The Kitchen Queen

We’ve heated with wood for several years so I’m aware that there isn’t anything easy about the art of cooking on a wood burning stove. There is wood to be cut and hauled, a fire to be maintained and ashes to be cleaned out. Helping my Amish friend, Rhoda in her bakery, I’m also aware that using a wood burning oven is not nearly as convenient as turning the knob of an oven thermostat. I’ve learned that starting a fire on a cold blustery day can be a frustrating and smoky experience and that I could have an entire meal prepared in the conventional oven in the time that it takes to get the wood burning oven hot enough to bake! Regardless, I love the “simplicity”.

In my mind, food doesn’t taste any better than that cooked on a wood burning stove
and there is nothing more cozy than nestling into the warmth of a crackling fire on a cold winter day!

Wood burning cook stoves were the centerpiece of most kitchens for nearly two centuries! By the 1920s, gas ovens had replaced the wood burning cook stove in most homes. While I’ve always had the convenience of owning gas and electric stoves, for as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamed of living in the wilderness, cooking on a wood burning cook stove and birthing my babies at home. As my early adult years unfolded, I got distracted and off track and those dreams got buried in the trials and responsibilities of life. Unless Father has plans for us, as he did Sarah and Abraham, I’m done having babies, however we’ve concluded that it’s not too late to nestle into our little country home enjoying the beauty and warmth of a wood burning cook stove.

As always, we did our homework to determine what would best serve our needs at the best price. We decided on The Kitchen Queen! The Kitchen Queen not only has a 43”x21” cooking surface, she has a huge firebox that provides heat for 2000 square feet of living space for 12-16 hours and the ability to siphon 40 gallons of hot water per hour into our hot water tank! My favorite feature is the spacious oven. Not only will my 16” pizza pans fit in the oven, I can bake eight loaves of bread at one time!

Once we made the purchase, we got busy preparing a noble spot for the Kitchen Queen! Off the backside of our kitchen is a good size closed-in area with a concrete floor. We gave everything a good cleaning, insulated the exterior walls with heavy duty insulation and put a fresh coat of paint on the interior walls. I hung all of our cast iron cookware and filled a large bookshelf with all my canning equipment. Tada! Our summer kitchen was ready! As the days went by, the excitement rose. When the freight carrier called and said that he was thirty minutes away, we could hardly stand the wait! However, we were informed that their job was to unload it off the truck…period! The Kitchen Queen is no feather weight that you can easily slide around in order to dust under her! She weighs in at 900#! Getting her into position was no easy task! With their game-plan in place, a lot of fancy maneuvering and muscle, brother Art and Gary got “the queen” onto the “throne” that we had prepared just for her.

“The queen’s” debut was homemade pizza baked in her oven! Today she and I are canning pumpkin butter on her stove-top. Now that I’m getting the hang of how she operates, “the queen” and I are going to prepare a very special meal for Gary and Art for all their hard work to make it possible for her to be a part of our family.

The Kitchen Queen! She’s beautiful! She’s regal! She’s a dream come true!

Whole-Heartedly,
Bonnie

P.S. Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/. You may also contact me at:
Bonnie Jaeckle
In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life
Diagonal Progress
505 Jefferson St.
Diagonal, IA 50845

Peanut Butter and Other Desires of Our Hearts Part II

Last week I shared that it isn't uncommon for well meaning people to claim, “God wants to give us the desires of our heart.  All we have to do is ask,” yet we simply cannot rightly conclude that the Father’s will is to always fulfill every desire of our heart.  When Jesus prayed at Gethsemane, He knew it was appropriate, even necessary to express His desire to the Father that the cup of death would pass over Him.  However, even greater than what He wanted, He knew that the Father’s will was perfect.  And for Him, the Father’s will was death on the cross.  Therefore… he prayed that the Father’s will be accomplished through His death.

We could argue all day long that God’s will is to always give us the desires of our hearts.  But… how do we reconcile Job 42:2, I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted (Job 42:2).  If it is Father’s plan to always satisfy our desires, it would be accomplished!  It obviously is not!  Could it be that we don’t get what we ask for because we aren't praying according to His plan?

So… if it isn't always comfort, if it isn't always healing, if it isn't always physical needs, and if it isn't always transformation of our loved ones; what are the gifts from the Father that we can always be certain of:

The Gift of Christ Himself – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

The Gift of Faith – For by such grace you have been saved through faith.  This does not come from you, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).

The Gift of the Holy Spirit – Jesus answered the woman at the well, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water (John 4:10).  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him’.  By this he meant the Spirit (John 7:38-39).

The Fruits of the Spirit – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

The Gift of Truth – But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth (John16:13).

The Gift of Individual Personal Abilities – Each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that (1Corinthians 7:7).

The Gift of Righteousness – For if, by the trespass of one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17).

The Gift of Eternal Life - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

The Gift of Wisdom and Understanding – Turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:2-5).

Don’t let anyone fool you into believing that you must meet certain requirements before God will answer your prayers.  I spent years in anguish, confusion and even anger over trying to “connect with God”.  When I realized that I was attempting to attain something that I already have, I found that I was much more rested, satisfied, and even at peace.  Through Jesus, we are already one with the Father!  Don’t be afraid to tell Him that you’d really like to have some peanut butter, but remember, while He isn't disinterested in our physical needs and emotional desires, His greater concern is our spiritual development.  In fact, Father often uses our wanting in order to fix our eyes upon Him and to help us to recognize those gifts which have eternal value.

When praying for a specific situation or person I find that, out of habit, my first thoughts often turn to my desires.  I am then reminded that prayer isn't about my requests.  Prayer is about recognizing and enjoying my oneness with Father.  Yes, He wants to hear my heart, but He also wants me to trust Him so completely that I’m willing to genuinely pray in all circumstances, Yet not my will, but yours be done (Luke 22:42).

Don’t know how to pray? Father has a gift for you - If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously without finding fault, and it will be given to him (James 1:5).

Whole-Heartedly,
Bonnie

P.S.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/.  You may also contact me at:
            Bonnie Jaeckle
            In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life
            Diagonal Progress
            505 Jefferson St.
            Diagonal, IA 50845

Peanut Butter and Other Desires of Our Hearts

Years ago, I worked as a private duty nurse for a man who was paralyzed from the neck down. Prior to a near fatal automobile accident, Bill Campbell was a political cartoonist syndicated in 50 states in the U.S. While Bill was no longer able to draw, he was very well respected among the political sorts and still invited to attend their galas. One year, he was invited to attend a Christmas party at the Governor of Illinois’s mansion. Realizing that, due to his health condition, Bill never ventured out without his private duty nurse or a family member who could care for him, the Governor encouraged Bill to bring his entire entourage.

My son, Jake and I were pretty much a part of the fixtures at the Campbell house. From a few days after his birth, Jake and I would adventure off to work at the Campbell’s. So… when it came time to make plans to attend the Governor’s party, Jake and I were included! We were all invited to spend the night and have breakfast with the Governor, his wife and young daughter the next morning.

Pancakes were on the breakfast menu! At our house we love piping hot pancakes smothered with melted peanut butter and drizzled with maple syrup. While the maple syrup was being passed around the Governor’s table, there was no peanut butter insight. Jake leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Momma, do you suppose they have any peanut butter at this house?” The Governor heard Jake’s desire and jumped up to fetch the peanut butter.

Jake was thinking, “Wow! Even the Governor’s family eats peanut butter!” I was thinking, “If someone as prominent as the Governor is so quick to respond to our desires, imagine how responsive our heavenly Father is!

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him (Matthew 7:9-11)!

Yet, where is the assurance in this for the imprisoned missionary who has prayed to no avail that the torture would stop? What comfort is this to the parents standing next to their child’s casket for whom they had relentlessly prayed for healing? What about the starving child who has pleaded with a seemingly unresponsive God for food? How do we explain this “unfulfilled promise” to the wife kneeling next to her bed while her husband lingers at the local bar once again? Where are their good gifts? Are they to blame for their “unanswered” prayers? What about you, does God always respond according to your requests?

Scripture says:

• Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours (Mark 11:24).
If only the missionary had a tad more faith!

• If two of you agree on earth about any request you have to make, that request will be granted by my heavenly Father (Matthew 18:19).
If only the parents had contacted one more prayer group to pray for their dying child.

• Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).
If only the starving child would have praised God ten minutes more each day!

• Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be open to you (Matthew 7:7)
If only the lonely wife would have prayed the right words more often!

Don’t they know
that the power to rule the world is at their finger tips
if only they would get it right!

A little exaggerated? Yet, if we would honestly consider what we often promote regarding prayer, this claim would ultimately be the end result of our reasoning, wouldn’t it? Evidently our heavenly Father must have a different idea of what “good gifts” mean than what most of us think! Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17). In other words, our heavenly Father does not dish-out gifts according to a certain measure of faith, a certain number of praying people, a certain period of praise or a certain prayed phrase. We don’t have to guess at what satisfies Him!

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him (1John 5:14-15).

Stay tuned for part II of Peanut Butter and Other Desires of Our Hearts regarding prayer according to His will.

Whole-Heartedly,

Bonnie

P.S. Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/. You may also contact me at:
Bonnie Jaeckle
In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life
Diagonal Progress
505 Jefferson St.
Diagonal, IA 50845

Training as a Draft Horse Teamster - The Greater Purpose in Suffering - Part III

This is the third and last article in a series about my getting hurt while working with our draft horses.

When we suffer any kind of trial or sorrow we must consider:

• Do I proclaim my lack of faith to the World by feeling sorry for myself, complaining, blaming, reacting negatively or responding harshly when I suffer? Do I attempt to pray it away?
• Or like Paul and Timothy, do I consider it pure joy when I face trails (James 1:2-8, 12) and rejoice in my suffering, proclaiming to the World that I trust and honor Father (1 Peter 1:6-9) in all things:

In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We live close to death, but we are still alive. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything (2 Corinthians 6:4-10).

In the face of the cross, Jesus said, Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will (Mark 14:36). Obviously, it was not the Father’s will that Jesus be rescued from suffering. Instead, the Father’s will was and still is that we be “delivered from this present wicked World.” This isn’t to say that we will be removed from the World. Rather, as we walk in the footsteps of Jesus we are delivered from responding in ways that reflect the darkness of it.

When we respond to trials and sorrows in faithfulness to the Father and His ways

we continue to overcome the rulers, powers and principalities

of this place and system of suffering.

(Ephesians 6:12)!

So… what happened that caused our horses to be so confused? I was taught to always stand behind the implement in order to prevent getting trapped between it and the horses. I did this. I was also taught to fasten the reins to the implement in order to give the horses a sense of tension so that they don’t pull ahead until I am ready. I did this. What I wasn’t aware of is; if I don’t leave a bit of slack in the reins when I fasten them and begin to mount the implement, my weight on the back of the implement will pull the reins more tautly, signaling to the horses that I want them to back up! Not doing so lead to suffering!

While scripture tells us, if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well (James 3:1-3), it never directs us to steer clear of suffering by attempting to live righteously! The reality is… we don’t have such power over the reins in our lives! Thinking that we do just might get us plowed over!

It never entered my mind that this event was a result of how unrighteous I might be. If suffering was dished out according to how righteous we are, we’d all be burning in hell! What I did consider however is this, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). My greatest desire in all of this was to boast of the things which show my weakness (2 Corinthians 11:30) because I knew that in my weakness my Lord’s power was being demonstrated!

In my weakness I was reminded, “There is only One Who reigns over all” and I wanted to proclaim this to anyone who asked me, “What happened?”

Whole-Heartedly,
Bonnie

P.S. Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/. You may also contact me at:
Bonnie Jaeckle
In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life
Diagonal Progress
505 Jefferson St.

Training as a Draft Horse Teamster - The Greater Purpose in Suffering - Part II

Last week I shared a story about getting hurt while discing with our draft horses. Some people’s conclusions about what went wrong were quite interesting. One deduction in particular stands out in my mind: “You must not be living right”!

Do only good things happen to those who are “living right”? If so, how do we explain Jesus’ warning to His followers, In the World you will have trials and sorrows; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the World (John 16:33). He never mentions that our trials will be matched according to how we live! Instead, He tells us that the World is a place and system of suffering. We are to expect trials and sorrows as elements of living in the World.

If afflictions are dished out according to how “wrong” a person is living, how would we explain Apostle Paul’s suffering?

Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:23-28).

Would we warn him, “Paul, my dear brother, you must be living wrong or God would feed, clothe and protect you. You’ve got to get it right, Paul or you’re a dead man!”

What about Jesus? He was beaten so badly that his appearance was… marred beyond human likeness (Isaiah 52:14b) and was crucified unto death (John19:30). Would we pity him saying, “Holy cow, Jesus! You must have been living wrong to be facing the ultimate trial! I guess it is too late to get your life in order so that you can skirt around this crucifixion!”

We are minimizing the sacrifice of Jesus,
if we don’t understand and demonstrate the greater purpose for suffering, including death:
…that he might deliver us from this present wicked world…
(Galatians 1:4).

This deliverance isn’t a down the road reward for “good” behavior! It is a here and now victory! Walking in the footsteps of Jesus, we are also to be overcomers of this World (Romans 8:37); today. It isn’t about how much or how often we suffer that communicates anything of importance. It is about how we respond to suffering that speaks loudly of Whom we are made.


Stay tuned next week for the conclusion of this series.


Whole-Heartedly,
Bonnie

P.S. Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/. You may also contact me at:
Bonnie Jaeckle
In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life
Diagonal Progress
505 Jefferson St.
Diagonal, IA 50845