Chocolaty Goodness

Pinterest has been feeding my smoothie obsession of late. Given my ravenous sweet tooth, this one has become a definite favorite. And the super cool thing about smoothies is that you can sneak in little tasteless doo-dads with some pretty fantastic health qualities (chia seeds, anyone?).

The frozen banana in this smoothie gives it the smooth texture of a milkshake without all the sugar and calories.

Smooth chocolateness - mass amounts of calories = happiness

The math is simple.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

~2Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
~2Tbs peanut butter

~1 frozen banana

~1 cup milk

~If you want it to be more of a frozen, eat-with-a-spoon sort of dessert, add some ice to the mix.

Getting a "not bad" from some of my toughest critics: priceless.

Mmmm, chocolate.

posted by Lydia

Musing

Self-protecting strategies may have made life seem more livable (for the short haul), but they never bring true joy. Joy is only found in the abandonment of self-focused agendas and demands the relinquishing of each one to Him.

Those imaginary fiberglass walls we've built to insulate ourselves from disturbing truths are, in reality, the walls of a coffin, a place where faith, hope, and joy molder.

~Elyse Fitzpatrick in Helper by Design

posted by Lydia

Pulses

My day starts with an age-old fight- leaving the warm blankets behind for the cold air outside.
Often, it starts with seeing a much later time on the clock than before anticipated.

And so it begins.

Another day of a job to be done, a clock to keep up with, words to be spoken.

Running late for an appointment. A forgotten task, long overdue. Heart aching over a suffering relationship.

Gray mornings, bleary eyes, and a soul longing for beauty and perfection.

It's hard to believe in grace, in an underlying pulse of glory upon my life on mornings such as these. It's hard to believe that the heart of God is beating out the rhythm of my very existence.

William Shakespeare wrote,

"Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale

Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man."

This is the side of myself that I hide from the world. I hide the fact that my soul is dry and shriveled up. The fact that it's a Jesus-loves-you, but-stay-out-of-my-way sort of day.

Pulses.

I catch a glimmer of grace when I look outside of myself; beyond the mundane, the ache of my circumstances.

Like the sun hitting a shiny object in the corner of my eye, glory lines the edges of my life.

The fact of the matter is this: my dullness does not over-rule the glory. My emotional instability, my raw nerves, my dry spirituality does not mean that God is working anything less fantastic, less exciting, or less extraordinary for His glory today than He was yesterday. That, in itself, is the beauty of this day.

This is the beauty that permeates all of existence, whether my blinded, bleary, sleep-deprived eyes choose to recognize it or not.

Borrowing from John Piper, "Do not settle for wimpy theology. It is beneath you. God is too great. Christ is too glorious. [You] were made for the glory of Jesus Christ."

Good morning.

Bring on that glory.

posted by Lydia