Creamed Ham and Cornbread

When it comes to the traditional Thanksgiving turkey, the Finnlings are unimpressed, 

but they will all eat ham (frankly, we are pork lovers in this house).

So this year, for Thanksgiving, I bought a Honey Baked Ham.

It is pricey, and yet, so very worth it! :-)

After eating the ham for a couple of days, I froze the leftover ham in 1 cup portions.

This is a recipe my mother used to make with our leftover ham,

and it has become a Finn Family Favorite.

My kiddos love it--which completely surprises and thrills me.

Try it out and let me know if you like it too!

Creamed Ham and Cornbread 

Ingredients:

2 Tbs butter

2 Tbs flour

2/3 cup warm milk

1/3 cup chicken broth

salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste (optional)

1 cup diced ham

*optional: two hard boiled eggs, diced

Directions:

Melt butter in saucepan over medium low heat and add flour. Whisk for a couple of minutes until smooth. Slowly stir in milk and broth. Cook over medium heat, whisking continually, until the sauce thickens. Add ham and diced eggs if using. Stir together well and serve over cornbread.

Note: if you like lots of sauce, you may want to double the sauce recipe:-)

Cornbread**

Ingredients:

1 cup corn meal

1 cup all purpose flour (I use soft white wheat)

2-3 Tbs sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, combine corn meal, flour, baking powder and salt. Add milk, egg and oil, and stir until smooth--do not over mix! Pour into a greased 8x8 baking pan. Bake for 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes clean. 

**recipe taken from Aunt Jemima's Yellow Corn Meal package

One last note-- we have also served this Creamed Ham over my homemade biscuits and it was heavenly. Be flexible, try it different ways, and let me know if you love it! 

The Finns take Jackson, part 2 (first contact)

You can read part one here

Mid week of Valentine's week, Nathan came home from work, put his things down, and sat in his rocking chair to chat with me about his day. This was not unusual or uncommon; he did this most days. The kids weren't around at that moment, though I don't remember why. Nathan seemed distracted and fidgety, but it wasn't enough to bother me.

Then he said: “I've been contacted by a friend at Union about submitting my resume for the Dean's position.” Long pause. “And I didn't say no.”

BOOM. There it was. He didn't automatically say no, and in that moment, I think we both knew something had changed.  In the past, different people had suggested Nathan submit his resume for the open position, but he had never felt led to do that until the "first contact" in February. 

He agreed to pray about it, and we took a few days to pray and decide if he should proceed with sending in his resume. Truthfully, I prayed a little bit, and cried a lot at least once in those few days. Yes, I had a big, ugly, I-don't-want-to-go-don't-make-me cry before Nathan even sent his resume. Because, you see, sending the resume is saying we were okay with going. And I wasn't. In fact, I told Nathan that if he wanted to submit his resume because of some age-old promise to Danny Akin (see part one), I wasn't biting. It was not necessary, and it was unfair to Union (or any other school that came calling) if we didn't really mean to go through with the process. Nathan assured me that he wanted to submit his resume to Union because he wanted the job. God had changed his heart, and I am not sure either of us saw it coming until it hit.

We can point to many things that led us to the conclusion that Nathan should submit his resume, but the biggest one for me was the multitude of 'outside confirmation.' To be clear, we told very few people we were even considering submitting our resume. It was much too early in the process for us to do that. However, Nathan and I each told our closest friends so they could be praying for us and supporting us (and for my girlfriends to know why I might randomly burst into tears at any time). The response was universally positive, encouraging, 'yes I could see Nathan doing this job' comments. We felt a peace about taking the first step in the process and Nathan sent his resume in.

This was not a calm peace, at least not for me. It was a jittery, on the edge of my seat, waiting for the cute guy to call me, nervous energy kind of peace. I knew it was the right thing to do, though I was reluctant about it, and Nathan knew it was the right thing to do, and we just wanted answers. What next? Would he get an interview? If he did get an interview, would he be offered the job? Would he take it? Our minds were racing about how soon Union University wanted to fill the position. As it had been vacant for two years, we knew they needed someone fast. There was a lot of crazy speculation happening in the Finn household, and at times, not much else! Nathan still had to teach, and be an elder, and a daddy, and I still had to homeschool, and help lead a Bible study, and be a good mommy and wife. It was an interesting balancing act, to say the least.

Right after Nathan submitted his resume to Union, winter storms hit. Two weeks in a row, we had snow in Wake Forest, and Jackson Tennessee had snow and freezing temperatures at the same time. It threw everyone's schedules out of whack, including all the committee meetings. So we sent Nathan's resume off, and then we heard absolutely nothing for weeks. It seemed like months, but it wasn't quite that long (though it was close). It was nerve-racking, but God was teaching us and molding us, causing us to cling to the cross, to focus in on what was most important, and to lean hard on God's goodness when we had no idea what the future held.

More to come....

Back to School 2015

It's Back to School time in the Finn house!

This year, we are doing school a little bit differently.

The two big kids are enrolled in Faith Tutorial here in Jackson.

They will attend the tutorial on Tuesday and Thursday mornings,

and will cover English, Science, Art, and Math (for G).

They will have homework/assignments for the days they aren't in class.

I will still cover history, spelling, and other subjects at home.

Since they are now going to school (even in a reduced manner), the kids needed backpacks.

After reviewing a very professional poll (I asked Facebook:-), 

I ordered L.L. Bean Deluxe backpacks--and to say Georgia and Baxter were excited was an understatement!! They were thrilled, and I am excited about quality backpacks 

that should grow with them over time. 

Epic First Day of School Fail

It was the first day of tutorial.

It was a parking lot.

It was blazing bright.

Epic Fail.

Baxter in his tutorial class.

He's obviously impressed with my taking pictures of him.

A few days later, we took our "Clapham Academy" pictures.

Fuller and Eleanor were just cheesing it up for the camera the entire time.

Here's to a new school year, a new state, a new homeschool/tutorial plan!

My first grader

My pre-kindergartener

My crazy toddler

My third grader

The Finns take Jackson, part 1 (the background)

Before I can even start the story, I need to give some background. If my life were a movie, this would be a quick flashback, but my life is not a movie and instead it's a long rambling blog post. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Union University is a top-ranked private Christian university united in its love for Christ, for rigorous academics and for Biblical truth. (I didn't write that--it's direct from the website, but it is truth, and you can check it out here: www.uu.edu)  Union is the gold standard in evangelical Christian liberal arts education, and has been for decades. The former president, David Dockery, a brilliant theologian, writer and thinker, influenced and shaped Nathan's view of higher education for the glory of God.

Five or more years ago, Nathan and I informally talked about our five and ten year 'plan.'

It wasn't a real plan, as in we did not take active steps to put things in motion; it was more of a dream followed by some searching questions about what was next for us.  Union was a 'pie in the sky' kind of dream in that talk. You see, in our early married life, we never expected to teach at a seminary. "Our plan" was always to pursue a Ph.D. and then Nathan would find a job in a small Christian college. Teaching opportunities at a seminary rarely materialized, and so we didn't hope for it. When we discussed our pipe dreams, teaching at Union under David Dockery was on the list. 

But that changed--honestly because we found ourselves becoming more rooted in Southeastern. More involved in the vision of the campus. More in love with the Wake Forest/Raleigh/Durham area. We loved being a part of the mission at SEBTS and had no desire to leave.

Let me also back up a little bit and say that in the academic world, there are some positions, some jobs, that just due to WHAT they are, you should hear them out. In other words, don't automatically say no, don't slam the phone down on them, don't say it could never happen. Once upon a time, Dr. Akin told several young faculty members that though he wants them to stay at Southeastern forever, if certain schools should come calling, especially for positions of influence, they had to talk to them. Yes, Nathan was one of the people who heard that speech.  Union was one of the schools on that list, but Nathan thought nothing of it.

Circling back around (thanks for bearing with me, folks!), Union University's Dean of the School of Theology and Missions left two years ago to become the president of another school.  The position has been vacant for a long time! It was vacant while we were here for sabbatical last spring, which led to a lot of jokes (which really weren't jokes) about us having a semester long audition for the job.  Let the record show, the job was not offered to Nathan while we were here January 2014-June 2014:-)

We didn't even really pick Union for our sabbatical. Shortly before Thanksgiving 2013, we were discussing Nathan's upcoming sabbatical and I wished out loud that we could go someplace exotic (confession: I meant England). Nathan told me that we could relocate, but it would have to be affordable, and have access to a library and writing space. I thought it sounded intriguing, and we made a list of a few schools to contact. Union happened to be the first one because Nathan has a good relationship with several administrators. To our surprise, Union was very amenable to the idea, and ended up rolling out the red carpet for us, finding us a house to live in for free, giving Nathan office space, and granting him library access. So we moved to Jackson for five months.

And...Nathan's and my experiences were a bit different:-)

He researched and wrote all day almost every day. He attended weekly STM faculty teas (basically just faculty hang out time), and though they gave him plenty of space to do his work, he got to know most of the faculty in the department. For me, it was harder. We moved in January, when the temperature was zero degrees. I had four children that I was homeschooling, it was freezing cold and I didn't want to go out, and the youngest child was just eight months old. It was a lonelier time for me. I confess that I allowed that loneliness to color my interpretation of Jackson to my friends back home, to the point that someone said to me "How can you move there? You hated it!" Whoops.

I didn't hate Jackson. I missed my friends, my home, my church, my rhythms of life in Wake Forest. Jackson felt foreign to me, though it is a very Southern town and in many ways is oh so familiar. My kids were very lonely during the cold winter months, especially my social butterfly, Georgia. I did not feel like people made much of an effort to reach out to me, and I allowed that to irk me.  In addition, though we lived in Jackson for five and half months, we were away from that city five weeks of the time, visiting Wake Forest, hanging out with friends in Nashville and Kentucky, and spending two weeks in Georgia when Nathan's mother was deathly ill. We were never in town more than five weeks in a row.  I could have made an effort to make friends and get to know more people, but I wasn't too concerned about it-- we were going back home to Wake Forest soon!

All of the above aside, Jackson was an amazing time for us as a family. The Finnlings grew in their relationships with each other and their abilities to play together. I read so many books because we didn't have any evening plans! As a family we explored parks and cities that we had never seen before. Chickasaw State Park became a favorite weekend spot, we adored our day trips to Memphis, and we stayed in Nashville for the weekend as much as possible:-) We found our favorite Mexican restaurant, Tulum, in Jackson, Tennessee.  Much to my surprise, after returning to Wake Forest, we had many moments where we spoke about how we missed Jackson.

It was the Lord preparing our hearts.

Big changes for the Finns

When months go by between blog posts, many things are bound to change.

For the Finns, the change in the past few months has been earth-moving for our little family. We have moved from our home of eleven years, Wake Forest (and our beloved church and school), to west Tennessee--specifically Jackson, TN and Union University.

Nathan has accepted the position of Dean of the School of Theology and Missions at Union University in Jackson, TN. In God's kindness to us, we lived in Jackson for five months last year, so we have a jump start on our knowledge of the area, learning our way around town, etc.

We have seen God's hand guiding us here, and we have been blessed beyond measure by how He worked every detail out during the process. As a family, we all miss Wake Forest, First Baptist Durham, and SEBTS, and that manifests itself in different ways at different times. Yet the Lord has said "Go" to us, and we cannot help but follow. We look forward to seeing what is in store for our family here, and we are excited to be a part of the wonderful things going on at Union University.

Over the next few blog posts, I hope to tell the story of how we came to this place, not because it is an amazing or even terribly interesting story, but because we want to remember this process and set these 'memorial stones' in place as a reminder of God's faithfulness to us.

For the record, God has ALWAYS been faithful to us.
It is against his nature for him to be unfaithful.

Nathan and I know that in this big life changing decision to move states and jobs and homes and churches we have seen God's faithfulness and sensed God's leading in multiple ways. I do not want to forget these past few months, and I want to be sure my children know this story as well. So please feel free to follow along. Thanks for your patience with me in my sporadic blogging. 

First sno balls of the season

Pelican's Snoballs is a favorite stop during the spring and summer,

so when it opened back up last weekend, we had to go!

Nothing says spring is coming better than a yummy snoball

This little monster stole my snoball for his own

(okay, I'll grant you, I intended to share it, but just ended up giving it to him)

Date taken: March 16, 2015

Seizing the little moments (or, what God taught me through changed plans)

As I am sure you know, the best laid plans don't always (often? ever?)  turn out the way you hope they will. The Lord gently--or not so gently--reminded me that 

His plans are better than my plans this past fall.

It wasn't anything overtly 'spiritual' that happened. Nothing life changing.

But MY big plans had to change, and honestly, I wasn't very happy about it.

I was down-right ugly and mean about it. Yet God took my ugly, mean, selfish heart,

and softened it, and gave me new plans,

and new eyes to see, and precious, precious, precious things to enjoy.

Normally I wouldn't document it quite so closely, but I want to remember this 

in days where my selfishness rears its ugly head again.

Here's how it went down:

My two big kids were eligible this past fall to attend New Life Camp in north Raleigh.

NLC is a non-denominational Christian camp that provides all kinds of wonderful activities for children, including homeschool enrichment classes once or twice a week.

Baxter was old enough to attend in the fall, and Georgia had attended fall of 2013.

The spots for these classes fill up lightning fast.

I debated the classes I wanted the kids to have and I made sure to set the alarm on my phone to register when it opened last spring.

Do you know where we were living last spring? Jackson, TN.

Time zone: Central

When I set my alarm, I set it for Central Time, not Eastern Time. That one hour delay in registering meant the NLC classes THAT I WANTED were almost filled.

I cried, and probably swore silently, and tried not to throw the computer.

There were spots available, but either they were not for the classes I WANTED 

or there were not two spots available.

Lo, and behold, as I searched, I found two slots for an afternoon class.

Again, it was not what I WANTED, but I took it hoping that other spots would open up.

See, the reason I didn't want the afternoon class was because I had this grand plan worked out in my head. My big two kids were going to take two classes in the morning at NLC. 

They would also stay for lunch. That is about 3.5 hours that they would be busy.

I was planning to hire a babysitter for the little two, and 

once a week or twice a month at least I would have 3.5 hours alone.

Me, alone, without the kids. Time to shop alone. Go to Jubala alone. 

Sit in the van and read alone if I want. It was MY PLAN.

The classes never opened up like I wanted. I never hired a babysitter like I planned.

Instead, from 12-2 every Thursday for approximately ten weeks,

I had time with just my two littles.

I am a stay at home mom who homeschools. It is a honest and hard thing 

that my children do not always get individual time with me.

This time with the little two became precious.

Eleanor especially delighted in it. We most often spent the time at Lafayette Village,

enjoying coffee from Jubala, and cupcakes from Upper Crust Bakery,

and popping into Savory Spice Shop just to taste their spices.

When the weather was pleasant, E and F would run their little hearts out

on the lawn of the shopping center.

Sometimes we ran errands or bought groceries, but most often

we just returned to the coffee shop and savored our time together.

It was precious. And this spring, instead of reverting back to my original plans,

I kept the same schedule as the fall.

Why? Because now I look forward to the time with my littles.

I want to hang out over coffee with them, and watch them laugh as they run around in circles.

Eleanor will be bigger soon, and able to attend classes with her siblings

before I can even blink my eyes. I long for her to treasure her time with her momma

when she is older, so I need to build that in now.

I rejoice that the Lord overruled my selfish plans, and gave me these uninterrupted

little moments with my smallest kiddos.

Sometimes I forget to talk to them, treasure them, just BE with them.

But for a couple of hours on most Thursdays, I have that chance.

To God be the Glory.

Date taken: November 20, 2014

Homemade Hot Chocolate

Few things are better than hot chocolate on a cold day

And the best hot chocolate is the kind made on your stove!!

Thanks to my Hershey's Chocolate Cookbook for this recipe

Hot Chocolate 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 cup sugar

dash salt

1/3 cup hot water

4 cups warm milk

3/4 tsp vanilla

Instructions:

In saucepan on the stove, combine cocoa, sugar, salt and water. Heat to boiling and boil for two minutes, stirring constantly. Add in warmed milk and heat until desirable temperature (do NOT boil). Take off heat and stir in vanilla. You can whisk it to make it frothy if desired.  Additional ideas: top with whipped cream, stick a candycane on the end of the mug (and use peppermint flavoring), add cinnamon and nutmeg to the first step, substitute maple or orange flavoring for vanilla. The possibilities are endless!!

I have made homemade hot chocolate three days in a row this week!

I have no more milk in my house, but I have happy children and a happy spouse

Totally worth the extra effort

Blue Jay Point Park

Flashback: 

In the fall we spent a beautiful morning hiking at Blue Jay Point Park

The Finnlings loved it!

We can spot the point every time we drive to church,

and they point and yell "There's Blue Jay Point!!"

Thankful for beautiful scenery, hiking trails, and memories being made

Date taken: October 8, 2014

Christmas Eve at the Finn house - 2014

 The Finnlings are completely like this on Christmas Eve:

See? 

(no Finnlings were harmed in the making of this picture)

 This was our Christmas Eve dinner at Waffle House. It's a fun treat.

Then we came home to open one present--pajamas--and watch Miracle on 34th Street for the kids' first time! It was so much fun.

Our HOUSE is for sale!!

Life in the Finn land--in addition to wrapping up summer activities,

preparing for the new semester to start,

we decided to put our house up for sale!

Right now it is For Sale By Owner,

and we have already had a few showings.

Pray for this to be a smooth, peaceful, relatively easy process.

And please know--we are NOT leaving this area. Wake Forest and SEBTS are home.

We just need a different space.

Curious about our house? I have a blog for that:

http://205amarylliswaywf.blogspot.com

Back in Wake Forest!!!

Hi y'all!!

The Finns are BACK in Wake Forest!

~And there was much rejoicing~

LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of rejoicing!

Thanks for your patience with my lack of blogging. My computer crashed and then summer started and then we moved back to Wake Forest. Maybe, should time allow, I will catch up some. We shall see. Just know that the Finn family has returned to Wake Forest after a wonderful sabbatical in Tennessee, and we are thrilled to be in our home, with our church, and serving at SEBTS.

Until the next post...

Finn Family Fun In Frankfort, pt. 1

For Memorial Day Weekend, we drove up to Kentucky and visited our friends the Weavers. Nathan and Steve have known each other for years, but this was the first time the wives and children met. Steve asked Nathan to preach at his church on Sunday, and to spend the weekend seeing historical sites around Frankfort. Since Nathan is teaching a class in Lousiville this week, it was the perfect 'add-on'. Steve and Gretta have six kids so for our outings we piled into the hutch can! It was a lot of fun to see all the sites and I get to know this sweet family. He Finnlings love the Weaver children and were so sad when we left. We look forward to the next time we can visit with them!

Lots of kids in a van:

Visiting the 'new' state Capitol and governor's mansion:

Seriously, when did we become the grownups with four big kids? That seems surreal:

Baxter loved these steps!

Fuller, being the youngest, was doted on a good bit:

Governor's mansion:

Georgia and her new best friend for always:-)

Flowers:

Gorgeous mansion:

Fun at the fountain:

Downtown Frankfort (which is adorable and has some great shops!)

My laptop has died so I am posting this from a Blogger app on my phone. I have no idea if it will turn out well, so bear with me:-)