Fruitfulness

“God therefore intended the Sabbath to be the means of producing spiritual fruitfulness in the lives of His people, and to be the dominating factor in their lives.”

--F.N. Lee, “The Covenantal Sabbath”

(posted by Betsy)

Recipe--Couscous With A Kick

A few months ago, we bought a large bag of couscous from our food co-op. But we really weren’t sure of the best way to use it, and didn’t have any recipes. I did a little digging online and found some good recipes. We tried one called “Couscous With A Kick” and it was great! We did modify it a LOT because we didn’t have many of the ingredients on hand, but we look forward to trying it the “real” way later in the summer, when we have fresh herbs!

Couscous With A Kick

3 cups water

2 cups couscous

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped

1/2 cucumber, diced (we didn’t use this)

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped green onion (we used regular onion)

3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint (we didn’t use this)

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (we used dried)

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (we used dried)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (we used dried)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

1 lemon, juiced

Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the couscous. Cover and let stand until the couscous absorbs the water entirely, about 10 minutes; fluff with a fork.

While the couscous soaks, stir the feta cheese, jalapeno pepper, cucumber, green onion, mint, basil, cilantro, parsley, cumin, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Add the prepared couscous and mix well.

As you can see, we barely went by the recipe, but we still enjoyed it! Try it and mix up some of the ingredients to suit your tastes! Just make sure that if you use dried herbs, use half of the amount called for! Let us know if you try it, and whether or not you like it. Or send us your favorite couscous recipe! We still have lots of couscous!

Flashback Friday

The idea for our “Friday Favorites” came from a 30-Day Blogger Challenge I found online. But not all of them had to do directly with “favorites.” So, today our post will look a little bit different, but I think you’ll still enjoy it. J We are posting pictures of us that were taken a long time ago. You could say that some of these are “favorite flashbacks!”



This is Daddy, Ben, and I back when we lived in Indiana. We were so little!



The same day, only now we have Mommy in the picture!



Aren’t the Mohawk Twins just too cute?!?! Roma is on the left, and Ruby is on the right.



This is Josiah as a baby. He was such a precious, smiley, happy baby!



We’ve all changed a lot as I’m sure you can tell! We hope you’ve enjoyed seeing a little glimpse “into the past” with us!

Movie Night

Several weeks ago our family hosted a movie night in our home with some friends from church. I think we’ve just been so busy we haven’t posted about it until now. J Anyway, the movie we showed was called Time Changer. It is a very sobering movie about how teaching morality without Jesus’ name will eventually lead to the decline of the family and the culture. I highly recommend it!

The Lord has really laid it on our family’s heart to begin a hospitality ministry in our home. We all love having people over and the idea of our home being a ministry hub. But until now, we really hadn’t hosted purposeful get-togethers with others. We want our home to be open to non-believers who may have questions about our family and our faith, to believers as a place to participate in fellowship and discussion on theological issues, and to be a place of refuge to those who may need encouragement.

The Lord has already been giving us many opportunities! Just a week after our movie night, a friend called and asked if she could stop by and visit for a few hours. We said yes, and she ended up joining our family for dinner. The Lord is teaching us that investing in relationships will have eternal value, and we need to have flexibility in our schedule in order to allow God to use us.

So we hope to have more movie nights with other believers and show good, wholesome movies and documentaries that deal with issues of the family and culture. We also want to extend more hospitality and allow the Lord to lead us in opening our home up to others. So if any of you want to drop by for a quick visit, J just let us know! We want to grow in our relationships and allow God to cross our paths with others who may need encouragement, and also be encouraged ourselves!

Starting Seedlings

Last week I (finally) started my garden seeds! Yes, I know, I probably should have done that weeks ago. But we were really busy and winter has lingered, and lingered, and lingered some more. We’ve had such a late spring, and I’m not even sure I can say it has officially arrived yet. But without further ado, the planting of the seeds:



My Mom had bought me a terrarium that had 70 peat pots. To get started, I needed to water the pots so they would expand.



Then I loosened the dirt and netting with a fork.



I carefully opened my seed packets and began sorting out how many seeds I would need.



And then I planted them! I started Sweet 100’s (tomatoes), Chocolate Cherries (tomatoes), Jalapeños, Bell Peppers, Sweet Basil, Cantaloupe, and Ornamental Gourds. I selected these to start from seed because it was either recommended, or they had a prolonged growing season (such as the gourds which need 100-120 days to mature.) And unfortunately my nifty little signs had to come down in order for the lid to fit. L



All set up in front of a south facing window. Now all they need to do is grow!

  

I had to put some signs on the bathroom door because we have a crazy cat that LOVES the Jacuzzi that the plants are situated in, and he loves to eat any living, green object.

 

A few days later, this is what I found!!! Everything sprouted except for the peppers. The soil may just need to warm up some more.



I’m so excited!



So, that is the garden update for now! I would love to know any tips or advice on hardening off plants once they have matured, and/or thinning out plants while they are still in the peat pots. Thanks!

Trip to Midland!

On Sunday, May 1^st, we made a special trip to Midland for the day! There were several occasions: one, our dear friend was being baptized and there was a special luncheon for her and several other girls; two, there was a worship dance recital that day; and three, we were having a get-together with our dear friends after all the festivities.

First, the baptism. We are so excited for K’s commitment to follow the Lord in baptism and were thrilled to be there for this special occasion. She was baptized with 4 other close friends from her discipleship group. We pray that they will continue to grow strong in the Lord!



The baptism. (I apologize, the only good picture I had was one taken of the video screen.)



We had a delicious luncheon after church with the family and friends of the young ladies who were baptized.



The dance recital was beautiful! God has given us such a wonderful gift of dance.



“Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and harp.” Psalm 149:3.



After enjoying a wonderful morning and afternoon of catching up with old church friends, and watching the baptisms and dance recital, we went to our dear friends’ home for dinner and fellowship.



Mmm, I love pizza! Good thing there was plenty of it!



Enjoying dinner and LOTS of laughter together. J



After dinner, we burned off some steam—and calories—at a local park.



Good friends are such a blessing!

Photo taken by Roma.



The adults played a good game of “Set.”



After it grew too cold and dark to play outside, we played in the basement. Here the boys are playing a card game.

Photo taken by Roma.



Some of the others enjoyed a game of ping pong.

Photo taken by Roma.



All of us girls with our keepsake dolls that come to every get-together.

 

Over the years, we kids have gotten so close it feels like we are visiting cousins or “long-lost siblings” every time we get together!



Sadly, all good things must come to an end. We had to leave, but we look forward to seeing all our friends again soon!



When I Call on Jesus

A few weeks ago, we heard about a Nicole C. Mullen concert in Michigan. We absolutely adore her song “When I Call on Jesus” and so we decided at the last minute to go to the concert. We were so glad that we did!

Nicole C. Mullen’s appearance was really only the icing on the cake. The whole concert was an outreach effort to a devastated city. There was a group there desiring to revive the city and bring salvation. For those of you who don’t live in Michigan, the unemployment rate is approximately 11%. Depending on where you get your statistics, Michigan is home to several cities that have made national lists of the most dangerous cities in the USA. Cities such as Detroit, Saginaw, Flint, and Pontiac, make most of those listings. If you walked downtown in any of these cities, you might think you were in a third world country. There are homes that have been reduced to piles of ashes, trash everywhere, gangs, drugs, children without proper clothing, prostitution, abandoned homes, and homeless people wandering the streets.

The concert really encouraged me in so many ways. First off, it reminded me of the powerful message of the gospel. Jesus is THE hope of the nations. Second, it convicted me that I have become very selfish. It is so easy for me to fall into the trap of throwing pity-parties and bemoaning my problems. Yes, I will face persecution for living out my faith. But isn’t that such a small price compared to what others have paid? People are murdered every day for their faith, and I’m worried about losing friends along the way? There are so many other people in the world who are crying out for the hope and love that Jesus gives, and I have been called to share that with them (Matthew 28:19.)

On the drive home, I thought about our own community. What could I do to share the gospel with my neighbors? Have churches in America become so focused on global missions that we completely ignore local missions? Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Notice the order Jesus gives us: first our own communities, then the state, the nation, and the world. So often we try to do missions backwards. Because of this, America is suffering spiritual death.

I have been challenged to think in terms of what I can do to help revive my own community and the spiritually bankrupt state of Michigan. What about your communities? Do you see people turning to the Lord and experiencing spiritual growth, or are people leaving churches and allowing their families to become broken? What are YOU going to do with CHRIST’S help and power? Are we as Christians faithfully praying for our communities and how we can better reach people? Because when we call on Jesus, ALL things are possible!

The Brightest of the Sev'n

“Come, let us join with one accord

In hymns around the throne:

This is the day our rising Lord

Hath made and called His own.

This is the day that God hath blessed,

The brightest of the sev’n,

Type of that everlasting rest

The saints enjoy in heav’n.”

--Charles Wesley, 1763

(posted by Betsy)