winter eats

I love recipes where chunks of stuff are thrown into a crockpot the night before and magically turn into hearty stews. I tweak this in a significant way: more bacon. How a recipe can constrain itself to only 3 strips of bacon is beyond me. Fry up the whole pig! Yummy! I didn't have any carrots last night so I just left them out. I also didn't have tomato paste so I put a couple spoonfuls of pasta sauce. Why not, right? By the time I woke up this morning - everything had melded into a sumptuous, bacon-smelling, delight of a meal.

1 large onion, chopped

3 strips (3 ounces) bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

3 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch half-moons

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 1/2 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth (3 1/2 cups)

1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

 

http://www.marthastewart.com/341776/lentil-soup

seasons of doubt and fear

I would dare to say everyone goes through seasons of doubt and fear in their life and in their walk with God. To share this can be scary and painful but courageous and encouraging to those around. Yet, the Bible shows us that confidence is one of the perks of knowing God and in this world of seemingly endless transition, confusion, and inconstancy, to say of anything that you are confident, is monumental.

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

"So that we confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.'" Hebrews 13:6

I’ve noticed that expressing doubt and fear seems to be in vogue these days. The freedom to admit doubt and fear is refreshing to those of us who received little grace growing up, tethered to expectations of perfection given to us by others but never Christ. Doubt and fear are no virtues, though, and our visitation of these seasons should occur under the wider arc of the confidence which is the express gift to the Christian. Let us take care not to glorify a pit-stop. If we park there, we sell short ourselves and the God who came to save us from both doubt and fear for all eternity.

“I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.”