"COMFORT FOOD"

I am busy making two pans of peach crisp today.  We bought some Red Haven Peaches from Michigan this past weekend. Now you know peaches are ripe when the juice is dripping down your arm as you peel them. YUM! Little did I know when I bought them the reason I would be making a crisp this very day. You see, I just heard that the daughter of our retired pastor, died this morning.  She and her husband were missionaries overseas in Turkey.  It is so hard to understand why this happened because you would think that serving the Lord in this capacity would exempt a family from such happenings.  However, it gives me comfort to know "that God's ways are not our ways" and He has a greater plan and purpose to our lives. Dorcas's mother, was a lovely Christian lady, who died a few years ago so I am sure they are having quite a reunion in Heaven this very day!

For those of us left behind, it is hard to know what to do or what to say in these circumstances so I thought I would make a peach crisp and run it by Pastor's home this evening.  I was born in the Northern part of Missouri, and I can tell you when someone passes away in that community you have no shortage of food. When my father died several years ago we had more food than we had room in the refrigerator for! What a blessing that we did not have to be concerned with preparing food at such a stressful time.

My mentoring nudge today is this:  "When in doubt do!"  Don't wait for someone to call you to minister to someone who might be grieving.  Believe me when I say that this is because it is years of wisdom speaking. Do make or take something to the grieving family or simply stop by and visit for a few minutes they need and they want to talk.  Don't know what to say?  Then just listen!  I have stopped at the dollar store and bought coffee, toilet paper, kleenex, or disposable cups and plates if I didn't have time to bake anything. With extra family and friends around who really wants to go to the store and purchase these necessary things?  2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says:  "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."  Because our family was comforted by neighbors and friends, then it should make me want to do the same for someone else and after all, this is a "Pay It Forward" concept instituted by God!

Here's the Peach Crisp recipe I used.    It was a snap to put together and hopefully will show the family that our prayers and thoughts are with them.

EASY PEACH CRISP

6  Fresh Peaches (Or you could use 1 large canned of sliced peaches minus half the juice)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over the peaches

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 pkg of instant brown sugar oatmeal (the ones in packages)

Crumble together using your hands

Sprinkle this mixture over the peaches

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the top is brown and crispy.

This would also be great with apples!