For the second year in a row, Mark Mayer (with the help of Frank Strakonsky and Cliff
Meyer) made his awesome chicken soup for the tour of churches, at Calvary's open house. Folks
are always asking for the recipe. So, without further ado, here it is:
Ingredients:
- 1 (5lb) chicken
- 1/3 Cup Parsley (Fresh) Chopped
- 1/2 Onion Diced
- 1 Stick of butter
- 8 Eggs - Hard Boiled
- 2.5 lbs Red Potatoes (washed diced unpeeled)
- 1 lb Frozen Sweet White Corn
- 2 Cans Cream of Corn
- 3 Cans Whole Kernel Golden Corn
- 1/3 Cup of Chicken Base
- Salt (to taste)
- Pepper (to taste)
Directions:
In large stockpot add chicken, chopped parsley, diced onion, butter and salt. Fill with water above chicken. Bring to boil and simmer 45 minutes (partially covered).
Hard boil eggs in separate pot.
Remove chicken from stockpot to let cool. Add diced potatoes to stockpot and continue to simmer. While simmering add chicken base, pulled meat from chicken, cream of corn, whole kernel corn, frozen white corn and diced hard-boiled eggs. Salt and Pepper
Bring to easy boil and let simmer 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are done.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
On Ordinary and Extraordinary Things (and People)
So it's been a few weeks since my last posting...though I am sure (well, hopeful at least) that everyone understands since about a week after my last post, I gave birth to our little girl Anna. I'm toying with a second blog to post more about motherhood-related topics, so if you're interested in that, you can check out my other blog (should be linked off my profile now, and I'll post the link later when I've got more posted there).
The past two Sundays, as we've begun Advent at Calvary, Ken as been preaching on the ordinary men and women of the Christmas story, through then lens of the genealogy of Jesus. The main point, of course, for both the men and the women, is that God takes the ordinary (and really, the less than ordinary, the not-worthy) and God makes them part of an extraordinary story--of what God has done and is doing. The men of Jesus' lineage are not always all the fine and upstanding--in fact as Ken pointed out, in at least several generations, God passes Jesus' lineage through the seemingly less respectable (i.e. more crafty or apparently unethical) brother. And many of the women of the genealogy are certainly not who you'd choose. Several are not themselves Jewish, but married into the people of Israel (odd since the Old Testament is often quite harsh in God's commands to the men of Israel not to marry women outside the community) and sometimes, like with Rahab, they're darn shady (she was a prostitute).
All of this gives us hope, doesn't it? That God can and does work through us as well. In fact, it is often precisely when we think are are not worthy to be part of God's great work in the world that we are best able to be used for God's purposes. It's when we empty ourselves of our plans, our ambitions and our need for recognition that God can best shine through us.
This is true not only of people but also of our ability to appreciate God's blessing in our lives. It is in the plain, ordinary moments that we are often most surprised by God's power and presence. I am constantly reminded of this now as a new mom. It's the mornings I wake up, after Anna has had a particularly fitful night of sleep and I have even perhaps been awake more than asleep, and yet quite beyond myself I somehow find the energy (usually it takes a least a shower to get there though!) to quash my tired-grumpiness and just be a mom, recognizing that is what babies do, and Anna simply doesn't know anything different. It's in the moments seemingly small as Chris and I see her becoming more aware of the world, able to see more, being awake more to start to get to know this new world she's a part of, that I am even more amazed at how this whole life thing works.
And it's in the gentle reassurance and encouragement of so many, from family to friends on Facebook, people at church, and even women on some of the online discussion boards (as they encourage one another) that I am reminded that one of the greatest ordinary yet extraordinary parts of our lives is that we are not alone. Not only do we have a God who is always faithful and always with us, but we are connected to so many people who like us, lead ordinary lives, but through whose love and care, we find ourselves doing extraordinary things.
This Advent and Christmas, I hope you have a chance to see the extraordinary in the ordinary around you--especially all the ways that the simplest relationships in your life give evidence of the amazing presence of God all around us and the truth that we are never on our own.
The past two Sundays, as we've begun Advent at Calvary, Ken as been preaching on the ordinary men and women of the Christmas story, through then lens of the genealogy of Jesus. The main point, of course, for both the men and the women, is that God takes the ordinary (and really, the less than ordinary, the not-worthy) and God makes them part of an extraordinary story--of what God has done and is doing. The men of Jesus' lineage are not always all the fine and upstanding--in fact as Ken pointed out, in at least several generations, God passes Jesus' lineage through the seemingly less respectable (i.e. more crafty or apparently unethical) brother. And many of the women of the genealogy are certainly not who you'd choose. Several are not themselves Jewish, but married into the people of Israel (odd since the Old Testament is often quite harsh in God's commands to the men of Israel not to marry women outside the community) and sometimes, like with Rahab, they're darn shady (she was a prostitute).
All of this gives us hope, doesn't it? That God can and does work through us as well. In fact, it is often precisely when we think are are not worthy to be part of God's great work in the world that we are best able to be used for God's purposes. It's when we empty ourselves of our plans, our ambitions and our need for recognition that God can best shine through us.
This is true not only of people but also of our ability to appreciate God's blessing in our lives. It is in the plain, ordinary moments that we are often most surprised by God's power and presence. I am constantly reminded of this now as a new mom. It's the mornings I wake up, after Anna has had a particularly fitful night of sleep and I have even perhaps been awake more than asleep, and yet quite beyond myself I somehow find the energy (usually it takes a least a shower to get there though!) to quash my tired-grumpiness and just be a mom, recognizing that is what babies do, and Anna simply doesn't know anything different. It's in the moments seemingly small as Chris and I see her becoming more aware of the world, able to see more, being awake more to start to get to know this new world she's a part of, that I am even more amazed at how this whole life thing works.
And it's in the gentle reassurance and encouragement of so many, from family to friends on Facebook, people at church, and even women on some of the online discussion boards (as they encourage one another) that I am reminded that one of the greatest ordinary yet extraordinary parts of our lives is that we are not alone. Not only do we have a God who is always faithful and always with us, but we are connected to so many people who like us, lead ordinary lives, but through whose love and care, we find ourselves doing extraordinary things.
This Advent and Christmas, I hope you have a chance to see the extraordinary in the ordinary around you--especially all the ways that the simplest relationships in your life give evidence of the amazing presence of God all around us and the truth that we are never on our own.
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