The past two months, there have been many specific things to pray for in our lives and on behalf of others. I am so thankful that I can, at any time, start having a conversation with my Savior. He is never too busy or needs you to make an 'appointment'. Sometimes when I pray about little things, I think how small and insignificant this must seem to my Lord in comparison to His kingdom and eternal plan. I have learned that is not the case. He is interested in every part of our lives. He wants us to go to Him for anything....because it is about a relationship with Him. Since I have been more intentional about being prayerful these past few months, I have learned and/or observed a few things about prayer:
- It causes me to remove my focus from myself and fix it on the Lord
- Just like any relationship, you get to know them by talking to them and spending time with them. This is the same with my prayer time with the Lord. I know Him more, now.
- Handing my burdens over to my Mighty, All-powerful God brings "peace that surpasses all understanding"
- It causes me to be thankful that I am not in "charge" of my life. No, the GOD of all the universe, who has created the smallest detail and has orchestrated the happenings of our life is in charge and it is GOOD.
- Humbles me knowing that my Great God and Savior cares about my life. I fail Him so often.
- Causes me to realize how much I can talk and chit chat to the Lord when I just need to stop and listen
The things I have been praying about these past few months, I have learned are out of my control or Lee's control. These include, my future career and the waiting part of it, a critical outcome of a big business project for Lee, the loss of a church family's dear son, the healing of relationships, the redemption of souls, and the healing of bodies.
I realize in some of these situations above, I can make the steps that I know are smart to take and "do my part", which we have or I have done. However, in the end, all I want is for God's will to be done...and nothing more. As I look back on my life and others' life stories, God's plan is always good and always better, no matter how I am feeling in that very moment! Sometimes, emotions can have such a firm grip on your reasoning and thought process. How frustrating can that be? I realize I have to make the decision to know that the Lord knows what will happen in 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years and His will be done and it will be good. In the meantime, I need to follow hard after Him and seek Him wholeheartedly so I can be sensitive to His calling and plans.
" Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God " Philippians 4:6
" May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ" 2 Thessalonians 3:5 -- How sweet is that!----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think I could blog any of the recipes from The Pioneer Woman that I have cooked or baked to date. They are so delicious and just...perfect! I always have loved old recipes that have been handed down to each generation - I think they are always the best tasting. I have noticed that all of them have very simple ingredients, usually things you have in kitchen already. I gather this is because they didn't have all of the complex, specialty ingredients either because they lived out in the country and because those ingredients did not exist many years ago. I have been watching The Pioneer Woman's new cooking show and she always mentions that her recipes are simple because she lives out in the country and is not able to just "run to the store". That is a reason why I like her recipes - they are simple, absolutely delicious, and pretty easy! The more simple, the better, I think!
Speaking of simple, here is the best Chocolate Cake recipe. I made this for our community group and everyone seemed to love it!
Chocolate Sheet Cake
Makes one 18x12-inch cake
*Note - I used one that was a few inches smaller and it was fine. You could also use a smaller, thicker cake pan for a thicker cake or separate these into round pans for a layered cake.
Ingredients [for the cake]:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
*Substitute: 1/2 cup milk + 1 1/2 tsp of distilled white vinegar. Stir. Let sit for 5 min.
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
4 heaping Tbs cocoa powder
Ingredients [for the icing]:
1 3/4 sticks butter
4 heaping Tbs cocoa powder
6 Tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Stir & set aside.
In another bowl, mix the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, baking soda. Mix with fork & set aside.
In a medium saucepan, melt butter and add cocoa. Whisk together to combine. Meanwhile, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. When butter is melted, pour boiling water in the pan. Allow to bubble for a minute, then turn off heat.
Pour chocolate mixture into the flour mixture. Stir together for a minute to cool the chocolate.
Add the egg mixture.
Stir together until smooth, then pour into an ungreased pan. Bake for 20 min.
While the cake is baking, make the icing. Melt the butter in the saucepan (use the same one to save yourself some dishes). Add the cocoa powder and stir 'till smooth. Add milk and vanilla. Add powdered sugar. Stir together. If you wanted the pecans, you would dump those in at this time.
Immediately when you remove the cake from the oven, pour the warm icing on top. Try and distribute evenly and let it spread on its own. You'll want to avoid too much spreading.
Now, your life is complete. Amen.
P.S. I have her first cookbook right now and use it all the time! In just a few weeks, her new (second) cookbook is coming out and I. can't. wait!!
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