Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one God; Oh come, let us adore Him.

Trinity Sunday is definitely a Western feast and I know I "read" Eastern (which is not a coincidence). However, I love this feast. In my prayers and aspirations, I look for a day when East and West celebrate this together, along with the other feasts of the Church year. This theological feast celebrates what we believe. It should be rejoiced in and shouted by all the members of the body of Christ (which is a feast coming up soon, also). It isn't that this is not celebrated in the East, but it is not a major feast in the same way, but the emphasis on God's nature, unity (one God) and community (three Persons), is so important to how we understand that He has created all people to be in one in community. We image God. In a way, this year, East and West do celebrate it together, because today is Pentecost for the East, and the first three days of Pentecost emphasize different parts of the faith that is born that day, and the first is Trinity. For now, that will have to be close enough, but I long for a day when we are one and in unbroken community.

It is also airshow week here, which is exhausting and busy. We are pushing through to the end of that, so we can rest. Dominic jokes that he took a paying job with long hours and lots of responsibilities, just so he could get out of volunteering for the airshow. Since this coming weekend is both his and Rich's birthday, and then Father's Day, we would normally be doing something fun for them. Instead, we are eating leftovers on their birthday (I'll try to have fancy ice cream or pie or cake), and eating whatever our church family makes Sunday for Father's Day. After this weekend, we will be halfway through all the family birthdays - including Autumn and the new grandbaby, because Autumn is at the beginning of the year and the grandbaby should be born at the end of October or beginning of November.

We are trying to be good stewards of what we have and earn and so have waited to make our grocery trip (I'm still trying to go every two weeks, rather than every week, when possible), and the kids ate up all our fresh fruit this week. So, glory to God, we have a lot in the freezers and we canned, dried and froze a ton of cherries, peaches, pears, and preserves, as well as making loads of pickled vegetables, the last two years, so we have those. This year, I am praying to get a hold of plenty of plums, so I can make plum preserves. Figs are too expensive and hard to grow here, so fig jam, fig chutney, fig and pear jam are not likely. Things like that make me miss the west side, still. Our two beautiful fig trees died our first winter here, even in protected areas. This spring has been so weird, and we had late freezes that killed most of the blossoms on our fruit trees this year, so we are only expecting fruit from one plum tree that is usually late, and maybe another tree. With the costs of food and gas, this will make a challenge for us next fall, winter and spring. We are blessed with an abundant pantry and full freezers, so we are fine, it just will take a little more creativity as we navigate rising prices, shortages and so on.

For your prayers, please remember Alexander and Autumn, both in general because they are a young family with a baby soon to be born, but also specifically, because Alexander briefly dislocated his shoulder at work on Thursday and had to see a doctor and be sent home from work for a time. Since it happened at work, it will be covered just fine, but missing work with a baby coming is stressful, and we are praying that the disclocation was not too serious. Jerome should have lentils back all the way by next week, which is fabulous, and we will start re-introducing peas at that point. Most of the foods we eat all the time have been returned to him, so once he gets peas back (if he does), our life will be much simpler. The gluten/gliadin, wheat/oats/rye/barley/spelt/etc, are the last thing that are really challenging for us. Even though he has plenty that we have to test between now and the end of the year, once peas are clear, it will be almost normal. We are grateful to God for that.

• Sunday - Trinity Sunday
  Breakfast: Fried Eggs, Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Canned Peaches, Coffee and Tea
  Dinner: Carnitas, Ranchero Beans, Salsa Rice, Tortillas
• Monday
  Breakfast: Slow Cooker Bacon Cheese Potatoes, Home Canned Pears, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Shrimp and Pesto Pizza, Salad, Frozen Fruit Salad (no pineapple)
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Creamed Eggs with Toast Fingers (Gluten-free for Jerome), Dried Apples, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Koubbat Battatas, Saffron Rice, Taratoor, Marinated Cucumbers and Onions, Ice Cream
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Ful with Chopped Veggies, Hot Sauce, Kalamata Olives, Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Kenyan Black Beans in Coconut Milk, Rice, Fruit Plate
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Tunisian Shakshouka (using sweet potatoes), Dates, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Arabic Beef and Vegetable Soup with Lemon Juice and Garlic Paste, Rice, Applesauce
• Friday
  Breakfast: Peanut Butter Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Dried Pears, Tea and Honey
  Dinner: Shrimp Salad with Chopped Vegetables, Sliced Oranges
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Battatas ou Bayd, Grapefruit Halves, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Leftovers, Moroccan Orange Honey Cake, Blueberry Cheesecake Gelato

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Labels: Birthday, Church Year, Faith and Morality, Family, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Homemaking, Keeping the Feast, Menu Plans, Prayer Requests, Tales from the Kitchen