Praise for Today – Counting Joys
Has your life been challenging? Are you facing anything that is extremely difficult? I have found during hard times, it helps me to stop thinking about the difficulties, and start counting the things I’m thankful for. This might sound a little cliché-ish, but this does help. The thing is, when doing this, I usually forget to include the difficulties in my life in the list of what I’m thankful for.
My son joined the Marines and is currently in boot camp. A moderator on the Facebook group I joined for parents, family, and friends of all the Marines in his Echo Company (all going through boot camp together) posted a Bible verse I have heard before and you may have too. James 1:2-4:
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. Let steadfastness finish its work so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
She said it fits the Marines, and indeed it does. I love it for that application. But it also fits you and me. We are all in a boot camp of sorts as we go through life. The challenges we face every day bring us to choices. The choices we make will determine whether we will be fit for Heaven when Jesus comes to take us home. The gift Jesus provides is His victory on the cross to save us for eternity. But I choose every day whether I accept this gift and his strength to overcome all the hard times when my faith in Him is tested. At the end of boot camp, my son will have met the challenges and he will be fit to be a Marine. The question I ask myself, is, ‘Am I overcoming the challenges I face in my life with the strength Jesus provides so that I will be fit for Heaven?’
When life is difficult, I sometimes find myself asking God ‘Where is the joy?’ I have to admit, I have missed the joy at times that James is talking about. The joy is right there, in the midst of all life’s challenges. The joy is walking step by step with Jesus as he produces steadfastness in my faith and creates a perfect heart in me so that I will be ready to join Him in Heaven someday.
Praise the Lord for giving us this joy!
Recipe for Today – Cornmeal Pancakes & Blueberry Topping
Cornmeal Pancakes and Blueberry Topping
Pancake Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup cornmeal (blue or yellow)
- 2 cups almond milk
- 3 Tbs honey
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbs baking soda
Steps
- Combine dry ingredients in a bowl
- Combine wet ingredients in a bowl
- Mix all together thoroughly
- If too thick, add a Tbs or more of almond milk; if too runny, add a Tbs or more of flour/cornmeal
- Spoon onto hot griddle and flip when edges are firm and air bubbles are appearing in the batter
- Cook about 2 more minutes after flipping
Blueberry Topping Ingredients
- 1 12 oz. can frozen 100% grape juice (white or dark purple)
- 1 can water
- 4 to 5 Tbs cornstarch
- 1 pound frozen blueberries
Steps
- Place blueberries in a bowl in hot water to begin thawing
- Combine juice and water in a saucepan
- Add cornstarch to juice mixture and stir with whisk to dissolve it
- Bring to a boil and continue whisking until thickened
- Drain the water completely off the blueberries and add them to the juice mixture (they will continue to thaw in the juice)
- Turn heat to low and spoon on top of pancakes
[note: These are even better if you spread some natural peanut butter on the pancakes and then add the blueberry topping.]
Get in the Ark 