Happy New Year

Cabbage just like Grandma used to make

I put this recipe up on my Ike Feingold diet blog and need to post it here because in case y'all didn't know, cabbage on New Years Day = Good Luck.

Unless you believe that God's sovereignty is bigger than cabbage and all that.

Which we do of course.  I mean, of course.

So let's just pretend.

Cabbage is so healthy - an excellent source of vitamin C, and it will also, you know, keep ya regular.

Walker is ridiculously corny and every time a waiter brings us something, whether it's a steak or a margarita, he says, "Just like Grandma used to make." Yeah. Every time. Neeeeever gets old.

But this cabbage really is just like Grandma used to make, and just like my kiddos' GG makes for them too. If you were not blessed to have a Southern cooking grandma like I had in Vernie Lou, now you can just pretend and fifty years from now your own grandchildren will talk about your cabbage at your funeral.

And because it is a Grandma recipe, the ingredients will be listed in terms of "about" and "some". Roll with it.

1. Chop up about 2-3 strips of bacon into bite size pieces and saute in a little oil in Dutch oven
2. Add one coarsely chopped onion and saute that
3. Chop up one head of cabbage. Throw that in there. 
4. Now you can add some oil or butter or more bacon grease that you've got saved in your pantry if you were raised right. 
5. Add about half a cup of water. 
6. Salt it generously.
7. Pepper it generously.
8. Some folks add a little sugar here. 
9. Put the lid on it for about ten minutes till it is all nice and wilted.

There ya go. YUM.

Serve with homemade cornbread.

Glory to God and Grandma. Amen.

Happy New Year!!

Holiday cheer with Ken

My mom gave Eva Rose this Ken doll for Christmas. You talk into it and it turns your voice into a man's voice.

But maybe not, you know, the manliest man voice.

Exhibit A:

I can't stop playing with him. 

Merry Christmas to all from the irreverent Dollahons.

We're so glad our Savior came - because we really, really needed one.

(Note that this is the cropped version of this photo. Because when my mom saw the original picture, she lovingly said, "You know I heard you can cut out part of the picture before you print them - for instance, you might should cut out most of your behind.")

Merry Christmas from the irreverant, big butted Dollahons.

Kids bored yet?

Show them this, a photo of Pakastani twins wrapped in swaddling clothes.
 

 (Behrouz Mehri / Agence France-Presse/Getty Görüntüler)

I bet this is how baby Jesus was swaddled. Cause I'm pretty sure Mary didn't have a Miracle Blanket. And I bet he looked a lot like that too, because I'm pretty sure he wasn't blond and blue eyed either.

Then

Watch the orangutangs and big cats at the Houston Zoo open their Christmas presents



mmmmm, hope Santa brings me a big box o' meat

Then

Go here
Click criss-cross

And copy and paste these clues on Step 4 for a Christmas crossword puzzle.


Jesus Whose birthday is it?
Mary Jesus's mommy.
Joseph Jesus's earthly daddy.
Messiah Another name for Jesus.
Star What did the wise men follow?
Herod Who wanted to kill baby Jesus?
Gold One of the gifts for baby Jesus.
Bethlehem Where was Jesus born?
Jesse One of Jesus's grandfathers.
David Another of Jesus's grandfathers.
manger Where did baby Jesus sleep?.
Nazareth Where were Jesus's parents from?
Angel Who told Mary she was going to have a baby?
Egypt Where did the angel tell Joseph to go?
Census Why did Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem?
Shepherds Who saw lots of angels & went to worship Jesus?
Emmanuel A name for Jesus that means "God with us"
Swaddling Baby Jesus was wrapped in _______ clothes

That oughta buy you at least twenty minutes.

Maggie Belle, on the eve of her sixth birthday

after eating Mexican food for dinner....

In a stable

this post is a Christmas Naptime tradition

I've been thinking a lot about Mary, being that it is Christmas time and all. Actually since I first became pregnant eight years ago with my son Shepherd, Mary and I developed a kinship - a momship - and she is frequently on my mind.

And as I look at all the sweet, smiling, clothed-in-blue Marys in the nativity scenes, I wonder to myself: what would Mary really have been expecting on that very first Christmas?

Consider this: the girl had the angel Gabriel come to tell her she was pregnant. Mary stared in awe and wonder at the angel. Myself, I stared with awe and wonder at two pink lines on a stick dripping with, you know. And lately, I've stared in awe and wonder at the mountain of adoption paperwork. Big difference.

Mary knew she was chosen by God to bring the Light into this dark world. Being that she was Mary and not Missy, she did not get arrogant about it, nor proud – she remained humble, as we see in her Magnificat.

The Gospels do not tell us what her pregnancy was like, which I think is a sure sign that they were written by men. Imagine if God had chosen a woman to write a Gospel – how many chapters would have outlined her morning sickness and back labor? But I assume Mary threw up like the rest of us and woke up every hour to go to the bathroom and had sciatica and embarrassing gas moments. Which only makes me love her more.

She knew she is carrying the Savior of the world in her womb. She knew that the baby kicking her right in the bladder was in fact a king who would bring peace to all mankind. She knew this. That big scary angel had told her so. And being that she was human, I would imagine she had some...expectations.

As her contractions increased and she walked the long road to Bethlehem feeling, like all women at nine months gestation, like a big fat cow, I doubt Mary was expecting a gilded room at the palace (I am sure the thought would have crossed my mind, but as I mentioned previously, I am no Mary). However I feel pretty sure that she was expecting God to provide her with at the very least, a room - a private, warm, reasonably clean room to deliver this precious child. Such a small request! She had earned at least as much – suffering through the societal stigma of an unplanned pregnancy, and almost losing Joseph – surely God would make it up to her by giving her an easy childbirth.

The one thing that I doubt Mary expected to be provided by God was a stable. I have birthed four babies myself and I just cannot imagine giving birth in a barn. Non-Mary I would have had some tacky things to say about this particular provision.

What must have gone through her and Joseph’s minds? The Messiah, the Prince of Peace, the Mighty One, is coming into the world in a barn? Surrounded by animals and manure? Imagine how protective we are of our brand new babies – and imagine lying one to rest in a manger that cows eat out of?? Hardly sterile.

Do you think they wondered if they had gotten the message wrong? Did they ask if this was some holy joke? While she was pushing our pure and stainless Lord into the world onto hay and dirt, did Mary keep waiting for someone to rescue her?

Mary had been obedient, she had prayed unceasingly, she was the ultimate woman of God, yet in her time of great need, door after door was slammed in her face, literally, until she was finally given the room no one else wanted for a labor and delivery room. I think she must have been very confused in that stable.

I know so many people who are in a stable right now.

Many of my dear friends are amazing women of God. They pray, they fast, they are so obedient. Some of them even do their quiet time every single morning. They are much, much godlier than I am. They are doing everything “right”.

Yet, we have cried together, a lot, this last year. Things are not going the way they planned.

My dear friend Mitzi buried her perfect stillborn son last year. We expected she'd be pregnant again by now, but, she's not.  Then just last week, Mitzi's oldest friend's husband and father of two littles was found in his totalled truck with a broken neck. Not expected.

In March, my own six year old had a simple skin rash - except that it was more than that, I learned, as a nurse distracted my little girl so she wouldn't see me cry when the rheumotologist explained that the rash was just a symptom of lupus, a lifelong, potentially fatal disease. I really didn't see that one coming.

When we began this adoption process two years ago, I definitely expected that I would be the mother of a little brown skinned girl by this Christmas.  But I'm not, and I don't know what to expect anymore.

Some of our friends are shocked to find themselves in unhappy marriages or going through divorce. And my heart is especially burdened for a few girlfriends who have had their 40th birthday already, strongly desiring marriage and children, but God has yet to call them to this.

This life is not the way it was supposed to go, not what they signed up for. It’s not what they thought they were promised. It's not what they prayed for and it's definitely not what they expected.

And they, perhaps like Mary was, are so confused.

We have the blessing of hindsight to know that the stable in which Christ was born was representative of a very different kind of messiah. A humble messiah, with a message of peace, not the military hero the Jews were expecting (there is that word again.) A messiah who hung out not with kings but with the dregs of society, beginning with the his first visitors, the loathed shepherds.

By ordaining such a humble birthplace, God sent a message from the very beginning that this baby was going to rock everyone’s expectations, and shake their world view, and cause them to question everything they thought they knew. God does nothing haphazardly. There was a purpose in the stable. There was something bigger going on than Mary or Joseph – righteous, yet mere humans - could see or grasp.

I submit that there are purposes in our stables as well.

Usually, we cannot see the reason for the stable while we are in it. Sometimes, God clues us in later, and when it happens that is a real treat. But we don’t always get the blessing of knowledge. In fact frequently God in his infinite wisdom does not clue us in.

I don’t know why the desires of my sweet friends’ hearts are not being met. I don't know why my daughter had to get sick. I don't know why adoption has to be so hard when there are so many orphans who need parents. I don’t why babies die. I don’t know why my friends who would make such wonderful mothers can’t get pregnant.

I don’t expect to find out this side of paradise, and there is no biblical promise that it will be revealed to me even in Heaven.

I only know this – that God is sovereign and God is good.

There have been times in my life when “God is sovereign” has been a mantra I screamed repeatedly inside my brain. And there have been times when I just got depressed and wondered when I was ever going to get out of this dumb stable. But (praise Him) our responses and our feelings and our confusion regarding these stables do not change the fact that God is sovereign, and God is good. And that He is up to more than we can see, that His grand design is greater than our own expectations, however noble they may be – which means, without a doubt, there is a purpose for the stable.

Because God is intimately, unceasingly, invasively, personally involved in every single aspect of our lives. And in Romans 8:28 His word promises that this junk we are currently enduring will all work out for the good -- eventually.

At some point, on earth or in Heaven, we will praise Him for the stable, because He loves you and me as much as He loved Mary – take a moment and grasp that – and He has as much reason and purpose for putting us in our particular stable as He did Mary and baby Jesus. And this should give us hope – And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. (Romans 5:5)

© Missy Dollahon and It's Almost Naptime, 2009-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Missy Dollahon and It's Almost Naptime with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

In other words: link all you want, but don't steal.

The place where I cuss about feeding my kids crude oil

I'm a little MIA, but I'm still blogging....

I mentioned that we have started Ike on the Feingold Program.

I'm a little obsessed with all that I am finding out. I'm blogging about this experiment - because, you know, I'm Missy. I blog.

If you are interested (and judging by my facebook page, many of you are), you can follow along here.

Eva Rose: Who made the first stickers?
Shep: It was some Pilgrims. They took a picture and put this tree sap on the back of it.

But enough about me, let's talk about me

I have an amazing story to tell y'all about CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS yes, y'all, it's a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE but Walker was gone all week and he's currently doing a Freebirds run and then y'all know what we're gonna do - that's right baby - we're gonna move in real close to each other, look in each other's eyes, whisper, "Now!" and watch the Modern Family that's waiting on the DVR.

Aw haw.

So for tonight I'm gonna do a quick shameless copy of something Megan did the other day, called, "What I'm Into".


Also known as: "But Enough About Me, Let's Talk About Me."

On my nightstand:
Oh, so many. I have book ADD and am constantly juggling 15 at once.

• I finally broke down and bought My Utmost for His Highest instead of just using an iPhone app. I alternate between Ozzy and Spurgeon, two of my fave dead theo-homies. They get all up in my bidness.
• Unbroken: so, so good, about WWII POW Louis Zamperini. I told Walker, you know that Laura Hillenbrand is a good author when I actually care about track statistics from the 1930s! If you need a gift for your dad this Christmas, this is the one.
• Girls on the Edge, which is freaking. me. out. but is an important book I think every mom of girls needs to read (his book for boys, Boys Adrift, is on my to-read list)
• I'm excited that Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches is being mailed to me by the publisher. A lot of ladies on my church's mommy group have been talking about Rachel Jankovic since she had an awesome blog post published on Desiring God (Piper = one of my fave live theo-homies.)
  

Movies I've Seen:

y'all, I love scary movies. Can't stand / have been known to walk out of violent slasher kill 'em movies, but a well done, psychological thriller, ghost story? Yes please. Walker and I saw Paranormal III in the theater and he said he thought I was going to break his fingers off from squeezing so tight. I let out at least one embarrassing squeal. Loved. It.

TV: 

• Modern Family, of course. "I sleep clown." BAHAHAHA
• The jury is still out on New Girl for me. I think I like it. But I'm not fully committed. 
• I'm so glad that The Office is back and with a vengeance!! Poor poor Andy.
• I am trying, again, to watch Mad Men. Such good tv, although sometimes it is hard to concentrate on the plot because I am so coveting  Betty Draper's wardrobe. But not her husband. Noooope.
• Do y'all watch Locked Up Abroad? I'm glad I found it, because now I know to Just Say No when sketchy guys ask me to smuggle heroin in my high heel shoes in exchange for a free vacation. Thank you, NatGeo.You've saved me years in a third world prison with rats and one toilet per 82 inmates, and for that, I am most grateful.
• Hoarders, because it inspires me to clean my house like nothing else. Who plays 'spot the hoarder' at garage sales now? Anyone? I saw a total cat lady buying a bunch of junk at a church rummage sale last week and wanted to schedule an intervention right then and there in the fellowship hall. 

In my ears:

• Monster Mash, because Ike wants to play it overandoverandoverandoverandover
• In the Jungle, which Shep has declared his favorite song, and he sings so seriously you'd think it was a hymn. Imagine an 8 year old singing "a-wee, a-weh, a-wee, a-weh" with a beatific look on his face. It's so awesome.
• Jonathon Coulton's The Princess Who Saved Herself, a kids' song that Walker wants to play over and over. It's so great - trust me, just download it.
• I found a new podcast: it's called Snap Judgment. Loving it. It's a collection of stories, just people telling stories, around themes like "Abducted" or "Road Trip" or "It Wasn't Me." Fun stuff. 

In my kitchen:

Well, our kitchen is in a serious state of transition.

One of my children is having some serious behavior problems (hint: it's the one they named a hurricane after) and is not responding to any discipline. So I am trying the Feingold Diet.

I've been intrigued by this diet since my friend Linsey told me about it (you can read her story here.) We're in. We're in because we're a little desperate. Ike has more than a few symptoms on their symptom list.

We do eat mostly healthy around here - or so I thought. But the things I have learned in the past few days about additives and preservatives have given me serious anxiety and caused me trash some things in my pantry with the same disgust I show towards weevil infested grits. Even if this doesn't help his behavior (and I'm praying hard that it will) I will never feed my family the same way again.

It's very hard to do this over the holidays (my mom and I were scouring the internet today for organic Worcestershire sauce for her Texas Trash) so we won't commit full on till after Christmas.

As for yummy food, I made Sweet Potato Gratin with Chipotle for the first time this Thanksgiving and my husband fell in love with me all over again.

Looking forward to:

• Tomorrow the guys are coming to de-white trash my yard, and I am very 'cited about this. Before the drought, it was tacky. Now? It's a flat out disgrace to decent society.  
• This weekend we are going to see a kids' version of Handel's Messiah but before then we are taking family photos. That should be interesting. 
• Christmas!!

What about you, chickadees? What are you into?