Procrastination and Meatballs

Meatballs, originally uploaded by beyondhope.

Today I'm procrastinating. What else is new? We just returned from vacation and already my house is a mess. How did one small child ever accumulate so many toys? Toys strewn all over the place --every surface covered. But it's not just the toys...my art supplies have spilled out into the living room...and into the dining room...and into the kitchen. And I see a pair of Randy's socks next to the chair in the living room.

We're hosting a small group meeting or cell group or home group or whatever you want to call it on Friday evening. Which means, I can no longer put it off any longer --I have to clean my house. Thus far today, I've managed to telephone three people from my past --for very good reasons. One was to find the name of a book which a friend needs to use as a reference. The other was to find out if the number stored in my telephone was indeed their correct number and the third and most important was to call a friend from my former church home group to ask her for one of my favorite recipes.

Darlene used to serve these meatballs frequently at home group meetings. They are simple and easy. I thought I'd share the recipe with you all because that will require me to spend more time typing and less time cleaning my house!!

Darlene's Meatballs:

1 12 oz. jar of chili sauce (any favorite brand)
1 10 oz. jar of grape jelly (again, any favorite brand)
2 lbs ground chuck.

Mix the jelly and chili sauce together - bring to a boil.
Make walnut size meatballs --place in the jelly/chili mixture and simmer until the meatballs are done.

Then you can put the whole shabang in a crock pot to keep them hot for serving on your buffet. Provide toothpicks so your guests can 'pierce' the meatballs and place them on their plates --and NEVER, EVER serve these on PAPER PLATES! Darlene always used her best dishes, china and crystal for us. I remember we would tease her weekly --telling her she needed to serve us on paper plates so that there were less dishes to do and less work for Steve! ;) But each week, we'd show up and she'd have a lavish table spread with all kinds of wonderful food. She spent alot of time and put a lot of love into her preparations. She always insisted that it was no trouble but we all knew that she worked hard all afternoon to prepare for the evening group.

At the end of the evening you could usually find Steve, sporting his favorite pair of Foghorn Leghorn slippers, busy loading the dishwasher. And often, at the end of the evening - Darlene would send us home with the leftovers -- perhaps a piece of her famous chocolate crazy dump cake --so moist and delicious --or a plate of my favorite cookies - Snicker Doodles.

We had some great times in that home group and those times are some of my fondest memories. The people in my group were like my second family. It's been probably five years since I've seen them --the last time being my wedding day. We are living in another town now and haven't had the opportunity to travel back. One of these days I will have to make the trip and visit.

But today - I have to clean my house to prepare for hosting my new group. I'm praying that the Lord will knit our hearts and lives together - much in the same way he did my previous group. I trust He will. He is faithful. All the time. Of that, I'm sure!

Thanks Darlene - for the recipe - and the memories - and your love! I miss you my friend!

Okay --no more procrastinating...."Olivia, let's have some fun and clean the house!"