"The Patience of Faith"

This morning while enjoying some time with the Lord before work, I felt compelled to open my copy of My Utmost for His Highest and read the devotional for the day. I haven't done that in quite some time, so I figured God must have something to say to me. And He did. As I was flipping through the pages to reach the May 18 entry, the book fell open to May 8 and a quick glance showed me that was what I was supposed to read--not today's entry (although I did read it as well). It both encouraged and convicted me, so I thought I would share it.

The Patience of Faith 

"Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says--'I cannot stand any more.' God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God's hands. For what have you need of patience just now? Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. 'Though he slay me, yet will I wait for him.'

Faith is not a pathetic sentiment, but robust vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. You cannot see Him just now, you cannot understand what He is doing, but you know Him. Shipwreck occurs when there is not that mental poise which comes from being established on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the heroic effort of your life; you fling yourself in reckless confidence on God.

God has ventured all in Jesus Christ to save us, now He wants us to venture our all in abandoned confidence in Him. There are spots where that faith has not worked in us as yet, places untouched by the life of God. There were none of those spots in Jesus Christ's life, and there are to be none in ours. 'This is life eternal, that they might know Thee.' The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we take this view, life becomes one great romance, a glorious opportunity for seeing marvelous things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power."

- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, "May 8" (emphasis mine)

One of the reasons the entry caught my eye is because some of the sentences were underlined and highlighted. So I've obviously read it before--but needed to hear it again today. I love how God will bring the right words into our lives at the right time--if we'll only have our ears open to hear them. Goodness knows I've missed countless opportunities to hear the Lord and converse with Him, but I'm glad I didn't this time.

My prayer for myself, and for each of you reading this, is that we will grow in relationship with the Lord and be "sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1) as we live out the gospel of Jesus Christ and find our true foundation in Him.

Grace and peace be with you!

A little April Fools' fun

(Please forgive the delay in getting this posted--I tried to post it Friday night... and for days afterward...but my computer and Blogger weren't getting along for some weird reason. Those problems finally seem to be resolved.)

Today is April Fools' Day--a "holiday" that usually comes and goes without any true acknowledgement on my part, other than extra vigilance to be discerning on Facebook and in everyday life. It just kind of bugs me that for an entire day I don't feel like I can trust what I hear or see. I'm not opposed to a good, fun prank on April Fools' or any other day--it's the words intended to deceive that personally don't sit well with me.

But... that being said, I'm not opposed to a little playful April Fools' fun that isn't blatantly deceitful. And as those of you who know me are aware, I love any good excuse to bake.

So I made these and took them to work.

I spotted the instructions for these in a cupcake book I own and thought they were too cute. I've wanted to make them, but when is one going to have an opportunity to bake something like that but on April Fools'? So I decided to make some and take them to work.

My co-workers loved them so much that our marketing department took pictures of them and posted them on the WBIR fan page on Facebook!

They look sort of complicated, but they're really not.

The "spaghetti and meatballs" are regular cupcakes with vanilla icing tinted and piped to look like spaghetti noodles, topped with strawberry preserves for spaghetti sauce and Ferraro Rocher chocolates for meatballs. Some thin white chocolate shavings sprinkled on top gave the appearance of parmesan cheese.

The "corn on the cobs" are regular cupcakes with vanilla icing, a combination of Jelly Belly (I used the lemon, pina colada and french vanilla flavors--the buttered popcorn ones have a good "corn" appearance, but I think they taste nasty) and Starburst jellybeans (I ran out of Jelly Bellys, so one of the corn on the cobs looks a little overdone), lemon Starburst candy for a pad of butter and colored sugar for salt and pepper. Arrange the cupcakes into sets of three and stick some actual corn on the cob holders into the outer sides of the trio to complete the look.

For more information on these cupcakes or some other super cute ideas, check out the book "Hello Cupcake" by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. These ideas came from that book. "What's New, Cupcake?" is also a great resource if you enjoy making cupcakes.

Flash flooding hits Knoxville

Anyone who has lived here in East Tennessee through at least one season knows that we experience a wide range of weather elements. And since I've lived here for the vast majority of my life, I've grown accustomed to it. Aside from extended periods of either excessive heat or excessive cold, I like the weather in East Tennessee and there isn't a lot about it that surprises me anymore. I'm used to the roller coaster ride.

But the aftermath of a storm system that moved through yesterday is unlike anything I've ever seen in Knoxville.

It was clear over the weekend and early Monday morning that the system moving through the area would have the potential to produce strong thunderstorms. So when I thought about the possible damage and aftermath from the storm, I was more concerned about downed trees, high winds and maybe even an isolated tornado or two in parts of East Tennessee. As the storm approached, in my mind it seemed those concerns were well founded.

By midday, the skies had turned creepy dark. It looked more like 6 p.m. instead of noon. I haven't been scared of thunderstorms since I was a young girl, but seeing a particularly strong-looking storm brewing can sometimes gives me an unsettled and vulnerable feeling. It's a reminder that some things (actually a lot of things) in life truly are completely beyond our control--and we can only trust God to protect us.

I produced the 6 p.m. newscast so I was at work for the duration of the storm. A number of people in our newsroom noted that the unsettling warm temperatures and dark skies greatly resembled the conditions on November 10, 2002, when another thunderstorm during the winter months sparked a tornado outbreak in Morgan County that killed seven people and destroyed dozens of homes in the Mossy Grove community. I know I wasn't the only one concerned that a similar situation could unfold on the Cumberland Plateau.

But we were wrong. The skies opened up around lunch time and it soon became apparent that the sustained torrential downpours that we were seeing were going to create an entirely different, but very real threat--flash flooding.

We went on air with sustained weather and flooding coverage (we call it wall-to-wall weather) around 1 p.m. and stayed on all afternoon, continuing to include extended forecast information and live reports in all our early evening newscasts.

As the videos and pictures and reports started coming in, I couldn't believe it. Drivers were stranded and having to be rescued from their cars all across the city--not just in the typical flood-prone areas. Students and staff got stuck inside an east Knox County middle school for a few hours because rising waters covered the road to the building. Popular parks and greenways were completely underwater. Dumpsters floated through parking lots near one of my favorite restaurants in Fountain City. Some homes were washed off their foundations. Parts of a busy state highway that I drive nearly everyday were completely submerged thanks to a normally tranquil creek that crested into a raging mini river. It all seemed surreal. Those are the kind of images that I'm accustomed to seeing on national news--not literally right up the street. I've lived here since December 1991, and I don't remember ever seeing Knoxville flood like this.

In typical flash-flood fashion, the waters began to recede within a few hours--leaving behind messes and heartbreak. Fortunately, no one in East Tennessee died in the storm. But Second Harvest Food Bank lost a lot of its inventory and sustained expensive damage when floodwaters swept through its warehouse. Dozens of people lost their cars, belongings--and in some cases, even their homes--while others are dealing with damage. I'm sure there will be many interesting and sad stories to tell in the days to come.

The experience was also interesting from a journalist's perspective. I've been a part of snow coverage several times--but I'd managed to miss out on sustained severe thunderstorm coverage until yesterday.

It was a little bit of new territory, although very similar to other situations I've been in. After two years of working weekends in news, I've gotten used to the occasional sustained winter weather coverage and the live shots, road condition updates, school closings, route changes and flight delays that come along with it. But thunderstorms involve more elements. There are a lot more weather elements to talk about (rainfall totals, winds, storm strength, tornado risks, lightning, etc.) and a lot more potential news elements (flooding, downed trees and power lines, lightning strikes, mudslides, rockslides, potential lightning-sparked fires, etc.).

One thing that didn't surprise me is our station's response. I am blessed to work with a great bunch of people who also happen to be excellent journalists. So even though some of the particulars of the situation were new to me, the general atmosphere was not. It was definitely a little chaotic and crazy at times, as breaking news situations always are. But as always, everyone's focus was on working as hard as we could as a team to report the news with truth, accuracy and excellence, give people they information they need to make informed decisions about their personal welfare and safety and that of their loved ones--and do it all straight from the heart. And as always, our team rose to the occasion. I work with the best!

Lemon Bars

I love baking!

Most of my "creations" are the result of finding a solid recipe and keeping it around to be used over and over (although I am starting to play around with recipes more than I used to). But today I am proud to share with you one of the first recipes I've ever made uniquely "mine."

A few years ago, I discovered the dessert delight known as the lemon bar and I was immediately a fan. There's just something about the flavor of lemon that is refreshing in a dessert!

Freshly washed lemons, ready to be grated and squeezed

The first time I made lemon bars, I followed a Taste of Home recipe. They were good, but when I bit into them, I immediately knew the recipe could be altered to taste even better.

So I did some tweaking and added and changed some ingredients until the recipe was distinctly different and achieved the taste I wanted.

And here is the result! There's one key ingredient that makes this recipe uniquely different from other traditional ones. See if you can find it.

Liz's Lemon Bars

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Filling:

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

4 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

6 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest

Additional confectioners' sugar

Cut the flour, butter, confectioners' sugar and vanilla with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles fine or small crumbs. Pat into an 8 X 13 pan greased with baking spray (the new nonstick spray that contains flour--it works like a dream for baked goods and it's a lot less messy than shortening and flour!). Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

To prepare filling, beat eggs and add sugar, flour, baking powder, lemon juice and lemon zest. Beat until frothy.

Pour filling over crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before cutting into bars. Dust cut bars with additional confectioners' sugar.

Cut crust mixture, ready to be pressed into the pan

Freshly grated lemon zest

Did you find it? The vanilla extract is my "secret" ingredient! I've looked at several other lemon bar recipes and vanilla is not included in them. But I'm a huge fan of vanilla and think it makes a big difference in this recipe.

I also recently tried changing the recipe somewhat to make it gluten-free, as a birthday gift for my friend Wendy. They weren't quite the same as the regular version, but still turned out well. So here's that recipe:

Gluten-free Lemon Bars

Crust:

2 cups multi-purpose gluten-free flour

1 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Filling:

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. gluten-free baking powder

6 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest

Prepare the recipe the same way as listed above, but use olive oil or vegetable oil to grease the pan instead of the baking spray.

Enjoy! :)

Happy Fall!

We switched over to fall at approximately 11:09 last night, so this is the first full day of the new season. I hope you had to chance to catch a glimpse of the "harvest moon" last night. It was gorgeous!

Unfortunately, although the calendar says it is fall, it certainly doesn't feel like it around here. We're still pushing 90-degree temperatures. But I know the cooler temperatures will be here soon. (I *LOVE* the 60 and 70-degree temperatures of fall!)

I enjoy the changing of the seasons each time they roll around, but fall brings a special excitement with it. I can't wait for the leaves to start changing! God's creation puts on quite a beautiful show here in East Tennessee during the fall season!

And of course, there are plenty of other perks to autumn: pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin bread, lovely autumn-scented candles, hot apple cider, bonfires, relaxing by the fireplace... so much to enjoy! :)

I hope you have a great first full day of fall and enjoy the entire season to the max!

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park before the leaves peaked in fall 2008

Road trip

Our first day of vacation started dark and early. Katherine and I had agreed that I would meet at her house at 7:30 that morning, so I loaded up at 6:30 so I would have time to stop by Starbucks and grab some coffee on the way.

I loaded my remaining luggage into the car and turned my GPS on, ready to plug in Katherine's family's new address. As I turned the device on, it flashed a message up at me that said, "No maps available." "That's weird," I thought. I then realized with horror that when the map upgrade I'd tried to download before the trip had failed right at the end, it had cleared everything from my GPS. I had an atlas and had an idea of which interstates we needed to take--and Katherine has a GPS--so I wasn't worried about that. The problem was: I didn't know how to get to Katherine's new house. So our trip started off with me calling Katherine to get directions to their house.

I knew packing lightly didn't fit into my vocabulary (that's the problem with wanting to be prepared for practically anything--you tend to carry around too much stuff), but as we started loading everything into the car, I was embarrassed to realize just how much stuff we had--most of it mine. *laugh* I have got to learn to pack only the essentials when I'm traveling!

I trust technology--but not completely. ;) We followed the GPS, but kept the atlas handy.

Katherine took the first driving shift and we traded out in Spartansburg, SC.

Driving through North Carolina

Katherine behind the wheel

We drove for a while along I-26 and then Katherine's GPS directed us to get off the interstate. I didn't think anything about it at first. It directed us through a small town that reminded me a great deal of my parents' tiny hometown of LaGrange, Ga. Actually a lot of southeastern South Carolina reminded me of southern Georgia. Rural, relaxed and sprinkled with small towns. The highway continued to direct us down a two-lane highway (very similar to Highway 11E in East Tennessee) and then Katherine and I gradually began to realize that her GPS had directed us along a country route. It took longer, but it was pretty. We drove through lots of small farming communities and beautiful countryside.

One good thing about the longer, country route--it took us directly to Savannah, instead of bypassing it. We wanted to stop there and at least drive through the historic district, so that worked out perfectly. We stopped and took a bathroom break, then walked around the Savannah Visitor's Center quickly. The building is gorgeous. It's a restored, former train station and the architecture and design is beautiful. The Savannah College of Art and Design was across the parking lot. By that point though, our trip had already taken us several hours, so we didn't stick around too long. I would love to go back at some point though and spend a least a few days there.



Katherine and I drove through the historic area and then hopped back on the interstate, where we encountered bumper-to-bumper traffic for a good 30 minutes or so. It was around 5:30, so I'm not sure if that was commuter traffic headed out of Savannah or if there was some kind of accident. At any rate, we weren't going anywhere faster than a snail's pace.

We eventually moved beyond the traffic jam and continued down I-95 in southeastern Georgia. I love driving through that area. The landscape is dotted with the occasional Low Country-style, gorgeous homes and small towns, criss-crossed by dozens of small rivers, creeks and swamps. And in a way, I have a little bit of a claim on the area. My dad joined the Navy out of high school and served 8 years, working on nuclear submarines. For the last two years of his military career, he was stationed at the Kings Bay Naval Base in Kingsland/St. Mary's, Georgia. We moved there when I was almost 2 years old and left shortly after I turned 4.

Kingsland is about 45 minutes away from Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach, and although I was very young and don't really remember it, we used to go to the beach from time to time. So in a way, I have a connection with Amelia Island that goes back to my early childhood. We drove by the exits for Kingsland on the way down and I was surprised to notice as we drove by that the small, mostly military town now has a welcome center. Kingsland is moving up in the world...

Anyway, back to our journey. :) We finally arrived at Amelia Island and checked into out hotel around 8:30, about 12 hours after our trek began. But before we checked in, we drove out to the ocean for a quick peek.

One of my favorite things about approaching the ocean is looking ahead toward the water and catching that first glimpse of "the end of the road"--that point where the road ends and the ocean stretches out endlessly ahead. It sends a small thrill through me each time.

Katherine and I parked the car and stepped out into a heavenly sea breeze. We both inhaled deeply and smiled and squealed a little with delight as the wind blew our hair and we turned to look at the beautiful, mysterious ocean and the pretty white sand.



After sticking our feet in the ocean and letting the waves wash over them for a few minutes, we reluctantly walked back to the car and drove to the hotel, full of excitement and ideas for heading back to the beach the next morning.

We stayed at Residence Inn Amelia Island, only a few blocks away from one of the beach access points. It is a very nice hotel. Thanks to a nice discount my uncle secured for us at the hotel (he's a pastor and a member of his congregation works there), we stayed in a two-bedroom suite, complete with a full kitchen and separate bathrooms attached to each of the bedrooms (it was really nice to not have to take turns in the shower or getting ready!).

After unloading our stuff, we took a quick dip in the hotel's hot tub before settling in for the night and heading to bed.

Well, this is more than enough detail about our trip down to the beach! I'll start sharing about our adventures on the island in upcoming posts. :)

Long-awaited vacation

I'm typing this blog post while lounging on a couch (with my feet stretched out irreverently on the lounge chair a few feet away) in my vacation suite, only three blocks away from the beach.

That's right. I, Liz Overton, am at the beach. *happy sigh*

My friend Katherine and I traveled 9+ hours to lovely Amelia Island, home of Fernandina Beach, Florida. We arrived too late tonight to head to the beach, but did drive by, stick our feet in and inhale the sea breeze.

I haven't been to the beach in 12 years, despite the fact that I LOVE the ocean. (When I was about 11-12 years old, I was dead-set on being a marine biologist when I grew up. That dream didn't last long, but I still love the ocean and ocean animals.) And I haven't been outside of East Tennessee in years, let alone on a "real" vacation. So I am beside myself with excitement to be here!

I will post more about our road trip adventure down here, including pictures, tomorrow. But for now, we're here safe and sound, ready to hit the beach in the morning!