National Bible Bowl Competition

This past weekend the BAYDA (Black Adventist Youth Directors Association) National Bible Bowl Competition was held in Boston Massachusetts on the campus of the University of Massachusetts at Boston.



The games were lovely and so was the campus. The teams from my church arrived on Thursday afternoon and the games began on Friday evening.. All teams play one game We won our first game on Friday night. The competition is double elimination so no one is eliminated on the first day.



On Sabbath morning we had Sabbath School and then for the 11 am service Pastor Trevor Baker, the founder of this Bible Bowl, was the speaker of the hour. Pastor Baker's sermon was powerful! He spoke of the story in Luke chapter 2 beginning at verse 42 where Joseph and Mary leave Jesus behind in the temple.

The theme of his sermon was that often times, like Joseph and Mary, we travel through life assuming that Jesus is with us when in fact he is not. Joseph and Mary look for Jesus among their family and friends and much to their disappointment, they did have Jesus or know where to find Him.

And where Jesus? In the temple, right where they left Him. Jesus never leaves us, we leave Him. And if we want to find Him all we have to do is figure out where we left Him and return.

Saturday afternoon the games began again and we won our next game. We lost the next two games and so we were then eliminated coming in 4th place overall. We lost our 4th game and 3rd place by 40 points, but we are not disappointed. We are excited to get studying for next year.

Next year's games will be held in home conference in Dallas Texas!

Sharing a Devotional Thought

The other day I was talking to a friend and sharing a devotional thought that I had. Some time ago I was watching a show called Making the Band. For those of you who know me well, you know that the fact that I was even watching television is amazing all in itself. :-). At any rate, in this show, young women and men alike are trying to make it big and have a career with P.Diddy also known as Puff Daddy or Sean Combs. For those of you who are not familiar with him, he is a well known rapper and hip-hop icon.

In the particular show that I watched, there were females who were trying out to be dancers with P.Diddy and possibly form a new girl's group. During the tryouts, there were two girls that were dancing in the back, really trying not to be seen. This upset P. Diddy tremendously as he is looking for girls who "want to be in the spotlight" and want to make it big. He immediately dismissed them from the stage.

All throughout the show there were harsh comments, girls were ridiculed and called all sorts of names. And everytime they would come back and try harder to "make it". By now I'm sure you're wondering why I sat and watched this show and so I will share with you what I learned.

As I sat and watched I was reminded of a verse in I Corinthians 9:25 Where Paul says

"And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible."

I was in awe as I watched these girls withstand ridicule and all sorts of demeaning comments. They wanted so badly to dance on stage with P.Diddy that there wasn't much they wouldn't do or take and all for what? A life of glamour?

So then how much more willing should we be to withstand ridicule for an incorruptible crown? I want to encourage you today that whatever fire you may be going through, God has promised that if you trust Him, He will be there with you in the midst of it to cool the flames. (Daniel 3:27). So take up your cross and bear it and be assured that in the end all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.

Vegan Cornbread

For the past couple of years I have been moving towards veganism (no animal products). Some days it's easy and some days it's not. One of the hardest things to give up has been eggs. Not scrambled or deviled, but recipes that use eggs such as cornbread. Certainly no one in their right mind would expect me to give up cornbread! :-)

At any rate, I found a recipe that I tried today and to my surpise it is delicious! And just to shed a little light on my skepticism, I've had this recipe for more than 5 years. I have been missing out!

Don't let the ingredients scare you. It really is good.

Vegan Cornbread:
1 3/4 cornmeal
1 cup oats
1 cup ground cashews (raw, unsalted cashews)
1 TBSP sea salt
2 cups soy milk ( I used enough milk to make it moist. Probably closer to 3 cups)
1/3 cup maple syryp
dash of coriander

Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix all ingredients together and stir. Pour batter into an oiled shallow baking dish and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. ( I used my cast iron skillet).

Servings:12
Calories:133
Fat: 2.7 grams
Sodium: 141 milligrams

Voila, good ole southern style cornbread. Enjoy!

Christopher the Master Bowler

The children bowl as a part of our homeschool P.E. At the beginning of P.E. my son Christopher used one of the metal racks that the alley supplies for little ones to help get the ball down the lane. By the second time we met, Christopher figured out that he need the apparatus after all. Here is a video of him bowling. :-)