Rest, Riposo, Descanso, отдых, De rust

At biblestudy this week, we looked at the meaning of rest as we started Hebrews 4. There are many kinds of rest (ie earthly, eternal, physical, spiritual, etc). We were asked to define rest.

My short answer was "ceasing".

My long answer was: "Ceasing from work, effort, responsibility, burdens, activity or movement. Rest can be purposeful or physically, mentally, or emotionally necessary."

We often think of rest (in this life) as taking a breather physically. We run, then we rest. We madly clean up, then we rest. That is true, though I believe it can go much further than that. Because of some certain Circumstances in my life this year, I have learned how valuable and necessary rest is for one's heart. The Lord has also used a dear friend to teach me more about rest. I thank God that He has given my heart great rest in the last 8 weeks or so. I sense it greatly and it's so refreshing. I think of people who face sorrow and grief, and when that time of sorrow has passed, one's heart may rest again (and sometimes God gives rest in the midst of sorrow). Joy often accompanies the rest that follows sorrow. A verse that often comes to mind when taking a "heart breather" is "Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." Psalm 116:7. Rest is offered from our God not only in the time to come but also while we are on this earth.

Rest sometimes involves the lack of being burdened. If I have a particular week that feels overly hectic for me, I crave a free evening. And I purposely plan free evenings (or Saturdays) regularly in order to cease from busyness, even if it is good busyness. That is good for where I am in my life now. I know people who are fatigued have learned through their own mistakes and successes what it means to rest, to cease. If you are a naturally busy, on-the-go-person, your first reaction to the idea of rest might also include thoughts of laziness. Stopping, ceasing, taking quiet time to rest may leave you feeling guilty that you ought to be doing something. However, I also can imagine how hard it is to rest when you are a parent or have many responsibilities.

What do you think of when you think of rest? How do you rest?

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I wanted to add that rest on the Sabbath is a given for me....and the rest I refer to above is rest that I have to be more purposeful about. Thanks to Noah for his comment which reminded me to clarify that.

A Poll I Made Up

:: Ahem ::

:: rustling of papers ::

:: blink, blink ::

Ok.

1. What kind of physical activity did you do today? Pilates
2. Have you ever rotated a Queen mattress by yourself? Why yes, just last night, in fact. Funny you should ask.
3. Do you always cross your legs like you are doing now? Quite often, yes
4. Are you happy that the smokers in the apartment below you appear to be moving out? Very much so.
5. Have you finally done what is necessary to have your grill working again? Yes and no. I know that I need to try a new tank. It took me long enough to simply look at the back of the grill to find the model number (10 months). Anyone have a guess as to how long it'll take to take the tank to be replaced now that I know the tank is the issue (yes and even though your parents told you that several times already)?
6. How many times have you been to Starbucks in the last 2 weeks? Um, I think... :: counting :: ...four?
7. Do you think the triple shot of espresso in your drink will affect your sleep tonight? Probably not, though it could be affecting the content of this post
8. Why do you think the check engine light went on in your car again tonight? Hopefully because I didn't twist the gas cap enough yesterday. I will find out tomorrow (do you ask these questions of everyone Mr., I mean, Miss Pollster?).
9. How long did it take you to come up with this question? About a minute. You mean THIS question, right? Yes, about a minute.
10. Do you want your readers to comment and make up their own poll? Why certainly! That is a brilliant idea.
11. Last question, I had to throw this in. Did you really look up in an online thesaurus a synonym for "splendid"? And did you, in fact, decide to use the word brilliant instead? Yes, I did. I have always admired those who have a more creative vocabulary than me (Hi Catherine!).

Photo Quiz #4

Quiz #3 Answers

Answers to Quiz #3:
#1 A portion of orange-handled scissors
#2 Q-tips

Many got Q-tips right, but Auntie Chris was the only one to get scissors right with her revised answer. Nice job, everyone!

Quiz #4 will be posted this week!

Don't Play With Your Food (or, How to Make Guacamole)

I was playing with my food yesterday, being a Cooking Light photographer-food-stylist wanna-be. I would rather have had better tortilla chips to work with, but, eh, you do what you can, right?

The progress of guacamole (can you identify the ingredients in the second picture?):

I have been tagged!

This is my first time being tagged, and I was done so by Catherine (a woman I greatly like and admire and wish I could meet! She's my virtual friend!). I love talking about books and I have linked many of them to amazon in my answers.

1. One book that changed your life: Desiring God by John Piper
2. One book that you’ve read more than once: Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers (retelling of Hosea set in 1800s)
3. One book you’d want on a desert island: Well, with the hope that the desert island is not a deserted island, I would take a leisurely book along which I haven't yet read, such as The Warrior by Francine Rivers, and I would sit on the beach.
4. One book that made you laugh: I had a hard time with this one for some reason. Ummm.....my journals? Seriously, I recently read a past journal from college and laughed out loud at some of the things I said. I once felt that I could relate to Elizabeth Prentiss (she wrote Stepping Heavenward), a woman in history who suffered great physical ailments and was close to death many times. Readers, I had a COLD when I felt that I could relate to her. Not.even.close.Alicia.
5. One book that made you cry: Thorn In My Heart by Liz Curtis Higgs
6. One book that you wish had been written: How to Eat Jif Peanut Butter From the Jar Everyday and Not Gain an Ounce
7. One book that you wish had never been written: The Koran
8. One book you’re currently reading: Secret Longings of the Heart by Carol Kent
9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History by Thomas Woods (I am hideously weak on US History) AND (sorry M&D, I know you got this for me two Christmasas ago...I have started it, at least)
10. Now tag five people: Auntie Chris, Mom, Dad, Laura and Kristy. I'd love to hear answers from others! Those of you who were tagged who do not have a blog can post as a comment if you want.

Wipe the Dust Off Your Rhythm

My friend Meg (Hi Meg!) led me to a site recently as I was trying to figure out the name of a country song I heard this week. I can't remember much of the words, but I liked it. You all now how that goes. Naturally, I desired to find out more about it and belt my melodic voice along in perfect tune (riiiiiiight). So Meg said, try www.songtapper.com to find the title. The demo, for one thing, is hilarious. Now on to tapping songs - I had a different country song in my head and actually tapped that song and not the song I really wanted to know about, haha. Try again. Tap tap tap, etc. I could only come up with 7 taps of the mystery song, and alas, Song Tapper requires at least 10. So I gave up on finding the song and moved on to experimenting with other songs to see if Song Tapper would be right. I tried two, and both times, the song didn't come up. So here is a test for you, folks. A test of rhythm, matching finger taps on the keyboard with what is in your good-looking head, and of the program itself to tell you the song you tapped. Pick a song, any song, and off you go...tap, tap tap.

Did it work?

(and yes, this is me admitting that I like country music, if for some reason you did not know that previously.)

Oh, Neighbors, Neighbors, Neighbors. Bad Neighbors.

I was quite entertained by and also sympathetic for the people in a Certain Situation I read about on a website recently. This site collects stories having to do with atrocious etiquette in a variety of siuations. The story is in the "Neighbor" category. I can't quite place my finger on what it is that makes these people tick (besides lacking Christ) in such a rude and offensive way. Read on and find your mind boggled, your head shaking and your mind trying to come up with right words for them should you have the opportunity to meet these neighborly folk yourself.

Photo Quiz #3

Here you go! You have a week.

Photo Quiz #2 Answers

The answers to this week's photo quiz are:

1. Hand juicer
2. Corn silk

Way to go to those who guessed right! The next quiz will be posted this weekend.

Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad

I added a new recipe to my "Salads" link to the left, which I made last night. Or click here to view it (and try it!). It is a good dinner or lunch main dish salad.

Something to hold you over until Season 6 of "24" starts in January.....

My favorite "Jack Bauer Facts":

• When someone asks him how his day is going, Jack replies, "Previously, on 24..."
• Passed out, surrounded by terrorists and nerve gas, and handcuffed to a table leg, Jack Bauer laughed to himself and said, "I have them right where I want them."
• Jack Bauer is the only human in the world with the ability to make Chloe O'Brien drop the personality disorder and patch him through.
• If everyone on "24" followed Jack Bauer's instructions, it would be called "12".
• Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.
• Lets get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.
• Jack Bauer once won a game of Connect 4 in 3 moves.
• Don't ever ask Jack Bauer what is going on. He'll explain in the car.

Lip-Smacking Salad. Oh yes, it is.

I was very pleased with how a new salad turned out for dinner tonight, Arugula, Roasted Tomato, and Goat Cheese Salad. I had some arugula left over from a couple other recipes and searched on cookinglight.com for highest rated recipes containing arugula. This salad was one of the results, and it is now stored in the "Salads" link to the left. It has a wonderful blend of flavors, and I didn't even have time to roast the tomatoes. I will do that next time though to get the full flavor. All else was as directed.

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Second photo quiz down below if you haven't seen it yet.

Top F I V E, I mean F O U R, er, T H R E E

In light of the incredible blessing that God gives us to enjoy simple things in life, what are your top three (or any number you choose)....
1. bands/singers
2. tools (kitchen or garage, etc)
3. vacation spots
4. books (after the Bible) (lately, or all-time)
5. things that cheer you up

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Mine:
1. Sara Groves, U2, and Caedmon's Call (but instrumental movie soundtracks are right up there)
2. Chef's knife, camera, and a roller-ball pen for journaling (later revision: add my food processor)
3. Oregon, Grand Tetons (have yet to go), and Scotland
4. Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, and Redeeming Love
5. 75-degree weather with sun and a breeze, Asher & Micah, and reading Scripture

Photo Quiz #2

I can't determine whether this will be easy or hard. I'll post the answer in a week, or sooner if enough people beg.


If you want an extra challenge, try this one:

Full Moon....Beware

Not really, but check this out! I love my camera!

My How He Grows

Asher is about 8 months old and has changed quite a bit from when he was 8 weeks. He's so fun. Readers, if you only knew!

Strange Photos

This link boasts 99 strange photos....take look. Many are indeed strange (and fascinating), particuarly #40.

Answer to Picture Quiz #1

(quiz found here)

1) A wire hand-held strainer
2) Grape Nuts!

Many of you got the answers right or were pretty close. Thanks, everyone, for playing! I'll do another quiz this week. Here is the original picture of the strainer before cropping. The Grape Nuts picture wasn't cropped.

Answer to Quiz #1

I will post the answer to quiz #1 soon, so post your answers while you can! Hurry! No time to lose! Forget everything else! Time is of the essence! Who cares if you haven't eaten for days or taken a shower! Let your children cry!

I'll do another quiz this week.
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There is a new coffee cake recipe I tried last week for a camping trip. I was quite pleased with it (as were fellow campers), and I added it to my "Side Dishes" link on the left (or click here). Note: I baked it 10 minutes less than recipe directions.

Going Wild

Shot some more pictures tonight. See my album for more.

Photo Quiz #1!

Here are a couple photos I took tonight. Can you guess what these two pictures are? Post your guesses and I'll reveal the answer later on.