trust God through the hard times

I'm working through Joyce Meyer's devotional, Trusting God Day by Day and today's reading struck a chord with me. The title is "Trust God Through the Hard Times":

"Often when we think of trusting God, we think of trusting Him for things we need or want - financial provision, physical healing, the restoration of a relationship, or a promotion at work. A true relationship of trust in God extends beyond trusting Him for something and includes trusting Him through a situation. We need to learn to not simply look to Him for the results we desire; we need to learn to trust Him through the process of attaining them...because He is with us, we can go through trials in our lives with stable, positive attitudes, trusting God completely, even against seemingly impossible odds." 

recipe: peppermint pattie cookies

Oh my! I'm knee-deep with planning lessons, grading papers and all other things teaching! While I'm loving finally having my own classroom, I'm still working on finding the balance between my job...and the other parts of my life. Blogging has wandered to the sidelines since August but I want one of my goals for 2013 to be to get back to it! So I'm sharing an amazing recipe for peppermint pattie cookies I found today - I'm baking these super soon! 

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) of unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup loosely brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chips

peppermint pattie cream
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

ganache
3.5 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
2.5 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:

"Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix the cooled butter and sugars until they are combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until mixed. Gradually add in dry ingredients and mix until a dough forms – it will look crumbly at first, but it will come together. I even used my hands to help at one point. Fold in chocolate chunks. Roll dough into 1-1 1/2-inch balls and place on a nonstick baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the middles are just set. Don’t over bake! Let cool completely. While cookies are cooling, add powdered sugar, butter, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla and peppermint extracts to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until smooth and creamy. Use a spatula and spread the peppermint cream over the top of each cookie evenly."

 

book review: "belonging" by robin lee hatcher

"In the high desert town of Frenchman’s Bluff, Idaho, Felicia Kristoffersen has set out to create a future for herself that is better than her painful past. Alone in the world with only her faith to sustain her, she must prove herself as this tiny community’s new school teacher. She cannot, must not, fail. But there are those who never wanted her there to begin with.

Five years after the death of his wife, local merchant Colin Murphy cares about just one thing: raising his daughter, Charity. Colin wants to give her the educational advantages he never had. The new schoolmarm’s inexperience doesn’t sit well with him, and if this teacher up and marries like the last one did, Charity’s heart will be broken once again.

A woman who hasn’t known love. A man who lost the love he had."

As a first year teacher, I immediately was able to connect with Felicia. Even though there wasn't a lot of attention given to the ups and downs of her job, I liked having that in common with her. I wasn't overly impressed with the story but liked the side story of Kathleen and Oscar. I think I would've liked Colin and Felicia to get together sooner but it was an overall good read. I have a feeling the mention of Felicia's past might come up again - Gunnar doesn't seem to be the type to give up easily. I'm excited to see what happens next in Betrayal!

I received a copy of this book from Zondervan for my honest review. You can learn more about Belonging from Robin's website.