My very first cheesecake from scratch

I found this recipe for New York Cheesecake, and I just had to try it. It seemed simple enough, and cheesecake is one of Luis's favorites. I have always wanted to make a cheesecake from scratch, but have always chickened out, thinking it was going to be extremely difficult. I'll let you know how it tasted tomorrow. I'm bringing it to church for a little Valentine's Day celebration.

Day 39

Our 40-day church wide fast is nearly over, and there have been countless numbers of breakthroughs in our family and those we fellowship with. God has and continues to amaze us! One of the things that inspired us to begin the fast was a need in one of the families in our church. About halfway through the fast, God moved and miraculously changed what could have been a disastrous outcome. He is so good! About three quarters of the way through, another person in our congregation received notice that a court case was finally settled in her favor. Praise God! Luis got word from his boss that increase is on the way. Hallelujah! Another lady in our church got a transfer at work, just what she was praying for! There has been a spiritual excitement and awakening in the children of Berea Church of God! Amen! I had the opportunity to lead a woman (who was still grieving after the tragic death of her son four years ago) to the wonderful place of salvation in Jesus-to Him be all the glory! These are just a few of the things that we have experienced and others have given testimony to.

We are believing for a year of expansion and blessings in our personal lives and the life of our church. God is on the move, and we are following Him! He desires to give good gifts to His children. What are you believing for? There is no limit to what God can do! Pray, fast and believe that He can do it!

Mediator

Yesterday, as we were coming home from church, Josh and Jonathan were sitting next to each other, playing and fooling around as boys do. When their playing became louder and louder, even after several warnings, I realized I needed to make a change. So, when we got home from church, I cleaned out the car, and moved Lily's car seat to the middle of the back seat. The true test will be Wednesday night, when we are on our way to church again and Josh has to sit in the back seat, but I have a feeling it's going to be a much more quiet ride to Greenville. Lily, without even realizing it, will be my little peacekeeper.

As often happens with me when I am doing normal, everyday things, the Lord uses it to remind me of something. And as I was sucking up the endless cracker crumbs in the vacuum so that I could make the car seat switch, I was reminded how desperately we needed a mediator in our lives. How our sin (however big or little, since all sin is the same to God) has placed a separation between us and Him. How we had no hope of reconciliation, no future hope of heaven until Jesus became that peacemaker for us. And how by accepting His finished work on the the cross, we have a way to reach God once more. We all have need of that intervention, placed between us and God to repair the breach. We all have need of a peacemaker to bring us back into a right relationship with God. Who better than Jesus, the Prince of Peace?

1 Timothy 2:1-6 says, "I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time." (New Living Translation)

Genes

One of my most favorite classes in college was Genetics. The whole topic fascinated me. Genes are a funny thing. Sometimes I can look at Josh standing in a certain way, and I see pure Kellish. Sometimes Lily smiles and I see her Aunt Marybeth. Most people judge our kids at first glance...Josh is fair, blond and green-eyed so everyone says he looks more like me. Jonathan is olive skinned, brunette and brown-eyed, so naturally, people say he looks like Luis. And Lily, well, she's a tough one to call.

Anyhow, I came across some pictures of Luis's grandfather and his first cousin Jorge (Tito), both of whom are on Luis's Dad's side of the family.

 Jose Parra Ibarra

 Jorge Humberto (Tito) Gonzalez Parra

 (Tito)

Josh-age 8

When Tito recently saw a picture of our family, he told Luis that he was born all over again in Josh. He was amazed at the resemblance. It's funny how people always think of Mexican people as dark hair, eyes, and skin, but there is so much Spanish influence in the culture. The Parras originally were from Northern Spain (Santander) near the Bay of Biscay.

Grits

Being Southerners, we have learned to love grits! We all (except for Josh) eat them, buttered, cheese, or just plain with salt and pepper, white or yellow, we love them all! I usually make a pot of them every morning, and all that's left is what we couldn't scrape (but not for lack of trying!) Some days, like Sundays, when it's an early morning rush to get to church, I leave everything to make it to church in plenty of time. I leave the dishes in the sink, and sometimes even he pot that had the grits on the stove. Consequently, I have learned why grits have their name. When I come home after church, and I have a pot of grits that has been allowed to sit and dry, I am left with a mixture so hard and so strong that I think it might have been able to have held Rome together. And the grits are exactly like sandpaper...the really "high grit" kind. It got me thinking about the times when I have allowed sin or offense to just sit around in my mind and heart a little too long. Those times when I should have quickly dealt with those specific things in the right way, but instead, I chose to hold on to them little longer out of laziness, or bitterness, or feeling justified to do so. No matter what the reason for holding on to them, the result was always the same. My heart became hard and rough, two characteristics that are fatal to any heart. In the natural, if our heart becomes hardened, death is not far behind, unless we make some radical changes. The same goes in the spiritual. Our hearts can become so hard and rough, so calloused by those things that we have decided (foolishly) are too important to just let go. We end up fooling ourselves into thinking that we are just fine, and wondering what is wrong with everyone else around us, as we go day by day like walking dead men. We are all guilty of letting our sin or offense fester, whether is is for a moment, a month or a lifetime. Only God can turn our heart of stone into a heart flesh once again. And only God can give us the strength to never pick up the offense or the sin in the first place. That is our wonderful hope. God can do it!! As for my pot of grits, my only hope is to deal quickly and swiftly with what remains. Put off my laziness and clean that pot!

Here are just a couple (of the many) scriptures on the subject:

Ephesians 4:18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.


Hebrews 3:12-13  See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.