I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore
I made a few batches of waffles today. How often do you make waffles? Easy, right? There was nothing difficult about it today, except that it just took time, and with different ingredients, and with an event that you would like to have nice refreshments for - well, even plain old waffles can be a bit of a challenge.
Buttermilk. The basic tried and true recipe calls for 2 cups of buttermilk. Saturday, we bought 2 cups of buttermilk. Except that instead of coming in any sort of a bottle, it came in a little carton resembling a yogurt carton. 284 MLE. Or otherwise known as 1.2004 cups. When I opened it, it looked like yogurt, but it tasted like buttermilk. So I used it, and it turned out fine, but not quite like Melissa's.
I made a batch to try out on the missionaries, and they loved them, so I made two more batches for the YSAs tonight, plus a batch of brownie waffles. It was Institute, and it was excellent.
Earlier in the day, we had the four young missionaries here for a couple of hours, after which I served them lunch. They are so cute, and so nice, being able to serve them a meal is just a bonus, because it is such a pleasure. And they are always so grateful.
The Institute lesson was about Hebrew 1 - 6. I love Hebrews. I loved the way our teacher approached the topics discussed and how she generated some wonderful comments. We talked about having hard hearts as opposed to soft hearts, and what we can do to be softened in our attitudes about life, to accept what we can, to trust the Lord, to grow from experiences rather than shrink.
A young man who is a math major working on his Ph.D. made a heartfelt comment that just kind of floored me. His statement generated so many excellent observations and words of advice from the others, that I sat just marveling at the spirit there.
The young man stayed after and he and SK and I visited for nearly 3 hours. He has been working on one math problem for over 4 years. As far as he knows, he is the only one in the world who is working on that particular problem. Sometimes he feels as though he is almost there, and other times he literally despairs over his inability to find the answer. He has prayed and prayed and prayed, and he doesn't quite understand why the Lord isn't helping him find the answer.
First of all, I am in awe of his faith. He doesn't doubt the existence of God....he just wonders why He seems to be silent. This young man converted to the church about a year and a half ago. He is kind, soft-spoken and gentle.
Second of all, I am in awe of his intellect. He is grappling with math so beyond my comprehension that it might as well be a foreign language. He is on a deadline. I'm not sure how long he has, but he feels that if he doesn't find the answer, he will be considered a failure and all these years at Oxford will be for naught. I can't imagine that is true, but that is what he thinks. He is feeling great pressure and frustration.
He seems so burdened. I wish I could sit down patiently with him, as I might do with a second grader to help him understand multiplication.....see the light come on in his eyes and feel such satisfaction in assisting in the education process. But this dear young man is out of my league, out of SK's league, and actually out of anyone's league that I know of.
But as another YSA pointed out tonight, we may not be able to help him with the actual problem, but we can all join together in prayer for him. That is something I can do.
Buttermilk. The basic tried and true recipe calls for 2 cups of buttermilk. Saturday, we bought 2 cups of buttermilk. Except that instead of coming in any sort of a bottle, it came in a little carton resembling a yogurt carton. 284 MLE. Or otherwise known as 1.2004 cups. When I opened it, it looked like yogurt, but it tasted like buttermilk. So I used it, and it turned out fine, but not quite like Melissa's.
I made a batch to try out on the missionaries, and they loved them, so I made two more batches for the YSAs tonight, plus a batch of brownie waffles. It was Institute, and it was excellent.
Earlier in the day, we had the four young missionaries here for a couple of hours, after which I served them lunch. They are so cute, and so nice, being able to serve them a meal is just a bonus, because it is such a pleasure. And they are always so grateful.
The Institute lesson was about Hebrew 1 - 6. I love Hebrews. I loved the way our teacher approached the topics discussed and how she generated some wonderful comments. We talked about having hard hearts as opposed to soft hearts, and what we can do to be softened in our attitudes about life, to accept what we can, to trust the Lord, to grow from experiences rather than shrink.
A young man who is a math major working on his Ph.D. made a heartfelt comment that just kind of floored me. His statement generated so many excellent observations and words of advice from the others, that I sat just marveling at the spirit there.
The young man stayed after and he and SK and I visited for nearly 3 hours. He has been working on one math problem for over 4 years. As far as he knows, he is the only one in the world who is working on that particular problem. Sometimes he feels as though he is almost there, and other times he literally despairs over his inability to find the answer. He has prayed and prayed and prayed, and he doesn't quite understand why the Lord isn't helping him find the answer.
First of all, I am in awe of his faith. He doesn't doubt the existence of God....he just wonders why He seems to be silent. This young man converted to the church about a year and a half ago. He is kind, soft-spoken and gentle.
Second of all, I am in awe of his intellect. He is grappling with math so beyond my comprehension that it might as well be a foreign language. He is on a deadline. I'm not sure how long he has, but he feels that if he doesn't find the answer, he will be considered a failure and all these years at Oxford will be for naught. I can't imagine that is true, but that is what he thinks. He is feeling great pressure and frustration.
He seems so burdened. I wish I could sit down patiently with him, as I might do with a second grader to help him understand multiplication.....see the light come on in his eyes and feel such satisfaction in assisting in the education process. But this dear young man is out of my league, out of SK's league, and actually out of anyone's league that I know of.
But as another YSA pointed out tonight, we may not be able to help him with the actual problem, but we can all join together in prayer for him. That is something I can do.
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