Family - Ellen Chauvin | Soaked & Sprouting

One Man’s Trash – A Christmas Gift of Love

December 19, 2014 by Ellen 21 Comments

Eyes wide, I tiptoed toward the Christmas tree. Slowly I moved closer. That’s when I saw it – the most beautiful doll cradle I had ever seen. I could hardly believe it was mine. Santa must have left it at the wrong house!

Reaching out my hand, I touched the cradle and gave it a gentle push. It rocked slowly, causing the white-as-snow fabric that skirted it, to sway slightly. I peeked inside and saw a miniature pillow, covered in matching white eyelet fabric. My eyes sparkled at the thought of my sweet baby doll’s head sleeping on this pillow.

Lifting the fabric skirt, I took a look underneath at the cradle. The smell of fresh paint wafted up. Ah, fresh paint! The white cradle and rockers had to be brand new, with that smell. I hardly noticed the patched holes in the wicker. This baby doll cradle was so much newer and nicer than the one my Mama had picked up off a trash pile a few weeks ago!

Years later, Mama told me the story of that cradle. One of our neighbors had evidently cleaned out all their closets. There was a large trash pile in front of their house. Driving past, something caught Mama’s eye. She pulled to the side of the road, and I watched as she plucked something from the top of the mound. It was an old battered doll cradle. The once-white wicker had turned a weathered gray, with many holes in the sides. The rocking cradles were broken. What I saw was just a piece of junk on the top of the heap. But Mama saw the beauty in it.

In the evenings, after my brother and I had gone to bed, Mama and Daddy became Santa’s elves. Daddy cut and sanded two new rockers and put a fresh coat of paint, while Mama patched the wicker and sewed the eyelet skirt and pillow. They worked and worked until the doll cradle looked brand new.

It was the most beautiful gift – so full of love. And isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

Doesn’t Jesus do the same for us? He picks us up off the trash pile of life. He pours His love over us, like a fresh coat of paint. He puts a new heart and a new spirit in us. He patches the holes of our hurts, and gives us renewed strength for this rocky life. He cradles us. Jesus doesn’t see us as the broken and torn people that we are – He sees the beauty of who we can be in Him. And He works and works on us until we are brand new.

What a beautiful gift of love.

And isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

Merry Christmas!

Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Linking up with The Weekend Brew and Testimony Tuesday

First Friday Favorite: Ellen’s WF Spinach Dip

December 5, 2014 by Ellen 14 Comments

First Friday in December! It’s that time of year for gathering with friends and family to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

And what’s a Christmas gathering without food? To kick off the season, this First Friday Favorite will be shared on the blog as well as Facebook and Twitter.

Many, many people have asked for my WF (World’s Famous. At least it’s famous in my little world!) Spinach Dip recipe:

Ellen’s WF Spinach Dip

Begin with a packet of Knorr Dry Vegetable recipe mix (1.4 oz). This will have the recipe for Spinach Dip on the back. You will also need a pen, to cross out original ingredients and write in my WF amounts.
Thaw the spinach. The recipe calls for 1-10 oz. package. I used twice the amount, because I like my dip “spinach-y”. Lately, it’s been hard to find the regular box of frozen spinach. I’ve had to purchase a bag of spinach, and “guestimate”. If you have to do this, I wish you Bon Appetite! Which loosely translated, means “good luck with that!”
Drain the spinach. I saw a neat trick on Food Network that made draining the spinach easy-peasy: Use a cloth and wring it out! Now, you don’t want just any old cloth, like a wash cloth, because you would have all sorts of lint in your dip. If you use a green lint-y cloth, I suppose it wouldn’t matter that much, but try to find something like cheese cloth or a barkeep cloth for glasses. Put the spinach in the cloth, and twist until drained.
Combine spinach and Knorr mix. Add 8 oz. sour cream. The recipe calls for 16 oz., but cut that in half. You’ll make up for it in a bit. Mix with a fork to break up your ball of spinach.
Add in 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise (recipe calls for 1 cup, but you need to make up for the sour cream). Now, you can’t use that salad dressing stuff that looks like mayonnaise. You must use real mayo, like Blue Plate or Hellman’s! And if you feel guilty adding so much mayonnaise, get the kind that has Omega 3. At least you’ll be heart healthy!
Optional: 1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, chopped and drained; 3 green onions, chopped.
Chill about 2 hours, then serve with Fritoes Scoops or Ritz crackers. Voila!