Spinach Artichoke Dip

This is one of my favorite appetizers to order in restaurants such as Applebees. When I get it, I usually get it as my meal. Very delicious!

Esther 4:14

14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

Mordecai speaks these words to Esther upon finding out about a plot to kill the Jews. I like this passage because it is a reminder to us all that God can use the positions we're in and allows for us to be in certain positions for a purpose. God worked through Esther in her royal position enabling her to prevent this plot from being carried about, and thus saving her people. It's awesome how God works through various people and circumstances.

Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse was created by Walt Disney in 1928. Mickey Mouse is so much more than just an animated cartoon chracter. He is a widely recognized symbol all over the world. For a lot of people, seeing Mickey Mouse brings a happy, magical feeling. He reminds people of their childhood. For me, Mickey Mouse reminds me of when I was a kid and how I loved having a Mickey Mouse theme for my birthdays, AND it reminds me of my trips to DisneyWorld which I took as an adult. I am truly a kid at heart, and absolutely love DisneyWorld. So seeing Mickey Mouse evokes such happy memories, and brings out the kid in me. And we all need to be a kid again from time to time and have a break from reality or"the adult world."

"Solsbury Hill" Peter Gabriel

It's only in recent years that I've really grown to like this song a lot. It's kind of unique with its 7/4 time signature that's used a lot throughout the song. Gabriel wrote this after he left Genesis. There are a couple good covers of the song too. I like Erasure's acoustic cover of it and I found a Dave Matthews cover online.

Turtle Quote--James B. Conant

"Behold the turtle. He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out."
--James B. Conant (chemist, educational administrator and government official)

"Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart"

Lord, Thee I love with all my heart;
I pray Thee, ne'er from me depart,
With tender mercy cheer me.
Earth has no pleasure I would share.
Yea, heav'n itself were void and bare
If Thou, Lord, wert not near me.
And should my heart for sorrow break,
My trust in Thee can nothing shake.
Thou art the portion I have sought;
Thy precious blood my soul has bought.
Lord Jesus Christ,
My God and Lord, my God and Lord
Forsake me not! I trust Thy Word.

Yea, Lord, 'twas Thy rich bounty gave
My body, soul, and all I have
In this poor life of labor.
Lord, grant that I in ev'ry place
May glorify Thy lavish grace
And help and serve my neighbor.
Let no false doctrine me beguile;
Let Satan not my soul defile.
Give strength and patience unto me
To bear my cross and follow Thee.
Lord Jesus Christ,
My God and Lord, my God and Lord,
In death Thy comfort still afford.

Lord, let at last Thine angels come,
To Abr'ham's bosom bear me home,
That I may die unfearing;
And in its narrow chamber keep
My body safe in peaceful sleep
Until Thy reappearing.
And then from death awaken me,
That these mine eyes with joy may see,
O Son of God, Thy glorious face,
My Savior and my fount of grace.
Lord Jesus Christ,
My prayer attend, my prayer attend,
And I will praise Thee without end.

Text: Martin Schalling, tr. Catherine Winkworth
Tune: Zwey Bucher...Tabulatur, Strassburg, 1577

The music of this hymn is so beautiful, and the words are so powerful. It's awesome to pray the words of this hymn. And the last verse, speaking of death, gives me goosebumps. Because of Christ, we can die unfearing and know we have so much to look forward to. Awesome!

Analyze This

This 1999 film is about a mobster, Paul Vitti, (Robert De Niro) who, after experiencing panic attacks, forces a psychiatrist, Ben Sobel, (Billy Crystal) to treat him. Their exchanges are hilarious--lots of sarcastic humor. Though Sobel resents being on call 24/7 while he is trying to treat other patients and spend time with his fiance, he does strive to help his unique patient.

Nehemiah 9:5-33

5 And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: "Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. "

"Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

7 "You are the LORD God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.

9 "You saw the suffering of our forefathers in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea. 10 You sent miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. 12 By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.

13 "You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. 15 In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.

16 "But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, 'This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,' or when they committed awful blasphemies.

19 "Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. By day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them in the desert; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.

22 "You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. 23 You made their sons as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their fathers to enter and possess. 24 Their sons went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you handed the Canaanites over to them, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. 25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.

26 "But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they put your law behind their backs. They killed your prophets, who had admonished them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. 27 So you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.

28 "But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.

29 "You warned them to return to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them. Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. 30 For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you admonished them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you handed them over to the neighboring peoples. 31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

32 "Now therefore, O our God, the great, mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings and leaders, upon our priests and prophets, upon our fathers and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 In all that has happened to us, you have been just; you have acted faithfully, while we did wrong.

There are some awesome themes in this passage. God does not abandon His people. Even though we are sinful and stubborn and turn away, God keeps His covenant, forgives, and is faithful to us. God is compassionate and loving. He cares for those Whom He has created and delivers them. Lots of comfort for us here!

"A Hymn to God the Father" by John Donne

Wilt Thou forgive that sin where I begun,
Which was my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin, through which I run
And do run still, though still I do deplore?
When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done;
For I have more.

Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I have won
Others to sin, and made my sins their door?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I did shun
A year or two, but wallow'd in, a score?
When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done;
For I have more.

I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
But swear by Thyself, that at my death Thy Son
Shall shine, as He shines now and heretofore:
And having done that, Thou hast done;
I fear no more.

This poem always deeply moves me when I read it. Donne speaks of our constant struggle with sin and our need for forgiveness. And then he speaks of the comfort of the Gospel--knowing Christ died for us, we truly need not fear. I love Donne's work.

Chocolate Temptations

This is a wine from the Willow Creek Winery in Silver Creek, New York. At first I wasn't sure how chocolate wine would taste. I mean, I love chocolate and I love wine, but I didn't know how chocolate wine would be. But I absolutely loved it and can't wait to have more of it. Great chocolaty taste!

Red Robin

Red Robin is known for their gourmet burgers. Yes, they are a little pricey, but they are so good! I like the variety they have. Some of my favorite burgers include the Santa Fe Burger which has poblano pepper, guacamole, sauteed onions, and crisp tortilla strips, the Banzai Burger which is marinated in teriyaki and topped with grilled pineapple, and the Bleu Ribbon Burger which has a tangy steak sauce and Bleu cheese crumbles and is served with onion straws. I keep wanting to try the 5 Alarm Burger. Good stuff!

http://www.redrobin.com/

Nehemiah 8:10

(end of v. 10) "Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

Nehemiah has been speaking to the people and they wept when the law was read. But Nehemiah tells the people to not grieve and reminds them "the joy of the LORD is your strength." What awesome words! We are so weak and powerless, and are reminded of this all the time. And we are utterly incapable of keeping God's Law. But we rejoice that Christ kept the Law perfectly for us and took the punishment we deserved. We are filled with joy because of God's grace and forgiveness, and celebrate the victory we have in Christ, and the promise of God to continually strengthen us.

The Man Who Knew Too Much

I like the 1956 version of this Hitchcock film, which stars Jimmy Stewart. This is a great suspense movie about a family vacationing in Morocco who stumble onto an assassination plot. This is up there as one of my favorite Hitchcock movies.

Steak n Shake

I dig the burgers at Steak n Shake, and the Frisco Melt is my favorite thing to order. I also really like the shakes. My favorite is when they offer the White Chocolate shake (usually in the winter). The Coffee Mocha and Dark Chocolate shakes are good too.
http://www.steaknshake.com/default-home.asp

The Sting

This 1973 movie starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman is a great caper film about two grifters who con a mob boss. It's a lot of fun to watch, and the cast is awesome. The film won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Directing, and Writing Original Screenplay.