Rebellion

Today my mind is going crazy. This might be due to the fact that I drank two cups of coffee and took a  b-complex vitamin all before 7 am. My mind is energized and is spastically delving into the many topics that are consuming my mind. I want to share just one for right now.Unlike my other thoughts of the day this is just a little one. He entered my mind randomly, quickly processed, and now is ready to be tucked back into the recesses of my mind. This thought is the different faces of rebellion. More so how rebellion is inescapable for our lives.

My thought process went something like this: We (Christians) view the secular world as people who are "living in rebellion." But rebellion has infiltrated itself in more than just the secular world or culture. It is given that due to the fall of creation, culture is now in rebellion. Because culture is in rebellion the "church world" is in rebellion against culture. We have created our own separate culture filled with veggie tales, christian private schools, christian apparel, christian music, christian politics, christian books, christian movies, christian jewelry, christian anything to set us apart (to rebel) against secular culture.

In the five seconds that I spent processing this an issue instantly came to mind. If we are training our children to rebel from everything the world offers what is that instilling in them. Hate towards the lost? Mindless acceptance of anything "christian"? Is it instilling a rebellious spirit that will rebel from Christianity? I don't really know all the paths it could lead, but I do see some danger.

Growing up I was taught that Christian things are good, secular things are bad. I am grateful for this on some level because it did protect me for a time. But I was strong willed enough as a child that as I reached adolescence my critical thinking skills overtook any instant acceptance I had towards rules, ideas, or philosophies on how we should be living the Christian life. I had to work and am still working at not rebelling from culture or "christian" things and integrating them both. There is goodness in secular culture, there can be a balance. We can flee from evil while still influencing culture and being apart of society, even secular society.

Its time to stop rebelling and start integrating.

Blueberry Struesel Muffins!

Okay so here are my favorite muffins to make! So good.  These are Blueberry Struesel muffins with iced blueberries. So here's what you'll need to make these babies.

Muffin mix (This is my basic mix that I use for every muffin recipe)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flower
1 tblsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup milk
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (that have been heated up)
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (still frozen)
1/4 cup softened butter

Mix butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, almond, and yogurt until nice and creamy. Then add all the dry ingredients. Blend until it is nice with thick. Then add the blueberries (hot and frozen) By using the hot blueberries the juice will flavor the mix and turn the muffins blue. Which is fitting since they are BLUEberry muffins.

Spoon the batter into a muffin pan that has been rubbed down with butter. Then top with the struesel mix. And here is how you will make that.
You will need:
4 tablespoons of flour
1/2 cup of sugar
3 tablespoons of chilled (but not rock solid) butter
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
You will cut this with a fork until it is in fine chunks.

Then just sprinkle on top of the muffin batter.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. While they are baking it is the perfect time to make the sugar iced blueberries.

Simply roll 1/4 cup of frozen blueberries in 1/2 cup of sugar. (there will be extra sugar but just toss it) Just press these guys into the piping hot muffins AS SOON as they get out of the oven.

Voila! Blueberry Struesel Muffins!

Vegetarian Nachos- SUPER EASY!

Hey guys so this is going to be my first recipe blog. Some of it is going to be really simple such as this recipe and others might be a little more complicated. They are all things I have come up with and love. So here are my Veggie Nachos. You will need 3/4 cup of sliced mushrooms, 1 cup of fresh spinach, 3/4 cup of cheese, 3 teaspoons of Tabasco, 3 tablespoons of sour cream, and a couple handfuls of chips.

Start off with a little bit of hot evoo and add mushrooms and 1 teaspoon of tabasco. Cook until the are brown and tender then set aside.

Next take the spinach and put it in the pan that the mushrooms just came from. Then just add another teaspoon of tabasco.

Cook until the spinach is dark green and tender. Be careful to not over cook the spinach.

Layer half the chips, cheese, mushrooms and spinach.

Then add another layer. I like to put the nachos in the oven for 10 minutes or until they are all melty and wonderful, but you could always just pop it in the microwave.

  

Top with sour cream and the rest of the tabasco then enjoy!

Yearning for Learning

     Tomorrow starts a new semester. For this I am very glad. I am yearning for it among many others things. I am yearning for the heat of summer, exploring, Europe, writing books, studying minds, the culture of NYC, reading, South Carolina family, those I love in Texas, and GRAD SCHOOL. I yearn for so many things right now. I think this is why I haven't written in so long, I haven't known how to process all of this. My mind has been going crazy. I want to do so much, to be so much, to teach so much, and to learn so much. Yet all tomorrow brings is a new semester. My new year.

    I know it is the 17th of January and not the 1st but it sure doesn't feel that way. Tomorrow is my New Year because it signifies so much more to me than the 1st of January did. Tomorrow my thirst will be filled for a new year to learn about God and life. It is my new year of January 18th that marks my resolutions to learn for my Lord, my spirit, and to learn for His world. I will cut out some of the selfish desires of my life. This doesn't mean sweets or soda but to learn so I can be used by God. This is my resolution to give my education to Him.  I can feel my crazy unruly spirit start to settle and realize this. I love learning and my spirits yearning is starting to calm. It knows something good is coming, the new year.

    Learning means so much to me. It is truly what continuously feeds the fire of my spirit. Learning here at Ozark is what drives me to love people and serve God. My spirit can feel the nourishment coming and the yearning is starting to calm. It is strange how I know I am about to be on fire and yet that is what calms me. So while I might not get to have the yearning for Europe or exploring filled tomorrow, my yearning spirit is content. It is happy knowing that my new year starts tomorrow.