Some Days You Just Have to Laugh
What an interesting day this has been! It's Wednesday here in Saipan. Monday and Tuesday I was in Guam, a short hop by airplane into another world. Guam is big, busy, and...I can't think of another "b" word, so I will go with beautiful. I stayed with beautiful people, that is! The military Reserve unit here on Saipan was unable to renew and update my military ID card, so I had to make a trip to Guam to get it done. I had been procrastinating because I couldn't perfectly imagine how I was going to get from the airport to the Air Base and back to where I would be staying the night without any idea of Guam's layout. When I go new places, I study and memorize maps well before I arrive on the ground. Yeah...they don't make maps anymore. You have to study Google maps, which just isn't the same as a good, old fashioned paper map you can make notes on and draw marker points on.
But I made it there and back, and had a GREAT time with new friends who taught me the way.
I didn't get a lot of schoolwork done while in Guam, figuring I would do the heavy work today after my early-morning exercise time. I used some of the birthday money my dad gave me for a membership at a gym/spa about a mile from my apartment. I met a friend early for exercise (6:30AM) and by 8 was ready to do my few errands and then hit the books hard. First errand was to get my tire pressure checked on my car as the low pressure indicator lit up on my way to the airport on Monday. Two tires were low. It cost a dollar to have them topped off so the light would go out. Then to the grocery store where I bought a kambocha squash, a zucchini, a can of coconut milk, and a beef soup bone. The kambocha looks and tastes exactly like a buttercup squash, and formed the basis for the Thai Red Curry Soup I intended to make myself before starting my studies. I intended to use the zucchini, coconut milk, a potato and onion I already had on my countertop, and pressure cook the beef bone for the broth. Several days of yumminess was in that shopping bag!
But first the mail. I went to the mailbox, got out of the car, looked at the "Closed" sign in the door (why????), and got back into my car. Nothing! The car was dead. The same thing had happened the week before so I knew what was wrong. A battery cable had jiggled loose again. I've been carrying a set of pliers in my purse ever since then (and forgot about it at the airport - TSA let it through both ways but not without giving me a lecture), and reached for my purse only to remember I had left it at the apartment because I didn't want to take the big purse to the gym. All I had with me was an old camera case into which I had put my phone, keys, drivers license, and one credit card. ~sigh
What to do? My friends all work. I have no family here. What to do?
I called the man who sold me the car and asked him who he uses for a mechanic. "Manny!" he said. I called Manny, who came right out and tightened the connection for me. I thanked him, said goodbye, glanced hopefully over at the post office----still closed---and drove home to make my Red Thai Curry Soup.
So, why am I telling you this loooong story about an unplanned series of events destined to ruin my day and keep me from finishing my school assignments? Because the series of unplanned events did neither. My day was not ruined by my tires going flat and my car going dead. Instead, it brought two needed resources into my world that makes Saipan an easier and safer place for me to live than had I not met the tire lady and the mechanic.
More than that, both the Guam trip and the series of unfortunate events taught me that fear can only immobilize you if you allow yourself to panic. Panic only happens if you allow your mind to skip too far forward into the unknown---which is where your mind naturally skips the minute you are thrown off balance---to the worst possible scenario. My mind wanted to go there when my car woundn’t start. Just being honest here. Mine skips that way also in the I-don't know-how-to-plan-for this category prior to stepping into the darkness, which would describe last week as I contemplated my Guam trip. For me, the cure for both conditions meant not looking quite so far into the future as my mind naturally wants to go when a panic situation drops in from nowhere. Instead of letting my mind wail, "Weeee're alllll going to dieeeee!", this time I forced my mind to figure out what was the next immediate step. What is the next step right now?
Today it was a simple thing. Get out of the car so I don't suffocate in the heat. Then, scroll through my phone contacts. Then, who might I call for advice or should I walk over to that cafe? Step by step. An idea came, then another, then another. A plan began to form. Suddenly the unknown was no longer a problem. Then the problem got fixed. And now I am looking at it in the rear view mirror, so to speak.
I am home now and have eaten lunch. My Red Curry Thai Soup turned out great, which I didn't know if it would or not since I made it up as I went along. Next, after I get done talking to you here, I will get busy on my schoolwork confident it will be done (or pretty close to done) by the time I go to bed tonight. Shall I write the Red Curry Thai Soup recipe for you at the bottom of this page? Okay, I will.
So, dear friends, in the words of Jesus, I urge you not to worry about the material needs of your life, what you will eat or wear or in my case how I will keep from getting lost in a new place or find help when my car quits, because, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Luke 12:22-34)
Not me for sure!
What a day this was! Really! Some days you just have to laugh! Today was one of those days for me. Yet, what a sense of both hope and confidence this day has produced in my life. I feel tonight as if I could go anywhere without fear and do anything the Lord Jesus calls me to do, because his strength and wisdom is more than adequate to conquer any difficulty that might come up in my life.
May your days likewise be filled with such hope!
Much love,
Amy
My address is:
Amy Trosen
Box 10002 PMB 1041
Saipan, MO 96950
I have a PayPal.Me account here.
Red Curry Thai Soup
Cover beef soup bones with water in Instant Pot and pressure cook high for 15 minutes.
Vent pressure. Remove bones and broth (reserve broth) leaving a cup of broth in Instant Pot. Steam vegetables (1 peeled winter squash cut into large chunks, 1 large diced zucchini, 1/2 onion quartered, 1 large potato large diced, 2 tsp salt and 1 TB black pepper) in Instant Pot steam pan for 10 minutes med on high pressure. Vent pressure. Remove steam pan. Remove and reserve broth.
Set Instant Pot to sautee.
Add butter.
Sautee for a couple minutes 1/2 diced onion, 2 tsp minced garlic, beef from bones finely shredded, 2 heaping teaspoons red curry paste.
Add reserved beef broth one ladle at a time, allowing the liquid to reduce for a minute or so before adding another ladle until all the broth is added.
Add steamed vegetables.
Turn off Instant Pot. Use immersion blender to CAREFULLY puree the vegetables.
Add 1 can coconut milk.
Taste. Add salt if necessary.
Squeeze 1/2 lime into soup.
Eat as soup or over rice. I prefer it as soup.
 |
| Red Curry Thai Soup |
But I made it there and back, and had a GREAT time with new friends who taught me the way.
 |
| Kambocha Squash |
I didn't get a lot of schoolwork done while in Guam, figuring I would do the heavy work today after my early-morning exercise time. I used some of the birthday money my dad gave me for a membership at a gym/spa about a mile from my apartment. I met a friend early for exercise (6:30AM) and by 8 was ready to do my few errands and then hit the books hard. First errand was to get my tire pressure checked on my car as the low pressure indicator lit up on my way to the airport on Monday. Two tires were low. It cost a dollar to have them topped off so the light would go out. Then to the grocery store where I bought a kambocha squash, a zucchini, a can of coconut milk, and a beef soup bone. The kambocha looks and tastes exactly like a buttercup squash, and formed the basis for the Thai Red Curry Soup I intended to make myself before starting my studies. I intended to use the zucchini, coconut milk, a potato and onion I already had on my countertop, and pressure cook the beef bone for the broth. Several days of yumminess was in that shopping bag!
But first the mail. I went to the mailbox, got out of the car, looked at the "Closed" sign in the door (why????), and got back into my car. Nothing! The car was dead. The same thing had happened the week before so I knew what was wrong. A battery cable had jiggled loose again. I've been carrying a set of pliers in my purse ever since then (and forgot about it at the airport - TSA let it through both ways but not without giving me a lecture), and reached for my purse only to remember I had left it at the apartment because I didn't want to take the big purse to the gym. All I had with me was an old camera case into which I had put my phone, keys, drivers license, and one credit card. ~sigh
What to do? My friends all work. I have no family here. What to do?
I called the man who sold me the car and asked him who he uses for a mechanic. "Manny!" he said. I called Manny, who came right out and tightened the connection for me. I thanked him, said goodbye, glanced hopefully over at the post office----still closed---and drove home to make my Red Thai Curry Soup.
So, why am I telling you this loooong story about an unplanned series of events destined to ruin my day and keep me from finishing my school assignments? Because the series of unplanned events did neither. My day was not ruined by my tires going flat and my car going dead. Instead, it brought two needed resources into my world that makes Saipan an easier and safer place for me to live than had I not met the tire lady and the mechanic.
More than that, both the Guam trip and the series of unfortunate events taught me that fear can only immobilize you if you allow yourself to panic. Panic only happens if you allow your mind to skip too far forward into the unknown---which is where your mind naturally skips the minute you are thrown off balance---to the worst possible scenario. My mind wanted to go there when my car woundn’t start. Just being honest here. Mine skips that way also in the I-don't know-how-to-plan-for this category prior to stepping into the darkness, which would describe last week as I contemplated my Guam trip. For me, the cure for both conditions meant not looking quite so far into the future as my mind naturally wants to go when a panic situation drops in from nowhere. Instead of letting my mind wail, "Weeee're alllll going to dieeeee!", this time I forced my mind to figure out what was the next immediate step. What is the next step right now?
Today it was a simple thing. Get out of the car so I don't suffocate in the heat. Then, scroll through my phone contacts. Then, who might I call for advice or should I walk over to that cafe? Step by step. An idea came, then another, then another. A plan began to form. Suddenly the unknown was no longer a problem. Then the problem got fixed. And now I am looking at it in the rear view mirror, so to speak.
I am home now and have eaten lunch. My Red Curry Thai Soup turned out great, which I didn't know if it would or not since I made it up as I went along. Next, after I get done talking to you here, I will get busy on my schoolwork confident it will be done (or pretty close to done) by the time I go to bed tonight. Shall I write the Red Curry Thai Soup recipe for you at the bottom of this page? Okay, I will.
So, dear friends, in the words of Jesus, I urge you not to worry about the material needs of your life, what you will eat or wear or in my case how I will keep from getting lost in a new place or find help when my car quits, because, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Luke 12:22-34)
Not me for sure!
What a day this was! Really! Some days you just have to laugh! Today was one of those days for me. Yet, what a sense of both hope and confidence this day has produced in my life. I feel tonight as if I could go anywhere without fear and do anything the Lord Jesus calls me to do, because his strength and wisdom is more than adequate to conquer any difficulty that might come up in my life.
May your days likewise be filled with such hope!
Much love,
Amy
My address is:
Amy Trosen
Box 10002 PMB 1041
Saipan, MO 96950
I have a PayPal.Me account here.
May God richly bless you for helping me do what God has called me to do here in Saipan. Be advised your gift is a personal gift and not tax deductible nor are you receiving from me any goods or services.
Red Curry Thai Soup
Cover beef soup bones with water in Instant Pot and pressure cook high for 15 minutes.
Vent pressure. Remove bones and broth (reserve broth) leaving a cup of broth in Instant Pot. Steam vegetables (1 peeled winter squash cut into large chunks, 1 large diced zucchini, 1/2 onion quartered, 1 large potato large diced, 2 tsp salt and 1 TB black pepper) in Instant Pot steam pan for 10 minutes med on high pressure. Vent pressure. Remove steam pan. Remove and reserve broth.
Set Instant Pot to sautee.
Add butter.
Sautee for a couple minutes 1/2 diced onion, 2 tsp minced garlic, beef from bones finely shredded, 2 heaping teaspoons red curry paste.
Add reserved beef broth one ladle at a time, allowing the liquid to reduce for a minute or so before adding another ladle until all the broth is added.
Add steamed vegetables.
Turn off Instant Pot. Use immersion blender to CAREFULLY puree the vegetables.
Add 1 can coconut milk.
Taste. Add salt if necessary.
Squeeze 1/2 lime into soup.
Eat as soup or over rice. I prefer it as soup.
Where exactly is Saipan?
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