Happy St. Andrew's Day!

St. Andrew was the brother of St. Peter and the first disciple called by Christ. He was the first home missionary as well as the first foreign missionary. His day determines the beginning of the Western Church Year, since the First Sunday of Advent is always the Sunday nearest his day. From the writing of Valerius Herberger:

Reverent hearts, we hold the feast of the apostle Andrew in Christendom as the first in the [Church] Year not only because it falls near the season of Advent but also because Andrew was called first, before the other apostles, by the Lord Jesus. Even Durandus, the bishop of Mende, says, "The saints are to be honored by imitation, not adored, as if to honor them as gods. They are to be honored with love, not adored with servitude."
Now history tells us how St. Andrew together with his fellows conducted their new office. Right away they left their nets and followed the Lord Jesus. And again, right away they left the ship and their father and followed Him. To them, Jesus is now the most precious one on earth-according to His mind they learn, according to His words they teach, according to His will they live, according to His decree they suffer and die. When St. Andrew was threatened with the cross, he said joyfully, "If I feared the punishment of the cross, I would never have preached the mystery of the cross." Then when he saw the cross, he spoke, "Hail, precious cross, you who were dedicated by the body of Christ; may He receive me through you, who redeemed me through you." And when he was living after three days on the cross, his hearers wanted to take him down by force, but he said, "Ah, let God take care of it! Do not make the peace of the Gospel suspect by your unnecessary revolt against the government." That was apostolic constancy and long suffering! This is what it means to "leave everything and follow Christ," all the way to the last catch of fish!

Today's quote is from The Treasury of Daily Prayer, available HERE.

Check this out!

THIS is a wonderful manifesto on parenting. When I have more time I'll print it up but for now it's waiting in my documents.

Today is a busy one. The junior high youth from church are coming out for a bit this afternoon to give the horses some much needed attention. They'll be spoiled rotten and they deserve it. Trip to the library also on the agenda and hopefully some time to relax with the kids and work on knitting. I'm making myself a pair of socks (free pattern at Michael's) and it's a pretty easy pattern. The first sock took forever so hopefully they're much faster as a rule. I'd like to make some as Christmas presents this year. Also began a really good book that I want to make time for today.

Thanksgiving will be out this year. I had invited people here but I'm happy to go out instead. Baba took the fabric off the living room furniture this summer so our friend in q8 could make the covers for it. So while I have sheets on the bare foam, it still doesn't look so good. When he's home for the holidays we'll have *new* furniture to enjoy. So just food and fun and no work for the upcoming holiday.

We've been enjoying our wood stove this week. I've let the coals just die down for the next few days since the days are so mild. It's too warm to keep coals going so we're just using the furnace at night. But this next week I'll be firing it up again! It is so easy to maintain. I just build it up before bed, close it almost tight, and then I just have to open the vents and damper in the morning and throw on a couple of logs. Before long I have another fire blazing and I can adjust the damper and vents where I want them to keep it going. It's in the family room, in the center of the house, and that's where we spend most of our time. So the short sleeves won't be packed away for the winter. The farther ends of the house are much cooler but still comfortable. I love heating with wood.

Soaking has been going well. I love the recipe for soaked bread machine bread. I love waking up in the morning to the smell of fresh baked bread. Ready to slice and make sandwiches for lunch too if there are no leftovers from the night before. I'm hoping to expand my repertoire over the next few weeks. Depends up on how many of us catch the next bug to go around.

Well, I'm off to finish getting ready for the kids. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Baking Bug Bit Me on the...

Backside. {Now what did you think I was going to say? LOL}

Several years ago, Grandma gave me her recipes for some favorites. She had them memorized anyway and she was legally blind due to macular degeneration. She had developed a system for keeping track of items she'd used (using light surfaces for dark items, dark surfaces for light items) after finding the lid to the vanilla bottle in a bite of meringue. She was just glad she was the one who found it and not company. Anyway I had a hankering for the last week or so for some of her cinnamon rolls. They turned out wonderful! Although I could have taken them out a bit sooner, they were just fine after all. Unfortunately I don't have any powdered sugar in the house so I couldn't make a glaze for them, but the Little Prince put peanut butter and jelly on his this morning. I guess it tasted OK...he didn't go around asking if anyone else wanted them.

I've been reading up lately on traditional cooking. I don't know if I'm quite ready to jump on the band wagon yet. With the emphasis on grass-fed/free-range, raw milk, etc. it's a very expensive endeavor. I just can't justify $6 a gallon for milk, no matter how much better it is. Same for the outrageous prices for the meats and eggs. So for now I'm sticking to supermarket products, but being picky about which eggs I buy, etc. Perhaps not as good as going whole hog, pardon the pun, but still better than how we were eating before.

So, we're using real butter, I'm saving my bacon grease (would be filling up faster if the Peanuts hadn't spent so much time in a pork-free country that they haven't developed a taste for bacon), and use coconut oil. Already have olive oil on hand so that one was easy. Actually the butter was easy since butter was easier to find and I was unsure of margarine overseas that had no list of fats telling me if there were trans fats involved.

Last night I made my first loaf of soaked bread. I found Katie's recipe for this bread for the bread machine and set it up before heading to bed last night. The house smelled wonderful this morning and turned out great. At least it looks great. It's also higher than the regular loaf I made a few days ago. I haven't tasted it yet since we finished off the pan of cinnamon rolls (there are still 2 more in the freezer) for breakfast so I'm thinking sandwiches are in order for lunch.

She also has recipes and instructions for many of the things I want to try...including oatmeal, pancakes, etc. Plus a page on basic rules for soaking other recipes you may have. The only trouble is that I'm horrible at planning ahead. Oh, I can do the planning, but remembering to do something the night before for the next day isn't my strong suit. My follow-through also leaves a bit to be desired.

Well, off to see if the pumpkin I stuck in the frig last week is still good enough to make cookies with today. (See? Follow-through.)

Toby Keith - American Soldier

Mother's Milk

Students in an advanced Biology class were taking their mid-term exam.
The last question was, 'Name seven advantages of Mother's Milk,' worth 70 points or none at all.
One student, in particular, was hard put to think of seven advantages. He wrote:

1.) It is perfect formula for the child.
2.) It provides immunity against several diseases.
3.) It is always the right temperature.
4.) It is inexpensive.
5.) It bonds the child to mother, and vice versa.
6.) It is always available as needed.
And then, the student was stuck. Finally, in desperation, just before the bell indicating the end of the test rang, he wrote...

7.) It comes in 2 cute containers.

He got an A+

Bill Cosby, understanding Southern.

Opera Company of Philadelphia "Hallelujah!" Random Act of Culture

Sola Scriptura?

HERE is a wonderful blog post from Lutherans for Life. I've included an excerpt but I highly recommend following the link and reading the whole thing yourself.

Some Christians take the idea of "Scripture Alone" for granted. They assume that all people claiming to be Christians will want to put God's word above everything else. But this is not the case. Many professing Christians elevate self above God's Word. Some elevate personal experience above God's Word. Others elevate loved ones above God's Word.

Consider how people choose which church they will belong to. Do people choose a church based on how faithful it is to God's Word, or for some other reason? Perhaps it's close to where they live, has a preschool program or their family has always gone there.

Since Scripture alone is the only reliable way to find out what God says, your church ought to be the one that teaches what the Scripture plainly says.

OK, have to get this one in here

In honor of Martin Luther

It is not we who call ourselves Lutherans. Rather, our adversaries call us that. We allow this to the extent that this title is an indication of the consensus that our churches have with the orthodox and catholic doctrine that Luther set forth from Holy Writ. Therefore we allow ourselves to be named after Luther, not as the inventor of a new faith but as the asserter of the old faith and the cleanser of the church from the stains of Papist dogmas. Consequently, we also do not reject the names “Christian” and “catholic,” nor do we render ourselves unworthy of them by the approval of any heretical dogma, as did the Arians, Nestorians, Eutychians, etc. Rather, we are called “Christians” from Christ as the only Author and Teacher of our faith. We are called “catholics” from our consensus with the catholic faith. We are called “Lutherans” from Luther as the asserter and defender of that faith, but especially as the reformer whom God raised up.

—Johann Gerhard, On the Church (Theological Commonplace XXV), § 156.

Cyberbrethren