l'amour de Dieu est folie!

I am sad to say I have finished the book, The Ragamuffin Gospel. It's okay though, I savored it a good, long time and will revisit it probably forever. (If you haven't yet, I highly suggest getting your own copy! I have cherished so many truths from this book and, as a result, marked my own copy up pretty royally!) 

If I were to share each bit that I loved, I'd end up rewriting the whole book on here... that's not the best approach, so I'm going to share with you the last bit that I found so wonderful. 

If you know me very well at all... you know I'm not a big fan of being told what to do, and generally don't respond very well in those situations. Somehow, with that quirk, I do appreciate step-by-step instruction and guidance. (Don't worry if it doesn't make sense, I don't get it either.) The last chapter of Brennan Manning's book The Ragamuffin Gospel gives excellent practical application to an exercise of the heart. 

Again, I suggest reading the book in it's entirety, but this is something I think anyone would benefit from.

The chapter is titled, 'A Touch of Folly'. Life is difficult and the truth of God's word doesn't always make sense. Oftentimes, we need a touch of folly to wrap our minds around the overwhelming truth and beauty of His love for us!

The first step toward rejuvenation begins with accepting where you are and exposing your poverty, frailty, and emptiness to the love that is everything. Don't try to feel anything, think anything, or do anything. With all the goodwill in the world you cannot make anything happen. Don't force prayer. Simply relax in the presence of the God you half believe in and ask for a touch of folly.

Such a suggestion seems easy enough: Accept where you are. Surrender yourself to love. 

(Trickier than it sounds!)

...gently close your eyes and assume any position that is comfortable so long as you keep your spine straight -- standing, sitting, kneeling, or lying on your back with your knees bent. Imagine Jesus glancing at you either the way He glanced at the apostle John in the Upper Room when, in an incredible gesture of intimacy, he laid his head on Jesus' chest, or the way He looked at the sinful woman washing His feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. For ten minutes pray over and over the fist strophe of Psalm 23: 'The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing'.

For the next ten minutes pray over this passage from Hosea and wherever you see the word Israel, replace it with your own name:

So I would say:

Lauren, how could I give you up?

My heart turns against it.

When Lauren was a child I loved her, 

I myself taught her to walk, 

I took her in my arms; 

Yet she has not understood that I was the one looking after her. 

I led her with reins of kindness, 

with leading-strings of love.

I was like someone who lifts an infant close against his cheek;

stooping down to her I gave her her food.

How could I treat you like Admah,

or deal with you like Zeboiim?

My heart recoils from it, 

my whole being trembles at the thought. 

I will not give reign to my fierce anger, 

I will not destroy Ephraim again

for I am God, not man;

I am the holy one in your midst

and have no wish to destroy.

(Hosea 11:1a, 3-4, 8c-9, NAB)

Finally, for the last five minutes of this faith exercise read aloud slowly these three texts:

This is why I am going to lure her and lead her into the wilderness and speak to her heart. I am going to give her back her vineyards, and make the Valley of Achor a gateway of hope. Then she will respond to me as she did when she was young, and she did when she came out of the land of Egypt (Hosea 2:14-15).

The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named me my name... Does a woman forget her baby at the breast, or fail to cherish the son of her womb? Yet even if these I forget, I will never forget you. See I have branded you on the palms of my hands, your ramparts are always under my eye (Isaiah 49:1, 15-16).

In face of all this, what is there left to say? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not hesitate to give what was most precious to himself -- gave as a matter of fact over into our hands -- can we not trust such a God to give us, with him, everything else that we need? (Romans 8:31-32).

The reminders and revelations I had through the journey of this book have been so invaluable. Absolutely priceless. To realize the furious, passionate love of God for me is unreal. It does take a dose of folly to accept this truth. 

I was particularly drawn to this paragraph for nostalgic reasons:

Should you ever have the opportunity to celebrate Easter in France, whether it be a large metropolis such as Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, or Dijon or a small village such as Saint-Remy (where I lived for six months), you will see one phrase written on the walls of buildings or the sides of buses in script or black print. You will hear the one phrase sung, chanted, and recited in the churches; you wil hear it exchanged as an Easter greeting as people pass on the street: 'L'amour de Dieu est folie!' -- The love of God is folly.

Whimsical when you come right down to it. 

It's possible that there will come a day when I am not reading through the writings of Brennan Manning and I will then return to sharing my own thoughts on here... until that day comes, I don't want to taint his words.... so I'll leave you with them. :)

Enjoy the refreshing truth of God's crazy love for YOU!

GOD IS GOOD... ALL THE TIME.

Are you sitting down?? 

I'm trembling I'm so excited right now.

:)

God is good. He always is. He always has been. He always will be.

I know these truths, but sometimes, I get caught up in circumstances and have a hard time truly believing it with every fiber of my being. The last couple of years have been a real challenge for me. I've tried SO hard to find purpose in them and, while I know that things don't always look as I expect them to or make sense to me, I know God has been working in me for something wonderful. 

Maybe, just maybe, this is it. :)

Ah! I hardly know where to start! Haha. So, through a series of unexpected events, these past few years I have become somewhat of a photographer -- it's something I've always loved and others have asked me to document their families in ways to preserve moments for them... well, in attempts to improve my photography skills, I have committed to learning from one of the best photographers in the world, Tim Dodd. Tim is a local photographer, and truth be told, I blush every time I am in public and see him... his talents have brainwashed me into believing he is something other than human and should be revered as Heath Ledger... (okay, that's dramatic, but I had pretty well gotten a grip on my horrible blushing since graduating from high school - clearly he's pretty talented!) Hopefully, I'll be able to come to grips with reality before May.

Things just keep getting more and more exciting. 

Saturday (yes, 5 days ago,) I made a new friend. It took us less than a half hour to realize we are kindred spirits. Cassie is my friend, Hattie's, twin. I'm not entirely sure how we've gone a couple of years without ever meeting, but I know God had this moment planned to bless me like crazy. So thankful. :) Have you ever had an encounter with someone and just known they were someone your heart could just spill to?! Someone you could relate with and who could understand your dilemmas and the things that really get you so crazy, unreasonably excited?! That's how it was meeting Cassie! Just as if we'd known each other forever! 

Well, Cassie's in a similar season of life where she's seeking the Lord and being faithful with what He's given her, but she's discouraged with a lack of fellowship and meaning to her life at the moment. (Again, slightly dramatic, I know there's meaning in even the smallest acts and moments, but seasons sometimes come and go and can be dry... that's what we're dealing with here.) Hattie was the first to recognize that a trip to Italy would be refreshing for Cassie. I had been looking for someone I could enjoy traveling with to go with me, otherwise, I'd be stuck spending an extra $650 to supplement the fact that a single person (yours truly) was occupying a double occupancy room. Within hours, I had come to realize that Cassie was that girl and that my cash stash had exactly $2 more than what was required for the deposit for this trip. All the while, Cassie came to the realization that while she's feeling like she's in a dry season, God has blessed her with a job that pays her very well... we're all convinced it's meant for a time such as this! We're going to Italy!! 

Me with $500 of my $502 and Cassie with her debit card... so excited! I just love when God confirms things with such clarity!!

(Further reason to rejoice is that my previous roommate, Michelle, -- lived with her in Oregon, she now lives in Kansas -- is also coming along... and bringing possibly two three more friends! Michelle and Stacey are quite possibly the two most spontaneous girls I have and will ever meet. Cassie, Michelle, and Stacey are all those girls that everyone enjoys, can get along with everyone, are always fun... the trip is bound to be amazing.)

As if that's not enough to be excited about...

Seriously, brace yourself.

I just spoke with my friend Amanda from when I was living in France. 

Rewind just a smidge. So, I lost my job (I just might post more on that at a later date) in July and have been having a lot more emotional troubles from that than I ever would have imagined. I have been applying for jobs only to find that I'm just not quite what they're looking for. I realize this is the process everyone goes through, but it's the first time for me and it's very disheartening. There has been one specific job working with middle school and high schoolers that I was so excited about the actual job itself, not just the fact that I'd be employed again... I still feel this is something I would be excellent at, the response I received from that church was pretty unimpressive. I was discouraged and embarrassed at how unprofessional and rude it was. However, I can't help but believe it was leading me to this very moment! 

There are a few things I know: 1) I am adventurous and am not willing to sacrifice that for a job or a relationship or... anything, really... 2) I want to be here in the Cedar Valley, my family is here, I grew up here, I 100% feel this is where the Lord has me for the long haul 3) anything is possible 4) God loves to bless and surprise me 5) He's created me for special, specific tasks 6) time is of the essence.

Amanda and I during our Ireland adventure.

Back to that email from Amanda -- Amanda works for the beautiful church I went to while in France. Since I've moved back to the states, she's headed up a church plant in a neighboring town/village. I was there when the seed was first planted and remember praying with her and others for direction in how to make this happen. The thought that I will have the opportunity to see all God has created over the years excites me to no end! Amanda just emailed me that they'll be needing an intern for the church plant for next June and July. That fits all those details I mentioned last paragraph... PERFECTLY. 

I've always been a dreamer. God's always been faithful. I know He's placed these things on my heart for a reason and I just can't contain how excited I am to see His obvious love for me when He arranges such fun surprises!! 

I don't know ANY of the details right now, but I know just as before that God will provide and that everything will come together. 

Let the daydreaming continue. :)

...the perfect apres-snow meal: Tartiflette...

Big day in the life of Lauren: first day 'avec raquettes'. Or something like that... I went snowshoeing today! Straight up the Jura at Monts Jura in Crozet. It was beautiful, but quite the challenge. I wish I had a photo of how far we went! I had absolutely NO idea.

The photos show you the view from the top of our journey (they don't do justice!) If you look at the bottom photo close enough, you can see from the left: Lake Geneva with the Jet D'Eau, Mont Blanc and the French Alps, Le Saleve (dark mountain in front of the white ones), all the little villages between Geneva and Crozet... pretty incredible.

After burning all those calories (believe me it was a TON!) We came home and made Tartiflette. This is an amazing regional dish to the Savoie Region of Switzerland and France. For your enjoyment, I've included the recipe. You can substitute the cheeses if unable to find the one the recipe calls for, but if you have a Whole Foods nearby, you should be able to find Reblochon there.

Tartiflette

Potatoes to fill a small gratin pan

1 medium onion

200 grams (6 ounces) of smoke and salt cured pork in any combination: poitrine fumé or the best smoked bacon you can find, smoked bacon plus salt cured Savoie ham or Southern style country cured ham. Just get what’s the best cured pork available to you.

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons fat: butter or duck fat

Salt and pepper

1/3 cup crème fraiche epaisse or heavy whipping cream if you don't have creme fraiche

1/2 cup dry white Savoie type wine (this is how I discovered my love for Sauvignon Blanc!)

1/2 of a Reblochon de Savoie

Fresh parsley

- Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices.

- Roughly chop the onion.

- Heat the duck fat in a heavy skillet and add the onions, bacon and ham, and sauté gently for 3-5 minutes.

- Add the potatoes and continue to sauté for 5 more minutes.

- Add the wine, give the potatoes a stir, cover, season with salt and pepper as desired, and let simmer and steam in the wine for 10 minutes more.

- Grease the gratin pan with duck fat, crush the garlic clove, and rub the garlic clove all over the inner surface of the pan.

- Reserve the remaining garlic for another use (the vinaigrette for the accompanying salad, for example).

- Add the crème fraiche to the potato onion bacon mixure, and transfer it to the gratin pan.

- Slice the Reblochon in half with a sharp knife flat wise, and place the two pieces on top of the potatoes, rind side up.

- Place into the very hot oven and bake for 10 minutes at 250C or 550F

- Turn the heat down to 200C / 400F and bake 10 more minutes

- Turn off the oven, and leave the dish in the oven without opening it for another 10 minutes.

- Serve hot with a salad, crusty bread, and the the wine you cooked with.