Apple Zucchini Crostini

All summer long I've been on a zucchini binge - grilling, roasting, sauteing...whatever. So when I came across this recipe, I knew I had to try it. The flavors are a late summer combination. It's a zucchini relish, black pepper, goat cheese atop a toasted baguette. It was so delicious. The sweetness of the apple pairs so nicely with the zucchini and goat cheese and the black pepper keeps it from being too sweet. It's an important flavor. Here are a few pics of them.

Daddy's Girl

Growing up, I was a complete daddy's girl. In my eyes, my dad could do no wrong and whatever he said was gold. I always remember his kisses. I loved his smell, his whiskers, his rough skin but most of all, I loved the way he made me feel. It's moments like the picture above that I know are building in Kate's heart too. She will one day realize the amazing father she has been given. It is a gift to watch the two of them knowing the important role Brent will play in her life. He's the one who will tell her she is beautiful and she believes it. He's the one who will tell her she can do anything she wants and she believes it. He's the one who tells her she deserves only the best and she listens.

only a father's love...
think I'll go call my dad.

Birthday Dinner

As most of you know, I love food. Period. But only good food. So when Brent's parents said they were taking me to Fearings for my birthday, you know how excited I was. The night was so fun and of course, the food was once again, pleasurable beyond words. This was our fourth time to eat at Fearings. Almost every night, the chef Dean Fearing walks around and greets each table. I have meet him four times now and still every time, my face turns bright red. One time he told me I was a "pretty lady" and I almost threw up. He is a big celebrity in my world. I'm dying for him to challenge Bobby Flay on Iron Chef. Anyway, here are some pics from the night.


Is it weird if I make this our family Christmas card for '08?

A Must Read

My friend, Karli wrote this post on her blog and it is one of the most beautiful things I've read. It's really long, but worth every minute. I promise you will meditate on it for days. Hope you enjoy...

Who are your heroes and why?

My Biblical hero is Mary, Mother of Jesus… (and you could put the other two Marys in there but at a distant second). This all goes back to the picture above… Kissing the Face of God. As I've said in previous blogs, as Protestants, we have put so much effort into distancing ourselves from the heresies around the Virgin Mary that we have overlooked the profound gift and favor that God bestowed upon this little Jewish girl 2000 years ago. Mary carried GOD in her womb for nine glorious months and when the time was right, she delivered Him into the earth in a dirty little stable in Bethlehem. She looked upon her firstborn son and beheld His beauty and felt things in her heart that only a mother can understand in those first few moments with your child… but think about this, she wasn't just gazing at her first child, she was beholding GOD Himself in the flesh. GOD was a little baby looking up at her with squinty eyes overwhelmed by the light that He actually created! Mary was holding her Savior in her arms, and as she kissed the little baby that filled her heart with a mother's joy, she was in fact kissing the very face of God. Mary nursed the Creator of galaxies at her breast and sustained the life of the Word made flesh as He grew in strength and wisdom on the earth. Think about watching Jesus interact with His brothers and sisters or knowing who He really was as He walked through the synagogue unnoticed and unseen though the words they read were His story. Mary knew something about Jesus in a way that no one else did while He was on the earth, simply because of how He was conceived within her. (Um, that last statement alone causes my heart to tremble… "how HE was conceived within her.") Even if in her humanity it didn't all make sense (and I'm sure she didn't completely understand), she knew that she knew He wasn't a normal man like any other man… not just a teacher, not just a prophet, but the Son of God Himself. (Luke 1:35) The word says that she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart… as she watched Jesus, her son, grow, she was pondering God, gazing on His beauty, doing the one thing needed and the one thing desired. (Luke 10:38-42, Psalm 27:4) And a sword would truly pierce her heart… can you imagine the depth of Mary's love and pain as she watched her son and her Savior die on the Cross? And can you imagine the heights of her joy at the Resurrection… and when she at last saw Him again face to face when her time on earth was spent. I think (and this is personal conjecture, not absolute truth) that Jesus even looks like Mary… again, this is my opinion, but can you imagine looking at the face of God, the second Person of the Trinity, and realizing that He has your nose or your eyes!?!? That is INSANE!

So why is she my hero? Because all I really want is to be that close to Jesus. I want that kind of invitation into who He is and what He's like. I want to spend ALL OF ETERNITY in that proximity to Him. You know, the foundations of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21) may have the names of the twelve apostles on them… and people may talk (imagine) of what specific "job" they will be doing in the Age to Come when we rule and reign with Christ in the Millennial Kingdom… but personally, my goal and my heart's desire is to be wherever it is that Mary dwells in the Age to Come, if that's possible. I want to be that close to Jesus, sit at His feet and hear His voice, make Him dinner (don't laugh… He ate after the Resurrection, you know!) wash His feet with my endlessly grateful tears, love Him, worship Him, and minister to His every desire… why would I do anything else or go anywhere else!? I don't know if that is real (in terms of actual eternal "job descriptions") but that is my desire. I call it the "Mary Room" in the Age to Come :) Where all the Mary's (Mary of Bethany, Mary His mother, and Mary Mag) dwell for Eternity with Christ… and maybe a broken little vessel named Karli. I just made that place up, obviously, (so don't go quoting me on that like it's a theological truth), but it (the heart behind it) is where every fiber of my being longs to be… that close, that dear, that near to my Jesus for my forever. So, who are you heroes and why?

NEW POST

The next time you feel the "mundane-ness" of mommy-world and the day to day work of being a mom overwhelms you… or if you are like me and you have those moments when you sit down at the end of a long day and wonder where it all went, with fond but distant memories of those days when time was so plentiful, when you could sit and read the Word and worship for long stretches without a need, a cry from the monitor, or a "Mommy can I" to interrupt… and maybe, just maybe, an accusation hits you like an arrow to your heart that you have become "less spiritual" now or that this labor and calling of motherhood is somehow less important in the Body of Christ…

(And let's be honest, we ALL have those days, don't we?)

Remember this. The ABSOLUTE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON in Jesus' life while He was on the earth was not a prophet, not the teacher in the synagogue, and not the rulers of the earth… it was almost certainly His mother. God had a mother. She bathed Him. She fed Him. She made His clothes. She taught Him. She rocked Him to sleep. She gave her every moment to her son, the Son, expecting nothing in return just because she loved Him.

God had a mother. (That's a mother's day sermon that'll preach, huh?)

So next time you have one of those days, just ask Him, with a weak little whisper from your heart, how He feels about us… about mothers. I dare you :) May His answer surprise you and overwhelm you without end…

(Oh, and by the way (for my Stephen), God had an earthly father too… we cannot forget dear Joseph… nor does the Lord forget the Dads…)

Fun in the Park

Kate and I met "Aunt" Jenifer and her two kids, Lilly & Will, for a fun afternoon at the Botanical Gardens. We packed the kids lunch and ate under the shaded picnic tables. Afterwards we joined the other 100 moms and played with the kids on the playground. Beautiful day with great friends! Here are a few pics:


Mr. Will Grubbs





Poor Kate. She was so exhausted.


Jen & Will

Good Morning

Kate and I have been loving this Dallas weather. Here are a couple of pics from our morning workout.





Notice her cute baby Uggs.

Blog Makeover

As I wrote in my last blog, I've been really uninspired to write. So I thought I needed a blog makeover. That's usually my answer to life when things are blah. Here are a few recent pics to tide you over.

Kate and Evan Schipper at Pump It Up:























































The only thing Kate wanted to play with.



















Playing dress up with Momma.



















Kate's new ride.