Walking...No Writing With a Limp

Walking…No Writing With a Limp

I copy Scripture. I’m definitely not bragging here…just sharing how the Lord has slowed my Bible reading down so His words really sink in. I’m in Genesis 32 this morning and Jacob’s struggle with instant obedience to God’s will reminds me of myself. 

We find Jacob serving Laban, his father-in-law keeping his livestock. He's been at it for 20 years when God tells him to head back home.  The idea of meeting up with his brother who he tricked into giving his birthright and blessing from SCARES him! The last time they'd been together 20 years ago, Esau had threatened to kill him!

 First he sends messengers to meet Esau, and finds out that he and 400 men are heading this way to meet them. This sends Esau into a panic! He quickly comes up with a plan to appease his brother’s wrath. Gifts! That will calm him down, and help him to think favorably toward me before I get there! So off he separately sends the cattle, sheep, goats, and the camels with a message of appeasement before him.

 Then in the middle of the night he sends his two wives, womanservants, and children over the river to go between him and his brother whom he perceives to be out to kill him. Alone on the other side of the river he wrestles “with God”. No man has seen God face to face and lived, so this must have been a messenger of God (an angel). When the sun comes up, God blesses him. But he will forever walk with a limp as a physical reminder of his slow obedience to God’s command.

 Why do we wrestle with God when He tells us what to do? In my next blog post I’ll describe one such wrestling match I had “with God” and how He’s blessed me…”with a limp as I write.”

Read this story for yourself! To get the whole picture, start reading about Rebekah’s difficult pregnancy in Genesis 25:20. Then follow the boy’s lives up to their reunion. I’m sure God will have a blessing for you too!

From the Farmhouse This Week:

Snow Cream!

I love winter! As a child I loved skiing, sledding, building snow sculptures and MORE. Being from the north during my high school years you'd think I also would have known all about how to make snow cream. But I didn't have my first taste until after my first child Matthew was 2! We've  tried several recipes since then, but this year we've found the BEST yet!

Last Wednesday after church we headed back home up the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain highway there were police cars and fire trucks blocking the highway. The road was closed! We spent a restless night sleeping on our church's  pews.  When we got home the middle of the next day we celebrated by making a big batch of snow cream! The new recipe we had found had hung on the refrigerator awaiting a good snow.

 Give it a try if you like an EASY way to make ice cream...of course it's a different texture than ice cream, but this is the closest to the real thing we've tried. Another bonus is that it calls for everyday ingredients! So, if you don't have the expensive sweetened condensed milk on hand that the usual recipes call for, just grab a jar/jug of milk! We used half milk and half half and half for our batch. 

When it starts to snow, put a big bowl outside to catch fresh, clean snow. (We scooped up the top layer off our farm trailer since we weren't home when the storm hit.)

Ingredients:

1 cup half and half or milk
1/3 to 1/2 cup granulated sugar (we used 1/3  cup raw cane juice crystals)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4-6 cups clean snow

Directions:

In a large bowl combine half and half or milk, vanilla, and sugar Stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in snow a little at a time.  Serve immediately or freeze until serving time. 

Abundant Blessings,
The Farmer's Wife
Val Colvin