View from the Prairie Box

Guess what’s happening this Saturday? The December Photo Project!

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She gets in the car and is ready to write. No one is telling her what to do or where to do. No obligations anymore, no bells signaling changing classes, no need to do homework, no places to go. Just an exhale of breath and the ability to choose, and what she chooses is to write. She writes and writes and writes. Her voice coming through the walls quietly, spaces in between for silent editing. How did I get so lucky to be her mama? Why did God give me a writer? What a joy.

Koselig Cooking is back!

Read all about the Norwegian word “koselig” here and work with me to celebrate all that is warm and good and cozy about these days where it’s hard to get outside and find sunshine. Note that the word “koselig” is pronounced koo-su-lee. Who knew?! Also, states the article, it’s important to quit our kvetching about the terribleness of the weather (I’m the #1 offender in this) and start enjoying the good things the weather allows us to do.

So here’s a good thing: when it’s rainy outdoors for days on end and it’s chilly and I have to turn the heat on, I also want to make dishes that are comforting and tasty. What follows is a recipe I found online for Best Creamy Parm Tomato Soup, which I have renamed.

After making it I learned that my daughter likes the pasta part and I like the soup part. Three-quarters into our meal Monday night we switched bowls. My leftover pot of soup is now largely a pot of pasta—very tasty pasta—but I’m a soup girl. So next time I’ll probably make something without tortellini in it. Tortellini is definitely one of those ingredients for a special day… It’s high in carbs (important for me to know as a type 1 diabetic) and it’s more expensive. Lastly, I did spent extra money on good canned tomatoes and chicken broth—and it was worth it.

Jump over to our recipe blog, Needs More Butter, to grab the recipe for Creamy Tortellini Tomato Soup! You can also find recipes for Ultimate Slow Cooker Pot Roast and Chicken Tortilla Soup, two recipes I was encourage to make due to our current rainy weather.

Shi-lawnie the Cotonie. Shiloh-loh-loh. The Woochest with the Moochest. This dog is a bundle of excited energy + long nap times + family adoration. He’s both the biggest goofball and the sweetest dog I’ve ever met. I like to think God gave us dogs as proof of undeserved grace upon mankind. I love my silly Shiloh (who is a Coton de Tulear, thus the title).

Our girl made dinner for the family tonight! She needed to complete a project and we needed to eat. Those two things lined up beautifully on this sunny-then-very-stormy Thursday evening, so we spent some time in the kitchen together—Livia with pots and pans and ingredients and me with my camera and some verbal guidance. The end result was that Livia learned how to make a roux, a cheese sauce, and she honed some stovetop skills she’s been developing over time. The mac and cheese was good, though next time we agreed to add sharp cheddar for more of a kick. Recipe posted below.

Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:
16 ounces elbow macaroni
1⁄4 cup butter
1⁄4 cup flour
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 dash black pepper
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese or 8 ounces cheddar cheese

Directions:
– Cook macaroni according to package directions.
– In medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; stir in flour, and cook for 3-5 minutes stirring constantly to form a roux; add salt and pepper; slowly add milk, stirring well after each addition.
– Cook and stir until bubbly.
– Stir in cheese a small amount at a time until fully melted.
– Drain macaroni; add to cheese sauce; stir to coat.

I use the word “privilege” quite a bit to describe my photoshoots because it’s accurate. It’s a huge privilege to document families as they grow, and since I’ve been in Lincoln for a long time, I’ve known some families for quite some time. The Grossmans are one beautiful, growing, lovely family and it’s my joy to take pictures for them when they call.

There are days when my body parts fight for attention and today was one of them. On our brief drive to school several parts were talking to me… The knots in my neck were beginning to sing in unison with my temples, a warning sign that an intense tension headache might reveal itself if no actions were taken. And then the rheumatoid arthritis didn’t want to get left out apparently, so the ache in my left hand—dull but present—reminded me that maybe I should be afraid of what’s coming next. The right elbow, talking to me for days now, joined on in the chorus. And then, what?! The gut gurgle. The panic of any driver in school traffic is the early morning coffee-induced gut gurgle. NOT YOU, TOO, GUT.

What has the power to overcome the misery of multiple aching body parts PLUS school drop-off lanes with “THAT’S NOT HOW YOU MERGE, KAREN” and, oh boy, trust me that Karen was right in front of me dropping off her teen in a non-drop off lane. I said not-very-nice things to her because WHY KAREN? But the antidote to misery is what? It’s worship. It’s a turning of our eyes away from miserable things towards beautiful things, because when we start to notice, the blessings of this life are innumerable.

I plugged my iPhone into the car console and within seconds the joyous sounds of Father, Let Your Kingdom Come (from the Porter’s Gate Worship Project) were filling our car. I keep telling people about this song because it’s pure praise. Pure joy. Pure worship. Liv and I couldn’t help but move our bodies with joy—miserable body parts be damned.

As I navigated past Karen’s clueless SUV, said goodbye to my girl, and drove away from school, I listened to this song and watched the skies morph right in front of me. The fading silver moon, the fluffy clouds reflecting the rising sun, the dark clouds looming right behind me, our midwestern sky is always interesting. And I worshipped. I worshipped God who, as the song said, “makes all things new / in places we don’t choose.”

Last week was a rough week, and my thoughts right now very easily slide to a young family that gave birth to twins—one lived for a very short time due to Trisomy 13 and the other is growing steadily in the NICU after arriving a bit too early. It will never never never be okay to bury your child, and yet I’ve now watched several friends do just that. My head and heart have been getting lost in this reality, this very hard reality, since last Thursday and I’ve been clinging to God’s profound goodness and my faith in his word all the more since that day.

“Hallelu, hallelujah / Father, let Your kingdom come.”

My faith—our faith—is often so weak, but thank goodness it’s not our faith that saves us. If we belong to Christ, then it’s God who does this work. It’s God who is ushering in His kingdom, and we saints get to be a part of that. If we’re living by faith and not by sight, then we cling to his promises all the more in times of trouble. So what is real? What’s happening when one’s soul slips from this life into the next? If your hope is in Christ then fear no more, because you’re walking into the fullness of God’s kingdom—the amazing technicolor of a spiritual reality that you can’t see currently. We know that when we leave our bodies we’re at home with the Lord, and I truly believe I witnessed the most sacred of moments last week. It doesn’t stop the tears from hitting my eyes, and it surely will never stop the longing of a parent for her child. We’re here, short of vision, grasping for understanding and without the full ability to see spiritual things. But oh, someday, friends. Someday we, too, will walk into the full kingdom of God where there’s no more crying, no more longing, no more aching joints and broken bodies. Sweet reunion—face to face—with the God who made us awaits us and how marvelous that will be.

On a morning where the clouds are fighting the sun, I hold tight to the promises of God. His kingdom is being ushered in, even today, and I am a part of it. In Christ, I have hope of eternal rest and complete fullness. Though we mourn today, tomorrow will be only rejoicing.