My husband, the chef

Our church has an annual Mother Daughter Banquet every year, and this year the theme was Seasonings of Life . . . and the verse "Taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8). And, we decided to do an Iron Chef cook-off as some entertainment for the evening. We asked 4 men from the church to be the "Iron chefs." I made aprons with the senior high girls, and they even had chef hats to wear. It was so fun.

Brian was one of the competing chefs. The men were each given $25 to provide 5 appetizers in 30 minutes for the judges. Brian chose to make his amazing steak medallions: filet wrapped in applewood-smoked bacon, and topped with crunchy onion straws. And, he had some flare that he added for presentation. It was amazing. And, it was so fun to watch all the men making their own creations. A good church friend was the MC. The evening was a blast!

I sat with my step-mom and sister Joy.

After the meal, the ladies had a time of worship (which I helped lead) and we then listened to a speaker. The lady that spoke was great: using the illustration of food as a common idol for many women . . . and how we love to create other idols that we think can solve our problems and satisfy us . . . but, really it's only the Lord and feasting on His Word that truly satisfy. In her ending prayer, she prayed, "Lord, help us not to fear the future and our future sin, but help us to trust in your power and strength to overcome." Those were words that I needed to hear. I think the more aware I become of my sin year after year, I have the tendency to fear my capability to sin. Praise Jesus for His power in our lives. My prayer is, "More of You, and less of me."