FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

Memorial to Coach Fei

     She tried to kill herself. Lynn tried really hard. She saved enough pills to do the job. She waited until her husband would not be home for more than 12 hours. She took the pills and laid down to die. BUT he came home thirty minutes early. Her body was in the throes of death, but had not reached heaven's gates.

     It was 2008. The bottom had fallen out of the housing market. The family construction business went bankrupt. Her son-in-law was forced to leave the state to find another job taking her only child and two grandchildren with him. In the middle of a tumultuous marriage, she lost her family, her house, her livelihood and her standing in the community. The mental illness she struggled with most of her life overwhelmed her. No one needed her. She lost all hope. Lynn made a plan, took the pills and lost consciousness.

     She spent 3 days in a coma and eventually recovered enough to go home. She sought counseling, treatment and medication for bi-polar disorder. She struggled to understand why God didn't let her die. Was she not good enough to be with Him? She battled to find a reason to go on living. She made a choice to get up every morning and find a reason.

     A phone call on the afternoon of February 14, 2018 reminded Lynn that God always had a plan for her.  Her terrified daughter called asking for prayer. Both grandchildren were on lock down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Lynn reached out to her prayer chain. We began to intercede for all the children, staff, and even the shooter.  

     Lynn's granddaughter heard shots fired and stayed crouched down with her classmates for four hours until led out by police. Her grandson was being interviewed by college football recruiters when the shooter walked by. The shooter killed his favorite football coach. Lynn's grandchildren survived with no physical scars, but lost 14 friends and three staff members.

            Lynn and her husband, Mark, spent all afternoon watching the news for updates. Relief swept over them when they heard the children were safe and the shooter apprehended.  When her daughter called and said, "Momma, would you please come?" Lynn automatically responded, "We'll be there as quick as we can."

            Early the next morning Lynn and her husband made the nine-hour road trip to Parkland to help in whatever way they could. When they arrived their grandson asked Mark to help him build a cross to memorialize Coach Feis. Together they went to Home Depot for supplies. They did not have to pay for anything. Home Depot donated all the materials. Grandfather and grandson worked together to create a memorial to a wonderful man and strengthened their own bond. The manual task served to ease the pain of loss.

     Both grandchildren were interviewed on national television about the shooting. They  represented their family and their faith in a mature and impressive manner.

     Lynn stayed the rest of the week to make it possible for her daughter and grandson to attend an previously scheduled scholarship interview out of state. He got the scholarship.

     Lynn did what she considered little things. She cooked favorite comfort foods, she did laundry and she let her 15-year-old granddaughter practice driving. Lynn lightened the grief by planning surprise outings. She took her granddaughter to the beach to get out of town and away from the trauma site. Another day she took her to a movie but not until they stopped at the Dollar Store to load up on candy.

     She took her granddaughter shopping. Sadly it was for funeral clothes.  Lynn attended several funerals with her granddaughter. The name that might be familiar to you is that of  her friend Peter Wang. Peter, a brave ROTC cadet, held the door while other students escaped to safety.

Lynn's presence lent a comforting and calming atmosphere and a safe place to cry and vent. Perhaps she was born for such a time as this.

     The Bible is full of stories of strong women. My favorite is Esther a beautiful young Jewess who risked her life to serve God and save her people. An orphaned child raised by her older cousin Mordecai, she became the queen of the Persian Empire.

Through an incredible act of bravery Esther saved her people from being completely annihilated, but not before Mordecai challenged her:

"Don't think for a moment that because you're at the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?" Esther 4:13-14 NLV

     Two things stand out for me: God would deliver the Jews one way or another and/or, Esther could chose a divine destiny. Esther chose a "for-such-a-time-as-this-moment" to save her people and cement her place in history.

     I feel certain we all have a Moment where we are positioned in a particular place at a specific time for His purpose. For most of us it is not a history-cementing-moment. However small the Moment may be, it might change someone's life.

     We can only surmise how this story could have been different if Lynn had been successful in her suicide attempt. I know how my sister's three boys reacted to her suicide. None of it is pretty. Alcohol, drug abuse and jail time followed for them. Thirteen years later they are still tormented by her death.

     I'm so glad Lynn failed in her attempt. So is her family because she was there for such a time as this.

COMFORTING COTTAGE PIE

My daughter Lauren asked me for my recipe for Cottage Pie. I've only made it once or twice. You may think of this meat dish as Shepherd's Pie. I went to an incontrovertible authority :) Wikipedia for a definition:

Shepherd's pie or cottage pie is a meat pie with a crust of mashed potato

The recipe can vary widely. The defining ingredients are minced meat (commonly beef when named cottage pie or lamb when named shepherd's pie), typically cooked in a gravy with onions and sometimes other vegetables, such as peas, celery or carrots. The filling is topped with mashed potato. The pie is sometimes also topped with grated cheese.

Whichever pie you make you are following a tradition from the 18th Century where the poorer people, who lived in cottages, would make the pies from leftovers.

I do not care for lamb so I have never made Shepherd's Pie. I have used ground beef and chicken making my meat pie a Cottage Pie. I don't always want to take time to make gravy or peel potatoes so I plan this dish after a Sunday dinner of Pot Roast and Mashed Potatoes--a Planover! Midweek is the perfect time to serve the easiest Cottage Pie EVER!

WEDNESDAY COTTAGE PIE

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees

Ingredients:

1 lb chopped leftover roast beef (or your choice of ground beef, turkey or chicken)

1 cup chopped onion (I use frozen)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon thyme (or your favorite seasonings)

12 oz bag frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, peas and corn are traditional, but use whatever you like)

12 oz jar beef gravy (or use your leftover gravy from Sunday Roast)

2 cups mashed potatoes (enough to cover the meat mixture)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Sauté chopped roast beef, onion and garlic until onions are translucent and beef is hot.

Stir in thyme and gravy

Add thawed (I nuke them) mixed vegetables

Combine and pour into pie pan

Top with mashed potatoes and cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Need pictures? Here they are!

Combine beef and vegetables with gravy

Pour into pie plate

Top with Mashed Potatoes and Cheese

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees!

Sooooo Yummy! Comforting and Easy!Freezes well too!

All the Money in the World

I left the theater a little sad and depressed after viewing the movie, "All the Money In The World." I'm old enough to vaguely remember the kidnapping of J. Paul Getty's grandson. It horrified me to think a grandfather would allow his purportedly favorite grandson's ear to be cut off rather than part with a tiny portion of his fortune. I would give my life for any one of my grandchildren, but then I don't have a fortune with which to part. Was J. Paul Getty really that greedy?

By the definition of greed--An inordinate or insatiable longing for unneeded excess, especially for excess wealth, status, power, or food--I suppose he was greedy. He had billions of dollars by today's calculations. Billions of which he never shared with any charity.

In contrast is the story of the poor widow :in the book of Luke:

21 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, ² and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. ³ So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; ⁴ for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God,^[a] but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

The poverty stricken widow gave what little she had to help others. It amazes me that she could imagine anyone needing money more than she did. Her confidence that God would provide allowed her to give everything she had away.

I believe J Paul Getty suffered from a spirit of poverty which kept him oppressed. He tied his self-worth to his money. His billions did not give him the value he desired. His father told him he would never amount to anything and would ruin the company. He married and divorced five times. His philosophy seems to have been, "It's mine! All mine!" He had to hang on to his money because without it he was nothing.  Money did not bring him happiness or contentment. Poor, poor man.

I'm not to the point of giving everything I have away. God hasn't called me to do that, but I do strive to be more like the widow than the richest man in the world. Just something I was thinking about....

What is a King Ranch Casserole?

Our lovely community asked for volunteers to throw a Super Bowl Party for our first responders. Ralph and I signed up to bring an Appetizer and Main Dish to the police station. When the coordinator called to see what specific dish I was making I said, "King Ranch Casserole."
 "I don't know what that is," she responded.
"What?" I clutched my pearls. "You must be from the North.
"Yes, I'm from Chicago."
"I've only been through the airport although I hear it is an exciting city to visit," I said smoothly. "It is a layered chicken enchilada casserole familiar to all Texas households."
"That would be great. I think our officers would like that,"

Not a pretty picture, but the only one I got

I made a double recipe and a double recipe of Tamale Dip. It went over well and in response to the anxious requests for the recipes, here you go-- (It's also in my cookbook)

KING RANCH CASSEROLE

4-6 chicken breasts

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 large onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced
2 10 3/4 oz cans cream of chicken soup
1 10 3/4 oz can mushroom soup
1 can Rotel tomatoes with chiles
1 lb cheddar cheese, grated
1 pkg. corn tortillas

In a soup pot, barely cover the chicken with water and bring to a boil. Add the garlic and bay leaves and decrease to simmer. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the broth. Allow the chicken to cool, then shred the meat into pieces, reserving the broth. NOTE: You can cheat on this part by using a rotisserie chicken and a can of chicken broth!

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and green pepper and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, until soft. Add the soups, tomatoes, and 1/2 cup of the reserved broth. Add the shredded chicken to the soup mixture.

Preheat the oven to 375*. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

Arrange the tortillas to cover the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Pour half the chicken mixture over the tortillas. Sprinkle half the shredded cheese over the chicken mixture. Repeat the layers. Bake the casserole for 30 minutes. Allow to cool until set, about 20 minutes. Cut into squares like lasagna and serve warm.

Add the onion and green pepper and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, until soft.
 Add the soups, tomatoes, and 1/2 cup of the reserved broth.
Add the shredded chicken to the soup mixture.

Ralph grated up 2 lbs of cheese for me.
 I used half  in the Tamale Dip

Arrange the tortillas to cover the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

 Pour half the chicken mixture over the tortillas. 

Cover with cheese

Repeat the layers. Bake the casserole for 30 minutes. Allow to cool until set, about 20 minutes. Cut into squares like lasagna and serve warm.

This is a standard in every Texas home! Serve with tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole and a salad, it's sure to satisfy! I served it to a troop of Ukrainian Ballet Dancers as a taste of Texan culture. They were very happy!

If you missed the Tamale Dip Recipe on my Lace of Grace Facebook page, here it is again. Go to my page and LIKE me!

From the Kitchen of Deborah Fortune, Attorney at Law, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who taught me how to enjoy the finer things in life after hours of tedious work.

TAMALE DIP

1- 16 oz. can of chili w/beans

1 can tamales

1 onion grated (I microwave it to soften so the flavors blend)

1/2 lb grated cheddar cheese

Mash tamales with 1/2 to 1 can of chili (to taste) Add cheese and onion; heat in small crock pot. Add Tabasco sauce and chili powder to taste.

I make at least 2 or 3 times this recipe and put it in a crock pot with a basket of corn or tortilla chips by the adult beverages. If you can't find your husband, look for him by the Tamale Dip!