A lesson in citrus

As I was making dinner tonight for my dear friend, Mandy, who just had a baby, I was confronted with one of my own inadequacies. I do not know how to properly cut citrus. You may find yourself in the same unfortunate predicament as me, and perhaps it's never bothered you. Perhaps you don't even realize that you are a below average citrus cutter. But it is a shameful state for someone who grew up in a "Citrus Family."

You see, my grandfather had a huge lot of land and grew all types of citrus. Oranges, grapefruit, lemons, tangelos...you name it. I have, on multiple occasions as a child, climbed a tall ladder to pick various types of fruit when I would visit him in Florida. You may not know that it's important to twist the orange off the tree instead of just pull it or you may leave part of the orange still on the branch. You may not know that citrus ripens in the winter. You may not know that if you are making fresh squeezed orange juice you should not squeeze the orange too tight or it will taste bitter. You may not know these things, but I do because I grew up in a Citrus Family.

To further prove my point: If you have never seen my father eat a grapefruit, you have missed out on one of the most entertaining natural phenomena in the world. With his grapefruit sliced in half and lightly salted, he will attack and devour that thing in 30 seconds or less. He does not look up. He does not breathe. And you might lose a finger if you get to close. That man is serious about his citrus!

Most years growing up we would get an enormous load of oranges from my grandparents. Each Christmas morning we would all enjoy a bowl of freshly cut oranges with our Christmas brunch. There is an art-form to cutting citrus that I observed each year, but somehow never caught on. A truly gifted citrus-cutter can peel an orange in one smooth circular motion taking off all of the rind, none of the pulp, and leave a beautiful spiral of orange peel. After this, the gifted ones can go in and out in between each segment of the orange, cutting out the flesh and leaving behind the pulp. This motion is fluid and fast and produces perfect bite sized pieces of oranges that burst with flavor in your mouth. This was the ritual that I would watch year after year as my grandmother, dad, mom, and sister would huddle around the kitchen sink.

But, alas, as I worked diligently today to bless my dear friend, my citrus salad did not turn out so beautiful. I didn't get the fluid motion down and resorted to using my fingers to pull out the pulp. This resulted in "shredded grapefruit" instead of segmented grapefruit. You could literally drink the grapefruit through a straw the pieces are so small. I did not even attempt the process with the oranges and just cut them in chunks, pulp and all. A total disgrace.

So, my dear Mandy, please forgive my inadequacies and I hope you are still able to enjoy the salad. I'll bring some straws just in case!

Dossier is in the Mail!!!

Not sure if you could hear me squeal from where you are, but we finally got our completed dossier in the mail yesterday!!! All of the paperwork for the adoption is done (until we actually get to Ethiopia)! Our adoption agency should be receiving the packet, which was literally an inch and a half thick, on Monday which they will meticulously review and hopefully ship off to Ethiopia next Friday, February 5.

If everything follows the timeline that I have received, we should probably receive our child's photo and name in about 3-4 months and then travel to get him in another month or two! PLEASE continue to pray with us that we could go get him by this summer. We don't want to get stuck waiting for the courts to close/reopen this Fall.

So, what now? Well, we are getting our apartment ready for our newest addition. We sold all of Caedmon's furniture to make room for bunk beds! Caedmon is SOOOOOO excited to get bunk beds and to have a brother to share them with. It's like a sleep over every night! We ordered the new furniture and I'll post some pictures once we get them set up.

The other thing I am working on is raising money. We mailed off a check for $7,500 yesterday. That was painful. There are several agencies out there that provide partial grants for families wanting to adopt. So I am filling out applications, gathering references, and making lots of trips to the post office. I feel like I'm back in high school applying for endless college scholarships! We are also going to open an account through one of these organizations where our friends and family can make a tax deductible donation. The account has not been opened yet, but if you are interested just let me know and I can get you more info.

Thanks for praying with us throughout this journey!!! Such joy.

Sunday Rewind

Yesterday, Andy wrapped up our series "The Ghost" with a final message about the POWER of the Holy Spirit. Wouldn't we all love to live in the POWER of the Holy Spirit? Don't you ever read the book of Acts and get frustrated because the Christian church today (and our personal lives) seem to lack the power that early church experienced? Our lives should look different because the Spirit of God lives in us, but all too often they don't. We find ourselves living self-empowered lives instead of Spirit-empowered lives.

The central point of Andy's message was that the Spirit-empowered life involves WAITING and YIELDING while the self-empowered life involves FORCING and RESISTING.

In essence, God wants us to wait, but we try to force things to happen. He's got His foot on the break, but we're trying to step on the accelerator.

Or, God wants us to take action and yield to His prompting, but we resist and choose to delay. He's got his foot on the gas but we're slamming on the brake.

Either scenario leads to us living in our own power instead of the power of the Holy Spirit.

For me personally, I can think of areas in my life on both sides of the equation. For example, I would one day love to have a ministry to all of the ladies at our church. I don't know exactly what that will look like, but it's something that I've had in my heart for quite some time. I think one day it will happen, but right now I'm getting a "Wait" from the Holy Spirit. If I tried to force it, we could still probably pull something together. But it would likely have a lot of unnecessary difficulty and hardship attached.

On the other hand, Andy and I have been wanting to adopt since the summer after we got married. Almost 7 years of wait, wait, wait. This past October, Andy felt like he got the "Go for it" from the Holy Spirit, so that's exactly what we are doing. This adoption process has been a source of joy for us as a family and we feel confident that God will continue to provide for us along the way.

What area in your life is the Holy Spirit prompting you to wait? Where is He saying, "Go for it"?

"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Galatians 5:25

Ode To Trader Joe's

Dear Trader Joe's,

I feel like our relationship got off to a bad start. I mean, let's be honest, it was not love at first sight. Everyone talked about you like you are so wonderful, but the first time I met you I was not too impressed. (I'm sorry to be harsh. Honesty is the foundation of every relationship.) I came to you with some very specific needs to be met, and you were unable to meet them. I left our first meeting disappointed and frustrated by your inadequacies.

However, in light of our more recent encounters, I just wanted to tell you that my opinion of you has changed. I've learned that I can't come to you with a list of needs, but rather to seek an experience of being delightfully surprised by all of the unique qualities and attributes that other grocery stores simply can't offer. Who else welcomes me with music that makes me want to dance, cashiers who actually are dancing, and opportunities to win a $25 gift card simply for sporting my own bag? Talk about a friend with benefits! I think this relationship is really beneficial for my son as well. He loves how you give him a dozen stickers every time we visit. (You really know how to win a woman's heart.)

So, after much consideration, I have joined the ranks of those who think you are wonderful. I promise to always to embrace you for who you are instead of trying to fit you into some mold that I want you to be. I hope that are relationship continues to grow and blossom!

Sincerely,
Stacie Wood

Late-Breaking News from David & Goliath

In a surprising turn of events, new evidence supports that there is more to learn about the relationship between David & Goliath. As 3 year old Caedmon and his imaginative mother were playing yesterday, Caedmon took on the role of Goliath while his mother played David. This assignment of roles is only logical when you consider their comparative size. Goliath (Caedmon) called David (his mother) on his cell phone (a means of communication only recently added to the story). The following conversation unfolded:

Goliath: David, I'm going to come over to your house.

David: No. You can't. You're an enemy of God.

Goliath: Yes, I can.

David: If you come over to my house, I will have to kill you with my sling.

Goliath: Ummm, no, that doesn't sound too good. How 'bout we go to Chuck-E-Cheese instead?

Who knew? I would have never pegged Goliath as a fan of Chuck-E-Cheese. But, this just serves to remind us that there is always a story behind the story.