A Hodgepodge of Things... Healthy

So many good things to share with you! First up (I guess) are these healthy cookies.  You all know I love cookies, right?  And I love to bake.  I looove to make sweet treats for people I love.  I tend to love a lot of people.  It just happens.  A good friend recently told me that this is something lovely.  So!  I also like to make healthy treats.  Especially for Elliott and Caiden because those two little boogers love snacky, cookie, bready things.  Which means that I really want to make those willing bites count!  In comes 101cookbooks.com to brighten the day.  The author, Heidi, is all about healthy eating.  She's got a lot of great recipes.  I used her animal cookie recipe for these cookies here, but I used dates as a sweetener instead of the sugar.  My friend Joanie suggested the idea to me and I've got to admit that its a good one.  Joanie claims that "dates are like nature's sweetener."  Not only do you get the good vitamins and what not from the dates, you also get the fiber.  Joanie's tip on using dates in things is to get the MeJool dates because they don't have that sickeningly sweet flavor that some other dates have.  Mejool's have a nice caramel undernote to them.  It's fun to experiment with these things, especially if you have some eager little bakers and tasters like I do.  Another good one to try is the Carrot Oatmeal Cookies...  I'm just sayin'.

Another good thing I wanted to share is just how awesome God is.  I've recently cut some things out of my life that were keeping/distracting me from the Lord and just life in general.  I Corinthians 9:24-27 challenged me to "Run in such a way that you may obtain it" (it being the prize like how athletes compete for a prize).  I had to take a step back and look at my life and ask myself if I was really competing or just hoping to finish.  And then He hit me with Hebrews 12, thanks to Britt Merrick at Reality, and I decided that it was time to "lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us."  So, I gave up my obsession of watching tv shows online.  That's where I John 2 came in with emphasizing how we can't love the things of the world AND the Father at the same time.  Its either one or the other..."If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

So, anyway, as I put Christ first, He has totally been filling me to overflowing, helping me to be effective and pleasant and present.  When we seek for Him with our whole heart, He tells us that He will be found by us.  Our God is a God whose "mercy endures forever," who wants to show us mercy and pour out His love in our lives; He is just looking for an excuse to do so, if we let Him.  I am excited by His word which He has exalted even above His name (Psalm 138) which is above all names which is so profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).  And my prayer for myself and for all of you:

"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height--to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:14-19

So, as encouragement goes, as I've removed the things in my life that I was holding too dear, I've made room for the love of my Savior whose love passes all knowledge.  And I am simply blown away by how incredibly amazing He is and how much He shows me through His word.  It is so exciting!

So I encourage you to dig in and see what He has in store for you...


P.S. Sidenote: Photograph above is NOT a picture of me and my old obsession... just to be clear. (see dialogue above) It is rather a sweet family moment I wanted to share with you.  (I'm a ridiculous over-thinker.)