They Were Completely Amazed

While looking at Scripture this morning I was caught up on this portion of Mark 6, "They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened." This chapter recalls the event of Jesus walking on a stormy sea to calm the waves for His disciples lurching about in their boat. (This all happened shortly after the feeding of the five thousand, hence the reference to the loaves, a provision from the Lord.) As He approached the vessel they became frightened thinking He was a ghost, but He settled their hearts by announcing Himself before climbing into the boat and calming the storm. As the storm abates the disciples were amazed that Christ could accomplish this "for they had not understood about the loaves;...".

So many times I find myself in the same predicament, wondering how the Lord will see me through my trial of the moment. Then, when He answers "immeasurably more than all [I] ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within [me]", I am amazed. Have I forgotten the many ways He has already cared for me?

I must then ask myself the questions found in Galatians 3:3. "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" When the disciples found themselves on storm-tossed seas, yet again, Christ is there to meet their need and answer before they have even asked. Why should I doubt that He will answer my need? I am not able to accomplish anything as great as He, so I need to continue to trust Him.
May my faith in Him grow greater! That I may know to surrender my path to His will, trusting always that He will guide my steps, even through the dark ways.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:24)."

Saturday Morning Donuts

This morning I woke up to a crisp, chill in the air and thought, "Today is a good day for donuts!" Silly, yes, but it doesn't help when one is reading Homer Price to the kids at night and you just recently read the chapter on the unstoppable donut machine =)

So with vim and vigor I got up and decided to try my hand at making donuts for my family. I got my tried and true copy of Joy of Cooking from the shelf and mixed up a batch of Sweet Milk Donuts with my 3yo's help. The dough was a little sticky, so I had to add flour. While I was doing that my oil got too hot, so the first donuts out were a bit doughy in the centers.

But, lo and behold, after getting the temperature corrected and the consistency of the dough right, we ended up with a beautiful batch of homemade donuts. This recipe was so sweet that we decided they were good enough without added sugar or glaze. What fun! Glad I got up and did this today, but my thighs will thank me for not doing it all that often!BTW Notice my utensils here. The biscuit cutter was my Grandmother's and the smaller cutter (used for the centers) was taken from my kids play dough supplies. Gotta love play dough cutters =)