A Goldilocks Life

The Sign of Jonah

A fascinating Bible story is found in the book of Jonah. The proud prophet Jonah ran in the opposite direction than God sent him. His humbling redirection came from inside a huge fish. (See Jonah chapters 1 and 2.)

Jesus’ words in the New Testament help us see that the miracle of Jonah’s being saved from the fish connects to the Easter story. “For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.” Luke chapter 11, verse 30

The sign Jesus speaks of is Jonah spending three days and three nights inside the stomach of a giant fish before God rescues Him. Finally, Jonah brought the Ninevites God’s message. One might dismiss Jonah’s story as fiction, except that Jesus spoke of Jonah as a historical person as does the author of the Old Testament book of 2 Kings. The sign that links Jesus and Jonah is three days and nights in a fish’s belly for the prophet and three days and nights in the grave for the Son of Man and Savior of the world.

There are many prophecies about Jesus’ death, burial, and coming back to life. The Jonah/Jesus link stands out because of the wondrous work of God in both instances. God saved Jonah’s life by sending the fish to swallow him, then made the fish spit him out on dry land. God saves our lives by Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Lord spent three days and nights buried in a tomb. He rose again to reconcile us to God.

At Easter, we celebrate what Jesus did for everyone because of His love for us. This was God’s plan for the saving of anyone who will believe in Jesus. He gave His life to set us free once for all from our sin. We sing, “Joy to the world, He is risen. Hallelujah!”

Click below to hear the Easter Song!

Easter Dinner

The other night, my son, Ray and I were discussing what dessert we should have with Easter dinner. The main course will be the usual – baked ham with maple and brown sugar glaze, cheesy scalloped potatoes, roasted asparagus, and depending on how much time I have the day before, homemade oatmeal dinner rolls. That dinner roll recipe is one a friend shared with me when we lived in Thomson, Illinois. I treasure that recipe like many others in my collection.

Today, you might call me a Foodie. I learned to enjoy cooking when I was living in my first apartment. My cookbook, Get Cooking, will be available soon on my website. It’s a compilation of recipes from family, friends, and ones I created myself.

Here is one of the dessert ideas Ray and I are considering to go along with our Easter dinner. Delicious Cheesecake came about when I wanted to use a pretty 8-inch glass pie plate to serve dessert for a small dinner party.

I hope you’re making plans for a delectable meal with family and friends this spring. Happy Easter!

DELICIOUS CHEESECAKE

From Get Cooking© by Lynn Lilja

(bake in 8-inch pie pan. I created this recipe for a smaller sized pan)

CRUST:

Six whole graham crackers, crushed

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

FILLING:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

1 egg

1-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

TOPPING:

1/2 can (21 oz.) of your favorite fruit pie filling, chilled (apple, cherry, blueberry, strawberry)

Or Mixture of fresh blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries

Or Cooked fresh fruit topping: Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/4 cup water. Add 3 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries or tart pitted cherries. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Cover and chill. Spoon over pie just before serving.*

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Crust: Melt margarine. Combine with graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar. Press into 8-inch pie pan. Bake five minutes. Leave oven on.

Filling: In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and egg on medium high until smooth. On lower speed, blend in sour cream or yogurt, and lemon juice. Pour the mixture into crust. Smooth to make even. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely, then store tightly covered in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Top with fruit and enjoy. Serves 4-6.

*If you plan to serve with a cooked fresh fruit topping, make the topping on the day you serve the pie. Homemade cooked fruit topping separates and becomes watery overnight.

JUST ASK

Do you struggle like I do to ask for help when you need it? Maybe I am worn out from doing four loads of laundry, legs aching and feet swollen. Yet I just soldier on, doing the dishes after dinner instead of asking Steve to lend a hand. I know he wouldn’t mind. But still, I don’t ask.

I think that do-it-yourself attitude spills over into my prayer life. There are so many needs out there. I hesitate to ask God for something much less significant than healing of cancer or an end to the war in Ukraine.

In the Bible, as Jesus nears the end of His now-famous Sermon on the Mount, He tells the crowd and us, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew Chapter 7. Do you notice that in the English language the initials for ask, seek, and knock spell ASK? What wonderful meaning this brings to the passage for me. It’s an invitation for us to just plain ask.

Ask: Don’t be afraid. Just tell God what you need. He has the power to do something about it. He loves and cares for you more than anyone else.

Seek: Take the time. As I shared in my blog post on Ray’s birthday, when we faced challenging times, I did not hesitate to go to the Lord in prayer. I sought quiet time with Him daily, sometimes many times a day. I’ve seen Him answer in surprising ways.

Knock: Just do it. Have you ever hesitated to knock at someone’s door, perhaps a neighbor you know only casually? Taking concerns to God can be like that. Maybe He’s busy, or my problem is too small for Him. The Lord always listens – that’s why Jesus invites us to ask, no matter how inconsequential we think it might be. If it’s important to us, it’s important to Him.

Is this a promise that every request is answered “yes”? God isn’t a genie. The truth is He has plans, and we have a purpose in them. If we love God, our requests will align with those purposes. Then it’s Yes and Amen.

Our God hears, loves, and answers in His perfect way and time. ASK!