Friday, April 28, 2017

Hold Us Together

What holds us together?.................love does

A married couple?   love
a friendship?     love
a family?     love
a neighborhood?    love
a community?   love
a church?     love
a country?    love
THE WORLD?   love

get the picture?

The opposite of love is hate.
There is an area in between.
It's called indifference.
eh.....
who cares?........
Am I right?

but

If you hate or if you are indifferent
then you can't hold anything together.

Love isn't the glue all slopped on everything making stuff stick.
Love is the center and we all spiral around it.
If you don't love then you are lost and you go flying off into space....so to speak.

What is the love at the center?
What is this force that holds us together?

It's God.

Because we believe
Because we choose
We are irrisistably drawn to His love.
It flows through us and into the world.

This.
This is what holds us together.

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Granola!

These are a few of my favorite granola recipes!

Chocolate Granola

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
*mix these all together in a large bowl

2/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
*melt the oil and whisk in syrup and vanilla
*pour over the dry and mix well to coat
*line a large baking sheet with parchment
*spread mixture evenly over it
*oven at about 250  for 40 minutes, give a little stir halfway through
*leave it to cool on counter without mixing-it should harden as it cools
*you may sprinkle chocolate chips over the top when it comes out of the oven!

(this is very sweet and good for a dessert sprinkle over plain yogurt)

Maple Walnut Granola

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
*mix together in a large bowl

1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbs. honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla
*melt the oil and stir in the rest
*pour over the dry ingredients and mix well
*spread over parchment lined sheet pan
*oven at 300 for 25 minutes.  give a little stir halfway through
*will crisp when cool.

Peanut Butter Granola

5 cups old fashioned oats
*place in a large bowl

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
*melt and mix together
*pour over the oats and mix well
*spread on parchment lined sheet pan
*oven at 275 for 40 minutes stir halfway through
*crisps as it cools


****these recipes have been gathered from different places.  some have been adjusted to my liking or experience.





Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Dear Little Sister

dear little sister,

you are gone.
there is no time left to fix what was broken.

even when you were still here
pride kept ears shut and hearts hardened.

i'm sorry.
i'm sorry i didn't try harder.

once i was strong enough, secure enough, confident enough....
it was too late.

it became a God thing.
i love God more than anything or anyone.....
including family.

this is the power that drove me away.
i was being called to something different.
something great.
something that is the opposite of the world.
something the world hates.

i thought i spoke the truth in love.
i made mistakes.
i always do and i always will.
but forgiveness was not to be.

forgiveness is impossible
in a pride filled world.

i wish our lives could have been different.

i wish that i could have been an influence for good in your life.

but i went a way that you didn't want to go.
i'm so sorry for that.

i prayed for you every single day.

it feels weird to not pray for you anymore.

it's been hard to write this in so many ways.
one way is me having to speak guardedly

because my words will be turned into weapons.

which is not my intention.

you were my little sister for so long.
we shared a history
that you chose to re-write.

a history that i set out to make a distant memory
to change the results of
to change the direction of
to move on from.

this is hard.....

because this letter is not for the dead.......

................................but for the living.

with love,

your sister,

karen

 karen, liz, judy
karen, bob, judy 
 judy, karen
bill, judy, karen