This Easter is looking to be a bit crazy for us. We, the Janks, are moving across town; Mom and Dad are going to Poland the day after Easter; the Merkles’ home is being remodeled after the tree incident; and Bekah is furiously getting ready to debut her darling line of fabric at the Quilt Market in May. Although I did consider sewing dresses for my girls, I unconsidered it a moment later. I think I also considered knitting cardigans, or at least shrugs. I can now assure you that is not going to happen. We have had two birthdays this month, and another one yet to come. We have been a little distracted, a little unfocused. And then I had this idea: You all can talk about Easter! Remember the blog party of a while ago? Let’s do it again, but about Easter. Post something about the food you are making – share recipes! Decorate your table and share pictures. Debut the dresses that you made! Just put a link to your blog in the comments, and let’s get this party started. Happy Easter!
I asked a good friend to do a guest post to get us started. She is a wonderful hostess, cook, and knows how to make the food that people just want to eat! She has a houseful of children, but always finds ways to share the bounty of their table with a great many more people. She is the kind of woman that can make parish life a reality. And here she is to tell us a bit about it. Welcome Tora, and thank you!
From Tora’s Kitchen:
One of my favorite aspects of the Easter meal is that the timing of the meal itself motivates me to be more organized. Church in the morning limits the time that I expect to have available for prep and is a great motivator to have things lined up ahead of time. Here are some helpful hints to relieve the pressure on the actual day and give you some confidence to help you greet your guests with a smile.
First of all, I make lists, lots of lists. I get teased by family members for all the lists floating around. Here is a sample of some of the types of lists I’ve made in the past. I’ve even named them for easy reference. Continue reading ‘Easter is Coming! Guest post! Blog Party Invite!’
We have a daily devotional reading from a wonderful collection of Puritan essays called Voices From the Past. I’ve got an arsenal of great quotes from these guys, and I often think of quoting them here for you all. So here’s one from today’s reading from Thomas Case. It’s a good sample of the Puritan view of affliction.
“In affliction God reveals the unknown corruptions in the hearts of his people: what pride, impatience, unbelief, idolatry, distrust of God,murmuring, and unthankfulness. Sin lies very close and deep and is not easily discerned until the fire of affliction comes. The furnace discovers the dross. In the furnace we see more corruption than was ever suspected. What self-love is there boiling and fretting within me, what pride, distrust in God, creature-confidence, discontent, murmuring, rising against the holy and righteous dispensations of God! Woe is me, what a heart I have!….
In affliction, he empties us of ourselves to make us fly to Jesus Christ for righteousness and strength. He lets us see what is crooked that we may straighten it; what is weak that we may strengthen it; what is lacking that we may supply it; and what is lame that it may not be turned out of the way.
Affliction also teaches us to pray. They that have never prayed before, will pray in affliction. They will pray more frequently and fervently…In our affliction, God keeps us upon our knees. Christ himself in agony prayed more intensively. So with David. He gathered up all his strength to pray, and like a true son of Jacob, wrestled with God, and would not let him go until he got the blessing.”
“Mom’s almost here with the pizzas, and we’re all supposed to hurry as fast as we can, and Judah won’t get out of his Gilgamesh suit!”
Yes. That is a direct quote. I’d like to leave the post right there actually . . . I feel like it really says it all. But on the other hand, I can’t quite pass up the opportunity of showing you what Judah looks like in his Gilgamesh suit, and why he’s so reluctant to ever get out of it.
We were having one of those silly days. Not so much because of the Gilgamesh suit – that’s actually pretty run of the mill at our house as Judah loves nothing more than a good warrior costume with a bit of bling. But mostly because Jemima’s birthday is April 1st, and she wanted to do another silly cake to take into her class. So on the afternoon of the 31st I was charging hither and thither trying to get kids home from school and to and from piano lessons and husband to lacrosse practice and who knows what else. We had decided on pizza cupcakes this year (as opposed to the spaghetti and meatballs of 2010), so I needed to swing by and buy a pizza box somewhere for us to pack them in. Jemima was at home actually baking the cupcakes and Judah was Gilgameshing away. Meanwhile, the Pizza Nazis at Dominoes refused to sell me a box unless it had a pizza in it. Since by this point in the afternoon it was actually more like 5:00, I decided that pizza sounded like a great idea . . . but not from Dominoes since I was feeling thwarted by their stingy methods with their boxes. So I called and ordered 2 pizzas from Pizza Perfection while I grabbed Ben from lacrosse and dropped him off at Hebrew. I then zoomed over to pick up the pizzas, while coaching Jemima over the phone about how full to fill the cupcake pans. I decided we might as well share the pizza wealth with Papa and Nana, so I told Jemima that I would pick up Daddy from Hebrew and be home in a minute with the pizzas, and if she and Judah and Bel were ready to go then we’d all be good to go since I had picked up Knox and Hero from piano and they were in the car with me and then we’d all head over for pizza at Papa and Nana’s house. It was at this point that I was endlessly blessed by the above quote which I heard over the phone.
I’m kind of torn about the Gilgamesh costume. Should I explain that? Or just leave it ambiguous and let you wonder if we might have stashes of Agamemnon hats and Sophocles sandals that our children like to hang out in. But as much as I’d love for you to think we’re actually that weird, it turns out that we’re not quite. Just almost that weird. Knox had to be Gilgamesh in a school play, and so I made him that costume last year and it’s been hanging around ever since but only recently discovered by Judah. I wish I knew what had happened to the beard because it was awesome. It was one of those long black ringlet kinds and it added quite a bit of drama to the look.
And on another note, here’s how the pizza cupcakes turned out in the end. Not a very appetizing pizza to be sure. Also not very appetizing cupcakes. But festive enough for an April Fools birthday in 5th grade.
Clarification due to that being misinterpreted as a large cookie on top of cupcakes: Those are cupcakes underneath, and the crust / sauce is frosting. Pepperoni is fruit leather, sausage is cocoa puffs mixed with a bit of peanut butter, and the cheese is grated white chocolate. Sounds delicious right?
Sometimes things just happen. Situations escalate. Children get overly rowdy while you are nursing, or changing a diaper, or elbow deep in raw chicken. You are making dinner, but they want snacks. The phone is ringing, there has been a potty incident, and the Jehovah Witnesses are at your doorbell. Someone breaks their necklace of beads, and the crawling baby has never been more thrilled to try to choke. It is usually at a time like this that one of your children starts standing out from the crowd, somehow provoking you to snap at them. It might be something as little as trying to stuff a toy into your back pocket. This is a situation that can easily get dramatically worse, due to Mom throwing in the attitude towel, or you can control yourself, blow it out, maybe laugh, and get a grip on it. The difference between these two responses is what I would call “getting the grace”.
There are a few common assumptions that I think get in the way of us dealing well with moments like these. A lot of the time these things just creep into our mentality, and we never even look at them straight on. But they can be very destructive – leading us blind into explosive situations.
I feel like I need to squeak in a side-comment here. I remember when we just had Lina. Two adults, one infant. When I would see Continue reading ‘Grace on the Fly’
Some time ago I plugged Six Sisters Beadworks and their sweet little birthstone bracelets. Now they have necklaces and a Tea Party Line. Plus, they are offering $7-$20 off select designs for Mother’s Day and free signature gift wrapping with every purchase. I love shopping from my computer!
Sometimes, as I’m sure you know, wives can take on more than they can physically, spiritually, or emotionally handle. It’s absolutely humanly impossible, but they manage somehow anyway, and the family survives the craziness after all. Survives. That’s an interesting word. But there’s a toll. And the family or the kids or mom herself pays it.
When a wife is carrying a burden of responsibility that is simply too much for her, her husband is the one with the responsibility to notice. He is supposed to protect her from her own rash commitments. In fact, somewhere in the OT law there is a verse about how if a husband hears of his wife’s vow on the same day that she made it, he can overturn it. That’s a good one, and I fully approve. Three cheers for the husband who says, “You said you’d do what? Are you crazy? I don’t want you to do that!”
Wives tend to underestimate the impact they have on their very own families, and, at the very same time, they also overestimate their own ability to carry far more weight than they were designed by God to carry. (Did you follow that?) A wise husband will Continue reading ‘That’s What Husbands Are For’
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