Broken vision

I love to look at streetlights, traffic lights, and headlights at night… really any kind of light from a lamp when it's dark. When I look at them, lines of light come off from all directions and they look like stars. Recently William had his eyes checked and he has astigmatism, which I do as well. I knew that from when I used to be good about getting my vision checked, way back in the day. The eye doctor told William that astigmatism causes those lines coming off the lights. I was shocked to learn that I’ve been seeing lights incorrectly for all these years. They’re so beautiful, but I’m not seeing them right. It made me sad, actually. But then I got to thinking… what grace there is in that, but grief as well. My vision is broken but it made something so mundane as a streetlight beautiful. We see the world that way. Our vision has been broken since Adam and Eve fell in the garden, and none of us see the world as it ought to be seen. I wonder now how often God grieves over us… saying to us, “But you don’t see it right!” as we look around His creation. We see beauty but it’s skewed. One day we will get to see what the world really looks like.

Recipe, by demand

Ingredients:
Chicken breasts
Several garlic cloves, minced
1 lemon
White wine (one that you would drink)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil for the pan

Process:
Heat a sauté pan to medium. While that is heating, salt and pepper both sides of chicken. When pan is warm, toss in a tablespoon of olive oil and the garlic. Give it a quick sauté. Before the garlic browns, cover the pan with the chicken breasts. Squeeze half a lemon over the chicken. Pour white wine over the chicken til it’s about halfway up the chicken. Squeeze the rest of the lemon into the pan. Cover tightly and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Turn the breasts over and re-cover for another 20 minutes. Uncover and turn the heat up to medium high. The liquid will boil off. Keep turning chicken until it’s golden-brown and all the liquid is gone. (Be careful not to burn the garlic on the bottom of the pan. Scrape it up with the chicken… it’s amazing.) All told this takes about an hour but it is SO EASY and delicious.

I didn't put measurements because it's really however much chicken your family will eat, plus however much garlic you like. When I do this for me and William, I use 3 or 4 big cloves. When I made it for 18 people, I used close to 2 whole heads. I usually use Yellow Tail chardonnay. Any white that you like to drink will work. Also any size pan will be fine as long as it has a cover that fits and the chicken is flat in the pan.

Adventures on the Metro

After our 8th grade class trips to Washington, DC many of the students say their favorite part was riding the Metro. It's definitely a memorable part of the trip, and this time, even more so.
The first night of this trip is always a test run on the Metro to get to dinner and back. We have our groups, get them to the station, on a train, off the train, on to another train, to dinner, and back. I usually have William there with me to be the voice, but he wasn't with me this time. (He was helping someone else and had Edward with him too.) Trying to be heard above the din of the noise of the Metro is a challenge. I knew which way to go and was letting everyone know which train to wait for. After trying to explain the map to a few people I got everyone on, and then we successfully disembarked at our cross-station. The train we needed to get on was already there, so I hurried everyone on it, reminding them which station to exit on, because I wasn't sure I was going to make it on before the doors closed. I had to make sure no one was left behind without a guide. The doors closed, sure enough, leaving me and about 8 others from our group. No problem, until I heard yelling and realized there was a fist fight between a man and woman going on on the platform behind me. Other travelers started yelling at them to stop, and finally a man grabbed the man that was punching the woman and pulled him away. Apparently she started it. I don't know what exactly happened but it ended quickly. That's the scariest thing I've seen happen in a station.
Last night William, Joy and I and our respective babies were headed back to the hotel from Union Station after getting everyone set for their night tour of the monuments. We were about to head down the escalator when a woman approached me in broken English for help getting to the Metro Center. That was our line, so we had her go with us onto the train. She was from Tehran, Iran, and had been visiting family in Boston and was now visiting DC, and it was almost the end of her trip. She loved Edward; she asked if he was our first and kissed his hand and played with him. She said a few things about war and how she hoped it would stop now. Our station was one before hers, so I told her she needed to go one more stop to get to the Metro Center. We shook hands for a long time and I told her it was nice to meet her, and she said it was nice to meet us, and we parted ways. She seemed to have loved her time in America. I wonder what she thought of Americans before she came to visit. Maybe she will go back to her home country and tell them good things.

Today we are going to the zoo. It will be the first real sight seeing we have done; the first two days have been spent helping our families get to where they're going and I've been too exhausted to do anything else. I haven't slept well lately. Right now though, Edward is napping, I'm sipping coffee, William is reading, and all is quiet.

Hymn for Easter weekend

1. And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Savior's blood!
Died he for me? who caused his pain!
For me? who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

2. 'Tis mystery all: th' Immortal dies!
Who can explore his strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
to sound the depths of love divine.
'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
let angel minds inquire no more.
'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
let angel minds inquire no more.

3. He left his Father's throne above
(so free, so infinite his grace!),
emptied himself of all but love,
and bled for Adam's helpless race.
'Tis mercy all, immense and free,
for O my God, it found out me!
'Tis mercy all, immense and free,
for O my God, it found out me!

4. Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
fast bound in sin and nature's night;
thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
my chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

5. No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in him, is mine;
alive in him, my living Head,
and clothed in righteousness divine,
bold I approach th' eternal throne,
and claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th' eternal throne,
and claim the crown, through Christ my own.

-Charles Wesley

tetelestai

From the most recent "New Horizons":

"Now what did Jesus mean when he said, 'It is finished'? In the Greek, 'It is finished' is expressed by a single word: tetelestai. This verb is in the perfect tense, conveying the sense that an action has concluded, with a lasting effect. On ancient invoices it meant 'paid in full.'"

"Putting Death to Death!" by Paul S. McDonald

Pondering God's payment of my debt on this Good Friday...

How do you know if you're good friends?

Here is how. How do you get in to your friend's house?

Level 1: The knock and wait. You aren't comfortable just going in.

Level 2: The knock, wait, and open the door, with a "hello?" as you tiptoe in.

Level 3: The knock and barge with a loud "HELLO!"

Level 4: The barge, no knock.

Level 5: The "I have a key/know the alarm code so it doesn't matter; I'm getting in somehow."

Exceptions: You already know the door will be locked, which is the only reason you knock. That would be a level 4.5. Or you don't barge because there is a dog.

Another way of rating would be if you're thirsty. Do you wait to be asked for a drink? Do you ask the person if it would be ok to get a drink? Or do you know where everything is so you just do it yourself?

I bet you can name people for every category if you really think about it.