Chasing Shadows - a book review

 

Chasing Shadows by Lynn Austin is a story about three women and how God works in each of their lives to strengthen their faith.  

The first woman is Lena, a Dutch woman who farms alongside her husband.  Her father was the pastor of the local church in the village close to her farm.

The second woman is Ans, Lena's daughter, who was tired of living on the farm and desired to move to the city.  She does move to Leiden and acquires a job caring for the wife of a professor at the university in Leiden.  The wife's name is Eloise, who has had much trauma in her life when losing one family member after another because of the war.  Ans also meets a young man who is a police officer and they fall in love.

The third woman is Miriam, a young Jewish violinst who fled with her father to the Netherlands to escape persecution, as the Netherlands were neutral and kind to the Jewish people who immigrated there.

The story unfolds when the Nazis invade the Netherlands and eventually get to the town of Leiden. There are parts of the story that give a bit of insight into what the concentration camps were like.  Ans worked with the Dutch Resistance, always putting the needs of the Jewish people ahead of her own, as a result of the way God worked in her heart through everything that she went through.

I hesitate to say much more because I don't want to give away too much.  It's such a great read...sometimes not able to turn the pages fast enough to find out what was taking place next.  

One thing that I do want to emphasize is that even though this book is set during the time of the Second World War, the invasion of the Nazis in the Netherlands and the ill treatment of the Jews, the thing that I appreciated was that the focus was each of these women and how at one point their lives all began to intertwine and their relationships grew.  They each had a part to play in the war and the lives of their loved ones.  And especially how each of them grew deeper in  their relationship with God.

Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins

 If you are looking for a gluten free muffin recipe as something a little different for the breakfast menu...or any time of the day...you might enjoy this easy recipe.

ALMOND FLOUR PUMPKIN MUFFINS

1 1/2 Cups blanched almond flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

4 large eggs

3/4 cup canned pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Up to 1/2 cup mix-ins: chocolate chips, cranberries, toasted and chopped walnuts or a mix of any of them.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 10 of the wells of a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin, maple syrup, and vanilla.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then pour in the wet.  Gently stir, just until combined and the flour disappears.  Fold in any desired mix-ins.

Divide the batterevenly between the cups, filling then nearly all the way to the top.  Bake for 22 to 24 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Place the pan on a wire rack, and let cool in the pan for five minutes.  Gently lift the muffins out of the pan, and place on the rack to finish cooling.

Please note: Butternut Squash puree can be substituted for the pumpkin.  We always have plenty of Butternut Squash from our fall harvest and I normally end up taking a day or so turning some of it into puree and freezing it.  The muffins in the above picture were made with the squash puree.  I just put the frozen squash in a strainer over a large bowl and leave it on the counter overnight for all of the liquid from it being frozen to drain into the bowl.

Kindness in a World of Tragedy

 It was at the end of a long day of running errands that we stopped at the grocery store to make our food purchases.  

I was tired and in a good deal of pain but we finally managed to gather the things we needed into the cart.

Check out time!  This particular store has gone to a mostly self-checkout system, with the exception of just two or three cashiers running cash registers.

We got in line as the person in front of us was paying for their purchases and we began unloading our items onto the conveyor belt.

The cashier said, while making eye contact with us, "Hello.  How are you folks today?"  She was a young woman, probably in her late 30s, and I thought how kind she was.

I replied that we were doing good and asked how she was.  When she commented that it had been a long day, I asked her what her shift hours were and she told me.  I checked my watch and said, "Well, you only have about another hour and you will be finished for today."

She began her story of a family tragedy that had taken her away from her home at midnight the night before.  Her shift at the grocery store began at 6:00 A.M. and she had come straight to work without returning to her home after being called out at midnight.

The tragedy was so sad that I won't share it here in detail.  But let it suffice to say that by the time she had finished sharing her story with me, I was in tears.  

As a result of this tragedy, with one parent now dead and the other in prison, it has left three young children without their parents.  There are two children under the age of two and the six year old has autism.  This young woman and her husband have now taken on the responsibility of raising these three children.

What do you say to an employee in a public facility when there's a conveyor belt between you?  What do you say to someone who is hurting this deeply?  She wasn't in tears, but the grief was written all over her face.  Somehow, saying "thank you and have a nice day" just didn't seem appropriate.  And as I stated earlier, I was in tears by the time she'd finished sharing her grief with me.

I paid for the groceries and when she handed me the receipt and change, I looked directly into her eyes and said, " I will pray."  Just those three little words.  She once again made eye contact with me and said, "Thank you for your kindness.  I truly do appreciate it."

When we got home, we realized that this woman's family tragedy had made the news and my heart went out to the family even more.  

The lesson here about kindness (my One Word for 2024) was that I don't have to have all of the answers.  Sometimes (probably more often than not) kindness is demonstrated through our listening rather than words.  

From My Journal

 TODAY IS:  February 26, 2024

AROUND ME: the geese have flown over sounding their lonely honking, the birds are singing, and the snow from the weekend is mostly melted.

I AM PONDERING: how this Lenten Rose knows when it is the Lenten season.

AMONG MY FAVORITE THINGS: 

It never fails to bloom as soon as the Lenten season begins.

BOOKS I AM CURRENTLY ENJOYING:  

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs,  I read a small section in this book before falling asleep each night.  I've read this book several times now, as I try to make it a practice to read it once a year.

  Refreshment for the Soul is a collection of Richard Sibbes thoughts on different topics and is compiled as a devotional.  So, it will be an ongoing reading throughout this year.

I AM THANKFUL FOR: the Truth of Scripture.

NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN:  One of the reasons that I chose the particular bread machine that I did last year was because it has a yogurt function setting.  I plan to give that a go soon!

FROM THE KITCHEN: 

Baked Haddock, Cole Slaw and frozen corn from last year's garden.

SOMETHING I REALLY ENJOY:  

All of the signs of spring that are popping up through the ground.

(Please excuse all of the leaves still in the flower gardens.  It's been too wet to get in there and remove them all.  But it will happen soon enough!)

A QUOTE TO REMEMBER: "Even when prospects are few and hopes are squashed and joy is waning, I have lost nothing of what I have in God."  C.H. Spurgeon

TO DO LIST FOR TODAY:  Laundry,  clean bathroom and mudroom

"So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 90:12

Be Encouraged!

 

Keeping with my search of my "One Word for 2024"

KINDNESS

A Garden to Keep - a book review

 

We meet Elizabeth Landis, lover of poetry,  on a Sunday afternoon as she is having lunch with Margaret and Thomas in their home after attending church by invitation of one of her students.  Before leaving their home that day, Margaret has been instrumental in Elizabeth coming to faith in Jesus Christ.  By that same evening, Elizabeth finds out that her husband Ken has been unfaithful to her in their marriage.

It took me forever to get really interested in the book, and by that I mean like slightly over 100 pages before I decided to stick with it.  Margaret has advised Elizabeth to write down her thoughts, which she does do, but like myself, those thoughts aren't always in chronological order.  So there was a lot of back and forth things to keep track of.  I've chosen just a couple of quotes from the book that are perfect illustrations of this.

"I guess it's obvious by now that I freely exercise the right at any point in my story to skip over entire weeks and months or, more often, to stop and fill in background.  Sometimes when I'm reading a book and the author stops to muse over some extraneous detail, I say, "Come on, get on with the story and stop all this stalling." But now I'm the writer, see, and anybody who's writing something gets to make the calls."

"But I'll try to get on with it, though I'm not making any promises.  As my mind wanders hither and yon, I nevertheless have a distant goal in sight.  I'm going somewhere, trust me, but the trip might be more than just a short day's ride.  "As if I hadn't already figured that out," you're saying."

Somewhere around the first quote, I was taken in by how the Lord was working in Elizabeth's life and there was no way that I could quit reading.  This is an amazing story of infidelity, separation, reconciliation and seeing God's grace working through it all.  I was sad when I came to the end because I would miss being a part of Elizabeth and Ken's lives.  The writing style had long since quit bothering me as I became absorbed in how God was working in Elizabeth's life.  

The book was well written as far as not having any descriptive dialog as far as the infidelity was concerned, which I appreciated greatly.  Otherwise, I would not have finished reading the book.  

Another aspect that I appreciated is that it approached everyday real life problems in a way that caused me, as the reader, to think about similar circumstances in my years of marriage and how I handled them...not only relating to marriage, but also in child rearing.

I purchased this book as a used book and realized it was given to someone as a gift.  The giver had written "To:Sara, From: Seth".  After realizing the content of the book, it made me wonder about Sara and Seth and what the ocassion was that had caused him to present it to her as a gift.

I would definitely recommend this book!

From My Journal

TODAY IS:  February 19, 2024

AROUND ME: it's beginning to get daylight, vehicles are zipping up the road to work and the clock is ticking.

I AM PONDERING:  the cross of Christ, His death, burial, resurrection and ascension.

AMONG MY FAVORITE THINGS: 

This is my final month for the bulb subscription our daughter and son-in-law gave me for Christmas.  These are some of the most delicate Tulips that I've ever come across.  And they are all either pink or white.

BOOKS I AM CURRENTLY ENJOYING:  

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs,  I read a small section in this book before falling asleep each night.  I've read this book several times now, as I try to make it a practice to read it once a year.

  Refreshment for the Soul is a collection of Richard Sibbes thoughts on different topics and is compiled as a devotional.  So, it will be an ongoing reading throughout this year.

Lila by Marilynne Robinson.

I AM THANKFUL FOR: good health!  It seems as though I've been down physically with one thing or another since the first of the year, but now I can say that I am feeling well again and able to be back in my regular routines!  Praise be to God!

NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN:  In the summer of 2023 I had to purchase a new bread machine.  I was accustomed to using the dough cycle on my old machine and then putting it in my own bread pan, allowing it to rise again and then baking it.  I tried doing that with the new machine, which turned out to not be a good decision and ended up just baking it completely in the bread machine, even though we didn't care for the texture that much or the hole that the paddle left in the bread.  About three weeks ago, I decided to give it a try again...and, lo and behold, using the dough cycle worked beautifully.  I used a different recipe than I had used originally so don't know if that had anything to do with it or not.  But it's been wonderful to not have to purchase bread at the grocery store anymore.

FROM THE KITCHEN: 

  

This pie made up for the Christmas flop. 😊

It's made with sour cherries hand picked by Strong Heart in Hampshire County summer before last.  They caught my eye one day when I was getting something out of the freezer.

 SOMETHING I REALLY ENJOY:  

All things Tasha Tudor

A QUOTE TO REMEMBER: 

TO DO LIST FOR TODAY:  Laundry,  clean bathroom and mudroom

"So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 90:12

Before the Throne of God Above

 

Before the Throne of God Above

Before the throne of God above

I have a strong and perfect plea.

A great high priest whose name is Love

Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on His hands,

My name is written on His heart.

I know that while in heaven He stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair

And tells me of the guilt within,

Upward I look and see Him there

Who made an end of all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died

My sinful soul is counted free.

For God the just is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,

My perfect spotless righteousness,

The great unchangeable I AM,

The King of glory and of grace,

One in Himself I cannot die.

My soul is purchased by His blood,

My life is hid with Christ on high,

With Christ my Savior and my God!

Charitie L. Bancroft

1863

Taking a Break

 I'm taking a break this week.

I was sick all of last week with a nasty virus

and our home is needing attention this week.

I'm feeling much better now,

but I need to take my time in recovering the orderliness around here.

Have a wonderful week, Friends!

Be Encouraged

 

Gilead ~ A Book Reveiw

 

If you enjoy reading journals or diaries, you may find gilead one that you would enjoy.  It's set in 1956 in Gilead, Iowa and gives us a look into the life of Reverend John Ames, who is 75 when the book begins but along the way celebrates his 76th birthday.  He has a wife who is much younger than himself and they have a seven year old son.  John has a bad heart and is nearing the end of his life and knows that he won't be around to watch his son grow to maturity and give him advice, so he is journaling all of the things he would wish to tell the young boy as he was growing up.

John is the third generation pastor in his family.  His grandfather was a Congregationalist and had strong inclinations about slavery.  He left the pastorate in order to be more active in that endeavor with mention being made of John Brown.  John's father was also a pastor but he did not follow in his father's footsteps in the fight against slavery.  He was more of the pacifist persuasion.  In time, John's father actually left Gilead to go south where he and his wife lived close to John's brother Edward who had built them a home on his property.

John strongly felt that God had called him to the pastorate and never left Gilead, even when his father tried persuading him to.

I found it interesting to read about the close friendship that he had with a retired Presbyterian pastor named Broughton down through the years.  The storyline actually records much about one of Broughton's sons...Jack, who was named for Reverend John.

There are parts of the book that are quite tender in the ways that Reverend Ames thinks of his son and wife and the things he observes about them.  There are other parts of the book that caused me to chuckle, particularly when he was recording about some of his conversations with Broughton.

This book was given to me as a birthday gift and I found that it took me a bit to really "get into" the book, but I think part of that could have been the fact that it is a collection of his thoughts...not necessarily as a journal with dates.  Once I got in a few chapters, it held my attention.

Shepherd's Pie (Cottage Pie)

 

As you can see, I chose the Shepherd's Pie recipe from my friend Lauren in Scotland.  We have thoroughly enjoyed it.  I checked with Lauren to see if she would mind me posting the recipe and she said, "Of course you can share it!"  Without further delay here we go.  Please keep in mind that it's called Shepherd's Pie because it is made with lamb, but for us here in the US, where beef is cheaper than lamb, it is called Cottage Pie.  I made Cottage Pie.  😀 

SHEPHERD'S PIE

1 lb. Minced lamb 

5 cups (1 1/2 lb)King Edward Potatoes (I used 4 russet potatoes)

Large onion

3/4 cup mushrooms

Bay Leaf

2 Carrots

2 Tbsp. plain flour

1 Tbsp. Tomato puree

2 Tbsp. butter

4 Tbsp. milk

1/2 pint Lamb or beef stock

1/3 cup cheese

Dry fry the lamb (beef) with the chopped onion, sliced mushrooms, diced carrots and bay leaf.

Continue to fry for 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the flour and stir.

Slowly stir in the stock and tomato puree.

Cook while stirring until the mixture boils (it will start to thicken too).

Cover and simmer gently for 25 minutes.

Remove and dispose of the bay leaf.

Place lamb (beef) mixture in a large oven-safe dish.

At the same time, in another pan, boil the potatoes in water for 20 minutes, until tender.

Drain the potatoes very well.

Mash with butter and milk, mix well.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Spread mash evenly on top of the minced lamb (beef) mixture.

Sprinkle top with grated cheese.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve hot and enjoy.

* I normally use shredded cheddar cheese on this, but I was out of it when I made this recipe.  I did have Mozzerella, so that's what I used.

From My Journal

 TODAY IS:  February 5, 2024

AROUND ME: a smidgen of frost, but our daytime temperatures are definitely increasing!

I AM PONDERING:  the faithfulness of God when He tells us in the last part of Psalm 30:5 that weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.  So, if you are going through something that is causing you grief, please remember that it's only for a little while and that joy WILL come!  What a comfort His Word is.  

AMONG MY FAVORITE THINGS:  a good book and a cup of tea.

BOOKS I AM CURRENTLY ENJOYING:  The Gospel's Power and Message by Paul Washer, I am really enjoying this book and look forward to doing a review of it in the next few weeks.

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs,  I read a small section in this book before falling asleep each night.  I've read this book several times now, as I try to make it a practice to read it once a year.

 A Garden to Keep by Jamie Langston Turner is a good book, but it has taken me a bit to have the main character's way of talking become second nature to me.  It's been good though, now that I understand the way she writes and talks.  There will be a review at some point.

 Refreshment for the Soul is a collection of Richard Sibbes thoughts on different topics and is compiled as a devotional.  So, it will be an ongoing reading throughout this year.

I AM THANKFUL FOR: God's Word that gives us comfort and strength and helps us to stand firm in our faith as it helps us grow deeper in our relationship with Him.

NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN:  When I visited my friend Granny Marigold recently I learned about swans.  I found it quite interesting since we do not have swans here where we live.  She shared a picture from the internet of a formation of swans flying.  That's called a wedge.

Aren't they graceful?

FROM THE KITCHEN:  I made a decision about whether to try the Cottage Pie Baked Potatoes or my friend Lauren's recipe she sent me.  I will post the recipe a bit later on in the week as a few people have requested it.

SOMETHING I REALLY ENJOY:  being healthy

A QUOTE TO REMEMBER: "There is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious."  C.S. Lewis

TO DO LIST FOR TODAY:  Laundry, ironing, and reading

"So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 90:12

In Christ Alone

 

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone, my hope is found

He is my light, my strength, my song

This Cornerstone, this solid ground

Firm through the fierest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease

My Comforter, my All in All

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, who took on flesh

Fullness of God in helpless babe

This gift of love and righteousness

Scorned by the ones He came to save

'Til on that cross as Jesus died

The wrath of God was satisified

For every sin on Him was laid

Here in the death of Christ I live, I live

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain

Then bursting forth in glorious Day

Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me

For I am His and He is mine

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death

This is the power of Christ alive in me

From life's first cry to final breath

Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man

Can ever pluck me from His hand

Till He returns or calls me home

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

Be Encouraged

 It's been a bit of a rough week with some happenings in an area that are dear to my heart.  

When I saw this particular picture on Pinterest

 I was thankful for the reminder that even in the hard things, 

we need to give Him thanks.  

Yes, sometimes it is a sacrifice but His mercy endures forever!