Top Five Things I WILL Miss About New Mexico

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For those who follow my blog closely, you know that I will be moving back to Texas in a few weeks, leaving Roswell, NM, for what I like to jokingly call the promise land. Yes, Texas is promising in so many ways, but I don’t hope to go there when I did, as Tanya Tucker proclaimed back before her multiple face lifts.

So in thinking about my departure, I thought I would share with you the top five things I will miss about the great state of New Mexico, not necessarily in order of importance.

  1. Number one on the list is green chilis. Putting green chilis is so prominent in this state and their cuisine that even the national food chains have to adapt to this local tradition. You might find this odd, but once you acquire a taste for green chilis, it is quite addictive. Just a few of the foods that are vastly improved with green chilis are hamburgers, pizzas, eggs., all things New Mexican, etc. The only thing I have tried green chilis on that did not improve the dish was adding them to baked potatoes. For some reason the combination didn’t work. But on everything else… it is wonderful.
  2. The weather — yes, I know. This area gets its share of brown outs, where there is so much dust in the air, the sun is browned out in fine apocalyptic manner. And the temperature climbs to triple digits. But given the dryness of the climate, that leads to cooler nights and relief from the intense heat. Even when we are not in the summer months, the weather is nicer than in most places because of the dryness. Yes, your skin has to adjust. I felt like Rango after he was dumped into the desert and lost two layers of skin when I first arrived. But, after a few days of losing skin, the weather made up for it. It is amazing how little humidity makes a difference in all seasons. (Just a side note, Roswell does have a monsoon season. But it’s more of a joke than a reality.)
  3. The mountains. I love being able to see the mountains on most days. It makes my walks and golf much more scenic. This also includes the number of neat places to travel to while in New Mexico.
  4. The golf — yes, our municipal golf course is one of the finest golf clubs I have ever been accepted at, as a member. Yes, it is the only one as well. That is what makes it so wonderful. Not only is it affordable, it is challenging for my level of play.
  5. My church — the best congregation I’ve had in a while. I’m saddened by the fact that they cannot continue to pay me and I hope that they are able to bring in a tent-maker so the church will continue.

There you have it. Five reasons to visit Roswell, NM. And no, there is nothing about aliens in the least. The aliens would fall under the category of: Top Five Things I Don’t Like about New Mexico.

World’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies!

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ChocolateChip CookiesYes, the title has a bit of hyperbole in it. I’m not sure the cookies I ended up making on Friday night are the world’s best, or even my best. They are just the first batch I’ve made for my boys and I’m just grateful they turned out delicious.

What I learned is that the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip bag is quite forgiving. I was trying to doctor it as prescribed by some: adding a bit more flour, and using more brown sugar than granulated sugar. But I came across a problem. While stirring the cookie dough, it was clumping and not getting smooth like I know the batter to be. So I … panicked and added another stick of butter and another egg. That helped with the consistency issue, and I could detect no great change in taste.

The boys loved the end product. So thank you for all the suggestions. I think the clumping problem came from old brown sugar. It was not gooey like new brown sugar. Note to self: use fresh ingredients.

Happy Father’s Day

Finally, Happy Father’s day to all the Dad’s out there. I can’t wait to move to Brenham, Texas in the coming weeks to live on my Dad’s farm and spend more time with him. He has been a wonderful Dad and I hope my boys get to know him better than they do now.

FathersDay

Abandoned By God

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Recently, in the deepest part of the night, while facing struggles personally, maritally and vocationally, I came to the point of feeling truly abandoned by God. The pain of loss, broken-heartedness and hopelessness truly gripped me and as I cried out to God I truly felt He had turned His back upon me. I felt completely rejected and dejected.

I’m not trying to be melodramatic, but life was so disrupted and out of sorts that I could see no real hope on this side of glory at all and truly felt as though God had turned His face away from me and left me to myself. I know that many will immediately react to such feelings and such a position, but I’m not the first believer in history to experience such a black moment in my life.

I was reminded of this as I was leading my Sunday school through the psalms and someone wanted me to go through Psalm 13. David starts with the words:

How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?

What comforting words they were to me. David was showing me that he too, struggled from feelings of abandonment. I was not the first, nor am I alone. A lot of people struggle from such feelings in their Christian walk, but because of some false pollyanna view of Christianity, we are not allowed to talk about it or admit to such dark feelings. So many, when hearing of such struggles, just want to pop off a quick verse about all things working together for good, and move on to the next happy moment. It is as if we are to ignore such dark feelings and break into a chorus of Monty Python’s Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. Please note the irony here. While singing of such a happy life, they are hanging from crosses and facing death.

How many have struggled with such feelings and have been afraid to admi it, thinking that by having such feelings we are sinning against God? The psalmist was not sinning against God when he uttered such words. He was merely recognizing God’s active movement in His life. He was being honest before God about what he felt about and before the all-knowing and all-seeing God of the universe.

Having such feelings and being honest about them can be a blessing if we will let them be. How so? These feelings show us that something very vital is missing to in our lives. We are missing the presence of the LORD. David had to endure this absence for quite some time and finally that absence leads him to say, How long, O LORD?

I thing what struck me about this reality is that often times when we enter into sufferings, we are OK with those sufferings initially because we know through such sufferings God refines us and purifies us. However, it is the “How long…” that trips up most of us. Suffering for a week, we can endure. Doing without something for a month, we can handle. But the prolonged period fo suffering where there seems to be no end in sight, that is what dooms many of us.

We are like David asking, “How long, O Lord?”

And that is safe to ask. It shows us that the answer to our pain and suffering are only going to be found in the LORD.

But David doesn’t just ask, How long? He also asks: How long will you hide our face from me?

This question is a matter of blessing for it is a blessing for the LORD to turn His face toward us. This is why the Aaronic benediction is so important in the believer’s life:

Numbers 6:24-26 The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.  Amen

His face toward us is a blessing in the areas of our lives. For David, God had turned His face away and He knew the turning was the removal of blessing. For us, the blessing can be removed in our marriages, our jobs, our health, our country, etc.. There are many areas that God can choose to remove His blessing from us, so it is right for us to ask Him: How long will you hide your face from me?

Again, in asking the question, we are telling the LORD that we know all the blessings we have in every realm of life come ultimately from Him. We also recognize that those blessings have been removed for some time and that it is only through the LORD that the blessings will return.

So we petition the LORD in these dark moments, dark months or dark years. If blessing is going to return, then it must come from the Father of lights.

How does David petition? Consider and hear me, O LORD my God; enlightened my eyes. He is asking for understanding. He is asking the God would help him understand why the blessing has been removed and why it has been so long since he had it.

The is the turning point for the psalmist. It is after that in which he proclaims: But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart rejoice in Your salvation, I will sing to the LORD because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Not that his situation has changed, or that blessing has been restored. But David, like us, realizes that God has and is blessing us even in the moments when we feel abandoned. By understanding God’s providential hand, we know that ultimately He will never leave us nor forsake us, even though we may feel like He has. Because we feel like He has, tells us of His bountiful blessing on us.

Hattip: Neil for this song. See the comments.

Theology of the Heart and the Head

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James Montgomery Boice write in his commentary on Psalm 139:

“Sometimes we speak of ‘doing theology’ today, and we often talk about the conflict between the head and the heart, saying that either one alone is inadequate. A theology that is all of the head is cold, dry, barren, and of little practical value. A theology that is all heart may be warm, comforting, and practical, but it will lack substance, and because it does it will be subject to every theological fad that comes along and will not hold up in hard times.”

Boice goes on to say that Psalm 139 is both head and heart, telling us of God’s nature, but in a very personal way. The Psalmist shows us how God is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent in our own lives. No matter what we think, or where we go, He is there and He already knows. He knows more about us than we know about Him, or ourselves. He is not distant to us, but involved in the life of the believer and all this is very comforting to those of us who struggle with the trials of life. He is a loving God who cares deeply about us and we can trust in Him.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

139 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall[a] on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;[b]
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.

19 Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!
Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
20 For they speak against You wickedly;
Your enemies take Your name in vain.[c]
21 Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

Do You Have the World’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe???

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All ladies who read my blog, all people who read my blog, all those who like chocolate chip cookies, all who know how to make chocolate chip cookies from a recipe– can you please post your recipe in the comments section?

I’m trying to be discreet in my request to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. I know a woman who perfected the recipe, but she will not give it to me and I’m hoping to make chocolate chip cookies for my boys tomorrow night.

Will you please share with this Dad who is trying to be a great Dad with his boys? Will you impart your chocolate chip cookie knowledge to me?

If your recipe is chosen, I will be glad to declare it the best according the strict chocolate chip cookie standards of Timothy Matters! Those who know me, know I have high standards when it comes to the chocolate chip cookie.

Of those who know me, know that chocolate is considered one of the major food groups. Of my top chocolate dishes, chocolate chip cookies are at the top. So please, I need to find a recipe before tomorrow night so we can have pizza, chocolate chip cookie, movie night!!!

Silverado Bench Seat Starring Ryan Swope and Johnny Manziel

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Granger Smith’s latest music video, Silverado Bench Seat, stars a couple of Texas Aggies: Ryan Swope and Johnny Manziel, the Heisman Trophy Winner.

I like the song, like that Johnny and Ryan are in it, but don’t like that Granger Smith is a Chevy man instead of a Ford man. Other than that, it’s fun to watch. Plus, it gets our minds on college football again which is only a few months away.

For those who don’t know, Granger Smith is an Aggie. Notice the big gold ring on his hand as he is playing the guitar. That is why he enlisted Swope and Manziel.