Entitlement vs. Gratitude

Reposting...because I always need to be reminded...

For years, I have kept this quoted passage tucked within the pages of my Bible. I can't even remember where I first found it. I only know that it pierced my heart so deeply that I wanted to keep it near, to be able to read it again and again and again. My human heart is so prone to complaining; yet I know that it should be filled only with gratitude. So when I find myself murmuring, I return to this place of eternal perspective and fall on His mercy. Lord, forgive me for forgetting your amazing grace.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Our culture is riddled with a poisonous spirit of entitlement. We always think we deserve more. We’re disappointed with our family, our neighbors, church, the waitress, the sales clerk, and the department of motor vehicles. Ultimately, we’re disappointed with God. He hasn’t given us everything we want.

What madness! If only we could see our situation clearly—even for a moment. We deserved expulsion; He gives us a diploma. We deserved the electric chair; He gives us a parade. Anything less than overwhelming gratitude should be unthinkable. He owes us nothing. We owe Him everything. When you realize you deserve nothing better than hell, it puts a “bad day” in perspective, doesn’t it?

Christians in Sudan—who’ve suffered unspeakably for their faith—are deeply grateful for God’s daily blessings. But us? We whine and pout.

Thankfulness should draw a clear line between us and a Christless world. If the same spirit of entitlement and ingratitude that characterizes our culture characterizes us, what do we have to offer?

If I grasp that I deserve hell, I’ll be filled with gratitude not only for God’s huge blessings—including my redemption and home in heaven—but also for His smaller blessings: sun, rain, a beating heart, eyes that see, legs that walk, a mind that thinks...And because Christ allowed Himself to be crushed under the weight of my sin, I’ll enjoy forever a clear mind and a perfect body...Never believe anything about yourself or God that makes His grace to you seem anything less than astonishing. Because that’s exactly what it is.

~Randy Alcorn, The Grace and Truth Paradox, Multnomah Publishers 2003, pp. 33-35

Autumn Gatherings {Part 2}...and Mini Pumpkin-Ginger Cheesecakes

A few weeks ago, Kati mentioned that it would be fun to have another ladies' game night. 

Despite the fact that we have had a busy month, and despite the fact that it is nearing Thanksgiving and everybody is busy, I glanced at the calendar and saw that we had one Friday night available. We brainstormed a list of ladies to invite (we change up the list every time). Our dining room is small, and our table will seat eight comfortably, but we pushed the limits and invited eight other ladies to join us.

As it was, there were seven of us. The night was cold, the wood stove in the kitchen was cozy, and we decided to gather around the kitchen table. 

It was natural to go with a Thanksgiving theme. 

I used some lovely cornucopia napkins that a friend (who knows that I love napkins and all things autumn and had combined the two) had given me for my birthday. 

We pulled a stack of  brown transferware plates from the shelf.

We served Apple-Cranberry Crisp in ramekins, Mini Pumpkin-Ginger Cheesecakes (recipe below), and freshly whipped cream. I also opened a jar of Pumpkin Ale Beer Jelly, another unique and delicious flavor from Potlicker Kitchens, to spread on crackers.

I had intended to play our Thanksgiving music CD in the background. I intended to have each lady write something on a leaf to hang on our Thankful Tree. I did neither. I have a one-track mind and forget things when I'm hosting. 

But at the end of the night, it's all okay. 

Because it's not about the food or the music or the decorations. It's about providing a space and a time for people to enjoy fellowship. 

Hospitality. It's not to impress, but to bless. (Remember?)

We served these mini cheesecakes at our game party, but I think they'd make a fine dessert for your Thanksgiving table. I was told that the crust could stand alone! 

Personally, I love tiny desserts! (I'd rather fill up on turkey and stuffing than on a rich dessert!)

MINI PUMPKIN-GINGER CHEESECAKES

(adapted and tweaked from ~this recipe~)

30 ginger snaps

3 tablespoons sugar

6 tablespoons melted butter

2 8-oz. packages cream cheese

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 eggs plus 1 yolk

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

***

1) Preheat oven to 350°. Line 24 muffin cups with paper cupcake liners.

2) In food processor, pulse cookies and sugar until cookies are coarse crumbs. (Optional: Reserve some crumbs for garnish.) Add butter and pulse until combined.

3) Press approximately 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture into bottom of each cupcake liner. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.

4) In stand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add in all remaining ingredients and beat until blended.

5) Pour mixture into muffin cups on top of baked crust. Fill each about 3/4 full.

6) Bake for 30 minutes or until set. Cool completely. Top with a dollop of whipped cream. Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumb mixture or with chopped candied ginger, if desired.

 

What desserts will be served at your Thanksgiving table?

Autumn Gatherings {Part 1}

We have been doing quite a bit of gathering lately...gathering with friends, gathering with family.

It was our turn to host our little supper group. We all got together in September and had so much fun and told so many stories and laughed so much that we decided we needed to gather once a month. We coordinated the schedules of three families, and on the last day of October, we picked right up where we left off the month before, with an everyone-brings-something meal, plenty of coffee and dessert, stories galore, young adults playing Dutch Blitz, toddlers being cute...the kind of evening that satisfies. 

We celebrated Kati's birthday with a family party. Later in the week, we took her to dinner and a play. Then she had another birthday dinner with a friend. Birthday gatherings in multiples. 

Then there was Alaine's Special Day, her very first. After her brothers had their Special Day a couple of weeks earlier, she could hardly wait for her turn. She had chosen the dress she would wear and asked her mama every day if that day was the day.  But her day finally came, we all had a delightful time...and now she's ready for another! Sweet girl!

The Annual Mother/Daughter Christmas Shopping Trip was last week. Oh my goodness. The fog that morning was crazy thick. Yikes!

Can you see the road? (Neither could I.) 

We I was tempted to abandon ship van, but the fog slowly lifted and we went on to eat, shop, sip coffee and apple cider, and walk our legs off. 

Oh...and take a group selfie. First time ever. 

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about another gathering and share a recipe for an autumn dessert.



Have you been a part of any autumn gatherings?

November Photo-a-Day Challenge {Week 2}

I have found this Photo-a-Day Challenge to be quite...umm...challenging! I think my mind is elsewhere. (Lots of happenings here lately!) But instead of completely dropping out of the challenge, I'll just show you the photos I have remembered to take. If there is a day missing here and there, you'll understand, right? :)

day 8: table

Side table in the living room, dressed for fall.

The backlight from the window causes a silhouette effect. One little cluster of berries shows its color.

day 10: yellow

On Tuesday evening, I was cutting out leaves for our Thankful Tree. I am running late this year and our tree is looking a bit bare. No need for a bare tree...we have much to be thankful for!

day 11: outside my window

I see the seasons outside my bedroom window.

day 12: small

Our small cat darted inside a shopping bag. We call bags and boxes "cat traps." The traps work every time. 

day 13: large

Three large butternut squash were sent to us from our brother-in-law. 

I made Autumn Squash Soup again, making the adaptations that I had mentioned in my "NOTES" and we liked it much better this time. I have also baked some butternut and then mashed it with a little brown sugar and butter. It is delicious, but I may have to give it a rest for a little while. Too much of a good thing?

Has your November been full of good things? (Can you believe that we're halfway through the month already?!)

Click the button below to see how others met the photo-a-day challenge!

Thanksgiving and Kids

Right now, I am all about Thanksgiving. I am thinking about table settings and place cards and food and guests and music and I love it all! Today, I thought that I'd repost our ideas about making Thanksgiving fun and meaningful for children. (Originally posted in 2011.)

Thinking about the Thanksgiving mice has me thinking about celebrating Thanksgiving with children. 

I find it rather easy to please the adults.  Serve a bounty of food, keep the coffee hot and the desserts aplenty, and we're good to go, eating and chatting for hours on end.  

Kids, on the other hand, can eat what they want from the Thanksgiving feast in about five minutes, and they don't seem to want to listen to the rest of us chat for hours on end.  So we try to find ways to make the day meaningful and fun for them too.  Here are some of the things we have tried.

L-R: son Ryan (8), nephew Andrew (5), niece Amy (7), daughter Kristin (10)

Dress up.

The photo above is from the archives.  Thanksgiving 1990.  Our two oldest children and my niece and nephew dressed as pilgrim and Indians to respresent those at the first Thanksgiving.   

We have never had such deluxe costumes since then, but my mom found some really cute Pilgrim lady hats and Pilgrim man collars made of cardstock a few years ago.  (Unfortunately, I must have been too busy preparing the meal to take any pictures.) 

Arrange seating to include the children.

At one time, the four in the above picture were content to sit at a "children's table," but that changed as they grew older.  We puzzled over how to include them when there were only so many seats in the dining room, until one year when someone had the idea to move both tables into our large-ish farmhouse kitchen.  Then we were all in the same room, no one felt left out, and we mixed up the seating from year to year.  Sometimes, we would have everyone draw numbers to see where he or she would sit.  Sometimes I designed the seating plan, and we made placecards to mark each person's spot at the table. 

The big kink in this plan:  Someone(s) has to move all the furniture.  (And move it back.)  This fact has threatened to nix the plan on several occasions, but so far, we have always had folks who wanted it this way badly enough to do the grunt work.

Ron and Kati doing the grunt work

Yes, we are a family who goes to extremes.

You don't have to rearrange entire rooms.  But do try to find a way to make the children feel included at your Thanksgiving dinner.

By the way, this year, although we will have both tables in the kitchen again, the children want to sit together, so I'm planning a special kids' table.  Fun!

Plan some activities for the kiddos. 

Our dining room becomes a sitting room/playroom, but you could devote a corner of your family room or living room to some kid play. 

• We bring in the basket of Duplos. 
• When we had a Little Tykes kitchen, the kids cooked a pretend Thanksgiving dinner, complete with Kleenex mashed potatoes. 
• We set a small table with crayons, coloring pages (like ~these~), stickers, Thanksgiving stencils, and lots of paper.   

"What do I do first?"

• Sometimes, we'll plan a Thanksgiving craft.  Check out your local library for a book of simple seasonal ideas.
• I display posters of the Mayflower and Plimouth Plantation.

• I set up "Pin the Tail on the Turkey" for the kids (and adults sometimes!) to play.  I bought mine at Target's dollar section a few years ago.  (You can buy one ~here~.  Or draw your turkey and a few hats, if you're a bit artistic.)
• Speaking of drawing, you may want to try to draw a turkey using my friend Kim's instructions.  Click ~here~.  I think I can do this! 
• Of course, the Thanksgiving mice are around. 
  
  

Playing with the Pilgrim mice

Getting a check-up before dinner

Everyone, kids included, will join their voices in singing a Thanksgiving hymn (Bekah will accompany us), and we'll all record a blessing on a leaf (or two or many) for the Thankful Tree.  (Picture of our Thankful Tree ~here~.)

It all adds up to a kid-friendly Thanksgiving Day!

"A Place of Blessing"

Among the many, many blessings that the Lord has given me is a daughter who can write this:

Click photo to read

Sunday Snapshots: An Autumn Sundae Bar

Yesterday, Kristin brought dessert in the form of an autumn-themed sundae bar. It was beautifully seasonal, with homemade pear-caramel sauce (mmmmm...), jimmies in fall colors, chopped walnuts, and these festive acorns made by Owen! 

Ice cream: the dessert for any season!

November Photo-a-Day Challenge {Week 1}

Joining Kati's month-long photo-a-day challenge for November, I am here with my first week's worth of photos. These challenges stretch my thinking and prompt me to try different things, so I am going to try to fit a photo-a-day into this busy month. 

day 1: my name starts with...

C is for cake.

Kati made this pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting when we had friends for dinner. 

day 2: number

21 candles!

day 3: leaf

On Tuesday, this leaf lay alone on the deck. Today (Saturday) no leaf is alone. Where you see one, you see dozens (or more).

day 4: brown

Ron's chair.

day 5: cozy

This firewood will fill our wood stove and make us cozy this winter. 

day 6: pumpkin

Little pumpkin wet with rain.

day 7: friend

I did not see any of my friends on Friday.

However, I did see this sweet little granddaughter.

I think her Aunts Kati and Bekah consider her a very special friend!

What kinds of things filled your week?

Click the button below to see how others met the photo-a-day challenge!