Light and Fluffy Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon Meringue Pie
(serves 8-10)

My daughter’s favorite pie is lemon meringue, and so I wanted to be sure to have one ready for her when she arrived with her family last weekend! Meringue pies are wonderfully fluffy and light, so they’re especially perfect for warm weather, but (of course), they’re also yummy at any time of the year! As my father used to say, “I only like two types of pie: Hot and cold!”

Light and Fluffy Lemon Meringue Pie

Here’s the recipe:

Graham Cracker Crust:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Place in the bottom of an 11″ pie plate:
7 crushed graham crackers
½ stick melted butter
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

3. Stir until completely mixed and pat it down into a uniform depth in the pie shell.

4. Bake at 350°F. for 12 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.

Lemon Pie filling:
1. In a saucepan add together:
1.5 cups granulated white sugar
1/3  cup corn starch
¼  teaspoon salt. Stir all ingredients until smooth and without lumps.
2. Add:
1.25 cups water. Mix thoroughly and then heat on the stove, stirring (almost) constantly to keep it from sticking on the bottom. It is done when it thickens and starts to bubble.
3. Then add:
½ cup lemon juice and zest from 2 large, fresh lemons
4 beaten egg yolks (add one at a time and stir quickly and thoroughly)
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter until melted and the filling is uniformly smooth and thick.
4. Remove from heat and allow it to cool.

Pour the filling into the baked shell and allow the entire pie to cool to room temperature. (If it’s still warm, it can melt your meringue.)

Meringue Topping:

1. Now might be a good time to turn the oven back on to 350°F., because it’s best to have the oven hot when you slide the pie back in with the meringue on top
2. To make the meringue topping, place in a mixing bowl:

4 egg whites
¼ cup sugar, beaten until medium-stiff peaks form. Spread evenly on top of the pie.

Bake in preheated 350° oven for 10 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Serve as a dessert for dinner, at tea time, or late at night when your daughter and her family arrive for a visit! 🙂

“Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 5:19). I’ve been studying “gifts” in the Bible and have been impressed by the fact that even the capacity for enjoying our blessings is a gift from God!

Birthday Party. Birth Day Love

Dainty little girl!
Talks a blue streak; knows her mind,
Yet, she just turned two!

Shelley and I have a special appreciation for our shared grand children, because we prayed together, long and tearfully, for five years before Samuel was born. And then, Samuel was born frighteningly early, at 27.5 weeks as a micro-premie who spent his first 105 days in a neonatal intensive care unit. 😦 That kept us all on our knees for months and rejoicing ever since! Elanor—on the other hand—came without complications, but we don’t love her any less! She has been an unmitigated joy and keeps us amazed with her incredible vocabulary and dexterity.

Have you ever noticed how each child is precious and special . . . but for different reasons? As the youngest of five, I would sometimes worry about whether or not my mother loved me as much as my older brothers and sisters, and so I would ask her, “Who’s your favorite?” She would smile and say, “I don’t have a favorite! I love you all with all my heart!” I loved that and remembered her example as my own very different but all wonderful children were growing up.

I was so crazy about my firstborn that I secretly worried about whether or not I could ever love another child as much. But, without any effort on my part, I immediately “fell in love” with our second son the moment he was born, and the miracle continued with each child. I realized that what my mother had told me wasn’t just a sweet lie to make me feel good. It was true! Each child (and now grand child) is totally unique and lovable, but my love for them is so much deeper than any “because they are or do this or that!” I love them simply because they are mine. Period!

This inexplicable love of a mother for her children has helped me understand the love of God a little better. He created each of us, and He loves each of us, not because we are so clever or cute . . . or even good. (Despite our best efforts, our “good” isn’t really all that good!) Yes, God wants us to be wise and good, but He hangs in there with us through thick and thin not based on our being all he’d hoped we’d be, but because He loves us with an everlasting love. If you’re a parent, I hope you know what I’m talking about! Never give up. God never gives up! Accept his love! He’s waiting with open arms!

^“13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.¹⁴ But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.¹⁵ Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.¹⁶ Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me” (Isaiah 49:13-16).

We Can Do It!

Never Give Up!
 
Here we go again.
I thought I would be finished,
But I’m still not done. 

This was a playful photo was taken when our Birthday Club visited the Michigan History Museum in Lansing. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but I have since! My petty personal problem (currently having a little finger still sporting external pins) pales in the light of the tribulations many people are enduring. Harder still are this world’s global concerns. I’ve recently finished Elie Weisel’s touching book, Open Heart . . . the reflections of an 82-year-old survivor of Auschwitz and a Nobel Laureate. He thought that after World War II, people would learn from the devastation, and that oppression would cease, but this has not happened. The fight for right over wrong, good over evil, and life over death will go on as long as man lives on earth. Our job is to keep fighting and never give up!

Whatever our challenges, God is there and wants to help us. We are encouraged in the New Testament: “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). Some members of my family will be participating in an all-night prayer vigil at Moody in Chicago tonight. Come join in if you have time! God hears and responds to our earnest cries for help, and we citizens of earth need HELP!

Psalm 18, written by King David after he’d been delivered from his enemies, is (to me) the perfect example of how God wants us to approach Him for deliverance from troubles!

Psalm 18

I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.

² The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

³ I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

⁴ The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

⁵ The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

⁶ In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

⁷ Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

⁸ There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

⁹ He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

¹⁰ And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

¹¹ He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

¹² At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

¹³ The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

¹⁴ Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

¹⁵ Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

¹⁶ He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

¹⁷ He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

¹⁸ They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay.

¹⁹ He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

²⁰ The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

²¹ For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

²² For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.

²³ I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.

²⁴ Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

²⁵ With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;

²⁶ With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

²⁷ For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.

²⁸ For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

²⁹ For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

³⁰ As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

³¹ For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God?

³² It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

³³ He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places.

³⁴ He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

³⁵ Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

³⁶ Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.

³⁷ I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.

³⁸ I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.

³⁹ For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

⁴⁰ Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.

⁴¹ They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the Lord, but he answered them not.

⁴² Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.

⁴³ Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.

⁴⁴ As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.

⁴⁵ The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.

⁴⁶ The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

⁴⁷ It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.

⁴⁸ He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

⁴⁹ Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

⁵⁰ Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

Like a Darkhouse

Broken finger tip
Broadcasts pain with ev’ry pulse,
Radiating pain.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). For the first couple of days after surgery, my little finger throbbed with every beat of my heart, reminding me of a little lighthouse, only one broadcasting pain rather than light. I usually think of lighthouses as wonderful blessings . . . beaming out light to help people find their way safely past treacherous rocks. However, it occurred to me that—in this world—there are also forces that can beam out darkness, causing confusion and making the way harder to find. Constant pain can be discouraging, but God calls us to wrestle against for forces of darkness wherever we encounter them. Don’t let the “darkhouse” of throbbing pain drag you down. Ask God to beam you up!

^{35 “}Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.³⁶ While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light” (John 12:35-36).

The Signature of God

Our kitchen was a mess! After thirty years of wear and tear, the blue Formica counter tops were riddled with worn-through white polka dots, the drawers didn’t open properly, nor did the cupboards close properly. Our second-hard refrigerator needed to retire; I was resorting to lighting the stove with a propane lighter . . . you get the picture!  Thankfully, this happened just about the time the last of our seven kids grew up, allowing our submerged bank account to pop back to the surface and start swimming.  So, before we retire, we’ve decided to repair and update our home,  hoping we can live here for as long as possible before the winter of our lives sets in.        It took a lot longer than we ever imagined, but it’s now all finished!  Besides more cupboard space, my chief pleasure is working in a kitchen with colorful granite countertops.      The countertops are full of swirling colors, predominately blacks and whites                                      but also with sparkles of gold and copper                              plus tiny accents in yellows, pinks, and purples. They remind me of a lush, wild masterpiece by my favorite composer,
Tchaikovsky.                                   The counters are full of movement and surprises,                                           and they’re bursting with joy!                     Every time I look at the counters, I think about God.                                                      This is one of His designs!    What an amazing Creator, who has filled our world with unique treasures buried even deep in the earth!              Nowhere is there a predictably uniform pattern or straight line.                                                                  Except!                                          Ah, don’t you love exceptions?  In one small corner, there are two parallel purple lines that are totally unlike anything anywhere else. At first I thought they were possibly a stain or something that was drawn on afterward, but they are not. They are built out of the same purple grains that are interspersed throughout the slabs. Not long after our kitchen update was complete, our daughter-in-law Gerlinde’s parents visited with us. Christoph and Sarah live in Germany, although they spent many years on the mission field in Tanzania. Christoph—before becoming a missionary—studied art history, so he has a deep love both for God and for art! Christoph admired the countertops but also immediately spotted the one unusual regularity in the lower right-hand corner of our island slab.     “Ah!” he responded cheerfully, “This is where God has signed his painting!”“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:⁷ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:4-10).

Let’s Start at the Very Beginning

Happy New Year! I hope this is a year of many wonderful new beginnings for each of us. Have you made a few thoughtful goals or resolutions? I have, and I sincerely hope to be able to accomplish them. One easy one to share (but hard to do) is my goal of finishing the new addition to our home, then furnishing and decorating it . . .  and then getting rid of all the unnecessary leftover junk that’s been cluttering our basement since the kids grew up!

In that vein, I was sorting through some boxes of my father’s writings and notes.  I always thought he was a pretty staunch atheist until he was 86, when he had a change of heart and mind and entrusted his life to Christ as his Savior. Part of the constellation of beliefs he espoused up until about the year 2,000 A.D. was faith in evolution and the Big Bang Theory, so I was amazed to find this card in his file box:

I’m not exactly sure when he wrote that that note, but it was close to this one:I had heard the story that my father was a believer as a child but lost his faith in college . . . back in the 1930’s. For nearly seventy years, there was precious little evidence of faith in my father that any of us observed. And yet, tucked away in his file box of writing ideas were these little sparkles of faith! First, an acknowledgement that he wasn’t present at the beginning of time and space. “In the beginning”  . . . he wasn’t, but the Bible says that God was. To me, this is a humble recognition that it would be foolish for him to try to deny God’s existence. Second, a prayer asking God to help him accomplish His will, dated January 2, 1974. It has a stain from tape, and so I think it must have been a New Year’s resolution of sorts, placed??? somewhere in or on his office desk??? . . . written almost 30 years before he embraced the Gospel publicly.

This may not seem thrilling to you, but it is to me, because it tells me that the seeds of faith, planted in my father’s heart during early childhood, had lain dormant for many years but had never completely died. Have you been praying for a loved one for years and years without seeing visible fruit from those prayers? Please don’t stop!! I prayed every day for my dad for almost 40 years before he told me one day that he wanted Jesus too.

Or, perhaps somewhere in your own distant past, you believed in Jesus as your Lord and Savior but have since drifted away, thinking the world is such a mess that there must not be a God . . . or feeling that you, yourself, are so hopelessly messed up that if there is a God, He doesn’t care about you. Please turn back to God and ask Him to heal you. God does exist; He is not dead; He does care about you! However, it is possible that “your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). If so, I beg you to give up wanting your own way more than you want God. Repent of your sins, and believe in Jesus! He can—and will—save you! “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, ESV).

Will you join me in starting this New Year with renewed faith and hope? Let’s start at the very beginning by embracing the love and mercy of God. Will you pray with me?

“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen“ (Matthew 6:9-13).

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1).

“Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

Merry Christmas 2018

Merry Christmas to all my dear friends!  This has been a year of joy for me, not because everything has always been easy—or even because everything went the way I’d hoped—but because I knew God was in it, and God is good. He loves us, and everything He gives us, He gives us for our good, and so that we will bring glory to Him! Bearing this in mind, I’m going to share the happy highlights and leave the lowlights right where they belong— in my prayer closet!  First, Alan and I have had a truly wonderful year in most ways. Alan still hasn’t retired, although he’s thinking he might in a couple of years.  Meanwhile, he’s working like a trooper, which gives me ample time to enjoy  family and friends as well as pursuing writing and photography.         We took a few big trips together: A full transit of the Panama Canal last winter, & a relaxing, fascinating trip to Iceland, Norway, and the North Sea last summer.   We also spent a week in Southern California with our oldest son and his family.                   Aaron and Carleen have four sons, who are really growing!                                         Aaron still works at LinkedIn,  and Carlie is busy helping with Classical Conversations, which is the homeschooling support system they use in conjunction with teaching their kids.     Gerlinde is also involved with home schooling and Classical Conversations. She and Jon (our son) moved to Chicago this year, where Jon continues teaching for Moody but is also busy developing and directing an innovative virtual reality system for higher Christian education called the Center for Global Theological Education.  Jon flies all over the country (and world) helping provide training for people in leadership positions within the Church global, but now that they live closer, we have the happy privilege of spending more time with Gerlinde and the girls while he’s away—something we couldn’t do when they lived on the West Coast! In July, I had the great joy of traveling to Italy to help out when Michael and Grace had their fifth child:                                                  A precious baby boy! Since then, they’ve moved to Belgium, where Michael serves as a major in the army and is the Dental Clinic Commander at his base. They home schooled until this fall, but now their two oldest have enrolled in public school and are busily trying to learn French so they can understand their lessons!  We have one daughter, whose husband directs the videography department of a mega church in the Detroit area. They have three children and are doing great, although she prefers privacy in public spaces, so I don’t share much about her (although I’d love to!). We are blessed with one married son who lives in Grand Rapids with his wife and two little ones.         Jon and Gerlinde bring their kids to visit often, which we love,  but it’s really a unique privilege to have one family living close enough to interact on a more constant and casual basis. Dan directs the dental clinic at Exalta Health, an outreach to the uninsured and underserved population,                        and Brianna is very busy with Sammy and Ellie,                                        who keep us totally charmed.                I’m just wondering what they’ll be like when they grow up!  Stephen is continuing work on his PhD in musicology from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. He is in a whirl of teaching and presenting at conferences, and I don’t get to see him as often as I’d like, but I’m thankful he’s healthy and productive.      Joel is working as an editor at Kregel Publications here in Grand Rapids.Alan and I feel extremely blessed that he has rejoined the “home team” during this season of his life (although we are praying for a wonderful wife for him). 🙂             Meanwhile, we’ve even enjoyed some travel adventures together! We now have 12 children (including in-law kids) and 17 grandchildren, and we  love each one of them with all our hearts!                           We’ve been privileged to keep up with our sibs,               enjoy close fellowship with our church and extended families,                      and have an amazing circle of friends in Grand Rapids,  which is the only community I’ve ever lived in where there are so many kindred spirits I can’t keep up with all of them!  Best of all, we have a God who is our Father, a Savior who is His Son, Jesus, and a Comforter and Guide, who is the blessed Holy Spirit.  Through faith in Christ, we have inherited eternal life, enjoy the fruits of His Spirit,and have become joint heirs with Jesus. Who could wish for more??  My prayer is that you are enjoying the blessings of being God’s child too.                 There is nothing in heaven or on earth any better than that!  “[Jesus] was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.¹¹ He came unto his own, and his own received him not.¹² But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:¹³ Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:9-13).