Cucumber Dip {A Recipe}

Ok, I know summer is just starting, but if you’re starting to look for ways to use up cucumbers, I have a recipe you gotta try.  It looks like an incredibly healthy dish and a prime candidate for a “ladies’ get-together,” but just wait and see.  You may be surprised!

The Ingredients:

• 3/4 to 1 whole cucumber
• 4 oz. cream cheese
• 2-3 Tablespoons minced onion
• Seasoned salt to taste

The Process:

Peel the cucumber. 

Grate the cucumber into a medium-sized bowl (or a food-processor if you have one.)

Drain off as much liquid as you can. 

Mince the onion (if you cry, just remind yourself that it’s worth it!)

Cut about 4 ounces of softened cream cheese into 1/2-inch chunks.

Combine and mix onions, cream cheese, and seasoned salt with grated cucumbers.  Use whatever utensil you need to use in order to get the cream cheese blended together with the other ingredients – just a spoon won’t do the trick.  (I just use a fork, but a pastry blender might also work. A food processor will blend it together quite nice if you’re using one.)

It should look something like this—I know, kind of blah and unexciting, but you just wait!  You won’t be able to stop eating it! 

Right now you’re probably thinking “I thought she said it wasn’t a healthy ‘ladies’ get-together’ sort of dish.  Where’s the good stuff?”

This is Isaac the other night. He loves this stuff.    

The Catch:
You combine this cucumber dip with some potato chips, and ta-dah!! You won’t be able to stop munching!  I mean, it has cucumbers in it, so it is deliciously healthy, right?  (But it is oh, so ridiculously unhealthy at the same time!) This stuff is crazy addicting.

Serve it to your girlfriends if you want, but make sure to offer some to the guys in your life as well!  (You better have plenty of potato chips on hand!)

I'm Still Alive :)

I am not feeling at all motivated to write much here, but figured perhaps you all would like to have an update on my life right now... :)

I am back in KS [for one more week.] August the 19th I head up to South Dakota to start my senior year at Cornerstone! Wahoo! I cannot wait to get back to school, to see friends and catch up from the summer, to once again dig into God's Word in a classroom setting, to [hopefully] get some colder weather soon, to have homework once again, to see how God is going to work in this coming year, and on the list of things I'm looking forward to could go. Yes, in case you haven't figured it out yet, I am excited about getting back to school!

My summer in Brazil was nothing short of amazing. To be honest, I had my ideas of how it was supposed to be, but of course God's ways are higher than mine, so it turned out a little differently than I expected. If you were to ask me what exactly my plans had been for the summer, I probably would have a hard time detailing the specifics to you ; If you were to then ask me how the summer was different than I had expected, you might get a few more specifics. However, either way, it is still somewhat difficult to express right now how God worked in my life over the last two and a half months. Yes, I suppose I am being somewhat [or rather!] vague and ambiguous [I guess I kind of enjoy doing that], but in one thing I will be specific: God is incredibly good! Don't ever doubt it.

Close to an end...

The other night I was playing piano and came across the song But Continue Thou. The opening words of the song are "These days are coming close to an end..." and it is based on 2 Timothy 3:14 where Paul is exhorting exhorting Timothy to "continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them."

As I played the song and saw snatches of the lyrics, I was struck with how true those words are concerning these very days in my life right now: this semester is quickly coming to an end, and in just a few days, I will be entering "the real world" for the summer. This entire year, but especially this semester, has been incredible: God has taught me so much about Himself, my relationship with Him, and how to live the Christian life. When one's life revolves around Bible classes and pretty much every day is centered around developing one's relationship with the Lord, it is easy to be on a "spiritual high" here at school.

But...what about once school is over for the semester and I no longer have classes in which I am being forced to study the Word? What about when I no longer have to read commentaries such as Romans by Newell and I no longer have to attend chapel every day at 9:35 am? What about when I am away from friends who love the Lord, who have a passion to serve Him and live for Him, and who consequently encourage me in my own spiritual walk? Then what? Will the spiritual truths that I have learned in class and the things that I have learned through daily life in what some may call "a spiritual bubble" also affect my life when I'm away from it such an environment? Through God's grace and the empowering of the Spirit, yes!

Only thirty days until I am on Brazilian soil. Wohooo! :)

Physically, I am still here in South Dakota, but mentally, if not also emotionally, I am already down in Brazil. Why do I say this?

Well, to give you an idea....

I just dream about Brazil almost anytime I dream these days. The most random comment, conversation, or item will make me think of something back in Brazil: things such as the shape of the bread for the sandwiches at lunch today, or the fresh feel from the early morning rain, or the yogurt for breakfast. Or how about the other day when I was diligently trying to get some schoolwork done, and out of nowhere, an incredibly vivid image of the most amazing fish dish ever came to mind and, whoosh, just like that, my concentration flew out the window: I could seriously taste it!

I think I have been gone from Brazil just a little too long. . . and a simple fact is beginning to come to the surface: I miss Brazil.

(and I need some more current pictures!)

Sometimes it is easy to just say "God is good" but not really believe it or actually think that He is good to me. However, in one way after another, I've seen God's goodness and faithfulness this summer, be it from the way He has provided financially, to an amazing church to be involved in, to being able to participate in new experiences in ministry, to making new friends. Wow...

How have you seen God's faithfulness this summer?

Missions Trip, part 1

Eighteen teens and four adults,

early mornings and late nights,

dozens of kids with tons of energy,

pizza and hot dogs, and then more pizza and hot dogs,

the book of Ephesians,

midnight showers,

toaster escapades,

a park known for its past (and also present) gang activities,

lots of laughs,

the Willis Tower and Michigan Avenue,

staring off into space in middle of the day because of the lack of sleep,

three-on-three basketball tournament.

What do these all have in common? They all are a part of the absolutely amazing missions trip to Chicago that I just got back from! Wow, remember how I asked prayer for this trip in a previous post? Well, I can tell that people were praying. It was tons of work, but also just as much fun. I absolutely loved every single minute of my time...

I think the past ten days were the highlight of my summer.