Guide You With My Eye

We here in the mski house have a breed of dog called German Shorthair Pointers. They are hunting dogs, and they are, in a word, intense. Rich’s dog Kimo was a great hunter. We have a picture of Kimo and Rich in the field – Rich is intensely focusing his gun on a bird, and Kimo is even more intensely leaning into Rich, focusing on him and looking where Rich is looking. It captures a focus, obedience, and concentration that is really beautiful. He is poised to go and retrieve said bird.

You could be jumping up and down next to the dog, and he wouldn’t notice. You could set off a bomb, and he wouldn’t notice. Everything in his being is concentrating on Rich and helping him hunt the bird.

Kimo is focusing on Rich and being guided by his eye.

Now, where there are dogs, there is poop around you. But Kimo is not focused on that. He is focused on his master.

Last week, God gave me this picture and I put it together with our Psalm from the previous Sunday. The Lord put the reading from that Sunday on my heart - I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye. – Psalm 32:8.

Being guided by someone’s eye is different than a person pointing, or shoving, or pushing you in the direction you should go.

It requires drawing near to and focusing on the person so you can see where to go.

It requires obedience.

It requires lifting your eyes from the people around you and poop below you and concentrating above, on the face of God, to see where He is guiding you.

My mother in law recently has had some problems that have landed her in a wheelchair for the time being. We are hopeful that with physical therapy she should regain mobility in a year’s time. Our teenage daughter was heading down to spend a week with her this summer, and a friend suggested that Naomi be told to watch her grandmother’s eyes. Focus on her eyes, and Naomi would know what she needed: if she needed a Kleenex, a drink, or wanted something done in the house.

What God spoke to me was to focus on Him. Seek His face. Watch His eyes. And He will guide us. Not with a loud voice, not with a stern pointing finger, not with a shove, but with His eyes. It requires effort on our part, but He is a gentle leader who will guide us with His eye.

The Psalmist continues, “Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you.” – Psalm 32:9

So, what does the Lord wants from us today, November 2007?

To seek His face. To look at Him. Not to focus on the poop below, or the people around, but to look at His face and to be guided by His eye.

Chicken Pot Pie Stew

I had a great version at the Souplantation, and did a test run of this dish - it's going to be the main dish at Naomi's family birthday party next Sunday. She loves a good chicken pot pie. I'll double this for a crowd of 20-ish. It came out pretty nicely, and was great for a cool fall Sunday. It was also nice for a day when everyone wanted to eat at their own dang time instead of all sit down nicely at the same moment; it's flexible that way. Not that I am bitter or anything.

The only problem with making this is it does take a long time to chop the raw chicken into little pieces. And I sure do hate chopping raw chicken. It gets all under your fingernails and such, yech. Other than that, the stew is a pretty good thing.

Chicken Pot Pie Stew
Serves 10

3 lbs. boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup butter
2 cans 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
4 cups frozen diced potatoes
4 cups frozen garden vegetables (carrots, corn, green beans - no peas, per Nomi's request. Although I think carrots, corn, peas mix would be better)
1 14 oz (ish) can of vegetable or chicken broth
1 tsp curry powder
black pepper to taste
1 tsp comino/cumin, if desired
garlic salt
flour
fat free milk

Frozen dinner rolls (or any rolls or biscuits)

Cook chicken, onion, and celery - sprinkle with garlic salt as it is cooking - and set aside. Melt butter in big soup pot. Add flour until it becomes a thick paste. Add milk until it becomes a thick sauce, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add cream soups, can of milk, and broth. Whisk, whisk. Put in frozen veggies, chicken, and seasonings. Cook on low heat until warmed through, then transfer to a crock pot and keep warm. Let people add salt to their own taste.

Warning - do not boil the soup on full boil, it will mess it up due to the milk. Try to keep it at a low bubble at most.

Serving suggestion: make frozen dinner rolls. Tear them in half and put in the bottom of a bowl, and ladle the chicken pot pie stew on top of it. Or, you can always serve it on top of that wonderful invention, steamed white rice.