The Concert

“The Concert”

“When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive

Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing."

Then, leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child, and he added a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed what could have been a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience.

The audience was so mesmerized that they couldn't recall what else the great master played. Only the classic, " Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

Perhaps that's the way it is with God. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren't always graceful flowing music. However, with the hand of the Master, our life's work can truly be beautiful.

The next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You may hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, "Don't quit." "Keep playing."“

I found this story yesterday amongst the many bits and pieces I like to collect, thinking that they may come in handy one day. I don’t know how true it is really. I mean, how many mothers, in this day and age, would leave a child unattended anywhere?? Not many! However, I did love the sentiments it expressed about the voice of the “Master.”

It reminds me that, no matter what problems I may be facing in this life, or challenges . . . the Master is always with me, encouraging me, prodding me on, helping me to face the things I don’t have the courage or the strength to face all on my own.

With Him, “All things are possible,” and through Him “I can do all things.”

When I used to work at the Care Home I often went about my duties humming hymns beneath my breath and when nobody was about I often sang them out loud. They helped me to pass the time and reminded me constantly that, even if the job was not something that I wanted to be doing for the rest of my life, for the time being it was what I had to do, and I could do it to the Glory of God, and to please Him. It gave me the extra strength I needed to clean countless bathrooms and toilets and bedrooms in a place where it was not always the nicest place to have to do that sort of thing, and it helped me to be able to do it with a cheery disposition and a song in my heart. I think that was really important, as those people that lived in that home really needed people that were uplifting around them, not people who really wanted to be someplace else.

I can look back on quite a few times in my life where I can clearly see, in retrospect, the Master’s hands at work in my life and I can hear His voice clearly whispering in my ear. It is only when I ceased to listen that I ran in to trouble and my ship ran aground. Thankfully, He is the forgiving sort and has always been there to pick me up, no matter how many times I may have fallen!!!

What do you make for dinner when you’re totally lacking in time, inspiration and it’s getting near to the end of the month and your wallet is looking a bit slim??? Why . . . Tomato Dumplings of course! These are great as a side dish to almost anything or even great on their own, which is how we often have them. They’re totally delicious!

*Tomato Dumplings*

Serves 4-6 Printable Recipe

Lightly and fluffy and wonderfully savoury dumplings floating on a delicious sea of a robust and tasty tomato sauce. What’s not to like about these lovely taste tempting babies?

½ cup peeled and finely chopped onion

¼ cup finely chopped green pepper

¼ cup finely chopped celery

¼ cup butter

1 bay leaf, broken in half

28 ounces of tinned chopped tomatoes, in their juices, undrained

1 TBS soft light brown sugar, packed

½ tsp dried basil

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

For the Dumplings:

1 cup plain flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp of Italian garlic seasoning

1 TBS cold butter

1 TBS snipped fresh parsley

2/3 cup of milk

Melt the butter in a large skillet (with a lid) over medium high heat. Whenit begins to sizzle add the onion, pepper and celery. Cook, stirring, until they are tender. Add the bay leaf, tomatoes, brown sugar, basil, salt and pepper. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Make the dumplings as follows.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and garlic seasoning together in a bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the parsley and then finally stir in the milk, mixing it only until mixed together and all the dry ingredients are uniformly moist.

Remove the lid from the simmering tomato mixture and drop the dumpling batter onto the top of the simmer liquid by tablespoonfuls. Cover tightly with a lid and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes without peeking, until a toothpick inserted into one of the dumplings comes out clean and they look set and somewhat dry on top. Serve immediately, spooned out onto warm plates.