I had a happy and busy kitchen going on the night before Thanksgiving. My dear friend, Diane, was there and she really wanted to help me. So I gave her all the ingredients for the chai mix. “I make a huge batch for holiday company and Christmas giving,” I told her. “So just follow the recipe—times 8. Here’s a measuring cup.”

Well, she barely got the first two ingredients mixed together before that 5 gallon container I gave her was overflowing. What in the world was happening over there on the chai counter while I was over on the potato salad counter? ”This seems like a lot of chai that’s coming together. I’m going to have to get you a bigger container.”

“Well,” Diane answered…”I just put eight of these in and it just makes a lot.”

“Oh wait,” I said. “You do know the measuring cup I gave you is a two-cupper?”

“Oh no!” she exclaimed. “I have put 16 cups of powdered milk in this thing (instead of just eight) and now I have mixed 16 cups of French vanilla creamer in there!”

“O dear!” I said “Now you’re going to have to do the whole recipe—times 16! Do I even have that much cinnamon and ginger and cardamom? That will be my life savings in cardamom. And the sugar! Oh, that will be 40 cups of sugar! Do I even have 40 cups of sugar?! It’s 10 p.m. Is the corner market open?”   I got out my grandmother’s old porcelain washtub and we were making enough chai for serving at the king’s coronation. We stirred until our arms felt like we’d been lifting in an Olympic trial. And where do you even store that much chai?

We really didn’t have a pan big enough to keep adding the ratios of ingredients we needed, so we just added instant milk and tea, till it kind of “looked right.” Glenn was our guinea pig and he said “ I believe this is better than usual!”

Then it was the evening of our “Christmas at the Colleys”. That’s the night the whole church is invited over for supper, along with a whole bunch of other people. We have an amazing time with our favorite family…God’s family. Another best friend, Jennifer, really was so very kind to persist in offering to come help me the day of the party. She helped me put up wreaths and tie bows and assemble cocoa servers and all kinds of things. But the main thing I saved out for Jennifer to do was to make three large cherry dump cakes. Here’s the complex ingredient list. I was doing it times three.

• 1 (30-ounce) can cherry pie filling
• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 stick salted butter.

So you pour in the cake mix. Then you dump the cherry pie filling on top of that. Then you cut up the stick of butter on top and you put it in the oven for about 45 minutes.

I just said “Here you go,” to Jennifer and handed her all the ingredients. She said “I’m just going to do one at the time.”

“No, No,” I insisted. “I never do that. Just do them all at once.”  I got her three 9X13 Pyrex dishes and let her go. I should have taken pause when she wanted a huge mixing bowl. But I missed that cue. I went upstairs to clean up a mess around Eliza’s dollhouse. We had about an hour-and-a-half before the house would be teeming with people. All was well.

…Until I came back down and Jennifer said “Come see if this is the right consistency.” Ummm… how do you miss the consistency of a dump cake?

Jennifer was holding a heavy, mammoth bowl of dark pink pudding-like yum,-yum.  Its contents were three cake mixes, three giant cans of cherry pie filling and three sticks of butter. It looked like we were having a cherry jubilee pudding festival. It really looked like we were going for the Guinness Book of World Records—largest pudding. But it was so pretty.

“What on earth did you do?”

“You said a dump cake, so I dumped.”

It’s true. I did not say “layer.” I said “dump.”

Now Jennifer and I have been through a few adventures together and I could not stop laughing. But I had to stop laughing… and think. A hundred-plus people are coming over for supper in an hour. I have a pecan pie, a few little cookies, and a strawberry cake. “But what is that among so many (Jn. 6:8)?”

“I’ll go to the store really quickly and we will start all over….I know, I’ll get one of my friends who lives over by the bakery to stop and pick up some cakes. Or maybe Glenn, who is outside stringing lights could just hurry up and go shopping with my list.”

Jennifer, ever the resourceful one, said, “Let’s add some milk and just put one of these in the oven and see what happens and then panic later.” 

Forty-five minutes later, and just in time for the wonderful shoulder-to-shoulder fellowship, this Christmas  dish came out of the oven.  And if Lucy and Ethel didn’t come up with the prettiest cherry soufflé ( I mean, eventually, three of them) that you have ever seen!

People said “What is this stuff? It’s not cake. It’s not really pie. It’s not pudding. But it’s good.”  Scotty said “This tastes kinda’ like dump cake, but it’s not that….The texture is off.” It was even pretty. When I turned the leftover one out of the fluted-edged pan, it retained the shape. It’s in the freezer and it might be a layer of a pretty holiday mousse dessert in a few days.

And then there was the broccoli rice casserole that Han made for me to feed the kids while she was working last week. “Mom, it’s been a little hectic here and I wasn’t paying attention and I put potato flakes on top of this instead of potato chips. So I really don’t know what you’ll want to do with this. But here’s some ham. I didn’t mess that up.”

Well, adding milk seems to solve pretty much all the ingredient assembly cooking “fails” lately. I’ll do that. So I poured a little milk over the top of that casserole and it became a wonderful broccoli-cheddar shepherd’s pie. Those kids and I ate every bite.

But what in the world is happening on every kitchen counter behind which I step? And what is happening to my every kitchen helper? And what is the magic of milk? And how can I keep laughing this hard?

Well, I’ve pretty much decided that there’s always a fix to any cooking mess, if I have the right folks in my corner and if I have milk. Here are a few pithy truths from the kitchen faux pas.

• Sometimes, some pretty good things can come about as a result of mistakes.
• Often, the things that make you panic most feverishly, also make you laugh the hardest.
• If your husband is willing to be your guinea pig, you are most blessed.
• A recipe is not just about having all the right stuff. It’s also about following directions. Life’s  recipe for success is like that, too.
• Milk is sometimes the answer. The sincere milk of the word is always the answer. We should desire it (1 Peter 2:2).
• Every messed-up dish in my world is heartier and better than any dish I’ve ever tasted in any 3rd world country.

Having pondered these dishes that didn’t turn out like I’d planned, I am thankful for my kitchen and even for my kitchen fails. I’m thankful for great and voluntary kitchen hands—sisters who  pull me on through the mistakes and flops, large and small. I thank Him for my kitchen because it’s a great place to grow closer to each other and from which to serve with sisters.

Cindy Colley

“All scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16).

Throughout the ages, men have argued whether the Bible is the true word of God. What does it mean that all scripture is given by inspiration of God? In a sense, the Bible itself tells us.

The Old Testament states in specific words that it tells us the exact words of God 3,808 times*. The Pentateuch (the first five books) makes this point 420 times. For example, Exodus 17:14 says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua.'” See Exodus 19:6, 7; 20:1; and 24:4 for more examples.

The prophets told us that their message was the word of God. They used such expressions as “Hear the word of Jehovah, Jehovah spoke unto me, Jehovah hath spoken.” These words and like phrases are found in Isaiah 120 times, Jeremiah 430 times, Ezekiel 329 times, Amos 53 times, Haggai 27 times, and Zechariah 53 times.

There are 278 exact quotations from the Old Testament that are found in the New Testament, and there are 613 allusions to the Old Testament that are found in the New Testament. Jesus’s teachings and the books of Romans, Hebrews, and Revelation contain the most.

The forty plus authors of the Bible were fishermen, a doctor, shepherds, kings, statesmen, poets, fishermen, a tax collector, prophets, and historians. They came from many walks of life over hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Yet the unity of the message and doctrine of the Bible stayed the same.

Surely these facts tell us that the Bible is the living Word of God. How wonderful is our heavenly Father and God Who does not hide from us, but keeps His Word through all generations.

Donna Wittlif,

*Statistics taken from The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture by Rene Pache.

Guilt is defined as “a feeling of having done wrong or failed in an obligation.”  There are some people who seem to be able to do wrong and never feel any guilt or remorse at all. They can’t ask for forgiveness or show any signs of wanting to make amends.

Most of us are more conscious of hurting others. We sincerely want to do the right thing; and though we may have difficulty apologizing, we find the courage to say those three all-important words—“I am sorry.” Sometimes the realization of wrongdoing is there, maybe even regret; but the courage to admit wrong and make it right is absent. Sometimes it is fear of the results, and sometimes it is an attitude of feeling the person we have wronged deserves what they get.

For those who truly try to do the right thing, hurting someone and then recognizing that hurt can leave one with a sense of remorse, deep life-changing regret. Such was the case with Peter when he denied the Lord. Three times he denied Christ, even saying he did not know the man. When he saw Jesus had overheard his denial of Him, he ran away and wept.

Later, we read the conversation between Jesus and Peter on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had prepared breakfast for the disciples shortly after His resurrection. There He confronted Peter three times with the question, “Do you love me?” Each time, Peter assured Jesus that he did. This was Peter’s chance to make things right. His life following this serves as an example of true repentance and a changed life.

Peter stood on the day of Pentecost ( Acts 2) and proclaimed the truth about Jesus, His death, burial, and resurrection, and a clear message to the Jews about salvation. He wanted them to repent, and they did. They interrupted his sermon to ask what they needed to do to be saved. Three thousand of them repented, confessed their sins, and were baptized. Once again, we see changed lives.

Judas wasn’t so willing to face his guilt. After turning Jesus over to the soldiers, he realized that this was going to end badly. He went to the priests and elders and proclaimed his sin to them. He said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4). They didn’t care. They had what they wanted, and they told him his sin was no concern of theirs. Judas then went out and hanged himself. He didn’t wait to see what would happen. He just committed suicide.

Perhaps one of the most stirring examples of guilt is found in Luke 23. Jesus was hanging on the cross, and on either side of Him were thieves. They had also received the sentence of death. They must have known something of Jesus and His teachings, because one of them said, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.” The other thief rebuked him and declared that they were receiving what they deserved, but this man (Jesus) had done nothing wrong. Because of the declaration that he had sinned and had obviously repented, Jesus promised the thief that he would be with Him in paradise.

There are others in Scripture that felt guilt that, as far as we know, did not make it right. Pilate certainly felt some measure of guilt when he washed his hands and turned Jesus over to the mob. The rich young ruler was another guilty soul after refusing to sell his possessions and follow Jesus. The other disciples would surely have felt guilt for running away when Jesus was arrested. The man caught in adultery with his father’s wife must have repented because of Paul’s condemnation (First Corinthians 5). It is later inferred that he was once again in fellowship with the church (Second Corinthians 2).

Forgiveness plays a huge role in the reaction to guilt. In Matthew 18, Peter asked Jesus how many times one should forgive his brother. Peter offered the number seven as a suitable number of times to forgive. Jesus, however, told him seventy times seven. Forgiveness is important to God. It is important because He is so willing to forgive us when we repent, but His forgiveness of us depends on how we forgive others. Remember what Jesus said when He was teaching the disciples to pray. He said, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” He also said, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:12, 14).

When we have those feelings of guilt and remorse for something we have done, we need to repent and ask for forgiveness—from God and from the one we have hurt. When someone has hurt us, and they come to us sorry for what they have done, we need to forgive them. Even if they don’t acknowledge what they have done, we should forgive them. Show them the kind of love Jesus showed to all mankind.

Sandra Oliver

audio lecture.

I was up at 6 a.m. this morning—a  Sunday morning—and I asked my husband if he’d be okay studying for his lesson upstairs while I watched an episode of something (volume up) and ran on the treadmill in the basement. He said “Oh yeah…It won’t bother me. I’m just going to be preaching up here. Go ahead.”  That’s his usual mode on Sunday mornings. He likes to pace and whisper-preach his well-prepared lesson one last time. He never uses notes in the pulpit and that last run-though is vital to his memory.

But despite the loud volume on my television and the humming treadmill motor, I could hear bumping and knocking, stamping footsteps and things falling in the upstairs part of the house. It did not sound at all like study or the kind of whisper-preaching that my husband does on early Sunday mornings.  If he was preaching up there, it must have  been some more  powerful sermon. Just as I was working up a sweat, Glenn came down the stairs, rounded the corner and with a look of utter agitation on his face, he shouted “Can you  power that down and come help me?…Can you come right now?”

“What’s wrong?…”What’s the matter?” I said as I started shutting off the treadmill and the TV.

“Well, we have a small squirrel in the house and I can’t catch him. I’ve tried and tried, but he’s very fast and He keeps going under things and behind things and I need you to help me corner him. I’m in a pickle. I have got to get back to this lesson.”

“Oh no…Oh dear…okay,” I stammered. “…but I am really not your girl for this job.” See, Glenn wanted me to stand at the end of tables and sofas and beds to try and corner the squirrel when he emerged from hiding places. What I wanted to do was stand on top of those tables and beds and sofas and stay as far from that squirrel as I possibly could get. I soon saw, though, that our squirrel had no qualms whatsoever about running on top of tables, himself, and jumping from stairwells to tabletops to floors and behind armoires and under closed doors. He was the next thing to a flying squirrel and he was all over my house. And he loved stairwells.

The next few minutes proved to be a worthless workout. Out of breath, Glenn kept saying “I’m going to have to let you take care of this because I have to preach in a few minutes.”

“I’m not the right person for this job. I just can’t do this, “ I kept responding.

“Be brave. I need you. The church needs you. Just watch for him to come out and call me.”

About that time, we both thought we heard the little fugitive in a closet—a closet jam packed with 150 glass-bottle Coca-Colas, and a dozen packages of paper-ware for a big Christmas party we’re planning for the congregation at the end of the week. In addition there are a bajillion gift bags in there along with piles of random packing and wrapping materials and bows. There’s a shelf of 32 volumes of the “Great Books” and there’s a library that I use for Digging Deep. There are clothes I’ve hoarded for grandchildren and all of my winter coats. There are extra bed pillows and there’s an electric train. In short there are a million places for a squirrel to hide in that closet and there’s great potential for squirrel havoc in there and I am NOT the girl to go rummaging through that looking for a jumpy squirrel! I would jump out of my skin if I ever actually found him in there! My imagination went quickly to him jumping from the top shelf onto my back as  I’m jostling those boxes and bags on the floor. Or what if I came eyeball to eyeball with him when I looked behind that basket of toys?!  Intellectually, I know he’s small and he wants out of my house as badly as I want him out; but this is no academic exercise. This is Cindy Colley in a closet with a squirrel who’s already proven his gymnastic prowess. I’m not your girl.

So I shut that closet door. I pushed a very heavy chest against that closet door. I went to another closet and got a big black board that I use to cover the kitchen sink when I need more counter space for serving company and I wedged it up against the door, between the chest and the crack at the bottom of the door. I was thinking about all the donations I was making to this project (after all, who wants to set the dishes for guests on a “squirrel trap”?) But I was not thinking too long and hard  about that. I was thinking “I am NOT your girl, whether you have to preach or not.”

I went to the door of the room and shut it, stuffing a quilt under the crack at the bottom. The door kept popping open under pressure, so I rigged a bungee cord up to another doorknob in the adjoining hall. My house was starting to look like a scene in “Home Alone” and I knew that home…alone was exactly what that squirrel was going to be while we went to worship. Home (my home)…Alone (with my Christmas gifts and party supplies and my precious little library)! I could not bear that thought. I am not your girl.

“What if he escaped from the closet while I was gone to get the board? What if he is not incarcerated, but instead he’s ‘at large’ again in my house? What if he’s in there parading around my Christmas tree where he was when Glenn first spotted him while pacing and preaching  in the living room? What if he is IN my 13-foot Christmas tree? Will I find a mess of broken ornaments on the floor when I get home from worship? Will I pull back the covers on our bed and find pieces of that tree…or worse? What if we don’t find him today? How far back does the front seat recline in my car and is it going to be a warm night?” I went back and rigged another door with a quilt and bungee cord. Some things are just more important than…say, washing your hair or even showering before leaving for worship.

As we traveled to worship, Ezra and Colleyanna, (ages five and three, respectively) called for FaceTime. Hearing about that squirrel was the best thing about their morning. “INSIDE your house?!!” they yelled with glee. “Under your Christmas tree?!”…”I wish dat squuyell was at my house! Dat would be esciting!”

I tried hard to worship. I really did…and that lesson about Mary and Martha zoomed right over to my pew and zeroed right into my “careful and troubled about many things” heart and I repented for the squirrel-induced hindrances over and over.   

Pulling out of the parking lot, Glenn said “Where do you want to go for lunch?”

“I just want to go home and find that squirrel.” I replied….”In fact, I’d really love to cook lunch for you while you do the dispatch work.”

“Seriously?…Well, alright then. We’ll go home.”

And my good husband drove home, got his little 22 pistol, loaded it with rat shot, and made a regular invasion of that closet. In fact, that entire room looks like it was in the direct path of a level five tropical cyclone.

A few minutes later, Glenn came through the kitchen with a John Wayne kind of swagger and said “Well, we got him.”

“Great!… Where was he? I didn’t hear the gun.”

“It was pretty easy, actually,” Glenn replied. “I was just about to give up finding him in that closet. I walked through the bathroom with my gun to look for him in the sewing room…” (That was another room I’d bungee-corded off).

“…And out of the corner of my eye, I spotted him…floating around in the toilet.”

Ten take-aways from the thirsty squirrel saga:

1. Biblical, marital submission trumps fear and is a strong catalyst for creativity.
2. When you say “I do…for better or worse” at the altar, you never know what you’re really signing up for.    
3. Some mornings, just living life burns more calories than running on a treadmill  (or even doing a high intensity training workout).
4. Always keep a few spare bungee cords around the house. They’re good for lots of things.
5. Worship is hard work. Some days it’s very hard work.
6. That Mary and Martha lesson is very practical and unrelenting in its varied applications (https://westhuntsville.org/sermons/mary-martha-and-lazarus/).
7. Lots of sacrifices will be made when the thirsty have hope of a drink.
8. Make your husband a hero even if he never pulls the trigger. It’s all in the chase; the effort and the end result.
9. Sometimes you plunge in too deeply for something you want and you find there’s no way back out.
10. Not every Sunday baptism ends with walking in newness of life.

    Cindy Colley

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (NKJV)

If you have not yet committed these verses to memory, stop what you are doing and get to it. The words promise to be life changing. They are more versatile than duct tape as they hold together all that is important in our lives, bind God’s peace upon us, and secure our future with our Heavenly Father. So, allow me to welcome you to Proverbs 3:5-6; my go-to scripture and destination that never disappoints.

Precious peace can be found here in God’s promise to direct our path. However, before we rush out to cash in on that peace, we must take notice of our responsibility to this promise. Scripture calls us to trust Him with all our hearts and acknowledge the greatness of His understanding. And without fear, we lean upon His strength and wisdom as we walk the path He lays before us.

Consider for a moment the implications of the word “lean.” Trust me when I say not every structure is lean-worthy. Think about it, leaning requires placing all our weight upon another object while at such a precarious angle, toppling over is possible. It requires completely trusting in the strength of the support and fully surrendering control. (Please tell me I’m not the only one who learned this the hard way with a painful fall to the ground!)

Common sense demands we lean only upon a strong support. So, where do we find one? Well, my go-to scripture tells us to look to God. We can fully surrender everything to Him without fear of falling. God will bear the weight of our all our problems and never let us down. We can lean upon His strength through our crises, our uncertainties, our stresses, and our health concerns, trusting Him to hold us securely in His care as He lovingly directs our path.

So friend, when weariness consumes you, wave the white flag of surrender and fully lean upon the Lord. He will never let you fall.

Father God, we praise you for being our strong support. May we fully surrender to You.

Blessings,

Rita Cochrane

Have you ever been deserted by a friend or been disappointed by someone you thought was your friend? It is a sad thing to think you have someone on whom you can depend only to discover they have betrayed you or deserted you.

I feel certain that Paul must have felt a great deal of sadness when Demas forsook him and went to Thessalonica. Paul was left to face his accusers alone.

Demas had been a traveling companion of Paul (Acts 17:10). It appears he was with him until Paul was put in prison. He was commended in Colossians 4:14 as one in whom Paul had confidence. Then, things changed. Paul was arrested; and he says of Demas, “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…” It would appear that Demas was more concerned about living than about standing by his friend’s side. He was simply unwilling to risk his own life by staying.

Others have forsaken a friend. Job’s friends forsook him in Job 19:13-17. Jesus’ disciples left Him to face a howling mob and the wrath of a kangaroo court (Matthew 26:56).

Oliver Goldsmith, the poet, wrote about this kind of friendship. He said,

“And what is friendship but a name,

A charm that lulls to sleep;

A shade that follows wealth or fame.

But leaves the wretch to weep?”

Not all friendship is this type of disappointing relationship. Jonathan and David offer us a beautiful example of the kind of friendship we would all be blessed to have. Their friendship was founded in love and respect for one another and for God.

In First Samuel 18, Jonathan made a covenant with David. He said he loved David as his own soul. They were forever true and faithful to each other. There was mutual respect and no jealousy. Jonathan was a friend even when his own father tried to kill David.

Jonathan realized David would be the Lord’s anointed. Though he would have, under ordinary circumstances, been the next king, he knew God had other plans. He even gave David his robe, probably a royal robe worn by the honored son of a king. First Samuel 19:1 says he delighted in his friend. In chapter 20, he told David that he would do whatever he asked him to do; and 23:16 says that David was strengthened by Jonathan.

Jonathan gave far more than he received, and he was loyal to the end. Their friendship was marked by Jonathan’s service, unwavering support, and faith in God and His plan for Israel.

I recently read an article about a woman who, because of family circumstances, had to give up a job she loved, move to a new city, and start a new life. After some time had passed, she told her husband that she thought she should be receiving invitations to parties, dinners, and church activities. She was dismayed that she didn’t seem to be making friends. Her husband listened to her complaints and then responded with this statement. “You need to learn to be a friend like Jonathan.” The woman was shocked that he had placed the cause of her unhappiness on her shoulders.

To have friends, one must be a friend. John says,  “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  This was the kind of friend Jonathan was to David. It is also the kind of friend our Lord was when He gave His life for mankind.

What kind of friend are we? Do we love unconditionally? Do we sacrifice for one another? Most of all, is our friendship based on our love for God and doing His will?

Sandra Oliver

Proverbs 6:6-8 “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer, or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.” NKJV

At breakneck speed and void of any plan, I scanned the aisles of the mega-store. My shopping cart quickly filled with an assortment of items for which I offered no pre-thought, no preparation, and no list. I was reduced to grabbing from the very limited choices remaining on the almost bare shelves. Truth be told, it was zero-hour and I had completely forgotten about our Christmas stockings.

The thought of my little ones waking up the next morning to discover their stockings hanging limp on the mantle caused heart palpitations for this generally well-prepared momma. How had I allowed other things to take precedence over my own children? I had hosted church functions, attended parties with my husband, bought and delivered gifts for the police toy drive, and Christmas caroled on the doorsteps of our elderly – all things held in high esteem, yet somehow, I had overlooked my greatest responsibility.

My frantic impulse purchases took my mind to random thoughts, and I recalled the proverb above. Oh, how I longed at that moment to be the ant: prepared for tomorrow, at ease over upcoming plans, with no fear of the future.

My Christmas stocking debacle remains my reminder of intentionally planning for what lies ahead. My future belongs to a loving, heavenly Father and an eternity spent with Him. This earthly journey provides unlimited opportunities for all things good: PTO involvement, grocery store runs, date nights with my favorite guy, and mountains of laundry. Yet, in the midst of all things good, have I been mindful of what is best? Have I shown love for my fellow humans? Have I been intentional in the way I have parented my children, instilling in them a love of God over a love of man? Have I mentored others along the way who need the expertise of the many mistakes I have made? Have I invested heart and soul into my relationship with God, providing me firm hope in His mercy and grace?

Considered the ant. It assures its provisions for the day yet never disregards the harvest of the future. Like this ant, life can be consumed with our day-to-day agenda. But are we making intentional choices of importance, assuring our future is secure? Remember, dear Sisters, in the same way that Christmas stockings do not fill themselves, (trust me on that!) our future does not happen by chance.

Father God, may our choices in life be made with intentionality towards a blessed future with You.

Blessings for the Christmas Season,

Rita Cochrane