Cinnamon Crumpets

(Note: For plain crumpets, leave out the cinnamon)

Ingredients:

• 250ml (1 cup) cake flour (140g)
• 10ml (2 teaspoons) baking powder
• 1ml (1/5 teaspoon) salt
• 30ml (6 teaspoons) sugar
• 1 egg
• 200ml (4/5 cup) milk
• 15ml (3 teaspoons) margarine, melted
• 5ml (1 teaspoon) cinnamon (optional)

Method:

1. Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together.  Add sugar.
2. Beat the egg, milk and melted margarine together and add to dry ingredients.
3. Beat until smooth and leave to stand for 30 minutes
4. Fry spoonful's of batter on a hot greased griddle or frying pan.
5. Fry until golden brown, turning when bubbles appear on the surface.
6. Serve with butter, jam or honey.  (also nice with peanut butter and syrup!)

Carrot Salad

Ingredients

• 1 large carrot per person
• 10ml orange or pineapple juice per person
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar per person
• 1 teaspoon crushed pineapple per person (optional)

Method

1. Grate the carrots into a bowl
2. Mix in other ingredients thoroughly
3. Chill for an hour then serve

Light and darkness, good and evil

“Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” – John 3:20

While reading God’s word this week I came across the verse above.  This isn’t the first time I have heard this verse.  As I grow, I begin to see more in certain verses than I did in my youth.  Maybe I’ll never be a completely mature Christian, but each day I feel I am closer than I was previously.

So let me tell you my thoughts on the above verse this time when I read it.

Let’s paint a picture.  A person does a horrible deed, a terrible sin, what is the number one thing a person with a conscience is worried about? That person is worried that the horrible deed will be found out.  Even a person without a conscience won’t advertise a murder they committed to the police force, and if they do they usually don’t sign a name…

Let’s think about something a little closer to home.  Think about your reputation with those at your church, or around you.  I can guarantee that there is something you haven’t been completely open with regarding your past.  Something that maybe you have put behind you, that you have asked God to forgive in you, but still don’t want to advertise to the public at large.  I know I have a few things like that in my past and only the people closest to me know about those things.  I know that if I open up about those things nobody will think any less of me, they will know they were my past and won’t hold them against me, but I still won't bring those things up unless necessary to help somebody else through a similar circumstance, probably because they are my past.  Learn from the past, but put it behind you.

What I want to talk about though are the things you are hiding away right now.  The ones that you are still busy doing and don’t want to be exposed.  That is the easiest way to identify sin in your life.  Are you doing something right now that you wouldn’t want anybody outside your inner circle finding out about?  Are you doing something right now that you wouldn’t even want your inner circle finding out about?  Are you hiding something that you wouldn’t want to be brought to light?

That is almost definitely a sin.  It is something that you are doing under the cover of darkness.  It is the easiest way to identify a sin your life.  You need to be honest with yourself.  Ask God for forgiveness and turn away from your sin.

Remember Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11).

Once before I posted a quote from a TV show I enjoy, it goes:

There is only one thing in life you can truly control, and that is whether you are good or evil.

I still believe that quote holds true, only you can control your actions, nobody else.  Others can guide you, and make it seem like there is no other choice, and all choices will have consequences, but ultimately, you still choose.

If you want to read my first post with that quote in, you can find it here: Red pill or blue pill?

The Peas–how they have grown!

Thought I would quickly post a picture of how the peas have grown.  I’ll be putting in proper rods for them to climb soon…

And this is the picket fence Mark helped me put around them to stop Zoey from digging them up:

When the peas are done I think I’m going to grow Strawberries next.

On my mind… 18 September 2012

Trusting in God is easy.  Trusting in man is difficult.  At least that is how I feel. 

Let’s say that you promise a child a sweet if they sit down and be quiet, but that sweet never comes.  Time and time again you promise the child a sweet and never give the child the sweet.  Let’s pretend more than one adult uses the same promise on the child.  Then one day, an adult comes along that is trustworthy.  The adult promises the child a sweet.  Will the child believe them? No…  Children learn quickly.

The same thing happens to us in life.  People make us promises, we believe them, then we land up heartbroken when the person doesn’t follow through.  The easiest way to prevent yourself from being heartbroken is to guard your heart from trusting too easily – no problem…

BUT THEN….

That one person comes along who you can trust… and what happens?  All the other people who broke your trust ruin it for the one person who deserves it.  That person has to work double as hard to earn your trust.  Is that fair?

There comes a point where we have know when to break down the walls around our hearts.  Yes it is scary.  Yes you will feel vulnerable.  When the time is right, you know it needs to be done.

10,000 Reasons, by Matt Redman

Last week I bought the latest Matt Redman album called 10,000 Reasons.  All I can say is that the song that was taken for the title of the album is amazing!  We sing it in church regularly.  So here is the basics of the album:

Artist: Matt Redman

Album Title: 10,000 Reasons

Genre: Christian/Gospel

Track List:

1. We are the Free
2. Here for you
3. Holy
4. 10,000 Reasons (bless the Lord)
5. Fires
6. Never Once
7. Where Would We Be
8. We Could Change The World
9. Magnificent
10. O This God
11. Endless Hallelujah

My favourite 3 songs:

1. 10,000 Reasons
2. Endless Hallelujah
3. Fires

And here is a YouTube video of 10,000 Reasons (my favourite song and the reason I bought the album)

On My Mind… 17 September 2012

Something has been on my mind since this past weekend, and I cannot seem to get it out of my mind.  It sprung from a comment made by an acquaintance at a braai that Mark and I went to…

The comment was “Women are full of S___” (see I censored it).

The general consensus was that men don’t understand women and women don’t understand men and that is the way it is so we need to live with it.  It seems like the human race was just looking for a partner who appears less full of nonsense than other options.

My thought is “Have you ever tried to understand the other half of the human race?”

How can you say that women are full of s___ if you haven’t tried to understand them?  And how can women say that men are impossible unless they have tried to understand them?

Mark and I chatted about this on the way home (very briefly), and actually we both had the same feeling when the topic of conversation headed this way.  It showed both of us how special our relationship is.  We are truly best friends.  We are able to talk about anything. There are things we have spoken about that we couldn’t open up about to anyone else.  Mark builds me up, and I like to believe I do the same for him.

I know a few couples who share what we share with each other, so we are in no way unique.  But I cannot believe how many people are willing to settle for less than a God written love story.

Something that I have learned in my 12 years of dating experience is that if God isn’t with you in the beginning of the relationship then it isn’t going to work when God becomes involved.  But if God is with you in the relationship from the beginning, if you build your relationship on him, THEN it is going to be a love story worth making a movie about…

I like to compare my relationship with Mark to the relationship in the Pixar Movie called UP! <- check it out  - Because honestly, that is where I see it going.

Now, normally, I wouldn’t reveal too much about my relationship online and openly like this, but I cannot see this ending any other way.

Going back to the original statement… I was truly offended by it. And his wife was sitting right next to him and took it like a gem, not saying a word.  All it made me wonder is what is going on in their home life?  I didn’t see any love between them, maybe it is a different kind of love that I am not familiar with, I don’t know.  Each to their own, but I wouldn’t be able to live with a man who can disrespect his queen in that way.

It’s really been bothering me.  I want everyone close to me to experience the wonderful God-written love story that I am experiencing.  And it kills me inside when I see people settling for less because they have taken matters into their own hands and are not trusting on God.

I cannot tell you how much Mark and I prayed, and how close we got to God before we started dating.  When we started seeing each other, it was truly because we were 100% sure it was what God intended to happen.  And the longer we are together, the more certain we are of this.

And my heart is aching for my friends who have not experienced something this wonderful.  I keep praying that they will find God’s will, and God’s way through their love stories.  But all I can do is pray, they need to seek God themselves, the same way I did.  They need to learn to trust God in the storms so he can bless them when they reach the safety of the harbour, then they can enjoy the sunshine on the beach just like I am.

Long post, but I have a lot on my mind tonight.

My Favourite Day

As I was browsing Facebook the other day I stumbled across this image.  It gave me something to think about.  Could I say that today is my favourite day?  Could you say that today is your favourite day?

Well, today is very different from yesterday.  Yesterday has already past, and there is nothing you can do to change it, but today you can think back on yesterday and remember it.  Today you can learn from yesterday.

Tomorrow is also very different from today.  You don’t know what tomorrow holds, and in a strange way, tomorrow never arrives, because until the world ends there will always be another tomorrow.  Today is the day that will affect tomorrow.  Today you can plan for tomorrow.

In essence the only day we have is today.  So, is today your favourite day?

Spaghetti With Tuna

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients:

• 250g spaghetti (8.8 ounce)
• 25ml (1 tablespoon) Margarine
• 1 large onion, peeled and sliced
• 125g mushrooms (4.4 ounce)
• 1 clove garlic (or teaspoon garlic flakes) – peeled and crushed
• 75ml water (0.3 cups)
• 1 x 410g can tomatoes, chopped with juice (15.8 ounce)
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 x 185g tins tuna, drained and flaked (2 x 6.5 ounce)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Method:

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and cook spaghetti until tender, (approx. 15 minutes)
2. Melt Margarine and sauté onions
3. Add mushrooms, garlic, water, tomatoes and juice and cook fast for 10 minutes to reduce the liquid.
4. Season and add fish, cook for 5 minutes.
5. Drain spaghetti and transfer to heated serving dish
6. Spoon the fish sauce over spaghetti and serve.

In my day… 13 September 2012

Well, I finally got around to looking for the charger for my camera (it was in the TV cabinet’s middle drawer).  So my camera batteries are now on charge.  Hopefully this means that I will be able to post some photographs this weekend!

In the meantime, here is a photograph taken at work when they gave me a birthday present.  Thank you to everyone at Ouch! for the teddy bear, I’ve named her Cream-Puff.

And in case anyone is wondering, here is the picture on the teddy bear’s t-shirt (it was a casual day at work with a rock theme in 2011)

And in other news, my dog Zoey has been to the vet to have her female parts removed.  I felt really bad about it, but I don’t want her to accidentally have puppies since I cannot afford the time it would take to find homes for them.

She was so cute last night.  I allowed her to sleep on my bed.  In the middle of the night a thunder storm started.  I woke up with her cuddling into me, she was scared of the thunder.  The moment the rain/thunder stopped she crawled down to the foot of the bed again.  So cute!

And that is a basic update from me (at least until my camera batteries are charged!)

Plan for the day… 3 September 2012

It’s spring here in South Africa (finally!)  I know I am 3 days late on the spring post but I have had a busy weekend.

Just a quick update:

Mark is still out of town, he will be back on 9 September (my birthday).  It was his mom’s birthday last week Thursday, and his brother’s birthday last week Friday.  I had a great time at parties held for them both.

Thank you Pieter for walking me to my car, I can always count on you for being a gentleman when Mark’s not around.

And Thank you Leon for cooking my chicken sosaties so perfectly.  Great to know that men are willing to help.

As for today, so I have the outfit planned (it is the new one I bought last week).  I still don’t have a photograph because I still haven’t found the charger for my camera’s batteries.  Honestly, I haven’t looked very hard.  I’m going to try and find it when I am done with this post.

Here are the pictures from the clothing website where I bought the outfit:

As said, it is a bit different from my usual style since it includes Jeans, but I think it looks gorgeous.  All the clothes were bought from Mr Price online store and delivered to the shop where I collected and paid for them.

What is my plan for today?  I already had a little Quiet Time this morning, but I would like to sit and meditate on what I read ( Luke 24 )

Then it is the morning routine to get ready for work.  I need to drop Zoey off at Mark’s parents (they have been babysitting during the week).

She has got so big!

Then it is off to work and back home again tonight.  Not sure what will happen then, only time will tell!