HopeForYourFamily

I was recently asked to contribute a recipe to a cookbook for an organization that encourages step-families to live well.  Now that we have gotten some hints of fall in the air (my prayers continue to go up for the drought to end for the great state of Texas, where this recipe first began its evolution), I thought this would be something appropriate and different to share on the blog…

I have heard Ron Deal’s comment that step-families shouldn’t be
blended, but slow-cooked. In that spirit, here is a recipe I have
developed over the years that is a wonderful celebration of this
concept. Different ingredients cooked low and slow to lend their
unique contributions to one delightful, house-warming creation. I have
found that the longer it sits, the better it gets, provided you don’t
interrupt the process too much by reacting with the impulse to “fix” it
along the way. So true for stepfamilies! Slow and steady is a far better
recipe than quick and reactive. And isn’t that true with so much of life.
I have included options for making it hotter. Experiment to find the
best alarm-level for your family’s taste.

When serving it to large
groups, I typically make a big pot (triple recipe) that I would consider a
good 2-3 alarm chili. I will also make a small pot (half recipe) of a 5+
alarm concoction (heavy on chili peppers, including the almighty
habanero) that will burn a hole through your belly if eaten straight. I
then invite my family and friends to use the bowl of fire as a mix-in to
heat up a big bowl of the standard chili to their liking.
And if you ever join my family at our table for a big bowl of fiesta chili,
don’t be surprised if it seems a bit different than what you’ve been
cooking. I promise I’m not holding out on you – I just never really cook
it the same way twice. ENJOY!!!

Fiesta Chili

*1 – 1 1/2 lb. ground beef or venison (browned)
*2 cans Ranch Style Beans (undrained) or Texas Style (hotter)
*1 can crushed tomatoes (undrained) or 1 can Rotel (hotter)
*1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
* 3 green onions (chopped)
*1 poblano pepper (finely chopped) (can sub a bell pepper if poblano
is unavailable)
* 1 serrano pepper (finely chopped)
* 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped) or 1 tsp. garlic powder
* 3 jalepenos (chopped) (hotter)
* 2 cups beef broth
* 1 Tbs. Tabasco Sauce (hotter)
* 1 Tbs. chili powder
* 1 tsp. paprika
* 1 tsp. cumin
* salt and pepper to taste

Brown the meat – in a cast iron pot, if you have one. As the meat is
almost browned, add all fresh chopped onions and peppers. When
meat, onions, and peppers are cooked (about 3 minutes or so), add all
remaining ingredients. I like to serve this chili over rice, so feel free to
stretch it with another cup or two of broth or water to feed another
person, if needed. Cook on stovetop at medium-low for 1-2 hours (the
longer the better), or in a crock-pot for as long as you can resist the
mouthwatering aroma.  After pouring over rice, and maybe adding some Fritos, top with fresh cilantro leaves to go all the way with your chili fiesta!

With Hope in Him and eagerness for fall weather,

Dr. Butner

Tags: coming soon..., family, parenting, the journey

Tags: character, community, HOPE, the journey

Thanks to my buddy, Hans, for the title of this post.

Men of the Baton Rouge area (and beyond), it’s here.  The kickoff of a new season!  Men are suiting up and showing up for battle to show what they are made of, and to take their game to a higher level this year.  That’s right, gentlemen.  It’s that time of year again.  Time for…

MEN’S FRATERNITY!!!

I wish words on a blog could adequately tell you how profoundly my participation in Men’s Fraternity impacted my life over the past three years.  Men, I’m telling you, Men’s Fraternity will change your life!  For now, I will share with you the words of one our pastors, who was also my excellent small group leader the first year I joined this fellowship:

Tags: coming soon..., compasses, friends, leadership, manhood, spiritual formation

Tags: adolescence, coming soon..., parenting, teens

Here’s Shep – enjoying his new “big boy” room for the first time.  A fresh coat of blue paint (what I’m calling “Rubbermaid Blue”) picked out by him and a new comfy lounging/reading chair have transformed his space into something fit for…well, a big boy.  How he got here was a good life and faith lesson for me.

He has been asking us for a while if we would paint his room blue.  Chemaine and I readily agreed, then promptly moved on to other things.  Life gets busy.  You know how it is.  Priority for him.  Not so much for us.  Finally, he prevailed upon us a month or so ago to go to Lowe’s and pick out paint.  She and I picked out several colors of blue that we thought he would like, and we could live with, then presented them to him for his selection.  He went with “Classic Blue.”  He’s old school like that.  We bought two gallons of the good stuff, then promptly moved on to other things.  Blah blah blah.

While on vacation last week, we decided to surprise him by letting him stay with his Nana on the night of our return, and we would paint his room for him and move in the cool Big Green Chair while he was away.  Only one thing stood in our way of fulfilling his desire for him – his room was a total wreck!  Just the week before vacation, one if his buddies spent the night and told us he loves coming to our house, because Shep has so much stuff.  He was delighted, but it gave us much food for thought.  Anyhow, no room makeover was going to happen without a massive cleanup of toys and other 7 year old boy room debris.  Massive cleanup.

“Shep, before you can go to Nana’s house (he loves going to Nana’s house), you have to clean up your room.”  *Groan*  *Grumble*  (He hates cleaning up his room.  He’s a 7 year old boy.  Nuff said.)  “We’ll help you, son, but you have to work and do your share.”  “…okay…”  (with hesitation and some sighing and moaning)  And the three of us proceeded to tackle the Cleanup together.  He really did work hard, with a fairly good attitude, and he even volunteered several items to give away to other kids.

Off to Nana’s for him.  Off to the store for a few additional supplies for me.  Taping, taping, taping for my wife.  And several hours later – it was finished.

When he returned the next morning and we showed him his new Big Boy Room, he basically spazzed with delight.  Actually collapsed on his bed with speechless, 7 year old boyish, exuberant glee.  It was glorious.  And it happened because he was willing to trust and obey, in a way he would much rather avoid.  He didn’t know what the reward for his hard work would be, even though we knew and could already see this moment of delight days before it actually happened.  But he trusted and obeyed.  He endured the temporary hardship of some unpleasant work and sacrifice of other much more enjoyable activity.  And he was rewarded richly.

God wants to do so much more with your life and mine than just paint it up nice and give us new stuff.  He wants to bless us beyond anything we could ask or imagine.  And He is already delighting in the moments of our receiving those blessings, before we even get there.  Will we trust and obey Him when life seems hard, unpleasant, and senseless to us?  I, for one, really want to find out what kind of Big Boy Room He is preparing for me…

Tags: family, HOPE, spiritual formation, the journey

Alright, fellas – this one deserves an encore from last year. (I’d be the St John’s Bay dude, btw – except with a son, rather than daughters.)

Tags: manhood

So, here are my new business cards (just have to get a new office phone number).  Any thoughts?  I am so grateful for opportunities to share the parenting message God has given me, whether with clients, churches, schools, etc.  The back of my card seemed a good place to pass it on, as well.

Tags: coming soon...

Thanks to Laura Story for sharing this beautiful and challenging song that expresses something I have reflected on for several years now.

Tags: HOPE, media, spiritual formation, the journey

Heard this song today for the first time on KLOVE radio.  Had to share this amazing version of the Good News from Peter Furler with you!  Thank you, God, for reaching for me every day.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.

Tags: HOPE, the journey

I watched Chariots of Fire tonight as I “ran” on my elliptical machine (I highly recommend this combination, by the way).  I was eager for the running.  I had forgotten how deeply stirring was the faith of Eric Liddell.  Here are the words he shared in a speech after a race in his beloved Scotland…

You came to see a race today…see someone win.  It happened to be me.  But I want you to do more than just watch a race.  I want you to take part in it.  I want to compare faith to running in a race.  It’s hard.  It requires concentration of will, energy of soul.  You experience elation when the winner breaks the tape – especially if you’ve got a bet on it.    But how long does that last?  You go home.  Maybe your dinner’s burned.  Maybe…maybe you haven’t got a job.  So who am I to say, Believe – Have faith, in the face of life’s realities?  I would like to give you something more permanent.  But I can only point the way.  I have no formula for winning the race.  Everyone runs in her own way, or his own way.  And where does the power come from, to see the race to its end?  From within.  Jesus said, “Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.  If with all your heart, you truly seek me, you shall ever surely find me.”  If you commit yourself to the love of Christ, then THAT is how you run a straight race.

Well said, Brother.  Well said.  More original posts coming soon, but this speech really caught me tonight, so I wanted to share it with you.  I guess it caught me when he said running the race of faith/life is hard.  Yes, it is.  Overcoming the desires of my flesh to take the easier, softer way of sinful self-indulgence is just plain old tough for me.  Maybe it is for you, too.  I want so much to surrender my will so fully to God each day that He totally has His Way with my life.  I truly believe this is the absolute best possible way for me to live, every single day.

At least, my spirit of faith believes this.  My flesh tells me otherwise, goaded on by the venomous lies of the Serpent.  And I stumble in the race.  Or fall behind.  Or take too many water breaks.  Or just want to give it up.  But my spirit within me won’t give up, fueled by the sweet Voice of Truth, The Holy Spirit of God.  God’s Word invites me to run in such a way as to win the prize.  And the prize is SO worth the struggle!  And the sweetest part is, Jesus has already secured it for me.  He paid for it, and has already reserved my place in the winners’ circle.  I just have to keep running the race until I get there to join Him along with the great company of saints who have run before me, are running with me, and will run the race behind me.  So, I’m going to keep on running the race.

There’s room for another in the winners’ circle.  Care to join me?

Tags: fitness, HOPE, movies, spiritual formation, the journey