Homemade Salsa

One of my favourite things on the internet is following cooking and baking blogs!  I have found a few treasures that make me laugh so hard it hurts with their writing and drool uncontrollably with their recipes and pictures.  I tried having a food page on this blog once, but it didn't fly.  For one, it takes incredible creativity, time and energy, and I could not do it justice.  For two, I tend to blog about more serious heart topics.  I work out a lot of what I am learning on here.

That being said, yesterday I attempted to can my own homemade salsa, and thought it would be fun to share some pictures from my exhausting but rewarding day!  

I even laid out all the ingredients before hand and pre-measured my spices in pretty glass bowls for a pre-cooking picture

After everything was chopped it was into the pots to boil for 1 1/2 hours!  

The end result is 14 jars of sweet salsa!  I am very happy with it!  Special thanks to Diana who came to hang out with me and take care of Jordyn while I chopped, cooked and canned.  I am looking so forward to cracking open the first jar with a big ol' bag of whole wheat tostitos!  Now if I could only get the smell of onions off of my hands....  

Another Year of Life

Today, on my birthday, I am thankful for...

Life!

• That I have been given another year of life myself
• The new life of Jordyn that I am still in awe of recieving
• The life that I have with Kevin here in Wingham, full of music and friends, laughter and fun, growing ourselves and trying to be a blessing to others
• The life that I have inside - Christ dwelling in me, delighting in me, molding me into the woman He wants me to be

Equal Not Same

A few weeks ago we were browsing on Netflix for a movie to watch.  We came across one movie called "Two Weeks" about four adult children saying goodbye to their dying mother and also dealing with things between each other.  We watched the movie preview, but didn't end up watching that movie.  But there was a line from the movie preview that caught my attention and has not left my mind since.

The dying mother character in the movie was making a video for her kids.  I haven't seen the movie, but it appears that all four of her kids are very different from each other, and obviously do not get along with each other.  The mom says, "I love you all equally, but I don't love you all the same."

I love you equally but not the same.  I find this a fascinating and freeing thought.  That the amount of love you have for someone does not necessarily dictate how that love is shown.  Especially when there are multiple people being included - for example in this movie - a woman has four children and loves them all but shows that love uniquely to each child depending on who they are and the relationship they have built.  Or I also think of three young ladies I know who have a best friend triangle between them.  They each love the others so much.  But I am sure if I asked them, they do not probably love each of the other two the same.  They get along as a threesome wonderfully, but I would bet the three separate one-on-one relationships that make up the friendship are all unique to the others.  

There is no cookie-cutter way to love your friends, your family, your neighbors.  I do not even think God shows His love to each of us the same - equally yes, but perhaps not the same.  In the big grand narrative He ultimately showed His love for us by sending Jesus, who died in our place on the cross and rose again to conquer sin so that we could have right relationship with God - this is for all of us.  But God made each of us and knows us inside and out.  He walks with us each day and I am sure shows His love for you and me in ways that we can understand, in ways that meet us where we are.  

I think this takes out the "should" in loving others.  I should do this for so-and-so because I did it for that person.  I should make sure that my siblings, or my friends, or my children get the exact same measure of my love.  Instead, it becomes a matter of being present in each relationship and uniquely loving each one in ways that will speak to them and touch their hearts.  One friend may need a crazy fun night out once a month, and another a weekly chat over coffee.  But in all of this, we continue to love each other more and more.

Never Be the Same

One month ago our sweet baby girl was born.  Jordyn Grace, 10:03 am on July 6th after 11 hours of labour,  7 lbs, 14 oz, 21 inches.  Details that will be forever ingrained in my memory.  I knew on that day that our lives would never be the same again, though I didn't really know what that meant yet.  Now, one month later, I have a growing understanding of what it means to be parents, what this huge event in our lives is going to mean for us.  On a day to day basis, I am learning what it means to take care of a daughter.  To make sure she is fed, changed, and sleeping at the right times, to hold her and comfort her when needed.  But also in my heart I am learning what it means to have a daughter.  I now know a totally new kind of love that is also going to change me and because of her existence in my life I will never be who I was one month ago again.  I always knew that having a child would teach me so much about God, about love.  That in becoming a mother, and experiencing this kind of love, that I would have a new understanding for His love for us.  And this is already true.  His love is not based on anything we have done, it is pure and complete and based solely on the fact that He is our Father.  Jordyn is one month old, and has really done nothing yet except exist, but already Kevin and I love her so much.  Our love for her is not based on accomplishment or performance, but on the fact that she is our daughter.  I am excited to continue on this adventure, though with a mix of overwhelming awe and nervousness as well.  I am excited to learn who this little girl is going to be.  I walk forward in humility and dependence on God.  


Happy One Month Jordyn!