Winter 2008

Dear Friends,

Here we are into a new year! I pray it will be a year devoted to serving our Lord Jesus Christ and making our short time on the earth profitable for Him. What has He asked you to do? Where has He placed you to serve? For many of us, we have a family to serve in our home. That is our first place of service.

For me, that includes the usual meal preparation and home management, and for the past year, it includes helping my husband each day do kidney dialysis at home. It has been quite challenging at times, but I have learned to trust in our Lord and lean on His strength in greater depth than before. It is wonderful to have a relationship with our Savior and to daily experience His love and care. If you do not have a living relationship with Jesus Christ, please click here for more information.

In my Online Letters last January and February, I wrote about our dialysis training. Since then we have completed about 300 dialysis treatments. Six days a week we set up the dialysis machine in our back bedroom and Ted sits patiently for 2 ½ hours or more while his blood circulates through the machine and then back into his body. For us, this is so much more comfortable than going to a dialysis clinic three days each week, and Ted’s health is better when he gets more frequent dialysis.

Here's a recent picture of us doing dialysis.




The dialysis machine pumps Ted's blood out of his body through the catheter in his chest. The blood goes through the bloodlines to the artificial kidney - the red cylinder on the top left of the machine. The blood is cleansed as it flows through the artifical kidney and the machine pumps clean blood back into Ted's body in a continuous cycle. We monitor the digital display on the front of the machine, and Ted's blood pressure and pulse, every 30 minutes. In the photo, Ted is recording those numbers on his chart which we turn in to his dialysis clinic.

We all serve our Lord when we care for our husband and children. You will probably never be called to do dialysis, but the Lord will daily present you with opportunities to show His love to your family. His love is a sacrificial love that pours itself out for others. It is quite the opposite from the “me first!” attitude so prevalent in society today. Instead our Lord calls us to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Him. Mark 8:34 As we follow our Lord, and obey Him, we will find joy – not in some self-esteem program, or in “getting our needs met,” or the latest self-help book or TV show. We are called to follow Jesus (not the world or its ways), love and obey Him, and love others by serving them.

So often, the well-known verses on love in 1 Corinthians 13 are read at weddings. Let us live out those words every day: “Love is patient, love is kind… Love does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil… Love rejoices in the truth… Love bears all things… Love endures all things. Love never fails.” Read the entire passage; these are good verses to memorize. We need to ask the Lord to help us live them each and every day.

Another way I love Ted is fixing food he likes. One of his favorites is Cinnamon Coffee Cake. It’s easy to make and you can combine all of the dry ingredients ahead of time, and then mix in the wet ingredients when you’re ready to bake the coffee cake. I like to mix a second batch of dry ingredients and store that in a Ziploc bag to keep on hand when I need a quick coffee cake to serve family or friends. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!


Laurie’s Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 for glass pans). Grease an 8 inch square cake pan.

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl:
1 Cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ Cup sugar
¼ Cup brown sugar (light or dark)

Mix wet ingredients in a medium bowl:
1 egg, beaten slightly
1/3 Cup canola oil (or vegetable oil)
½ Cup buttermilk *

Mix ingredients for topping in a small bowl; set aside.
¼ Cup packed brown sugar
¼ Cup chopped pecans or walnuts
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Spread into greased cake pan. Sprinkle with topping. Bake 35 – 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

*Note: If you don’t have buttermilk, use regular milk and add 1 teaspoon of vinegar to the liquid ingredients. The acid buttermilk (or vinegar) reacts with baking powder and baking soda to improve leavening. Another alternative: I purchase Saco powdered buttermilk; it’s an easy way to always have buttermilk on hand. You simply mix 2T with ½ Cup of water. I found it in one grocery store next to the powdered milk. If you can’t find it, ask the grocery manager if they can order it for you. It was about $4 for a 12 ounce can; that will make nearly a gallon of buttermilk.

To learn more about leavening see the Future Christian Homemakers’ Handbook, or the March 2006 Online Letter, click here.


Until next time ~

Yours in Him,

 

Copyright, 2005, Laurie Latour.  www.FutureChristianHomemakers.com

You may make one printed copy for your own personal, private use.  FCH leaders may make one printed copy for each person in their group.  Copyright line above must be included in all copies.  Permission for any other use must be requested in writing. 
Click here to Contact Us.