Today I am making a meal for Josiah's 1st grade teacher. His teacher was diagnosed with cancer and has been getting chemo treatments throughout the school year. Even though he has been struggling with this, he has continued teaching, just missing every other week for his treatments. Kudos to the teachers and parents who decided to organize meals for him and his family. I didn't realize this was happening until a couple of weeks ago when I was called.

I am making one of our favorite family recipes--stromboli. My friend Julie gave me the recipe and Dave and I have been enjoying it for years. (It is not gluten free or dairy free though!)

Stromboli

2 frozen bread loaves, thawed.

Spread these out on greased cookie sheets.

2 egg yolks

1 T parmesan cheese

1 T dried parsley

1/2 t dried oregano

1/4 t black pepper

2 T oil (I use olive oil)

Mix the above and spread it over bread dough with a spatula.

1-1/2 lb. ham (or ham and pepperoni combined). I use cooked ham from the deli.

Place ham down the center of the bread dough (1/2-3/4 lb. meat per stromboli).

Top with 1/2 lb (8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese.

Pull sides of stromboli to meet in the middle and fold over snugly. Fold the ends in also. Roll up and brush with egg whites.

Bake 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees. We use red sauce for dipping. Mmmm.....

I am also waiting for apples to cook down into applesauce at the moment and I made some brownies. I'm praying that Josiah's teacher and family will be blessed and that his teacher's body will continue to heal and be strengthened.

Our experiences in life surely affect us and our future decision-making. There is a drive at school

called "pennies for patients". This is to raise money for kids with leukemia and lymphoma. We've been doing Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace Jr." with our kids. Part of that program is teaching them to save. They pick an item that they would like and you find a picture of it (or make one) and post it somewhere. The kids have jobs that they do and get paid for them, job by job. If they do the job, they get paid. If they do not, they do not get paid. When they get their weekly "commissions", they place some of the money into giving, some into saving and some into spending. Josiah has been saving for the Wii Lego Star Wars game. The game costs about $50.00. He was up to $45.00 when this program at school came about. He blessed me by asking if he could give all of his savings for "pennies for patients". Dave and I, of course, said "Wonderful, go for it!"

I wonder how much of Josiah's desire to help those with cancer is related to his own teacher going through the same thing this year.

We learn so much from our kids! Once again, Little Man has challenged me to be more giving.