At the Lord's Table

Today is the last Sunday celebration before Christmas. We are welcoming some cherished guests and missing gathering with our dear Mathisons and David. There is always room at our table  and an open heart; waiting, wishing  and praying for those so very far away. 

Filet of Beef with Gorgonzola Sauce

(Our version of Whoville "Roast Beast")

1 (4-5 lb) filet of beef trimmed and tied

2 tablespoons butter softened

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 tablespoon coarse ground black pepper

Sauce

4 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup crumbly Gorgonzola 

3 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino romano 

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

3/4 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground

3 tablespoons tarragon, minced

Preheat oven to 500 degrees

Place beef in baking sheet and pat outside dry with paper towel. Spread butter in with your hands. Sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper. Roast 30 minutes for medium rare. 

Remove beef from oven, cover tightly with foil and allow to rest at room temperature 20 minutes. Remove strings and slice. 

In medium saucepan over medium high heat, bring cream to boil then continue to boil rapidly unto thickened stirring occasionally. 45-50 minutes. 

Remove pan from heat and add Gorgonzola, pecorino, salt, pepper and tarragon. Whisk rapidly until cheese  melts and then serve alongside beef. 

Surely

 

Surely he hath borne our griefs,

And carried our sorrows:

Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 

But he was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities:

The chastisement of our peace was upon him;

And with his stripes we are healed. 

All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned every one to his own way;

And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

    Isaiah 53:4-6

These verses have been my comfort and strength and hope. Surely, surely he carries us and heals us. This season I am grateful for the little babe born in Bethlehem, the King of Heaven and Earth, who surely came to save us. 

Christmas Feasting

I really enjoy December Sunday Suppers. Today we have a small group - Mom and Dad, Anne, Jimmy, James, Dave and me.

It will be a cozy and delicious celebration, one of my favorite Christmas menus. 

Cranberry Salsa with Chips

Avocado Grapefruit Salad

Fresh Green Brown-butter Beans

Rice Pilaf

Cinnamon-Apple Pork Tenderloin

Toblerone Fondue with cream puffs and fruit 

Fresh Cranberry Salsa

1 bag fresh cranberries

1 bunch green onions 

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded

1 bunch fresh cilantro

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cumin

Blend in food processor

Chill until ready to serve. Spread 8 oz softened cream cheese into platter and spread with salsa. 

Serve with tortilla chips or crackers.

Cinnamon Apple Pork Tenderloin 

2 Pork Tenderloins

Marinade:

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

3 tablespoons dry mustard

3 tablespoons dried thyme

1/2 cup apple juice or cider

1/2 cup soy sauce 

3 cloves garlic, minced

Whisk together and pour over tenderloins. Marinate overnight or 4 hours. 

Sauce:

1 jar apple jelly

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup Apple juice or cider

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roast tenderloins for 1 hour or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Let rest 15 minutes before slicing. 

Serve with cinnamon apple sauce. 

Rice Pilaf

1 - 10 3/4 ounce can chicken broth

1 cup water 

1 cup Uncle Ben's rice

1/4 cup Apple juice

3 tablespoons butter

Combine above ingredients and cook in rice  cooker - after cooked add:

1/2 cup Craisins

1/4 cup sliced green onions

1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds

Or pine nuts. 

Toblerone Fondue

1/2 cup whopping cream

3 bars Toblerone Swiss milk chocolate with honey and nougat

Warm cream in small saucepan. Break chocolate into pieces, add cream and stir until melted. Serve with sliced pears, apples, mandarin oranges, marshmallows, cream puffs. 

                       

 Santons via Provence - Little Treasures

Our Finest Friend

I am grateful for the Christmas Season, a time of celebration, of joy, of service, of really contemplating the role Jesus Christ plays in our individual lives.  

When our son was a small boy, we were given a print of the resurrected Christ.  It is beautiful and Christ is coming forth with glory in the clouds - concourses of angels surround Him.  I asked our little son about the painting and he replied, “That is Jesus and all Him friends.”   

Throughout the years I’ve thought a lot about my little boy’s pure sweet testimony of our Savior.  I’ve asked myself,  “how can I become His friend – how I can show my love for Him – how can I  feel His Holy Spirit and recognize His hand leading and guiding me as I journey through this life? 

When our son was serving his mission, he wrote a letter titled – A Friend of Jesus:  
"With friendship and the impact of service on my mind, I have been asking the Lord if I am doing this right.  My answer came in
DC 84:77  And again I say unto you, my friends, for from henceforth I shall call you friends.  It is expedient that I give unto you this commandment, that ye become even as my friends….The greatest friend I have made on my mission has been the Lord.  When no one else understands he does.  He has truly been beside me preaching His gospel and truly what greater friend can we gain in this life?"

I love the holiday movie, Mr. Kruger’s Christmas –: in the final scene, the lonely widower is talking to the Savior: 
"Hello there.  I’m Willy Krueger and I’m the custodian over at the Beck Apartments, but you know that don’t you.  You know that. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.  As long as I can remember you’ve been right by my side.  I’ll never forget when you walked with me right in those first few hours, after I lost Martha.  I’ve always been able to count on you, when I felt dark inside – You were right there.  Every time,.  Even when I didn’t feel good about myself, I knew that you cared for me and that made me feel better.  I love you.  You are my closest, my finest friend.  And that means that I can hold my head high, wherever I go.  Thank you thank you thank you."

Several years ago at our Christmas Eve celebration, our son-in-law David Brinton related his experience visiting the Shepherd’s Fields in Bethlehem. He imagined himself singing with the Heavenly Choir the night the Savior was born.  He bore his testimony that he feels we were all there with that Heavenly Host singing with joy at the arrival of the Little King.  

Brian Kershiznik, a Utah artist, painted a life-sized Nativity.  What I love about it are all the Heavenly Angels surrounding the little Holy Family.  We have a copy of it in our home and we can see our own faces among the choir of angels.  

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, the mighty God, the everlasting Father.  The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Yesterday, I walked through Temple Square.  It was beautiful, with a light skiff of snow – it was peaceful and quiet and I was alone listening to the Nativity narration from Luke 2.  I especially loved the verses concerning the shepherds:

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night…
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people;
For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord. 

“And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Luke 2:12 

The angel told the shepherds where to find the Savior.  We too have been told where to find him and how to make him our friend. 

President Monson closes the nativity narration and admonishes all to seek out the lonely and discouraged, lift others, gather with our families, pray for peace and serve and do the work of the Lord. 

So how can I find Him – how can I become His Friend?
A few suggestions:

Christmas is a time for giving.  Someone once said he couldn’t think of what to give for Christmas.  I often encounter the same dilemma.  The next day in the mail he received an anonymous list which read:

Give to your enemy forgiveness,
To your opponent tolerance
To your friend your heart,
To all men charity, for the hands that help are holier than lips that pray.
To every child a good example, and to yourself, respect.

I love this poem by Christina Rossetti:

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would give Him a lamb,
If I were a Wise Man,
I would do my part,
But what I can I give Him?

I give my heart. 

This Christmas, mend a quarrel.  Seek out a forgotten friend.  
Write a letter.  Give a soft answer.  Keep a promise.  Forgo a grudge.  Forgive an enemy or someone close to you who has let you down.  Apologize.  Try to understand.  Examine your demands on others.  Think first of someone else.  Be kind.  Be gentle.  Laugh a little more.  Express your gratitude.  Welcome a stranger.  Gladden the heart of a child.  Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.  Speak your love and then speak it again.  

Several weeks ago I had the privilege of attending a Temple Devotional held in the Solemn Assembly Room.  Elder Cook spoke and told us that the Twelve have been hesitant to share sacred experiences.  However, they feel that sometimes they must boldly share their testimonies of Jesus Christ.  He then said something I will never forget.  He said, “I want you to know that I know the Savior’s face and I know His voice.”   

I am so very grateful for the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. He has blessed me, guided me, comforted me and given His life for me.  I love Him.   He is our finest friend.  

In the name of Jesus Christ 

A Heart to be Contented

Sammy always lays his head on my shoulder - a tender mercy.  I'm grateful for my sixteen grandchildren. They make my heart so happy and so proud. I love each one so very much. 

Lake Powell 2015

“This day by God’s mercy I am 29 years of age, and in very good health, and like to live and get an estate; and if I have a heart to be contented, I think I may reckon myself as happy a man as any is in the world, for which God be praised. So to prayers and to bed.”

—Diary of Samuel Pepys, February 1662

Heaven

62 years - 

I'm grateful for my journey - my family, my faith, my home, my health, my friends, my life. 

Family dinner at my favorite - Sundance

Topped off with my favorite - Marzipan Cake

Grateful - and so to prayers and to bed!

Believe in Yourself

Believe in yourselves and in your capacity to do something worthwhile. God has given you a mind and a spirit and a body with which to do your work. You have tremendous capacity. You do not have to be a genius to do something worthwhile in the world. The major work of the world is done by ordinary people who have learned to work in an extraordinary way. This is what makes the difference. Stand tall and look sharp and bright with a smile on your face, and you will find that people will love and honor and respect you. “To thine own self be true,” wrote William Shakespeare, “And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man” (Hamlet, act 1, scene 3).

       President Gordon B. Hinckley 

Morningside

 Parley’s 7^th Ward  Campout

How fortunate we have been to mingle together in God’s great outdoors.  I hope you have been renewed and refreshed as you have left the cares of the city behind and beheld the handiworks of God.

To commemorate Easter, our family memorized the Living Christ.  One brief sentence from that document comes to my mind often - “Under the direction of His Father, He was the Creator of the Earth.”  

How grateful I am for the beauties of this earth – the sky, the sun, the moon and the stars, the mountains, oceans, rivers and lakes -

trees and flowers.  I hope you have had at least a few moments alone to contemplate your place in our Creator's perfect plan. Hopefully your distractions, worries and noise have been left behind in the city.

  Many prophets have gone to the mountains to draw closer to God.  It seems we are nearer to Him here.  Mountains are a symbols of strength.  They represent a firm foundation and steadfastness.  BYU President Kevin Worthen said, “Mountains are places of instruction – places to learn new things.  They are places of spiritual communication and revelation, and places of transfiguration.  Mountains are locations where people can be enlightened, uplifted and changed. “

I’m grateful to live in this beautiful place where our mountains are prominent landmarks.    Life is good.  Life is sweet as we recognize that we are part of God’s grand design and His finest creations.  He wants us to be happy and have peace. 

Isaiah 52:7

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” 

Someone recently recommended we to do three things each day which give peace.  At the top of my list is to go outside and breathe deeply. I find great peace and purpose working in my garden and looking up at our beautiful mountains.  I would challenge you to think about that advice.  For one week, do three things which bring you peace and write them down.  Please consider going to temple, The Mountain of the Lord.  

I love this quote from Anton Chekhov:

“We shall find peace.  We shall hear angels.  We shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.”

We have loved spending time with you.  We love serving with you and ask the Lord’s choicest blessings be upon each one.    

My People

We visited our sweet William Eric Boren. Oh how we love him. Recently Dad said, "what would we have done without our little Billy?"  He was a light and blessing to us all. His example of perseverance and smiling through sorrow inspires me every day. 

Oh how I love my Grandpa and Grandma Nuttall. I have so many happy memories of sleepovers, Beep, sourdough waffles, sausage imported from Chicago, crumpets, skiing, boating, fishing, The Scout Travelall, Jackson Lake Lodge, Yellowstone, Grandpa's hats, khakis, Sea Breeze, color television, basement shop - Grandma's beautiful white, wavy hair, sweet temperament and love of reading. Most of all I remember how much they loved me. 

Please Forgive

Probably fifteen years ago or so, Virginia Pearce spoke in our Relief Society. She gave a marvelous talk and included a story of a time her father, President Gordon B. Hinckley called and asked if she would accompany him to St. George for a little get away. Before returning home, President Hinckley wanted to visit the site of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, where a new monument had been erected. It was raining and the skies were dark. Sister Pearce displayed a large photo of President  Hinckley walking together with his security guard who was holding a large umbrella to cover the two of them. The image has stayed in my mind as has Sister Pearce's sweet retelling of the incident. She said her father, slowly walked through the rain to the site, knelt and prayed and pleaded with God, saying, "we have done all that we can and know to do to put this grievous incident behind us. Please forgive."(Paraphrased from my memory). My words do not do justice to the spirit I felt. I love this great prophet of God, his faith and humility. 

Saturday I visited the site for the first time with our sweet Brinton Family.  We also felt great sorrow and with all my heart I too ask The Lord to "Please forgive." 

Family Book Club

Anne and David launched our family book club this month. David chose the C. S. Lewis classic, The Screwtape Letters. 

Discussion and lunch were at Wild Zucchini. We agreed it is a fast, fun and thought-provoking read. Camille shared her thoughts from Chapter VIII. We seem to especially relate to troughs at the moment and especially liked this quote:

"Now it may surprise you to learn that in His efforts to get possession of a soul, He relies on the troughs even more than on the peaks; some of His special favourites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else....

Merely to override a human will would be for him useless. He cannot ravish. He can only woo. The  creatures are to be one with Him, but yet themselves. He will set them off with communications of His presence which, though faint, seem great to them, with emotional sweetness, and easy conquest over  temptation. But He never allows this state of affairs to last long. Sooner or later He withdraws, if not in fact, at least from their conscious experience, all those supports and incentives. He leaves the creature to stand up on its own two legs--to carry out from will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is during those trough periods that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be. Hence the prayers offered in a state of dryness are those which please Him best. He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there He is pleased even with their stumbles. Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."

Next up is the 2015 Pulitzer Prize winner, All the Light We Cannot See. Happy reading and then my favorite - discussing!

Imperfect

In the Church News today is an interview with a new Seventy, Elder Vern P. Stanfill. I'm grateful The Lord loves me despite weaknesses and I'm grateful for my own imperfect family. 

"The hand of the Lord is present in our lives despite our weaknesses. My wife and I are not perfect people. We don't have a perfect family. We are just ordinary people who have tried to live our lives day by day and allow The Lord to be part of it."

A Heavenly Race

 

           Ordering Boston Creme Pie

Holly and Jessica ran the Boston Marathon today. It was cold and rainy but a great day for both finishers. I am so proud -  Boston Strong - Burbidge Strong!

  I remember the euphoria of running and finishing the Boston Marathon in 1998 with my friend Liz Cook.  Our friend Mary Glauser was also there - a little ahead of us. She was our trainer and thanks to her we qualified at the St. George 1997 Marathon. 

Much of life has passed since then - many miles of happiness and sunshine and also miles of sorrow and heartache. Running really is a metaphor for life. I remember waiting for "Heartbreak Hill" toward the end of the marathon. It really wasn't so hard then but life has a way of teaching us. It came and I'm still climbing. 

Holly attended a "Blessing of Athletes"

at the Old South Church yesterday. She was so touched by the message and I hope to find it online or have Holly write what she remembers. 

They sang a hymn she loved - music-George F. Handel, text-Phillip Doddridge

 

Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve,

And press with vigor on;
A heavenly race demands thy zeal,
And an immortal crown,
And an immortal crown.

A cloud of witnesses around
Hold thee in full survey;
Forget the steps already trod,
And onward urge thy way,
And onward urge thy way.

’Tis God’s all animating voice
That calls thee from on high;
’Tis His own hand presents the prize
To thine aspiring eye,
To thine aspiring eye.

Then wake, my soul, stretch every nerve,
And press with vigor on,
A heavenly race demands thy zeal,
And an immortal crown,
And an immortal crown. 

Hebrews 12:1-3 and 12-14

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;

And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see The Lord.   

               

Remembering Lincoln

"Surely God would not have created such a being as man to exist only for a day! Man was made for immortality." — Abraham Lincoln

I remember studying the life of Abraham Lincoln in elementary school and he has been one of my greatest heroes. I memorized the Gettysburg Address with my fifth grade class and again in 2013 inspired by Getty Ready. The words are some of the most beautiful and sacred ever spoken.  I have had the privilege of visiting the Lincoln Memorial three times and at each visit have been filled with profound reverence. I give thanks for this humble, brilliant, wise President whose belief in God and moral compass saved our Union and abolished slavery. 

Today we honor him on the anniversary of his assassination 150 years ago.

"My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side." — Abraham Lincoln

"My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of Earth." — Abraham Lincoln

What is my purpose?

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson

I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.

I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.

I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.

I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.

I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.

Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Deep Roots

                   Temple Square 

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

    J. R. R. Tolkien

             - Fellowship of the Ring 

            Spring in my garden and...

               Spring in my heart

This year I am grateful for the beauty and hope of this glorious season - made possible because of "deep roots" that ever bear me up. 

I Sustain the Prophet - Something to Shout About

Annie forwarded this blogpost to me - so well said. Written by April McMurtrey - published in Deseret News - April 7, 2015

President Monson – I Sustain You.

I like to keep a pen and paper close by when I’m watching General Conference, to jot down notes that come to mind. Sometimes when a message means a lot to me, I draw a smiley face, or heart next to it.

I have never drawn a face with a frown and tears descending….until today when President Uchtdorf stood and invited us to sustain the General Authorities of the Church.

When I heard the dissenting votes being yelled out during General Conference, my heart sank and my eyes began to well up. I had heard that this could happen and was actually expecting it, but I was unprepared for the feelings that arose when it did.

I wanted to raise my hand even higher! I wanted to stand when I raised it! I wanted to shout “YES!” I wanted the world to know I sustained the prophet. And especially, I wanted the prophet to know I sustained the prophet.

Right after the dissent occurred, a friend texted me and asked what, if anything, we could do to rally around our beloved prophet, to “circle the wagons” as she put it, to let the prophet know we love and sustain him. We wondered if we should send him a million paper hands in the mail! We contemplated starting a Facebook event to invite others to join us in a worldwide effort to show our love and support for the prophet of God!

Then, I thought….What would the prophet want?

I think he would not want a million paper hands, or a contest of opinions, as much as he would want a million single, living, breathing, committed hearts to His King and ours – Jesus Christ.

So, to sustain my prophet, whom I love dearly, I will do something to show my support. I will defend him. I will share his words. I will do what I have been counseled to do during this conference and all the others.  Then, slowly, I will begin to become something better. I will not justsay I will do something, or intend to be better, or raise my hand without thought. I will commit to KEEP TRYING, until I become more like my Savior. I think that’s what he would want, and what the Lord would want.

So….

I will listen for the music of the Spirit, which will bring more meaning to my daily dance.

I will hush my own fears.

I will fast for the poor.

I will be a better wife and mother by praising, expressing my love, and apologizing more.

I will focus on my Savior during the sacrament and not whisper or allow myself to become distracted.

I will savor, love and focus on the things of God more than the things of man.

I will actively decide to believe Christ, not just wish it to be.

I will focus on things that are essential. My family.

I will not parent by compulsion.

I will be humble, like Shiblon.

I will remember that compared to God, I’m not really that different from whom I’m judging harshly.

I will remember that my husband and I are equal partners.

….And if (when) I fail at any of the above…..

I WILL KEEP PRACTICING.

So, President Monson, because I love and sustain you, I will support you by doing. I will sustain you by trying. I will honor you by slowly but steadily becoming.

I love you President Monson.

And to show my love…

I will follow Jesus Christ.

And because I love my Savior, Jesus Christ,

I will follow His prophet.

Deseret News. April 7, 2015

 Written by AprilMcMurtrey originally appeared

 on Something to Shout About!It has been shared here with the author's permission. April and her husband live in California and serve as ward missionaries. They have three children, two of whom are serving missions and one who is preparing to serve. April is a dyslexia specialist whose favorite things are teaching, reading, writing, bacon and missionary work. (Bacon and missionary work are tied for first!). 

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