Happy Thanksgiving!

I am so thankful for my family.
And my friends.
And for moments.... like this. Just being.
Life is good and God is great.

Psalm 30:11-12

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.

O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

Waiting...

Last night's Esther session was....GREAT as always. I love learning about the origin of words used in the Bible. Here is my favorite point from last night concerning this verse:

Isaiah 30:18

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!

In the original language used, the word "longs" in the first line and the word "wait" in the last line are the SAME!

In explanation: "It isn't a wait without the longing." In all instances of waiting...there is inherently a longing. There is something you are waiting for. Waiting for your turn...you are obviously longing for it to be your turn. Waiting for Christmas...you are obviously longing for Christmas.

Then, to think about it with this verse in mind...God is longing for what you are longing to receive. Blessed are YOU who WAIT for HIM! His longing is also the waiting...waiting for the right time. LONGING for that time to be here so He can answer and give you what you LONG and WAIT for....

Such rich words! I am sad that we only have two more sessions! I learn so much every single week!

Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Apple Stuffing!

This is the only photo I have. Taken with Corey's I phone. You can't really tell much about it on here though..
(our camera battery charger is currently MIA but probably in my car)

I have never had luck with main meat dishes. I love to make casseroles or pasta, but things like baked chicken and other stuff like that has always just eluded me. I would much rather bake a cake or some cookies!
But, tonight, I have finally found a meat recipe that is easy, replicable (I hope!) and delicious!
AND impressive enough for company!
I made it up off the top of my head while I was in a hurry. We saw a similar recipe on Alton Brown while we were out of town and this is VERY loosely based on it.
Actually the only similarities are pork, bacon, and apples.
I did not write down the amounts of anything! So, here's my best guess...ha ha!

1 (2-3 pound) pork tenderloin
1 box of Stovetop Stuffing
(I used chicken flavored bc that's what I had)
1 Golden Delicious apple, chopped into small cubes
water
(I did not measure this at all! just enough to wet the stuffing and mix up well with the other ingredients to make a "stuffable" stuffing)
honey
(I poured some out of the jar...a reasonable dollop twice, ha ha!)
butter
(about 1/4 of a stick)
1 package of bacon
(I used Gwaltney hickory smoked bc it was on sale for less than $2)

Mix the diced up apple with some water and honey. Mix in stovetop stuffing and diced up butter. Use your hands to mush it all together to a "stuffing" consistency.
Place the tenderloin in a 10x13 baking dish.
Cut the tenderloin longways down the middle, leaving the ends intact. You can cut "up" into the end of the tenderloin to kind of make a pocket for stuffing.
Stuff the tenderloin with the stuffing mixture. Try to get as much as you can. Wrap the tenderloin in bacon by pulling the sides together a little bit at a time while you wrap pieces of bacon over the top and tuck under the bottom.
After you have wrapped all the bacon around the tenderloin, secure with toothpicks or twine or whatever you have. I broke 3 bamboo skewers in half and poked them sideways through the meat to make sure it stayed together while it cooked. It went right through the middle of the meat sideways. Sprinkle some water over the parts that stick out so they won't burn and to also help give some moisture while it is cooking. You can spread the extra stuffing around the bottom of the dish.
Cut the entire thing in half (the short way) so it will cook faster.
Bake at 375 degrees for about an hour or until the bacon is getting pretty crisp and the meat looks done from where it was cut in half. It will continue to cook when you take it out, so don't over do it.
I served it with homemade mashed potatoes, garlic green beans with water chestnuts, and crescent rolls.
MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm...it was so good!

Lessons Learned

Well, today has been quite an exciting day full of plot twists and turns.
I attended another awesome Bible study tonight on the book of Esther.
I have tried to type several things just now in explaining the incredible message and the things we talked about and learned, but it is simply impossible to do it well. All I can say is, if you have a chance to sit in on this study...DO IT!
You will not be sorry..you will be immensely blessed and it may turn out to be your own peripety in the chiastic structure that will one day be your life! (Google it, but it won't do it justice!)

Also, another lesson learned today:
Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
You like that one?
I came up with that all by myself today...pretty profound huh? HA!
Timeless, classic, and ever-applicable!
Sleep well!
You never know what God can accomplish while your head is resting on your pillow!
Look what happened in the course of one night of sleeplessness in the book of Esther!

By Your Side

I had the privilege of participating in the sweetest and most powerful communion service that I have ever been part of yesterday morning. We have been in a teaching series on "Fear" over the past few weeks. Yesterday's message was on the fear of betrayal. It was amazing how Pastor Eric connected the fear of betrayal with Judas "THE betrayer" and then led into the communion service. He made the point that Jesus knew that Judas was about to betray Him. Not only Judas, but all the rest of the twelve would desert Him as well. But, he still had this last meal with them, establishing communion. The remembrance. The remembrance that even though He knew they were about to abandon and betray Him...He would not do that to them. He would go and do what He had to do, regardless of the betrayal that was about to happen. And no matter what kind of betrayal we experience, whether we are the "betrayed" or the "betrayer" He is there, waiting...we just have to let him carry us through. He will be by our side.
The band played and sang this song while the communion elements were passed out.
It was not your typical communion song.
It was quite loud, but it was spirit-inspired and
powerful.
Listen and commune.

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Comment with your best "caption"
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The REST of the trip (TONS of photos!)

Now that I have the Delaware incident blogged and out of my head, I can move onto the rest of the trip....

On Sunday, Corey was in the music show all day, and we had checked out of our hotel because we wanted to stay somewhere different (ahem!, ack). We headed over to Valley Forge for the morning/early afternoon because it was very near by. In fact, the music show we were there for was in the Valley Forge Convention Center.

The kids and I drove over and on the way into the visitor's center there was this tree that just begged for photos to be taken!

Now, on to the park! We watched a video about the winter at Valley Forge, then started on the drive through the park. It was a pretty nice sized area with replicas of the huts, soldiers in uniform, lots to learn and see!

Katie and Noah were "Park Rangers" for the day! See their buttons?

We got to see them fire their guns! Katie and Noah both loved that!

Cannon!

In the park was a beautiful church! George Washington Memorial Chapel. It is an Episcopal Church that actually holds services. They were letting out when we arrived. It was so pretty! Above is a photo of Katie and Noah with a replica of the Liberty Bell called the "Justice" bell, on display at the church.

After we left Valley Forge it was just mid-afternoon, so we went to see a movie. We saw the new Disney version of "A Christmas Carol." It was pretty intense, especially the last "ghost of Christmases yet to come" but the kids fared okay. They have already seen other versions of the movie that make it funny (Mickey's and Muppets) so they knew what to expect. There were several "jump out and grab you" moments and like I said, the last ghost was pretty dark and scary, but I loved that it stuck so closely to the grown up versions of the story. It was very similar to the theatrical/musical version Corey and I saw at the Alliance Theater a few years ago in Atlanta. Very true to the story and serious. It is definitely on my buy list because it is a great classic version to watch at Christmas every year. NONE of the typical Jim Carrey goofiness!!! I would recommend it for kids over 6 who don't scare easily or kids who are familiar with the story and with a parent nearby :)

OKAY THEN...on to the next thing.
Of course, Sunday night was not pleasant. When we left Wilmington we were so completely out of sorts that we didn't know what to do. I just wanted to get OUT of Delaware, so we set the GPS for home. The next cities on our path were Baltimore (not Corey's fav. place..kind of rough) and Washington, DC. So we looked on the map and Corey spotted a town he had stayed in many times before where he knew was a nice place to stay and a nice area. It was Sterling, Virginia. It was 1 1/2 hours away..so at 1am we checked into our room and brought in the sleeping kids. It wasn't really till about that time that Corey and I were even settled down enough from our experience to go to sleep anyway...
Upon waking the next morning, we tried to find something fun we could stop and see on the way home.
We did NOT want our week to end on such a horrible memory.
We looked at the Sterling area...nothing.
We considered Jamestown..but it was 3 hours out of the way. :(
Then we noticed and remembered that had driven around Washington, DC on our way to Sterling.
It was only about 25-30 minutes from Sterling!
We quickly confirmed that all the Smithsonian Museums did not charge admission and we were on our way!
It was a 4 1/2 hour blitz of the capitol! ha ha!
3 museums...Smithsonian Natural History, American History, and Air and Space!
A trip to the top of the Washington Monument for Corey and the kids...
beautiful views of the Lincoln Memorial, Capitol building, Smithsonian Castle, and the White House.
A ride on the carousel on the mall lawn... and a 30 minute scenic tour of various buildings while looking for parking when we arrived. Short, sweet, and a fun way to end the trip!

Corey and Katie eating their hot dogs outside the Air and Space museum.

We had to take this photo for Andy and Bethany!

Lovely views and photo ops!

Museum of American History.

A really cool looking building that turned out to be either the EPA or IRS! ha ha!

Natural History Museum.

It cost us $17 to park for half the day! (up to 1 hr was $8.50, 1-17 hrs was $17, 17-24 hours was $37!) ACK! But, it was worth it. We had a great time and ended the trip on a fun note. We spent the night not too much further down the road than the night before and made the drive all the way home yesterday night...arriving home at 10:30pm!
What an unexpected but FUN week!!!!!
After 7 years we finally got to go on a trip with Corey for work. I know I have posted so many photos of our fun times, but it wasn't ALL lolly-gagging. We spent a good 2 1/2 days sitting in our hotel room in King of Prussia. The mall there turned out to be just too huge and overwhelming to navigate with two young children. So, we did some school work and hung out doing nothing. We spent plenty of time sitting in the car... we barely even got out of the car at all in Pittsburgh while Corey ran into music stores and did the "work" part of the trip. But, I am very thankful that we had this opportunity. We are happy to be home in our own beds and ready to rest off the week!