"KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN"

this is a picture of me with a plate of fried chicken. obviously. i would like to tell you what i think about fried chicken. when i think fried chicken, i think "birthday". this is becuase on my birthday, every February 19th, my mom fixes my birthday supper. it is my favorite meal in the whole entire world. if i knew i was going to die tomorrow i would ask for fried chicken tonight. served with the fried chicken would be: mashed potatoes, green beans (but out of our garden not off a grocery store shelf. green beans from a can are a disgrace and should be banned. the squeakiness of those kinds of imitation green beans is ridiculous. green beans ought to be slow cooked for several hours along with a big piece of country ham.), pink jellow salad, homemade bread (i get the end piece), and birthday cake (chocolate cake in three layers, with cool whip in between, all covered in chocolate icing...all homemade, no short cut mixes allowed!! - as it should be with all birthday cakes!)

now, in the picture above it is no one's birthday which is odd for me, but i wanted to attempt to make fried chicken in the event that ben would like to have it for his birthday (which he did not and that's fine. his whole family came over to eat so we cooked on the grill, which was a way better idea for 14 people....) i didn't want my first attempt at making fried chicken to be a disaster and ruin a special occasion.

so, this dinner was our friday night activity...we ended up eating on the TV trays and watching Deal or No Deal. Dad said welcome to what married people do...stay home on friday and watch game shows...

here's how i made fried chicken:

1. called mom and asked her how. she told me, and asked if it was somebody's birthday...

2. put crisco in a skillet and made it sizzle.

3. dipped pieces of chicken in a egg.

4. dipped pieces of egg coated chicken in flour/salt/pepper mixture (no measuring, just guessing)

5. put pieces of eggy-flour chicken in the hot grease in the skillet.

6. covered the skillet and listened to the grease pop!

7. brown the bottom of the chicken and then flip it over.

8. when both sides were brown, remove chicken and put it on a serving plate.

it was delicious!! and the most fun.

it was especailly good to eat as leftovers, straight from the fridge with a cold pepsi (the way i always eat leftover fried chicken, of course.)

call me when it's your birthday. i know how to fix you KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN!!

here i am!!

here i am!! i know all of my expectant and faithful readers have been wondering....or does anybody really read this??? who knows... anyway, i am still around. we have been having wireless internet difficulities for about a week now. i have absolutely no clue about how wireless works, but i find myself very upset and frustrated when it is not working. the old router died, we think, and the first replacement i bought did not work. so i bought a new one. it's working- so far.

and then there's my computer. it's dying. it is so SLOW!! i don't know how it works either, and it really bothers me. i wish i could fix it. it's always been a good computer until now. and it's only 4 years old....but they tell me that's old for a computer. i guess technology is moving too fast for me. maybe i will get a Mac next!

so what have i been doing with my time?? well, i went with ben and some of our friends to a Youth Specialties conference in Austin, Texas. i enjoyed it. it made me miss school. i think because i was in these seminars and learning things and i miss doing that. i know i'm a dork. then my favorite part of the conference was a lecture/sermon by Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz - but my favorite is Searching for God Knows What). well, i actually had two favorite parts, because David Crowder led worship 3 times and i enjoyed that quite a bit. plus his band played Free Bird and that was highly entertaining.

and then since we've been back, ben had a birthday. his family came over for dinner and that was good. i know you're wondering what i gave him for a birthday present. well, i'll tell you. i gave him a DVD of Mama's Family season 1. do you remember that show? i didn't realize that Vint and Naomi weren't married when the show started, but it's not taking them long to hook up.

in other TV news, i've been watching Dancing with the Stars. if i really voted, which i don't, i would vote for emmitt smith. he looks like a nice guy. plus i only think of Saved By the Bell when Mario dances, but he will win. i don't think ben likes the show. "Does this come on every night?"

and in Maggie news....she is rowdy. she is biting everything she can, especailly my fingers. but i noticed she has lost 2 teeth, so maybe we are moving out of the biting stage. one can only hope. P.S. i've given up on the carpet business. she follows me everywhere and i've gotten tired of saying "no."

hope this satisfies all your curiousities, and that you rest easy knowing i'm still here...

Book Report!

So I'm almost finished reading Ministry in the Image of God by Dr. Seamands. I like it! I decided to read it A. because he gave it to me and I trust him, B. because it looked like something I needed to read, and C. because I miss being in seminary and having books like this assigned to me so I have to read them! I like that accountability.

Anyway, there are lot's of good things in this book, great implications for how the very being of the Trinity ought to affect the ministry in which we participate. That's helpful thought number #1: the ministry in which we participate is Jesus's ministry here in the world, not something we created or own. We get to help him.

Helpful thought #2 for today comes from the chapter I just read on Mutual Indwelling. It talks about how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in a dance, all indwelling each other and allowing themselves to be indwelt by the other. As mere mortals, we get invited into that dance by Jesus's life and death and life. So what does that imply for His ministry? One of the 4 implications Dr. Seamands lists is "intercessory prayer." This made a huge impression on me, because I never really thought about what my job is as an intercessor. Sure, I've always known it is important to pray for other people, and I've done that a lot, out loud, on paper, in letters, in groups...but I have often thought of that as something I do by myself, unless there are other people sitting next to me, also praying. What I realized as I was reading is that intercession is Jesus's job. That's what he does, he prays for us. So when I pray for other people, I'm joining Jesus in what he is already doing.

This gives us both freedom and confidence as we pray. It's freeing to know that praying for other people is not a job we have to carry by ourselves. We're not alone at all, and it's not that Jesus is helping us, it's more that we're helping Jesus. This gives us confidence because our prayers are added to those of Jesus. And powerful (and awesome) is that?