Where Are Your Feet?

As I approach this trip, I find myself leaving Dallas and thinking to the time to come. To be honest, it takes very little to allow myself to slip off the road and into Dreamland. With a to-do list that won't end until the night before I leave, more and more of my thoughts tend to end up in the future. But, that also means that I am spending less and less time here, in Dallas, where the Lord has me presently.

Confession: I am a total control freak. A redeemed, loved, cherished by God control freak who has been changed immeasurably since I started walking with God all those years ago, but a control freak nonetheless. It goes back to my struggle against the lie that I find myself believing more times than I want to that God is not good, that the cross was not enough. It looks ridiculous as I type it, but in the heat of the battle of life, my flesh clouds my judgement and fall for the trick. When it feels like I am not in or losing control, I freak out and start playing God. The most slippery of all the slopes is going off to dream land, thinking about how things will play out (as I call all of the shots) and the series of events to achieve the goal at hand. I don't tend to be outright controlling; I'm much more skilled at behind the scenes things and slowly steering things where I want to go. Sorry if I just smeared any rosy picture of me that you had painted, but you deserve the truth. :)

My prayer for us, the team, is that we are where our feet are. At the moment, that means that we are scattered, planning for Belgium, but not in Belgium. The Lord has called us all to work here and now; we aren't promised Belgium. Yes, support can be in and yes, tickets purchased and yes, lives on hold for four weeks. But we aren't promised tomorrow. And when we are in Belgium, I pray that we are fully there. Our schedule is going to be pretty full, with meets happening at least once a week. I pray that we are not lost in logistics, but loving well in the moment.

Oh, Lord, help us remember our feet!

Keeping it Simple

Sometimes it's nice to just let the food do the work. Tonight is one of those nights - marinading chicken breasts and then cooking them. Quick, low mess, and always a crowd pleaser. I think that we are still trying to recover from our bike ride yesterday, and the workout that I did today with my two injured athletes was quite the butt kicker.

The Foodstuffs:

• Two boneless, skinless chicken breasts (beaten into submission optional).
• Bottle of your favorite dressing.

The How-You-Do-It

• Take your chicken breasts and poke holes all over to help the marinade flavor the chicken more efficiently. 
• Place chicken in a large plastic zip-lock bag. 
• Pour dressing over chicken and zip bag. Shake/mush the bag to coat the chicken evenly.
• Place bag in a bowl (to keep all renegade juices from leaking all over the place) and place the bowl in the fridge. I recommend overnight, but a couple of hours will do as well.
• After chicken has marinaded for a bit, remove from fridge and cook in a skillet until no longer pink.
• OR, preheat the oven to 350*F and cook for 35-40 minutes.

Serve with roasted veggies or a salad!

An Oldie but a Goodie

Yesterday kicks off our long week of meets: one on Wednesday night, one Saturday night, and one Sunday. Keeping the flock fed and ready can be tricky, but thankfully chicken and veggies are always good options when muscles are being repaired.

Some recipes are one-hit wonders, some fail in spectacular fashion, and some stand up to the test of time. This recipe is one of those recipes. It was the first meal that I made in Belgium, on our fist trip when we had to drastically overhaul the food budget ten days into the trip.

The Foodstuffs

• One chicken breast (boneless, skinless if possible)
• Sugar snap peas/snow peas
• Bell peppers, chopped (I prefer red/orange/yellow)
• Shredded carrots
• Peanuts 
• Rice (brown or white)
• Soy sauce (to taste)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper (to taste)

The How-You-Do-It

• Cook rice as directed on package. 
• Cube the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces
• Pour a quater-sized amount of olive oil in a pan and let warm. Add chicken breast and cook until just slightly undercooked. Add more oil if the chicken sticks.
• In a larger, separate pan, add olive oil and let warm. Add veggies and let cook until just tender. 
• Add chicken to the veggie pan, along with the soy sauce. Cook until chicken is done.

To prepare, put rice at the bottom of a bowl, add chicken and veggies, and top with more soy sauce if desired. Garnish with some peanuts and enjoy!