Devotional musings...

Sea of Galilee

"There are songs which can only be learned in the valley. No art can teach them; no rules of voice can make them perfectly sung. Their music is in the heart. They are songs of memory, of personal experience. They bring out their burden from the shadow of the past; they mount on the wings of yesterday. John says (Revelation 14:3) that even in heaven there will be a song that can only be fully sung by the sons of earth - the strain of redemption. Doubtless it is a song of triumph, a hymn of victory to the Christ who made us free. But the sense of triumph must come from the memory of the chain. No angel, no archangel can sing it so sweetly a I can. To sing it as I sing it, they must pass through my exile, and this they cannot do. None can learn it but the children of the cross. "  - George Matheson






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Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston South Carolina, a set on Flickr.

Inspiration for my anniversary dinner. Pictures from our 1 year Anniversary trip (2010) Charleston is one of our favorite cities in the world!

Here is the BBQ sauce recipe I used, sooooo good!

South Carolina-Style Barbecue Sauce -Paula Deen
Not all barbecue sauces are a rich red! In fact, if you have ever had barbecue in South Carolina you know it comes with a flavorful bright yellow, mustard-based sweet sauce.

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1/2 sweet onion, grated
1/2 cup yellow mustard
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Sauté the onions in the butter until translucent, but not brown. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Yields: 2 cups

Love and Mr. Ainslie

Two years ago today I married the love of my life. When I first met him though...I had no idea what a treasure I had found. I remember when I first met Paul. He was this skinny, nerdy, immature kid from Washington state. Yet I was so attracted to his love for God and his desire to serve Him with his whole heart. I thought we could be friends. God had other plans! I remember wrestling with the Lord about my feelings for Paul and the Lord said to me "Yes, he is immature...but he loves Me. Do you want to be part of what I am going to do in his life, or do you want to let this pass you by? It's your choice." I felt in that moment such a confirmation that I wanted to be part of what God was going to do in this young man's life. There was no way that I was going to walk away from this adventure. It makes me so sad now to think I even comtemplated it!

Honestly, Paul was not the "man of my dreams" when I first met him. But I can say today that I had the priviledge of seeing Paul become the "man of my dreams". Yes, he has changed a lot. He has matured, lived some life, gained some weight and  he dresses different now. But he is still the same gentle, sweet spirit he was when I first met him. That hasn't changed one bit. He is a servant, a leader and a comforter. He lives abandoned to Jesus and spurs me on. He is truly more than I ever thought to ask for. I feel so blessed to share my life with such a wonderful loving man.

Sidenote...I would just like to say for the record, it's ok to be in love. I think in today's Christian circles we are so concerned about how we date/court/ behave/look/act that we have taken all the joy and excitement out of love. Paul and I were determined not to let other people in our relationship, and still don't. Just Jesus, all others can exit stage left. And you know, Jesus is a big God. He gives you boundries, convictions and freedom. I believe every couple is different, has different struggles and different strengths. But the truth of the matter is, we don't "need" dating/marriage books or other people when we have the Creator God at our side ready to lead the relationship. Not that people and books are not helpful, they are...but that is not what Paul and  I let dictate our relationship. Jesus does and boy does He do a great job! We are that couple that makes everyone sick with all our love! :)


Tonight I made Paul a little surprise anniversary dinner on the balcony. In tribute to our trip to Charleston this time last year. The main dish was low country BBQ with sweet buttered carrots and green beans. And for desert...my Mommom's glorious apple pie/crisp! Paul's and my Dad's favorite.

Happy Anniversary Sha'ul! You are my favorite. The color to my world and I am so thankful for all the love, joy and comfort you give me.  My home is wherever you are. I love you so much! ~Reef

Small space gardening...

Earlier this week we finally got around to buying some plants for our lil' balcony. Paul and I strolled around the garden center trying to figure out what exactly we were looking at. The names are all different in German. Honestly, I've never been good at naming plants in English much less translating it to German.  So, I'm still not sure what we actually bought but they are pretty! It feels so nice out there now with some greenery.This is going to be a test for me to see if I can keep all these things alive. I am not sure if I am a gardener or not but I guess we are going to find out!

What's the story morning glory?

For the next few weeks while Chris is in the states I am working his job. Every morning I bike to the FitX at 5:00am. The trip usually takes about 20 minutes and I actually enjoy seeing the sunrise. This morning I made the trip twice. I biked there at 5am only to find out that the gym was closed until 7:00am because of electrical work that had to be done. Needless to say I ended up biking back around 6:45. The good news is that I finally snapped a couple of photos of the canal that runs through Münster. It is so pretty, this is my favorite part of the ride.

 

5:00 

6:45

What makes a house a home...

Tablecloths...

Something so simple yet why is it that table linens are so special. Growing up I always loved coming into the dinning room and finding a new tablecloth my mom had bought layed out. Or seeing my grandmother's strawberry printed one, freshly pressed ready to be used once again. I equally enjoyed pulling out our Christmas table linens, ironing them and spreading them out just before the special meal. I think I love tablecloths because I love what they symbolize. Family, food, conversation, time...home.

Last week while we were in Siegen I went to the thrift store there to browse their collection. I found this adorable white tablecloth with little white and yellow flowers embroidered all over it. So I bought it. It was only 3 euro but Paul's response when he came home and found this new bright beauty on the table was priceless, "Ahh". I love that feeling of home.

Typical...

Haha wow I am already off to a terrible start with this blog. I'm going to try to be better. Can't live in the past!

My baking adventure today was red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. One of Paul's favorites. And what kind of Southern girl would I be if this was not in my repertoire. I used an entire tube of red food dye but they still were not so red. Maybe they have different dye here in Germany. Oh well. They tasted good at least! Thank you Paula Deen.

My current project this week is making a video of the church here in Münster. Between the Waldrop's and us we have a million photos and clips that I must sort through and arrange in a cohesive manner. Chris will be showing this film in the churches he will be speaking in so its got to be good!

You know that there on some people on this planet that are ridiculously gifted it almost makes you mad. Well, my dear friend Melody is one of those people. She sings like an angel, plays piano like Mozart and draws like Da Vinci. Seriously, she is the most gifted person I know. My parents had Mel make up these portraits of us for our birthdays. This is a very old school thing to do which is why of course I love it! My grandparents had similar sketches done of them back in the day when they were newly married. And Mel did an amazing job! These pieces will be treasured in our family forever...

Tomorrow we leave for the Leadership Conference in Siegen. I am so excited to see my friends there and walk around all the old places from school. It is the place where I met my husband so I have a lot of really sweet memories. And hopefully a trip to Ikea as well! :)