Honey Glazed Amazingness

Need a new recipe? This honey glazed salmon is super good and super easy! Made it tonight so I thought I would share.

Ingredients

         1/4 cup honey

         2 tbsp Dijon mustard

         1 tbsp melted butter

         1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

         Dash of salt

         Dash of pepper

         4 4-oz salmon fillets

         1 lb fresh asparagus spears, ends trimmed

         1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400*F. Line 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking pan with aluminum foil.

In a small bowl, stir together the honey, mustard, butter, and Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

Put the samon fillets in the center of the pan and arrange the asparagus around the salmon. Sprinkle with the walnuts and drizzle with the honey-mustard sauce.

Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until salmon flakes when tested with a fork.

Number of Servings: 4

Making a little extra sauce never hurt anyone either! Bon Appetit! 

2012!

I was doing so well... and then I fell off the blogging wagon. Luckily you haven't missed too much. Just Thanksgiving, Christmas, Disney World, New Years (which I missed too, went to bed at 10!).
Anyways I'm back to school. Back to internship. Back to structured life.
Don't have a lot to talk about on here right now. Life is good. Typical... mostly :-)
I'm trying to decide what to do for the big 25!
I'm considering a new tattoo. It has been 4 years since I've gotten one, so it's about time for something new.

options:

Maybe on my leg or back of the neck?

I like the location of this one. Either there or on the back of my ankle/lower calf area. 

Which do you like best? Help me out here!

Joy

Emotions are so emotional. Sometimes I just want a break. But I am discovering how to have joy no matter what is going on in my life, no matter what emotions are surfacing. God doesn't ever promise that life will be easy, but he does promise abundant life and he promises joy. Joy's there, however, I have to choose to take hold of it. 

Loneliness is something I struggle with from time to time. It's amazing what a difference it makes when Conner spends a weekend with my parents and my nights at home just feel lonelier. Just knowing that his little body isn't sleeping in the next room resonates in my inner being and I feel alone. 

Other circumstances lately have also brought this sense of loneliness back to the surface. I thought it was something that I was conquering after 3 years of singleness, but it's amazing how quickly it can sneak back up on you. 

Honestly, I've been quite tired of this one. I'm over the loneliness and have been pretty frustrated by it rearing its ugly head back up in my life. So as I was praying about it one day and trying to surrender it to the Lord and I came to a realization about something. If I rid myself of this long time underlying emotion, I need to fill the hole with something else, and the Lord gave me joy!

Unfortunately, it's not a quick fix, one time transition. I let my guard down, get comfortable, become overwhelmed by circumstances and the loneliness can quickly try and steal back it's former position. However I've learned that to live in joy I must live in worship. It really works. What a difference it makes to my day. I'm more hopeful, less anxious, and just have better perspective on life. 

Living in worship? What does that mean? For me it's a state of focus, when my entire day stays focused on the Lord. Music really shapes this for me. It's a huge part of my daily life. Anytime I am in the car, at home, in the shower, getting ready, I pretty much constantly have music on. Now don't get me wrong, I love some good music like The Civil Wars, Norah Jones, Swell Season, etc., but often times it's not very encouraging for me. In this state of my life I don't want to constantly be reminded of love and relationships and that's pretty much all music talks about. So switching out those artists with Jesus Culture, Hillsong, Bethel, Shane & Shane, etc. has totally transformed my life. They bring me into a state of continual worship. My attitude and my thoughts are completely reshaped. I begin to live in the joy God has promised. 

Then when the music is off and I have to either be at school or internship or even just have some time of quiet, the message that I have been listening to all day continues to echo in my head. It brings with it a desire to seek the Lord and to please him, not out of obligation, but out of worship!

"Then I will go to the alter of God, to God my exceeding joy; and upon the lyre I shall praise you, O God, my God." -Psalm 43:4

Valuable

As a single Christian woman I constantly hear that I am to be pursued, I am to be valued, I am to be treated as a daughter of the King. It’s something that I understood, I knew, in my mind, I got it. I am an adopted daughter of the most high God and as such need to be treated like it. However, I have learned that knowing something with your head and truly believing it in your heart is two totally different things.

This month God revealed this truth to my heart and helped me push past the superficial knowledge into accepting that I am valuable. He has been relentlessly pursuing me.

For the last 3 years I have not dated. This has been no accident. I prayed to God that he would protect me from myself and not allow me to get into anymore fruitless relationships. I needed time to heal and to grow after a relationship that completely turned me upside down. And God has honored that prayer by preventing anyone from pursuing me during this time.
I tend to gravitate towards guys with great personalities, but they stink when it comes to pursuing and valuing me as a child of God.  I always would make it really easy for them because I thought that I did not deserve anything more. I would go out of my way to make them comfortable so they wouldn’t realize that I wasn’t worth the work. This pattern has now been broken.

Recently, God has been relentlessly pursuing me. What a beautiful contrast between what God is doing and what others have failed to do in order to help me begin to realize in my heart what I had heard my entire life. God was showing me through his example of what I need to look for in a man. Anything less is not what God would desire for me, because Christ Jesus has made me valuable despite my past, my insecurities, and my faults!

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” – Galatians 2:20

“For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:20

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” – Ephesians 5:1-2

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” – 1 John 3:1

Can't help but laugh...

Yesterday I posted about financial stressors, childcare being the biggest one. Today I can say that a better childcare situation has come up and for less money!
The Father is providing in ways that can only point back to his goodness and faithfulness!

To God be the Glory

This semester is CrAzY!
I am taking 12 hours of class.
I am at my internship anywhere from 20-25 hrs a week.
I have started cleaning a ladies house occasionally for some extra money.
I am completely responsible for Conner 24 hrs/day 7 days/wk.
Self-care is not an option, it is a necessity, and usually occurs best after long internship days.

People keep telling me it takes a special person to be able to do all of this. They keep complimenting me on how good a job I am doing juggling all the things going on in my life. They tell me what a wonderful mother I am. It's encouraging knowing that I have people rooting for me. But the answer to all of the compliments on my strength and diligence and intelligence are not for me. To God be the glory.

I truly believe he has me here for a purpose and for this season. Since he has called me here, I constantly remind him that I need him to fuel me with the necessary tools to succeed, and he does. So I'm not some superhuman woman who is able to concur all things. I am a woman who is trying to live a life pleasing to the Father and depending completely on him to get me through each day.

I ask that you would pray with me for my finances. Money is my biggest stressor right now. Daycare is expensive. I don't know where money will come from or how, but I know that God is provider and that I will be able to pay all my bills come December.

Thanks ya'll for all the encouragement and prayers!

Suffering

I've started studying suffering throughout the Bible, and the purpose for which God uses it. I guess it is partially inspired by my internship coming up in a few weeks (eek), but the topic has also been preached to me quite a few times lately so I figured I would dig at it on my own as well. I think it is important for me as a counselor who is dealing with people at one of their most tragic times of life to fully grasp what I believe about suffering.
Here's a few points I've learned so far.
- suffering is used by God as a refining process, molding us into the image of His Son, who suffered and died for the world
- suffering is used to bring God glory. When going through the worst of times and still clinging to the hope of Christ, others will see the glory of God.
- suffering is the mark of a Christian who is truly willing to give it all away for the sake of righteousness
- suffering is part of living in a fallen world, and trying to deny or avoid it only causes one to fill their life with meaningless idols

Watch "John Piper and the Prosperity Gospel" on YouTube