fulfillment

The messages at my church have been so timely in the past few weeks.  I feel like each message has been directed specifically to me in the place I am right now.  God knows exactly what I need!
This past Sunday's sermon focused on John 13:1-17 where Jesus is washing the disciples feet.  The pastor gave context for the message along with 4 very insightful traits of being a servant.  The traits that he focused on were humility, boldness, obedience and joy.  I was especially struck by a comment about where I'm searching for fulfillment.  Am I looking for fulfillment in people that only God can provide?  I started doing some self-reflection and have come to the conclusion that even if I don't realize it, I place some hefty expectations on my relationships with others.  I think in some respects this is a self-defense mechanism.  I've also noticed that I tend to do this subconsciously without even realizing that I've placed such expectations on people.  I look to be completed by relationships when the reality is that only Christ can provide what I'm searching for in other people.  Now the question is how do I live life in light of this realization?  How do I live moment by moment in the presence of the Lord?  How do I adjust my expectations or really let Christ lead those expectations?  How do I head off the subconscious expectation of being fulfilled & completed by others?  These are just some of the things I've been pondering and bringing to the Lord in prayer as I ask to be in His presence each day.

recently

My blogging has been put on hold recently for many reasons to include work, sickness, family issues & just plain old not enough time.  Here's some things I've baked or cooked recently though.
Before Christmas I made Kringle!  I learned how last year with my wonderful Kansas City family and decided to make it tradition.  We had a Kringle for breakfast on Christmas morning and I've got one in my freezer to pull out on the 4th of July!  I also gave a few away as Christmas presents.

The yummy cardamom & currant filling being encased in the butter pastry.

After the process of rolling & filling.  Perfect for freezing!

The Finished Product on Christmas morning!

I made Christmas cake balls and Christmassy Chocolate Bark for my cocktail party.  Here's a picture of both of them!  Some of the cake balls were decorated with sprinkles which I inherited from Keri (thanks!) and others with gold cake decorating gel in the shape of snowflakes.  The Christmassy Chocolate Bark was very tasty and had the zest of one whole clementine, which added a great flavor!

Beautiful Christmas cake balls for the party!

The Chocolate Bark

Last week, I made Mango Sticky Rice that my roommate had been talking about how much she loved forever.  I thought it sounded like something I could make easily & the recipe called for pretty basic ingredients.  I highly recommend the recipe, although I would pare it down to 2 servings with the calculator on allrecipes and it still serves at least 4 people.  Sorry there's not a picture for this one, but trust me, it's delectable!

Today, I made this Oatmeal Pecan Pie from Cooking Light, which looks yummy & I will try tomorrow when I have lunch company.  

I also made this Bloomin' Herb Bread for tomorrow.  In the morning I'll be making Eggplant Parmesan to serve for lunch with the other dishes and a salad that Nic is bringing.

I'll take a picture later in the week of the potstickers that I made on New Year's Day with Patty.  They were delicious!  The great thing about potstickers is that the recipe makes a ton & they freeze beautifully!