Good Afternoon Friends! I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend! There hasn't been too much going on around here. Thankfully, I have had a few days to just relax. We have had a couple of really beautiful days which have made me long for summer all the more! I am ready for consistent warm weather, the beach, a tan, watermelon, flip-flops, tank tops, pool days, lemonade, summer nights, and no school. Mmm....
Anyways, no more of that talk because it is not summer yet! Brett's parents came into town this weekend. It was great to spend the weekend with them! Yesterday was absolutely beautiful so we took Outlaw, Drew and Brett's dog, to the park to walk. He loved it. We loved it. Last night Brett and I cooked for his family and we watched the Olympics. We made chicken parmesan and it was delicious. For dessert... chocolate-chip cookie dough dessert. I have made this easy dessert probably 30 times. All credit for this goes to my dear friend Katherine and her family. Katherine's mom made this for us all the time when we came over in high school. I have passed the recipe on to many other friends so I suppose I will share.
First, spread a roll of cookie dough on the bottom of a 13x9 dish. Mix one egg, a cup of sugar, and an 8 oz package of cream cheese. Spread this one top of the cookie dough then break another roll into pieces on top. Oven on 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. So easy. So good. Enjoy!
This week is going to be looooong. I don't have classes so I will be with my fourth graders all week! I am excited. I guess I better be considering this is what I will be doing when I graduate! :) I will be teaching two more of my own lesson plans so hopefully they go well! I will be going to bed early and waking up early all week. So...I am relaxing this afternoon.
Before I depart from this fascinating post :) I want to tell you about church this morning. As I have mentioned before, we are going through the book of Genesis. This morning we were in chapter 25 discussing when Jacob and Esau were born. The overall point that Jack started with was that, "Families Can Cause Problems." This is different because so often we think that our families solve problems and make things so much better. If you think about Jacob and Esau, there was conflict from the beginning.
"The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, 'Why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the Lord.' The Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.'" -Genesis 25:21-23
The Lord was telling Rebekah that she was going to have twins and that they were already at odds with one another. Also, normally the birthright is given to the oldest son which we will find out is Esau. The Lord is telling Rebekah that in her sons case this will be opposite. In verses 29-34 Esau comes in to get something to eat. He asks Jacob for some stew and Jacob says he will give him some of Esau will sell him his birthright. Just as the Lord told Rebekah, Esau agrees. Jacob's name means "trickster" which is appropriate. In this situation we see Esau give up a promise from God for instant gratification. He invested greater value in a bowl of stew than in a promise from the Lord! At first I am thinking, this is crazy but then Jack went on to say that so often, we are Esau. We sell the greater things that God has for us for the things of this world....only to be hungry again. Basically, our families are not solutions to our problems. We cannot value our relationships with our friends, parents, children, or anyone else more than our relationship with Christ. A relationship with Christ is the only solution, the only thing that can satisfy us. Have I mentioned I love my church? I love that we study full books of the Bible. I learn so much!
Well, I am off to enjoy the rest of my afternoon before I head back to the grind. Have a relaxing Sunday!