Let's Put Away Resentment

Resentment.  I know that everyone has to deal with it.  But doesn’t it sometimes seem as wives and mothers that we are just swimming in it?  Why doesn’t my husband ever have to scrub the bathtub?  Why can’t the kids just feed themselves a nutritious meal for once?  Why don’t others put in as much time and effort volunteering for our community as I do?

I don’t know about you, but sometimes the resentment is so deep, I actually start drowning in it.

(Source: On Scene Magazine: Fall 2006 (page 14))

The bible uses many words to help describe resentment.  Pride, anger, and bitterness are just a few.  If you want to get really fancy you can even use wrath or vexation.  Recently, I have been so vexed by the fact that no one else in my family can take out the recycling, I am about to just go dump it into their beds.

So what does a Godly woman do about resentment?  You might feel like moping around the house trying to get someone to pay extra attention to you.  You may flat out yell at your children because SERIOUSLY?  Can they put their dirty clothes in the hamper already?  Or if you are like me, you may make a snide, underhanded remark about how your husband never does anything around the house, as he is walking out the door for a 10 hour work day.  (Hey baby…..I know that isn’t true and I am sorry.)  Obviously, none of these scenarios are very God-like.

Ephesians 4:31 says, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with malice.”  I purposely bolded the words “be put away from you”, because these are some words we all should concentrate on when surrounding yourself in a sea of resentment.

(Image Source : imagekind for purchase)

As sinners, we dive right into the resentment sea thinking that our time, our motivations, and our accomplishments, are better or more important compared to everyone else.  Then, we quickly feel the effects of this self-centered mind set of resentment through, anger, jealousy, bitterness, and disappointment.   Job 5:2 warns us that when we are in a constant state of anger and jealousy, we will suffer.  “Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.”

As women of God we must put resentment far far away from us.  First we need to confess our sin of resentment and ask the Lord to forgive us.  We must then ask Him to constantly show us when the bitterness and anger that accompanies resentment, is present in our lives.  We all know that love is patient and kind from 1 Corinthians 13, but do you remember that love is also “not irritable or resentful”?  We need to ask God to put resentment away from us, and replace it with His love.

I encourage you to place the happiness sucking, relationship destroying, suffocating sea of resentment, into the hands of God.  He is big enough, He is strong enough, and he will always be there to guide you if you fall back in.

(Image Source: Diviant Art by XPI August 23, 2011)

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Dijon Maple Chicken

Chicken.  Chicken. Chicken.  We eat a lot of chicken at my house.  Lately though, it has been getting a bit blah.  I want TASTE and ZIP and ZING! 

I am also a busy mom though, who doesn’t have time to get kids’ homework finished, fold the laundry, drive to swim team, AND make a fabulous new dish every freaking night of the week.

No I am not bitter…….just tired of food.  Food is such a pain in the ass. Buying it, putting it away, fixing it, cleaning it up, storing it, and loading & unloading the dishwasher……3x a day!  

Oh yeah, and then there is the planning and trying be healthy.  Gah!  I am so tired of food.  When I lamented my woes to my husband, his reply was, “But honey, you are keeping me alive.”

Okay, I guess food is good for something.  And now……back to chicken.

I found this recipe torn out of a magazine.  (I am not sure which one, but the article mentions a Trader Joe’s Cookbook.)  It was easy, and had ZINGtastik flavor.  The clean-up would have also been easy, if I would have remembered to non-stick spray the pan.

Dijon Maple Chicken
(The pictures are just so so.  Remember, I am tired.) 

Ingredients:

·        6 boneless skinless chicken thighs with the fat trimmed off

·        ½ cup Dijon mustard

·        ¼ cup maple syrup

·        1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar(I think white vinegar would do also)

·        Salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Place chicken thighs in baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  In a small bowl, combine mustard, syrup, and vinegar.  Pour over the chicken thighs.  Turn the thighs in the dish so they get all saucy.  It should look like this...

Place the dish in the oven for 40 minutes, basting with the sauce after the first 20 minutes.  Remove chicken from oven and let it sit for a few minutes so it’s not boiling.  Baste the chicken with the sauce when serving.  Serve with rice or pasta and veggies.

The flavor of the chicken is more mustardy than maple-like…….savory and oh so tender.  Leftovers are great diced up and tossed into a salad.

Now go and non-stick-spray your baking dish so you don’t have to scrape it out the next morning, like I do.

You're So Lucky I Made This

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I am a little ashamed to admit that I have no idea why we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.  Other than the wearing of green, the pinching, and the green beer of course, I am at a loss.  I will have to Google it as soon as I finish this blog post.

If you are looking around the blogosphere however, you may find that St. Patrick’s day is all about the Shamrock Shake at McDonald’s.  They are evidently pretty good and now available at ALL McDonald’s this year.  Except, dear dear Ronald, you seem to have forgotten all the McDonald’s in Japan.  What’s up with that?

Lucky for us, there is no shortage of “copy-cat” recipes on the internet.  And as usual, I am adding my own special touches, which will undoubtedly make them much much better than the real thing.  Plus, it will be much much easier than driving three arguing sisters through the drive-thru at Micky D’s……which I probably wouldn’t do even if I could.

So here they are folks! My…………

You’re So Lucky I Made These For You Mint Milkshakes

Ingredients:

·        2 cups of vanilla ice cream (I used Dryer's 1/2 Fat Vanilla)

·        1 cup milk

·        ½ tsp peppermint extract

·        ¼ tsp green food coloring

·        Whipped topping

·        Shaved or chopped up Andes mints

Put the ice cream, milk, peppermint, and food coloring in a blender.  Blend until smooth.  Pour into glasses.  Top with whipped cream.  I chose Reddi Whip because I NEVER buy it and the girls are always begging for it. 

Don't forget the green fingernails.

Finally, sprinkle on the mint chocolate bits.

Drink it right away.  Don’t take pictures for your blog or you have to drink the melted one.  Boo. 

Goal #13.  Make a “green” lunch or special treat for Brian and the girls on St. Patrick’s Day.  Complete! (101 Goals in 2012)

PS  By using the ½ Fat Vanilla Ice Cream the Mint Milkshake recipe is only 275 calories vs. 423 for a medium McDonalds Shamrock Shake!  This recipe makes two servings.

Remember Summer?

Remember summer?  The warm air, blue skies, and endless days in the water? Me either.

Here’s one of my best photos.

I took this for my photography class and the instructor really loved it.   It won all sorts of awards and I had visions of becoming a great photographer with my fancy new DSLR.

Who am I kidding?  What mom wants to lug the huge camera around with three kids, the sunscreen, goggles, a snack bag, my Kindle, and a couple of naked Barbies?

Not this mom.

But hey, I still have me cell phone.  Remember summer?  The warm air, blue skies, and endless days in the water.  Ahhhhh.  Now I remember summer.