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agsdi-soup

View our weekly carry-out menu

agsdix-snp-mail-1

info@villageproject.com

agsdi-soup

View our weekly carry-out menu

agsdix-snp-mail-1

info@villageproject.com

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April 2016

I woke up Sunday morning, to an excited 4 year old saying “Mom!, Mom!, Mom! – it’s a SNOW DAY!”  I, like the rest of you I’m sure, rolled my eyes and thought… great.  Do I still have boots out? Hats? Gloves? I just the other day saw the promise of Spring, and now it’s covered it snow.  It’s April – really, God?  SNOW??   I tried peaking out my bedroom window only to find that it was covered in snow – I couldn’t see out at all. Ugh I thought again. UGH.

My son and I came downstairs, I poured myself a cup of coffee, and quickly glimpsed out the dining room window, thinking I can’t avoid this forever.  I was awe struck.  It was really so beautiful.  So beautiful, I couldn’t stop staring at it. I wandered over to a sort of make shift window seat we have in our living room, coffee in hand, and a 4 year old at my side, and sat. I sat and stared for probably 20 minutes. I thought how could something so beautiful be so un-wanted.

I finally pulled myself away from the mesmerizing snow, and thought OK, on with our day, snow and all.   I went out a few times that day, and the theme was pretty consistent. No one wanted the snow. All day long I just heard people complaining about it – and I just kept replying with, but it’s so Beautiful.  It really was.

All morning I couldn’t help but just feel at peace, feeling God was trying to tell me something. I could hear God saying to me, “There’s always beauty and peace to be found, even in the unexpected, and unwanted. “  I needed this. God knew that. Perhaps we all needed it.   For me it was about changing perspective – something I’ve been praying about for a while now.   Life is busy and complicated and messy like the snow. But it can also be good, and warm and fun, like the sun. Perhaps it’s in these messy and unwanted moments that we need to stop and stare and take everything in. In this un-wanted snow and mess, I had found beauty and peace and time with my little guy that I don’t always get. It’s funny how God chooses to speak to us sometimes – usually always in ways we don’t expect, but perhaps always in ways we need to learn to listen.

The menu this week is about comfort and warmth – a turkey apple meatloaf, with mashed sweet potatoes, a creamy broccoli & white bean soup, and an herb crusted chicken with lemon green beans to bring in a bit of the sunshine and promise of spring. At the time I was making it, there was snow on the ground, and cold in the air. Fast forward a few days, and the sun is shining and the snow has melted.   These are some of my favorite recipes, and I hope bring the comfort and warmth our clients and their families greatly need, even when the snow has melted, and the sun is shining.

May God bring you the beauty and peace you need this week.

– Janis.