Hanging By a Thread

Joy like a Panda {My Word for 2017}

Each December, in the dusk of the old year, I open up my mind for a new word to live by for the coming year. Now, this may sound like gibberish to you, but it works for me. Year after year, a word will come to me and when it does, it's always fitting, even when I have doubts.

In 2016, my word was "renewed." I definitely needed to be renewed and to find hope and happiness and let go of a lot this year. While there was sadness and heartache in 2016 with the passing of three of our much loved, elderly pets, there was also much renewing with 7 trips to see friends and family and new cities and old favorites. {Travel is my absolute passion.}

I allowed myself to keep tweaking our curriculum and my teaching methods and educational focus without feeling doubt and guilt. I better recognized when we needed a break or a change. I gave myself license to take a day for me when I needed it.

We adopted a new kitten and puppy, adding lots of renewed life and energy to our household.

I continue to have complete faith in my God. This is how I make it through each day, day after day. And by the grace of God, I've made it through another year. While the coming year feels bleak and uncertain to me, my ever abiding faith will sustain me.

Oddly enough, despite my anxiety over the state of our world, the word that came to me the other day while I was drying my hair was "Joy." Now, I thought to myself, "Joy? This doesn't seem right for 2017." But the words kept repeating in my head…"yes, joy!" Then, I wondered what kind of joy, in what form.

Joy is defined as "a state of happiness or felicity." But it's also defined as "a source or cause of delight." And it's important to remember that delight and joy are synonymous.

Joy is being happy and exuding happiness, which in turn can act as a source or cause for another's joy or delight. This seems like a good thing, being happy and being the cause of another's joy.

There are two scriptures that come to mind when I think of joy…

"Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

And Psalm 100:

              Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

              Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing.

Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.

For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.

I've always liked these scriptures...I was beginning to see that joy was the right word for 2017…

Then, I saw a video of a Panda playing in the snow with such pure joy, and I thought I want to have joy like a Giant panda. Honestly, when you think about videos of pandas, don't you think of joy? They always seem so happy and curious and delighted to be doing whatever they're doing, even when it's mischievous or when they get themselves into sticky situations, which seems to be often. And they are the source of great joy to the people who see these amazingly beautiful and interesting creatures.

So, it is with the unbridled joy of a Giant panda that I will strive to make a joyful noise unto the Lord and serve with gladness and thankfulness throughout the year of 2017...even though I'm not always good at unbridled joy {since I'm a Type A personality kind of gal}, I'm going to give it my all!

In so doing, I will continue to look for any opportunity to travel and explore and give aid and mercy and do good and be kind and supportive and stand up for what I believe in. Here's to a joy filled 2017! What's your word? Over and out…

Anna

 

Merry Christmas from Us to You: The Best I Can Do {On Christmas Cards}

I don't send Christmas cards. Honestly, I haven't been good at it since about 1997. So, I gave up entirely about 7 or 8 years ago…I'm not even sure that my younger son ever even made it onto Christmas card. But hey, you have to figure out your strengths and weaknesses and let go of the things that cause you stress and aren't necessary. The older you get the more you realize these things.

For me, that means not sending Christmas cards {or much of any correspondence if it must be mailed, come to think of it...}, not making my bed or forcing anyone else in the house to either, never wrapping gifts {gift bags and tissue only}, painting my toenails only in the summer {at max that's about 3 times} and letting my kids choose their own outfits, regardless of whether they match or look good or not {unless it's an important event}.

You may or may not agree with my list of unnecessaries, and that's fine. I'm sure you have your own list of unnecessaries. But here's the thing, if you send Christmas cards, we LOVE getting them. Please keep sending them! But if it stresses you out, we totally understand, and we'll understand not getting a card from you too.

So, in lieu of a stamped and mailed Christmas card, here's our family's year-end accounting and well wishes for you and yours during this most glorious seasons of peace and love…

We truly had a blessed year that was full of love and loss and lessons learned. We traveled and explored and laughed and cried and argued.

As always, we found great comfort and had loads of fun with our family and friends spread throughout this amazingly beautiful country.

We felt a sense of wonder and awe as we stood on the most northern shores of Minnesota overlooking the great Lake Superior and when we waded out into the clear Atlantic Ocean off Key Biscayne and when we swam in the gently rippling Gulf of Mexico in Marco Island and when we soaked up the history of our country's capitol and the "Windy City" and Miami and Atlanta. In short, we loved getting to know new cities and the people who inhabit them.

We had good health and added two new babies…both with fur…to our crew, after saying goodbye to three of our elderly and much loved babies early in this year. The boys grew in smarts and height and heart and sass.

We worked. We played. We were grateful for opportunities and friendships and our humble home. We can't complain.

We look forward to the New Year with hope and love and mercy and great faith in our ever abiding Lord.

Merry Christmas to You All, and May You All Have Much Peace and Love in the Coming Year! Over and out…

The Berend Family

Sticky Business {Homemade Marshmallow Recipe}

We've been sick…colds, flu-ish virus, Strep – you name it, one of us seems to have had it. The last week pretty much did us in, and on top of that, it's gotten SUPER cold. So, the boys and I have been sticking close to home and keeping cozy and warm and nursing our respective illnesses.

We like hot chocolate on these super cold, blustery, snowy days. And we like to have marshmallows in our hot chocolate, but that's gotten more complicated. My son has developed a severe sensitivity to artificial colors, and can you believe that most marshmallows have a blue dye in them? Yep, it's true, unfortunately.

We were excited when we found Trader Joe's marshmallows – gluten free for me and no artificial colors for him and really good – win-win…except for some reason they only make them in July and November. I think they are really missing out on selling these suckers, but no one asked me.

Now, our other options are to buy pretty expensive and not so delicious marshmallows at our co-op or try making them at home. I know a number of people who swear by their homemade marshmallows. So, earlier this week, I decided to try and experiment with making them.

Two challenges: 1) I rarely have all the ingredients I need and often have to substitute. 2) I don't own a candy thermometer.

But, lo and behold, I had all the ingredients (yes, even packets of gelatin, oddly enough) and I found an approximate time for cooking, not just a temperature to reach. So, we gave it a shot.

It's relatively easy, but it's a sticky business. When I was finished my hands were sticky, the counters were sticky, my mixer was sticky, the stovetop was sticky, the pot holder was sticky.

Here's the recipe I used. It's from Martha Stewart (normally I find that her recipes don't turn out, but I recall a cousin saying she uses this recipe), and this worked well for us.

Homemade Marshmallows

• 4 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (use good vanilla – it makes a difference!)
• confectioners' sugar for dusting

Butter 9 x 13 baking dish and dust with confectioners' sugar; set aside.

Combine sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 3/4 cup water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.

Cook, without stirring, until mixture reaches 238 degrees on a candy thermometer or about 9 minutes.

 I don't have a candy thermometer and went by the 9 minute cooking time and it worked out for me. Start timer when mixture is at a rolling boil.

 Meanwhile, put 3/4 cup cold water into a large bowl for mixing whole mixture and sprinkle with gelatin. Let soften 5 minutes.

 With mixer on low speed, beat hot syrup into gelatin mixture. Gradually raise speed to high; beat until mixture is very stiff, about 12 minutes.

 Beat in vanilla.

 Pour into prepared dish, and smooth with spatula. Set aside until firm. 

 Instructions say uncovered, but at our house that would mean it would end up with pet hair and maybe even some tiny cat nose prints in it. So, I covered it with a silicone lid. These instructions said to let it set up for about 3 hours; other instructions said overnight. I decided to let it firm overnight. I did try a bit after about 3 hours though and it was firm, but still VERY sticky. I dusted the top with confectioner's sugar and let it sit.

Butter a sharp knife, then cut marshmallows into 2-inch squares or whatever size you want. I made mine pretty big, about 2 inches square, I suppose …only one marshmallow needed per cup of hot chocolate.

(I did not do this) Pour 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar into a small bowl, and roll each marshmallow in the sugar to coat. Keeps for 3 days in sealed container.

Now, if you want these for hot chocolate, PLEASE, PLEASE, after going to all this trouble for good marshmallows, DO use a GOOD hot chocolate mix! We are loving the Penzeys Hot Chocolate Mix. It's made with top ingredients and so smooth and so good! I also really like the recipe on the Hershey's Cocoa container.

Enjoy! Over and out…

Anna

 

The Weight of the World

Do the issues of the world, our country, the local community weigh on you? Do you try to figure out what you can do to help people….many people…a few people…even one person? Do you think about the people who are sleeping outside on a frigid night with nowhere to go? Do you worry about the kids whose only meals come from the school cafeterias? Do you ponder what becomes of the kids who have no toys or crayons or books at all? Do you weep for the mothers trying to protect their children from war, drugs, hunger, despair all across the world? Do you ponder all the injustice and mistreatment and pray for change? Do you worry about family and friends just barely hanging on?

Do you feel guilty for indulging, being warm and cozy, showering your kids with gifts, looking the other way, going on with your own life?

These things do weigh on me and I do feel sadness and guilt. I do want to help…everyone. And yet, sometimes it's totally overwhelming. There is so much need and hurt and despair and brokenness everywhere.

I am a Christian. To me, part of being a Christian is loving all people, regardless of whether I agree with how they live their lives or what they stand for, always giving and doing for others in any way I can for those who are struggling, whether that is through prayer, money, clothing, groceries or time and working to live my life as a beacon of hope, faith and love…basically, striving to live as Jesus did.

I am also human. So, this means that I often fail, despite my best intentions. I lose my temper and patience with those who stand for things I abhor and feel desperate to open their eyes to truth and love. I waste my money on superficial, nonessential things instead of using it for good. I forget to pray for people I intended to pray for. I pass by a person in need without offering anything because I'm not sure how to help.

And yet, I do believe that if we all love and help and support each other, we will all be better off. So, even though I will falter in my goal, I will keep trying to do more wherever I find a need.

The problem is that there is a need everywhere I turn. And I struggle with how much and when and where and who to give to. I have often said, "Lord, if you would see fit to bestow a great amount of money on me, I would be able to do so much more for so many more in need." So far, the Lord has not seen fit to do so. Instead, I do what I can with what I have as much as I can. In so doing, I hope to instill a sense of giving and serving and being merciful upon my children.

It matters not to me whether the person or people I strive to help are sinners or saints, drug addicts or alcoholics or misguided or foolish, Christians, Muslims, Jews or atheists, homeless or well off, educated or ignorant, Republican or Democrat, Independent or Libertarian, black, white, blue or purple. If it be in my power to help someone in need, I will strive to do it. I can disagree with one's actions and beliefs whether I help that person or not.

I also think that charity must start within the family. If a person giving loads of money and/or time to a foundation or nonprofit or church outreach organization fails to see and help the elderly aunt or down-on-her-luck sister or cousin or in-need-of-assistance child or neighbor, I think this person may be giving for his or her own pride and profit or is merely ignorant of the need and suffering closer to home. We must always help and love and support friends and family who are in need of mercy and love and a hot meal or a bag groceries, or a few coins too.

Let us not forget to be merciful, charitable and full of love and goodness and kindness all year round, but most especially at this time of year when we look forward to celebrating the birth of HE who embodied being merciful, charitable and full of love and goodness and kindness. Over and out…

Anna