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Note from Andrea: while I’m swamped with adoption stuff, my friend and sometime co-author Cindy Koepp offered to share some recipes with you. Enjoy! Quico Piedra, the star of “Hard Knocks” and Joya’s bratty cousin in “Jewel Among the Stones,”* loves chili rellenos. Here’s a recipe for them… *episodes from Avatars of Web Surfer You’ll need… Big, fat peppers (Anaheim, for example) Cheese (queso asadero or cheddar or monterrey Jack or … whichever you like) ¾ cup flour … plus a bit more 2 eggs 1 tsp baking powder Sour cream or salsa, if desired Big toothpicks Oil for frying   Roast the peppers inRead More →

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In: Gospel, Short Stories

The street lamp lured the two young vagrants towards their only hope of warmth in the dark night. The store was closed, but a lock pick fixed that in short order. Inside, the young man cursed. “It’s as dark in here as it is out there. Find a light.” “How?” the shabbily dressed girl asked. “I can hardly see my hand in front of my face.” Maybe they couldn’t. I could see just fine. Not that there was much to see, besides me, anyway. I was the main thing for sale around here. This place was generic Corporate America. No different from any other corporateRead More →

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In: Divorce, Faith, Guest posts, Prayer and Devotions

  After last week’s call for the everyday, ordinary miracles you have experienced in your life, I got a nice letter from Lance Price who blogs at: Lance-Price.com He reminds us of one of the greatest, most overlooked miracles we can experience: faith itself. He writes: While my testimony didn’t take place in one day, it certainly has been quite the picture of a transformed life. I was raised Catholic, but I never believed in anything I was taught. My parents divorced when I was 11, and that brought my agnostic doubts to downright declared atheism by the time I was 13. When I reachedRead More →

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In: Bible and Theology, Faith, Notices

Last week, I told you about a time when I was questioning and doubting God, over a petty quibble, in retrospect, and all worked up in a tizzy, praying for answers. When before I prayed, God had already answered with a miracle. Not a big flashy display. God didn’t snap his fingers and straighten out my scoliosis-twisted spine or anything like that. Simply, one moment, a frying pan was right-side-up in my sink and disgusting. The next I looked, it had been turned upside down and was spotless. Such a small “huh,” inducing moment, a change in an everyday situation that I might not haveRead More →

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In: Bible and Theology, Faith, God's love, Prayer and Devotions

Several years ago, my favorite frying pan, a wedding present, sat sunny side up in the dirty side of my stainless steel kitchen sink. I grimaced at the thick layer of caked-on, burnt scrambled eggs. Make that disgusting side up. Rather than wake me at an ungodly hour, my husband, Adam, had fixed his own breakfast. Only most of it had stayed behind in the supposedly nonstick skillet. It would take a really good scrubbing to get it clean. I groaned. Why couldn’t you have just poached them in the microwave, honey? Sighing, I turned away from the sink. I had to make my ownRead More →