
Comfort Thought of the Day

Faith, family, fun, and general life experience through the eyes and heart of a mom of three awesome young adults with special needs.
Me: So most of the Disney lead characters are orphans or have lost one parent?
Maggie: Yes.
Me: Uh huh. That’s sad to begin with but, except for Bambi’s mom, we don’t really witness it. Disney learned their lesson with that one. And the villains die in ways that hopefully won’t scare little kids, is that right?
Maggie: Wellll . . . maybe.
Me: Beauty and the Beast – Gaston. He falls.
Maggie: Yeah.
Me: We don’t see him land. Snow White – Evil Queen?
Maggie: Falls off a cliff.
Me: Ummm – Sleeping Beauty?
Maggie: Stabbed and falls off a cliff.
Me: Ah! Two for one. I remember the evil priest in Hunchback went out in flames. Anybody else?
Mags: Shere Khan is stabbed – Jungle Book.
Me: Blood?
Mags: I don’t think so.
Me: So there’s that. In the book, a stampede takes him out.
Mags: In Mulan, Shanyu was blown up by fireworks.
Me: Oh yeah – right! Although – still bloodless. But at least Mulan had both parents! I can’t remember – what happened to the bad guy in Aladdin?
Mags: Jafar was put in a lamp and thrown out the window.
Me: The Lion King?
Mags: Thrown off a cliff.
Me: Ok, so mostly falls, fire, and imprisonment? Some bloodless stabbing? What about Prince John from Robin Hood?
Mags: He went to jail. Cruella went to jail. But Mordu in Brave was crushed!
Me: Yeah, but did you see Mordu crushed? No blood?
Mags: No. But his ghost came out.
Me: Well, that’s handy. Ok, let’s summarize. Most animated Disney lead characters are orphans or half-orphans, except Mulan and Merida . . . probably Christopher Robin . . .
Mags: And The Incredibles!!
Me: Ok. And the villains are mostly eliminated in ways that are visually bloodless – Wait!! What about Ursula?
Mags: She got stabbed by a boat.
Me: There you go! Any blood?
Mags: No.
Me: Of course not.
This is only for my fellow Social Introverts out there, and I want you all to hear me right now:
You know that thing we do where we love being with people so we are with them too much for a a period of time, but all the social activity ultimately wears us both mentally and physically? So then we want to find a rock to crawl under for a while – but not in a bad way. Not in an everybody-hates-me-so-I’ll-hide way, but in a so-blessed-really-but-I-need-to-breathe-now way. You know how that goes? Well, I’m there with you, so I am have been spending some time under the rock. I am very fond of you all and would invite you to share my rock, but as social introverts we are all in this together separately so you will have to find peace and rest under your own rock. Maybe when I crawl out we can meet for lunch or see a movie together and have fun exhausting each other again. Because, y’know, there’s always the rock.
Here’s the the thing, my friendly-but-introverted siblings-at-heart-and-also-at-a-distance, no matter what anyone leads you to believe, you deserve to rest. You really do. The world in general confuses us with extroverts and – weirdly – we often get swept up in that belief so we have to work a bit harder to get our quiet time. We need to make a clear and conscious choice to rest and then must deliberately set ourselves apart from society for a while. It’s not easy, but it is worth it for us and it makes us better, more patient people toward those we love.
So I’m telling you today – find your personal rock, inform those who need to know that you are righteously and justifiably hiding, then just do it – even if it’s only for a little while. Log off social media, shut off the electronics, cancel the social activities. Read a book, cuddle with your pets, indulge privately in your favorite hobbies, and put that rock firmly between you and the world for a while.
The familiar feels safe and so often that’s a good, important thing. But sometimes we cling more than we should; we hang on when we know it’s time – or even past time – to release. We cling to hindsight because we have already been through it, and we fear the unknown. Time only works one direction so letting go and leaping is always a risk.
But you know what? Don’t let that fear get to you. You don’t need to get brave, you’re already brave. Getting out of bed is a risk. Driving a car is a risk. Life is a risk. Get over it. The scariest part is just before you act. Pray, then leap. Once you’re in the air the view is better, the air is fresher, and you’ll figure it out.
And Someone is waiting to catch you.
When you think of Jesus Christ, what image comes into your head?
Every day, every way, on more levels than any of us can possibly understand or imagine, Jesus lives. He is not a baby in a barn, a child in the Temple, preaching in Israel, bleeding on the Cross, currently resurrecting, or even wearing human skin. All of these events are part of His life and message and are worthy of breathless awe and honor, of course! But they are part of His history, not to be confused with what Christ is doing today or where He is right now – which happens to be in Heaven, at the right hand of God, listening to our hearts and being involved in our lives.
So, do these things:
Bow before the Holy Babe in the manger to honor Christ’s great love in coming to us.
Fall on your knees at the Cross and see the sacrifice He made and your own brokenness so you can repent and change your life.
Humble yourself to the ground in gratitude at the empty tomb because He miraculously conquered death to offer you a joyous forever.
Then stand in grace before the living ever-present Christ who is right here for you and is compassionate and powerful and sees exactly who you are from the top of everything lovely about you down to the tippy-toes of everything ugly and still loves you unconditionally, hears you unceasingly, laughs with your joys, weeps with your sorrows, encourages you unerringly, pours grace and mercy all over you, and stays with you wherever you go, whatever you do, no matter the darkness or mistakes – because He is yours and you are His! Reach toward the unfathomable wonder of Jesus Christ in the present and step up with confidence.
He is glorious, He is love, and He. Is. Here.
“I came so they might have life, and have it abundantly.” ~ John 10:10b
“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.” ~ John 3:17
My Mom often said, “It doesn’t hurt to ask. If you don’t ask, you won’t know.” She was right.
People are so often stressed about not being “good enough”, but the most powerful evidence that Heaven is gained by faith alone – not by any human effort – may be the testimony of a dying criminal who just asked.
Jesus on the cross was bloody, gory, weak, suffering, publicly shamed and ridiculed. In the eyes of most, there was nothing to recommend Him as a human or king, and certainly not as any kind of savior. He was accused of being – and, indeed, appeared to be – a lying, blasphemous, cult-leader of a criminal under a common death sentence with two other criminals. In that moment, His appearance gave no one cause for faith. Those suffering and dying with Him were admittedly guilty. They had no good works that were recorded, they certainly were not baptized, did not speak in tongues or prophesy, and had no time left to perform redemptive acts. In that moment, they had nothing to offer anyone – certainly not God. Like many in the crowd, the criminals jeered and taunted the bleeding, dying Jesus.
But one of them changed.
And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” He was on a cross, scared, dying in shame and agony. Couldn’t hurt to ask, right?
Nowhere is it written that Christ said, “Sorry – you need to be baptized. You need good works. You need evidence of the Spirit. Sorry, man.”
Instead, at this evidence of faith alone – a shaky faith born of pain and fear – Jesus told him, “Today you shall be with me in Paradise.”
As Jesus bore the darkness of this world into death to earn redemption for all who believe, he took along the criminal dying right next door. Just because he asked.
No other reason.
So do Christ followers need to do good things? Should we study the Bible, love one another, and act kindly? Yes, of course. But we are called to lives of love and caring and acts of goodness because we have already received grace and are already destined for Heaven, and because we want to share His mercy and our hope with others any way we can. Not because we need to earn our way to Heaven – that way has already been earned for us. We have chosen to believe, we have asked in faith, so Christ has given the gift of eternity. He remembers us – always.
So today, if you just want a some peace in your life, some hope, some assurance, some comfort – even if you are not sure who He is or how He can give it – try a little faith. It doesn’t hurt to ask. If you don’t ask, you won’t know.
“Jesus, remember me.”
My awesome daughter Maggie (with the superpower of autism!) is once again researching and creating menus based on Pixar Movies. Most recently, she developed four (YES! FOUR!) full days of meals based on the movie Ratatouille, a mere ONE MOVIE! If you read my previous blog on this topic, you know that she was able to get FOUR Toy Story movies into ONE day of food. But then – Toy Story was not actually based on food and Ratatouille is, so there’s that. If you have not seen the movie, just know that it involves an upscale French restaurant and rat who cooks gourmet food. Appetizing . . .
So Maggie and I have a system: She decides on the movie focus, finds sources online for menu and recipe ideas from Pixar movies (and she’s certainly not the only one who likes movie-based food!), creates her own idea list, and sends me links. We go over the menus together. My mission is to take her list, simplify it if needed, and – especially in the case of Ratatouille – make any gourmet dishes actually affordable. Together, we cook enough for the whole family, Maggie photographs the food before sitting down (all the photos seen here are hers), and we dig in. Maggie and I are experimental eaters and will pretty much try anything. Other members of our beloved family are not quite so adventurous, although we do our best to make everything palatable! Here are the recipes for our ONE day of Ratatouille completed thus far. I am pretty sure she has a dream of doing the other three days down the road, but Wall-E is up next and it will be remarkably easy so I am ignoring the cooking rodent movie for the immediate future.
NOTE: Many of Maggie’s suggestions come from http://disneymeals.me. We frequently do not follow their recipes since we often find purchased or homemade alternatives that work better for us, but it’s a cool resource.
Breakfast
Cheese cubes
Strawberries
Lightening-y Mushrooms
Whew! Breakfast was not difficult. The cheese cubes had to be cheddar and the strawberries, fresh. Lightening-y Mushrooms (so named because two characters in the movie were actually struck by lightening while making them) are basically baby portobellos stuffed with goat cheese and baked. The recipe is located at the site mentioned above and, for once, we pretty much followed it.
Lunch
Caesar Salad with Salmon (but without the Salmon)
Cheese Souffle
We purchased bagged Caesar Salad at Sam’s Club because we already like it. I decided to take a short cut and use canned salmon, but hadn’t purchased it in years so failed to recall that some of it comes with all the bones and skin still intact in the can. You will note in the photo that our Caesar salad is unadorned by salmon. And that’s all I have to say about that (Forrest Gump reference? Yes).
On a more positive note, we were ecstatic to find a lovely recipe for Easy Cheese Souffles by Chef John at allrecipes.com! The recipe did sound simple, but I have heard culinary horror stories about souffles falling dramatically – especially if you mess with the recipe. However, the recipe called for two 5.5 ounce ramekins and we had six 8 ounce, so without hesitation or trepidation (maybe a little trepidation) we promptly multiplied the recipe by four. Good times. Ha. And I have to tell you that CHEF JOHN TOTALLY KNOWS HIS STUFF!! We increased the cooking time to accommodate the larger size, but those souffles popped right up like little Queen Elizabeth hats and DID NOT FALL! The x4 recipe came together easily, exactly filled our six ramekins, and tasted delicious!
Dinner
Seared Beef
Wild Rice
Vegetables
Mille Feuille
Steak can be expensive – so Sam’s Club to the rescue once again! We found affordable cuts and used an electric skillet to sear and cook the steaks in our usual way. Would a cast iron skillet have been a bit more gourmet? Mmmm – possibly! But you go with what you’ve got. And the wild rice? Helllooo, Uncle Ben! Great stuff, easy prep. The veggie selection suggested on disneymeals looked perfect so we lightly grilled zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper, and a bit less onion than recommended (since some in the fam think onions were invented solely to be sliced in rings, coated with batter, and fried).
Of course we websearched how to pronounce Mille Feuille, so everybody speak up and say: “mil foy”. There you go – say it often and spell it never. We were happy to find ready-to-bake puff pastry (Pepperidge Farm) but realized we would need to make the pastry cream so again turned to ever-reliable allrecipes.com. Success! If you need a delicious, simple, and affordable 5-star pastry cream recipe, look for the effectively (if not creatively) titled Pastry Cream by Christinibeanie. Maggie was marvelously efficient at the constant stirring to prevent scorching and the cream cooked up with an addicting taste and very nice consistency!
While the cream chilled, we placed each raw pastry sheet on a parchment-covered baking sheet, neatly sliced it into three equal rectangular strips, covered those with a layer each of parchment and foil, set another baking sheet on top to keep the pastry flat while cooking, then gently smashed the sheets further with a spatula while still warm. We created a light icing of milk and powdered sugar with just a touch of lemon. After the pastry cooled, Maggie spread the chilled cream thickly on two strips of pastry and iced the top layer before stacking, then we carefully cut the rectangular stacks into square portions. Maggie decorated them with Ghirardelli Premium Sauce Chocolate syrup (in the red bottle). And I gotta say – the Mille Feuille tasted incredible! We actually had enough cream and pastry leftover to make a fresh batch for dessert the next night, as well, so I think my calorie load has been met for the next couple of months.
If you are not sure about doing an entire Ratatouille day and decide to just try one or two things, I highly recommend the Souffle and the Mille Feuille. Enjoy!
Our family recently endured the snowpocalyptic polar vortex that hit Texas. We lost power for 28 hours in addition to random shutdowns and our home was without running water from sometime after midnight Monday the 15th until Tuesday the 23rd because our water line froze at the meter and subsequently had 9 breaks (all eventually fixed by my handy husband!). We fared much better than many who were longer without services as well as others whose homes and lives were damaged and we do request your ongoing prayers for our area.
Our income supports five adults – including three with immune or developmental issues – on a single modest paycheck. So when I say that it is possible to prepare for a crisis while living week to week financially, know that I am speaking from experience, not theory. It is impossible to be prepared for everything, but having general emergency preparedness is both confidence-building and comforting.
REMEMBER! The idea is to do this gradually, as your budget permits.
1.I will begin with this: Trust God, pray often, be aware of His nudges and the opportunities He presents to provide early for a possible crisis. Life is nothing if not unexpected and things rarely go the way we plan in this fallen and difficult world. God is so much more than just a backup plan.
2. Be a good neighbor! The best way to have kind, friendly neighbors is to be one yourself. You don’t need to be besties, but neighborly connections are important for amiable living and are also nice to have if an emergency arises for either of you. My husband is great at wandering the neighborhood making friends. I am often better online, so I know that joining your neighborhood or community social media group (on Nextdoor, Facebook, or similar) can be a great way to get to know people. We woke in the wee hours the first day of Snowpocalypse (Monday, February 15) with our water frozen at the meter and our neighbors kindly filled our water jugs for the day until we got our snow melting going (for flushing) and their water went out. My husband shoveled the nextdoor neighbor’s walk first thing in the morning and, after everyone’s power went out, we offered use of our gas stove. Neighborhood as well as social media connections made us aware of needs in the neighborhood both during and after the event and my husband (a capable driver on snow and ice) was able to assist.
3. Build your pantry as you can afford. Stock up gradually by purchasing an extra non-perishable item or two for the pantry whenever you are able. Online preppers tend to push for stocking up on dried food, rice, and beans, but we can’t afford to stock up on stuff we don’t eat regularly and neither do we have the space to store it. Buy things your family normally consumes because you will need to rotate through the items to avoid expiration dates. For instance, my family loves turkey chili so I try to always have several cans on the shelf, using the oldest cans first. I do the same with canned chicken, canned tuna, pasta, soup, refried beans, flour, sugar, condiments and other items that we use regularly. We also have an extra refrigerator in the garage (look for a cheap or free older frig or freezer online) and I buy similarly for frozen food. My family likes fresh, perishable foods, but we use enough canned and frozen goods to make the system work. If you have critters, don’t skip the pet food. This is a gradual process and food and water are the most important but, as you can, add in backups for such items as bandages, soap, and cleaning supplies.
4. Shop ahead if possible. Keep an eye on the weather and current events and shop accordingly. Last-minute panic buying occurs just before a weather or other high impact event. Early in the week before Snowpocalypse when the forecast was for about four days of rough weather, I decided to plan for seven to ten days – just in case! – and went to a normally stocked and uncrowded store to purchase just a bit over my usual list. I didn’t have to overstretch my budget because I knew my pantry and freezer were in good shape. I forgot to get cheese, though, and when my husband stopped by the store for it after work on February 12th, he snapped the photo you see here. Be aware. Shop. Early.
5. Water! We were pretty sure we would lose power, but were not expecting the extended loss of water. However, we like to take spontaneous mini roadtrips so we usually have a case or two of water bottles standing by because taking food and beverages with us instead of eating out is a significant savings! I also occasionally buy the random gallon jug to have a few on hand. Before a weather event I purchase extra since a flooding rainstorm can result in a notice to boil drinking water. We were careful with drinking/washing water during the polar vortex and we had enough to get through.
6. Heat. During the snow event, I was so thankful that we live in a small, one-story house with a fireplace! We all enjoy a warm and cozy fire on winter nights, so throughout the year we stock up by saving wood from our own tree trimming and sometimes pick up what neighbors leave on the curb for City chipping. My husband recently found a used Buddy heater and I highly recommend saving up and shopping for a used one, if you can – especially if you are without a fireplace. Gotta say, that is one area we did not plan ahead and had only four canisters for the Buddy, so mostly heated with firewood. I lit the gas burners on the stove to take the early morning chill off the kitchen. And definitely supply your home with extra blankets! We have purchased lovely, warm, like-new comforters and quilts very affordably at thrift stores and yard sales. Our kids are sensory and love snuggly things, so we actually have way too many blankets for our normal Texas climate – but it worked out well for us this time!
7. Let there be light! We live in an older neighborhood where the power goes out pretty regularly during electrical storms. Over the years I have supplied everyone with flashlights as stocking stuffers at Christmas and we also own heavier duty lights for emergencies, repairs, and general use. We purchase batteries on sale to stay stocked. But our best source of light during outages? Candles! A few tapers provide adequate light and can be acquired cheaply (along with inexpensive holders) almost anywhere, including most dollar stores. Candles that melt down into a glass container are primarily decorative and do not give as much light as tapers. Camping lanterns also work, of course, but we only have one of those so mostly stick with candles. And do NOT use candles for night lights! All candles (and the fireplace) should never be unattended and need to be extinguished when you go to bed.
8. Paper goods – not necessary, but incredibly helpful! I have a confession to make: we indulge in the luxury of paper plates. I know there are those who are critics of this but I gotta say – it saved our bacon when we went nine days without water! I occasionally buy paper bowls and plastic utensils for special events so we still had those and I definitely plan to keep them in my emergency stash. We do not use paper napkins, choosing cloth napkins for regular use because they are effective, versatile, and easy to wash, but do use paper towels for certain types of cleaning and were thankfully stocked up. If you have a fireplace, random paper products around your house (paper plates, food boxes, paper towels, scrap paper, junk mail) make great kindling.
9. Cooking with limited ability to wash: Our gas stove can be lit manually so I was able to use the stove top without power. Certain foods stick to my preferred stainless steel cookware, so I also have a large nonstick saucepan and large nonstick skillet (with lids). I was so very thankful for these! Just for fun, we made fudge by candlelight during the power outage and the nonstick saucepan cleaned up easily with a paper towel and minimal water. Keep an extra roll of foil around, as well; we poured the warm fudge into a foil-lined pan, and during the days with no water I cooked in the oven by lining crockery and baking sheets with foil for minimal cleanup.
10. Stay charged! We all have portable charge units (AKA battery bricks or portable/solar chargers) so we can keep our phones and other small electronics working when traveling or away from an outlet for any reason. Obtain these as you can afford, plug them in regularly and keep them powered. A good portable charge unit with solar recharge ability also makes a great gift for anyone in the family frequently frustrated by dead electronics! During power outages here when we are without wifi or a consistent cell signal, we are still able to use the random signals to periodically send through texts and calls since we keep our phones and tablets powered.
Bonus Thought: Entertainment – games, books, etc. – Yup! You need this stuff! If you or your children’s primary form of entertainment involves electronics, then be sure you have games, books, and/or puzzles to while away the hours. Even if you have charge units or a generator, you may need to conserve the power in those so have a few old-school forms of entertainment ready.
Whether your overall income is modest or you are on a tight budget trying to get out of debt, save for house, or support a large family, building your supply base is crucial – and not only for a possible national crisis or weather event. Like many, our income and expenses do not always match comfortably, so stocking up bit by bit when we are able has really saved us when the money doesn’t make it to the end of the month. It is decidedly reassuring to look into the supply closet and pantry and know a good meal will grace the table no matter the circumstances.
There is absolutely no reason to believe actors, athletes, or any other celebrities are more knowledgeable or insightful than the rest of us about political or social issues. Like everyone, they are entitled to expressing their opinions – but those opinions need not be screamed out to the world as they do the actual jobs they are being paid so highly to do. As with most of us in this world, their work and their opinions should have separate venues for expression.
When I order food at a drive-thru, I don’t need to know the cook’s political views in order to enjoy my meal. He can most certainly act on what he believes on his own time, but I don’t expect those thoughts to be seared into my burger.
When I watch a movie, I want to be entertained. When I watch sports, I want to see a game. That’s all. I really just want them to do their job.
If you are, like me, a mom of amazing special needs children, then you completely understand when I tell you that hope is the very air I breathe.
Some days I am left gasping amid the debris of shattered dreams. My lungs constrict with fears for my children’s futures, their wellbeing, their happiness, their faith. In these moments, I breathlessly cry out to God with all that is in my heart – and He hears.
He hears. And I rest in knowing that He is always there and He loves my children more than I can ever imagine, and my faith is strengthened. Hope again saturates my soul and fills my lungs for the beloved marathon of blessing my family another day.
God. Is. My. Oxygen.