strengthen your heart

My best friend knows me so well. :)

I've been realizing lately that I have some issues with control and anxiety. I just recently recognized my need to surrender certain things in my life and am currently doing my best to make that a tangible reality.

She just sent me this and it just rings so true with so many of the things that have been stressing me out and overwhelming me lately. It's pretty simple, but I found it was a great reminder and wanted to pass it along in hopes of encouraging you today as well:

Turn off the news. Really - I mean it. The news is a product sold every day; evil sells. "Three children were told today they are loved" doesn't make headlines; "Three children found dead" does. The evil one uses the news to celebrate darkness. Turn it off.

Forgive. Bitterness and resentment eat away at the heart like cancer. It's time to let it go.

Name your fears, and turn them over to Christ. Fear is also a cancer (usually felt as 'worry'.) Name it, and lay it at the feet of Jesus. Every day if you have to.

Play worship as background music in your home, your car. For one thing, the demons hate it and don't like to be around it. But more so, it enriches  your spirit, mind, and heart.

Stay with one truth at a time. Distraction doesn't nourish. Pick one truth God brings you and spend a week with it before you rush on to the next thing. Marinate.

Sabbath. I don't mean an hour at church and then grocery shopping, paying bills and homework. I mean, where is the rest in your life? Weekly, what do you do for Sabbath?

One night a week. Most of you are running hard; the pace of life is in itself an assault. Give one night a week to quiet, to God, to joy, to whatever strengthens your heart. (It won't be TV; television does not strengthen the heart.)

Recover what once brought you joy. What was it? Running? Playing an instrument? Reading? Taking walks? Go take it back; joy strengthens the heart.

Distance yourself from draining people. I don't mean stop loving; I mean set boundaries for heavens sake. This may be hard, but the relief will be worth it.

Beauty. You need beauty in your life - nature, music, visual beauty. It's life.

Pray Ephesians 3:14-19 for yourself, often. This is God's will for you - that you be strengthened by his power deep within. My goodness - ask for it!!!

Tell Jesus you love him, several times a day. As we make a practice of loving Jesus, it strengthens our hearts because this above all else is what your heart is made for.

My friends, I hope you understand we are living in soul-draining times. The enemy very much wants to break the power of God's people. And remember - an affair doesn't happen in a day, nor does an addiction, or a suicide. All the woes of the human heart happen over time, subtly at first, as we yield to surrender, to the spirit of Defeat. You do not want to surrender your heart, not in these times, not when you need every bit of strength you can possibly find. Strengthen your heart. Seek those things out that Jesus is using to strengthen your heart.

It matters.

can't have sick roomies...

My poor lil roommate is sick!! That is correct. She is unwell which clearly means it is my civil duty to provide nourishment to assist her in healing and being well again! (Clearly a hardship for me... not.) Knowing how miserable she's been feeling, I searched our fridge and it just so happened we LITERALLY had everything we needed for a hearty chicken soup - just the ticket to kick whatever cold bug she seemed to catch.

Check it out:

I only have a couple pictures, but to be completely honest, they don't really do justice for how great it turned out. 

I found onions in our pantry. Carrots, celery and herbs were just waiting to be used in the fridge. I don't cook meat too terribly often, so when I do, I try to make the most of it - last night I grilled some chicken breasts and had a couple left over, so I tore them up and used them as well... So, all in all, I used:

-one onion

-a bunch of carrots

-some celery

-dill and parsley

-grilled chicken breast

-a can of Swanson's reduced sodium chicken broth

(I'm such a fan of liberation, that sometimes I 'ex-nay' the measurements just to be a rebel... feel free to do the same, it really is freeing AND this soup is just fresh and delicious. I prefer my soups heartier, so I throw ample amounts of anything of substance and am more stingy on the broth and such - to each their own! Literally!)

I started by sautéing the onion in my Dutch oven, (first I put some organic olive oil in the pot while it heated up - is anyone else as crazy about the smell of sautéing onions??? Or is it just me?)  Shortly thereafter, I started sautéing the carrots and celery in my cast iron skillet. (Don't ask me why I did them separately, sometimes I just do things a little backwards.) 

(I bought the beets with the next meal in mind... that's right, this is a double post!) After getting everything started, the soup came together super quick. Really, the most time-consuming part was the chopping!

Throw it all together and you've got the mixings to heal your roomie! (Fingers crossed...)

NEXT, I saw a post about grilled cheese... yep, the famous American staple... and thought I'd put my own little spin on it. Unfortunately, I don't keep bread in the house (my body doesn't like it as much as my palette does...) so I had to borrow a bagel thin from said sick roomie - this was even easier to put together as the soup.

You will need:

-bread

-butter

-arugula

-beets

-goat cheese

It's best if you have your beets already cooked as they're pretty crunchy raw. Butter your bread (or bagel, in my case). Throw one slice butter-side-down on your hot skillet. Layer arugula, beets, and goat cheese and top with the other slice of buttered bread. Flip when first side is golden. 

Slice to see the pretty insides. Consume. And enjoy.