Three Cups of Coffee Praise Jesus!

My Favorite Church.

I'm not a demonstrative worshipper. I get a little freaked out every week at confirmation class worship time when the singing of the songs and the waving of the arms starts.

I'm not a song singing with the accompanying actions kind of girl. I'm not even a good, do the actions halfheartedly so to be a good example to my students, kind of girl. This Little Light of Mine strikes fear in my heart. My light is more like the one in your fridge. It turns on when you open me up a bit, but in a big crowd of people, I'm just not going to be waving it around. At least not in the traditional raise your hand and wave your pointer finger around like a light way.

My group of confirmation boys is wild and laughing and a big jumble of talking and sharing and NOISE in our small group class time. Get them in the worship part of the evening and they turn back into sullen, eye rolling, bored preteens. And I'm OK with that.

They're relatively focused and sort of paying attention. Last week, one of them clapped along with one line of one song. I did a victory dance (inside me, quietly, and my little light was turned on).

Now, could I be doing the actions, uncomfortably dancing my way through the worship service just to be a good example to the kids? Yes, I could, but that wouldn't be me. I'm a big believer in celebrating the unique gifts of each person. My boys just might not be gifted in the action area. More than likely, several of them are secretly doing the actions at home practicing for the moment when they're going to BREAK OUT and dare to be Action Man. But, odds are, at least half of them are just like me.

Our gifts lie in other areas.

Need someone to be the butt of a joke, wander across the stage as Moses, or talk about my Spiritual Journey? I'm your girl. Need someone to read a Bible verse, come up with a creative idea to get the kids excited and learning? I'm your girl.

My Little Light is shining, the flame is just a little different from yours. The boys are learning through my example that it's OK to be you, whoever you are, and to celebrate that. So, I won't force them to do anything that just doesn't fit with their personalities. Their gifts will be uncovered soon. My goal is to get them to start thinking about these gifts and perhaps one day, they'll share them.

Wednesday nights are busy for us and Confirmation hits smack dab around the dinner hour. The secret to navigating these busy nights is planning. So, it's either a crock pot meal or sandwiches. This is one of our favorites.

Lemon Pepper Pulled Pork

Makes a great meal and use the leftovers to make Cuban sandwiches the next day (or freeze to make Cubans the next time you have a busy day!)

One large bone in pork loin roast (or boneless, I'm not fussy)

2 1/2 tsp garlic pepper--garlic pepper IS a spice and is required for this recipe

2 1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 TB fresh lemon juice, bottled is fine, but fresh is best

2 1/2 tsp lemon pepper

1 1/2 tsp dried onion

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tsp salt (or to taste)

2 cups water

Spray crock pot with nonstick cooking spray. Pierce pork roast several times with a knife. Mix all remaining ingredients in a large bowl and pour over roast in crock pot. Turn roast several times to make sure marinade is covering it. Cook on low 10-12 hours or high 5-6 hours, basting with liquid in the bottom of the crock pot if you can. Remove roast from crock pot and shred with two forks, tossing all fat and bones. Return to crock pot to combine with juices. Serve on buns with cole slaw to top or as a main dish with rice and steamed veggies. Makes a great baked potato topper too.

Being Content with No Apologies

Nobody likes to hear excuses. I think it's something that once you reach about forty years of age, you realize, nobody really cares about the whys and the wherefores. You realize the fact that if you're secure with whatever it is, then that's all that matters.

Let me backtrack. We have one child. Now in the Mommy world, lots of Mommas weigh each other's rap sheets. Two kids, average. Three kids, admirable. Four, wow. More than that, Lord help you and let us all bow down to your greatness. Have one and there's always this awkward pause of, "One and only, huh?". And then the silence gets filled with what you imagine to be the ramblings of the other person's mind reviewing all the stereotypical only child traits. Brat, spoiled, self-centered, smothered, hovered over, bow-tie wearing geek, nervous parents...

I used to offer all our reasons. Six miscarriages, being turned down by multiple adoption agencies, having the disease I have...

Making excuses, trying to justify to another just why I am the mother that I am.

Reality? No one cares. And in a little blurb of excuses like that, without completely hearing your whole story, they're left with a lot of unknowns. And they judge all those unknowns with what they have--they're own experiences.

I love the honesty of kids. "Why do you only have one boy?" I got this from a little girl just trying to figure out how it all works. She was satisfied with a short simple answer. "Because that's what we got." Her answer? "Cool." If we could all just be satisfied to give and receive such acceptance. From her, I've learned to shorten my answer. "We have one. Stopped at perfection."

Laugh laugh. True human connection. No excuses.

I have one. It's enough. I haven't always been completely happy by this and if another came along, we'd be thrilled. But, I'm content. Content with no apologies. Believe me, it's taken me a long time to get here and I'd love to shout it from the rooftops.

I've found it's easier just to live in contentment than to try to sway someone who carries their own set of experiences and their own set of baggage.

I know this is a sign of getting older. I've heard a lot of people say that when you get closer to forty, you become much happier and secure in yourself. I can feel that coming. And, Lord, please forgive me, but I'm holding on to thirty nine as long as I can.

Living your life with no excuses is close impossible, I know. We somehow feel like we have to fully educate someone, but the problem with that is they don't get all the hidden little details and events that got you to where you are. The audience for such truth telling is left to best friends, husbands, and really close relatives.

What it all boils down to is that we want to be understood. And to do that, we first need to be accepting and understanding of others.

Maybe we all weigh each other. I once read a really great book about power struggles with women. It helped me tremendously in dealing with my 65 all female employees. Personally, I think the book was helpful with dealing with men too, because they do all this weighing stuff too, just in a different way. We all want to feel like our burden is greater and our journey is much longer than anyone elses. If one person appears to have more burden than the other, the second will try to offer up more. And what ends up happening is a neverending saga of trying to one up each other. It ain't pretty. When you figure out how to give some up to equalize things, so much can be accomplished.

What excuses do you make? How are you working towards contentment?

Ginger, Marianne, or Gilligan?

Out for coffee with friends the other day, I ran smack dab into a generation gap. We went to an upscale Scandinavian bakery in our area. It's a great place to get a pitcher size mug of your favorite Joe and to practice resisting temptation. The bakery is amazing.

I was the first to arrive, so a snagged a table and got in line. I struck up a conversation with the women in line with me, I knew one of them from Young One's preschool. We were discussing the tempting line of heart shaped cookies in the case, each flavored lemon, strawberry, or ginger. My acquaintance mentioned how much she loved ginger. As we approached the front of the line, I quipped that I always wanted to be Ginger, but I was usually Gilligan most days. We all laughed.

The young girl working the espresso machine with the odd piercing on her upper cheek (ouch) wanted in on the fun. We told her we felt her cookies should be named after the Island's occupants. "You mean Lost," she asked. "No, Gilligan's," I informed her. Blank stare. Blink. "Is that near Fiji?"

Ugh. I think that officially means I've crossed that invisible line between the generations. Not only am I unable to understand the intricacies of video games and iPods when Young One waxes on about them, but I'm now unable to communicate with the 20 somethings.

This recipe is from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa. I adore her. Never trust a skinny cook, I've always said. Ina makes absolutely delicious food with a focus on simplicity and fine ingredients. Her recipes aren't all Weight Watchers friendly, but this one is. You must have at least two of her cookbooks, really worth the investment. Or if you're strapped, hit the library.


Honey, I Love Ya, Chicken
aka I Always Wanted to be Ginger Chicken
or I'm more like Gilligan Chicken
You can make this with boneless skinless pieces or a whole cut up chicken. Points will vary depending on what pieces you use. I like to use skinless chicken thighs. They're cheap and they come in at about 3.5 WW Points per thigh. Serve with Jasmine rice, mixed salad tossed with sesame ginger dressing, and steamed Asian veggies.

8 pieces of chicken
1/2 cup honey
2 TB minced garlic
2 heaping TB minced fresh ginger--I used minced ginger in a jar found in the Asian foods section (don't use Marianne or Gilligan)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup green onions, chopped (optional)
sesame seeds (optional--will increase Point value)

Mix honey, garlic, ginger, and soy sauce. Pour over skinless chicken pieces. Allow to marinate in refrigerator at least eight hours. Turn several times while marinating. Bake at 350, covered for 30 minutes, uncovered for 30 minutes. Watch closely, basting several times while cooking. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds (you can add the green onions to the marinade if you wish).

Red Beans and Rice... So Nice!

A big shout out to Heidi over at her blog, The Johnson Family Tales. I made your bean recipe and it was amazing. Slow simmered, Red Beans and Rice with just the right spice. It really was nice. I'm rhyming and I don't know why.

I can't post the recipe because it's Top Secret. So, go on over and beg her for it!

Ms. Johnson (who has a very Northern name for such a Southern gal!) has a great idea for sharing your blessings around the holidays. Important to start saving now! Many more families will be in need this year. Please check out her blog. It's brilliantly written and gives you just a small glimpse into just how big her heart is.