Rootbeer Floats

Y'know what I love about root beer floats? A lot of things, really.

• The creamy of the ice cream contrasted with the sharp of the carbonation in the root beer.
• The overall sweetness. I do have a sweet tooth!
• That fun crusty deal that forms where the root beer comes in contact with the ice cream. It's like candy.

Yes, I like root beer floats.

"Ye are the Salt of the Earth"

A couple weeks ago, the text for Sunday School included part of the Sermon on the Mount. Something that was said really struck a chord with me.

In Matthew 5:13, the Lord says, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

Generally at that time, salt harvesters would find salt on the shore of a body of water, like the Dead Sea. They would gathered up this salt (very possibly with a good portion of sand). So when the people would talk of salt losing its savor .. chances are they were “salting” their food with the sandy portion of what had been gathered.

Salt is salt, and it's always going to be sodium chloride. Thankfully, today, our salt-gathering is much more reliable, we don't get much silica in our sodium chloride!

If salt is to be effective in bringing flavor and as a preservative, it must be in actuality- salt. It has to maintain its chemical makeup.

If we are to be the salt of the earth, effective in bringing salvation and as a preservative to our fellow man, we must be in actuality holy. We have to maintain our personal righteousness.

The only way we “lose our savor” is if we change our very nature…. And become common sand.

Soups

Y’know, I love soup.

It can be warm or cold (gazpacho anyone?).

Hearty or light, simple or varied.

I like to make soups. Usually it’s one of maybe 3 recipes….

Beef Vegetable and Barley

The name says it all, really.

Stew meat, onion, tomato, carrot, corn, green beans, potato, barley…  and a can of cream of mushroom soup.

Chicken Noodle

Again, pretty basic.

Chicken, a little bit of onion, carrot, corn, (no, no peas!!!) , noodles.

Taco Soup

One of my favorites, I’ve taken some poetic license with my mom’s recipe, this has become more of a (pardon the pun) souped-up chili!

Ground beef, onion, stewed tomatoes, corn, salsa, a can of chili, drained and cut-in-half black olives, cumin.

A while back I tried invented a new one-
Pot Roast Soup

 Potatoes, carrots- diced, tossed with ¼ cup olive oil, some Rosemary, marjoram, salt/pepper. Dry roast for about 45 min at 350 (or was it 400?)

 MMMmm blistered and crispy!... and tender inside!

While these were roasting, I cut up the leftover pot roast, about a pound and a half, and started heating it up in the big stew pot. I put these beauties in with the meat….

 .. and added a packet of brown gravy mix, also prepared while the veggies were roasting.

Looks yummy, huh!

It was!

So that’s my plan for next time I have leftover pot roast… I’m gonna make a DELISH soup!

Real Love

Real love is knowing your partner’s love language and speaking it often, and with sincerity.

Real love is getting up in the middle of the night and popping his back cuz he can’t sleep when his hands are falling asleep instead.

 Real love is telling her she's more beautiful than the model on the front of her fasion magazine, and honestly meaning it.

Real love is acknowledging the time that went into picking a tie that goes perfectly with your suit… and your eyes.

Real love is taking the bus to work because she could make better use of the car.

Real love is holding his hand when you walk down the street, or offering a back rub when she’s had a rough day at work.

Real love is finding her beautiful, even when she's 98, wrinkled, bent, with thin white hair.

Real love is turning off the computer to sit beside him to watch that dumb sit-com he likes so much.

Real love is repainting the entire living room because she doesn’t quite like that shade.

Real love is making his favorite dish for dinner.. just because it’s his favorite.

Real love is cutting up the frozen chicken because her hands ache when they get the least bit cold.

Real love is shaving his back because the hair makes it itch.

Real love is shaving her legs for her because she's too pregnant to reach.

Real love is ignoring all the blood when she’s pushing, and being amazed and falling in love with the screaming little purple thing her body has been creating.

Real love is a whole lot more than just roses, chocolates, and candle-lit dinners. And it always has been.

The thing about this kind of love is that it can’t be built in one conversation, or even a day. It takes weeks and months and years. It takes paying attention, keeping track, asking questions and then listening to the answers.