Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Pie

A delicious treat that takes full advantage of summer’s bountiful produce.

The last few weeks have felt like a whirlwind. Between moving, changes happening at work and some health issues, it seems like there hasn’t been a moment to catch a breath. Now that life is settling into its normal pace again, I have been doing a lot of reflecting on the status of my heart during all the transitions.

A little over a month ago, my best friend and I started looking for another place to live. We were living in a house with another friend, but were both sensing God was calling us elsewhere.

For those living in the Portland area right now, you know how crazy the housing market is. And it’s not just for those looking to buy, but for renters as well.

The days began to drag on. We must have looked at over 50 different properties over that span of time. Our move out date began drawing nearer and nearer.

We found places that checked every box in what we were looking for in a place, but every time, it fell through. Soon, it turned into not weeks, but days until we had to be out of our house. I started wondering if maybe I had heard God wrong. Was I supposed to move at all?  Really, moving made no sense. I lived in a house with friends that had a massive backyard, extremely affordable rent, great neighbors, and was close to everywhere I go throughout the week.

I kept fighting against the little devil on my shoulder who was constantly asking “what if this is the moment God doesn’t provide?”

Reminders of God’s Faithfulness

During those days, I tried to remind myself of one of my favorite passages in Lamentations 3:21-26:

Yet I still dare hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. The Lord is good to those who depend on Him, to those who search for Him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.

Lamentations 3:21-26

In all my life, God has never once failed to provide me with exactly what I need in every season. All I have to do is consciously bring to mind all of those previous moments and remember that He is a faithful God.

Provision

Ten days before we were supposed to be out of our house, an apartment showed up on the market. The same day, I toured it and found out no other applications had been submitted, which was no small miracle given Portland’s crazy housing market. My friend and I submitted an application that same day, and our application was approved!

Now you may think my attitude was “Wow! God came through in a big way!”. I wish I could say I was grateful. To a certain degree I was. I was glad we at least had a “back-up plan”. A place to go in case we absolutely couldn’t find anywhere else. The apartment checked off only a few items on our “dream list” and wasn’t exactly what either of us had in mind when we had envisioned our next place.

In complete transparency, I was actually a little frustrated and ungrateful. I had this unrealistic expectation that God would cause a place to fall into our laps without us searching. Oh, and that our new place would also check off all the boxes on our wish list (none of which were necessities mind you). I wanted to have no hand in it and be able to say “Look what crazy awesome thing God did that I could never have done myself”.

Instead, we found this apartment after spending many hours filtering through numerous apartment complexes in the area. It had felt like I had done all the work and I was disappointed that God didn’t show up in the way I wanted Him to, according to my timeline, agenda and expectations. The apartment was nice, but it didn’t have the frills we were hoping for. Truthfully, my attitude was one of laziness and entitlement.

As our deadline drew closer, it became clearer that no other place was going to open up and that we needed to sign the lease. And we did! Now we’ve been in our apartment for a week and it has become home so much faster than I ever anticipated it would. I love this quiet, beautiful space with natural light, good neighbors and a view of the hills. And, ironically enough, my commute is now five minutes instead of ten.

Reflection

God provided exactly what we needed when we needed it, no more, no less. And in doing so, He provided a space that is nothing what we had envisioned for ourselves, but so much better than what we had hoped for. By making us search for our new place, He was teaching us to rely on His voice and guidance. It was yet another example of how God knows what we need even better than we do.

If we take the time to set aside our own agendas and be willing to be led by Him who knows all and sees the bigger picture, we will find that He will lead us to something so much better than we could have possibly dreamed of ourselves even if it was a rough journey to get there. Although by materialistic standards the end result may not seem as impressive, the outcome is always the same:  God will provide us with exactly what we need, even if we don’t know what that need is, and go with us wherever we go, which is the sweetest gift of all.

Pie

This pie is especially good during strawberry season. Oregon has the best strawberries I’ve ever tasted (I’m not even biased). It always seems like strawberry season in Oregon is fleeting. During early June, it feels as though I am constantly stopping by roadside farm stands to pick up a couple pints of ruby-colored berries.

I first made this pie for a friend’s birthday. Strawberry rhubarb is her favorite, so I thought I’d give it a go. However, time was running out and my pie dough had crumbled into bits. In a moment of desperation, I decided to use a frozen pie crust (gasp). Pie crusts are something of a nemesis of mine. They’re one of the few things I just can’t seem to get right.

Before digging into the pie, my friend stated that her favorite strawberry rhubarb pie was her grandma’s. Apparently, her grandma has won competitions with her pie. Great, I thought to myself. I’m competing with grandma’s pie using a frozen pie crust. I held my breath as my friend took a bite and carefully pondered it. She then pronounced that it was delicious and a very close second to her grandma’s pie! I knew I could never beat a pie made by someone else’s grandma. However, I was thrilled that my pie came at least a close second. And using a frozen pie crust no less!

I hope you enjoy the glorious weeks of summer ahead and that you take the time to sit and reflect on all of the sweet ways God has provided in your life.

Blessings on your home and table,

~Natalie

For more pie recipes, check out my strawberry pretzel icebox pie!