Be Still

I don't have scans of the actual pictures, because they are bigger than our scanners. I do have some scans of smaller test prints I made, so I will post those, although I am terribly sorry that I double printed on the third picture, so there is a weird rectangle interrupting the image.

 Each print has a poem rewritten from a Psalm with it, and basically they tell the journey from the "mountaintop" Christian experience, to the cloudy emptiness where we can't feel God anymore, to the surrender and sitting, quietly in his presence.

Inspired by Psalm 16

I love the LORD,

for he heard my cry.

I will call on him as long as I live.

The clouds of doubt entangled me,

the weight of façade wore on me,

Then I called on the name of the LORD.

The LORD is holy and true,

when I lost sight of him, he found me.

Be at rest once more, O my soul,

for the LORD has been good to you.

I will stand on the mountaintop

and proclaim your name to all peoples.

Praise the LORD.

Inspired by Psalm 74

Why have you rejected me, O God?

Why have you watched your sanctuary torn apart?

The clouds cover the light of your presence.

We are given no miraculous signs.

How long will you hold back your hand?

But you, O God, are my king from of old.

Where is he who split open the sea by his power?

Where is the living water you promised?

It was you who opened up springs and streams.

It is you who set the boundaries of the earth

and defy their laws as you please.

Do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever.

Do not let us continue in sorrow forever;

may the weak and downcast praise your name.

Rise up, O God.

 

Inspired by Psalm 42

 

As the thirsty desire water,

so I wish I desired you, O LORD. 

When will I ever meet with my God again?

My tears have been my food,

for I no longer know my Sustainer. 

These things I remember, as I pour out my soul.

I used to stand on the mountaintop,

and proclaim your name to all peoples. 

Why are you downcast, O my soul?

My soul is downcast within me;

therefore, I will remember you. 

Let your oceans sweep over me.

Deep calls to deep

in the roar of your waterfalls;

For I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

 

Inspired by Psalm 104

Praise the LORD, O my soul. 

O LORD my God, you are very great;

how could I have forgotten you?

You who stretched out the heavens and wear them as a garment. 

You created the earth

and aligned all of creation to your plan.

Creation cries out your praise,

O Sustainer of all. 

The sun knows when to hide,

and the lion, to prey.

In wisdom, did you design this. 

We all look to you,

to open your hand.

When you hide your face, we are terrified. 

But glory be to God;

your Spirit will renew us.

May my meditation delight you.

Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Praise the LORD. 

 

 

Inspired by Psalm 19

The world declares the glory of God;

the waters proclaim the work of his hands.

The law of the LORD revives the soul.

The commands of the LORD make us wise.

The doctrines of the LORD give joy to the heart.

They endure forever, more precious than gold.

By them, your servants live well.

Forgive me, LORD and keep me from sin,

that I may become as you are.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

 be pleasing in your sight, 

O LORD, my God.

Amen.

Recipe of the Week

Back to school...and currently working on my senior show before it's submitted for review next Friday, along with all the rest of college life. And snow. And rain. And sleet, hail and the power going off every five minutes. But hey, that was just one day. Regardless of the weather, I am not spending much time in Baldwin, aside from work.

Fortunately, like a good college student, I am prepared. I have a delicious recipe I tried over spring break that I have been dying to share!!! I brought these back as a surprise for The Sojourn staff, and they seemed to enjoy them, so I think it was a successful experiment.

Oreo Pudding Cookies-pretty easy and pretty yummy.

I used a pudding cookie recipe from another blog: http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/vanilla-pudding-chocolate-chip-cookies/
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3.4 oz. package vanilla instant pudding mix
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

But instead of vanilla pudding, I used Oreo pudding!

And crushed up mini Oreros!

And chocolate chips!

Here are the directions from their blog. Pretty easy to follow. And don't worry about them looking gooey when they come out of the oven; they will firm up. You don't want to burn them, after all!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and set aside.
2. Using a mixer, beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add in pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until slight golden and set. Remove cookies from oven and let cool on baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

An American in Paris (They speak French in Canada, right?)

What'd you do for spring break? Oh, you know, nothing special, just DROVE TO ANOTHER COUNTRY! That's all. Yeah. So I live about an hour and a half from Niagara Falls, and thus, CANADA! We were surprised to find the area so touristy. And the falls so icy. But that's what it looks like, as you can see from these fun photos.

The frozen American Falls

The frozen falls and river

Frozen falls lit up at night

Horseshoe Falls

Tim Horton's in Canada! What!

Yes, I ate a Canadian Maple doughnut in CANADA!

Recipe of the Week

4

There's no college dining hall recipe this week, because I am home on spring break! Woohoo! So, in honor of being home, I have a brand new pancake recipe, completely from my own mind! Scary. But delicious. Here it is:

Chocolate Cheesecake Pancakes.

Yum!

I had a package of cream cheese I was going to bake biscuits with, but I decided I wanted to try it in pancakes instead. I only used half of the package for this, so there is enough left to try something else. But here is the pancake recipe. It is just the basic recipe from the Betty Crocker Cookbook (at least as it was 30 years ago when my mama got married and got her cookbook).
1 egg
1 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
1 tbs sugar
2 tbs oil
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix it all up, and then add my ingredients.

4 oz cream cheese
1 package hot chocolate mix
A few crumbled chocolate chip cookies

Yes this is how college students make up recipes, because we do not own all of the proper ingredients like cocoa, chocolate chips and graham crackers. Hot chocolate mix works very well to add the chocolate flavor to my pancakes. But graham crackers are usually added to cheesecake type things to give the aura of a crust, and I thought those would be a nice touch. I am too impatient to wait until we get graham crackers though, but I had a brilliant idea to replace them. Why not cookie crumbs? And since we didn't have any chocolate chips (which are almost absolutely necessary for sugary pancakes) crumbling up chocolate chip cookies also added a few of those! Like I said, brilliant!

The cream cheese should probably have been sitting out a while to get softer so it was easy to mix in, but I think it worked out well having chunks of it in the mix. That way, it doesn't all melt into the batter, but when you bite into your pancakes, surprise! There's cheesecake inside! I was quite pleased with the results, and I hope you will be too. The only problem was they got a little cold while I was too busy taking pictures!

Recipe of the Week

It's almost spring break at Indiana Wesleyan. Almost. Thus, life is crazy, busy and complicated. But in the midst of this crazy, not very spring-like time, I made one last recipe of the week before heading home. I've spent a lot of time at breakfast this week, studying and getting work done in the (somewhat) quiet that is a college dining hall before 10 in the morning. But since the self-cook station is always equipped with bread and eggs, this is a recipe you can make whenever you are in the mood for something sweet.

Cinnamon Raisin French Toast!

I put the whole eggs in the picture for dramatic effect, but I just mixed the liquid eggs with some of the 2% milk and soaked the cinnamon raisin bread in it. I've actually made french toast with bagels and english muffins before, so if you're feeling adventurous (or bored) feel free to try whatever you can find on the bread bar. Blueberry bagel french toast...now that sounds fabulous!

What's Up Doc?

...is actually a really good movie. You should watch it sometime.

But really I'm here to let you know what's up. What's up is four weeks to work on senior show. Four weeks, and then it has to be done. Crazy. But here's what my concept has become: I think it is important to spend time with God. Every day. And I think that honestly, it would be so helpful to our spirits if we just took a few minutes every day to sit in God's presence, to remember who it is we worship. So I am taking pictures of landscapes, of peaceful places God has created, to try to help facilitate these moments.

So maybe I sound like a preacher, telling people to spend more time with God. Or maybe I just sound like a hypocrite; because I am. I realized yesterday, my goal is for people to keep up their spirits and their faith by remembering their God, and yet I have almost completely ignored him for the past few weeks. Life just gets so busy and so crazy and there are so many things coming at you from every single direction, you end up not wanting to care about anything. It's miserable and magical. But actually just miserable. Even if you are 22.

So today, I finally started working on printing for my show. And the first test that I made didn't come out at all. Naturally I freak out. And then I remember what I'm doing. I'm taking time to focus on God. Even in my printing process, I can be patient and calmly focus on him. So I did. I took some time to praise him and remember that he is greater than all of this earth and our ridiculous lives we try to keep so busy so that we can avoid really living. And once I got up again to start printing, I realized my rather silly mistake and was able to make a real print.

Why is it so hard for us to spend time with God every day? Especially when we feel more burdened down and depressed, wouldn't that be the best time to turn to God? What I want people to experience through my show is the peace of God that transcends all understanding, that can touch their lives when they are at their busiest, hardest point. And they will know that peace and joy are possible, even in those crazy miserable and magical moments. Maybe they really will feel magical.

Recipe of the Week

I love pancakes. IHOP is, consequently, my favorite restaurant. There is a ridiculous amount of recipes you can make by just mixing whatever the heck you want into pancake batter. And then the toppings. Oh the toppings! This is why you go to IHOP. Pancakes stuffed and smothered with cinnamon, butter, and icing. And whipped cream. Mmm! Healthy.

But there is one choice on the IHOP breakfast menu that stands apart from all the goodness-filled pancakes. Chicken and Waffles. An odd but perfectly edible combination of food.

And since Baldwin is equipped with a waffle iron, in which you are not allowed to mix extra chocolate chips and delicious things, the next best choice is to cover your waffle in ranch and barbeque sauce!

So, make a waffle on the iron, and then locate the chicken. The type of chicken depends on the day (or if you're at home, what's in your fridge). One can always find chicken on the rotisserie line, but today they had chicken patties on the grill. This works best with fried chicken, because it lends to that unhealthy taste that college kids love. I cut the chicken patty into four strips to top my waffle, and drizzled barbeque sauce, ranch dressing, and syrup over the whole menagerie.

And you know what? It was good! Even the two other brave souls who tried some of it agreed, chicken and waffles is a combination that is worth trying. One of them approved of my new idea of nixing the barbeque and ranch and trying it with honey, so next time, I will have warm waffles covered with chicken and honey! Charlee always eats hers with tabasco sauce. With the different sauces you can try, there is no end to the combinations of chicken and waffles that you can make! Enjoy!