My Schmapshot
I got an email today from a company called Schmap saying they “short listed” a photo I took in Boca Raton a couple years ago. It seems like the company is an online Fodors or something like that. They are a travel guide that you can download to your computer. I haven’t seen it, but I guess you can look up stuff about an area you want to visit, and it will give you restaurants and sights and stuff, with photos of things here and there.
That’s where my photo comes in. I don’t know how many people get these messages, but at least it’s a real company. I wouldn’t get paid, but it is cool to have a photo of mine selected for useful things. It will be fun to see if it gets picked.
-j
My Profanity
“If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” – Jesus, John 14:14
In Jesus’ Name…
We’re taught in church not to use the Lord’s name in vain. What that means to us is not saying things like “Oh my God!” when something crazy happens, and certainly not saying the big “G-D”. That is all well and good. I do not personally appreciate people invoking the name of God when they don’t really mean it (especially people who don’t even believe in Him…why do they keep saying His name if He doesn’t exist?).
Last night something hit me. I use Jesus’ name in vain all the time. Almost daily. Probably several times a day.
I was praying, and after I finished with my “In Jesus’ name, Amen,” I realized I didn’t mean half of what I had just said. I mean, I meant it in my head, but I didn’t really mean it in my heart. When I pray, I am speaking to my Lord and Savior. I am thanking Him for what He has done, asking His forgiveness for the sins I commit that put Him on the cross, petitioning Him to bring healing into someone’s life. At least that’s what should be happening. Instead, more often than I’d care to admit, the effect is something like, “Hey, Jesus, how’s it goin? Hey, I’m sorry for that stuff I did. I won’t do it again (but I probably will). Oh, and by the way, can you take care of this person for me? Thanks, man! I’ll holla at you later.”
I don’t mean to sound crass, but when I finished praying last night, that’s what I felt like the heart of my prayer was, even though it sounded more “spiritual”. Then to top it off, I added “In Jesus’ name” to the end. At that point, God really spoke to me and said “How dare you use My Son’s name so flippantly? After all He’s done for you, you have that much disrespect for His authority?” I had to repent for praying the way I did, and today it hurts me that I hurt Him so much yesterday.
His name is not just a name. It’s not just something we say. It has power. It has strength. It has victory. He said himself that if we ask anything – *anything* – in His name, He will do it. There isn’t a person alive who can claim that kind of integrity. Even more than integrity, sometimes the stuff He does in His name is literally impossible for humans to do. I believe there is much, much more to the name of Jesus than we realize. It’s no wonder the Jews didn’t write out God’s name. They realized the power in it. Somehow I think I have lost that realization, and I want it back.
Think about this the next time you pray. Are you praying as if you’re speaking to the Love of your life, your Savior, your God? Do you really mean what you’re saying, or is it just habit? Be careful how you use Jesus’ name in your prayers…you may find you’re almost as profane as I am.
-j
My Next Trip
The school in Lambaré is ready for its addition, and time has been planned for December and January to have work teams go down to help build. I would love to be a part of that, but it doesn’t seem possible. However, I know that if it’s in God’s will, He will make a way. Please pray for me in this regard. Pray that God will open the door if He would like me to go back down. He’d have to open financial doors as well as work-related doors.
That’s really all. I thought I’d throw that out there. Thank you for your support.
-j
My Mbattle is Mbover!
After three tries of making this stuff with no luck, I finally emailed Karen. She wrote me back and I think I have finally succeeded in making something that remotely resembles what I ate in Paraguay!
And after the first taste, I say we have a winner. I still have to work out some ratios, but generally speaking, this is the stuff I ate. I love it!
My Near Kill
The strangest thing happened on the way to work today. You know how sometimes you’ll be driving down the road and some box or paper or something rolls out from under the car in front of you? That’s not what happened today.
It was a kitten. And I’m near certain it actually fell out from under the truck. That is to say the kitten had been riding in/on/under the truck and decided to fall off at the intersection of Williamsburg and Main. I thought it was just a bag or something as it tumbled along from wind or momentum. But bags don’t get up and run away. And they don’t have eyes, whiskers, and cute pink noses.
I slowed down abruptly hoping to avoid a collision. It felt like I might have hit it, but I didn’t see anything oozing life when I checked my mirrors. I hope the little tyke made it across, but it was a pretty busy intersection.
The lady’s going to get home to her kids asking, “Mommy, where’s Fluffy? He was playing by your car this morning…” Poor Fluffy. Poor kids. They have no idea.
-j
My Mbattle With Mbeju: The Mbeginning
There’s this really awesome food in Paraguay called mbeju (bay-joo). There really isn’t anything here to compare it to except maybe a really dry cheesy tortilla, but I can guarantee that what you’re picturing now is nothing at all like mbeju. The closest comparison I can think of off hand is if you mix bread crumbs with cheese and fry it.
Karen, my Paraguay mom (I hope she doesn’t mind me saying that…she’s not that much older than me), made this a couple times as well as some of the people from church and from school. She sent me home with a few kilos of a key ingredient that I can’t get here, so I am making small batches in an effort to perfect this culinary delight. It’s essentially simple…equal parts mandioca flour (starch) and corn flour, and half that much of cheese and lard (I never said it was particularly healthy). Fry it up in a skillet like a pancake and serve hot. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?
The first lesson I learned is that corn MEAL is not an acceptable substitute for corn FLOUR. I mixed everything together and it definitely was yellow (mbeju is white), but looked to have the same consistency as Karen’s mixture. I tried frying it and learned that corn meal is too coarse to stick together. I couldn’t flip it to cook the other side, so I flipped over as much as I could and let it sit for a minute. My kitchen smelled like popcorn. When I ate it, none of it stayed together, and it tasted like cheesy popcorn, only nasty. I ended up throwing most of it away.
I tried again the next night, this time adding more cheese. Maybe cheese will help it stay together appropriately. No dice. The cheese just burned, and while it stayed together a little better, it was still nasty. But at least that one was more edible.
So far, mbeju has the advantage. But I will be victorious. The photo is my first attempt at this wonderful snack.
Mbeju 2, Jason 0
-j