blessing and sorrow

dear emily,

my friend patricia and i were discussing the random nature of blessing,
wealth specifically.   this is an uncomfortable subject for me, because
i like to pretend money is like the leaves of a tree, available to whom
ever reaches their hand to pluck it.   that, of course, is fiction.

one can't really think about blessing without a nod to its sister, sorrow.
remember when 'much afraid' (hind's feet on high places) is bound to
her new friends, 'sorrow' and 'suffering?'   shudder.   they were truly
friends and protectors, though.

why do some have a bucket of blessing, and others a hayfield of sorrow?
heck, if i know, but this i do know:     how we respond to either is the
spoonful of sugar.

there are innumerable non-fiction stories about men of great fortune
who dithered it all away . . . along with wives and children.    there
are also accounts of women who endured great suffering and through
it blessed many.

oswald wrote today that if we yield through the fires of sorrow to the
Man of sorrows, "God will make us nourishment for other people."

feast on me, baby!

love,
lea

"He was . . . a Man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering."  is. 53:3

spinach pesto turkey sandwich

dear emily,

i have really been trying to replace bad fats and sugars with good fat
and VEGETABLES.   aaargh.   i just can't make myself eat enough
of those nutrient rich foods, so i've had to be creative.   for instance,
instead of slathering mayo and mustard on my sandwich today, i made
a spinach pesto with coconut oil.

think that sounds gross?  well, you're wrong.   it was delicious and full
of good fat and green veggies.   "i'm dreaming of a" whole grain pasta
and vine ripened tomatoes drizzled with this yummy pesto.

while i wrote those two puny paragraphs, my husband just ate half of
my sandwich.   here's the super easy recipe:

an entire package of baby spinach
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup parmesan
1 t. dry mustard
1 t. apple cider vinegar
1 T. honey
ground pepper
1/4 c. coconut oil
tiny dribble of olive oil as a token to normal pesto

squoosh it into your food processor and season to taste.

you're gonna' love it,
lea

"the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof."  psalm 24:1

PG-snake

dear emily,

several weeks ago, a good friend and i were hiking around turkey
mountain.   in our neck of the woods, you don't really hike UP
anything, because everything is so flat.   we rounded one bend and
stepped over a grass snake.   i felt obligated to scream like a school
girl, since i did go to school once.

my friend said, "don't worry about it, it was just a grass snake."  i
thought, "is there really such a thing as 'just'  a ANY snake?"

i lost all the endorphins i had gathered from the hike and put the last
of my energy into scanning back and forth along the trail like a drone
searching for terrorist snakes.

sure enough, we ran into another harmless grass snake.

"he is more afraid of us than we are of him." (friend)

"really?   well, why is he staring us down like he wants to make the
first strike?"  now, a spoiled princess, i begged to turn around and
go home.   "that was a bad grASS snake."

love,
lea

"now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field."
genesis 3:1