Ministry Preparation

Growing up in the chocolate business was a pretty sweet deal . . . literally. I loved being able to visit my dad at the factory and having really great chocolate any time I wanted it was fantastic, too. One of the only downsides to it, however, was that holidays were never really holidays because they were always the busyiest times of the year (think about when you would usually purchase chocolate for someone . . .). It usually wasn't until after the celebrated holiday that we could all relax and enjoy a little rest.


Maybe God was trying to prepare me for a life in another career choice that also doesn't get vacation during holidays. I've learned over these past 7 years in ministry that Christmas and Easter are some of the craziest times in the year and this past Easter was no exception. The trickiest part of maintaining this schedule, I think, is stopping in the midst of it to really remember what all the busyness is about. Really participating in the Easter service and personally remembering what it's all about in the midst of making sure service details are covered, refreshments are put out for visitors, and the gamut of life in between! I love having the opportunity to be a part of full-time ministry just like I loved being a part of the chocolate business. This is just something I'm continually trying to work out.


Does anyone else feel this tension during holidays as well? What are some practices that you've adopted during these seasons?

Blog Links

I did some updating to the Blog links on the side of my page. I added a lot of my friends who have been blogging for a while and the newest blog from my friend, Jen Ammirati, who just started her own blog, Fine Living. Check them out if you have time. I do quite often. :-)

Post-Shower Syndrome

Back in January, right before we got married, I spent a good 8-10 hours/day for one full week unpacking all our shower gifts and getting things situated in our house. I have to say, it was hard work, but a lot of fun. My favorite room, despite my previous post, was the kitchen. Even though I have miles to go before I can even come close to being a kitchen connoisseur, I have always loved kitchen gadgets and supplies. It was with great delight that I hung my pretty new pans and put away my shiny new silverware and spotless new dishes. What a blessing those showers were!

When I first started my new kitchen adventures, I must confess, however, that there was a tinge of sadness when I went to start using my new cookware. The first time I cut something on the cutting board, it had these nasty cut marks on it afterwards! (I know . . . big surprise.) I actually even considered buying some cheap, alternate cookware that I could use and mess-up so I could still keep my new utensils looking new. Don't worry. I realized how dumb that idea was about 5 seconds after I thought it.

The simple revelation occurred to me that these gifts were given to me so that I would use them. The person who bought me the teapot wanted me to use it to make hot beverages, and if I created some indelible stains (due to burnt milk) in the process, sobeit.

It was one of those brief, "Ah ha!" moments that God used to enlighten a continuing lesson in my heart. He gave me certain gifts to be used. If they're not used perfectly every time, it's okay. He already knew that would be the case when He gave it to me.

A cutting board without any cut marks has never had a chance to do what it was intended to do. I'll make the choice to use gifts however imperfectly, perhaps even getting some scars and stains in the process, but hopefully being a frequently used tool in God's hands.

Lleach????

So I was thinking the other day, "Do I need to change the name of my blog now that I'm married?"

If so, is it pronounced, "Lleach" like a "llama" or does it take a spanish pronunciation and become more like "yeech?"

Maybe I should just stick with Leewards. It's still my first and middle name. :-) Any other suggestions?

LOST in Love

Last week, Brad surprised me with a LOST date night. If I go by the "Love Languages" book, Quality Time is probably my primary love language and I really love creativity and surprises, so planning this night was really top notch.

It started with island-like flowers at 5:30 when he picked me up and I surprised him as I decided to go with the whole theme and I dressed up like Kate . . . tank top, curly hair, and $2.46 cargo khakis from Salvation Army. Then he drove me to a mall where I had not yet been, but will be sure to return soon at Great Lakes Crossing. There, we enjoyed a nice island dinner at the Rainforest Cafe.

The best part, though, was when we got home right before we watched the new episode of LOST. He had me check the messages to see if anyone had called while we were out (very unusual) and behold, there were 7 different messages from people from the island: Sun and Jin, Rose & Bernard, Danielle Rousseau, Desmond, Claire, and even one from the Black Smoke. Seems like they sounded just a little bit like some of my family members and friends. I wish I could upload them because they are truly funny. Truly I was LOST in love. :-)

Food Fundamentals

In my first semester of 9th grade, I had the opportunity to take Food Fundamentals. It was one of my most favorite classes. Mrs. Drier would give us recipes and all the ingredients and our "kitchen" would prepare them, even being allowed to eat them when we were done. I got an A. I thought I was a pretty good cook.

I'm beginning to think that I must've missed some really crucial classes on some days that I was sick. Maybe I should have signed up for "Gourmet on the Run" instead of Honors English. I sure could use a lot more training from a food class right now than my knowledge of Homer and Steinbeck.

In an effort to share my knowledge by experience with others, I would like to present a few things I've learned over these past three weeks:

• If you would like to heat up milk, do not do it in a teapot. If it gets to the "whistle" stage, it will explode over the kitchen.
• If you are using a silicon cutting mat on a ceramic stovetop, waiting to put cut-up broccoli in a boiling pot, and you should accidentally turn on the wrong burner, thereby melting your new silicon cutting board onto the ceramic stovetop . . . it will peel off fairly easily if you let it cool.
• It is not tasty to eat broccoli that has melted silicon on it.
• If you accidentally drop a paper towel into a pot of spaghetti sauce that is being warmed, take the sauce off of the burner before you take off the lid and try and fish it out. Laugh at the irony that you were using the napkin to clean up little drops of spaghetti sauce that might have spilled out while heating. Throw the napkin dramatically on the stove to show the spaghetti sauce that it cannot overcome you. Clean up the tomato sauce from the spaghetti sauce stand-off from your kitchen for the next 3 days.
• "Ceramabrite" is a great cleaner for ceramic stovetops that will remove burn marks from milk, silicon cutting boards, spaghetti sauce, or any number of other things that I can find to burn onto my stovetop. I bought it at Home Depot. Well worth the $6.

Brad has been such a good sport and so patient with my learning curve. Hopefully by the end of this "semester" I'll be a little more ahead of the game. Mrs. Drier would be so proud.

Rubix Revelation

I remember going to my Grandma's house when I was younger and my uncle had this "toy" called a Rubix cube. I was intrigued by the way it turned and all the colors, but was shocked when my he told me that I was supposed to be able to get all the colors on each side the same. I worked so hard to make that happen and I even got one whole side once, only to be so frustrated when I realized I had to mess it all up in order to get the other sides to work. Eventually, I tried peeling off the colored stickers and re-sticking them instead. For future reference, it doesn't work too well.

Saturday marked my third week in Michigan and my sixth week that Brad and I have been married. I've had numerous conversations with people as well as some personal reflection processing the changes and adjustments that this delightful season has brought. In many ways, being married is far more wonderful than I could have imagined. I think we've adjusted to living together and the day-to-day parts of life very quickly. It's hard to remember what things were like before. Weird, huh?

On the other hand, I am surprised at how certain things have not changed. Many times, before I was married, I would think of my future with such uncertainty, wondering where I would end up living, what I would end up doing, who I would end up marrying . . . they were really big decisions and I had no idea what the answers would be. For so long, it really frustrated me, thinking, "If I could just click these pieces into place, the puzzle would be solved!"

Now that God has clicked several of these big pieces into place, I feel as if I delightfully looked at all these colors in one block, only to discover that there are 5 other sides to the cube that have yet to be deciphered. Having those pieces in place certainly has been a good thing, but it doesn't mean that I get to live in any more certainty, clearly knowing all the answers to the puzzle. There are simply new reasons to trust, new questions to ask my Father, and new opportunities to step out without knowing the answer. And based on His past performance, often it's when the squares seem to be the messiest that He manages to click them into place. I've learned that letting him click the pieces works a lot better than trying to peel them off myself. :-)

Michigan Weekend

I had the opportunity to attend a "Women in Ministry" retreat this weekend. It was the first time Brad and I were apart for a night since we were married (*sigh*), but it was a really great opportunity. I really liked meeting a lot of new friends and learning from women who have been involved in ministry a lot longer and shorter than myself. I especially liked watching my mother-in-law in action. She was part of the planning team who coordinated the retreat and I was so proud of the way that she greeted everyone, served the teams, and manages to carry herself in such a manner of dignity and grace. It was evident that she is well respected by so many. Just another reason why I am proud to be part of the Leach family!

Brad and I celebrated the melting snow yesterday by capitalizing on what he called "perfect snowman" weather. It was a great opportunity to meet some neighbors who were out and about. The initial thought was to try and beat his former record, but after we got the base going, we were pretty tired and I suggested we build Berkley's largest Snow Turtle instead. When we put his eyes on, we thought it looked like a SnowSnail even more. So, here are some pics of Berkley's largest SnowSnail.