Bible Study - Esther

Esther 4:13-16

13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.


14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,

16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

I've been thinking a lot about these verses the past week or two.  Verse 14 stood out to me.  Here Mordecai is in sackcloth and ashes and yet he knows, it seems, that God will not allow His people to be destroyed.  He knows that if Esther chooses not to go, God will use someone else.

So Esther can go in and death may be a possibility, or not go in and death will be a reality.  And Esther realizes the truth. 

What are the things that God has called you to do?  If not done by you, someone else will do it and will recieve the blessing.  I think of this much in regards to witnessing.  If you aren't going out and talking to your friend, could it be that God would allow someone else the rich blessing of winning that soul to Him? 

My mission today is to raise up godly men and women in my home and give my older three a good education.  That is my mission for today.  I'm afraid it doesn't feel like, I'm helping them become more godly as I get frustrated with their attitudes and naughtiness.  So God needs to grow me in patience and gentleness, so that I can be a blessing to them and so that they won't be afraid to tell me what they are struggling with. 

Another thing that really struck me recently is that the God of the Old Testament is still the God of today.  You shut the mouths of lions, caused the dead to breathe.  You are I AM.  As the song says.  He's still the same today and He can help us be victorious in our day-to-day living.

Making the most of today,
Steph

Day 9 brings me through Genesis 27 and I'm still in Esther 5 - doing a bit of deeper study in that, so it takes me longer.  

Cooking up lots of hamburger

Carpenter came home last week with 15 pounds of hamburger.  I already know that if it goes in the freezer uncooked, it may be used in a more expensive way, such as meatloaf or hamburgers.  So because Carpenter reminded me that we can't do that right now, I decided to cook it all before freezing it.

A simple way of cooking 15 lbs of hamburger was what I needed.  I had heard that cooking up hamburger in a crockpot works, but this was way too much meat for my crockpot even though it was pretty big.  So I decided to try the roaster.

My handy Mix-n-Chop from Pampered Chef is the only thing I have found that works to chop up the meat well, especially when it's frozen.  This wasn't, but with such a large amount a spoon would have taken me all day.

I knew that for this meat I would want onions and garlic in it, so I chopped up some onion and put about a Tablespoon of minced garlic from my jar in with it. 

Next came about four large glasses of water.  I ended up with more water than I needed, but it was better than having it burn.  I had the temp on 350 degrees.  I ended up turning it down a bit later.  For an all day thing, I think 200 would have been perfect.  This process took about 3 hours. 

I was home and every half hour or so I used the Mix-n-Chop to mix it up some more.  Then after I drained it.  I let it cool.  As always, it's best not to pour your grease down the kitchen sink.  On the farm, it just goes way out to the edge of a field and gets dumped.

Then I bagged it into 15 freezer bags.  It's not a lot of meat for nine people, but if I need two I can take two.  Each bag has about one pound in it, though I didn't weigh it.  I will definitely be using this idea for the rodeo when I need about 40 pounds of meat cooked up.

Making the most of today,

Steph

Update: Finished Genesis 24 today and more from Esther 5 - Day 8

Compost project - complete for now.

Well, the project is not done, nor is it beautiful, but for now we are finished with it. 

I will not do a project with so many little pieces for  a long time.  Straight edges and no 45 degree angles.  It ended up being in the way because I couldn't continue working on it in the basement.  So because we had it in the garage, I had to hurry it up.  That made it more work than fun.  But it's done for now.  All it still needs is some wire mesh stapled to the inside of the frame.

Now our vegetable scraps will go in there until spring and we can start putting other stuff in there. 

One more project for the garden done. 

And in the meantime I've been making the most of each day, by doing some more of my favorite thing - organizing and de-cluttering.


Before

Carpenter's theology books are now organized and neat again.

Steph
Update: I totally forgot to post, but didn't forget to keep up with my goal.  I was on Day 7 on this day and I read Genesis 19-21 and more from Esther 5

Titus 2 Tea - Personal - Devotions

I think one of the biggest things I can do for myself is devotions, spending time with the Lord on my own.  Usually, I try to do it in the morning, but I'm also putting babies to bed and doing the laundry and overseeing school.  So I'm constantly interrupted.

I either need to get up earlier (5:00am) or I need to find a way to make this work.  So for now, I am going to continue to do this, even though I'm interrupted. 

I remember a dorm mom I had.  Every minute she had to spare, it seemed, she was reading from her Bible.  But if you needed something, she didn't say, "Can't you see I'm doing my devotions?  Why are you bothering me?"  No, she just patiently answered the question or cared for the problem, and then if there was time she went back to her reading.  She still had time to lay in the grass with us and look at the sky or the stars, and to swim with us.  What a testimony!  I will never forget her example.

So I continue to work toward this.  My goal is to be in the Word every day this year, not just to say I did it, but because that's where I learn what I need to make it through my day.  I'm also tentatively reading through the Bible this year, but I'm not going to worry about it.  If I'm in the Word every day, then that will be stepping it up for me.  I want to step it up in one way in a few areas of my life.  We'll talk about some other areas next week.

So for now, I'm studying the book of Esther and reading three chapters in Genesis a day. 

Making the most of today,
Steph

Today my reading was Esther 4:1-7 and Genesis 10-12  and one thing new I found was that Ham had a son named Egypt.  I knew about Canaan, but didn't know about Egypt.

Bible Study

Esther 3:6 But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Something stood out to me yesterday as I read this.  Haman was angry because Mordecai wouldn't bow to him, and so instead of taking revenge on only Mordecai, he decided to go for his entire people group. 

I've been thinking about Haman's attitude.  He allowed something simple - one man in a whole city of people - to bother him.  His anger seethed inside of him until he was ready to kill a whole group of people, even the babies.

I'd like to say that I never get angry - that I never allow little things to bother me, but it's not true.  Have you ever found yourself over-reacting when things aren't going your way.  I feel like I'm in some kind of time-freeze when that happens.  It's like everyone stops and is frozen in time, while I'm thinking, "What in the world?  Are you seriously getting angry about THAT????"  And maybe they are really frozen, with mouths agape because they are thinking the same thing.   

It's at that point, the Spirit's reminder, that I make a choice - will I choose to ask forgiveness for my outburst or will I try to justify it and continue on ranting and raving? 

Proverbs 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.

I want to be that kind of a person.  But you know what?  Mostly, I don't think that we are automatically like this.  Oh, some people tend to be gentler.  But we all are prideful.  If we don't run into any challenges or any situations that cause our blood to boil, then we won't become this type of person.  It takes practice, beating our body - or mind in this case - into submission. 

Because I desire this attitude, and I'm asking God to help me in this area, I'm pretty sure that I will come across some challenging situations.  I have been.  But here's the thing.  I want to grow, but growth does not take place in a vacuum, a place with no trouble.  So I will pray for patience if that's where I see a need in my life. 

But this year, my one word is gentle.  I want to be gentler in my dealing with the children.  And this is where I see this applying.  The opposite is anger, at least in my case.  And while, I can see many storms brewing because of this desire of my heart, I say, "Bring them on, if the Lord wills.", because they can only cause growth and that is my heart's desire.

Please don't think that I am asking for storms and trouble.  We don't want tornadoes to come through and devastate our home, but we prepare for them.  I guess that is what I want to do.  I want to realize that this is a possibility and be ready to walk faithfully with each one so that I can learn what He has to teach me.

Day 3's reading for me was the rest of Esther chapter 3 and Genesis 7-9

Another year

Many of us are taking stock of last year.  My husband and I spent part of Christmas Day revisiting our dreams and desires for our future, checking to see if we are on track, and planning goals for next year.  I love doing that because it gives me a picture of what we want as a family.

It doesn't work very well for me to do it by myself, because I'm not the leader of this family...because he has thoughts and insights that I don't have...and because he can see the pitfalls that I don't see.  So what a joy it was to write down these things. 

My goal is to take these goals and try to start formulating a plan to continue in them.  Some of them are Carpenter's deal and not mine at all.  But an orchard, good garden (no weeds), and raising meat are something that I can help with.  First up, a place for an orchard and for raising meat, so Carpenter is on that as much as possible.

Personally, my resolutions for this year are, to be in the Word daily.  This is such a struggle for me.  I have a lot on my plate and therefore it gets missed a lot, so I want to be accountable to you all.  I'm on Day 2 today, oh and it's January 2nd.  So I'm doing good.  It's helpful for me to formulate a plan for things.  So I will try to train myself, not to blog until I have been in the Word that day.  That's my plan, and that way I can let you know what day I am on.  Will you join me? 

My goal is not to read through the Bible this year, but just to spend time studying His Word.  I'm working through Esther right now, using Darlene Schacht's Life Application Bible Study.   It's been very good and I'm enjoying it. 

But if you want to read through the Bible in a year, I think 3 chapters a day would do it - a chapter at each meal or just after each meal.  What a great testimony to our children that would be and I believe it would make a difference in our lives as well.  His word is so powerful!!!

Another thing that I want to work on this next year is stepping it up to another level as a mom, wife, and a house-keeper.  Blogging has helped me see progress this last year, and I am not disappointed in where I am, because it's huge progress.  But I know I can move on to better, always. 

Last year, my laundry was stacked high, so I want to continue keeping it done daily.  My husband is so helpful with this, encouraging me to continue.  He doesn't do a lot with it, except on the weekends if we're behind a bit.  But yesterday, he and the boys hauled buckets of wash water outside to dump because our leech field is frozen and it can only handle small amounts of water.

We had a lot of laundry and they got me all caught up.  Thanks guys!!!!  It was a lot of work.

What are you thinking of working on this year?  I've heard it said that you shouldn't make resolutions because you'll for sure break them, but I disagree.  What I do agree with is that it shouldn't just be at New Year's.  If you fall down, get up and try again, but if you have to start at New Year's you'll wait a long time before you'll be able to start again.

So don't make huge expectations for yourself, just step it up in ONE way and work on that till you get it, then add another thing, all through the year.

Have a great year!
Steph

Crockpot mashed potatoes

I've been trying to find a way to make mashed potatoes in the crockpot.  I'd like to have them for Sunday dinner, but it would be so late before we eat, if I made them after we got home.  So I checked with Pinterest, but found some that had to be boiled  before they go in the crockpot.  Not really what I was looking for.

So I tried to make my own version.  I cut up the potatoes in 1/2 inch cubes and then filled the crockpot with water.  Then I put it in the microwave for 10 minutes, just to make sure they would be done when we got home.  Salt and pepper, butter and some sour cream we had on hand.  I used 1 stick of margarine, not actually butter.  The crockpot was on high for four hours. 

When we got home four hours later, I used a hand-held mixer to mix it up but it was very soupy.  It was edible and we enjoyed mashed potatoes, but it wasn't our normal way of eating them.  I did it again, but still it was the same. 

So this last week, I cut the potatoes in quarters and did everything else the same.  I dumped the water when we got home.  And, it was yummy and the way we normally like our potatoes. 

A side note:  make sure that your roaster knob is actually pointing to 350 degrees and not the exact opposite of that, or you will come home to a pink turkey, as we did. 

So I made meatballs and gravy and we nibbled on the turkey for supper right before we headed to church for our "snack" service (where we eat while our pastor answers questions from the congregation).  I took turkey-salad sandwiches and they disappeared quickly. 

Enjoy your New Year's Day.
Steph