On Continuing the Conversation

This weekend I had the privilege of joining about 20 women from my church on our first ever Women's Retreat. Personally, I had my reservations--aren't "women's retreats" for my mom, and are we going to hold hands and sing kumbaya? Despite my qualms, I had a lovely time. A few ladies from our church shared their stories with us, and we had some great, honest discussions surrounding their words to us.



We went to Tel-Hai Camp in Honey Brook, PA. If anyone is looking for someplace to hold a retreat, I highly recommend it. The accommodations were great (we were on the decidedly non-rustic end of the housing options) and the staff was friendly and super helpful.



Of all the great things that happened this weekend, however, one of my very favorite things occurred at the very end. Most of us were packed up and getting ready to go, and there was an impromptu conversation between myself and about five other women on the topic of feminism.



I won't hash out all the gritty details of what we discussed, but it ranged from feminism in the 60's, feminism now, feminism in the church, and why any of it matters.



It also included three women in their 20's, one mother of toddlers, one mother of teenagers, and my pastor's wife. A range of life experiences, ages, cultural backgrounds, and faith backgrounds was represented.



Nobody was put down, had their opinions dismissed, or laughed at crazy ideas (ideas that we fully admitted may be blasphemous, and that's why we felt compelled to ask and study and pray about them). We talked about how far feminism has come, what it looks like today, and what we as the new generation of young adults, professionals, and parents want the future to look like.



It was a beautiful thing, and it was deeply encouraging to me. Not just because we were talking about something that I personally feel is important, but because our thoughts and opinions were being respected, validated, and discussed in a church setting, with ladies who hold some level of authority and experience over us (I never thought I'd interrupt my pastor's wife!).



I am deeply lucky that I have found a church home where this is the norm, where this is allowed, and where this can happen freely and with love.



If you have any resources on any of these topics, please share them! I don't want the conversation to be over, and we are always eager for more to read and think about.

Yet Another Link

I know I've been doing this a lot lately, but my mind has been full of school. Sometimes I need other people's words to start my own flowing.



I'm new to this blog, but this post gave me goosebumps. A link up itself from one of my favorite bloggers Sarah Bessey, it totally pinpoints the world of youth group that I had.



I grew up in a big, non-denominational church. We had a band on the stage every Sunday, a "cool" pastor who gave real-life sermons that didn't get into theology. We had a youth group of hundreds, tons of retreats and camps and short-term missions trips. I was that child.


And you know what? It worked.



For all the drama, all the emotionalism, all the youth-pastor support and cheesy activities, I had good friends, dedicated adult leaders, and an environment that allowed me to embrace God. Without those things I have no idea what would have happened to me.



I was also blessed enough to visit other churches, make other friends, and have other experiences that drove me into doctrine and theology and deeper questions and answers. I was lucky enough (how could that even be the right word?) to have good teachers and books when I was questioning my faith and doubting these truths.



So, to youth leaders, youths, and college kids--embrace these sometimes-corny, oft-derided youth group experiences. They just may be what anchors you in the truth of the gospel, be exactly what you need to keep from dipping toes into the pool of evil that is just waiting for the right moment.



Thanks to be God for all of his ways of reaching us, of holding us, of drawing us to himself. Cheesy worship songs, catechisms, weekend missions trips--as long as it points you to Christ, to the truth that God offers us grace and love and salvation--it can all be effective for him.

Operation: Collard Greens

(Wow, this is post #101! Thanks to everyone out there who reads this!)



Dan and I go to a fairly small, fairly young PCA church (that's  Presbyterian Church of America, anyone else out there who wasn't raised in Reformed circles). We're closely connected with what I come to find is a nationally renowned school, Westminster Theological Seminary (our pastor teaches there, many of our members are students, etc). We love our church, it's been a huge blessing in our life and it's awesome to be a part of a young church that is growing and changing.



Due to our connections with Westminster, we have people come to our church from all over the country (world, even...we have a couple people from Korea and Japan). Some folks stay for a season, while they're in school, others stick around. But we all have one thing in common.



We love food.



Our church potlucks are quite the affair. No soggy casseroles or store-bought cookies, no sir. We've got gourmet cooks and they like to show off. We get spiral ham and fresh homemade sushi and French delights.



So  our church decided to host a Real Pit Barbecue this weekend.



Now, if you were to ask this Yankee what a barbecue looks like, I'd answer some burgers and dogs, maybe ribs if you're feeling fancy, thrown on a grill with some good cold salads (pasta and potato and green and fruit...) on the side.



Come to find out, I'm very wrong about that.



A Real Pit Barbecue involves smoking a billion pounds of various cuts of meat for about 24 hours in some enormous contraption that someone rented from Lancaster County. It also involves sides like slaw, beans, and greens.



Not salad greens.



Collard greens.



Cue the scary music.



Does anyone else out there have experience with these things? I'd love to hear your thoughts, because this morning I arose with the sun (seriously, 7:15 on a Sunday?!) and tackled operation: collard greens.



I followed this recipe, which is very highly rated. Gotta start somewhere, right?



I purchased two big bunches of collard greens from my farmer's market (so at least my ingredients were fresh and couldn't be faulted).

And I set to work.



Chopped some onions....

Fried some bacon....

Mmm, bacon.

Looking good so far, right? How can you go wrong with onions fried with bacon?

Chopping collard greens is no simple matter. You have to cut out the stalky thing in the middle, because it's too stiff and won't cook down nice and tender with the rest of it.

Anyways, add some broth and simmer away. I hear "the longer the better," but I had to get these babies to church.

This is about five minutes into the simmer. Fully cooked collard greens are not that fresh and green-looking. 

I'll give you the feedback later on. One of the gals from church was quite enthusiastic about a collard greens contest, and I just can't get behind that. For one thing, I tasted a bite about halfway through the simmering time, and it just wasn't very tasty. Chewy and salty and...just not that delicious.



Oh well. We'll find out if this is normal, or if operation collard greens....bust.