Image slide.007slide.006 Children…how they open our eyes to truth.  Jen and I were packing up her kitchen to move, and ran I across this recipe that her daughter Kaitlyn made in the 1st grade.  Jen saved it as a forever reminder of how her daughter felt about her, and I was amazed with the creative talent that Kaitlyn possesses as she heads to the 4th grade this year.  As mom’s, we cherish these pieces of creative heartfelt love from our children.  They tug at our heart strings to save for years to remind us of how our children not only see us, but what is important to them.  Obviously, love is the most important thing for Kaitlyn, and she only wants a dash of strict which is funny, and what kid doesn’t?  At the end of her creative recipe, she tells a story about her mom in the amounts she allocated to each one of the ingredients, how she blended them together in her directions, and how she enjoys her WONDERFUL Mom!

Look for the truth, love, and beauty to be revealed in your own life.  If you pay attention, you’ll be surprised at where you’ll find it.  It may dwell in your children’s artwork, it may be in a pet’s eyes, your child’s homework assignment, a song, in nature, a book, or a pastor’s sermon.

John 3:18  Little children, let us not love (merely) in theory or in speech but in deed and in truth (in practice and in sincerity).

I’d also like to share a special recipe book I made with my mom.  It’s a recipe book that my Mom and I did together to tell a story with our family recipes.  My mom always makes us feel welcome with her homemade meals, and I wanted to help her make a recipe book to give as Christmas gifts to all the women in the family.  I took photos of my mom, asked her which recipes meant the most, and scanned and created a keepsake treasure for our family to cherish in the years to come.  We added notes to each recipe, which family members loved them, and other side notes and stories.  We also added recipes that were from my Grandma with the original oil marks still embedded in the paper.  It’s packed with a message that my mom is special to our family.  She continues to bond us together through food, family, love, caring, playing cards and much more!  Thank you, Mom…

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