Monday, January 20, 2014

New Blogging Location

I've moved! You can visit my new blog, faithspillingover.com.

I want my faith to spill over into my everyday life, even during life's glitches and bumpy moments, and that's what I write about at Faith Spilling Over.


I also write monthly for Cross-Cultural Mom's Companion, follow this link for my newest post on cross-cultural life: "When You Feel Like It Never Rains, But It Pours." 




Friday, November 8, 2013

Hope When Your Faith is Faltering

I smile as I think of you, my sisters serving in different ministries on different parts of the globe.  You are caring for children, cooking, cleaning, teaching, discipling, leading Bible studies, and supporting your husbands. You are amazing. 

I know Paul was describing youwhen he said, “We always thank God for all of you…We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith,  your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thess. 1:3) Our service is motivated by faith, hope, and love, but I have to tell you sisters, my faith is flagging before the new challenge I’m facing. 

Three years ago my husband and I started the biggest faith adventure of our lives...

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Wedding, Circumcision, or Baptism?


Ten minutes before my teenagers’ baptism was scheduled to begin, God drenched our entire city in a torrential downpour, the first rain in three months. Rain dripped and poured into the building through cracks in windows and.  Friends called, saying they were stranded. 

“Oh no,” I thought, “We’ve been waiting for this milestone celebration for such a long time. How can this be happening?”


To read the rest of this post, head over to Cross-Cultural Mom's Companion.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Welcome to the Launch of My New Blog


Today I'm launching my new blog, Faith Spilling Over into Everyday Life.

I love my Olive Tree blog and the community of friends I've found through it, but I sense God calling me to a new venture. Faith Spilling Over will focus on letting your relationship with God spill over into everyday life, even during the bumpy moments, like when you have a family blow-up, complete with fireworks, during breakfast, right after you prayed for peace!

Although I’ll continue to write a bit about my cross-cultural life, because it’s part of who I am, you’ll notice a definite change of focus on my new blog.  I may post occasionally on Olive Tree, but to keep my life simple, most of my writing will be for Faith Spilling Over.

I’d love for you to visit me there and have a look for yourself. Follow this link to Faith SpillingOver.

I hope to see you there,

Olive

Friday, August 2, 2013

Mama Needs Time to Play Too

A few of my daughter's creative pursuits

The saying, “A Woman’s work is never done” perfectly describes our role as cross-cultural worker mamas. We care for children, cook and clean with few conveniences, home school, get involved with local schools, and study language on the side. We support our husbands’ ministry, invite people into our homes, and sometimes have ministries of our own outside of our families!


Head over to Cross-Cultural Mom's Companion to read the rest of my post

Friday, July 26, 2013

Stay Tuned...

Hello Friends,

I'm still working on my new blog. I should have it up by August 5th. I'll keep you posted.

May God bless you all on your summer endeavors.

Love,
Olive

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Summer Cooking: Turkish Rice Salad

With summer heat in full swing, I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel much like cooking. My kitchen is an oven between 4 and 6 p.m., so I try to stay out of there as much as possible. Turkish housewives are practical; many of them cook in the morning, when it’s cooler, and then they have food ready for later in the day.  I, on the other hand, am not so organized. So I’m always on the lookout for quick and easy.

Here’s a simple recipe, great for summertime. Turks call it “Chinese Rice,” which mystifies me. As far as I know, there’s nothing remotely Chinese about it.

Turkish Rice Salad (Cin Pilavi*)

1 cup rice
2 cups water
1 tsp. salt
4 TBSP olive oil
¾ cup frozen corn 
¾ cup frozen peas
¾ cup carrots, diced in small cubes
1/3  - 1/2 cup dill pickle, diced in small cubes
3 TBSP chopped fresh dill weed (or 1-2 tsp. dried dill)

1.  Cook the rice by sautéing it in 1 TBSP olive oil; then add 2 cups of water and 1 tsp. salt.  Let it simmer 10-15 minutes, until the water is absorbed.  Stir to fluff it, and let it cool.

2.  Thaw or gently cook the frozen vegetables.  (If you live in the U.S., simply thawing them works fine. If you live in Turkey, these need to be cooked 2-3 minutes.)

3.  When the rice and vegetables are at room temperature, gently toss them together with the chopped carrots, pickles and dill. Drizzle with 3 TBSP olive oil and continue tossing.  Serve cold or at room temperature.

This serves 4-5 as a vegetarian main dish, or 8 as a side dish. Turks fill a small bowl with the salad and unmold it onto each individual plate.

Afiyet Olsun!

*I’ll correct “Cin Pilavi” as soon as I find the Turkish keyboard on my new computer! 

Thursday, July 11, 2013

"Do What You Can" Summer

What is summer like in your corner of the globe?  Here in our Aegean home, summer’s all about a laid back, slower pace.   Ramadan started this week, so many friends and neighbors will be lying low during the hot afternoons while they fast long hours from food and water.  

I’m taking advantage of extra free time to start a new project. In a few weeks, I’ll start a new blog, and I’m already excited about it.  Change and variety add spice to my life, so I decided to try a new angle on blogging.


"Do What You Can Plan"   

One thing that’s encouraging me to make time for a new project is Holly Gerth’s Do What You Can Plan: 21 Days to Making Any Area of Your Life Better.  Holly’s book is great encouragement for taking baby steps towards big dreams that seem out of reach. My ultimate dream is writing a book, but for right now, blogging seems like a more attainable goal for this home schooling, church planting mom. 

Meant to be read over 21 days, the book has a short devotional reading and an application point for each day.  Holly talks about starting small, doing what you can each day, and not waiting for the perfect time to start!

I have other summer projects that aren’t so exciting, like de-cluttering and organizing closets and drawers, but I’m trying to set aside some time each day to work on my new writing project. I’ll keep you posted on my progress. 


How about you? 

Do you have any summer projects that you’re working on?  Any dreams you wish you had time for? I’d love to hear how you’re spending your summer.