suziebeezieland

hannah

skillet chili mac

We made the Skillet Chili Mac that is in this month's Everyday Food, and it was delish. :)

Here's the recipe. The only three things I would recommend are to go ahead and cook the whole pound of pasta (rather than the 3/4 they call for), because you'll have a lot of leftover sauce if you don't. And really salt the pasta water well, because rigatoni is big and bland and needs it. Also, it doesn't mention draining the fat off the ground beef, but do that. :)

coarse salt and ground pepper
3/4 pound rigatoni or other tube-shaped pasta
1 t. extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 small yellow onion, diced small
1 pound ground beef chuck (85% lean) 
1 + 3/4 t. ground cumin
1 c. corn kernels, thawed if frozen
1 small zucchini, diced medium
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
2 ounces cheddar, grated (3/4 c.) 

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and return to pot. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add garlic and onion and cook until onion is translucent. 3 minutes.

Increase heat to medium-high, add beef, and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add cumin and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Add corn and zucchini and cook until zucchini is crisp-tender, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and juice, bring to a simmer, and cook until mixture is heated through, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide pasta among four bowls, top with meat sauce, and sprinkle with cheese.

paper patchwork quilt

I made some cheap, easy, free art for the guest room. Yay.

It's just two-inch squares of scrapbook paper stuck onto the back of the paper that came in the 16x20 inch frame. I eyeballed the rows, so it's probably a little crooked ... nothing says homemade like a bit of wonkiness, I always think. :D

(I'm still tweaking things in this room. You may notice I've moved the furniture again. Ha. But I promise, this is the final configuration. I couldn't make the bed when it was pushed against the wall.)

three books on suffering

One of the people I love most in the world has Cushing's Disease. When I recently mentioned two books on suffering I've read that are very good (Faith on Trial by Martyn Lloyd Jones and How Long, O Lord: Reflections on Suffering & Evil by D.A Carson), she also recommended The Hidden Smile of God:The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd by John Piper.

These books are good if you are suffering, and they are also good if you just want a greater understanding of God and suffering.

love, atoms, & oceans

My brother-in-law (my pastor) posted this video by Propaganda over on my church's blog, which is how I found it.

Some of you won't care for it because of the message, and some of you believe the message, but the style won't be your cup of tea. :)

Solid theology and some of the best imagery I have ever heard in a poem. Wow. 

G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.

It’s the full story of life crushed into four minutes./ The entirety of humanity in the palm of your hand crushed into one sentence./ Listen, it’s intense, right? GOD. OUR. SINS. PAYING. EVERYONE. LIFE./ The greatest story ever told that’s hardly ever told.

GOD. Yes, GOD./ The maker and giver of life, and by life I mean any and all manner of substance./ Seen and unseen; what can and can’t be touched./ Thoughts, image, emotions; love, atoms and oceans./ GOD./ All of which His handiwork, one of which His masterpiece./ Made so uniquely that angels looked curiously./ The one thing in creation that was made in His imagery./ A concept so cold it’s the reason I stay bold./ How GOD breathed into man and he became a living soul.

Formed with the intent of being infinitely, intimately fond./ Creator and creation held in eternal bond./ And it was placed in perfect paradise until something went wrong./ The species got deceived and started lusting for His job./ An odd list of complaints, as if the system ain’t working./ And used that same breath He graciously gave us to curse Him/ And that sin seed spread through our souls’ genome./ And by nature of your nature, your species, you participated in the mutiny.

OUR./ Yes, our sins./ It’s nature-inherited./ Blackened the human heart. It was over before it started./ Deceived from day one and led away by our own lust./ There’s not a religion in the world that doesn’t agree that something’s wrong with us./ The question is what is it? And how do we fix it?/ Are we eternally separated from a God that may or may not have existed?/ But that’s another subject. Let’s keep grinding./ Besides, trying to prove God is like defending a lion./ Homie, it don’t need your help. Just unlock the cage./ Let’s move on on how our debt can be paid./ Short and sweet: the problem is…

SIN./ Yes, sin./ It’s a cancer, an asthma, choking out our life force./ Forcing separation from a perfect and holy GOD./ And the only way to get back is to get back to perfection./ But silly us…trying to pass the course of life without referring to a syllabus./ This is us: heap up your good deeds, chant, pray, meditate./ But all of that, of course, is spraying cologne on a corpse./ Or you could choose to ignore it, as if something don’t stink./ It’s like stepping in dog poop and refusing to wipe your shoe./ But all of that ends with, “How good is good enough?”

Take your silly list of good deeds and line them up against perfection./ Good luck./ That’s life past your pay grade./ The cost of your soul? You ain’t got a big enough piggy bank./ But you could give it a shot?/ But I suggest you throw away the list/ ‘Cause even your good acts are an extension of your selfishness.

But here’s where it gets interesting./ I hope you’re closely listening./ Please don’t get it twisted. It’s what makes our faith unique./ Here’s what God says is Part A of the Gospel:/ You can’t fix yourself. Quit trying. It’s impossible./ Sin brings death./ Give GOD His breath back. You owe Him!/ Eternally separated and the only way to fix it is someone die in your place/ And that someone’s got to be PERFECT or the payment ain’t permanent/ So if and when you find a perfect person, get that person./ To literally trade their perfection for your sin and death in./ Clearly, since the only one who can meet God’s criteria is GOD./ GOD sent Himself as JESUS to pay the cost for us./ His righteousness, His death, functions as…

PAYMENT./ Yes, payment./ Wrote a check with His life./ But at the Resurrection we all cheered, cause that means the CHECK CLEARED!/ Pierced feet, pierced hands, blood-stained Son of Man./ Fullness, forgiveness, free passage into the Promised Land./ That same breath GOD breathed into us GOD gave up to redeem us./ And anyone and everyone, and by everyone I mean…

EVERYONE./ Who puts their faith and trust in Him, and Him alone./ Can stand in full confidence of GOD’s forgiveness./ And here’s what the promise is:/ That you are guaranteed full access to return to perfect unity./ By simply believing in CHRIST and CHRIST alone./ You are receiving…

LIFE./ Yes, life./ This is the GOSPEL./ GOD. OUR. SINS. PAYING. EVERYONE. LIFE.

for better or for worse or for much worse

Here are links to and excerpts from two extremely good articles repudiating Pat Robertson's recent public and horrifying assertion that a man would be morally justified in divorcing his wife with Alzheimer's to marry another woman because the wife with Alzheimer's is "not there" anymore.

Joni Eareckson Tada -- Divorce & Alzheimer's

Excerpt:
At the Joni and Friends International Disability Center, we encounter thousands of couples who, despite living with serious disabling conditions, showcase the grace of God in their weakness every day. Marriage is designed to be a picture of God’s sacrificial love for us. Alzheimer’s disease is never an ‘accident’ in a marriage; it falls under the purview of God’s sovereignty. In the case of someone with Alzheimer's, this means God's unconditional and sacrificial love has an opportunity to be even more gloriously displayed in a life together!

Russell Moore -- Christ, the Church, & Pat Robertson

Excerpt:
Pat Robertson’s cruel marriage statement is no anomaly. He and his cohorts have given us for years a prosperity gospel with more in common with an Asherah pole than a cross. They have given us a politicized Christianity that uses churches to “mobilize” voters rather than to stand prophetically outside the power structures as a witness for the gospel.

But Jesus didn’t die for a Christian Coalition; he died for a church. And the church, across the ages, isn’t significant because of her size or influence. She is weak, helpless, and spattered in blood. He is faithful to us anyway.

If our churches are to survive, we must repudiate this Canaanite mammonocracy that so often speaks for us. But, beyond that, we must train up a new generation to see the gospel embedded in fidelity, a fidelity that is cruciform.

fabeffex

Miss Claire has not seen a ton of television commercials in her short little life thus far, because we have a DVR and we mostly watch t.v. that way. We fast-forward through all the commercials.

As a result, she is MESMERIZED by commercials, and believes everything they say.

I'm not sure when or how it happened, but a few weeks ago she saw a commercial for this FabEffex moldable fabric, and was telling me how wonderful it was for several days. So I went online and ordered a Fab Effex Variety Pack through Amazon, because it did look neat, and seemed like a fun thing to close out the summer with. I should never have spent $30 on a craft, but maybe I am also becoming more susceptible to commercials since I haven't seen many lately. I don't know. 

It is neat (really fun to play with), but WOW, you don't get much for your money. At all. Here is the official review I wrote for Amazon about it, just so other unsuspecting moms would know:

My eight-year-old daughter and I both enjoyed playing with this Fab Effex kit. It's wax-backed fabric that you can mold into different shapes and cut out. We covered a box with a little meadow scene, and really enjoyed ourselves. 

The problem is that you really don't get much for your money. The "full-sized sheets" it refers to (there are six in this Fab Effex Variety Pack) are 3 by 4 inches each. Seriously. And the little plastic bag full of "140 precut shapes" are TINY. It's hard to pull the paper backing off them, they're so tiny. 

So, in summary, really fun, but a total rip-off.

another tinker, tailor video

Ooh! I just found another Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy trailer and interview with Le Carre and some cast members. 

{note: I had to un-embed the video because it was on autoplay. but go here to see it. it's great!}

(I'm sorry, but if you have complaints with the quality of our programming here lately in suziebeezieland, you'll just have to take it up with the management. Who is me, and I say, yay! for everything George Smiley, and you are just going to have to bear with me until November 18th.)

opening ceremonies + then breakfast at the el monte airport

This past Saturday, we went to our region's AYSO opening ceremonies.  We're especially excited this year because Claire's cousin Grace is on the team, and Bob is coaching again. They are called The Violet Incredibles. :D

Real Soccer Moms of the San Gabriel Valley: A New Reality Show.

So, hey, I don't want to give the impression that my family usually flits hither and yon to racetracks and airports for breakfast, because we do not. Breakfast is usually sitting in the kitchen with a bowl of cereal. 

But after the opening ceremonies we were all hungry, so we headed to the El Monte Airport (103 acres, 1 runway), which is a fun place to eat breakfast because you can watch the planes. The patio seating area is right next to the tarmac. (We didn't know about it, but my sister and brother-in-law told us.)

They serve yummy, homestyle Mexican food, where you feel cozy and happy and can hear your arteries slamming shut as you take the first bite, and you don't finish everything on your plate and you have to sit a spell before you leave, and you make a solemn promise to yourself that you will never eat again, because you'll always be full of pancakes, forever. 

jim's pancakes

Do you know about the website Jim's Pancakes? I just found out about it last week. He's written a book. There is a cute little video trailer for the book here.

Here is one example from his website:

selah

But the LORD sits enthroned forever;
he has established his throne for justice,
and he judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with uprightness.
The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.
(Psalm 9:7-10 ESV)

glorifying our glorious god

Kevin DeYoung had the best post yesterday about worshipping God. He is right on. I think many, many people have imagined for themselves a "little buddy" God to keep in a pocket and only call upon in times of need, or to only believe in when, as C.S. Lewis said, "you are feeling fit and the sun is shining and you do not want to believe that the whole universe is a mere mechanical dance of atoms ... it is nice to be able to think of this great mysterious Force rolling on through the centuries and carrying you on its crest."

But this God of Our Convenience is not the God of the Bible. Here is DeYoung's post:

Romans 1:18-23

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God (v. 21a)

God wants to be worshiped. He is worthy to be worshiped. He made us to worship him, and in worshiping him we will find joy for our souls.

But God doesn’t want to be worshiped any old way. We do not worship God rightly unless we worship him as all-glorious. If some generations have conceived of God as an austere kill-joy, other Christians have little sense of the holiness of God. We’ll say “awesome” while playing video games or watching football, but we don’t know what it means to worship One who is awe-full and awe-inspiring. Too often we have a “hang-out” God who is a buddy-therapist-chum and not the Holy One of Israel. When we worship God as a feel-good, safe, squishy God who laughs all the time and hugs us a lot we are not honoring God as God.

We need to know Christ as a tender lover of our souls. And we also need to know Christ as the Son of Man with eyes like a flame of fire, feet like burnished bronze, a voice like many waters, and a face like the shining sun at whose sight we fall down as though dead (Rev. 1:12-17). King David was right: You who fear the LORD, praise him! (Psalm 22:23)

john le carré's tinker tailor soldier spy

If you have stubbornly and wilfully ignored me all these years and haven't read the book yet, you're in big trouble, because the movie is almost here! :)

(You're not really in big trouble. Phew. You have time to read it. The movie will open in North American on November 18.)(Dad! Save November 18th on your calendar!)

(If you're in England you actually ARE in big trouble, though, because it opens there on September 16. Read fast! Zoom!)

Have I ever held my breath so much? I don't think so. I loved the book and old Alec Guinness BBC series so much that I'll be crushed if they mess up the movie. I hope it's good, I hope it's good, I hope it's good!

Le Carré, who has been said to "just about own the literary rights to the Cold War," is one of my top three favorite writers when he's writing spy fiction. (I'm less interested in his newer stuff, which often deals with corporate greed.) He's just absolutely brilliant.

The film stars Gary Oldman, Ciaran Hinds, Jared Harris, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong and Svetlana Khodchenko. 

A few trailers have been released. Here are two of them:

mousie housie

first day of third grade

richard armitage as thorin oakenshield

I know I already mentioned that Richard Armitage (from North and South and lots of other things, but mostly from North and South, ha) is going to be Thorin Oakenshield in the film version of The Hobbit. And I was thinking that I'd shown you some photos of what he is going to look like in the role, but no, that was my book club I showed those to. (We read The Hobbit in July.) 

So here are some photos, so you can compare. 

Here's his headshot on imdb:

And here he is in North and South:

And then here he is as Thorin (with Orcrist, the Goblin Cleaver in his hands.) I can hardly see him behind the dwarvish makeup, but he's there. :) Go here to TheOneRing.net to see a bigger version of this photo.

And here he is with the whole company of dwarves, which continues to be hilarious to everyone, because he is over six feet in real life. But I think he's going to be a great Thorin.

(Go here to Peter Jackson's Hobbit blog to see a big version of this photo):

do you constantly seek distractions?

Diversion cannot bring sustained happiness, since it locates the source of happiness outside of us; thus, our happiness is dependent on factors often beyond our control, so that we are “liable to be disturbed by a thousand and one accidents, which inevitably cause distress" ... Postmodern people are perpetually restless; they frequently seek solace in diversion instead of satisfaction in truth. 

Last week Justin Taylor had a great post on his blog called Addicted to Diversion and Afraid of Silence. I recommend it.

kitty + kit kittredge

erin condren life planners 2011-2012

The new Erin Condren Life Planners are out! They've added tabs this year, which is nice. 

I also noticed these cute calendar stickers over at See Jane Work, which you could use inside your Erin Condren Life Planner. (The Erin Condren Life Planners come with stickers themselves, but it would always be fun to have more.)

I'm in full-blown "get organized for the school year" mode. Are you?

intimacy

Christ was uninterested ... in human beings from the outside in.  He was only interested in people from the inside out.  He pulled away from people who looked like ‘whitewashed tombs’ but whose insides were filled with ‘the bones of the dead’ (Matthew 23:27).  Intimacy is the opposite of a whitewashed tomb.  It is seeing into the core of a person while not being repelled by what you see.

(via Ray Ortlund's blog, from Paul F. M. Zahl, Grace in Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life (Grand Rapids, 2007), page 139.)