~ December 11th Last Day of Classes

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1 T H E M A S T E R ' S S E M I N A R Y W I V E S D I S C I P L E S H I P December Edition your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3b Upcoming Events December 3rd ASB Christmas Chapel ~ December 11th Last Day of Classes ~ January 12th Beginning of Spring Semester ~ January 20th Opening SemWives Meeting the distaff She stretches out her hands to the distaff Proverbs 31:19a Sleep, Jesus, Sleep Celebrating Our Savior s Birth Sleep, Jesus, sleep, We ve come to see You who never closed Your eyes, Watching over earth and skies, Now in frail humanity Must sleep. Sleep, newborn King. We ll gently sing. You who reigns forevermore, Ruling as the Lord of lords, You who never had a need, Must sleep. Sovereign One, Born as Mary s son, Prince of Peace, One day You ll deliver me, Deliver me. But now sleep, Son of God. We ll watch in awe. You ll fulfill the Father s plan, Reconciling God and man, Now Your promises to keep, Must sleep. Rich Dalmas These lyrics accompany the song "Sleep, Jesus, Sleep" from the Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man album, Sovereign Grace Ministries.

2 Christmas Recipes from Our SemWives Irish Banoffee Pie Submitted by Jenny McClaughlin, wife of Jonathan McClaughlin The Distaff December Make the toffee by boiling a closed can of condensed milk submerged under water for 3 hours. Make sure the can is always covered with water. (This is the most important part, as it may explode if left dry. Top up the water in the pan every 30/45 minutes). Allow the can to cool completely.* Make or buy a graham cracker pie crust. Using sliced bananas create a layer (approximately 1/4 deep) of bananas on top of the crust. Pour condensed milk (now a darker brown toffee) on top and spread evenly. Refrigerate for a few hours to set. Cover the pie with whipped cream. Decorate with crushed or grated chocolate bits or chocolate syrup and sliced banana. Refrigerate again to allow the cream to set. *Alternatively, you can use a can of Dulce de Leche. Molten Chocolate Cakes Submitted by Melanie Hu, wife of Wayne Hu Ingredients: 4 tbsp unsalted butter - room temperature, plus extra for muffin tin 1/3 cup sugar, plus extra for muffin tin 3 large eggs 1/3 cup flour dash of salt 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate - melted optional: whipped cream, berries, vanilla ice cream Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 6 cup muffin tin, dust with sugar. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Reduce speed, and beat in flour and salt. Beat in melted chocolate. Divide batter among muffin cups. Pour directly into buttered, sugared muffin cups. Place muffin tin on a baking sheet. Bake until cakes no longer jiggle when tin is shaken, 8-10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Serve with whipped cream and berries or with vanilla ice cream The following is a side dish crock-pot recipe that we often enjoy taking to large holiday gatherings. It is easily doubled for a larger crock-pot. It is great when there is limited oven space but you want to serve things hot. Creamy Scalloped Potatoes Submitted by Joani McKinney, wife of Bryan McKinney Ingredients about 6 medium potatoes 1 small onion, thinly sliced 1/4 cup flour 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 2 tablespoons butter /4 ounce can cream of mushroom soup 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese Pare and thinly slice potatoes. Toss slices in 1 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar. Drain. Put half of sliced potatoes in greased crock-pot. Top with half of onion slices, flour, salt and pepper. Top with half of grated cheese. Add remaining sliced potatoes and onions. Sprinkle with remaining flour. Add butter and undiluted soup spread over top. Cover and cook on low 7-9 hours or on high 3-4 hours. Add remaining cheese 30 minutes before serving. Double recipe for 5 qt. crock-pot.

3 Christmas Tips Submitted by: Lai Swillum, wife of TMS student Brian Swillum Memorize verses from Luke 2 as a family. Bake cookies in the morning, but don t let anyone have a taste. After dinner go out to see lights on houses. Come home and have those homemade cookies with milk or hot cocoa! Starting December 1st fill a special stocking just for your husband. Put something fun in the stocking every [week] day: a piece of candy, a pack of gum, a drink he likes, a new pair of socks, a special note, a Bible verse, a gift card to a favorite fast food restaurant where he can get breakfast before going to school or work. Be creative!!! Start a 100 piece to 1000 piece puzzle on December 1 st and try to finish it by the end of December. Have dinner by candlelight. The Distaff December Make a potato stamp. Cut a potato in half and cut out a design such as a star or Christmas tree. Let your children dip the potato cut-out stamp in paint to decorate plain white paper (for wrapping paper) or paper bags (to put homemade goodies in or to make a picture). Make a stained glass ornament. Make a Christmas woven placemat out of construction paper. Use green, red, and white, or two shades of green and red. Then get it laminated! crafts/37251.html Check out these lovely and wonderful picture books from the library or buy them online. They are picture books that all ages would enjoy: Annika s Secret Wish by Beverly Lewis The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski The Candymaker s Gift by David and Helen Haidle Get Focus on the Family s Radio Theatre s A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Pop popcorn, turn the lights out, light a candle, get cozy with a blanket, and listen as a family. Bake cookies and bring them to neighbors. There are even nativity cookie cutters you can buy: Find recipes to make jar mixes to give as gifts. There are more than just cookie mixes! Look online for recipes. Here s one site: Pick four cultures different from your own and learn about the ways they celebrate the birth of Jesus. Each week before Christmas add some of these different celebration ideas into your own family festivities. Also take time to learn about a missionary serving people from those cultures. After dinner each night pray for the missionary/missionaries and ask the Lord to send more laborers into that harvest field.

4 Following In Faith Submitted by: Carrie Ring, wife of TMS student Creighton Ring The Distaff December Have you ever wondered where God is taking you and your family, or how your situation is going to work out, or even questioned where God is in the situation? That s where my husband, Creighton, and I were over a year ago as we prepared to transition from Illinois to Los Angeles so that Creighton could attend The Master s Seminary. At the time Creighton was working as a corporate pilot and the nature of his job made it difficult to be part of any ministry. We prayed and asked God for His leading. God used many circumstances and people to show us that He was directing us to seminary, but which one? There were so many, even right where we were living in Chicago. The Master s Seminary was a top choice, but I really did not want to trust God with this option. As we continued to pray about God s will, I went through all the emotions of why I could not go to L.A. But God was faithful to continue working on my heart, and one day I reached the point where I realized that we had to put The Master s Seminary back on the table, or else we wouldn t be fully submitted to God s will for our lives. That same night Creighton received word about a job position in Los Angeles which would allow for us to attend seminary! As we were preparing for the great transition, God arranged a detour that was certainly not our choice, but clearly something He had in mind for our lives. Creighton's boss called and told us that he would be putting his flight department in Las Vegas, Nevada instead of L.A. Now I was faced with yet another decision: Would I continue to trust God s providence and leading even when our move now didn t seem to make sense? Our six months in Nevada allowed God to work out yet another plan that He had laid on my husband s heart the desire to adopt a child and provide a loving home. I confess that this was not really an option that I had been willing to consider, since I had been adopted and knew the challenges involved. In addition, we already had two other children. I now realize that my fears about adoption were based on selfish pride; I chose to worry about what I could or could not provide, rather than leaning on God s provision and sovereignty over my life. Out of fear I put several conditions on any possible adoption, conditions that I thought could never possibly occur. God s sovereign hand in arranging that all of these conditions were met led me to see that He was directing us toward adoption. Through our realtors in Nevada we met a young woman who was pregnant and had decided adoption was the best choice. This girl later asked us if we would be willing to take the baby! We said Yes to God, and Julia Faith was born three months later. She is now a beautiful, healthy one year old. As soon as the adoption was completed, God provided for us to move to L.A. We experienced many challenges after saying Yes to God s call to seminary, but God is sovereign over every circumstance! I am learning to trust God in all situations even when I do not understand. He is teaching me that He understands my needs better than I do. May you be encouraged as God brings seeming detours into your life and the blessings that will come with your own Julia Faith stories. The Ring Family

5 The Distaff 5 December 2009 Instruments in the Redeemer s Hands by Paul David Tripp Reviewed by: Jayme Stiles, wife of TMS student Ken Stiles Have you ever received a phone call from a friend asking for counsel and you just did not know the right words to say, or even the necessary approach to take? I certainly have, and my desire to be able to counsel biblically in these types of situations is what led me to read Instruments in the Redeemer s Hands by Paul David Tripp. Tripp describes his book as a call to live a daily ministry lifestyle rooted in God s Word (p. 271). He points out that all Christians counsel others whether they realize it or not. Given this fact, he encourages us to counsel using the Gospel since, change is possible because the King has come (p. 6). The author introduces four important elements of biblical ministry: love, know, speak, and do. He provides practical ways to implement each element in the Christian s daily life. I was convicted by Tripp s exhortation to humbly examine our own hearts for sin before confronting another person. He states, Proper biblical confrontation is never motivated by impatience, frustration, hurt, or anger (p. 208). He also points out that we who desire to give wise counsel need God s grace just as much as the people we are helping, which is another humbling thought. This book is filled with practical counseling wisdom for any Christian, including questions for targeting heart motives, strategies for data gathering, and much more! The book s message is summarized by Tripp s statement, Personal ministry is not about always knowing what to say. It is not about fixing everything in sight that is broken. Personal ministry is about connecting people with Christ so that they are able to think as He would have them think, desire what He says is best, and do what He calls them to do even if their circumstances never get fixed (p. 184). I would highly recommend this book to any Christian who desires to be better equipped to counsel biblically. It has helped to change my view of counseling from focusing on people s circumstances to focusing on their attitudes and responses in the midst of the circumstances. Tripp, Paul David. Instruments in the Redeemer s Hands. P&R Publishing, pp.

6 The Distaff 6 December 2009 Wise Words for Wise Women I cannot pray but I sin. I cannot preach to you or any others but I sin. I can do nothing without sin; and, as one expresses it, my repentance wants to be repented of, and my tears to be washed in the precious blood of my dear Redeemer. Our best duties are as so many splendid sins. - George Whitefield This quote leaves no room for pride in our good works but reminds us of our desperate need for Christ's righteousness and the glorious hope we find in His precious blood shed for us. Submitted by Christina Roe, wife of TMS Student Michael Roe We want to say a special thank you to Jody Sauder for her faithful ministry with The Distaff this past year. We will pray for Jody and her husband, Kevin, as they return to Illinois this month to serve in Kevin s home church. The Distaff Coordinators: Barbara Barrick, wife of Dr. Bill Barrick and Janice Osborne, wife of Dr. Kelly Osborne The Distaff Layout Editor: Christy Sherban, wife of Alan Sherban, TMS student TMS Seminary Wives Disclaimer: While we recommend many different resources for your consideration we also encourage you, the reader, to be like the Bereans who could receive a message (book) with eagerness and then examine the message against the truth of Scripture. ~ Acts 17:11