2 Recipes Worth Sharing for the 4th: Lemon-Blueberry Crumb Bars and Pulled Pork

Today, we make the Lemon-Blueberry Crumb Bar recipe that my mother-in-law discovered (she makes them sugar-free!). This kind of treat disappears within minutes; these bars are so delicious that you'll want to stop reading this blog and make them right now. 

Here's the link to Lemon-Blueberry Crumb Bars.

Then, our family favorite for the 4th is the Pulled Pork BBQ that you'll love. I take a pork tenderloin, throw it in the crock pot in the morning on high, cover it with water and one can of Dr. Pepper (or Diet Coke), and let it cook all day long. Before dinner, I drain the juices, shred the pork, and add our favorite sauce (Sweet Baby Rays or Sticky Fingers). We make big sandwiches out of dinner rolls and coleslaw. 

And yes, there's sweet tea and corn. 

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Do you have favorite 4th of July recipes? 

She Claims It's an Exploding Firework

My youngest and I bake a cake for our 4th of July preparations. She chooses strawberry frosting and then assaults the top of the cake with every kind of sprinkle we own. 

I'm about to reprimand her. I'm about to insist she be more careful, more organized, more logical about the decoration. 

She's zealous about it--a little lit fuse--so I say nothing and let it go.

"Mom," she cries out, waving her hands around her cake like it's a true masterpiece. "Look at this! It's an exploding firework." 

So it is.

It is!

Every time I pass the kitchen counter, I see 4th of July fireworks exploding.

Perhaps our truly zealous endeavors must involve a bit of the disorganized, the illogical, and the dangerous. It's the only way to get that particular bursting brilliance across the dark night. And when you capture that lit fuse creativity so natural in childhood, you say nothing and let it go.   


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When you get that creative, doesn't it feel like this? 

A Time for Silence

All of June, I've felt that nudge from the Lord that something precious and important awaits in my silence.

If you were to meet me in person, you would be laughing right now. You'd be slapping your thigh, nodding in sympathy, and saying sarcastically, "Yeah, right, Heather. You? Silent?" 

Ha ha ha. 

My friends say that I'm a walking exclamation point and "10 women in one body" when it comes to talking. It's been a problem all my life. I just love to talk. One friend says that certain folks have "high disclosure needs," and I smile because I think, "Yes! I just have to speak and tell you everything."

I think the novels I write are simply overflow from all the words I didn't get to say.

I just have so much to talk about.

But not lately. Lately, I'm learning that my input isn't indispensable to every conversation. I'm learning that I'm not the most important contribution to a discussion. I'm learning that God is in control, and I don't need to manage every situation with my words.

I'm also learning that most of my problems (probably all of my problems) stem from my mouth. I think about what I use my words for, and it's normally not good. My encouragement turns quickly to flattery; my discernment turns quickly to criticism; my insight turns quickly to pride; my ideas turn quickly to manipulation to get what I want. All of my great advice becomes about me wanting to be a false savior to feel important.  

What would happen if I stopped talking? Could I do it for an hour or a whole afternoon?

Slow to speak. Quick to listen. God likes this. Something precious and important awaits in this. 

I'm starting to like not talking so much. I'm starting to feel the deep, replenishing, solid joy of silence. 

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Do you practice the spiritual discipline of silence?