I just finished carving my pumpkin, the witch. Last night. Tom, Cheryl, and I carved the kids pumpkins with them last night in Logansport. It took us somewhere between 1 and 2 hours! Alex’s is the ghost, carved by Cheryl. Madelyn’s is the cat, carved by your’s truly. They were pretty time consuming, but they turned out even better than I expected. I really hope that they will share my love of autumn, and have an adulthood full of happy memories of childhood. 

I tried a new twist on the stuffed pepper today. The bell peppers in the garden are starting to come in so it is time to find something to do with them; an especially difficult task considering my son and I are the only ones that like them, and he is even kinda hit and miss. Anyway, they actually turned out great! I would have taken a picture, but Michele usually wonders what I’ve been smokin’ when I take pictures of food. Speaking of pictures of food Giada Delorentes’ show has the best food pics ever. She isn’t too hard on the eyes either, according to some of the “other” guys I’ve talked to. 

Anyway, I am especially indebted to my mother for the rice portion of the stuffing and to my friend and gardening buddy Bill (Billy Bob) for the pork sausage. The rice is actually my mom’s spanish rice recipe, which I love. Basically you saute about half a medium yellow onion, and 1/4 of a bell pepper along with 1 cup of rice in 3/4 stick of butter. I add a few minced garlic cloves toward the end (as far as I know my mom didn’t do this). Once the rice is straw colored I add 1 1/4 cup of water and 3/4 can of stewed tomatoes, 1/2 t of ground cumin, cover, and cook on low for 15 minutes.

Once the rice is done I browned about 1lb of pork sausage with a couple tablespoons of chopped onion. When browned I added that to the rice along with 1 cup of tomato sauce to bind it together a little. I then cut the tops out of the peppers, seeded them and blanched them in boiling water for 3 minutes. Ok, finally, were almost done. I then stuffed the peppers full and put them in a baking dish with 1/4 inch of water, covered with tin foil, and put them in the oven for about 40 minutes at 400F. ( I actually forgot the water for the first 20 minutes, oops!) Finally, I topped them with fiesta blend cheese and let it melt. The best part is you can freeze them! I can’t wait to pull one of those bad boys out in January with some chili.

Christ is not gloomy and stoic. John Piper always puts things so well. This chapter really came at the perfect time. This excerpt, fully backed by scripture, seems to make some sense of it all. Hopefully it will encourage others as well.

But if it is not glorious to be gloomy, neither is it glorious to be glib. The carefree merriment of a ballroom gala and the irrepressible joy in a Russian gulag are not the same. One is trite, the other triumphant. One is glib, the other glorious. There is a pasted smile that has never known pain. And it does not make for a good pastor or a great Savior. But Christ is a great Savior. Therefore, this man of indestructible joy was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me” (Matthew 26:38). This “great high priest” is not unable to sympathize with us in our weaknesses, because he was tested in every way as a man like us (Hebrews 4:14-15). He wept with those who wept (John 11:35) and rejoiced with those who rejoiced (Luke 10:17, 21). He was hungry (Matthew 4:2), he was weary (John 4:6), he was forsaken (Matthew 26:56), betrayed (Matthew 26:45), whipped (Matthew 27:26), mocked (Matthew 27:31), and crucified (Matthew 27:35).

John Piper

“Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ”

Seriously enjoying this experience, not to mention the incredible vegetables!

Man, it was really nice to take a break from my unemployment last week. I was able to work for a friend and cut wood for a couple of days. Very hard work, but good for the fat. It was even better to spend some time at my in-laws relaxing and sleeping in! The 4th was a total washout unfotunately. No fireworks, in fact, we didn’t leave the house all day. We made the best of it though. 

Now its back to the usual grind. I commented to my father-in-law that the days really have no meaning anymore. He is retired so he totally understood. Unemployment is really starting to suck. I never thought it would last this long! I would say that I’m hangin’ in there, but that would be stupid. What else can I do? I am truly waiting on the Lord though. I am anxious to see what the next job will be. Will it be easy, like working in a Christian organization, or will it be in another hell hole like the last one? Who knows? I think I would prefer another godless organization. I think I could have done a better job of standing for Christ at the last one. Nobody’s perfect I guess, but I see how easy it is to fall into the trap of not making too many waves. I think I would handle situations differently now.

We made it 9 years! I really got a chance to reflect on my married life this year, and I realized how totally in love I am with Michele. It’s so easy to get caught up in life, kids, church, school, etc.. You can easily relate more as roommates or business partners instead of best friends and lovers. Since I’ve been off work we’ve been able to spend a lot more time together so I’m thankful for unemployment for that reason. I’m looking forward to many more years married to the woman I still can’t wait to come home to.  I’m in love.

Hebrews 8:12 “For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more”

Does it get any sweeter than this? In those moments when you realize, once again, you are indeed wicked and sinful, this verse is very comforting. That’s where I am. Everything about me wants perfection, but I am so totally incapable of achieving it. Christ really one-upped the definition of sin when he included our wicked thoughts. I am totally powerless to control this. I can “take every thought captive”, but the thought still occurred. Can everyone join me in thanking Christ taking care of ALL of our sin; past, present, and future. Just another reason he is the great comforter.

These are my favorite pictures from Alex’s field trip to the zoo today. The rest are in the sidebar. It was a little rainy, but we had fun anyway. I was really glad that I got the chance to go with him. I can remember my dad going on one field trip with me. I remember it felt pretty cool. Hopefully Alex feels the same, and hopefully I can go on more in the future.