Natalie's Question

Natalie is very afraid of the devil. This fear goes back to VBS this summer, when she heard the story of the temptation of Jesus. She asked Troy and me the other night if the devil was going to die. I asked Pastor Mumme his thoughts on how I should explain this to her.

 His response:

"The devil is a fallen angel, and angels (fallen or holy) do not and will not die.  Rather, on the Last Day they will be locked up forever in the prison house of hell, never to tempt or afflict the children of God ever again.  In Matthew 25:41, Jesus says to the unbelievers on Judgment Day, "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."  This tells us that hell was not originally prepared for human beings, but for the fallen angels.  And since its fire is eternal, the devil and his angels (and all who die without faith in Christ) will eternally suffer there.  This is made explicit for the devil in Revelation 20:10: "And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."

This is a hard conversation to have with a little girl!  I would just assure her at this point that when we die (and when we rise again in glory on the Last Day) we will be forever free from the devil.  He cannot harm us who believe and are baptized now, and he will not be able to harm us then either.  I hope this helps."

 

After I told this to Natalie, she thought about it and then said, "So Jesus makes it so the devil can't come to our house?" I told her, yes, that was pretty much true, that Jesus makes it so the devil can't hurt us. She was thrilled and said, "I'm going to tell my sister, and Grandma and..." I told her she could tell everyone she wanted about that.

Tonight's Supper

Claire absolutely loved this meal. She wants it again tomorrow night.

Sloppy Potatoes

4 large russet or sweet potatoes, scrubbed and dried

1 pound ground beef or turkey
1 Tbs. cumin
1 Tbs. coriander
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbs. light brown sugar
1 Tbs. cider vinegar
2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 cup tomato puree
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Prick potatoes with a fork all over. Bake the potatoes in a 425 degree oven for 1 hour, or cook in the microwave.

Cook the meat in a skillet over medium heat until browned. Add salt and pepper, cumin, coriander and chili powder. (*I did not have cumin, and do not like coriander, so I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons of BBQ seasoning with the chili powder). Add onion (I used dehydrated) and garlic and cook until softened, about 2-4 minutes. Add brown sugar, vinegar (I used red wine vinegar), Worcestershire sauce, and puree (I used a can of tomato sauce). Simmer over low heat to develop the flavor.

Open the potatoes and spoon meat mixture on top. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and serve.

Serves 4

9/11 According to Claire

"So Mom," said Claire as we arrived at her school this morning. "Mrs. Cram told us yesterday about something."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah, it happened 20 years ago..."
"Well, sweetie, it actually happened 11 years ago."
"Okay, 11 years ago. There were these two towers, and some bad guys crashed a plane into them. The bad guys took over the plane and crashed it into the towers. And this happened in St. Paul."
"No, honey, it happened in New York City and in Washington, D.C."
"Washington, D.C.? That's near where I was born."
"That's right."
We were at school by then, and so the conversation had to end. I'm interested to know what else she learned about 9/11, and how she interprets what she's learned. I'll have to remember to tell her to ask her dad to show her and Natalie his piece of rubble from the attack on the Pentagon. I'm sure the girls will find that fascinating, if not really understand the whole meaning of it.

School, Muffins, and Natalie's Stories

Claire started school this past Tuesday. She is the only kindergartner at Trinity Lutheran School, North Morristown, but she doesn't care in the slightest. She was so excited to start school, so she could learn things like Alair.
For the first day of school, I decided to do like Anna (the housekeeper) in the Betsy-Tacy series, who always makes muffins for breakfast on the first day. I made King Arthur Flour's Chocolate Breakfast Muffins

2/3 cup (2 ounces) Dutch-process cocoa
1 3/4 cups (7 1/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 1/4 cups (9 3/8 ounces) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips
2 eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons vinegar
1/2 cup (4 ounces, 1 stick) butter, melted
coarse pearl sugar, for topping (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a standard muffin pan with paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, espresso powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips. Set aside.

In a large measuring cup or medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and vinegar. Add the wet ingredients, along with the melted butter, to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend; there's no need to beat these muffins, just make sure everything is well-combined.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin; the cups will be heaped with batter, and the muffin will bake into a "mushroom" shape. Sprinkle with pearl sugar, if desired.

Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven, and after 5 minutes remove them from the pan, allowing them to cool for about 15 minutes on a rack before peeling off the muffin papers or silicone cups. Yield: 12 muffins.

 

We've enjoyed the muffins each day this week, and I do want to make first-day muffins a yearly tradition.

I was somewhat concerned about Natalie's reaction to being left at day care while Claire started school. That was a waste of energy. Natalie is doing just great. She's now able to come out from her sister's shadow and let her own personality come out. She is an enthusiastic storyteller who has a 3-year-old's tendency to blend fantasy and reality. She chatters to anyone who will listen (fortunately for her, almost all of the adults in her life DO listen) about all her doings each day. My dad will chuckle and tell me that she's the most fascinating child. 

We now have bedtime on school nights at 7:30. Growing (and learning) girls need lots of sleep, and so far, Claire can't be bothered to have her quiet time in the afternoon. There's too much to do! Evenings are still kind of tricky, with tired and cranky girls adjusting to our new routine, but I figure that will improve over the next few weeks.

The Summer of Crazy. And Heat. And Happy.

Let's see, I last blogged in the beginning of May. Wow, has life gone crazy since then.

May saw the end of the second school year since I've been at Cannon Valley. Making sure all the seniors graduated with enough credits in the right classes, grading all the online classes, and getting the air conditioner put in the window of my office were the main priorities. I played with the band for graduation and went with Hannah to a bunch of graduation parties. So fun! Hannah and I also went out for a girls' day, seeing The Avengers and going shopping. She goes back to her parents' farm in North Dakota in the summers, so I won't see her until the beginning of August.

June was all about Vacation Bible School, working on the wedding gift I was making for Erik and Ashley...and a new relationship. I started seeing Troy, a guy I've known since childhood who goes to my church. He's divorced with two kids, too, although his kids are older than Claire and Natalie. His daughter, Carsen, is 15 and his son, Adam, is 10. Carsen was Natalie's youth leader at VBS, and we started sending messages on Facebook, which led to chatting on Facebook, which led to one date and then another and so on. He is just about the polar opposite of the girls' father, and this has been, really, one of the happiest summers I can remember.

July had the hottest Independence Day on record, so naturally I was working in the hamburger stand at the North Morristown celebration. Uff. Da. You know you're sweaty when your jean shorts are damp all the way through! Then came all the last-minute preparations for the wedding in the out-of-control heat. But the weather cooperated marvelously for the wedding itself. This was such a fun day! Claire and Natalie were very well-behaved and had lots of fun at the reception. I also had lots of fun at the reception, enjoying the free wine (4 glasses) and the great music at the dance.
We just came back from 4 days in northern Indiana, where we saw Touchdown Jesus at Notre Dame and went shopping in Shipshewana at all the Amish places. It was fun, but the drive was a little too long for the kids, and we are happily getting back on our routine.

The girls will go on vacation with their dad the first week of August and then we'll be getting ready for school to start! It has really been a crazy summer.