Hallelujah Chorus, Quinhagak, Alaska

This seems a fitting video as we close out this month and year.

What's in a Face?

We've just upgraded iPhoto on our computer and are in the process of organizing our photos by people, not just events and dates.  With thousands of faces to sort out, it is a bit of a time consuming effort, but once we get it up and running it should be easy to maintain, and a breeze to find just the right photo.

This morning while I sat for nearly an hour, identifying people who appeared on my computer screen, I found it comical that the program had so much trouble recognizing some folks -- like my husband, my boys, and me!  Lots and lots of pictures of us, but if someone had a hat on, a hood up, a goofy smile,
iPhoto didn't seem to have any idea who we were!  Sometimes it took a stab at naming someone.  Occasionally it was right; more often it made me laugh.  Was my brother with a beard me?  Was my son my sister-in-law?  It kept getting my dad and my father-in-law mixed up.  And people who don't even know each other were given the other's name.

It reminded me of a study that Samuel participated in several years ago at the University of Washington related to face recognition.  It was designed to study how people on the autism spectrum process information.  For all of Samuel's ability to grasp and recall information, face recognition is difficult for him.

I've seen that in myself some, too.  Just the other day I was at Haggen and saw a dear friend out of the corner of my eye.  But she doesn't live in the area, so I couldn't make the face of the woman I saw quite match my friend's face.  I would have passed her by except that she saw me too.  What a happy reunion we had!

I'm realizing how much context has to do with our ability to recognize people's faces.  The computer zooms in on one face out of a crowd, and I flounder. Sometimes I need the setting for clues.

Tom the artist seems to have no trouble remembering a face.  I guess it's just in the way we're wired.

Our computer is wired for data.  It's pulling together information from each of those photos it has already identified and is eventually going to be able to recognize a picture of me, no matter the hairstyle or age.  I've still got 3000 photos to identify; I hope it catches on soon.

Songs of the Redeemed

I've been listening to The Odes Project, a CD I received for Christmas.  It is a recently released collection of songs of the early Christian church -- ancient words translated for our times and set to music.  They draw us to the body of Christ and remind us that we, at this moment in history, are just a dot on the timeline of redemption.

I am a Christ-follower in the beginning of the 21st century, living in a small town in North America.  But I am a part of something so much bigger than that.  My heritage includes the believers who, over the generations, have met to worship Jesus in catacombs and cathedrals, under thatched roofs, in refugee camps, homes, warehouses and storefronts on every continent.  I may not have been present nor experienced the struggles that my brothers and sisters through time have experienced, yet I am one with them.

As believers in Jesus, we are interwoven with people we will meet in Heaven, those described in Revelation as "a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.  They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to or God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." (7:9,10)

Just maybe, when we get there, we will hear the songs of the redeemed that have echoed through the ages, wherever the Name of Jesus has been lifted up!  I sure hope so!

Mrs Ginger and Mr Tom's Taco Soup

We had friends over the other night, and all evening the little girls referred to us as Mrs Ginger and Mr Tom.  On the menu was taco soup that Tom and I had made.  The next morning, the 4-year-old said to her mom, "Mrs Ginger's taco soup was so delicious!"  Besides being delicious, this recipe is also gluten-free.

Mrs Ginger and Mr Tom's Taco Soup

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
1 15-oz can kidney beans
1 15-oz can black beans
2 15-oz cans pinto beans
1 cup frozen corn
1 pound browned ground beef
taco seasoning (see below)
taco chips
grated cheese
sour cream
shredded lettuce (optional)

Brown ground beef.  Empty the contents of the cans of tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beans into a Dutch oven or large kettle.  Add corn and ground beef.  Add the seasoning.  Stir well and cook for an hour or so to allow the flavors to marry.

To serve, you might put the chips and lettuce in the bowl along with the soup and top with grated cheese and/or sour cream.

Taco Seasoning
(This gluten-free seasoning, which I found here, is the secret ingredient in this recipe!  You can, of course, use packaged seasoning, but it will taste better if you take the time to make this one yourself.)
1 Tbsp potato starch
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp minced onion
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

Conversations with God

Pastor Steve Schell tells of the moment when he fully surrendered control of his life to the Lord.

God:  Since you're not enjoying living for yourself, why don't you just give me what's left of your life and I'll do with it as I please?

Pastor Steve: I hurt so bad inside that I was actually willing to let go.  I said, "I'll be a quarter in your pocket and you can spend me any way you want."

(You can hear the whole story on Haven Today.)

The Christ Candle

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he wil be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

For you know that it was not with perishable things

such as silver or gold

that you were redeemed from the empty way of life

handed down to you from your forefathers,

but with the precious blood of Christ,

a lamb without blemish or defect.

He was chosen before the creation of the world,

but was revealed in the last times

for your sake.

Through him you believe in God,

who raised him from the dead

and glorified him,

and so your faith and hope are in God.

1 Peter 1:18-21

"Look, the Lamb of God,

who takes away the sin of the world!"

John 1:29

Peace on Earth!

The message of the angels was hard to comprehend:

Peace on Earth, good will to men!

The message of the Savior offers sweet release:

Peace I leave with you, my peace!

The message that the church brings to a broken world:

He is our peace -- be healed!

Ginger Kauffman

Wishing you a blessed Christmas,

and His peace!