Jars Of Clay

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 

(2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT)

I love the image of us as cracked and flawed, but God's amazing glory brilliantly, blindingly shining through those cracks... IF we let Him... and don't try to cover up our brokenness, if we don't try to hide our flaws.

We have flaws and cracks from heavy blows in life. God wants to shine in the midst of them - to use & redeem them for His glory. But Satan tries to shift our focus from God's working in us, to the jagged ugliness. He heaps on the shame so when we listen to him instead of God, we try to cover up our flaws, we see them as insecurities to hide from the world instead of places being healed by God. We buy into the lie that we need to be perfect right now! Instead of embracing and seeing beauty in the process of God perfecting us with HIS light, His glory.

Lord, help me to see as you see. Help me to tune out the lies. Use my broken places to shine your glory. 

Treats with the Bigs

Today for a fun treat I made individual coconut crispy treats with my two big girls (ages 4 & 5) in the microwave! Super easy, super tasty, & super quick! They helped with counting marshmallows, scooping "butter," measuring & stirring in the crispy rice and coconut. We used my silicone egg poaching cups to mold them into mounds of yummy goodness.

INGREDIENTS:

(For each generous portion)

4 marshmallows

1 tsp butter (we used Earth Ballance)

1/2 cup crisp rice cereal

Optional: 1 Tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS:

1) Melt marshmallows and butter in a microwave safe bowl on high for 45 seconds.

2) Stir in crisp rice cereal and coconut if using, until everything is evenly coated.

3) Shape and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes. 

The girls LOVED them and declared it an excellent activity. The great news is that this was easy, child friendly, and did not use the stove! And I'm not faced with the temptation of a whole pan of crispy treats calling out to me everytime I go into the kitchen. The not so good news is that I now know I can have fresh made crispy treats any time I want. I guess I'll have to get better at restraint. Ha!

Beauty Experiments!

Ive been reading a lot about the miricals of activated charcoal. From teeth whitening to food poisoning - this magic black powder works by attracting pollutants, holding onto them like a super strong magnet and then taking the nasties with it when you rinse or flush it all away. That is what it is used in water filters, and in hospitals for accidental overdose or poison ingestion.

I decided last night to give it a try as a facial mask. Time to pull the nasties from my pores! I started by steaming my face over the sink to open up everything. I opened up two activated charcoal capsules and dumped them into a bowl of 1 teaspoon Bragg's apple cider vinegar. Next I slathered the thin black mixture all over my face, avoiding the eye area of course. Waited about 3-4 minutes - you DO NOT want it to dry out complete. Then rinsed with really warm water and a wash cloth. Followed it up with a few drops of my favorite moisturizer - mixture of extra virgin olive oil, vitamin E, lavender & mint essential oils.

This morning my face feels so soft and and seems to almost glow. I'll definitely do this one again! Do you have a favorite DIY facial? I'd love to hear about it!