It’s Greek to Me

“ Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

ο μαθητής γράφει το ευαγγέλιο (o mathetis  graph-ay to evangelio) “The disciple writes the gospel”

While the disciple is busy writing the gospel I wanted to do some writing of my own.  We have had a few developments occur since our last posting.  Most important one is I FINALLY GOT EMPLOYMENT!!!!  Yes, I have a job now.  I am working at the Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine TX in their fly fishing and fishing departments.  It is about 30 miles away, a 45 minute drive (it will be like driving to Branson and back).  I was hoping I could find something a little closer but work is an absolute necessity now and it is the only option on the table.  I should be working about 25-30 hours a week.

Greek is going very well for me, I am currently holding at 90% and above in the class.  We will celebrate our nation’s independence by having a Greek I final on July 5 and then it will be onto Greek II, which will be mainly reading and translating directly from the New Testament, all written in Greek.

Jessica just had an advising appointment with her adviser in the music department, so she has her courses mapped out for her starting in the fall.

We are counting down the weeks until our folks can come down!  We are eagerly looking forward to spending what time we can with them.  We have it planned for the time between classes August 13 to August 20, with tentative site-seeing locations such as the George W Bush Presidential Library and possibly Dealey Plaza (site of the John F. Kennedy assassination).

Prayer Requests:

*  Praise: Guy’s job

*  Continued good grades for Guy in Greek

*  Job for Jessi

*  Church home search

*  Financial stability

From the Kitchen – Chelsea Buns

I’ve been asked for the recipe for my Chelsea buns, so I’ll post it for all y’all!  These are from the book Amish Cooking: Deluxe Edition, published by Herald Press, copyright 1980.

Chelsea Buns

1/2 cup cooled mashed potatoes

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1 teaspoon sugar

1 package dry yeast

1/3 cup melted shortening

2 well-beaten eggs

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2  1/2 cups all-purpose flour (approximate)

Combine the potatoes, water and 1 teaspoon of sugar, then sprinkle the yeast on top.  Let it stand until the yeast is dissolved.  Add the rest of the ingredients, stirring in enough flour to make a soft dough (less stiff than bread dough).  Knead it until it is smooth, then let it rise until double in bulk before rolling the dough out to a 9 x 15-inch rectangle.

2 tablespoons soft butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Mix together the above ingredients except the nuts, and spread the mixture in a greased 9 x 13-inch pan.  Then sprinkle the nuts over this mixture and set it aside.  This is equally good if you substitute raisins for the nuts, or even if you don’t use either ingredient.

1/4 cup soft butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 cup washed raisins

Spread the butter on the rolled rectangle of dough and sprinkle it with the sugar, cinnamon and raisins.  Roll up like a jelly roll and cut it into 15 one-inch slices.  Place the slices cut-side down in the previously prepared pan.  Cover and let them rise until they fill the pan, then bake them at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes.  Cool the buns for 3 minutes before inverting the pan to remove them.

*  Note for slicing cinnamon buns or other baked goodie, such as a cookie dough log (without nuts, chips, etc.): to slice, slip a length of regular sewing thread or dental floss under the roll.  Pull up the two ends, cross them – don’t knot – in the area you want to make the slice, and pull.  You will get a neat slice that won’t interfere with any design or filling, and it won’t mash your log or roll!

I would include a picture of my buns, but I didn’t think about it when I made them, and now they’re mostly gone or wrapped.  I’ll remember next time!

Busy hands

“A wife of noble character who can find?  She is worth far more than rubies.  Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.  She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.  She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.”  Proverbs 31:10-13

I can honestly say that my hands have been busy!  As we’re getting more and more established in our apartment, I’m decorating!  I’ve got several projects either in the works or in planning stage (plus thinking about Christmas already – typical for a crafter).  Since I have pictures of a couple of finished items, I wanted to post them for you to see. 🙂

Guy’s Dresser Scarf

 

Close-up view

This is a dresser scarf for Guy that I just finished.  I am tired of using towels when I can make something pretty instead.  I modified the Compass Bedspread pattern, which can be found here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/compass-bedspread .  Guy picked out the color of crochet cotton, and I made it up, finishing the project last week on Friday.

My other recent finished project is a pair of socks for me.  I made several pairs last year as gifts, but wanted to make some socks for myself, so I chose a couple different yarns and different patterns.  These are the ones I finished (Thank God It’s Sock Day pattern):

Jessi’s Socks

Detail close-up

I cast on the second pair yesterday, and think I’ll enjoy the pattern.  They will be MUCH brighter compared to these!

I also made some caramel pecan sticky buns on Monday.  I had been reading some of Beverly Lewis’ Amish series, and then found an Amish cookbook at the Ft. Worth Library.  The Chelsea buns were calling my name, so I made them while Guy was in class.  He definitely welcomed this surprise when he got home!

On the school front:

Guy had his first test today.  The summer class of Greek (“affectionately” nicknamed Turbo Greek by the students here) is a compression of Greek 1 and Greek 2.  Therefore, about every 2-3 weeks they have a test: Midterm 1, Final 1, Midterm 2, and Final 2.  He doesn’t have his grade back yet, but is holding pretty well at approximately a 96% in the class.

Guy also registered for the Fall semester.  He’ll be taking 13 hours: Spiritual Formation 1, Hermeneutics (the branch of theology dealing with Scriptural interpretation), Old Testament 1, New Testament 1, and Church History 1.

I was supposed to have my advising for the Fall semester this morning, but my adviser had to postpone due to some health issue, to be rescheduled at a later date.

Other news:

We are starting to make plans and preparations for visitors in August.  Guy’s parents and my mom are planning to come visit for a week in mid-August, during the break between the end of Summer semester and the start of Fall Orientation.  Guy’s working on reservations at the Riley Center and trying to help them with planning, while I’m planning menus and crocheting like a madwoman (see above) to have my home looking nifty and maybe even somewhat tidy. (Ha!)

Prayer Requests:

*  Continue to pray for employment for us.  I had two interviews last week, but did not get either position.

* Continued retention/learning for Guy in Greek.

*  Financial aspects of not having work.

*  Encouragement and companionship in the midst of feeling lonely, not having friends to talk with or to receive good advice from.

*  Strong marital relationship – that the stress of finances, etc. won’t wreak havoc on our relationship.

Pennies for your thoughts

“He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth, the LORD God Almighty is his name.” Amos 4:13

I wish I had big, grandiose news to share, but…  not a lot has happened over the past week. Here’s the main highlights.

*  Guy’s still studying Greek, but seems to be doing pretty well, with an estimated 96.3% in the class so far.

*  Jessi has had 2 interviews for bakery positions.  She was not chosen on one, and is waiting to hear from the other.

*  Guy found out about a job fair/interview opportunity (working for Bass Pro in Grapevine, TX) here in a couple of weeks.

In other news,  summer’s upon us!  We’re having consistent temps in the mid to upper 90s.  I know, this is Texas, and it’s just going to get worse, but we’re already sweltering!  We’re making good use of our air conditioner, taking full advantage of the pool on campus, and drinking plenty of water.

Prayer Requests:

*  Employment for both of us.

*  Continued good grades for Guy.

*  Jessi has an advising appointment next week, June 19, to register for classes and figure out how many more classes she needs for her degree.

*  Peace regarding school, work, and finances.

Day Alpha

“Look! I am coming soon!  My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.  Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.”  Revelation 22:12-14

Today is Alpha Day – Guy started Greek this morning. (For those of you who don’t know, Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet, and is mentioned in the Bible as the beginning.)  I was prepared to see him meet me after class looking shell-shocked, but he seems to be doing okay at the moment.  He has been studying ahead, as instructed, and so was decently prepared for the first class.  The rest of the semester, though, is still to be seen.

We’re still looking for work, and feeling rather crunched with dwindling coffers.  I am playing piano for a local Methodist church, and this is bringing in a little money, but we need jobs.  We went to Human Resources on campus Friday and sat down with one of the ladies there.  She reviewed our resumes, pointing out changes that we could make, offering suggestions regarding cover letters, and just generally getting to know us.  She can do a lot with emailing hiring managers, etc. for us, and she said that one of the best ways to get campus employment is to come in and get to know the HR people, as well as having good cover letters/resumes.  We do know that we are being considered for a few positions we have applied for, so we’re not out of the running yet.  I was reminded a few days ago of the 5-month period when Guy lost his job in 2010.  God provided for us during that time – we had food stamps, we did a little work at church, and I was able to do some temp work that brought in enough to cover bills and rent.  We were provided for.  I must therefore trust that He will provide for us here, as well.

We’re also praying about which Baptist church to attend and move our membership to.  Seminary policy is that we have to join a local church within our first year here.  That being said, my work at the Methodist church will be a temporary thing, probably only a couple of months.  We have been attending Travis Avenue Baptist Church, but aren’t sure that this is where we want to join.  Guy is planning to start attending some different churches, but I’ll not be able to go with him as he looks.  Please keep this in your prayers as well.

On the craft side of my life, I’ve been staying busy!  In addition to the mystery quilt I’m working on, I have another quilt top that’s coming together slowly, a pair of socks on my knitting needles, and a dresser scarf and a table runner for the coffee table (both crochet) that are in the works.  As I complete my projects, I will be posting pictures.

We have been taking advantage of the rec center on campus.  Both of us want to get into shape (yes, I know, round IS a shape), so we’ve been using the resources available to us.  One of the best things the rec center has is an indoor pool.  It’s not a full Olympic size, but it does work well for swimming laps, and has areas on each side for walking or aerobics in the water.  I think we’ve only skipped the pool once during our trips there.

Prayer requests:

*  Work for both of us.

*  Jessi’s knee – getting better, able to go most of the time without crutches or a brace, but it still doesn’t feel right in the joint.  MRIs scheduled for June 27, physical therapy for June 26, back to the nurse practitioner on July 1.

*  Guy’s classes. 

*  Jessi’s class advising appointment on June 19

*  Search for a church home here in Ft. Worth