The Blessing of Brokenness (Prayer Devotional for the week of January 13, 2013)

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Clumsy me! I dropped my powder foundation while getting ready this morning, and it broke into umpteen jillion pieces in the bathroom sink. As I salvaged the few crumbs that remained in the compact and finished applying my makeup, the thought occurred to me: Even the broken pieces are useful. Now, that’s a lesson I wish I’d learned sooner in life!

Have you ever felt broken, useless? Have you ever felt like all the odds were against you, and maybe God had just forgotten about you because he’s too busy keeping planets in orbit to deal with your mess of a life?

I remember one such moment very clearly: I was sitting alone in my dead car on the side of a dark country road, with smoke billowing out from under the hood, yelling aloud at God. I had nearly driven into the ditch when the engine seized and I lost power steering; I sat there shaking with a weird combination of fear, relief and anger. God knew that we couldn’t afford a car payment. Why would he leave me in such a bind?

Surely you’ve heard the cliché, “God will never give you more than you can handle.” Well, I say hogwash to that notion. I haven’t found a Bible verse yet that supports such a statement. 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (and that he always provides a way out). The oft-quoted Philippians 4:13 says that we “can do all things” through Christ’s strength (referring to life’s struggles, in context), but I don’t think any Scripture says that God will refrain from throwing curveballs that make us strike out now and then. God most certainly does give us more than we can handle on our own, because then we have no choice but to rely on him!

Why would we need faith, if we could solve all of our own problems, breeze through life unhindered and never make stupid decisions – like buying lemon cars? It is in our brokenness that we are finally ready (because, if you’re anything like me, God has probably been trying to give you subtle hints for a while that you keep ignoring) to listen to him … finally ready to receive his generous blessing.

Paul knew about waiting for God’s blessings, despite life’s trials. In 2 Corinthians 8, he commended a local church for their generosity in the midst of their own “extreme poverty.” Who am I to whine about broken makeup or a broken car when the Creator of the Universe has healed my brokenness already from the inside-out? God has been abundantly generous, and he calls us to do the same.

Foodie Friday: Swiss chard soft tacos

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swiss chard1

Sauteed Swiss chard with garlic & onion

I was buying some fresh spinach the other day and noticed that Swiss [red] chard was on sale, so I decided to try it. Like other leafy greens, chard is chock-full of good stuff like Vitamins A, C & K, not to mention fiber and even some protein.The stalks are a brilliant red that reminds me of rhubarb, and the leaves are deep green.

I’ve seen chard before but never knew what to do with it, so I looked up some recipes. I modified and combined a few tips here and there, based on ingredients I already had on hand, and this was the yummy result:

First, I sauteed about 1/4 white onion, coarsely chopped (one of the recipes suggested red onion, but oh, well) with about 2 Tbsp minced garlic in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.

Swiss chard soft tacos

Swiss chard soft tacos

As the onion and garlic perfumed my kitchen, I added a couple of dashes of salt and a few heavy sprinkles of pepper. One of the recipes I found called for nutmeg, so I threw in a couple of dashes of ground spice, too.

I added 3 leafy stalks of Swiss chard, coarsely chopped, then splashed in about 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar. I sauteed it for 3-4 minutes until the chard was somewhat wilted.

At first, I was just going to eat it straight from the plate, as shown above, but then I decided to wrap it in a warm corn tortilla. Wowza! That’s good stuff! The three younger boys eagerly tried it and wanted second bites. No. 2 said it was “ok” and thought I should add paprika. No. 1 tried it grudgingly (it had green stuff, after all), and he declared it “not terrible, but not great.” Alas, coming from him, that’s a pretty good compliment! 😉  Post-fast, I might add grilled chicken or pulled pork, but I thought it was yummy in veggie version, too.

What I’m not

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I had the opportunity to meet a new mentor recently via email (though I hope to meet her in person at a conference later this spring). As I thought about what I wanted to discuss with her, I realized that one of my biggest frustrations is the fact that everywhere I turn, I feel like I have to prove myself. I have to justify my research and scholarship (understandably so). I have to put up with deer-in-the-headlights expressions when people find out about my family (understandable, but annoying). I just want to put forth my best effort and show the world that I can’t be sterotyped. I want my work to stand on its own merit, regardless of any other factors.

So, I wrote the following statement, as a mantra to myself. You might consider it a soapbox, but I think it’s more of an affirmation of who I am and what I’m not.

I wear numerous hats and fulfill several roles. I am a lot of things, but one thing I will not be is stereotyped. I may not be much of a wave-maker, but I darn sure will be a mold-breaker. I am not who I used to be, and I’m still becoming who I am. Maybe you don’t know how I handle it because you don’t have to, and I’m learning to. I am stronger and braver than I ever imagined I could be, because I’ve needed to be. If you want to be certain that I will accomplish something, just tell me that I am unable to do it.When you’re finished ranting about how it can’t be done, please step aside. Just watch me, and eat your words.

The economics of stuffed animals

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I had a surprisingly in-depth economics conversation in the car tonight with the boys. They wanted to know why so much stuff is made in China instead of here. We talked about a variety of topics ranging from national debt to labor laws and manufacturing costs. The older ones knew a little about the federal debt/deficit, but the little guys were perplexed that we would actually borrow money from other countries. They were even more shocked to learn that of all foreign holders of U.S. debt, China holds the most of it ($1161.5 billion, as of October 2012). If I have my decimals right, I believe that’s $1,161,500,000,000.

I tried to bring it down to their level by suggesting that you can pay $5 for a stuffed animal made in China or $10 for one made in the USA. That’s where the part about labor laws and manufacturing costs came into play. I told them that without labor laws, I could make them quit school and go to work everyday but not even let them keep the money. In Communist countries where they have few or no such laws, then you don’t have to pay workers very much, so it’s less expensive to manufacture things.

I explained how it’s cheaper for companies to ship all of the materials overseas, pay people there to make the products and then send it all back to the USA than it is to manufacture it here, from scratch. “We” in the USA want stuff cheap, so we buy it. If “we” were willing to pay more and demanded that it be made domestically, then perhaps more stuff would be made here, and more jobs would stay here.

In typical fashion, as soon as they’d heard enough of an answer to satisfy their curiosity, they immediately switched gears and went on to a new topic. Apparently, they are planning to go into business together to build a resort/hotel/museum. It is going to have a shark theme, with a salt water aquarium (with “baby” sharks, so as to not scare the guests) and a swimming pool in shape of a fin or shark tooth. They are also going to sell shark teeth in the gift shop and have a museum for people to learn about sharks. They aren’t quite ready to take reservations yet, but this will be one must-see place to visit one of these days! 🙂