Ice Cream Birthday Cake

Photo by American Heritage Chocolate on Unsplash

Just before my husband turned 40 this month, and everything in our house started breaking and falling apart, I had organized some fun things to ring in this new decade for him! One thing was an ice cream cake! Our family loves ice cream, so very much. But looking up the cost, I was determined to just make my own and save the money. With help from an online recipe, a couple of tweaks, and my mom’s chocolate trifle recipe, this homemade ice cream cake is going down in the annals of the Harris Family Chronicles, or at least onto a recipe card for my recipe box. Its easy, its not quick, and its cost-effective!

First, you need to bake the cake portion and cool it, so its good to give yourself time for that. Here’s my mom’s Chocolate Trifle recipe:

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup baker’s cocoa
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt

This recipe makes 2 round cake pan size chocolate cakes. Use just one for the ice cream cake and wrap the other in plastic wrap and freeze for another occasion!

Directions:
-put all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix for 3 mins.
-pour the batter into two round cake pans
-bake @ 350 F for approx. 25 mins (consider your elevation and oven temps)
-let the cake cool

Once the cake round is cooled, you can follow the steps on the photo posted (back and front of my recipe card) and build your ice cream cake! I gotta run and pick up my kiddos!

Enjoy!

The Gathering Light of His Fire

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

My phone had been receiving notifications that a severe winter storm was on its way to our corner of the Northwest. The signs were obvious: below freezing temperatures, frozen water in a bucket at church in the furnace room, people’s pipes breaking, the gathering of firewood (and long-burning logs), defrosting the truck for twenty minutes in the mornings, pets hesitant to go outside, and charred dumpsters in the heart of the city, the remains of desperate attempts for heat by those without homes.

A few weeks ago, our heating system broke in our house, and we knew that a hefty repair was in our future. It was still mild enough outside that we just put a few logs in the fireplace and we were sufficiently warmed in the evenings, gathering in our family room “bear den”. But the temperatures soon grew more frigid outside and our house got extremely cold. Thankfully, a gas fireplace in the basement helped to keep temps between 58-61 degrees Fahrenheit.

We’ve been baking a lot and leaving the oven door open to cool and maximize our use of the heat produced, and enjoying the baked goods produced from the heat! We increased our creativity in gathering fuel to burn including our two crispy Christmas trees from the forest, old school workbooks, extra wooden shingles we found in a box in our shed (from the previous owner), and dried apple branches from our tree, besides the costly grocery store firewood. A friend dropped off several large tree stumps for our sons to chop, and we are well supplied to keep the home fires burning!

When the temperatures dropped this past weekend, and frost began to accumulate on the inside of our windows, we bought a couple more hot water bottles for sleeping, an electric heating pad, doubled up on socks, and began to wear our winter coats and scarves around the house. The new heating unit arrived on the first day of the winter storm and workers faithfully stayed all day until midnight working. Amidst the falling of snow, our home was being restored, and we are once again enjoying the gift of a warm home!

One thing I’ve noticed is that our whole family gathers in our little family room and kitchen where its the warmest, where they read, play video games, study for their final exams, drink tea (and coffee), and generally entertain each other with the tools of logic they have eloquently gained this past year!

I love listening to my dad’s stories of growing up on the dairy farm in southern British Columbia. There were some winters that were so cold, that in the night, they’d go to sleep in their upstairs room and set out a cup of water. Over night, it would freeze solid. But they stayed warm enough in their house and in the morning, their mom would start up the wood stove in the basement. There was a hole cut into the floor where the heat would rise from the basement to the main level of the house… alas, central heating! And everyone would gather around the heat and light, and there, life was enjoyed, stories were shared, prayers were prayed, and knowing my aunts and uncles I’m sure many songs were sung… together.

That’s what heat and light do, they gather us in to safety, to survival, to life. The light chases the darkness away. The heat repels the deathly cold. Heat and light invite us to live, and not in isolation, but together. This is what the Word of God does.

God’s Word is a light to our path to help us see Reality, what is real and true. God’s Word gathers people together to feed our sin-sick souls, to nourish and give us strength for the daily friction of living in a broken world. We have the opportunity and responsibility, as born-again Christians, to share God’s Word with others, to bring others to the feast of God’s Word, the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, so that they too can gather with us around the life-giving warmth and light of Christ’s love, a fire that is never extinguished, but gives light and life to all who draw near.

I was reminded of this life-giving fire this past Sunday during the sermon. My husband is preaching through the book of the Acts of the Apostles. God came in the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit sent from King Jesus ten days after Jesus ascended bodily into Heaven and sat down on His throne to rule the nations and remake the world. As His people scattered among many nations pilgrimaged and gathered at the temple for the Feast of Pentecost, a harvest feast, the Holy Spirit descended and came upon the people like little flames of fire.

The tongues of fire were symbolic of the temple sacrificial system, but instead of offering the required animals on the altar, God’s people were becoming “living sacrifices” set on fire by the Holy Spirit, and being purified by the refining fire of the Holy Spirit. The people of God are now the living temple of His Spirit and we are the living sacrifices, but the provision and all the work is God’s work alone. And this is what people are drawn to, the light which comes not from us, but from God, the Creator and Giver of Light, the One who keeps the Light shining and the One to whom every knee will bow on earth and in Heaven. All nations will come to this Light and the world is being transformed by Jesus. He is the One who calls the City on a Hill into being and the light is going forth into all the world.

Light has a source and people are drawn to the source to gather and live. Jesus alone is the Light and those who come to him are filled with His Light to be reflectors of that Light which will transform the world.

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”

has shone in our hearts

to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:5-7

And the Word Came with Power

In 1962, two young women left their homes in America to answer God’s call to translate His Word into the language of the Balangao people in the Philippines. Joanne Shetler shares her story of this experience in her book, And the Word Came with Power. This is one of my favorite stories about God’s Word, the Bible, being taken to the farthest corners of the world so that others, and the whole world, can know the love and saving work of Jesus, to be reconciled to the Father and adopted as a child of God. This is the message the world needs to hear. Jesus is the Word made flesh and He comes with power to save.

This is why we need to be dwelling richly in God’s Word, and also why we need to continue to support the work of Bible translation until all hear this good news in their heart languages.

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:10-17 ESV

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16 ESV

Do you know the power of the Word of God in your life? You won’t know it unless you actually spend time in it. When you purpose to daily let your life be formed by the Word of God, you are letting the Architect frame the rooms of your soul, training your will to submit to God’s set apart ways, His goodness and truth. This brings fruit in your life, others’ lives, and ultimately blesses the world.

One practical way you can know God more is by following a Bible reading plan. For years, I longed to have a morning routine that included consistent and structured Bible reading and meditation. But it wasn’t until 6 years ago, that I found a reading guide that worked for me. It just clicked. The Bible reading plan that has worked for me these past 6 years is called Seeing Jesus Together (formerly called Community Bible Reading). It takes the reader through the entire Bible: every year you read through the entire New Testament; the Old Testament is read through in a cycle of 3 years. I have been using this method for 6 years now and have read through the New Testament 6 times and the Old Testament twice in those past 6 years. The structure is simple:

• Monday-Friday: read 1 OT chapter and 1 NT chapter

• Saturday: reading 1 Psalm

• Sunday: no reading because we are at church and enjoy the many Scripture readings included in our liturgy and the preaching of God’s Word (sermons are preached book by book through the entirety of the Bible).

I want to write more about this but for right now, I want to send you over to the Seeing Jesus Together site so you can get started on reading the Bible. More on this soon!

May the Word of God come with power in your life this year and always.

A Little Night Music in December - Phos Hilaron

Phos Hilaron
O gracious Light
pure brightness of the
everliving Father in heaven
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!

Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light
we sing thy praises, O God:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

You are worthy at all times
to be praised by happy voices
O Son of God, O Giver of Life
and to be glorified through all the worlds.

The darkening days grow colder and wetter. We wear sweaters and slippers and blankets knitted by the great-grandmas. We keep the duraflame logs going in the fireplace and gather in our little bear den together in the evenings. December is upon us and yesterday we celebrated St Nicholas’ feast day, when we remember the pastor from Myra who loved Jesus with his whole heart and poured out that love and generosity by giving to those in need and being a gatekeeper and defender of Biblical teaching. What a fun day to celebrate!

I want to wish you a Happy New Year! Wait, you say, its not even Christmas yet! Well, let me explain. This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent, and in the liturgical Christian calendar, Sunday was the first day of a New Christian Year! The Church calendar begins in the darkest time of the northern hemisphere, and it begins with Advent. Advent is the first season of the new Christian year, a season of waiting and watchfulness, a season of hope and anticipation, expectation that the Light is coming.

We remember the first coming, the Incarnation of Jesus, the Son of God, and we wait with joyful hope and comfort for His second coming one day, when He will return as He said, and He will dwell forever with the Church, His Bride, and all things will be made new on Earth and in Heaven. The Consummation of all things will be accomplished, and we will feast as the temple of living stones with Jesus, the Bridegroom. I hope that these selections of music and meditations will be like a little digital gift from me to you. Thank you so much for popping on here every once in a while this year and reading. I am thankful for every passerby, who might stop and read and ponder for a little while here. I hope these words are seeds the Lord uses to bring Truth into your life, His goodness to fill your days, and to point you to His Word to light your path and surround you and fill you with His holy love. It is only His Word that matters. So that is my prayer that my words point your gaze to His Word, the living Word that brings light and life!

As music is played in our home daily and hourly, (I like to put on Chopin for our dog when we leave the house), it is obvious that music is like food for the soul. I need gentle music in my life. Soft, soothing, nourishing melodies and harmonies, truthful light-filled words that comfort my soul from the darkness of this world. Psalm 119:130-132 says, “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments. Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name.”

In our church, my husband preaches through every book in the Bible. There is not a passage of God’s Word that is ignored (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Every Sunday, we gather as a church to hear the Scriptures read and taught, skillful teaching of a learned theologian. The unfolding of God’s Word gives light. Jesus, the Word made flesh, came to bring us Light. It mattered that much to Him, to be made one of us. On us a light has shone. (Matthew 4:12-17) May the beauty of this seasonal music usher you into a hope and light-filled new calendar year, as soon the light will grow physically in the northern hemisphere. As the Kingdom of God advances throughout the world, the now and the not yet, the redeeming of God’s creation is happening. He is reaching into the lives of lost people to bring them into His fold of grace. May these songs bring this great hope to flourish in your hearts.

May Jesus’ words in this scripture reading be our joy!

Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:17-19 ESV

Until all is accomplished! What a beautiful hope to dwell on every day He gives us breath.

Music

Arise & Look to the Skies by Craig Harris

Hark What Music Fills the Sky by Craig Harris

Once in Royal David’s City by Voces8

In the Bleak Mid-Winter by John Van Deusen

Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson

Brightest & Best by Keith & Kristen Getty & Ricky Skaggs

Christmas by Sandra McCracken

The Bells of Dublin by The Chieftains

A Celtic Family Christmas by Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy

Meditations

On the Incarnation by St Athanasius of Alexandria

From the Cradle to the Cross by The Keeping Company

Heaven and Nature Sing by Hannah Anderson

Sacred Seasons: A Family Guide to Center Your Year Around Jesus by Danielle Hitchen

The Art of Advent: A Painting a Day from Advent to Epiphany by Jane Williams

“The Savior is working mightily among men, every day He is invisibly persuading numbers of people all over the world, both within and beyond the Greek-speaking world, to accept His faith and be obedient to His teaching. Can anyone, in face of this, still doubt that He has risen and lives, or rather that He is Himself the Life? Does a dead man prick the consciences of men, so that they throw all the traditions of their fathers to the winds
and bow down before the teaching of Christ?”

― St. Athanasius, On The Incarnation

“I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.”
Psalm 146:2

A Little Night Music in November - A Feast of Your Faithfulness

A photo I took while hiking in the Wenatchee National Forest this Fall on our church women’s retreat.

Good morning on this foggy November day. It has been a full month in our corner of the world. Frost clings to the grass in the morning as we wake up groggy-eyed and prepare for the day as we take glimpses out the window of the sun ascending behind dense clouds that blanket our valley. I am sneaking this little post into November before the month slips away into memory. I hope these songs lift your gaze to the one and only true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of the ancient Scriptures. If you have not read these ancient Scriptures yet, I invite you to read the entire book of the Old & New Testaments. Read with openness and curiosity. Read with the skill of understanding and exegesis. Read with a desire to wrestle with these words and wonder. Wonder why a small group of followers of this person from Nazareth turned into a worldwide movement that has lasted 2,023 years and covers the globe. Wonder about who this Person of history was, is, and will always be.

This month I’m sharing recordings by a wonderful singer songwriter. These recordings combine both her music and her testimony during a very difficult season of her life. God has given her new songs born out of suffering, light out of darkness, diamonds in the dust of despair, pain redeemed, a harvest of beauty, goodness, and truth.

When we share about our weaknesses and struggles in life and the goodness that Jesus has brought out of it, God is glorified. The fragile façade of our perceived goodness and strength mercifully crumbles out of sight. Refined in the furnace of Truth, we are given new eyes to see Christ for who He truly is.

Bethany Barnard released these songs in 2021. In 2022, she released a follow up album of brief explanations of these songs to give the listener more insight into her story. I hope you will be refreshed and encouraged from listening to her music, and through these tracks as she discusses her heart… “behind the songs.”

Bethany Barnard on Apple Music, Youtube, and bethanybarnard.com.

A Little Night Music in October - Belovedness

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.

Isaiah 53:11

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

1 John 3:1-8

Photo by Nico Frey on Unsplash

When news of the world is too painful to read, when family members pass away, when broken lives rage and wickedness is rampant, I find comfort in worshipping the Lord. “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace…” (by Helen Lemmel, inspired by missionary Lilas Trotter.)

I’m reminded of my 12th grade year, full of much sadness and confusion as a mental illness had slowly taken over my life. I continued to attend school as best I could manage and keep my grades up so I could graduate. I think it was during this year that the Lord gave me an image in my mind of a great white wing, His pinions of protection, and I was curled up peacefully and safely in His care. When confusion and fear swirled around me, I would go there in my mind to this place of safety.

The image comes from Psalm 91, which I had printed out and taped on the inside of my school locker years before. I carry this image with me in my heart and it comforts me even today.

He will cover you with his pinions,
 and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. Psalm 91:4

Its in the refuge of His love that we can sing and praise and worship. Its under his wings where we can turn our eyes upon him and look full in His wonderful face.

The song I want to share this month is one that speaks of God’s great love which I believe with my whole heart. Whatever pain you have gone through in life, healing comes through worshipping Christ. You are beloved and you need to believe that.

I pray this song is a powerful testimony of God’s love for you, His beautiful creation of you in His image, and His fierce love to rescue you, to lay down his life for you, to stoop down, take your hand, and raise you up. It doesn’t matter if you are seen by the world when the eyes of Love are fixed on you, His beloved one.

“Its time to own your belovedness…”

Belovedness by Sarah Kroger, The London Sessions (Live)

I captured this photo in British Columbia recently, beauty in fall leaves, light, color, and shadows

Attending to Gratitude in Pages and Pathways

As I drove my kids to our little school this week, the smell of harvested apples permeated my senses, even with the truck windows shut to keep out the morning chill. Orchards must be in their final stages of apple picking right now. Its a common sight to see trucks heavily laden with full apple boxes being transported to the various warehouses in our fruit-bearing land. As we pass by the irrigation canals which wind through people’s backyards like quiet streams of life flowing on their journey from the top of Mt Rainier’s snow pack to our lake reservoir to water fields and backyard gardens, I notice the water level is going down. The irrigation season in what we call the upper valley is coming to an end and the canals will soon run dry once the water is officially shut off to this high desert. Homeowners will need to have their sprinkler systems blown out to remove all water from pipes before the first frost.

As the cold settles in, dew becomes a crunchy frost. It seems to me that the sweetest season in this valley is Fall, with apple, mint, and grape harvests to fragrance the air depending on which orchard, field, or vineyard one is traveling past.

This weekend, our family celebrates Canadian Thanksgiving with my folks and then in November, we will celebrate American Thanksgiving with a visit from them. I’ve designated this period of time as our Season of Gratitude, bookended with family visits. With a chalkboard marker, I wrote above my kitchen sink window “Season of Gratitude” as a gentle reminder to all of us in our home to be attentive to this season with grateful hearts, and it is a reminder to myself as well.

Some of the things I’m especially grateful for this October is the many books that I’ve been enjoying. Here is a little glimpse into some true and beautiful ideas I’ve been meditating and reflecting on in recent weeks:

The Confessions of St Augustine

In 2007, when my husband and I were visiting different Christian communities in Europe, I was inspired to study more of Church history, and a desire formed in me to discover the writings of early Christians after the time of the Apostles, generally called the Patristics, writings of the early Church Fathers, those directly mentored and discipled by the Apostles themselves. I got a copy of the shortest one I could find, On the Incarnation by Athanasius which I began to read but didn’t finish. Then for my birthday, several babies later, I asked my husband for a book on Tertullian, which I also didn’t get around to (it is a massive volume that awaits me on our bookshelf). Shortly after our fourth was born, I thought I’d read Augustine’s Confessions, the most popular of the Patristics. Again, it did not happen. However, this Fall, with my increased schedule of driving to and fro to transport my children to various school, musical, and sports activities, I’ve committed to listening to the audiobook of The Confessions. It is as others have said, so good. I will need to go back and read the actual paperback book of this tome as there are words, phrases, paragraphs I wish to highlight, underline, and mark up on the real pages of this book. For now, I am getting the general lay of the land with Augustine’s life and thoughts, and then I shall prepare for excavation another time.

A lovely visit with some mom friends for a morning cup of coffee at the cutest coffee shop in town, with stained glass windows, cozy chairs, and a quiet little book nook.

I’ve been organizing Moms Prayer Groups for about 6 years at the little classical and Christian schools we’ve been blessed to be part of. This morning, our prayer group got together for a cup of coffee and fellowship after prayer. Its a joy to make time for friendship.

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, The Wingfeather Saga, Book 1

On our drives to school in the mornings, it’s nice to have a story to play for the fifteen minute drive. Occasionally, we listen to music, other times we are in a conversation, or there have been times when the eldest son has had us in stitches laughing at his very talented array of accents. But there are some mornings, I press play on the audiobook and all becomes quiet as we settle in for the drive into town and listen once again to this beloved story. I first read these books to our kids a few years ago at bedtime. I would position myself in the hallway between the bedrooms and read aloud this endearing and meaningful tale of the jewels of Anniera. This time, we are all listening to the adventures of Janner, Tink, & Leeli in the wee hours of the morning.

St Patrick: His Confession and Other Works & The Life of St Patrick and His Place in History

I have long been fascinated by Christianity in Scotland and Ireland, and love to learn more about early Christians in the years after the apostles. When living and working in Scotland years ago, I was introduced by a missionary friend to St Patrick’s Breastplate prayer in his “Confessio”. Reading works written by these ancient heroes of the faith, written in such intelligent prose and with depth of passion for the Lord Jesus, is both an education and an encouragement in the faith. Reading more about what we know of Patrick’s life and work is also incredibly inspiring.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through a belief in the Threeness,

Through confession of the Oneness

Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today

Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,

Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,

Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,

Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom…

-Patrick, circa 377AD (The Lorica of St Patrick or St Patrick’s Breastplate or Faeth Fiada)

The Story of John G. Paton: Or 30 Years Among South Sea Cannibals

This is a book I’m reading aloud with my kids once a week. We are usually reading through a biography of a Christian in history. This year, we finished The Hiding Place, God’s Smuggler, and now we are slowly making our way through John Paton’s story as a missionary. Sharing these stories of lives laid down for the sake of the gospel inspire us to live our lives in His service.

I’m working my way through several other books when I have time and also listening to the audio of a seminary class from Covenant Theological Seminary in St Louis, Missouri, called Ancient and Medieval Church History, another period of time I want to understand more deeply.

As I was growing up, my mom had an Irish prayer on a cloth hanging in the laundry room. It is a good reminder that the words you put on your walls for all to see send a message to those who live and take shelter there. Send messages of truth and hope in this life! They become treasures one holds on to. Below is that Irish blessing and a photo I took this week while walking with a friend in the canyon.

May you look for and find beauty on your pathway with the Lord.