In a resurrection like His

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

-Romans 6:3-11

And they shall dwell secure

Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops;
siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the judge of Israel
on the cheek.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their peace.

-Micah 5:1-5

Well, if you're going to buy a sweatshirt

You should buy an AWESOME one.
Heavens to Betsy. The line between "want" and "need" is wavering . . . in other words, I want this even more than I want a food processor. That's pretty serious.

For more wearable literature, go here: Out of Print Clothing. Brilliant.

(HT: Design*Sponge)

Now that it's so cold

These days, chilled to the bone and slashed with frosty wind, all I want to make is a big pot of chili. (And cornbread to go with it.) Spicy, steaming, hearty chili is the perfect antidote for below-freezing weather. And it smells amazing!

As far as chili goes, this is pretty basic. No fancy ingredients, no funky twists, no catchy name. It's just really good.

I know there are a lot of ingredients, but don't be scared. This is very easy to make! Most recipes call for "chili powder," which I never have, so I invented my own mixture of spices instead, and that is what caused the long ingredient list.

Rebekah's Chili
(one of the few truly original recipes I have. . .)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound lean ground beef or turkey
2 cups diced onion
1 green pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups diced zucchini or sliced carrots (optional)
2 15-oz cans kidney beans, undrained
1 15-oz can black or canellini beans
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 6-oz can tomato paste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 bay leaves

1. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in large soup pot. Brown ground beef in oil, breaking it up with a wooden spoon.
2. Add onion, green pepper, garlic, and zucchini or carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and translucent.
3. Add all remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1-2 hours. (Or half an hour if you're short on time. The flavor gets better if it simmers longer, but it's still great after 30 minutes.) Serve with sour cream and grated cheddar.

---

I usually follow this recipe pretty closely, but this past week I accidentally dumped in double the amount of diced tomatoes (who does that?! sheesh) and I was also out of tomato paste. Yet it was still delicious. So I consider it a winning recipe: it even works when you mess up!

This makes way too much for us to eat immediately, so I have leftovers for another meal and also freeze some. When I made it for my family before getting married, though, it was gone at one sitting. Another sign of a winner.

Attempts at creativity

Around Christmastime, I always wish that I had more of a creative inclination. I’m just not a very “crafty” person. Outside of the kitchen, I am stumped or at least intimidated by hands-on projects. Paint a dresser? Sew a skirt? Eek! Where do I even begin?

I’m trying to grow in that area, though, and it is the perfect time of year to give a few projects a whirl.

Pomanders are fun; I use a fork to poke holes for the cloves. I’ve only done oranges so far, but apples would be a nice addition. My mom has had some of her pomanders for years, and they still smell wonderful. Neither of us roll them in the spice mixture, by the way, and everything is fine.

Making the gingerbread house is slated for next week. It won’t look like this, but it’ll be cool:

I’m working on a big bow for the top of our Christmas tree (which has lights but no ornaments yet, the poor neglected thing). Speaking of ornaments, I folded a few colorful paper cranes to add to our collection, and now I would like to make a few more out of old book pages. And maybe this weekend I’ll get to that holly wreath for the front door.

What “crafty things” do you like to do around the holidays?