Do you ever have those weeks that were bittersweet, wonderful, and hard all at the same time?  This past week was full of learning more about friendship, joy, food as a tool, and the value of sitting in blanket forts.   I’m going to get a little sad, but NOT despairing, on this WIAW with Jenn, Laura, and Arman.  We’ll also end on a joyful note.  

 That was this past week. It was wonderful and hard. It was full of sitting in blanket forts watching Lord of the Rings with my sisters, saying goodbye to precious friends (lots of tears), and learning more and more why food is just food.  It’s a tool.  It’s a gift, but it definitely doesn’t deserve to be the center of my life.   

I also learned more about joy.  I was struggling with joy last week, but God, in His almighty providence, brought a sermon on Sunday morning that pointed me right back to where I should be finding my joy.  I’ll share more about it at the end of the post, but for now, let’s get into the beauty of re-learning the beauty of having faith like a child and enjoying the world with child-like simplicity, especially when life is SWIRLING at 100 miles per hour.  

What do you do when life is crazy and you need to be reminded of the perfect peace of our Savior?  Well, this last week, God gave me the gift of being able to hang out in this crazy, cool blanket fort with my younger sister.  She designed it, and we spent hours in it, reading, sleeping, praying, and watching Lord of the Rings.  The memories we made under this simple blanket fort were priceless. 

Moral of the Story: Make more blanket forts.  You can grow up and do adult things, but don’t ever lose that simplicity and faith of a little child.  

Matthew 19:14, ‘But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’   

Does anybody else here love their friends?  I have been so incredibly blessed by the gift of friends who are constantly reminding me to look to Jesus, to take all my cares to God, that God loves me with a perfect love, and I just don’t deserve them.  

God gave me this friend.  But she’s leaving tomorrow to go to school in a far away state… And that makes me sad. 

BUT, I’m looking forward to that day that Jesus promised all throughout His ministry here on earth (John 14:1-2).   The gift of God is everlasting life, and I can’t wait to not say, ‘Goodbye anymore.’   

Who else is looking forward to not saying, ‘Goodbye,’ anymore and being with Jesus forever?  🙂  

I’ve also been obsessing so much less over the eats lately.  I’ve just been ‘eating’, and it’s so freeing.  It’s so freeing to be able to say, ‘I think I’m finished. I can have self-control and not eat everything, because I’m satisfied.’  It’s also freeing to say, ‘I can eat this ice cream and thank God for this just as much as a salad.’  It’s not the food that matters but the gratefulness that is really changing the way I look at food.  

I.  There’s been pizza and salad.   Store-bought freezer pizza is really not too bad..  In fact, it’s pretty delicious!  

II: This was my version of ‘toast’ for the Bloggers Gonna Blog Instagram Challenge.  That would be a bit of Wild Friend’s Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter and You Fresh Naturals Carrot Cake Butter on there with some strawberry jam.   If you haven’t checked it out, you should just pop #bgbinstachallenge into the search engine, and you will see so much of God’s beauty in all the gorgeous food creations.  🙂  

 

III:  That would be a Sunday morning bowl of yogurt with the best ‘dollopy’ peanut butter, reviewed in yesterday’s ‘Quest for the Best Nut Butter’ post and some sort of delicious chocolate pumpkin muffin.  I’m not sure quite what to call it, because we were given them.

 

 

Disclosure: I did receive this jar in exchange for a review.  All of the opinions below are my own!  

IV: This Philosophie Coconut Butter?   The verdict is that it is chunky and so yummy crumbled over a bowl of yogurt with strawberries.  I got it yesterday, and it was a tremendous treat on my breakie bowl.  🙂  

 

 

V: The old standby snack that never fails… Lately I’ve had a few more stomach troubles, but I am so thankful that this snack does really well with my wonky stomach.  

 

VI:  This would be some of the best ice cream, ever, and it’s from Costco.  Have you ever had Mochi Ice cream?  It’s a ball of frozen, creamy ice cream wrapped in sweet rice dough.  I HIGHLY recommend it.  I even ordered some through the mail last Christmas for my sister.   

This is the best customer service story, because Bubbles Ice Cream has about 20+ flavors of Mochi Ice Cream.  The first time we got the box, it got here 2 days later than the projected time.  Well, they were REALLY gracious about it, and they said that they would re-send us a whole other box.  The other box got here last week, and we have been devouring the flavors.  

They have flavors like:

Mango
Green Tea
Tiramisu
Chocolate Strawberry
Peanut Butter Chocolate (I think) 

and others…

No, they didn’t pay me to say that, but I really like mochi ice cream, and I think you might love it too!  

 

VII:  Do not underestimate the power of putting marshmallows on your sweet potatoes.  Except, don’t forget to take them out of the oven before you burn the marshmallows.  😉   

VIII:  I love Mexican food.  I love tortilla soup, taco salad, enchiladas, burritos, (fill in the blank).   

Anybody else love Mexican too?    

 

IX: The berry bliss coconut butter from Philosophie went really well with some other BERRIES on top of plain yogurt for breakfast yesterday.  

Before you get dizzy with all of these food photos, I wanted to share some honest thoughts on joy. 

I’ve been struggling with joy for the past week, more intensely than usual, and I know that the devil is always trying to steal our joy and take our eyes off of Jesus.  What did I learn about joy?  

1.   It’s okay to mourn.   

Matthew 5:3-4, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.’  

2.  Mourning doesn’t mean hopelessness.  Peter spoke to Christians who were under various trials, and he reminded them that even these trials were a reminder of the glorious hope they had of eternal life with Jesus.   

1 Peter 1:6-9, ‘In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,  so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.’   

3. Joy isn’t a glib superficial happiness.   It’s a contentment despite the circumstances. 

James 1:2-4, ‘My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.’  

4.  Last of al, you might be cast down in this life as a child of God, but you will never be destroyed.  

2 Corinthians 4:7-10, ‘But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.’  

What am I learning about joy?  My joy can only be found in Jesus, and it’s a journey that won’t end until this life does.  <3   

Also, you’ll never guess what was sprinkling down from the sky on my run yesterday?   

That would be ‘Crazy Colorado for you.’   It was a snow shower on April 26th.    That’s why they say not to plant before Mother’s Day in this beautiful state.   

Questions for YOU!  

What are you learning about joy?  

Have you ever tried mochi ice cream?  

Tell me, honestly, have you ever made a blanket fort at the age of 22?  

Is it hard for you to say, ‘Goodbye’ to friends? How do you deal with it?