Michelle's posterous

A worthy saying

"He will be with you also, all the way, that faithful God. Every morning when you awaken to the old and tolerable pain, at every mile of the hot uphill dusty road of tiring duty, on to the judgment seat, the same Christ there as ever, still loving you, still sufficient for you, even then. And then, on through all eternity." 

-Thomas Kempis

3057670779_346ba8a27e

And this is my current iPhone wallpaper, downloaded from here. I don't know how to say it, but it's just the right picture for what I feel and am going through now. Every time I look at it I feel a sense of peace and a quiet, calm hope. "...and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matt. 28:20

Keep the chin up Mich, it's gonna be alright.

Missions and Me

(view this entry on michng.com)

I had the privilege of attending a 4 day 3 night missions conference earlier this week. Won't go into details here, but may the fruit of my life reflect what I learned and received there. Come talk to me personally if you are interested to know more :) I must mention though, that I had a great time gleaning from men and women who have paid the price and have been powerfully used by God.

One of the other highlights of the conference: I purchased 4 biographies of men that God used in missions, 3 of which I have read several years ago. Those biographies impacted my life so much that I purposed in my heart to get them for myself, as the copies I read were borrowed. However, I had difficulty finding them until now. In fact, the Pastor Hsi biography was out of print for many years until recently!

Bios

The books I bought:

1. Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret (by Howard & Geraldine Taylor)
2. Pastor Hsi: A Struggle for Chinese Christianity (by Geraldine Taylor)
3. A Biography of John Sung (by Leslie T. Lyall)
4. Sadhu Sundar Singh (by Phyllis Thompson)

One of the things that really blew my mind when I read those first 3 biographies (in that order, also in the order of their existence), was how it was through the first man's obedience, faithfulness and sacrifice that brought about the second through his ministry, and how the second man's ministry brought about the third. And the third, John Sung, as most of us know brought about a great revival in China and even in Malaysia, where today, places like Sibu and Sitiawan enjoy the Christian legacy that was left. (Majority of the people I meet from Sibu and Sitiawan are Christians or have had strong Christian influence in their lives)

There are times where we sow into a cause and see instantaneous results. Then there are times where we have to wait a certain period, sometimes years, before we see any fruit from our sowing. Then there are also times where we won't live to see the results, but they take place nonetheless, in God's perfect timing. That's why faith is needed - the substance of things hope for, and the evidence of things not seen.

Looking forward to re-read those 3 biographies :)

The biography of Sadhu Sundar Singh is the only one I have not read. In fact, his name was fairly new to me. Therefore, I chose to read this first and finished it this afternoon. Such simplicity and power in his life, that though he only lived 41 years, he had accomplished much for the glory of God.

An excerpt from the book that I like very much:

"The sadhu's reply was brief but unconsciously revealing. He spoke as one who had known physical hardship and suffering, loneliness and rejection, secret and open hostility, long days and nights of strain and weariness, mental exhaustion and spiritual conflict over many years all for the sake of the Name.

To die as a martyr for Christ is easy. To live for Christ is hard."

- Sadhu Sundar Singh

Img_1214

A picture of the small group I was in (minus James), led by the awesome Pr Susan from Kota Kinabalu :)

Today's Home-cooked Lunch: Pasta alla Norma

(view this entry on my blog)

...or rather, in the style of Pasta alla Norma, which is a yummy combination of eggplants, tomatoes, basil and ricotta salata.

(download)

I couldn't get any ricotta salata from my neighbourhood store, or any ordinary ricotta for that matter, so I had to substitute that with Parmesan cheese. Alas, neither could I find any fresh basil leaves there, plus, my attempt to grow my own basil a month ago failed miserably! (insert sulking face. boo.) I am starting to believe that I am totally rubbish with plants - no tinge of green at all on my fingers. Anyways, instead of some fresh fragrant basil leaves, I had no choice but to go with good ol' McCormick's dried basil.

I wholeheartedly agree with Pr San that we need a Cold Storage, Village Grocer or an equivalent here in our neighbourhood! Sheesh!

I actually threw in some cocktail sausages for some variety, sliced in strips to match the length and width of the eggplants. I used these recipes at Epicurious and NYTime's Bitten Blog as a reference. Instead of frying, I heeded the advice of some reviewers to bake the eggplant and sausages instead. The sausages turned out beautiful, but the eggplant was a tad bit too dry. I should have been more generous with the olive oil.

Fresh tomatoes were used instead of canned diced tomatoes, because once again, I couldn't find that in my local store. In fact, I was so tempted to just use the jar of ready-made Prego's Garlic Parmesan pasta sauce in my fridge, but finally decided to make the paste from scratch. It's nice to see exactly what goes inside your food. I can already imagine how much preservatives, salt and sugar are used in instant pasta sauces! Yikes! Though the recipes I referred to did not use any sugar, I had to throw in a spoonful because my tomato paste was too sour.

Anyway, here's my very crude personalized recipe of the Pasta alla Norma:

Serves two.

Ingredients:

spinach fettucini (yum!)
1 large eggplant (whee!)
Some cocktail sausages (optional)
3 tomatoes, diced
3 cloves of garlic, pressed and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
some basil leaves (if you can't get fresh leaves, dried ones will do)
extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper
some sugar to taste
freshly ground black pepper
chilli flakes (the recipe said red pepper flakes. i didn't have that so I threw in half a packet of Domino's chilli flakes, haha :D I'll give this a miss the next time though, coz I don't like the spicy tinge)
parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Slice the eggplant and sausages in any shape you fancy. Wash, salt the eggplant slices and set aside in a colander for 10-20 mins. Rinse eggplant, pat dry with paper towel. Brush olive oil over them and bake eggplant and sausages in a preheated oven (175-200 C) for about 10-15 minutes.

2. Cook the spinach fettucini according to packet instructions til it's al dente.

3. Dice the tomatoes.

4. Sauté chopped garlic and onion in olive oil til it lightly colours, then throw in the diced tomatoes (and juices). Add lotsa basil ^_^ Season with salt, pepper, chilli flakes, black pepper, s ugar. How much of each? - Use your brains and taste buds. Cook and simmer about 10-15 mins, til it thickens.

5. Pour pasta into the sauce pan, add parmesan and mix well. Done!

I consider it quite a lot of work and effort *sweat* but maybe that's because I'm such a novice. But it was worth it!

Oh by the way, if you look at the photo of the sliced eggplant and sausages, you'll see a glimpse of this really lovely Wooden Pepper Mill made from walnut wood, given by a very dear friend as a Christmas gift last year. I remembered opening the gift and thinking "WTH... What kinda Christmas gift is this?! Didn't you know that I hate black pepper?!" but you had good foresight, and I appreciate the gift now :) You rock!! ♥

Also, forgive the quality of the photos, my DSLR is suffering from ADHD and has lost its ability to focus properly. Sad :(

Dinner tonight: Baked 1/4 chicken with a little leftover Pasta alla Norma! (yes, baked chicken again coz it's easy)