The ant trail

Every morning there are ants in my kitchen. My daughter's best friend said, "Duh, it's cool in here." So until I get some ant bait at Walmart, or they randomly decide my home isn't appealing, I carefully clean the kitchen every night and strategically consider where the food is. I absolutely do not want them to learn that I have food in the bread box past the sink, and I cannot have them discovering my cannisters. If anyone has a snack late at night, they must place their crumby dishes on the cabinet between the kitchen door and the sink. This will waylay the ants so they cannot further explore my house and find anything I care about. They can find the trash; they can peruse the dishwasher; they can invade the sink. They must not ever learn about the cereal boxes.

Have you watched ants? They do not have a visible leader but they are so full of purpose. In Proverbs, Solomon advised us to watch the ants to learn how to be productive, not lazy. But I admire ants because they always know what they're doing. There is some secret code laid down for them, and they follow it to the food source, return the food to home. Or perhaps they are an ant scout, bravely milling about for a new food supply. You will not see ants doing is playing video games, reading a novel, or pondering why their life is so short and empty.

I am not an ant (although I can sense trails for finding food). However, I have heard the Master call me to Him, and even when He doesn't make sense, I know He has a plan. When I swipe the ant trail with spray and a paper towel, or move that syrup bowl that my daughter left out into a bowl of water in the sink (bwahaha), the ants will sometimes seem confused. They mill in circles, and you can hear the little ant cries of, "What? But the trail said...but why is there no...??" They get back on track. Even in their confusion, they are so ant-like, so stalwart and admirable. May my faith in God lay an ant trail that gives purpose to my every action, even the confused ones.

Tip #4

Have your kiddos ever left towels piled on the bathroom floor? Do you have a washcloth that has that pesky odor of soured fabric? Next time you run those towels through the wash, do a pre-wash with baking soda and vinegar. These two simple ingredients are both great odor fighters. Then wash as usual.

Alternatively, train everyone in your house to always properly hang up their towels to dry.

This is a live shot of the upstairs bathroom. I know, you think I would have to stage it to find this kind of mess, but alas, no.

Assign blame and forgive

My husband has a few statements that we consider family truths to live by. One of the most famous is, "Assign blame and forgive." If something bad happens to you, you're going to have to move past it. This slogan is made of two steps.

I think Christians often try to skip over the assign blame part. Did someone wrong you? Then say it. Maybe not to their face, but the clarity of what went wrong is good for you. God was honest about our sin. If our sin is just "little stuff" then Jesus didn't accomplish very much on the cross. But the cross wasn't just a little change to cover a little problem. The truth doesn't diminish God.

So be clear and truthful, just like the Lord. Call things what they are. But once you've assigned blame--and let's be honest, sometimes you get some of the blame in a situation, it's not always the other guy--imitate God again: forgive. Let it go. Don't hold it against them. And don't cheat yourself by getting stuck in the "assign blame" stage. The other side of forgiveness is freedom for you.

Tip #3

If you have leftover coffee (really? whoever has leftover coffee?) you can use it for baking. I have a great recipe for an eggless chocolate cake that has coffee. But really, if you have leftover coffee, you must really be busy, so cake is probably not your solution.

While it's still warm, stir in a little sugar (or a lot, suggests Beka) and freeze it. Sometime soon, frozen sweet coffee is going to make your afternoon very happy. You can pour it in an icecube tray (picture to the right, in case you have never seen one, o generation with ice makers).

If you have a lot of coffee, be careful how you freeze it. Liquid expands when freezing and will break your container.

What do you do with theoretical leftover coffee?

An aroma pleasing to the Lord

Think for a moment about yourself. Think about those awful times when you lose it, those choices you wish you never made, those thoughts and feelings that run through your head that you hate. No one wants to be portrayed at their worst.

Stay there a minute. Realize that God sees you all the time. He knows your choices. He knows your heart. He knows you need to be rescued, and He provided Jesus so you could be. Jesus trades His life for yours. When God looks at you, He sees His Son, but it's not like He's tricked into thinking you are someone else. He knows what that blood covers, and He declares this is good. He has atoned for you.

His purpose is not to make you look good. He wants to bring glory to Himself. Our job, as believers, is to not try to be perfect, but to take our hangups to Him and let Him atone for them. And then we sing, because He is a good, good God.

At a funeral on Wednesday, the preacher recounted a question someone had asked him: what does God do with all the stuff we bring Him? If we are supposed to bring Him our problems and failures and worries, what does He do with it? Revelation 5:8 says that our prayers are incense rising up before Him. Maybe all the things we lay at His feet get burned up, like a sacrifice on an Old Testament altar. Leviticus describes the sacrifices we bring to the Lord, and this concept is repeated over and over again: "Then Aaron's sons are to burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering that is lying on the burning wood; it is a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord" (Leviticus 3:5).

If He does not remember our sins, but removes them as far as the east is from the west, then I think the things we take to Him are burned up, and they please Him--just because we hand them over. Our good deeds don't stockpile and make Him happy. Truthfully, our goodness needs to be burned before Him as well. All of me, everything I am, needs the covering of Jesus' blood.

Romans 12:1 says I should make myself a living sacrifice. Today, declare His truth over all of your problems and worries. He knows you for who you really are, and He has a story to write about you that you are going to love, but He is the main character. Show off in me today, God.

Tip #2

It is one of those weeks in Oklahoma when the temperature is daily above 110 degrees. At night, it only drops into the 80's, and then only after I've gone to bed. A few times, it's been 102 at 10pm. Extreme seasons, like snowstorms or heat waves, require us to adapt our behavior. With the joy of electicity and Netflix and microwaves, it's kinda nice that sometimes we are still required to adapt to our environment, instead of controlling the world.

To help your plants in this weather, dump ice on them. It relieves them just like it does us, and waters them gently. My daughter Lizzye discovered this trick. Lizzye, the plants say thank you.

This is my porch, warping in the heat. Although it is only 108 in the shade currently. One summer, my thermometer hit 114. Haven't seen that yet this year. Don't want to.

Tip #1

A spray bottle filled with water is your best friend for reheating food in the microwave. Spray the top of pizza, enchiladas, whatever, before heating. Food reheats faster and more evenly, and (gasp) it's not as dry.

Wrap bread in a paper towel before heating (or thawing, if it's frozen). If it's dry, spray the towel with water. Bread is one of the few things that reacts soggily to the spray bottle trick.