Gravity

It can be so hard to be the one who consistently strives to help your children be aware of their sin and to help them understand the root of why we grieve over it and its effects – especially when we know we still have so much we ourselves need to bring before God. 

"Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor" (James 4:9-10, NLT).

How do we help our children go through a process we ourselves daily fail at? God wants me to see the gravity of my own sin and to be humbled by the grace I need for the responsibility I have to help my children realize their sin and sorrow appropriately. I myself often sit on the fence and flirt with the world while I say I belong to God. 

But then I read this:

Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the Spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

I am not in this alone. I have the Spirit inside me who desires to passionately battle with me as I face each and every trial and temptation – big or small. And I have grace. Generous grace. Every time I acknowledge my own sin and weaknesses, I have clear access to a wellspring of grace that pools into the dark and empty places within me. I have eyes that can better see God's wisdom as I seek to lead precious souls to see the importance of this daily process we go through as we fight the good fight within our home. And I have peace that while I may only see the difficulty of the here and now, God sees the glorious result of small moments of faithfulness building upon each other until we reach eternity. 

Hallelujah. He giveth more grace.

Source

Summer Treats

About two months ago, my dumpster-diving KitchenAid (don't worry, we bought our own accessories) gave up on me after a particularly large batch of cookies. And while a baking sabbatical is good for one's waistline, too long of a sabbatical can wither the soul. I'm hoping to save up for the kind of mixer that should last me until Kieran goes off to college; in the meantime, I have been scouring through my recipes and pins for desserts that can be made with a food processor or a good ol' wooden spoon.

First off, I made this berry pie a couple of different times. I just love all the colorful goodness in this one.

Then, I made Chef in Training's Banana Bars with Brown Butter Frosting a couple of times. The frosting? To. Die. For.

One of my favorites since college are these carmelitas. I like to make them with Mexican food – they sound like something you'd find on a menu at a Mexican restaurant, right? I also made this homemade caramel for the recipe, too!

Finally, I was really wanting a doughnut the other day, but, as a rule, I try to never buy them unless it's for church. And I abhor deep frying. All that mess and wasted oil … ugh. But I searched on Pinterest and found these Dirt Bombs (great title, right?), which are, essentially, doughnut muffins.

As I was mixing them together (in my food processor, of course) I had this feeling of déjà vu, and I realized that I had made almost this exact recipe before, when I made The Pioneer Woman's French Breakfast Puffs. Either way, they are yummy with your morning coffee! …Oh, and speaking of PW's recipes, I have had her lemon bars on the brain for quite awhile now. I just need for this heat wave to break so I can get to baking again!

Even if you don't have all the tools you would like, I hope you can get your bake on this summer, too. What are some of your recent favorite dessert finds?

P.S. I simply cannot forget to mention this homemade hot fudge! It's great to have on hand to bring to a get-together. Just grab a carton of vanilla ice cream (or make your own), and you're ready to go!