TJ Hirst

Live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you. Alma 34:38

More than ten years ago, I made a Thanksgiving tree with my toddler children. I chose a bare branch from our yard and gathered leaves from beneath our silver maple. I cleaned and mounted the branch and displayed it in our dining room. Each day we wrote a word or two on a leaf about something for which we were thankful and taped it to the branch. At the end of the month, we had a full Thanksgiving tree to decorate our table and a full heart of gratitude to began the Christmas season.

All it takes to see past what you don’t have is to see one thing you do.

The writer who said this also said, Stop Saying You Do Not Because Now You Do. Just like we filled our Thanksgiving branch, he’s filling a wall of gifts with 100 things he will do for other people—even you—so we can SEE what we’ve already been given. He says,

Each of the 100 squares on my wall represents one thing I’d like to do for you this holiday season. My hope is that by doing this one thing for you, you’ll have at least one thing to say you do have–you’ll have something to be grateful for–and I’ll have some measure of satisfaction that I put to good use what resources I can contribute.

His creative generosity inspires me. I chose a square, and you can, too, when you visit his online project called 100 Squares for Christmas.

Filed in Christmas, Scripture Share

Pumpkin is plentiful this time of year, but I don’t think I’ve ever served traditional pumpkin pie. My favorite alternatives—pumpkin cheesecake with a praline sauce or frozen pumpkin pie, which is essentially pumpkin ice cream in a graham cracker crust. When the cans of pumpkin come out for those desserts, I’m bound to also make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, but did you ever think to make them with butterscotch chips? Neither did I. Our personal pumpkin favorite may be Pumpkin Cake Roll, which is the ultimate “cream cheese-frosting delivery device.”

Pumpkin Cake Roll

3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon lemon juice

¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon salt

I cup nuts (optional)

1 cup powdered sugar
6-8 ounces cream cheese
4 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Beat the eggs on high speed for five minutes in an electric mixer. Gradually beat in 1 cup of sugar, a tablespoon at a time over the five minutes. When finished, fold in canned pumpkin and lemon juice with a rubber scraper.

Mix flour, baking powder, spices and salt. Sift and fold into egg and pumpkin mixture, a little at a time.

Prepare a large jelly roll pan. Grease and flour the bottom, line with waxed paper, and lightly grease the top of the waxed paper. Spread the cake batter carefully and evenly over the wax paper-lined jelly roll pan. Top with chopped nuts, if desired. Bake for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle a clean flour sack towel with powdered sugar. Turn out the still warm cake out onto the towel. Roll the towel and the cake together, starting from the short end. Allow the cake to cool at least 20 minutes in the towel but no longer than 30-40 minutes.

Beat the butter and the cream cheese in a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat on low speed until combined, then beat on medium speed until smooth.

Unroll the towel and cake. Spread the cream cheese filling over the whole cake, leaving a 1/4 to 1/2 inch edge. Roll the cake without the towel, carefully lifting the cake off the towel as you go.

Transfer the cake roll to a serving dish and chill for at least one hour. Slice in 1-1 1/2 inch slices and serve.

Filed in Recipes

The Question: Have I Seen the Hand of God Reaching Out To Touch Us Today?

When my babies were little I started my favorite daily habit—a nap. Even now with my baby being nearly ten, I never gave up the wisdom of grandmothers to young mothers to sleep when the baby sleeps. Sleep restores me. I could do it with a large dose of sugar and maybe get the same effect, but that has proven to be a few too many calories and not very long-lasting. Some may be embarrassedd to take a nap or admit it when they do, but to me, a nap is a gift with many virtues.

Nurturing something that nourishes; to promote and sustain the growth and develop of. Naps are my sustenance. My mind takes a break. My body is still. When I have rested, I am ready to go again.

Antidotal a remedy used to neutralize or counteract the effects of a poison; an agent that relieves or counteracts. Stress is my poison. My emotions are, too. Naps are my antidote.

Pleasing to give enjoyment, pleasure or satisfaction to. Passion drives me toward goals, not toward entertainment. And naps are my time for me.

We’re getting in a lot of NAP (nurturing, antidotal, and pleasing) -time around here lately, and it’s sure been nice.

Filed in The Question

Symbols of the Christmas season already span the shelves at our neighborhood stores. Many symbols resemble more about what retailers are hoping we’ll buy than anything else, some symbols beautifully represent the season and a just a few truly express feelings of faith about the birth of Christ that Christians celebrate.

At our house Christmas decorations and music don’t officially begin until the day after Thanksgiving, but this year I’ve captured a few extra days. Today, I taught the birth of Jesus Christ in Luke 2 to my teenage seminary class, and we’re going to study The Gospel According to Luke right through December. The New Testament account of Christ’s life will be my biographical companion for the season.

Since I’m busy singing Christmas songs in the morning with my students, anyway, I also pulled out my Christmas ornaments a bit early to share them with you. I decorate my Christmas tree as a personal expression of my faith. I am a Christian and a Mormon. Yes, Mormons believe in Jesus Christ—I certainly do. I hope my life is a symbol of my faith in Him.

I didn’t ever understand symbols in literature or symbols in the scriptures until I realized that symbols don’t have one right answer that everyone knows except me. Instead, I’ve come to see symbols as a way to represent or convey meaning about something else, like a particular truth, belief or idea that may be hard to visualize or describe without a physical reminder.

Two years ago, my study and memorization of The Living Christ: The Testimony of The Apostles coincided with the Christmas holiday. At the same time, we opened our home for a holiday benefit house tour. The 17-year-old Fred Meyer glass ball ornaments hanging on our 14-year-old artificial Target tree needed some updating.

I chose each ornament for our new tree to symbolize a particular aspect of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ from The Living Christ. Some are well-known symbols like doves for peace, but others represent my own associations and creativity. On Wednesdays through Christmas Eve, I will share my symbolic ornaments from my Living Christ Christmas Tree and what they mean to me.

Filed in Christmas

Try-It With-Me Tuesday, an interactive weekly time and place to foster connections that challenge and encourage the process to become a well-rounded person.

Despite the great quotations and ideas we unearthed reading Walden, I fear that last month’s choice may have strangled our desire to read weightier works. I considered flipping to the other extreme and choosing some light reading for this month’s book choice, but that would be counter to our goals, wouldn’t it?

Since two book club participants listed a few titles of Russian literature as part of their lifetime pursuit, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy seems a great choice for an introduction to Tolstoy and other Russian authors.

I challenged myself to read War and Peace in 2000, finished it in a summer and loved the sense of accomplishment and his writing style. We might want to read it in a two-month installment next year, but if you want to get a flavor for Tolstoy, the book to start with is Anna Karenina.

I won’t say much, and please don’t read too much about it before you start the book yourself. I will warn you that the Anna becomes an adulterous wife. One of the things I love about Russian literature is the realistic portrayal that actions have consequences. Tolstoy’s honest telling of the cost of infidelity on character and relationships contrasts what we usually see in popular books and movies today.

Want to Try It With Me?

First - Find a copy of the book.  Check your public library or download Anna Karenina for free from Project Gutenberg. I’m going to purchase a copy for myself at Amazon.

Second - Read it before Tuesday, November 25, keeping track of lines you like with sticky notes or a running list of page numbers.

Third - Share your impressions in an online discussion here on Tuesday, November 28. Write a post on your website if you have one. Or just come back and share your thoughts in the comments.

If you do write a post, I want to publish your link so we can visit your website and see what you have to say. Please email your  permalink to tj (at) tjhirst (dot) com no later than Monday, October 27 at 12 a.m. (Central Time). Feel free to use the TIWMT image in your post.

If you don’t make that deadline, just leave the link in your comments on the Tuesday post. As this book club grows beyond just a few people, I will add an automatic link up, but I want to maintain an environment that encourages readers of all varieties, whether they are blog authors or not.

New Readers Welcome!!!

Filed in Try-It-With-Me Tuesday