Thoughts................

Was thinking about how the President has canceled the American defensive missile project in Poland, to appease Russia - and the next day on the news programs we see Iran announcing that they now have the capability to make THEIR missiles!

But.........I will stop thinking about it right now, as thinking about what's going on in this government lately is giving me headaches. I need a break!

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How about this: a recipe! For all of you who would love a very simple cookie-type recipe, THIS is it. I clipped this from a newspaper quite some time ago (the recipe was from a Bette Lindmark of Lee's Summit,MO.), but have never tried it - until this past week. It is so quick and so good! Great for the kids' lunch-boxes.........

TOFFEE CRACKERS (Preheat oven: 350 degrees / ungreased jelly-roll pan)

40 graham crackers (I broke them into two)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup margarine (but I used a full cup of butter, instead of half margarine)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts

.....arrange the graham crackers in a single layer on the ungreased pan, placing them close together so crackers touch
.....combine butter, margarine (or just one cup butter) and sugar in small saucepan
...heat to boiling over medium heat - boil 3 minutes
.....pour butter/sugar mixture over the graham crackers
.....sprinkle the nuts over the crackers and sugar mixture

BAKE: 350 degrees - 12 to 15 minutes

Immediately remove cookies from pan and place on aluminum foil to cool quickly - let cool before serving.

Trust me - these are SO good! :)

P.S. I also tried this recipe using plain and whole-wheat soda crackers - very good, too ....... a tad less sweet, but quite good. Next time I am planning to sprinkle some chocolate chips over half of the recipe - and think you can sprinkle about anything you want (except for that kitchen sink!) on them. :)

Spring or Winter?????

Will winter never give it up and fade away this year? The weather people aren't predicting another spring-snow-storm like we had a week or so ago, but they DID "give" us more winter temperatures today...and it's supposed to be freezing tonight. I just stuck my head out the door a few minutes ago to talk with a friend, and we were both freezing ...with the wind blowing hard. I like winter - in WINTER. Now, it's time for winter to close the door and let Spring in! My husband just settled into the recliner with hot coffee and I just came back to the computer with hot chocolate...BUT, we don't have the fire going (yet, anyway!). :) I hope the tulips make it through the night - husband John says since they survived the last snow and ice storm that they'll probably make it. Hope so.

We had our special Easter-Cantata music in our evening service last night...with coffee-and-cookies after. The choir did a great job - the songs were beautiful and had great messages. They've been practicing hard and it showed. Heard lots of nice comments about it. Our church is small but small churches can still have great voices. :)

My President "irked" me again this week - with his "apologizing-for-America" speech. Granted, he did also say the Europeans were a "bit" anti-American, and that they needed to change that. However, though I well know America's faults, it seemed a bit of a slap-in-the-face to the country to have our President standing up in Europe saying how bad we are. It seemed to me our President is out to win as much of Europe's favor as possible ... but not always for good reasons. Again, I say, I do NOT wish to have our country under European laws ... but this administration sure seems to be racing towards just that. We'll see.............I'm beginning to get REAL interested in all these "tea parties" that are popping up everywhere............

Joy

Since the election I have been mulling over the meaning of the word "joy".

Why since the election? Well, I haven't felt very joyful with a new President who is so pro-abortion (at least in his official acts) and pro-gay . I haven't felt "joyful" with a new administration that seems to think, so far, that they, and only they, have all the answers to our many complicated problems.(I know, I know - the last administration didn't have all the answers either) I haven't felt too "joyful" with the appointment of the new Treasury Secretary who seems to have "gotten away" with HIS tax cheating, and is now in charge of our country's finances! And, frankly, I haven't felt too "joyful" for quite a long time about the way Christians are being treated in this country (am I the only one who notices this????).

My trusty old Webster's dictionary gives me several nice definitions of the word "joy": "the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires; delight" ... "the expression or exhibition of such emotion; gaiety" ... "a state of happiness or felicity; bliss" ... "a source or cause of delight".

I have seen MUCH "emotion evoked by well-being, success", much "gaiety, delight" lately amongst our citizens. As I said earlier, I, too, can rejoice, at least, in the fact of the country finally crossing the color barrier in electing a President. But I haven't been experiencing the true joy many others are seemingly feeling. Because I cannot rejoice over the killing of babies or the pushing forward of homosexuality ... and we once again have a President who has already helped to advance these issues.

So, yes, I have been mulling over "joy", and what it means to me, as a Christian. As Christians we have a much deeper sense of joy, a deeper SOURCE of joy - the "meaning" of "joy" is much more than Mr. Webster puts forth. Christians can be joyful in the worst of circumstances. Christians can be joyful in the midst of persecution (which is happening someplace in the world even as I write this). Christians can be joyful even as the tears flow down their faces. And, yes, a Christian can be joyful even with the election of a President that wasn't my choice, for the reasons stated. As I thought about writing more on this subject, I came across one of my pastor-husband's articles, written for the local newspaper. I started to just take out a couple of quotes, but he says it so well in this article, that I am (with his permission!) printing the full article. For anyone who might be wondering, especially as a Christian, how we can still be "joyful" - read this. It explains it well.

Joy

In the summer of 1987 my family and I spent the month of July in the south of France. I was filling in for a friend, who was pastor of the Baptist Church of Draguignan, so he could direct a camp.

My duties included directing the Sunday morning worship, and conducting a Bible study and prayer meeting on Tuesday evenings. The Tuesday evening meeting was held in the home of an elderly couple, instead of the church. The husband had physical incapacities that prevented him from leaving his home, but he still enjoyed gathering with other Christians, so we would meet at his home to give him that opportunity. His wife was especially vivacious and joyful for her age, and did not seem overly exercised by the burden of caring for her invalid husband.

One Sunday morning I preached from the part of Jesus’ farewell discourse in the fifteenth chapter of John’s Gospel, where he talks about the vine and the branches. I especially emphasized verse 11 where he tells his disciples: “These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might be in you, and that your joy might be full”. I sought to explain that joy comes from staying connected to Christ, and not from the circumstances of our lives.

The next Tuesday, when I arrived at the home of Mme. Dieudonné, she thanked me for what I had said in the sermon, and then offered to tell me a story. I accepted her offer, and she related the following account.

When she was a young lady, she recounted, she had been in Geneva for a youth conference. Ruben Saillens, who was at that time the uncontested leader of the French Evangelical Protestants, was one of the participants. As she was sitting on a bench beside Lake Geneva one evening, he approached her. He shared with her a very short sermon that, she told me, she had never forgotten. He pointed to a bare light bulb in a string of lights over her head that had burned out, and said: “See that light bulb; its lost its joy. Don’t you ever lose your joy.”

She then told me that she had never forgotten what he said, and that she had tried all her life not to lose her joy. It was a simple story, and I probably would have forgotten it, had it not been that her own deep sense of contentment, in spite of her less than ideal circumstances, so underlined the truth of what she had said.

Her story illustrates two essential truths about Christian joy. The first is that its source is external to the person experiencing it. Jesus said it is “my joy”. He said that it comes from “abiding” in him. Paul called it a fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Joy, from a Christian perspective, is a delight in life that runs deeper than the experiences of life. It endures in the good times and the bad, because it comes from neither, but is a gift of God. As sure as a light bulb has no light in itself, but draws its light from the electric current to which it is connected, the Christian experiences divine joy by abiding in Christ.

The second idea that stands out in the story is that joy can be lost. We lose it when we forget its source, disconnect our selves from the source, and think that we can find it elsewhere than in Christ.

C. Davis writes: “From a psychological perspective one cannot experience joy while being preoccupied with ones own security, pleasure, or self-interest. Freedom from inhibitions comes when one is caught up in something great enough to give meaning and purpose to all of life and to every relationship. God alone is the only adequate center for human existence, and he alone can enable us to experience life with joyous spontaneity and relate to others with love”.

Jesus stated it this way: “He who loses his life will find it”.

Submitted by:

Pastor, John Clayton

Wellington Baptist Temple

A nice evening ..... and a new President .....

Was a cold but sunny day here in our part of Kansas today. I didn't do much - stayed indoors and cooked, which I love doing. :) I made a noodle casserole for lunch: egg noodles, green peppers, onions, green olives, garlic and canned salmon ..... with sour cream. Yum! And, for supper, I fixed stuffed green peppers - just made two, one for each of us. Two giant green peppers stuffed with a mixture of rice, "deer"burger, onions, garlic, and salsa - with cheese melted on the tops. Also "yum!" :)

My husband, John, and I ate supper in front of the wood fire and watched a couple of news shows. It was cozy and warm. The food and fire, not the news.

We have a new President but I am not happy with his abortion legislation - he didn't wait long to start on it. I am also a little peeved about appointing a guy to be in charge of the country's finances who "got away" with not paying some of his taxes! Maybe WE should try that this time ........What I can celebrate, so far, about our new President is that this country FINALLY broke through the color block and voted in a man who is African American; well, half anyway. That was truly something to celebrate. Historical for sure. However, some of his policies sadden me - and others just plain make me frightened for my country. But I will be praying for him AND for the country.