girltalk Blog
It’s been a very busy season for me. I keep saying, “Next week things will slow down.” Rrrrrrrright. I’ve been saying that for about fifteen years now. Currently we’re in the middle of renovations to our house (they are knocking down a wall today and I hope the upstairs doesn’t fall with it!), it’s past time for my son to be potty trained, and I’m teaching a writing class for my little brother and his friends and I have thirteen essays on the “Sea Wasp” to read.
In the midst of this, I was asked to edit a book that’s coming out in a couple of months. It’s a book by my dad, and it’s entitled: Living the Cross Centered Life. I hope some of my comments were helpful to Dad, but I think the real benefit was to my soul. Even though I’ve heard my dad preach countless sermons on this topic, and even though I’ve read his other books on the cross over and over, I still desperately needed to hear this message again.
I often tell my son to “look at mommy’s eyes” when I want to get his attention to tell him something important. By reading this book, I felt as if my heavenly Father was saying to me, “Look in Jesus’ eyes. Take your eyes off the busyness, off your ‘trials,’ and even off your sin (I’ve paid for that), and be captured once again by the cross. For only one thing is needful. Only one thing matters. And it’s my cross.”
As Dad writes:
“In the midst of our various responsibilities and many possible areas of service in the kingdom of God, one overarching truth should motivate all our work and affect every part of who we are: Christ died for our sins. This…is the main thing. Nothing else—not even things that are biblical and honorable—are of equal or greater importance than this: God sent His Son to the cross to bear His wrath for sinners like you and me. If there’s anything in life we should be passionate about, it’s the gospel. And I don’t mean passionate only about sharing it with others; I mean passionate in thinking about the gospel, reflecting upon it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world and all of life.”
So how about you? What are you passionate about—-is it thinking, reflecting, and rejoicing in the gospel? Does the truth of Christ’s sacrifice for sins on our behalf truly color the way you look at all of life?
To color our worldview with the gospel, we must meditate on the cross. Here’s just one verse that helps me to do that: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
Life is full. But I can’t afford to wait until next week when things slow down to meditate on the gospel. I need the truths of the cross to brilliantly color my world right now, today!
Hey all. Nicole would never tell you this so I’m taking care of it myself. Crosswalk is featuring an article taken from chapter three in Girl Talk by Nicole. I thought that you might enjoy checking it out. Just click here
The Mahaney clan is back from vacation and we’re all adjusting to getting up early, eating cereal for breakfast (instead of Belgian waffles), and living without two trips to the candy store per day.
This vacation was unique among all our family vacations. It began a year ago this month at the Milestone Weekend when my husband handed off his senior pastor responsibilities to Joshua Harris.
The Milestone Weekend represented the fulfillment of more than twenty years of my husband’s prayers—that God would provide someone to lead the next generation of Covenant Life Church. It was a profound illustration of the undeniable, unshakeable truth of Psalm 100:5, “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
In the ensuing year, we’ve seen God’s faithfulness in a thousand different ways, as we’ve watched Covenant Life thrive and grow under Josh’s wise leadership. Our God is lavish in His expressions of kindness. For He answered my husband’s prayer beyond what C.J. could have imagined. It fills our hearts with joy.
At the Milestone Weekend, the church presented C.J. with a generous financial gift as a way to thank him for his service. Over a meal with our family following the weekend, C.J. informed our children that we intended to use this gift to bless them in some way; for it was their obedience to God that, in part, made the Milestone Weekend possible.
They responded with immense gratitude, and immediately communicated their desire to return to Chatham (Cape Cod, Mass). We weren’t surprised by their response. It was in keeping with a long-running commitment in our family to making memories.
Early in our parenting, my husband determined to lead our children to value family memories more than the latest toy. Not that we didn’t buy Christmas or birthday gifts for our kids, but we strategically sought to invest our funds toward making memories first. Thus we took short trips at Thanksgiving and Christmas, took day trips throughout the year, and centered yearly vacations on collecting memories that would last a lifetime.
Today, our kids are “hooked” on making memories. Which is why they didn’t hesitate in asking to go back to Chatham—a place that already keeps so many family memories safe for us.
And God in His kindness allowed us to make yet another memory this past week—full of laughter, lively discussions, good food, and the sweetness of simply being together. We’ll enjoy and relive these days for many years to come.
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and feed on faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:3-4
We are heading home today and I am preparing myself for vacation detox. Here is a picture of us near the beach. Q&A and Friday Funnies will return next week. See ya then!
Fall provides a variety of memorable activity options for young children. Here are three simple ideas you may remember from when you were a child:
1. Pine cone bird feeder
Head to the woods (or to your local craft store) to collect some pine cones. Lather them up with smooth peanut butter. Then roll the pine cones in bird seed and hang your new bird feeder by a string on a tree or deck. Your kids will be thrilled to see the “breakfast crowd” of birds that show up each morning.
2. Fall leaf artwork
Devote a window in your home as a leaf-art gallery. Collect fall leaves with your kids and then arrange them between two pieces of wax paper. Place an old cloth or rag on top of the wax paper. Using a warm steam iron, seal the leaves inside the wax paper. Then display the leaf creations on the window for all to see.
3. Bobbing for apples
Purchase an old-timey metal basin from your favorite hardware store. Fill with water and dump in a bunch of apples. Have a contest to see which child can capture an apple with their teeth (no hands!) in the shortest amount of time. Be sure to keep a towel handy!
After you have some fun, treat your kids to a bowl of caramel corn (see previous post)!
This must-try recipe for caramel popcorn is from my sister, Helen.
Caramel Corn
8 cups popped popcorn 1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons butter or margarine 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
Put popcorn into baking pan. Remove any unpopped kernels. Measure brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt into 1 1/2 quart saucepan. Put pan on burner. Turn burner to medium heat. Cook and stir with a wooden spoon till butter melts and everything is mixed. Continue cooking till mixture starts to boil. When mixture boils, stop stirring. Cook for 5 minutes. Move pan off burner and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. Pour mixture over popcorn using a rubber scraper to scrape pan. With spatula, gently stir the popcorn and hot mixture so all the popcorn is coated. Put pan into oven of 300 degrees and bake 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and stir mixture with spatula. Put back into oven and bake 5 to 10 minutes longer. Pour it out onto a clean counter top and separate it before it cools then put it in a Tupperware container with a good seal and it will last a long time. Makes about 8 cups.
This wonderful hymn about the onset of autumn parallels the future return of our Lord. Enjoy…
Come ye thankful people come,
Raise the song of harvest home!
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin;
God our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied:
Come to God’s own temple, come,
Raise the song of harvest home.
All the world is God’s own field
Fruit unto his praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown
Unto joy or sorrow grown;
First the blade, and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear;
Lord of the harvest! grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.
God shall come,
And shall take his harvest home;
From his field shall in that day
All offenses purge away,
Give his angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast;
But the fruitful ears to store
In his garner evermore.
Even so, Lord, quickly come,
Bring thy final harvest home;
Gather thou thy people in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin,
There, forever purified,
in thy presence to abide;
Come, with all thine angels, come,
Raise the glorious harvest home.
“Free from sorrow, free from sin!” My favorite line in the hymn. What a glorious future we have been promised. This autumn, may you be freshly amazed at the inheritance we have through the blood of Jesus Christ.
As many of you already know, the annual Mahaney women’s shopping trip is a fixture on the calendar. For the past seventeen years we’ve stolen a weekend in October to do our Christmas shopping together. We travel to a nearby city with a large shopping district, stay in a hotel, and shop, then drop, then shop some more.
It’s great to enter the Christmas season unhurried and free from the pressure to purchase all the gifts and decorate the house and make all the food. Not to mention the extra time it leaves to find just the right gift at just the right price. And while it might take family members and friends a little while to get used to thinking up a Christmas list in October, they’ll catch on.
Consider making this your mother-daughter tradition, or grab a couple of friends and split the cost of a room. For a sneak peek into our annual trip from the introduction to Girl Talk, click here.
Here’s a simple but yummy applesauce recipe from my good friend Clara—
The best apples to use are summer transparents, like Lodi - but they are only available for a brief time mid-summer. I usually use Granny Smith for their tart flavor; McIntosh are another choice.
Cut apples in half, core, and pare. Rinse apples, cut into quarters, and put in large saucepan. Add about an inch of water and bring to boil (make sure they don’t boil dry). Turn heat down far enough to maintain low boil and cook apples until they are soft (test with fork).
Pour the hot apples, with the juice, into a food processor. Puree the apples until they have a smooth sauce texture. Add sugar and sweeten to taste (the more tart the apple, the more sugar—that’s what makes it so good!) We always sprinkle cinnamon on top, but some people like to stir it in. You can enjoy the applesauce hot or cold.
I always used to drag my feet into fall; and I failed to understand those who ran to meet the crisp air and the shedding trees. Fall meant one thing to me: cold. It meant that a chill would enter my bones and I wouldn’t thaw out till mid-July.
But then I married one of those autumn-lovers. A guy who loves to climb mountains, rappel down them head-first, and drive his Jeep with the top off in only his shorts and a long-sleeve shirt—in thirty degree weather! (Can you imagine?)
Being married changes people. Steve drinks his coffee black, but he’s also learned to appreciate a fine Earl Grey. And I, I love autumn. Yes, I still get cold. But Steve has taught me to marvel at this extravagant display of God’s glory—the brilliant colors, the migrating birds, the smell of wood-fires, and yes, even the nippy weather. All the sounds and sights and smells of fall, were intended for our enjoyment, but also as an arrow, a marker, a reminder: pointing us to God.
As John Piper writes in his book When I Don’t Desire God: “Joy in God can be awakened by the physical display of God’s glory, and that very joy enters and transforms the physical experience of it” (p. 185).
Scripture reveals to us a secret…something we otherwise would never know: the wonders of nature are incessantly speaking to us, urging us to find our joy in God:
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their measuring line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (Ps. 19:1-4).
This portion of a poem by Anne Bradstreet entitled Contemplations is one woman’s experience of this truth. It may need a second reading to be fully absorbed, but it’s worth the effort. (Note: Phoebus refers to Apollo, or the sun.)
Sometime now past in the Autumnal Tide,
When Phoebus wanted but one hour to bed,
The trees all richly clad, yet void of pride,
Were gilded o’re by his rich golden head.
Their leaves and fruits seem’d painted but was true
Of green, of red, of yellow, mixed hew,
Rapt were my senses at this delectable view.
I wist not what to wish, yet sure thought I,
If so much excellence abide below,
How excellent is he that dwells on high?
How excellent is he that dwells on high? We cannot comprehend. And yet, we can see a glimmer of His glories here on earth—in autumn.
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