Haitian Hot Dogs

This is less of a recipe, and more of an idea that I’m working out in my head.

There is a restaurant near where we were living in Port-au-Prince called Epi D’or. It’s a favorite of missionary-types, because it’s about the closest you can get to fast-food. They have burgers, chicken nuggets, ice cream, desserts, and all sorts of good stuff.

But they also have hot dogs. And when I say hot dogs, I mean HOT DOGS. First, they take a foot-long sub and slather it with their “special sauce”. They toast the bun to melt the sauce in, then add one giant dog, cut in half. Add lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, mustard—tout bagay (the works). It’s nothing like the hot dogs I’m used to—which I love, by the way—it’s even better.

So the other day we tried to recreate these “Haitian hot dogs”. We didn’t have onions, so we skipped that, we didn’t have giant buns or dogs, so we went with the norm. And the only ingredient of the “secret sauce” that we know for sure is butter—so we used that as our sauce.

With all these modifications, and BOILED hot dogs, they were still very good. If we ever figure out the recipe for the “special sauce” I’ll let you know.

Nick

Wait = Rely

Se sou Bondye sèlman mwen konte, se li menm ki pou delivre mwen. Se li menm ase k ap pwoteje m, k ap delivre m. Se li ki tout defans mwen. Li p ap janm kite anyen rive m.

Sòm 62:2 (Message, NASB)

We sit and wait on God. We sit and wait for land to be purchased. We sit and wait for support to be raised. We sit and wait for the day to arrive. We sit and wait for a home to live in. Now we sit and wait for a home to be built. May we always be looking toward the next thing. Not with impatience and frustration, but with the knowledge that when we wait, we rely on God.

Nick

Praparing to Fall

I am ready to fall.

Psalm 38:17

I am ready, not in the "about to" sense, but in the "prepared" sense. Look at the meaning of that word--prepared, established, set up, fixed, settled. This is not about a person who trips on a rock and falls. It is about a person, who has set their sights on falling in order that God might pick him up. God desires to carry me. But the longer I struggle to get along without Him, the longer I wait for Him to pick me up. I am ready to fall today.

Nick

More than a mother

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven.

Revelation 4:1

The door to heaven is open to me.

Which means I only have to walk through it.

Which means there is nothing standing between me and heaven except my stubborn unwillingness to move.

Which means there is nothing between you and the husband you deserve except for my will.

Which means you are not experiencing the love of Christ in the way He intended only because I refuse to provide it.

Which means I am the only thing standing in the way of your

• happiness.

• peace.
• comfort.
• protection.
• joy.

The door to heaven is open to you too... but I am standing in it.

---

I refuse to be the one who stands in you way any longer.

You have so

• far to
• go
• rise
• much to
• do
• offer
• accomplish
• many
• skills
• gifts
• abilities
  

And so I think I'm only standing in you way, but there are so many others that you are poised to bring with you.  So many children who call you mom.  So many mother's who look up to you.  So many young women who want to be you when they grow up.  So many old women who see you doing it the right way.  So many men who dream about walking through life with a woman like you.  So many people who are beginning to dream based on the life you're living.

See, Gwenn, I want to wish you a happy mother's day.  But mother's day is not good enough for you.

You are so much more than a mother.

You are a woman.

A beautiful woman.

In so many ways.

And I refuse to stand in your way any longer.