Seasons, children, careers, friends, places, health, everything – just life itself – seems to hold at a standstill and stay the same for a time (I love when it does that) and then suddenly you notice EVERYTHING IS CHANGING right before your eyes. I guess we get so caught up in the daily tasks of life that we rarely notice things subtly changing around us so when we do take note the change seems so extreme.
You look at your daughter one day and she looks more like a pre-teen than a child and you scream, “WAIT how did this happen!?” I always remind Maddie that she is not allowed to turn ten or I will ground her and her response is, “You said that when I was turning nine.”
Then one day you are on the parkway and you notice summer has gone and fall is really here. It is often mid-fall before I consciously accept that the days have really changed to autumn. People probably wonder when I am going to put my sandals and white pants away.
If I lived in a world where I was in power I would certainly be overthrown by the masses because people would get tired of the perpetually sunny warm days where children stay seven and play endlessly in the outdoors and things are always nice.
But the truth is, as much as I sometimes believe that is what I want from life – it is not. Growing, learning and changing is often painful, but I know all too well it is what I need, what we all need and ultimately what God needs from us. No matter how difficult life can sometimes seem, I know we are asked to breath deep, to trust and to find love and beauty in all our days, even and maybe especially on the chilly, rainy ones like today.
One of fall’s many comforts comes in the form of SOUP. This soup is an all time favorite of mine and what makes it so great is the simple ingredient of beef broth. My mom would always give us beef broth when we were sick and could not handle anything of more substance. Beef broth became an amazing magical elixir brought to your bedside in a mug. So Cuddle up with a bowl of this delicious healing soup and find some time to get quiet and watch in wonder as life changes.
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
4 cups beef broth
4 cups water
2 cups chopped cooked roast beef
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup quick-cooking barley
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup frozen peas
-In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, saute carrot, celery and onion in butter until tender, about 5 minutes.
-Add the broth, water, beef, tomatoes, barley, salt, pepper, basil and oregano; bring to a boil.
-Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the peas. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
By Leigh Sackett [email protected]