Daily lifting life's empty bowl to see what God provides to sustain, nourish, and strengthen His child.
Time to get your Operation Christmas Child box packed for send-off. Once again, I have selected a girl age 10 to 14. I feel burdened for this age group as they approach young womanhood and having children in the not-too-distant future. If little children suit you better, go for it. My church is participating which makes it easy for me to drop off the box. If you don’t know a drop-off site near you, you can check on the web site. National collection week is November 18-25.
Loneliness is not aloneness. As an introvert, I can embrace aloneness. When by myself, there is no demand to relate, to meet expectations, just the comfortableness of being.
One of my loneliest experiences was attending a brunch reception of fifty ladies where most had known each other for years. I mingled, attaching myself to the small clusters, standing at the fringe waiting to contribute to the conversations. A few interrupted their intercourse to say hello, but most chatted on about mutual friends without even a nod to acknowledge my presence. The invisible woman, the outsider unfamiliar with the people being discussed, I slipped out the front door. I had been in the group but not of the group.
The drive to join me and thee to become we is strong. Belonging requires relating, but there is risk in exposing the inner me. If I bare my soul and what I expose is rejected, denigrated, or worse deemed insignificant and irrelevant, what do I have left to offer?
Seldom have I penetrated others’ public personas to read the deeper wells of being. The inability to achieve intimacy pierces my soul, and yet to hide the pain I cling to my own mask of defensive presentation. A dance at arms’ length ensues. Two people meeting and moving in tandem, but not embracing. I am no longer alone, but I am lonely.
I decided to make a meat loaf using bread rather than oats as the filler. I liked this one pretty well. Too much food for 2 people, so unless we are hosting a meal, I will halve the recipe next time. I did make one substitution. I had planned to buy a loaf of white bread on sale at the grocery store bakery, but they were out. I used what I had at home which was wheat bread and oat bread heels.
I wish I could credit the cookbook, but this was a recipe I tore out of a book that was part of a group of cookbooks donated to the Grace Village library, and there is no running title on the pages. We do not have cookbooks in the library; I felt fine tearing out recipes that interested me.
Judy’s Mom’s Meat Loaf
2 cups bread cubes (4 to 5 slices of sturdy white bread)
3/4 cup milk or water
1 envelope (1 oz.) dry onion soup mix
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 pounds ground beef
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place the bread cubes, milk or water, and onion soup mix in a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Add the eggs, 1/2 cup of the ketchup and the mustard and brown sugar and stir well. Using your fingers, break apart the ground beef and distribute in the mixing bowl. Still using your hands, work the ground beef into the bread until just combined; don’t overwork it as this will toughen the meat. Transfer the meat mixture to a 13 x 9 inch glass or ceramic baking dish and shape it into a loaf. Drizzle the remaining 1/2 cup of ketchup over the top of the loaf.
3. Bake the meat loaf until the top has browned and the loaf has cooked through, 55 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer the meat loaf to a serving platter and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
Unfortunately, today is rainy and windy. This evening thunder storms with lightening are a real possibility for trick-or-treaters. My husband had a dental appointment, and I needed to grocery shop. One of my stops was Meijers where Susan Boyle’s new Christmas CD was on sale.
Home for Christmas will be fun to listen to while decorating the Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving.
All the stores have Christmas goods on the shelves already. Many of them had them several weeks ago. As much as I would like to listen to this CD, I will wait until the more appropriate time.
We won’t have any little kids come to our door if the last two years are typical. With the wretched weather, probably even fewer will venture far. Across the street a new neighbor is moving in today. I guess she couldn’t wait or reschedule. Bad day to move. I am staying snug and warm here at home now the grocery shopping is done.
