GMG Week 6 Reflection {Ephesians 3:14-21}

This week the Good Morning Girls studied Ephesians 3:14-21;

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you , according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all the we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him, be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." (NASB)

Because Paul has experienced God's grace in his own life by God using Paul as part of his eternal plan (see last week's reflection), in this week's passage he prays that the Ephesians would also be empowered by the Spirit for God's glory. As part of Paul's prayer, he wants the Ephesians to understand God's great love for us.  I imagine this is because if they can grasp God's unconditional love, it will motivate and free them to do great things for God's glory.

I was blessed to grow up with parents who love me unconditionally. I knew there was nothing I could ever do to lose their love.  There might be consequences to my choices, but I always knew that they loved me even if they allowed me to learn lessons "the hard way." Their love was freeing and motivating to me. Freeing because I didn't feel pressure to earn their love. Freeing because I could go after dreams, no matter how big, knowing I might not achieve them, but that they would love me anyway. Motivating because, even though I knew they would always love me, I wanted to please them and I wanted them to be proud of me. My parents made it easy for me to at least begin to understand God's great unconditional love for me that surpasses all knowledge.

I don't have to be afraid of failing at any endeavor because God loves me no matter what. I am free to tackle seemingly unsurmountable challenges because He can "do far more abundantly than we ask or think, according to the power that works within us." I am motivated by His love to be part of His eternal plan and to bring glory to Him.

I am confident that I have experienced God's love as well as God's power working in my life for His glory. The experience has been so transformational for me that I identify with Paul as He writes this.  I too want my family, my friends, and everybody to understand God's love for them and to experience His grace and power working through their lives to bring glory to Himself. That is why I share this reflection each week, so that maybe my experiences will resonate and encourage someone else towards experiencing God's transformational love and grace and power.

my ball-obsessed family {a day in my life}

Everyone {and every dog} in our house is ball obsessed. Except for me, the loner with no hand-eye coordination what-so-ever. But I am happy to watch my family enjoy playing ball!

 This little guy has literally been playing soccer since before he could walk. Not surprising since his dad loves soccer and looks for every opportunity to play.  But we never pushed soccer on Q.  We didn't even have a soccer ball for him until he found a mini one at a friends house and loved it so much we bought him his own. Before he could walk he would hold our fingers and kick his pink (that's another story...) soccer ball around the house with a huge smile.  It was soccer that motivated him enough to start walking in the first place.  It was the first thing he went after when he was confident enough to start taking steps on his own. Who knows if his infatuation will last, but for now, he loves it!

 It was hard for him to kick the full sized ball in the grass so he used his hands some when he got frustrated.

And that is hubby! Q kept trying to crawl out on the field to get to him :-)

On beautiful Saturday's like today, I take Q and the dogs to watch hubby's soccer games.  Everyone got in on the ball fun today!

Snuggle bug!

The first 9-10 months of Q's life he couldn't have been less interested in snuggling.  Even as an infant he wanted to hold his head up off my shoulder and look around rather than cuddle into mommy.  I thought my only hope of having a snuggly child was to have another baby and hope for the best. Then somewhere around 10 months he slowly started to have an interest in snuggling and he would periodically crawl over and lay his sweet little head on my shoulder for a split second.  For months I would hold my breath every time he did this because the snuggles were few and far between and I just didn't want the sweet moment to be over. Over the past couple months though his snuggling has increased dramatically and now it is a daily occurrence- yay! Who knows how long this current snuggly stage will last though... so while we were lounging around yesterday I had hubby snap a couple of photos to preserve the memory of snuggly Q forever and ever.

I played with the editing a bit but can't decide which I like best.  What do you think???

 I just love black and white photos.  I love the simplicity.

 Little goober likes to chew on his finger when he is teething.

 Since hubby didn't follow directions very well to keep my face out of the photo, Photoshop helped :-)

This one really shows how we were both feeling yesterday- exhausted! 

Here's hoping he stays snuggly for a good long while!  But if not, at least I'll have these to look back on with fondness :-)

GMG Week 5 Reflection {Ephesians 3:1-13}

I am a little behind on posting my reflection from last week's Good Morning Girls study on Ephesians 3:1-13 so I'll try to keep it short and sweet!

"For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles- if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory." (NASB)

Two big things stuck out to me while studying these verses.  Paul's confidence regarding his personal significance as part of God's plan, and Paul's reference to himself as being a steward of the grace God had given Him.

Paul is convinced that his life is important as part of God's plan.  He was made a minister by the "gift of God's grace." He understood the grace God gave to him, was not just for him, but for the purpose of accomplishing God's plans on earth. This perspective helped Paul to see how his life was a significant part of God's eternal purpose.

In the same way, God graciously allows me to be part of His eternal purpose.  He didn't just provide grace for me, but so that my life would have meaning and significance as I carry out His plans on earth. He has gifted me (and you) to do exactly what He needs accomplished. It is a privilege to have such a meaningful purpose for my life. I am a steward of God's grace.


The next time I am changing a poopy diaper, or cooking yet another meal for my family, or taking care of a friend's child, or grocery shopping, or walking the dogs, etc., I will be thinking about my responsibility as a steward of God's grace.  I will remember that what I am doing is not trivial, it is important.  God's plan for me is to be a stay-at-home-mommy and as such I am advancing His kingdom by showing grace and building into my child, my husband, my friends, and everyone else that God puts in my path.

I am so thankful for this Word that God has spoken into my life this past week.  It is easy for me to feel unimportant because I am "only" a stay-at-home-mom and I don't do anything spectacular.  But I do know that this is exactly where God wants me right now, and I trust that if this is where He wants me, then He has an important reason for putting me here.  I don't believe that God wastes the grace He gives us, so my job as a stay-at-home-mom in this season of my life is important and I want to steward God's grace well.

Parenting with Love and Logic {Currently Reading}

We want to be intentional in the way we parent our children. As our first is getting older and understanding more and more, we are beginning to see opportunities to teach him appropriate behavior and to instill in him positive character traits. There is such a plethora of parenting books and advice available out there it can sometimes be difficult to figure out which philosophies and systems agree with our values, are suitable for our personalities, and are feasible for our family. So we welcomed a book recommendation from our good friends who have been raising their daughter with the same philosophy and practices that we have been raising Q.

After reading the first half (which covers the philosophy behind the methods) of "Parenting with Love and Logic" by Foster Cline and Jim Fay, I feel so encouraged and empowered as a Christian parent trying to raise a responsible child. The Love and Logic parenting philosophy aims to teach children responsibility by allowing natural consequences to do the teaching.  The goal is for parents to be "consultants" offering thoughtful guidance and firm enforceable limits.  A key to this parenting philosophy is allowing children to fail (and suffer the consequences of that failure) which will hopefully help children learn to make responsible choices while they are young and the stakes are still low.  Under this philosophy, parents are to offer children as much control as is reasonable by offering children choices with consequences (as opposed to telling children what to do and threatening punishment if they do not comply).

The 2 rules of Love & Logic:
1) Adults must set firm, loving limits using enforceable statements without showing anger, lecturing, or using threats. This can be accomplished by giving choices (all of which are acceptable to the parent and which can be enforced if the child decides to do nothing). This gives the child some control and the consequences come from the child's decision, not the parents.

2) When a child causes a problem, the adult shows empathy through sadness and sorrow and then lovingly hands the problem and its consequences back to the child. I appreciate the following words from the authors, "Our intervention into our children's problems demonstrates a selfish love. We must rise up in a higher love- a love that shows itself in allowing our children to learn on their own."

The two aspects of this philosophy I am already attempting to implement (with decent success! and results!) even though I haven't finished reading the book are offering choices and showing empathy.

Choices, choices! It can be difficult to remember to offer choices instead of telling Q what to do.  It takes extra time and energy to think up choices that are reasonable for a 1 year old, acceptable to me, and enforceable if he chooses to do nothing. But I have found that it makes both of us (me and Q) feel more in control.  Q feels more in control because I am not telling him exactly what to do.  I feel more in control because the choices are enforceable without punishment (which often left me feeling guilty).

Previously most of Q's meals ended in frustration for one or both of us.  He likes to feed the dogs off of his high chair.  I do not like him to feed the dogs off of his high chair.  I had tried telling him sternly, "No, you may not feed the dogs.  Eat your food please." I had even tried lightly slapping his hand as a reprimand when he did it. Both strategies either resulted in hysterical tears or hysterical laughter and no change in behavior.  So my personal favorite 'choice' that I offer is "Quinn, you can either keep your food on your tray and eat it OR you can be done with your meal and you can get down and play." Both of those options are acceptable to me and if he continues feeding the dogs off of his tray the choice is enforceable because I say "Looks like you choose to get down and play" and meal time is over.  It only took a couple of days before he learned I wasn't going to feed him again until his next meal so he better eat what he wants before he starts throwing food off his tray!  Amazing what 1 year olds are capable of learning!

Empathy. As much brain power as it takes to come up with appropriate, acceptable, enforceable choices, I think having empathy for Q when he is doing something he knows he is not supposed to do after I've corrected him a million times is even more difficult.  However, I think empathy is probably the key to the whole love and logic system working.  As the authors explain, when people are punished, they seldom self-examine, resentment is more common.  But consequences (without anger) lead to self-evaluation. My job is to make the connection between Q's choice and the consequence (not punishment) made clear. "The thing that drives the lesson into our children's hearts after they make a mistake is our empathy and sadness."

When Q is hungry after his meal gets cut short because he was throwing food off his tray, I naturally want to say, "Well, that is what you get for being such a bad boy at the table." But then, he would just be angry and frustrated with me. If instead, I say, "I know you are hungry honey. I get hungry too when I miss a meal.  I'll make sure to make you a big snack after your nap," then the only person he has to be upset with is himself. Then he can think about how to avoid this uncomfortable situation for himself in the future rather than just stewing with anger toward me for being such a mean mom.

Personally, I have found that because giving choices makes me feel like I have more control, I naturally don't get as upset and angry with him when he chooses to continue behaving badly because I already have an enforceable, appropriate consequence prepared. I don't feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall continually asking him to do something that he continually refuses.

I look forward to all the practical tips the second half of the book promises!  I wanted to go ahead and share this with my mommy and daddy friends though in case you think the book might also be helpful to you. I highly recommend it!  There is much more wonderful insight in the book that I wasn't able to share in this blog post.  I would also love to hear if you have any parenting books that you've enjoyed that I might want to check out?

A few of my favorite things {Quinn Edition}

In a recent email to my sister who lives in Italy, and thus, who hasn't seen Q since August, I was listing some of his current favorite things. She replied that one day he (and I) will love to look back at those kinds of descriptions.  I know she is right.  He is learning and growing so quickly these days!  So over the past few days I made it my mission to capture some of his current favorite things on film-- ya know, for posterity's sake ;-)

Quinn loves his little friend {future wife} Dawn. Though they have known each other since they were born, they are finally noticing one another and enjoying "playing" {squabbling} together. If one of them gets into something, the other isn't far behind. They always want what the other has and are total double trouble! Just this morning hubby and I were searching for a small frying pan to make their breakfast and realized the last time we saw it was when the two of them were emptying out the kitchen cabinets. Maybe one day when they can talk, they will tell us where they hid it!

Quinn loves to take things apart and put them back together.  His mom-mom and pop-pop gave him the little turtle he is playing with in the above picture.  He repeatedly takes the hat off and puts it back on.  He also has a little carton of "egg shells" that he loves to take apart and put back together.

Quinn LOVES to read!  I first realized that he understood what we say to him when I told him to "go get a book and mommy will read it to you" and he immediately did it.  Some of his current favorites are "Flip Flap Fly," "Good Night Little Bear," and "Turn and Learn Shapes."

Quinn has now discovered that he can open the kitchen cabinets on his own.  He use to race over when he saw me open one to get into it, but if I got it closed before he could get there, he didn't realize he could get into it on his own. Not anymore! He is into everything and loves pulling out the Tubberware and the pots and pans. He also loves helping me unload the dishwasher.  I let him get his own baby spoons out and help mommy put them away.

Of course little guy loves the computer (along with anything else that he isn't allowed to touch, like remote controls). He loves skyping with his grandparents and Zia. It's amazing to see how you can tell when he recognizes people.

Quinn LOVES his dogs. He loves anything related to the dogs.  He prefers to play with their few toys as opposed to his many toys.  He loves getting their bones (probably because he gets lots of attention from them when he has the bones). And he loves climbing in their crates.

These are a few of Quinn's current favorite toys.  He loves his puzzles and his "Little People" bus (and anything "Little People" related). He is getting really good at fitting the shapes in the shape sorter.  And he is great at putting the rings on the ring-stacker-thingy and sometimes even puts them on in the correct order! And he loves knocking over and playing with his Tobbles tower. It will be tough to narrow down what toys to pack for our 6 months in Singapore coming up soon!

Quinn's absolute favorite activity might just be "helping" mommy with laundry, especially stuffing cloth diapers. He will help me switch laundry from the washer to the dryer (and sometimes back again...). He will help me get the diapers off the drying rack. He likes to take all the diapers out of the basket and then put them all back in again.  He has recently started handing them to me for me to stuff them.

Never mind about the laundry... stairs are definitely Quinn's favorite thing! We have gates so he can't get on our stairs, but he learned to go up and down stairs over Christmas when we were on the East coast with no baby gates. Now he gets really excited if we let him climb ours as home. I couldn't figure out why he mysteriously started enjoying going to the childcare at my gym until they told me he spends the whole time I'm working out in the kiddie maze going up and down the padded stairs :-P

Finally, Quinn loves going for walks and jogs.  No matter how fussy and cranky he is, he is happy as a clam if you get him out of the house in the fresh air.

Valentine's Cookies

Last night, hubby and I went out for a sushi date at our favorite local sushi spot in Monterey, Crystal Fish. I commented that I don't think I'll ever eat sushi without thinking of our favorite Hawaiian sushi spot, Sansei, which was were I first learned to like raw fish and was a frequent hang out of ours where we have many fun memories of karaoke nights. It got us thinking about what other things are so quintessential that we will always think of them when doing certain things.

Our last date at Sansei before leaving Hawaii

One of those quintessential things for me are my mom's dainty tea cookies.

Growing up my mom always made "dainty tea cookies" with the cookie press for Valentine's Day. Now I can't think about Valentine's Day without thinking about these yummy little almond flavored cookies.

I thought I would whip up a batch to make little Valentine treats for some friends. And in case you're looking for a little Valentine inspiration, I'll post the simple recipe here!

Dainty Tea Cookies

1 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2.5 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp red food coloring

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix thoroughly. Add dry ingredients and mix. Add flavoring and coloring and mix thoroughly. Put through cookie press with heart insert onto cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 4-6 minutes.

*We also make these at Christmas time with the wreath insert in the cookie press and substitute green food coloring

Quick, easy, and delicious.  But watch out... they're addictive!

GMG Week 4 Reflection {Ephesians 2:11-22}

This week the Good Morning Girls studied Ephesians 2:11-22;

"Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called 'Uncircumcision' by the so-called 'Circumcision,' which is performed in the flesh by human hands-- remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and He preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." (NASB)

Some quick biblical history to help with our understanding of this passage:

• Throughout the Old Testament of the Bible (everything prior to Jesus) Israel was God's people with whom He had a special relationship. 
• One of the signs of this special relationship was physical circumcision which became an area of tension between Jews and Gentiles. (Paul reminds them that circumcision is done by human hands, implying that physical circumcision isn't really the big deal the Jews like to think)
• Israel was part of special covenants God made with them and they lived by the Law of commandments laid out in the Old Testament. 
• The Law required Israel to offer animal sacrifices to pay for their sins (breaking the Law) and because the Law was so strict, they would have to sacrifice over and over again each time they broke the Law.

Then Jesus came and changed everything:

"But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity."

• Jesus is the only man to ever live a perfect, sin-free life.  
• The Law demanded death as payment for sin (thus the animal sacrifices and the fact that we all eventually die). 
• Jesus never broke the Law, so when He willingly sacrificed His perfect life for us on the cross, He broke the power the Law has over us and satisfied the Law's need for a sacrifice (thus, no more animal sacrifices).
• Jesus' perfection made His sacrifice good enough to pay not only for Israel's sins, but for anyone who accepts His sacrifice's sins. Thus, fulfilling prophecy ("And He came and He preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near" Ephesians 2:18 from Isaiah 57:19)
• Because Jesus' sacrificial death paid for Jew and Gentile sins alike, all who accept that sacrifice are part of "the body of Christ" whether Jew or Gentile.

Okay, so you may have already known all that, but I just wanted us to start on the same page since I mostly want to focus on the last 4 verses and there was just so much packed into those first 8 verses! Basically, Paul is recognizing the division between the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers and in this passage, is trying to encourage them to unite as the body of Christ.

I felt God speaking to me as I was reading verses 19-22 which I think really sum up the point of this passage.

"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."

Despite their differences Jewish believers and Gentile believers were all part of God's family. They are each part of God's kingdom, and a piece of a holy temple being held together by Christ. Because of Christ, they now have a collective purpose; the building of the kingdom of God.  Every believer is equipped by the Holy Spirit, dwelling inside of them transforming them from the inside out to become more like Christ. But there is an even greater goal than the sanctification of the individual believer, that is, for all believers to work together in unity as the body of Christ.

The idea that the believers are supposed to live in unity, is not a new concept to me. All week I was wondering what God was trying to teach me through these verse because I kept thinking, "I already know that!  Don't argue, focus on our similarities in Christ." And then these last four verses helped me understand God's message to me this week. It is not about me, it is not just about my personal spiritual growth or how I individually bring glory to God. It is about being part of the body of Christ and collectively bringing glory to God as part of the body of believers. 

I need to go beyond "not arguing, and focusing on our similarities in Christ" with my fellow believers. I need to be encouraging them in their spiritual walks and I need to rejoice with them when God uses them for His purpose. Because they are part of my family, we are all part of the same body, and their success is success for the whole body.

As an American, this mentality is sometimes difficult to achieve. Our culture is driven by competition which often means that when someone else succeeds, we lose. But I am praying for the Spirit to override my cultural upbringing in this area so I can fully participate as a supportive member of the body of Christ bringing honor and glory to God.

A Cure for Crabbiness

Little man and I both woke up crabby today :-(  He has been a little under the weather so his crabbiness is understandable.  Me on the other hand... who knows.  Now that Q is well over a year I think I need to stop blaming every bad mood on pregnancy and breastfeeding hormones :-P

So I took matters into my own hands! Q and I each have pretty reliable cures for our moodiness.  Q needs fresh air and a change of scenery. I need exercise-induced endorphins!  We make for a pretty good pair since I can fulfill both of our needs by taking him for a jog on the coastal trail.

We are very blessed to have a lovely paved trail that goes for something like 18 miles along the central Cali coast right by our house. Monterey is the perfect place to be a runner.  Beautiful scenery and perfect running weather year round. Just to make my fellow runners drool, I stashed my camera under Q's stroller and took a few pics of the scenery along our route.

The marina

Seal Beach (those grey things aren't just rocks... they are harbor seals!)

Fisherman's Wharf Monterey

Heading towards Lover's Point in Pacific Grove; the surf was up and there were ocean sprays up over the trail even! Wish I'd had my board (and a very thick wet suit!).

Q enjoying the fresh air at our turn around point

GMG Week 3 Reflection {Ephesians 2:1-10}

This week the Good Morning Girls studied Ephesians 2:1-10,
"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the poser of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children on wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would wlk in them." (NASB)

These verses show a contrast of our life before and after salvation. I see the main difference to be living for yourself (indulging in desires of the flesh), and living beyond yourself (taking advantage of the opportunities for good works that God prepared specifically for you).

On the last day of my study this week I read verse 10 which says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." This verse brought up a few questions for me and made me uncomfortable at first until I discussed it with my wise husband who helped give me some perspective. My first thought was that it seems that we are created for specific good works (as opposed to general do-gooding) based on the fact that God prepared these works beforehand. So then I felt uncomfortable wondering, "Are the good things we choose to do not a part of our free will? But rather, since they are planned beforehand, we will do them regardless of our intentional choice to follow God?" You can see why that might be somewhat frustrating to me.  I spend lots of time and energy being intentional in my pursuit of God and His will, so to think that it doesn't really matter because He's already got a plan for me that will unfold regardless of my choices and efforts, was frustrating. (I do realize that train of thought is somewhat immature- I mean He is God and He can do whatever He wants to do and just because doing the right thing doesn't 'make a difference' doesn't mean I shouldn't do it- but it is how I honestly felt.) So, I asked my husband what he made of the verse and he suggested that God prepared the opportunity for good works beforehand, but that it is still our choice whether or not we follow Him and take advantage of those opportunities that have been prepared specifically for us. Based on what I know about how God relates to us throughout the rest of Scripture, hubby's interpretation seems to make the most sense.

This week I have been reflecting on where I came from (my pre-salvation self), and all that God has done for me out of "His great love" for me, and I have been humbled and filled with gratitude for my merciful, gracious, loving God. Verse 10 was the perfect ending to my study this week. Now when I think about it, I am so excited to know that God created specific opportunities just for me to do good works!

If you read my blog at all, you might have noticed that I have been floundering a bit this past year since becoming a stay-at-home mom.  I am trying to find my niche, some skill or passion that God has blessed me with that I can use to bless others. Pre-mommihood I knew what my niche was, it was teaching secondary math.  I loved sharing knowledge with students and interacting with them on a personal level.  I felt like I was making a difference and felt like (after multiple degrees) I had finally found the career God had made for me specifically. Then my sweet little baby arrived and everything changed. I had a bit of an identity crisis, and even though I have now found my identity secure in Christ, I am still searching for my niche.  I finished grad school (which who knows if I'll ever use...), I've run a couple half marathons, I'm currently pursuing a fitness instructor certification, I got really into vegan eating and cooking, I started actually writting on this blog I've had for years, I learned to sew, I learned to operate our DSLR camera and have been learning about photography and photo editing, etc, etc. There are so many things I am interested in, but I don't have a clear direction. Ephesians 2:10 is so incredibly comforting and exciting to me at this time in my life. God has already prepared opportunities for good works that were created specifically for me! I just need to be on the look-out for those opportunities and continually allow Him to refine my character so that I am prepared to make the most of the opportunities He presents me.

I hope it makes you excited too knowing that God has planned specific good works for you! I know I am excited to see what He is going to do through you!

*Healthy* Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

So I've been baking again! I bought a whole box of over-ripe bananas at the commissary for $1 last week so you know what that means... banana muffins!  And for some reason, I am now never satisfied to just make a recipe the way it was intended.  I am always attempting to "improve" it by making it healthier (or just plain yummier...). I actually think I succeeded with these banana chocolate chip muffins that I adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking to include fewer refined carbs and sugar, more fiber and omega-3, and they are still just as yummy!

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup canola oil
5 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (option: could substitute nuts if you really want to be healthy)

In a medium bowl, mix flour, flax seed, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl, mix bananas, agave, and oil. Stir in water and vanilla. Add flour mixture and chocolate chips. Stir to mix.

Fill 12 greased muffin tins 3/4 full and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Warning! Just because there is no refined sugar (well, other than chocolate...), doesn't mean these are "low-sugar" muffins, so I would advise against letting your 1 year old have one for a bedtime snack.  It is possible that 1 year old might be interested in staying up all night :-)

PS- These are best warm, so I always pop mine in the microwave for 15 seconds if it is already cool when I want to enjoy it.

PPS- These freeze well!