Better for You Cookies

It's no secret that this family like sweets. (It's more of a mystery why we're not all 500 lbs!) Realizing that the horde will not stand for a moratorium on treats and apart from trying to convince them that smoothies constitute dessert, I've been manipulating recipes by reducing the sugar and switching to whole wheat flour. But when I find a recipe that doesn't call for any refined sugar like Laura's breakfast cookies, I'm in the zone. I realize that molasses, the main sweetener in tonight's yummy treat, is a sugar cane product. Yet this recipe contains less sugar than most cookie recipes.

Gingerbread Treats
(makes 4 dozen)

adapted from a recipe found in the More-With-Less Cookbook

Mix together:

1 cup hot water
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup molasses

Combine separately and add:

3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt

Add:

1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 cup raisins (we left these out because the cupboard was bare)

Mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

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Disclaimer discussion with my youngest:

Me: "Wow! So aren't these great? Can you believe they don't have any sugar in them?"

LB, after snarfing down two cookies and reaching for another: "Yes. I could tell. They're good, but they aren't good enough to have sugar in them."

There you have it folks. These cookies are darn good, but don't expect molasses crinkles.

A different hall of faith

Sometimes I wonder exactly what they prayed for us, our parents, Sunday school teachers, and youth leaders in that small church with the blue-green windows and folding chairs.

I wonder if they fretted over us in our stubborn toddlerhood or ever thought of giving up on us in our rebellious teen days. We surely weren't anything special; just a bunch of mismatched kids growing up Baptist. But they trusted God and chose to sacrifice for us. They played with us in the nursery long after their own children were grown. They tirelessly mimeographed coloring pages for us. They taught us a different Christmas musical every year and endured months of practice before the final performance. They spent Wednesday nights trying to teach us to pray while we were often times silent. They slept (or attempted to sleep) along side us on Army cots during our summer mission trips when they could have been enjoying their own vacations. They did all of this without knowing what God would do with their efforts, but trusting that they served a faithful God.

These people are my "cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1). They inspire me to hold on to Jesus, to trust Him when I don't see the faith I want to see in my kids or the grace I want to see in myself. They encourage me to keep praying and teaching and reaching out. And the results of their sacrifice--the Christ-following teachers, business people, pastors, ministry wives, moms--assure me that God is indeed faithful with the mite and the talent.

All I can say is, "Thank you."

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Shannon is one of these results. She has a beautiful blog tracing the hand of Christ through daily life called In a Mirror Dimly. It has been a great delight to me. Below is our senior piano recital photo. Can you figure out which beauties we are?

Three in One Things This Thursday

Dave over at Home School Dad hosts Things This Thursday (previously Three Things Thursday). I've never participated because I never seem to have three things on Thursday. Today I do. Sort of. So here are my three things on one topic this Thusday:

1. Stop. The book of Hebrews rocks! I'm seeing Jesus like I've never seen Him before. It's amazing what you can see if you slow down and really examine a text.

2. Look. I'm studying Nancy Guthrie's Hoping for Something Better: Refusing to Settle for Life as Usual with my Bible study gals. It's on Hebrews, of course. I highly recommend it. (And the gals, too!)

3. Listen. Tim Keller's sermon, Christ, the Final Word, on (what else?) Hebrews deepened my understanding of the passage and forced some necessary questions regarding the place of Christ in my heart.

I won!

And I never win anything! Lizzie over at A Dusty Frame had a giveaway from Tropical Traditions and she drew my name. This is what I won:

While this might not be exciting to some, I was just talking about how I wanted to get some of this powder to include in the kids' smoothies. Being that it's not cheap and that we owe the mechanic a grand for fixing our 13 year old van, I've been pinching pennies and haven't bought any.

I don't know about you, but when the Lord provides small gifts--nothing necessary, just nice--at just the right time, it reminds me that He does know me intimately. Just like my husband knows how I take my coffee, what kind of chocolate I prefer and at what heat setting I like my side of the electric blanket, God understands me.

Jesus knows me, this I love.

And I am humbly thankful.

WHAT?

It is rare that I read something as ludicrous as this op-ed piece masquerading as a scholarly article. While everyone has a right to his or her opinion, it is both polite and correct to at least have some credible and cited evidence for that opinion when it is published in a scholarly journal.

According to Robin L. West in her article The Harms of Homeschooling, I am uneducated trailer trash who probably lets her children skateboard all day, only calling them in to teach them Bible verses while beating and berating them, all the while potentially causing an outbreak or epidemic because of my medical negligence. Where has this lady been? Believe it or not, sitting on the full-time faculty of Georgetown Law School.

Hopefully you can easily spot the straw men, red herrings, ad hominem attacks, and genetic fallacies in her article ( my trailer trash 11 year old who just came in from skateboarding can) but if you'd like some help there is a neatly organized retort at Razzed.

As for me, all I have to say is I hope she doesn't teach logic. Maybe I ought to send her a copy of The Fallacy Detective?

Running to and from

Over a month ago Monica asked if running was a long time thing for me or something new. The answer is both. I started running in junior high because my best friend was a runner. I hated it. The track coach relegated me to the mile along with others who had no speed and no desire to improve. For me track was a means to a social end and it didn't take me very long to develop the mantra, "I only run when chased."

A few years ago a friend of mine who has been an avid runner since age 12 encouraged me to run. She assured me I could do it. I think I had the desire to be a runner but really didn't know how to begin. So for a couple months I ran a little, walked a lot, ran a little more, and so on, until I hurt my knee. The podiatrist encouraged me to rest and let the knee heal and then buy a pair of real running shoes instead of trying to run in my three-year-old Meijer specials. I did so, but then we got a lot of snow and a foster child came to live with us and I lost interest in running.

Last year I decided I needed to drop a few pounds and get some exercise so I started walking inside with Leslie Sansone videos. I was quite happy with this until the dog chewed up the DVD! So faced with the necessity of another plan, this summer I started walking the track at the high school while my kids took tennis lessons. After a few weeks I started feeling the need for speed and figured I'd walk a lap and run a lap. This slowly turned into more walking than running and now I'm up to 2.5 miles on my short day and 4 miles on my long day.

I wouldn't say that running is a passion for me, nor do I have any goals to run races or lose weight, but I will agree with Beth that I have never regretted going for a run but have often regretted not doing so. It is a time that I can run from my obligations and the noise of my house and enjoy time alone listening to music and burning off some stress. I find that I handle the pressures of life more easily and sleep better at night when I'm getting plenty of exercise, all for the price of a pair of good running shoes and some workout clothes from Walmart.

Running is probably not for everyone, but take it from this short-legged middle-aged mom, it's never too late or too hard to start!

Happy Birthday, JT

This is the boy who became the man that makes my life such a joy. Happy birthday, love!