We all love hot chocolate right? I hope so, ( I don't think that I have ever met someone who doesn't like hot chocolate) I usually drink hot chocolate from a Swiss Miss packet, so today, ( because it was rainy and felt a little cooler outside) I decided to make some home-made hot chocolate. Also today is Christmas in July, so I had to make something Christmas-y.
Here is the recipe!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/20211/creamy-hot-cocoa/
The thing that I liked about this recipe is that it was super easy to make and wasn't gritty like most hot chocolate and it's not to sweet.
I really do enjoy the hot chocolate, and am going to make some more!
Have you ever bitten into a chocolate chip cookie and it was just pure perfection?
Well I have. My best friend Catherine Longstaff and her mom make THE best cookies in the world. The cookies are gooey and crunchy in all the right places, the chocolate chips are perfectly melt when you eat them. I know this sounds super ridiculous, but God's love is a lot like a chocolate chip cookie. Catherine has given me her recipe and I have watched her make them dozens of times, but my cookies never turn out just like hers. ( Also she doesn't use exact measurements, so I never know for sure how much stuff she uses.) There is some secret that she is holding from me! And if I made cookies that good, I wouldn't share the recipe either. On to God's love, God's love is like Catherine's cookies, sweet, perfect, and satisfying. If you eat one of God's cookies, you don't need another one, it's so rich and fulfilling that you don't need to eat anymore. As is God's love, He gives us all we need, all we have to do is ask, and He gives. I have tried a million different recipes, and eaten other peoples cookies, they were all good, but not great like God's. You can fill your life with other things than God's love. You can fill your life with money, sports, friends, addictions in a nutshell. But nothing tastes as good as God's cookie/love. You try so hard to fill your deep hunger for cookies/love, but nothing helps, in fact, it only makes it worse. Eating huge amounts of cookies is not good for your body, and looking for someone to fill your need for love is not good for your soul. The truth is each and every one of us has a God's cookie sized hole in our stomach, or a God sized hole in our hearts, nothing but God's cookie/love can fill that whole. So what should you do? Go to God and ask for a cookie, ask for His love. He is always ready to give it to, He just pulled a fresh batch out of the oven. Once you eat the cookie, you leave, and go back to your old way of life, looking for the perfect cookie. Something to fill your hunger. We do this over and over and over, and though we know were the perfect cookie is, we are afraid to ask for it. The moral of the story is to go to God when you are in need of love or a cookie. Actually go to the Longstaffs, because eating their cookies is like taking a bite straight out of Heaven. Fill your God sized holes. And I am going to go eat a cookie, because I am now hungry.
This past weekend I attended the Steubenville conference in Springfield Missouri. To sum up the Steubenville conference, it is a giant, Catholic, Jesus concert/talk. This is my second year going to this conference, and even after 2 times going, it still leaves me in great awe. We start the three day weekend off with great, loud christian music.
And my new favorite!
So that was the music for the weekend, but it wasn't just three days of music, we also had Eucharistic Adoration, Mass, and Confession ( which was awesome!)
This is what it looked like. The thing that was so beautiful about Eucharistic Adoration was that even though we were singing and praying ( all out loud) there was a deep sense of peace, I completely zoned out, letting God take control and could not hear or see anything around me, it was calming and comforted me. Mass was AWESOME, it was beautiful to see all 60 priest, and a huge amount of seminarians and religious sisters in one big stadium, and all around the campus. Even though I only had like 5 hours of sleep for 3 days, it was great. As soon I as I got home, I walked in the door and heard that the AC had gone out, there was a wasp in the house, and everyone was rushing around to try and get to 6:00 p.m Mass one time. So I was hot, tired, afraid of a wasp ( I hate bugs), and a little put down that I just got home, and my family was just leaving. So while sitting in front of a big fan, soaking in the cool air, thinking about the great things that God has done in my life. And in the midst of my crazy, chaotic, normal life, I was able to find peace, by just sitting down and calming myself. It may be hard at first, but I think that the more I try, the easier it will be to fully rely on God, and be at peace with what His will is for me.
As you all know, tomorrow is the 4th of July. What does the 4th mean to you? Fireworks? Grill-outs? America? To me the 4th of July is about family and friends, but it is also about freedom. Our amazing country was founded with a set of rules, the constitution. The first amendment, states that all have a freedom to religion, no matter who or what their religion may be, they can practice freely. Most people would think these days that freedom of religious practices would never be a problem in any country. However, in many countries, practicing a religion that goes against the governments is a punishable crime. The second amendment states that all free peoples have the rights to bear arms. This is a very important amendment. Today many people in America are trying to keep us from this amendment with gun control. A silly saying is " Guns kill people." Last time I checked, people kill people, not guns. Fight gun control, protect your families. It's true that our country is a little broken today, but we are the ones that have to fix it, we are the ones to fight back. If we stand for our rights, stand for our freedoms, no one, absolutely no one, can silence us.
