If the past year of my life has taught me anything, it is the importance of cultivating an authentic, real relationship with God.

To say it's been an eventful year would be an understatement.

Chris and I got engaged last July, followed by three months of being continents apart. I said goodbye to the life I had built in Hawaii, transitioning from full time ministry back to life at home in Canada. All the while experiencing the excitement and, lets be honest, stress of planning a wedding and preparing to move to a totally different country. 

If you would have told me 2 years ago that this would be my life, I would've laughed and said you're crazy. But here I am, experiencing it all first hand.

As exciting as all of those things are, it has taken me on a roller coaster of emotions. And i'm not talking 'It's A Small World'- more like 'California Screamin' with high high's, low low's, unexpected drops and loops along the way. I wouldn't have it any other way because through it all I have learned how to press in + stay close to a God who invites us to settle into the refuge of His wing.

About a year ago, the Holy Spirit began to reveal to me that I had believed a lie that emotions are bad. It had become ingrained in my subconscious thinking that every time I felt sad, angry, fearful, dissapointed I had two options-  A) Sweep it under the rug, forgetting it all together or B) create distance from God until I dealt with the emotion on my own.

Mark 14 brings us to the garden of Gethsemane where we see Jesus, in all His humanity, come face to face with the reality of the cross.




Experiencing emotions like anger or disappointment is not a sign of weakness. Aknowledging these feelings is actually an incredible sign of strength. It is what will bring ultimate healing in our hearts.







You know those light bulb moments? The ones that cause your head knowledge to suddenly become a deep, transformational revelation in your heart? I had one of those about a year ago, while listening to a podcast from Melissa Helser where she talked about pressing into God in the midst of hard emotions instead to running from him.

Aknowldeging our emotions will bring healing


Jesus us giving us permission to FEEL

My sister, Emily, and I tried these cookies 4 years ago on our trip to New York City. We've been dreaming about them ever since. (If you're planning a trip to NYC anytime soon, be sure to hit up Momofuku Milk Bar!) So we whipped out the Momofuku cook book and decided give it our best shot. I gotta say, they turned out pretty dang good!

Cream the butter and sugars together, followed by the egg and vanilla. Add the dry ingrediants, mixing just until everything is incorporated. Try not to over mix to make sure you don't end up with tough cookies.

CORNFLAKE CRUNCH

NOTE: You will want to prepare this first so that it has time to cool before adding to the cookie dough.

5 cups corn flake cereal

1/2 cup milk powder

3 tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

9 tbsp. butter, melted

1. Heat the oven to 275°f.

2. Pour the cornflakes in a medium bowl and crush them with your hands Add the milk powder, sugar, and salt and toss to mix. Add the butter. As you toss, the butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the cereal and creating small clusters.

3. Spread the clusters on a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes, at which point they should look toasted, smell buttery, and crunch gently when cooled slightly and chewy.

4. Cool completely before storing or using in a recipe.

COOKIE DOUGH

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 c. granulated sugar

2⁄3 c. packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

3 c. cornflake crunch (see above)

1 c. mini chocolate chips

1 c. mini marshmallows