that I have worn every day for the past two winters to buff them, and they were looking a little rough.

"You need new boots," he said.

So, I got to looking and found a pair, but there were awfully expensive. I left them on the computer screen to show to him later, and I came home the next day to him having found a coupon to make them much more within our price range --- still expensive, but the quality was worth it.

I was super thankful that he went ahead and found a way to make them work without me having to ask him, and they arrived today. I'm excited, which he finds silly that I would get excited over boots, but I guess that is one way I'm girly.

The second way he anticipated my needs today was when I was dozing watching TV after work. I heard him in the kitchen filling up the teapot, and I was going to ask him if he would make me some tea or coffee.

"What are you doing?" I called out.

"Making us coffee," he said.

He brought me a cup before he had any, and it made me happy.

It may be little things, but the way that he watches me and anticipates what I may need always makes me thankful.

I love that man.