Chances and Choices

    Life is a strange mix of geography, circumstances, and choices. I often wondered what my life would have been if I had been born at a different time or in a different place. Would I have been one of those who saw and rejected Jesus when He lived on earth? Would I have been a starving African or someone killed in the war in Ukraine? Who would I be if my mother had married someone else? Who would I have married if I had lived in another state? 

   Those questions have no answers. I can only believe the time and place I was born was not by chance but determined by God for a reason and thank Him that I am here now. 

   The other variable is the choices our parents and we have made in life. When I was five years old my parents were asked by their home congregation to help start a small mission outreach in Berks County. After commuting back and forth for many years, they decided to move closer to the church. My dad left a good job and lost the possibility of a large pension in making the move. My mother said many times it was not the best decision financially but the best for the family spiritually. Their home church had become more liberal and continued to slide until today it is barely surviving. Mom often asked, "Where would our family be if we had stayed there?" Good question. Would we have had the backbone to stand alone when the church started sliding? Were we doing what we did because we believed in it or because that's what was expected? Was our belief strong enough to resist peer pressure? The choice to be part of a conservative church removed the peer pressure of the liberal trend in the home church.

   Sometimes when I see the choices some young people are making, I wish I could make the choices for them. But then, I wasn't much different at that age. I thought about the here and now instead of where that choice might lead. I've seen so many people start making small changes that led to more and bigger changes. They left their church for something more liberal and kept on going until, in some cases, they completely lost out spiritually.

    The most important choice in my life was choosing to accept and follow Jesus. I have not been perfect, but that choice has spared me a lot of trouble and sorrow. The second most important choice in my life was who I married. I was too young and foolish to make a good choice myself. It was God who led my husband and I together. We balance each other out and work well together. Either one without the other would be severely handicapped. 

   We have made some choices in life that were not so good, like making a poor purchase or missing an opportunity. We made plenty of parenting mistakes and personal failures. But underneath we had a solid foundation on the Word of God to help us correct the course and try again. I'm glad I have a God who allows second chances when I make poor choices. 

   

Frozen Pie Fillings

   We are in the thick of the annual canning and freezing marathon of summer. We are eating like kings with all the fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season. And with what we are preserving we will be eating good all winter. 

    One of the things I have been doing for years is freezing fruit pie fillings. With a supply on hand, I can easily whip up a pie on short notice. I had used up all the fillings I had and started a fresh supply of peach pie fillings today. It's quite simple and requires no cooking.

Here's the recipe:

Peel and slice enough peaches to fill a 9 in. foil pie pan.

Mix 3/4 cup of sugar with 3 tbs. instant clear jel

Add peaches to the dry mix and stir until coated

Put pie filling in the foil pan, cover with foil, and freeze.

To bake:

Remove pie filling from foil pan and place in an unbaked pie shell.

DO NOT THAW

Sprinkle with nutmeg and cinnamon.

Dot with butter

Top with crust or crumb topping.

Bake at 350 until fruit is soft and bubbling (45-50 minutes)

I also make apple and cherry pie fillings like this too. Any kind of fruit can be used.

I always get compliments when I take one to a meal somewhere because they taste like fresh fruit. The secret is not thawing them.

Big Sister

    Our youngest son and his wife were married nine years when their first child was born. Her birth was the culmination of years of tears, prayers, red tape, and medical help. She was conceived an unconventional way through embryo adoption. For an explanation on how that is done, see my blog post from March 6, 2020.

   Abi is a delightful little girl and will be three in September. Her parents wanted a second child so she doesn't have to grow up alone. There can be all kinds of complications when doing an embryo adoption. If things had gone the way they hoped, they would have had a second child a year ago. Again, prayers ascended daily as we went through three failed attempts (for various reasons).

    We are happy to announce that God had granted our desires and given life to another frozen embryo. What will it be? A brother or a sister? We will find out in January. 

    Thank you Jesus! We are getting one more grandchild in our old age. How about that!

Bloom Where You Are Planted

    "God answers prayer and sometimes He goes far beyond anything we thought could happen."

     Late last summer our son brought us a kitten and built a box to shelter it. We decided to put the box at the southwest corner of the patio where it would be handy for feeding during the winter. I had some Calla lilies planted at that spot so I dug them up.  The box was placed in position on an orange foam pad and the cat moved in. 

    Winter passed and spring came. I planted the bulbs I had dug up and stored in the basement all winter. In June I was amazed to see a Calla lily had forced it's way out from under the cat's box and had a small bud. I obviously missed one when I dug the bulbs, but how could it grow with the box setting above it and getting no rain?

    I wasn't praying for that bulb. I didn't know it was there. That it could grow and push out from under the obstacle above it was far beyond anything I thought could happen. 

    What major obstacle is in your way today? Take courage from the Calla lily. In its dark underground surroundings, it sensed the light above and reached out to it. There is Light above the darkness of your obstacle. Reach for the Light, push out from under the obstacle and bloom where you are planted.

Family Time

  The second weekend in June is our family time at a cabin. We have made many memories over the years. There was a point where the Burkholder family cabin was too small and we had to find a larger one. That one became full too, but we always managed to find a place for everyone to sleep. 

   This year we had the smallest crowd we've had in a long time. I saw this day coming years ago and knew the grandchildren would have lives of their own and not be there all weekend as before. This year five of the adult grandchildren were either living out of state or in another country. Some had other activities and some came for part of the time.

   The younger grandchildren had a good time and got along really well. Cheryl was in charge and had planned several activities for them. We had a good time visiting with our children and catching up with each other. It is a blessing to have a family that gets along so well. The pictures speak for themselves.

Abi loved the water balloons

Emma learned how to make a pom pom

Cheryl directed the tie dying

The generations blend with granddaughter Abi and 

great-grandson Elijah who are both two years old.

The five youngest grandchildren

Jay and Nick played a game

Abi rode her tricycle on the deck

while the adults sat and visited

and Gerald made chicken bbq for Saturday supper.

Now don't you wish you were a Stauffer?

Writer's Conference

    I am catching my breath today after being in Virginia for a two-day Writer's Conference sponsored by Christian Light. The first time I went was in the 1970s. I missed some years but have been there many times. It is always like a shot in the arm to get refresher courses from the speakers in various workshops. There are workshops on various kinds of writing and art, but I stick with the ones on story writing. It is also a place to "talk shop" with other writers and meet old friends I rarely see anywhere else. I came away feeling a bit overwhelmed and like I don't have a clue what I'm doing. I have a lot to learn.

   One of the best things that happened this year was an interview with some editors. I was feeling very confused with what I was trying to do and got some answers. Now I have confidence to move forward and continue. However, they also raised some more questions about future writing I will have to think and pray about. It doesn't look like they are willing to let me retire. I am not opposed to continuing to write but only if they are short pieces. I will not attempt another five-year project.

   The conference this year was especially sweet because both of my sisters were there. The three of us wore matching dresses both days, blue polka dot the first day and black print the second day. Sisters days are special no matter what we wear. I owe my youngest sister a debt of gratitude for taking me and making it possible for me to be there.

Inspiration or Perspiration?

    I've had a lot of nice comments about my writing but most of the people who read my books have an unrealistic idea of what goes into writing a book and even less what is involved in publishing of it. Let me state first of all that writing is not done in a flash of inspiration. That flash of inspiration is only the birth of an idea. Turning it into a book can be a long, drawn-out process. 

   My most recently published book, The Flow of the Big Spring, is a prime example. It was five years from the day I agreed to try write it until the book was released to the public. I was working on the writing about three years and the rest of the time it was in the publishing process. The layout was complicated because there were so many parts to fit into the proper spaces---text, footnotes, photos, captions, and sidebars. The person who did the layout said it was like putting a puzzle together.

   After I finished that book I said I am retiring and will only write short stories and articles from now on---unless something really good comes along. Maybe I shouldn't have added that qualifier. Something good did come along. It would just be a small book with a story of something that happened in the 1700s. The history and size is what triggered my interest in trying write it.

   I was sailing along with the first draft and nearing the end when I discovered I had made a huge mistake in the timeline and correcting it meant starting over. I trashed it and started again from a different point in the story. Yesterday I decided that one isn't working either. I'm too stubborn to quit so next week I will start again for the third time. I may strike out but I hope this time I will hit a home run.

  All this to say, writing is not something you do on a Sunday afternoon while you sit under a shade tree. Inspiration does not write a story; it takes perspiration and determination.