Count to Three

This year, my soccer coaches decided to put me in a new position-goalie. I've never played this position before and if you had told me years ago when I started playing soccer that I would end up there, I would've quit then and there or told you that you were crazy. Playing goalie isn't for the timid-it requires aggressiveness, strength, stamina, and flexibility. The most important lesson I've learned from playing goalie is something Coach M. taught me-to count to three.

He was trying to teach me to punt, a skill needed by every goalie. After saving (catching) the ball, the goalie has six seconds to get rid of it again. However, they can't go past the eighteen yard line. Thus, in order to get it up to the midfield or offense, the goalie needs to kick it far up the field. Putting it on the ground for a kick, however, will only get it picked up by the other team's offense (plus the ref will tweet at you if you do). So the goalie has to drop the ball and kick it before it hits the ground. This is what is called a punt. One thing Coach M. realized when he was watching me was that I tended to try and rush my punt. And so he told me this-slow down and count to three before every kick. And it hasn't failed me yet.

Aside from the crash course in a basic goalie skill, I've found that this can also be applied to life (and luckily it wasn't a lesson that I had to learn the hard way). If you're like me, you tend to rush things to try and hurry up and get them done. And when you do, you miss certain steps, usually the boring, mundane ones that provide the framework for the whole entire thing. We get into such a rush to get things done that we don't realize that we're building our house without the foundation and we get disappointed when the whole things falls flat over with a little bit of hard wind and rain.

In America, we live in a culture that centered around "fast"-fast food, e-mail, microwaves, ect. We get frustrated when things take longer than we think they should. We get frustrated when we have to wait more than a few minutes for our Big Mac. So the point I'm driving at here is, maybe we need to take Coach M.'s advice and take a few seconds and count to three. In a literal sense, that could mean in the middle of a heated argument, taking a deep breath, counting to three to get our heads back, and then solving things the right way. In a broader sense, such as taking on a big project, that could mean laying out three (or more) things that we need to build the basic framework. Those things could be partners (alway recommended), financial support, and materials.

And I guarantee that if you take Coach M.'s advice, things will turn out a lot better for you. It hasn't failed me yet and my punts (when I apply the advice) always make it more than twenty yards.

So take a minute. 1...2...3...

~Miri

Do Something!

Johanna, a Honduran orphan

"You can't do everything, but you can refuse to do nothing."

~Author Unknown~

In This is Love

He knew.

Before any of us ever were, He knew. Knew that Eve would listen to the serpent. Knew that she would believe him and eat the forbidden fruit. Knew that Adam would stand alongside her and say nothing as he watched her take that first bite. He knew that Cain would kill Abel. He knew that the world would grow worse and worse, until He purged it with a flood.

But that would not defeat it. Sin had too tight a hold.  He knew it would once again grow worse and worse. He knew that all of the sacrifices, offered over thousands of years, would not be enough. He knew the nations would come that sacrificed children, alive. He knew the wars would come, destroying nations, families, and dreams. He knew that evil rulers would come, “purging” the imperfect and inferior races from their lands. He knew the evil men would come, selling other men for labor, and the women for pleasure. He knew, and He wept.

He knew what would be required to set things right. He knew just how difficult it would be, the sinless One bearing all the blame, all the punishment for the sin of every man and woman that would ever live. Death. He knew just how great the cost would be. He knew that even after the price was paid, only a few would accept the gift. That in the end the whole creation would be destroyed. He knew.

So He took a deep breath, a tear dropping silently into the shapeless waters beneath Him. His voice spoke softly into the darkness. “Let there be light.”

~An original essay by Sarai~

Winter Pizza Recipe

An Avandela original, inspired by real Italian pizzas.

Winter Pizza
serves 5

Pizza dough for one pizza
2 c. mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
2 tomatoes, chopped into large chunks
10-20 black olives, halved
2 c. spinach, fresh
Basil
Garlic powder
Pepper
Sea salt
Olive oil, extra virgin

Greased cookie sheet (10X15)
Preheated oven (400 degrees)

Blanch the fresh spinach by placing it in a pot of boiling water for two minutes, then removing to a bowl of ice cold water. Remove from the ice water onto paper towels, press out the water.  Ta da! Blanched spinach!

Spread pizza dough out on cookie sheet until completely covered. Cover dough liberally in mozzarella. You don't want the cheese to be too thick, but you don't want to see the crust anymore, either. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the mozzarella. Add the chopped tomato, halved olives, and blanched spinach. Sprinkle to taste with basil, garlic powder, pepper, and sea salt. I would go very light with the garlic and the salt. You want these two spices to bring out the flavors of the vegetables, not be noticeable themselves. Drizzle olive oil over all. I poured it into a spoon, then drizzled back and forth. It took three spoonfuls to do the whole pizza.

Place pizza in oven and bake for 15 minutes. Deliciousness!

We're Done!

Avandela is officially re-designed, uncluttered, prettied up, and ready to go. You can now start looking for posts to appear on our new pages "The Grown Up Things" and "Recipes from Cricket Hollow."

"The Grown Up Things" has tips, links, and hard-earned life experience for you to borrow and apply to your own situations. I warn you - some posts will not be for the faint of heart! For some things, there is no "easy way" (like getting rich quick slow). And some of our life experiences might be downright embarrassing (names will be changed to protect the innocent, usually) and you may end up laughing 'til your sides hurt - or not. Either way, anytime you visit you will learn something new.

"Recipes from Cricket Hollow" only includes Avandela originals, cooked up right at home sweet home cryptically code-named "Cricket Hollow." Ok, so maybe not only Avandela originals. But when we do post other recipes, credit will be given were credit is due and copyrights will not be knowingly/intentionally infringed. If we're worried about the legality of posting web-based recipes, you'll find a link and a description instead. If the link ends up broken/bad/otherwise doesn't work, send us an email or leave a comment. We will fix it up right away.

We know the site is still a bit bare and content-lacking, but time permitting it will change soon! Please keep coming back and checking for something new - you just might be surprised!

~Avonlea and Elena~

Pardon the Mess

We are experimenting with new designs for Avandela, so please bear with us as the background may continue to change and links/tabs/etc. continue to move about. We are striving for a look that is less cluttered, but still pretty and memorable. Keep checking back!

More Karissa

Karissa is doing much better. The latest report on her is that this past weekend she was playing Uno and picked the right card 90% of the time! Please continue to pray for her recovery!