Baby Potatoes with Lemon and Garlic
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:14
Food for the Palate
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of baby potatoes
Instructions:
Boil potatoes for about 10 minutes. Remove from stove top and drain. In a large sauté pan, add butter, olive oil and garlic on medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add potatoes into your sauté pan. Add lemon juice and sauté for 5 minutes of medium-low heat.
Put your potatoes in a serving bowl. Add lemon zest, parsley, chives, cheese and salt and pepper. Sprinkle your cheese over the top. Toss gently and serve. Tasty to the Palate!
One of my "Pet Peeves" in Christian circles is when I hear "Children are the Future Church". This comment is all said with the hopes of people knowing that we need to care for the children in the church. But what I believe is that "Children are the Church". They are every bit as important, if not more, than those that are older than them. And guess what, I am not the only one that thinks this way!
Jesus makes it very clear as to what His thoughts are on dealing with children when He said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14 I used to own a private Christian preschool. And one of the things that I really enjoyed the most was sharing Jesus with them. Ages 3-5 are so insightful about God and His creation! I may have been the teacher, but those kids taught me how to be in awe of the wonders around us and all that God has created.
I have often wondered if babies can see the spiritual world that we adults have so easily paid no attention to and even seem blind to. Have you ever thought whether babies can see angels? I remember when my daughter was only a few months old, I tiptoed into her nursery to see if she was awake yet, and I found her making cooing noises, smiling and kicking her little feet like she was running a marathon, all while looking at "something" in the air that seemed to be bringing her great joy. Another time I remember seeing my infant son sitting in his car seat at about 6 months old and he was giggling. I could have sworn that someone was making him laugh and he was thoroughly enjoying himself! There is no way to collect statistics on whether babies see angels obviously. They can't talk yet, and as far I know, they don't recall either way. But it just may be that children are more innocent and open to spiritual experiences than we are as grownups. Most of us adults become so immersed in the material world that we become unaware of God’s presence and just strive on becoming self-reliant and self-focused.
I do know this - children are a gift from God, and they do have a relationship with Him in the womb before they enter into this turbulent, sinful and often hostile world. Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart." I also know that children have an amazing ability to have faith and trust. As that trust and faith are nurtured and fed by God's Truth, they can teach us so much more than we know. Jesus tells us Himself what He thinks of the spiritual life of a child in Matthew 18:2-4, "He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And He said: 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'"
I applaud Dwight L. Moody for saying, "It is a masterpiece of the devil to make us believe that children cannot understand religion. Would Christ have made a child the standard of faith if He had known that it was not capable of understanding His words?" Children are not just “the church of the future”. If a child has Jesus in their heart, then they are “the church of today”. And just like how our bodies would fail to thrive without big toes and eyelashes, our churches will not function properly without the deliberate presence of all of God’s precious little children. And I would even venture to say that the more intellectual we try to become in our faith as adults, the less child-like faith we will have, and according to Jesus, those are no small potatoes to mess with! Satisfying to the Soul!
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
1/4 cup chives, diced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
1/4 cup chives, diced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Instructions:
Boil potatoes for about 10 minutes. Remove from stove top and drain. In a large sauté pan, add butter, olive oil and garlic on medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add potatoes into your sauté pan. Add lemon juice and sauté for 5 minutes of medium-low heat.
Put your potatoes in a serving bowl. Add lemon zest, parsley, chives, cheese and salt and pepper. Sprinkle your cheese over the top. Toss gently and serve. Tasty to the Palate!
Food for the Soul
We spend most of our lifetime trying to get rid of infantile and childlike behaviors that are unbecoming to us as adults. Henry Cloud says that “Age is a necessary but insufficient requirement for growing up. There are immature old people, and there are appropriately mature young people.” The longer we live and interact with people, the more we realize that while humans age, some never grow up!
We spend most of our lifetime trying to get rid of infantile and childlike behaviors that are unbecoming to us as adults. Henry Cloud says that “Age is a necessary but insufficient requirement for growing up. There are immature old people, and there are appropriately mature young people.” The longer we live and interact with people, the more we realize that while humans age, some never grow up!
One of my "Pet Peeves" in Christian circles is when I hear "Children are the Future Church". This comment is all said with the hopes of people knowing that we need to care for the children in the church. But what I believe is that "Children are the Church". They are every bit as important, if not more, than those that are older than them. And guess what, I am not the only one that thinks this way!
Jesus makes it very clear as to what His thoughts are on dealing with children when He said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14 I used to own a private Christian preschool. And one of the things that I really enjoyed the most was sharing Jesus with them. Ages 3-5 are so insightful about God and His creation! I may have been the teacher, but those kids taught me how to be in awe of the wonders around us and all that God has created.
I have often wondered if babies can see the spiritual world that we adults have so easily paid no attention to and even seem blind to. Have you ever thought whether babies can see angels? I remember when my daughter was only a few months old, I tiptoed into her nursery to see if she was awake yet, and I found her making cooing noises, smiling and kicking her little feet like she was running a marathon, all while looking at "something" in the air that seemed to be bringing her great joy. Another time I remember seeing my infant son sitting in his car seat at about 6 months old and he was giggling. I could have sworn that someone was making him laugh and he was thoroughly enjoying himself! There is no way to collect statistics on whether babies see angels obviously. They can't talk yet, and as far I know, they don't recall either way. But it just may be that children are more innocent and open to spiritual experiences than we are as grownups. Most of us adults become so immersed in the material world that we become unaware of God’s presence and just strive on becoming self-reliant and self-focused.
I do know this - children are a gift from God, and they do have a relationship with Him in the womb before they enter into this turbulent, sinful and often hostile world. Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart." I also know that children have an amazing ability to have faith and trust. As that trust and faith are nurtured and fed by God's Truth, they can teach us so much more than we know. Jesus tells us Himself what He thinks of the spiritual life of a child in Matthew 18:2-4, "He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And He said: 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'"
I applaud Dwight L. Moody for saying, "It is a masterpiece of the devil to make us believe that children cannot understand religion. Would Christ have made a child the standard of faith if He had known that it was not capable of understanding His words?" Children are not just “the church of the future”. If a child has Jesus in their heart, then they are “the church of today”. And just like how our bodies would fail to thrive without big toes and eyelashes, our churches will not function properly without the deliberate presence of all of God’s precious little children. And I would even venture to say that the more intellectual we try to become in our faith as adults, the less child-like faith we will have, and according to Jesus, those are no small potatoes to mess with! Satisfying to the Soul!
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