Recipe: Roasted Eggplant

For those of you who care to try something a liitle different with your family this weekend, try this recipe. I adapted it from a recipe I found in my favorite cooking magazine, Fine Cooking. My Ruthie loved it and Charlie is a huge fan of eggplant. Enjoy!

Roasted Eggplant
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line 2-3 cookie sheets with parchment paper and brush with olive oil--I used flavored olive oil. Peel eggplant and trim off ends. Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch pieces. Place eggplant on oiled parchment paper. Brush tops with olive oil--again, I used flavored oil. Sprinkle with salt and herbs, if desired. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. You may have to cook the eggplant in batches. Eat while still warm and enjoy!

Alternatives: Instead of salt and herbs, you can sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese. Also, you can stack the eggplant on top of a thin slice of bread and top with tomatoe slices and thin slices of mozzarella or provolone cheese...delicious!

A.W. Tozer's Rules for Self-Discovery

Recently, I found my copy of "The Pursuit of God" by A.W. Tozer. I've been through this 31 day study before but not since having children. (Nothing like having three rug rats to re-define your perspective on life!) At the close of Day 6, is one of several powerful prayers and a list of rules for self-discovery. The premise of Day 6 is that it is of vital importance for me to understand who I am in the eyes of my Lord and Savior if I have any hope at all of pursuing Him fully. I found this list to be challenging as well as hopeful. Challenging in that I have been discovering that my priorities seem to be out of whack right now. Hopeful because I can look back at the time in my life when I first went through this study and see that God has grown me so much (PTL!).

Here is the list as well as the prayer. May God bless each of you in your pursuits as well!

Rules for Self-Discovery
What do I want most?
What do I think about most?
How do I use my money?
What do I do with my leisure time?
Whose company do I enjoy?
Who and what do I admire?
What do I laugh at?

Father, I want to know Thee, but my cowardly heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival. Then Thou shalt make the place of Thy feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for Thyself wilt be the light of it, and there shall be no night there. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Being Fruitful

This is a picture of not-quite ripe cherry tomatoes from our garden. The picture was taken over a month ago and we have since enjoyed the delicious fruit of this plant. I was looking at this picture today and thinking that God designed all of us to do what this little plant is doing. He made us to produce fruit. Some of us are meant to be prolific and some of us are meant to work our entire lives to produce one, solitary fruit. Whatever His specific design, we all share a common goal: fruit-bearing. Here are some questions I'm asking myself and you, too, can ponder. I'd love to hear your thoughts...

Am I bearing the fruit God intended me to bear? If not, why not?

Are there any "weeds" (sin) in my life preventing me from bearing fruit?

Am I allowing God to water and feed me in the Word and prayer so my fruit can be as big and healthy as possible?

Am I allowing God to be the Master Gardener in my life, trusting His pruning and care fully?

Thank You, God, for reminding me to abide in You. Keep me weed-free, pruned and able to bear fruit. Use me for what You designed. I'm wholly Yours. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Happy Birthday, My Sweet Ruthie!

Little Ruthie is 4 years old today! Happy birthday, my sweet, singing girl...

may God bless you all through the day!