Somebody Else

I do not miss you
I long for you
But I don’t want you
In this little book I write my thoughts
Each sentence contradicting the first
Each idea the same as the last
I can’t get my thoughts straight
It’s been so long
Not nearly long enough
I’m remembering me
Finding who I was, am and will be
Take me back to before you
To before who I am
Let me melt back to the past
Try again
New life
New love
New dreams
New ideals
I’m becoming myself
When I’m somebody else

Simple and Fluffy Gluten Free Corn Bread

My family has started to go gluten free and so I needed to make some changes to my favourite corn bread recipe. Here is the modified gluten free version. I have gotten many complements on my corn bread in the past and I recently brought this recipe to a potluck and many people were surprised it was gluten free. Enjoy!

Preheat the oven to 350F
Mix together in a large bowl:
1      cup cornmeal
3/4   cup gluten free flour
1/4   cup arrowroot starch
4      tsp baking powder
1      tsp salt
4      tbsp brown sugar
Whip together in a smaller bowl:
2      eggs
1      cup milk
1/4   cup canola oil
Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the liquid ingredients in. Mix together thoroughly, making sure there are no lumps. Let sit for a minute then pour into a greased 9×9 pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is browned and a fork comes out clean when poked into the centre. 
       

Fiddles, Friends & Fellowship

My first day of social media freedom has been quite a good one. I woke up bright and early before my alarm, miraculously I did not feel as tired as I could have. I had a shower accompanied by cheery christmas tunes which I all to willingly sung along to. I’m grateful to have neighbours that enjoy hearing me sing. Then I got dressed and did my hair and makeup all before 9:00. I proceeded to make a breakfast of toast and eggs and then eat it in the company of my maker.

The devotional that I did today was focused on being discontented with what we have and where we should be seeing God more in our lives. This was a particularly good devotional for this day. I am very thankful for the faith supports that I have in my life to help guide me through my day to day life. One of the things that I thought about as I was dwelling on the devotional was that so often in my life I don’t realize I am unhappy I just out of instinct buy something new or sign up for some random thing that I think will add more depth to my life. This is in fact proving to be less than true, as my life is becoming more and more cluttered I am finding that I am becoming a more shallow person. I am struggling to have the deep and life-giving conversations that I long to have. Because of this want for more meaningful encounters with people I am beginning to find friends that I can relate to in ways other than our opinion on the opposite gender. I was once the type of person that loved to talk about boys…I mean LOVED…but as I have been getting older I have realized that yes, sometimes you can have good conversations about what kind of person you like and the relationships you have been in in the past. But the best conversations I have with people are about things in this world or about topics that have more to do with the way we live life than who we live it with. I am starting to see where I am discontent in my life and hopefully through these next couple weeks and through some serious soul searching I will be able to see where God is providing enough and where I should be spending my time and energy.

This afternoon I was gifted with part of my Christmas gift from my parents, my mother took me to go see the Natalie MacMaster concert with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. This was quite the experience, I have seen her perform twice before this. Both of the previous concerts I went to were quite a bit more laid back and casual. It was amazing to see her accompanied by a huge symphony. A really funny thing about Natalie is that every time I hear her perform live I start crying as soon as she starts to play. I have no real reason for this, maybe it is because I am a little jealous of the performing life, or perhaps I just connect to the music. But for whatever reason, as soon as she starts playing I become a blubbering mess…good thing the concert hall is dark. She really is an amazing individual. She is 41 years old and is pregnant with her sixth child. She performs about 100 shows a year but still manages to homeschool her children. Her husband Donnell Leahy is also a fiddle player and tours with his family doing shows as well. I truly admire this woman.

Natalie and I after the concert. (she signed my CD!) 🙂

Then this evening I had another brand new experience, I went to an Anglican church called St. Benedict’s Table. I had never been to a liturgical church, it was very refreshing and a great way to get me into the true christmas spirit. It was great to sit there in the beautiful church and take in all of God’s glory. I love having the opportunity to sing and listen to scripture while just soaking it all in. I think I will try to go there more often next semester, I miss feeling a part of a church community.

Now to the part that you were all waiting for…but the shortest part of all…the tea of the day. Todays tea was English Breakfast, a classic black tea. It was a wonderful drink to have with my eggs and toast. 

I hope you have all had a wonderful third Sunday of advent. May the Lord bless you.