Family Fun Friday!

The weather in San Jose has been exquisite this week. The boys got to go to the playground 4 times, have 3 picnics, and a trip to the zoo! It was a fun week.

Friday is Andy's day off, so we headed up to Oakland Zoo and enjoyed the beautiful weather while seeing some animals. Kids are funny, though. At least my kids. They'll look at an animal for about 2 seconds and then be on to the next thing. They both ran & ran so much and were completely exhausted once we got back to the car. They slept the whole way home, and then some. Here's a few shots of the day...

Ridiculous. Absolutely Ridiculous.

For those of you who were not able to attend South Bay's Christmas Eve service, you may have missed out on seeing this video. I need to warn you...it is ridiculous. And there's really no point to it. But if you want a good laugh, you should totally watch it.

FYI...Andy is in the red Snuggie, Filipe (our associate pastor) is in the green, David (another associate pastor) is in the blue, and Archie (our worship pastor) is in the ever-so-lovely peace sign Snuggie. Archie is the one who wrote the rap (borrowing some from similar raps), shot the video, and edited everything. It's his voice you hear. There is also a special appearance from Renan (our executive pastor), Aimee (our children's director), Laura (Andy's admin assistant), and your's truly!


I Love Snuggies from South Bay Church on Vimeo.

So, I'll admit it...we own a Snuggie (it was a gift) and I secretly love wearing it. Honest. Does anyone else out there Snuggie? Time to come out of the closet!

Barbara's Rice, Black Beans, and Corn

Andy and I joke that every meal for the Daniel Fast is pretty much just a different combination of brown rice, black beans, and/or corn. This recipe is no exception, but it's really tasty.

Ingredients:
1 can organic black beans (drained)
1 can organic corn (drained)
brown rice
homemade salsa or pico de gallo
avocado
organic corn tortillas (read label to check ingredients)

Instructions:
Cook brown rice. I mix one cup of dry rice with 2.5 cups of vegetable broth. It took about 40-45 minutes to cook in my rice cooker.

In a medium sauce pan, combine corn and black beans. I used frozen corn. I also added some cilantro, green onions, lime juice, and sea salt. Heat over medium.

Toast tortillas lightly in oven. Spoon rice and bean mixture on top. Add homemade salsa and avocado. I found some yummy pico de gallo at Trader Joe's that was Daniel Fast friendly. Enjoy!

Daniel Fast Update

Today is Day 8 of our 21 day Daniel Fast. How's everyone doing out there? The first two days I always feel pretty crummy with a detox headache, but after that I feel really great! For Andy & me, this is our 3rd or 4th time to do a Daniel Fast and I must say that the food thing gets much easier each time. Our first fast we virtually ate nothing but salads and a few varieties of soup for 40 days. It got old, for sure.

Here's what's been on the menu at the Wood household:

Breakfasts

• Oatmeal with soy milk and fruit
• Smoothie

Lunches

• Salads
• Rice cakes with organic peanut butter, bananas, and honey
• Soups and left overs from dinner

Dinners

• Vegetarian Chili
• Lentil Soup (see recipe below)
• Black Beans & Brown Rice Stuffed Peppers
• Whole wheat spaghetti with organic spaghetti sauce
• Rice, Black beans, and corn recipe (I'll post this tomorrow)
• Black bean soup

 Snacks

• Lots of fruit (I love little clementine oranges & pears! Love pears!)
• Trail mix of nuts & dried fruit
• Fresh veggies with hummus
• And my favorite, popcorn! The kind you pop yourself in a pan. Get a large skillet with a lid. Heat over high heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and one kernel of popcorn. Cover with lid. When that kernel pops, pour 1/3 cup of kernels into the skillet and cover with lid. When popping slows down, remove from heat and pour in a bowl. Sprinkle with sea salt. YUM!!!

Here's a great recipe for Lentil Soup...so good that Andy said he'd like to have this even in non-fasting times. I gotta be honest, I didn't even know what a lentil was until a couple years ago when we were doing a Daniel Fast! But, alas, it can be found in the same section with the rice.

Lentil Soup

Susan Gregory (Daniel Fast)

2 T. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

Salt and pepper

1 (14½ oz.) can diced tomatoes

1 pound lentils (apprx. 1¼ cups)

2/3 cup pearl barley

11 cups vegetable broth (can substitute water, but not as tasty)

4-6 fresh thyme sprigs

Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper and sauté until all the vegetables and tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices. Simmer until the juices evaporate a little and the tomatoes break down, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add the lentils and pearl barley, mix to coat. Add the broth and stir. Add the thyme sprigs. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and simmer over low heat until the lentils and barley are tender, about 40 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle with olive oil and serve.

I always feel the need to emphasize that the purpose of fasting is not to focus MORE on food, but less...To create a hunger in our hearts for Christ. It's okay to be hungry on a Daniel Fast even though you're allowed to eat. Don't feel the need to always run to food every time you feel hunger. Use your hunger as a reminder to pray and ask God to make you more hungry for Him!

As the deer pants for streams of water,

so my soul pants for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When can I go and meet with God?

Psalm 42:1-2

Embrace this Season...But Don't Hide Behind It

This post is the last in a 4-part series discussing my top lessons learned/themes from 2010. Early this week, I shared about:

• God's Provision
• Despicable Me, and
• R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

The last theme of my year revolves around being a mother to young children.

As a mom with young kids, I struggle to find the balance between investing my time, energy, and attention into them vs. being involved in church activities and pursuing some dreams that God has put in my heart. I am a firm believer that it is unhealthy for any mom to give herself 100% to either side. But finding the balance is difficult...and it's different for everyone.

Tedd Tripp, in his book, "Shepherding A Child's Heart" says it this way:

"You must regard parenting as one of your most important tasks while you have children at home. This is your calling. You must raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord...There is nothing more important. You have only a brief season of life to invest yourself in this task. You have only one opportunity to do it. You cannot go back and do it over."

To say "Yes" to this approach to parenting is to say "No" to other interests or opportunities that I might otherwise pursue (at least during this season). To be the mom I want to be, I have to accept that this is not my season to train for a marathon, or be as involved in hands-on ministry and leadership as I'd like to be, or to have a lot of lunch appointments and coffee dates with girl friends. I will have less time to read books, develop my writing & teaching skills, follow TV series, or maintain a perfectly orderly home. Parenting the way God calls us to parent is costly. But the cost of not parenting this way is so much higher.

The reality is that if I don't invest now, I don't get to invest later. If I don't develop trust and establish my authority with them when they are young, they will not allow me to influence their decisions when they're teenagers. If I slack off on training them now, I might get to "enjoy" having them around a lot longer...like when their 27 still living at home and can't hold down a job!

At the same time, I am still seeking to be as involved in ministry as I can without negatively affecting our family. I may not be able to organize and lead a mission trip to Ethiopia right now, but I can disciple a couple ladies one night a week. I may not be able to write a book this year, but I can update a blog. I may not have a very public ministry to women, but I can love on our staff wives. I may not be able to schedule lots of lunch appointments, but I can schedule a play date with my neighbor who is not yet a follower of Christ.

I want to embrace this season of motherhood (as exhausting and trying as it may be at times). I truly want to be the best mom that I can be to these two mighty warriors God's given me. And I am also committed to not use my kids as an excuse for my inactivity in the Kingdom of God.

So my lesson learned that I'm still learning from 2010 is this: Embrace this Season...But Don't Hide Behind It!