Amy Boucher Pye

Author: Amy Boucher Pye

  • Tasty Frosty Pumpkin Pie – A Recipe

    Happy Thanksgiving week! I love the holiday of US Thanksgiving, not least because the holiday itself is probably the least commercialized celebration (not, of course, the day after though…). We usually go to the service at St. Paul’s Cathedral (for anyone interested, it’s at 11am and I do recommend it) on the day itself, and sometimes have our big feast that day too. But as it’s just another Thursday in November here in Britain, with people working and at school, we often celebrate at the weekend. And usually that’s the weekend after the holiday, but this year we’re marking the day today, as I’m speaking next Saturday. And unlike most years, when we gather many around our table, we’re only hosting family this year because I’ve been traveling so much. Which means I even have time to go to the gym this morning and to post this recipe for you!

    One of my favorites about turkey day is this frosty pumpkin pie, which has become a regular at our table. I’ve found that most guests who haven’t grown up eating pumpkin-flavored this and that don’t always care for the taste of pumpkin, so adding the ice cream softens the flavor and makes it more palatable. And it’s just good!

    I give you our Frosty Pumpkin Pie, with love from our table to yours. Enjoy!

    The frosty pumpkin pie, just created, pre freezing and without whipped cream on top…

    This recipe and others, such as my cranberry stuffing, appear in Finding Myself in Britain. You can also read about my and Nicholas’ experience at the US Ambassador’s residence one year! Available in the UK from Christian bookshops, or online from Eden and Amazon. Available Stateside from Amazon.

  • The bitter and sweet of Home by Liz Carter, author of Catching Contentment

    What does it feel like to unpack – at last – the boxes and settle into making a house a home? Why do we long for Home? Where is Home? And when we’ve found Home, why yet can it still be a place of pain as well as joy? Liz Carter poses these questions and others in her searching contribution to the “There’s No Place Like Home” guest blog series. I’m so grateful for the depth of her thinking and the grace-filled answers she points to. Grab a cuppa and enjoy.

    Home is a funny word, isn’t it?

    It immediately conjures a variety of images and feelings, all unique to us in our own experience. For me, Home is both sweet and bitter, because I’ve never had a long-term experience of what ‘home’ actually means. My dad was a vicar, and I spent my childhood and teens moving around the country. The longest I’ve lived in one house is five years. I went and married a vicar, too, you see, although he wasn’t a vicar at the time – I thought that there might be a possibility of finally settling somewhere, bringing up a family in a community and getting to know people in that way you can when you are somewhere for a long time. Yet God had other plans.

    In some senses, I’m more than OK with this. I find that after a few years in one home, I start getting itchy feet, because I’ve only ever known this somewhat nomadic existence. I don’t really know what it’s like to have that ‘settled’ feeling people talk of, that sense of knowing where home is. I’m hoping very much to know it a little better now my husband is in his first incumbency, and a longer stay is possible. I’m already getting glimpses of what it must be like; of community who know and love one another, who have supported one another for many, many years. It’s an enticing and comforting feeling, dancing in the edges of this ocean of Home, this hope for longevity. It’s also just a little scary, because my life has, in a metaphorical sense, been a life lived out of boxes – and now I’ve finally unpacked them all.

    I’ve been thinking a lot about what the word Home means while writing my new book, Catching Contentment (published this week!). Because I’ve always lived out on the edges, struggling to feel like a full part of a place and a community, I’ve wondered what it is like to be inside. I wonder if my search for home is tied to my longing to know and be known, and to be in the place where my soul is at rest. I think we are all seeking this peace which cannot be understood but which can sometimes be glimpsed in captivating impressions of that which our heart is longing for. We’re all searching for that place where we can finally unpack our boxes and be still, be known and be rested. We sense that in this world, we are strangers, living on the edge, and that there is so much more to come.

    The writer of Psalm 84 knew this. He was outlawed to the desert, so far from the place his soul called home – the temple. He paints such a poignant picture of longing for that place, of his desperation to be back there, the place his heart rests. His soul ‘yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord.’ (v2) ‘Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere,’ he goes on to say. These lines catch at my soul, because I sense that yearning, too, that ache to be in the presence of the Lord, which is better by far. I live with long-term illness, and spend most of the time severely uncomfortable in my own body, because of the pain and fatigue I experience from day to day. I sometimes dream of how it will one day be, of a place where I will be free, where I will run on beaches and breathe without difficulty. I dream of a home where I will be fully who I am created to be, but it’s more than that. It’s a dream of a home where I am finally in the presence of a God who longs to flood me with all that ‘home’ really is; with all the riches of knowing him, at last, face to face.

    I know that one day, I will stand in his presence and I will, at last, be home. But as for now, I am waiting. I am homesick. And yet God doesn’t want us to be wishing away our lives, waiting for our true home, but longs to give us alluring glimpses of that home in the painful present we live in. In that Psalm, the writer talked about the valley of tears, the place he was waiting in as he longed for home. But he didn’t talk about it as something to be put up with or wished away, but as a ‘place of springs’ where the pilgrim will go from strength to strength (v7-9). It’s clear that in his painful present, the writer has discovered something of the riches of who God is, and how God dwells with us in our pain and darkness.

    Photo: rawpixel on Unsplash

    What is Home, then? Home is where we find ourselves, now, in this moment. Home is where we dig into the treasures of God, and find out who we are and who he is. Home is a place of peace, of rest, even within the depths of despair. And Home is a place of yearning for the Home we know, in our deepest and wildest places, we belong.

    Liz Carter is an author and blogger who likes to write about life in all its messy, painful, joyous reality. She likes Cadbury’s and turquoise, in equal measure, and lives in the UK with her husband, a church leader, and two crazy teens.

    She is the author of Catching Contentment: How to be Holy Satisfied (IVP), which digs into the lived experience of a life in pain, and what contentment could mean in difficult circumstances. Watch her book trailer here and find her online here.

    ♥

    This post is part of my series on finding home, with many wonderful guest writers; other entries can be found here. It links up to the themes of home that I explore in my book, Finding Myself in Britain: Our Search for Faith, Home and True Identity. Available in the UK from lovely Christian bookshops, or online from Eden and Amazon. Only available Stateside from Amazon.

  • What I learned at a global publishing conference – LittWorld 2018 in Singapore

    Photo courtesy of Leong Jeam Wong

    On my first trip to Asia, I got to visit Singapore while enjoying the company of 250 people from 52 nations at LittWorld, the triennial gathering of Christian writers and publishers hosted by Media Associates International (MAI). Having traveled some twelve hours to Singapore, and only sleeping an hour of it, I was feeling a bit ill and sick when I got on the elevator to go up to my room – that is, my new room, as the hotel had given me a smoking room the first time round, making me feel even more queasy. On the lift I joined Dan Elliott, publishing doyen from Tyndale House, who uttered, “These are some of my favorite people.” I knew I was in for a treat.

    Now that I’ve been home over a week from Singapore, what stands out in my memory is the gift of seeing the worldwide church in action. I’m aware that sounds vague; when I say the “worldwide church,” I mean its people. For when I think of LittWorld, a host of smiling faces appear before me. Here are a few (and see the photo gallery at the end):

    • The publisher I enjoyed lunch with from Burkina Faso, who earned his MBA from a Chicago university and returned home to apply his financial prowess to the family business.
    • A lovely lady from the Philippines who became an instant soul friend, a marketing genius who adds her touches of grace to the work she does for a well-known Christian publisher.
    • The teacher from a country where being a Christian is difficult, who is writing a novel of hope about mothers and daughters, borne out of her own experience.
    • The publisher from Turkey who endured a horrendous experience of extremist abuse, but who remains committed to working in his country, for “these are my people.”

    Perhaps the best way to highlight some of the richness of this conference is to share a few gems from the speakers.

    Pusonnam Yiri, Nigeria, “Thinking Locally, Writing Globally”

    Pusonnam spoke on one of the defining themes of MAI, the desire to empower local writers around the world for global impact. I love this emphasis, for it’s so rooted in God’s love for all people, and how we’re made in his image and have something to share. And although those writing within their culture will speak powerfully to their own contexts, as Pusonnam said:

    “Ideas are travelers… they can’t be caged.” (Pusonnam Yiri) Share on X

    Great ideas will travel; they aren’t limited to one culture or one land. They are for global sharing – yes, please!

    I love, in today’s climate of suspicion, his next point:

    “Ideas are criminals… they break immigration laws.” (Pusonnam Yiri) Share on X

    No walls can contain them. And, he continued, who knows where the next great idea will come from? As we cannot see into the future, we should foster an openness to welcoming great ideas from anywhere.

    And finally:

    “Ideas are visitors. Welcome one, and others will come.” (Pusonnam Yiri) Share on X

    Films by Myth Film Co., by Simon Hunter

    Simon David Hunter, Australia, “Screenwriting”

    I loved Simon’s sessions on screenwriting. I’ll probably never write a screenplay, nor will I ever direct a film, but I gained so much from his talks. How do we write content – not only fiction, but I apply this to nonfiction as well – that will reach audiences? How do we tell the grand story of faith in ways that touch hearts and minds?

    In terms of films, he contends that audiences want a good story, well told, that engages the emotions. And good stories are all about one thing – character. Where do we get good characters? We observe. We note from real life. Some might even call this stealing…

     

    Bishop Robert Solomon, Singapore, “Words for the Wounded”

    How can our writing be a means of extending God’s grace? I appreciated Bishop Robert Solomon’s talk, for he exuded grace and hope as he spoke. A medical doctor as well as an ordained minister, he told of the power of the scalpel to bring healing – yes, pain, too, but it cuts out the infection that would spread and eventually kill. And as he said, Jesus heals through words. We aren’t Jesus, of course, but God can bring about his healing even through our words.

    I also loved his point about tsundoku, the Japanese word for the piling up of books to read. I know many of us can relate! I certainly can with my heaving shelves. What he observed about tsundoku is that the keeping of many books keeps us humble, for we know that we don’t know everything.

    Europeans in Singapore!

    I left Singapore profoundly grateful to have met so many fascinating people, humbled by the way God is using them around the world.

    The next gathering is LittWorld 2021 – might you join fellow writers and publishers from so many different countries to be encouraged in your faith?

    To find out more about MAI, click here. To watch the video about LittWorld and learn more about the conference, it’s here.

    I loved meeting fellow Our Daily Bread writers/editors – from USA, UK and Singapore!

    A taste of a famous Singapore dessert – ice kachang.

    We went to the Hawker Centre for our dessert. Fascinating to see all of the street food vendors located in one area, for then they can be regulated. Each stand had a food rating, from A to D.

    Loved going to Singapore’s Botanic Gardens. As you probably know, Singapore has limited space. Here is vertical growth!

    Better together than apart!

    Meet Lynnie, my Spirit-filled friend from the Philippines.

    With Our Daily Bread readers from Indonesia!

    The orchids were stunning!

    Let your light shine, as you go into the world, bringing news of God’s grace and love.

  • Watercolor Wednesday: Scenes from the life of Jesus

    By Leo Boucher. Used with permission; all rights reserved.

    Today I thought we could spend a few moments taking in some words of Jesus as depicted my dad in these sketches. Why not spend some time considering one or more of the scenes, asking God through his Spirit to speak to you. What strikes you? Do you see something in a new way?

  • Weekly devotional: Preach the word (13 in Paul’s letters to Timothy series)

    Raphael Study for St Paul Preaching in Athens

    In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather round them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry (2 Timothy 4:1–5).

    As we come to the end of Paul’s letter, he lays out his final commands to Timothy, underlining their importance as he calls upon the Father and Son as his witnesses. His exhortations reflect his understanding that Timothy in his ministry will again encounter false teaching – he is to preach, be prepared, correct, rebuke, encourage. As we saw earlier, Timothy should do this with love – with great patience.

    “Keep your head,” Paul says. A simple charge, but one we all should heed, for when we lose our cool, we can descend into words we shouldn’t speak and actions we should avoid. Anger can turn into bitterness and rage as we lose our self-control, which can quickly negate our good work of sharing the gospel. I think with shame of the times when I have lost my cool.

    Instead, taking Paul’s advice, we can be prepared “in season and out,” training ourselves with the help of the Holy Spirit to exercise self-control in times of ease and abundance, so that later in moments or seasons of stress and hardship, our character reflects Christ.

    My prayer is that we would be given great patience, and great love.

    Lord God, may our teachers bring you glory with sound teaching, winsome words and a deep reservoir of patience, and may we love to learn.

     

     

  • Watercolor Wednesday: A place to pause and reflect

    By Leo Boucher. Used with permission; all rights reserved.

    Stop for a moment and look at my dad’s watercolor. Transport yourself to the little red shed. What’s it for? Painting? Writing? Pilates?

    What’s happening outside the window? What’s the temperature outside and in?

    What’s on your heart to do or create today? What emotions rise to the surface as you stop to reflect where you can see God’s fingerprints today?

    Commit the rest of your day to God’s care.

  • Weekly devotional: Holy writ (12 in Paul’s letters to Timothy series)

    Photo: George Bannister, flickr

    But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:14–17).

    Many Christians memorize 2 Timothy 3:17, and I can understand why, for it’s the strongest statement about the Bible made in the Bible. But reading this statement on its own, out of the context of Paul’s letters to Timothy, dilutes its impact. As we’ve spent many a week considering these missives, we can gain a sense of the power of Paul’s view of the Bible – this crescendo at the end of the two letters reveals how he knows its worth and necessity in church life, especially when dealing with false teaching.

    We can take comfort and courage knowing that Scripture is “God-breathed” and, as Hebrews 4:12 says, “alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow…” With the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, when we read the Bible we can hear God speaking to us: words of love and affirmation; words of conviction and direction. As Paul says, we will find teaching there, and sometimes the sense of being rebuked and corrected; through it we will be prepared and given the tools to do the works of God.

    Dallas Willard, a renowned writer on the spiritual disciples, prized the practice of memorizing Scripture, and would regularly commit large passages to memory. He even said if one had to choose between a “quiet time” and memorizing, he’d choose the latter. When we do so, we find God’s word more readily available in our hearts and minds.

    May we become wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

    Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, you are the Word made flesh. May you bring us wisdom as we read the Scriptures that we may serve you and reach out to those in need.

     

  • Watercolor Wednesday: The fruitfulness of autumn

    By Leo Boucher. All rights reserved; used with permission.

    Autumn is a time of glorious colors, as I was reminded last week when I spent time in the Upper Midwest of America. Glorious oranges and yellows peppered the browns and greens in the tree-line, which I noticed even more because London doesn’t afford such striking colors. I’ve heard that the difference in temperature from warm days to cool nights produces the amazing displays.

    I suppose this can be true in our own lives. When we move from extreme temperatures, whether through grief or change or some other reason, we can look to God to bring forth his beauty in and through us as we walk through the changes or time of testing. If we’ve committed our lives to him, he will be doing this work already, and often we aren’t aware ourselves of how he’s moving within us. But others can see the fruit of the Spirit, the glorious gifts of autumn.

    How today can you commit yourself to God, asking him to reflect his love and life within you? In terms of my dad’s painting, what speaks to you within it?

  • Weekly devotional: Godless chatter (11 in Paul’s letters to Timothy series)

    Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm (2 Timothy 2:14–19).

    Seemingly without taking a breath, Paul’s tone changes and he’s back to the brisk warnings against false teaching that he made in 1 Timothy and Titus. He may be making his final remarks in this letter, but he reserves the right to warn Timothy against the distractions which idol talk and endless controversies can “spread like gangrene,” in his memorable image. And although God’s truth is the solid foundation never to be worn down by rust or mold – or eaten away by gangrene – those in church leadership can become infected, with their focus diverted from the teaching, preaching and serving that should occupy them. Paul yearns that Timothy, and those who follow after him, would be saved from those trials.

    I’ve heard stories about, and have witnessed, church conflict, including “godless chatter” and quarrels over words. Soon the arguments seem to descend into character assassinations, with those on opposite sides leaving behind the language of love as they slaughter each other with words. How the Holy Spirit must grieve at the splits and division.

    Consider taking a few moments to review in your mind and heart, and before God, any conflicts at church you’ve been involved in. May we echo King David, who said how good and pleasant it is when people dwell together in unity (Psalm 133:1).

    Prayer: Lord Jesus, you became man and died that we might find you and friendship with our neighbors. May your grace oil the wheels of communication in our homes, schools, places of work, churches and community meeting places.

  • Weekly devotional: Faithful in the task (10 in Paul’s letters to Timothy series)

    Valentin de Boulogne – Blaffer Foundation Collection, Houston, TX

    You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this (2 Timothy 2:1–7).

    Paul fills his letters with vivid images that stick in the mind and imagination. As he passes along to Timothy his final words of wisdom, and his longings for the fulfillment of the gospel, he uses examples from ancient times that Timothy would have been familiar with – a soldier, athlete, and farmer. Those working tirelessly for the gospel may not appear to reap the same concrete results as those yielding crops or winning races, but Paul trusts that Timothy will understand his examples as the Lord gives him insight.

    The three examples have in common their hard work and faithfulness to produce a result: soldiers follow in obedience; athletes submit their bodies to training; farmers cultivate and care for the land. Each of the three shows their commitment through their training, devotion, and consistency. So too, infers Paul, should the Christian commit to their life of godliness and right living.

    Note too that neither a soldier, athlete, nor farmer knows in advance what the end result of their efforts will be, whether a battle or competition will be won or lost, or whether they will be harvesting a large or small crop. Their faithfulness and dedication to the task is what matters.

    Prayer: Lord God, we may be at the beginning of our journey in life with you, at the end, or somewhere in the middle. Wherever we are on this road, we ask you to help us to be faithful, for your glory.