Autumn Expressions!

The blustery autumn breezes are blowing signaling change is in the air. Fall is a time for change – especially a change in weather causing us to put our summer clothes away and bring out the sweaters and jackets. But, perhaps the most obvious change is the turning of the leaves from green to brilliant shades of scarlet, gold, orange, ad deep purple. This is not a season of death and dying it is a season of preparation. The trees are preparing for winter.

Why do leaves change color and fall? Are you curious? In late summer, as the growing season slows down, a corky separation layer develops between the stem and the leaf. After the leaf has fallen, the scar where it was attached to the stem is sealed and protected by this separation layer. As this separation layer forms, the production of food within the leaves slows down. The cells and veins in the leaf become clogged. Thus no more chlorophyll is produced, and the green color disappears. Other colors were present in the leaf, but they were hidden by the stronger green. Now they appear in all their splendor.

Frost is often given credit for autumn’s beauty, but the temperature actually has little to do with it. A combination of favorable weather conditions is required. Red pigments are formed in the sunlight in leaves that have stored sugar. Cloudy, rainy weather or a very hot, dry summer prevents the pigments from developing. If warm days are followed by warm nights the sugars drain out of the leaves and into the woody portions of the plant. Ideal conditions are bright, sunny days followed by cool nights. All this intricately planned by our Creator.

Can you remember pressing brightly colored leaves between sheets of waxed paper to preserve their color? It’s one of those experiences of life no one should miss. Here’s how to do it:

• Place autumn-colored leaves between two layers of wax paper. Cover with an old towel or cloth rag. Press the fabric with a warm iron, sealing the wax paper together with the leaf in between. Cut your leaves out, leaving a narrow margin of wax paper around the leaf edge. That’s the old-fashioned way of doing things.
• You can also preserve fall leaves in your microwave oven. Choose fresh leaves with the brightest colors. You don’t want fallen leaves that already have started to dry. Run the oven for 30-180 seconds. The drier the leaves, the less time they will need. Be careful; you could start a fire in your microwave if they cook too long.
• Here’s another way to preserve leaves using a solution of glycerin and water. Use a mixture of one part glycerin to two parts water. Place the mixture in a flat pan, and totally submerge the leaves in a single layer in the liquid. You’ll have to weight them down to keep them submerged. In two to six days, they should have absorbed the liquid and be soft and pliable. Remove them from the pan and wipe off all the liquid with a soft cloth. Done correctly, the leaves will remain soft and pliable indefinitely.

So, take some time with the children in your life. Go out and collect some of the treasures of fall. It’s something they’ll remember for the rest of their life!

Minnesota Fall Foliage

These photos are from Maplewood State Park. I took the two youngest girls on a day trip in early October to see God's wonderful Fall splash of colors. They were about 50% changed and gorgeous!

Autumn!

Hmmm…..If we could only capture the beauty of autumn and hold it to our hearts all winter long! Crisp mornings, warm days, azure blue skies, tasty apples, golden pumpkins, harvest moon…and perhaps most spectacular…the beauty of changing leaves, all typical sprinklings of the season. Yes, fall is my favorite time of year!

I love the whisper of the wind, the blustery breezes swirling fallen leaves and scattering them in colorful piles in otherwise barren places. I love the smell of campfires and burning leaves, the sound of crunching leaves beneath my feet.

It’s a time to slow down, a time to enjoy the beauty around us. It’s the season’s last hurrah before coming to a close and cuddling under a snowy blanket.

The bible tells us in the book of Genesis that the change of seasons was God’s idea. In chapter 8, the Lord reminds us, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

Virtually everything’s affected by the seasons. Farmers plant and harvest their crops in the warm months and mend fences and tend their livestock and machinery in the winter. As the seasons change, people wear heavier or lighter clothing and eat different foods.

The cycle of the seasons make up a year. Before the calendar, people looked to the sky for signs that a new season was approaching. The book of Genesis, chapter 1, says that God put the lights in the heavens, “…to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” This knowledge was vital in determining seeding and harvesting times. That’s why we still call the low, orange colored moon, “the Harvest Moon”.

The seasons have a profound effect on plant and animal life, too. In spring, plants and trees sprout new leaves, flowers appear, birds migrate to warmer regions, and many animals emerge from hibernation. With summer, the lengthy hours of sunshine provide energy for photosynthesis and stimulate growth in plants and animals alike. In autumn, the final harvesting is done, many plants shed their leaves, birds migrate to warmer regions, and construct warm, protected burrows, seeds have hard coats to keep out the cold, and buds are wrapped in wax as protection against ice.

Out of these four seasons, autumn is my favorite! Check back again as I take some time to enjoy the beauties and aromas of this special season.

Shortcuts in the Kitchen

There is something just as exciting as saving money, and that is saving time – especially when it means either a trip into town or being able to stay put!

How many times have you started to get together the ingredients for a recipe when you realize you are one ingredient short! For me, it’s not optional to drive down to the store to pick up the needed ingredient. I only live a few miles out of town, but the mentality that I’m still out of town keeps me from running in. And these days, gas prices as they are, we’d do well to plan ahead, or make do when we don’t. So…here’s a few neat substitutes I’ve found that work when I’m missing an ingredient or two:

Eggs

• 1 Tbsp. ground flax + ¼ cup water = 1 egg
Heat this on the stove until ooey-gooey like an egg. This works great in any baking recipe I’ve tried. I don’t suspect it would work well for scrambled eggs – ha!!

Here’s a few others to try:
• 2 T. cornstarch = 1 egg
• 2 T. arrowroot flour = 1 egg
• 2 T. potato starch = 1 egg
• 1 heaping T. soy powder + 2 T. water = 1 egg
• 1 T. soy milk powder + 1 T. cornstarch + 2 T. water = 1 egg.
• 1 banana = 1 egg in cakes.
• 2 egg whites + 1 - 3 tsp. vegetable oil for each yolk omitted = 1 egg
• 1 egg white + 2 1/4 teaspoons nonfat dry milk powder + 2 teaspoons vegetable oil (may store 1 week in refrigerator or freezer) = 1 egg
• 2 T. water + 1/2 tsp. baking powder = 1 egg in cookies and cakes only.
• 2 T. flour + 1/2 T shortening + 1/2 tsp. baking powder + 2 T liquid (use liquid called for in recipe) = 1 egg for cookie and cake recipes calling for 2-3 eggs

A couple of places in the Bible it mentions to us to redeem the time (Eph 5:16 and Col.4:5). Making wise use of our time in one area will "free it up" (or redeem it) in another. The Lord is making a correlation here for us. You've heard of 'buying time'. Well, this is one way we can buy time as it were. Keeping tabs on time where we can save it, frees up time for other things. Try redeeming your time this week in areas you can. A few minutes here and there can add up fast to great time savings later. Make good use of that 'freed up time' by doing something nice for someone else - maybe, take them a good, hearty homecooked meal!

Stop by tomorrow for a few more substitutes!

Have a blessed day.

Lori

Putting on the Brakes! (part 2 of Too much is too much!)

Are you like me? Did you get yourself into high gear with no brakes? You'll run out of gas and come to a screeching halt! Did God ever intend for us to get this busy? I don't think so. Perhaps a good acrostic for busy is B-eing U-nder S-atan's Y-oke ; that spells busy all right! it is a yoke - and a heavy one at that! Jesus Christ told us to put His yoke on (Matthew 11) "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Isn't that what we are looking for - rest? Yet, we look at Christ's yoke as being burdensome, heavy; but, it is just the opposite. Satan's yoke is the heavy one. Jesus' burden is light. How? and Why? Because He is with us through every trial every frustration, every care. We don't go through trials alone. Under Satan's yoke- you're on your own. And believe me, that's one heavy burden!

Here's how Satan works:

Are you busy? Suppose Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to church, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Saviour and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!" "How shall we do this?" shouted Satan's angels. "Keep them busy in the non essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their mind", he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and husbands to work 6-7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon their home will offer no escape from the pressures of work". "Over stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear God's still small voice. Entice them to play the radio or CD player whenever they drive, to keep the TV, VCR, CD's and their PC's going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ." "Fill the coffee table with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, sweepstakes, mail order catalogues, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services, and false hopes." "Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted, and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature to reflect on God's wonders. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead." "And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and emotion." "Let them be involved in soul winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause."

It was quite a convention in the end. And the evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and rush here and there.

Has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge.

Will that stop us? It's good for me to think about this every once in awhile - we can get so caught up in 'good causes' that we really forget what is important. Mary sat at Jesus' feet. Sometimes having a Mary heart in a Martha world is not easy. But, oh how refreshing it is. Lord help us to hear the still small voice. Better yet, help us to be quiet and still long enough to listen.

Have a blessed day,

Lori