Empire Cookies

These empire cookies (the cookies in the front of the photo) are not one of our family's traditional Christmas cookies, but they have the potential to become one. I first made them for an around-the world story time, and liked them so much I saved the recipe. I thought they would make a nice Christmas cookie with a little bit of decorating. The raspberry jelly makes these cookies delicious, and they look pretty too.
Empire Cookies
Recipe compliments of Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract


DIRECTIONS
Cream butter. Add sugar, creaming well. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 2 inch rounds, and place on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 minutes, or until very lightly browned at edges. Cool thoroughly.
Spread half of the cookies with jam, and top with remaining cookies.
Combine confectioners' sugar, almond extract, and enough hot water to make a thin icing. Frost tops of cookies.

The real reason our parents feed us. . .

Today Thing 2 said something that really made me laugh. Made the whole class laugh. We were talking about needs and wants and the kids had already brainstormed that we need food, shelter and clothes. I was giving them clues to guess the next need. "What does your Mom do for you?" "She cooks for me", said Thing 2. "Why?" " Because she wants me to be strong and healthy" "Why?" Because she doesn't want me to die." "True, but why?" And then, Thing 2s best answer, "Because she wants me to help her work!" Ok, I was looking more for love and care being a necessity, not forced labor, but you know, whatever. (Don't worry, Thing 2's parents really do love him.)

Meet my class

I realized I don't blog much about my students anymore. So, I figured it was time for some introductions. The class I spend the most time with is my second grade ESL reading class. I have 8 second graders, all of them speak Spanish as their first language and have varying degrees of English proficiency.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 are my identical twins. I had them last year in first grade too and they make me laugh. Fortunately for me, Thing 1 has a mole on his forehead, so I can tell him apart from his brother. Thing 1 also likes to remove his shoes whenever I'm not looking and has made quite a bit of progress in reading this year. Thing 2 comes to visit me every morning before school starts. He is generally a bit better behaved than his brother, though he's not above playing air guitar when he finishes his test early and is bored. He's struggling with reading a bit more than Thing 1.

Miracle is the sort of student who makes you keep coming to work each day. When he started in my class at the beginning of last year, he didn't know a word of English, needed an escort to the classroom for the first week or so because otherwise he would get lost, and didn't know the alphabet. He has amazed me. He moved from speaking Spanish only, to answering questions with 1 word English answers, to speaking in complete English sentences, though he is still on the quiet side. He's one of my top readers too and is an absolute pleasure to have in class.

Dynamo is the sort of kid you have trouble being stern with because he always makes you laugh and he's never trying to make trouble. He just arrived in the States this summer, and like Miracle last year, he's been pleasing me with his progress. He had a really good Spanish school background in first grade, so he came to me knowing how to read and write in Spanish which is awesome! He is learning to read English very quickly. He is almost infallibly cheerful, unless he doesn't earn a homework prize, which always causes tears.

Sunshine likes to be helpful. Unless she's pouting (which is unusual for her), she's smiling, and her smile is contagious. She's one of my middle of the road students- I'm not too concerned about her, but I don't usually tell people glowing stories of her progress.

Molasses is my puzzle. While not my strongest reader, I'm often amazed at her phonetic writing- she writes words with blends better than almost anyone in my class. She's overly affectionate, tells incredible stories, and loves to try to tell them to me while I'm in the middle of giving directions, reading a book to the class, helping another student. . . She alternately tries my patience and makes my heart ache for her. She is obviously hungry for attention.

Chatty is my social butterfly. I've known her since kindergarten and this is her 2nd year in my class as well. She's had a history of poor attendance, but I've seen an improvement this year, and with it, giant gains in reading achievement. In addition to being a fairly fluent reader at the level of books we're reading, she's mastered the art of the head wiggle/teeth sucking/eye rolling.

Pearl is the sort of student you'd take a class full of. It would be much easier and more peaceful than the class I have now, though I have to admit, it wouldn't be as interesting. She is dependable, helpful, and friendly. She's also the best reader in my class. She breezes through our books, knows all the sight words, often before I teach them; and she does really well with her phonetic writing too.

It's that time of year again

You know, the time of year when you dust off your green hat, put on pointy toed shoes, and bust some moves.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

But Martha was distracted with much serving

I was reading Luke 10 today, and this verse jumped out at me, "But Martha was distracted with much serving" (Luke 10:40, ESV). I didn't remember ever reading that before. Of course, I remembered the story. I've always struggled with the story of Mary and Martha. I identify way too much with Martha. But distracted? I didn't remember Martha being distracted. I looked it up in KJV (my usual choice of translation) and the word they use there is "cumbered". Distracted puts the story into a different perspective though. The events of the story stay the same, but the emphasis here isn't so much on the serving as it is on Martha's reaction to it. When Martha is "cumbered" with serving, it seems almost unfair that not only did Mary get to enjoy herself listening to Jesus while Martha worked, but Jesus even rebuked Martha when she complained. However, when I read that Martha is distracted by serving, I realize that serving was just that- a distraction. It was something that wasn't necessarily bad, but it got in the way of what was of the highest importance at that moment- listening to Jesus. Of course, that was Jesus' message all along. And I knew that. But I was still stuck thinking "But someone had to do all the work"

I think I still somehow missed the point. Martha allowed the work to be a distraction. She let the pressures of being a hostess overwhelm the pleasure of being with Jesus. Perhaps, if she had taken some time to sit at Jesus feet, they might have had to eat a simpler meal, and maybe the guests would have had to help out a bit, but serving itself would not be the focus. Jesus would be the focus.

I wish there was an epilogue to the story. I wish Jesus came back for dinner and Mary and Martha both sat at Jesus' feet to listen to his teaching, and then everyone had a buffet dinner or order out pizza or something. :)

And now I'm left wondering- what's distracting me from what's really most important?

"What would Frank Gilbreth say?"

Do you ever find yourself guiltily wondering what a dead man you never met would say about your actions?

Taking a walk with my Mom the other day, I plucked a piece of wild grass, shredding off the seed pod between my fingers. Thoreau's comment in Walden about city people and their need to touch plants while walking through the woods came to mind, giving me that automatic sense of unease I've been saddled with whenever I take a walk since I read Walden freshman year of college.

Or packing lunch in the morning, walking back and forth to the fridge 3 times, I mutter to myself, "What would Frank Gilbreth say?"

Economics

First off, I don't claim to know anything about economics. It's one thing that gives me a head ache. But everything in the news lately about AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Lehman brothers has gotten me thinking. I don't know how the government should solve the "financial crisis" I'm not even sure they should get involved. Maybe it's better to let the actual crisis hit, and then build on a new solid foundation than going into debt to buy bad debt (not sure aobut hte logic on that one. . .)

Anyway, this is the quote on the radio that really got me thinking. I forget who it was exactly, but some government official taking about why they bailed out some financial institution said that if they had not bailed out the financial institution it would have "lead to the reduction of American household wealth". Exactly. And would that really be so catastrophic?

What exactly would happen if the government left well enough alone? Would we really have a crisis? Or would it lead to a reduction of American wealth? Right now in Zimbabwe, they're experiencing a REAL economic crisis. Inflation was at 11 million percent (just as a comparison, our inflation rate is currently 5.37%) The bank of Zimbabwe had to print 100 billion dollar notes. As in the denomination is 100 billion, not that is how many 1 dollar notes they are printing. In July they redenominated their currency system- for all you world travelers out there, you can turn in your old Zimbabwe dollars for New Zimbabwe dollars. 10 billion old dollars will get you 1 new Zimbabwe dollar. And despite that immense currency change, one new dollar is currently exchanged for not quite 1 US penny. (1 ZWD = 0.00991326 USD)


In Zimbabwe at least 80% of the population is unemployed. I've heard 90-95% from people who are from/were recently in Zimbabwe. August unemployment in the US was 6.1%. In 2007 per capita GDP in Zimbabwe was $200. In the US it was $45,800. 80% of Zimbabweans live below the poverty line (for a Zimbabwean, below the poverty line means earning less than $41 a month). 12% of Americans live below the poverty line- and our poverty line is a LOT higher than theirs- $867/month for a person living alone.


So, as the media focuses on impending doom and financial collapse, I just don't find myself all that worried. I can't feel the doom and gloom. Perhaps it's because someone else is providing for my food and lodging. Maybe it's knowing that hopefully in not too long I'll be in a country where the economy isn't as good as it is here and surviving on less than I do now. Maybe it's because I know in the long run, the economy is bound to recover. And partly, I think it is knowing that our poverty is wealth to much of the world.


statistics were found at:
http://inflationdata.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe#Economy
www.xe.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Zimbabwe
http://stats.bls.gov/eag/eag.us.htm

6 Words

Today I got an e-mail from Amazon suggesting the "top books" of the year so far. "Not Quite What I was Planning: Six word memoirs from writers famous and obscure" caught my eye. I went to the website and and started browsing through some of them. There were some good ones.

Took different road, never got there

Sorry, you're thinking of my sister.

Got fired. Crazy, amazing, wonderful day.

Curiosity: killed cat. Eight lives left.

Evolved since childhood. Still like bananas.


So, I decided I wanted to write my own six word memoirs. :)

Speaking English, dreaming Spanish, learning Chinese

Many questions, never any easy answers.

Eight at home, one in Taiwan.

Wanderlust and service. Can they coincide?

God leads. I try to follow.


And, this will be even more appropriate once Sarah Grace comes home:
4 brothers, 2 sisters. Life's crazy.

How would you sum up your life in 6 words?



I leave you with 6 words a little girl that I just met yesterday said to me today as I was leaving work. Do they make you as sad as they made me? Pray for her.

"Will you take me with you?"

Justice

Let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:24


I've been thinking about justice lately, or maybe, more precisely, injustice. What started me thinking was the rising price of gas, the growing global food shortage, and the correlation between the two. We knew that as more grain products were used for ethanol, the price of grain would rise and the availability of grains for human consumption would decrease (Already 20-30% of grains grown in the US are used for biofuels). What we (at least, we the general public) did not expect is that it would happen so quickly. In our search for a way to maintain our lifestyle, and even in our desire to be more "green" and less oil dependent, we created a crisis which the rest of the world has to deal with.

It seems so unjust. We (the privileged people of the world) created this problem. We are the ones who consume too much. We are the ones an eventual oil shortage would most effect. And yet, when we try to solve the problem, they (the people who already have less) suffer. Sure, food prices are rising here too. And there's a lot of talk about recession. But I don't know anyone in danger of starving, not even one of the 98% of the students at my school who qualify for free or reduced lunch. We are cushioned here in this land of opportunity.

But our problems become the worlds' problems. According to an e-mail from my friend Jason, "Prices for staple foods like rice have more than doubled over the last four months in places like Cambodia. Rice, the main source of
nutrition for many of the world's poor, is now priced beyond what they can afford. To the already 1 billion people that struggle to live on less than $1 a day, the U.N. now estimates that an additional 100 million of our global neighbors will struggle to avoid starvation."

An NPR special on the global food shortage said, "UNICEF and the World Food Program are falling behind in donations, unable to keep pace with the spiraling cost of rice. It has hit $950 a ton, three times what it was at the start of 2007."

For people living on a dollar or two a day, that sort of price increase makes survival nearly impossible.


What do we do in response to all this? In an article entitled "Reconsecration to a Wartime, Not a Peacetime, Lifestyle" Ralph Winter suggests that we rethink our lifestyles. There are lifestyles appropriate to peace, and lifestyles appropriate to war. We are at war. In Matthew 10:34 Jesus says "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Jesus is bringing about his kingdom here on earth. The power of heaven is fighting against the rulers of this world, and God has called us to join the fight. He tells us to go, preach the good news, disciple the nations, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the widows and orphans, visit those in prison. That is our battle command. And knowing that we are soldiers in battle should effect our lifestyle. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2: 3&4 "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." We should not be entangled in the pleasures of this world. There are so many unnecessary, frivolous things that we even begin to see as needs, or at least as our due. And meanwhile, millions are dying without the chance to hear of the One who died for them.


Think about these statistics for a moment from Serving India Ministries
Experts estimate that for $13 billion a year we could provide basic nutrition for every starving person in the world. American Christians spend $21 billion a year on cable TV.

For $6 billion a year we could educate every child currently not in school. American Christians spend $11 billion a year on coffee.

For $9 billion a year we could provide safe drinking water for the millions who die without it. American Christians spend $21 billion a year on soft drinks.

Approximately 160 million adults in America claim to be Christian. If each one of us would increase our giving by just $15 per month to ministries who are effectively serving the poor, we could feed every starving person in the world, educate every child currently not in school, and provide safe drinking water for the millions who die from lack of it.


How will you respond?

2 Timothy 2: 1-4
"Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."