J. Randal Matheny

The tradition of cooking cuzcuz became associated with the settlement of what is now the state of São Paulo in southeastern Brazil, and in particular with the historic towns and village of the Vale do Paraíba, the Paraíba river valley. The original cuzcuz from this region, according to Brazilian food historians, consisted simply of corn or manioc semolina, salt and pepper, steamed over water. Unlike North African or European couscous, the mixture was steamed until it became quite moist and moldable, almost like a cake (think of polenta). Later additions included onion and garlic and paste (annattourucum) to give it some color.

Paraiba river valley is us!

Way back in 2009, in the early days of Flavors of Brazil, we wrote a post about an iconic Brazilian snack food called coxinha. As we said in that post, a coxinha is "a small, teardrop-shaped chicken croquette." and there's no doubt it's the most popular quick snack in Brazil. One can buy a coxinha at almost every one of Brazil's thousands of stand-up lunch counters, at juice bars, at buffets, and even in the country's finest and most upmarket restaurants.

Brazilians are crazy for the coxinha. It has a place in Brazilian culture analogous to the Great American Hot Dog, and shares some of the virtues of that sausage-in-a-bun. It's small but filling - it makes that pesky hole in the stomach disappear in short order.

Ignore the beer reference. Coxinhas are a favorite food, always served at parties in their smaller version.

But they insisted they had adjusted to their new state. Even 14 days into the study, they said sleepiness was not affecting them. In fact, their performance had tanked. In other words, the sleep-deprived among us are lousy judges of our own sleep needs. We are not nearly as sharp as we think we are.

You just can't do without your sleep and perform well. Even if you think you can.

But, you see, the Apostle Paul never lived a day of his life, from the time of his conversion to the time that they cut his head off, he never lived a day, that I can find in Scripture, when he wasn't going somewhere to do something that was so consuming that he would die for it. He just traded one of those things in for another one. You see, it was a question of conviction, which precedes the acts of courage. And you can't just say to Christians, "Be courageous." They can run around saying, "I'm going to be courageous." Courageous about what? If you don't have an objective you never get into a situation where you have to be courageous. Nobody ever got courageous sitting on the bench in football. You don't get courageous there; you only get courageous when you get in the game. And a lot of Christians sitting on the bench wonder why they don't have any courage. Don't have any reason to be courageous; you're not doing anything. So there needs to be a goal orientation, an object orientation, you're going somewhere, you're accomplishing something.

We would like to invite you to the 5th annual Maywood Missionary Retreat to be held May 12-14 at Camp Maywood in Hamilton, Ala.

Speakers and topics include:

Jeff Jenkins – “How to Motivate Congregations to Seriously Support World Evangelism”
Stacy Ferguson – “South Pacific Experiences”
Robert Martin – “Long Term Commitments to a Field”

That's just a start of the speakers and topics. Click on the link above for more information. This is one of the best-kept secrets in the brotherhood, and your best deal for a spiritual event. Sign up!

The ancient theologian, Origen, once stated, “The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay” (Origen On First Principles 3.1.11 – source). Similarly, the preaching of the gospel softens the hearts of some, but hardens the hearts of others (2 Corinthians 2:15-16; cf. Acts 13:44-45; Acts 13:46-48).

Mike is pithy and to the point. Only eternity will reveal the good he does in his articles. Read this one by clicking on the link above and applying it to your heart.

April 16 Poem: Life is Like a Facebook Status

by J. Randal Matheny © 20011

You could sing this to the tune of a Mozart hymn, if you were so inclined.

Three stanzas for your Saturday morning enjoyment. Click on the itsy bitsy link right above.

Week two of treatment is nearly done! Sue Ann is still feeling pretty good. She has been experiencing a bit of upset stomach in the morning but it tapers off by mid morning. She is very much looking forward to the weekend with no treatment and a bit of relaxation. Thank you everyone for your prayers and supportful messages, they mean a lot to the family. As our grandson Kenton would say, " You get what you get and you dont throw a fit!

Drop Sue Ann a note while you're at it.