Better than Thin Mints

So I didn't announce this or anything (you'll find out why shortly), but about a month ago I decided I was going to attempt to go sugar-free (and none of the gross fake sweetener either) for a month.  It was more a personal challenge to control my sugar intake.  Why really doesn't matter, because, I'll be honest, I made it about 72 hours... and these cookies are why.

So as many of you know, I've discovered the world of chocolate and mint, and it makes me incredibly happy.  After 72 hours of no sugar, my friend and co-worker AshLeigh showed up at school with these little beauties, and I walked by them three times before I'd justified that the sugar thing was way over rated and I was totally going to eat one.  I am SO glad I did!  These are better than thin mints my friend, on several different levels.

When I got the recipe from her, it wasn't long before I fixed them myself.  After realizing how incredibly easy these are to make, how few ingredients you actually have to 'shop' for, and the quantity of cookies, I asked her to share it with you, because, friends, secrets like these should NOT be kept!

So here's what you are going to need:

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups chocolate chips (I used milk, but you could use whatever)
2 eggs
3/4 margarine
2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 boxes Andes chocolate mints (and yes, you need TWO FULL BOXES, aka - don't let your husband thieve 6 or 7 because your last batch of cookies will suffer, friends, they will suffer)

So get in your pantry and get out that brown sugar and stick it in a saucepan with the margarine and water.  You are going to warm this over low heat until the margarine is completely melted.  I did a lot of stirring here, mostly because it makes me feel like I'm really cooking something ;)

When that gets all warm and melty, take all of those chocolate chips and dump them on in there.  Stir those in until all of those are completely melted.  Smell the goodness.  Go ahead, smell it...

I failed here because I skipped pictures for some time, but you'll get the drift...

Pour that chocolaty goodness into your mixing bowl.  Yes, your mixing bowl.  Pour it all in there and make sure you scrape that excess out.  Let it stand for ten minutes.  We are getting ready to add the eggs and the mixture is hot... let's not cook them.

Tick tock.  Tick tock.

Ok, ten minutes later - at HIGH speed beat in your eggs one at a time.  Reduce the speed to LOW and add your dry ingredients (the baking soda and flour) beating until blended.  I poured a bit in at a time while it was blending as to not have a huge flour grenade go off in my kitchen.

What you will have is a very sticky cookie dough unlike any you've seen before.  Don't panic.  That means it's right.

Now - take a load off, you're going to stick it in the fridge to chill for an hour.  Ready?  Go do it, and read a book or something...

After an hour - this is the fun part.  The consistency of your creation should now be a pliable but interesting enough... Get your hands dirty and grab you some teaspoons and make balls out of them.  (Don't judge my pizza pan... the cookie sheet already had a batch on them when I realized I hadn't taken the pictures :)  By the way, you DO want to cover your pans with aluminum foil and I sprayed a little pam - just for good measure.

Now - stick those babies in the oven and let them bake.  350 degrees for NO MORE than 12-13 minutes.  They will harden as they cool.

Now- here's another fun part (what can I say, these cookies are fun!) - grab those andes mints (I had mine all unwrapped and awaiting in a bowl close) and put one on top of each cookie.  Yep, before you even take it off the cookie sheet.  Then, get yourself a spoon and swirl that chocolate around when its good and melty... cover the top of the cookie as best you can.  (See, I had to break some mints in half to accomodate all of my cookies - more than 50 btw - and that is just too sparse for the mint portion of these cookies imo.)

And what you get is a little edible masterpiece like this.  Remove from the cookie sheet and let cool (and let your chocolate harden.)  Finally, enjoy!  Enjoy the cookie AND the fact that you can revel in better than Thin Mint cookies WHENEVER you want for way cheaper.

Yum Yum!  Eat up!

A Pile of Stones

Proverbs 22:6 reads, "Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it."

Before kids, and if I'm honest, for some time after having kids, this was my go-to raising children scripture.  Do 'a' and get 'b'.  I do my part, He does His.  Let's instill programs, go to a good church, pray before every meal, snack and bed and make sure to read them Bible stories over and over and over again.  That's what every kid needs.  He needs to be able to recall a Bible story.

Let's forget the fact that Aaron and I were in student ministry for many years and saw many students come through who, truth be told, probably 'knew' the Bible stories better than we did, yet were as far off from being Christians or to 'not departing from the way' than they could possibly be.  Let's also forget - then - the doubts that left on my raising my own children.  He's supposed to be faithful.  He says, "you do this," and He's supposed to do that! I struggled and battled with this for some time.  As a matter of fact, I'd say one of my greatest fears would be if my children never came to know the Lord, but there's a difference between Alicia now and Alicia then.  I'm trusting Him that HE changes hearts, not me, and I've allowed myself to take rest in parenting under Godly direction and trusting that He'll work all things out for His good.

But that doesn't mean He isn't going to use me in the lives of my children.  As a matter of fact, I'm finding a major bit of foundation for this Proverbs verse previously mentioned in other Old Testament text, and it continues onward in the New Testament.  Let me say that everything I'll mention from here forth is not an exhaustive text or list or group of ideas regarding parenting in scripture.  No - I'd call it just the shaved ice atop the very tip of the iceberg that God is spoon - feeding me bit by bit, but it's revolutionizing how I live and breathe and discuss the Gospel with my kids.

Now - I've discussed the 'shema'  before, but I'll touch here very briefly one more time, as this was the second major scripture God used in my parenting life.  The text is found in Deuteronomy 6: 5-9 and reads:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all your might.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." 

The first direction is a direction to Israel - for our case specifically - parents.  You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your might.  The lineage for people pressing hard after the Lord must start somewhere.  Here is a call to authentic, genuine, fierce, raw worship, when every sense of your being calls out and longs for the thins of the Lord and loves Him greatly.  From the offspring of that love comes the idea that His words and commandments would be on the heart of the people, but it's the next line that begins building the foundation for the "train up a child" verse that God began in me in Proverbs. 

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The idea here is that out of that fierce - consuming - love for the Lord resonates a lifestyle that communicates verbally (and we'll find several other ways as Scripture progresses) the goodness and the wonderful works of the Lord.  He says to discuss them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when  you rise.  Are we getting the gist here?  Always.  In all circumstances.  God is always in it.  Always a part of it.  Always handling it.  The author speaks further commanding physical markers in the home of God's word and law.  

What we'll find as we continue is that though this absolutely includes scripture, and we have lots and lots of scripture on our walls, it also includes experience, something I feel we often leave out.  

Here's what I mean. 

In student ministry we used to tell our kids repeatedly that their testimonies may not only be the only Jesus some people ever see, but that their personal experience with God is something that cannot be argued with by those who don't believe.  It's an experience and a perspective that cannot be taken away from them, and as I really dug into the context of these Old Testament scriptures, I'm seeing that God has performed many, many, many wonderful, miraculous works in the life of the Israelites.  It was so evident often times that Israel's enemies could see the mighty works of God and feared Him because of it.  It was then that I got it. 

This is the other thing we pass on to our kids, and our grandkids, and our great grandkids.  It makes the words of scripture and the stories of the Bible more than just words on a page.  It shows those with lesser experience how God has already moved (and is moving) in the lives of the people closest to them.  There's an idea of retelling the stories over and over and over again, so they are not forgotten.  Many - many - many times in the Old Testament we see God leading the people to set up monuments for specific events lest they not forget them.  I don't know about you, but this is good for myself as well.  Though I've seen God bring us in and out of many circumstances, and I've seen how His hand has faithfully guided us, it's amazing how it doesn't take much as far as life is concerned to make our little faith wonder if He'd ever been there to begin with.  I need those reminders in my life!  I need the writing on the wall that says, "LOOK WHAT HE'S DONE FOR YOU!  THIS was YOUR promise!  Your miracle.  This was HIM moving in YOUR life."  It's a reminder.

I'm reminded of Joshua 3 where the Israelites, who are finally getting ready to inherit the land God has promised them, must cross the Jordan river.  God performs yet another miracle in allowing the people to cross through on foot by stopping the water.  It's immediately after this in chapter 4 where God gives Israel the instructions of taking twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan - a reminder.  We read in verses 6-7:

That this may be a sign among you.  When your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.  When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.  So these stones shall be up to the people of Israel a memorial forever.

He repeats the same idea in Joshua 4:21-23 and continues the idea in verse 24 saying:

So that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.

What's the purpose of the reminder?  So we may know the Lord is mighty and that we may fear Him forever... these are the traditions and teachings to pass on. 

What does this mean for me practically?  In all honesty, I'm still trying to figure that out on a large level, however, I know that it means that those scriptures that got me through difficult times in my life are finding their way to my walls, so that when the kids ask what they mean I don't just rattle off the theologically correct answer, but I tell them how God was faithful in working specifically in some way of my life.  I know it means that those little trinket things that we keep as 'souvenirs' from the insignificant events in our life, will be surrounded now by the physical reminders of the journey God has brought us on. 

Though I can't predict the journey that lies ahead of my children, I can build within them a history of the God who isn't just 'alive' in the pages of a book we read to them and in our words on Sunday morning, but of a God who is alive and well, working for our good in our lives specifically.  It then only becomes a matter of time before this God who works deeply and intimate in our lives becomes recognizable to our children in their own.  

Until next time - 

a

Everybody's Talking About Gay Marriage...

And I'll be honest - I've a  little bit had it with the whole thing... both sides. 

I'll preface by saying this, so I get out immediately where my stance is on the subject (as if it matters, it's really just so that I've made it clear as I progress through the blog).  I am a Christian, and to have any other stance than to say anything besides that I am against homosexuality (in all forms, regardless of whether those participating are 'married' or not) would be to go against the very faith that I profess.  Period.  If you are a Christian in support of homosexuality (again, in any form) I ask you to go read your Bible and pray that God would remove the scales from your eyes.  I don't mean that to sound harsh.  I mean to say that our faith is not a buffet.  We can't choose the 'get out of hell - yay Jesus saves" stuff - and deny all of the guidelines He has set forth to allow us to better serve and follow Him.
(need some scripture? Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6: 9-11 is my favorite.  It shows us that God pulls people out of their sin, sin that most of us were in before Christ.  We seem to often forget that.)

Now - if you are still reading, and not fuming at this point, let's get down to the nitty gritty.

As Christians I think we are missing it HUGE in this whole spectrum of what our role in this 'gay rights' debate looks like.  Let's look at a few things here:

A.) One thing we must be very clear on is that we can (and should!) hold Christians to Biblical standards.  (Galatians 6:1-2, or visit the link here for a good bit of info on accountability in the church.) There is plenty of scripture that says that if you profess to be in Christ, that other Christians have a duty in love to affirm that and hold you accountable.  Whether that means approaching,  in love, a Christian brother or sister who is struggling with gluttony, an affair, or homosexuality, we are not called to allow or encourage or brother / sister to sit in their sin.  Period.

If a person is not a Christian, why then are we surprised that there is sin in their lives? Why are we surprised that they don't understand our point of view?  Why are we surprised that they have no desire to be or live in a different manner?  The problem, friends, is not with a specific sin in which they struggle, the problem is that the person is lost.  SHOULD THIS NOT BE OUR GREATEST CONCERN?  For the love of God is available to all who will hear it, and quite frankly, if I were lost and all someone wanted to do was attack the sin in my life but never showed me the Gospel in love, it would be of no interest to me.

Friends - I urge you to see this... the problem we have is a heart problem, a flesh problem, and for those of us who are Christians, it is a problem in which we all suffered.

Which brings me to point B.

B.) The Gospel - the sacrifice and love of Jesus Christ, our great Savior - HE is the redeemer.  Not the governing laws of this land, or any land for that matter.  Regardless the decision made, sin is still sin.  If we all were to rally together holding our big ugly signs with lame, tasteless jabs plastered all over them, and somehow win this 'battle' - though not in love, it does nothing to deal with the heart issue at hand.  Whether homosexuals are married or not, the sin is the same.  The marriage is not a marriage as approved by in God's eyes... but read through the Old Testament and you'll see most 'marriage' acts are performed in the bedroom.  How many of us heterosexuals have our own sin buried in that department?  Thank God for grace and love and compassion and forgiveness.  That is the redeeming force here.

I urge you - sisters and brothers - in supporting your faith and standing firmly on not only the promises, but the convictions, that come along with it, let us remember that the things of God are foolishness to those who are not believers, and that is our  biggest hurdle, the fact that they are not believers, not the sin in which they struggle.  God has promised to forgive and redeem of sin.  Let's not forget to be Kingdom minded in what we are fighting for.  Let's pray for souls and for the Gospel to be advanced more than we fight for our political agenda.

-a

Who I Am

In this fleeting world in which we live, I've been finding myself looking towards eternity with an increased focus lately.  With Bryton asking Jesus questions and myself having an ever deeper perspective of the eternal states of the people in my life, the after life, and this life, have become ever more pertinent.  

After-all, this life significantly effects the afterlife.  

And it seems with every layer deeper I come into my relationship with Jesus, another layer is - quite painfully - peeled back from myself.  The one who knit me together, who has known me from the foundations of the Earth, is offering me glimpses of the girl I never knew existed within me.  Sometimes it's dark, sometimes it's deep, and quite frankly, sometimes it hurts.  

This time around a painful question has been lurking in the deep places of my brain, "What would be missed about you if you weren't here?"  It's been brought to my attention in my family life.  If something were to happen to me tomorrow, what would be the noticeable difference of my being gone?    It's been a painful time to explore this - as B is definitely preferring Aaron at the moment, and my honest fear is that the cooker / cleaner / planner extraordinaire would be gone.  Things may not get done as quickly, but would my laughter still echo in their hearts?  Would they miss my playing with them?  Would they long for a hug specifically from me?  Would I leave any legacy for them to carry forward?

I ask the same question in my jobs. 

In my relationship with my friends. 

In my church. 

In my relationship with my neighbors. 

I'm a doer, and though I love deeply, probably more deeply than any know, I think it gets lost in translation.  I'm Martha.  I love, but I can't put the to-do list down to do it properly.  I can't shut up.  I can't rest in the love between myself and others.  Every silence must be filled, every second occupied.  

It's insecurity.  It's wanting to be wanted.  It's wanting to leave something lasting for those people I yearn deeply for, pray deeply for and love more than my own life.  Ultimately - if I were to pass tomorrow with the laundry done, it'd need to be done again before I was in the ground.  If I pass tomorrow having had played hard with my kids today - they'll remember that forever.  

What the Lord is stirring in my heart is a critical shifting of priorities, stressors, worries, and fears and should dramatically change my relationships with people, but as usual, it's a tall order and I'm short on faith and ability.  God must make these changes in my heart and they must then present in my walk.  I'm praying for a compassion and love to flow freely from this vessel, genuine and sincere.  Love well to be loved well.  Who I am in Christ --- not just what I've done...