Crunchy Almond Granola Banana Muffins & the start of a new chapter

Let me just start off by saying that God is good. Like REALLY good. He never fails, he has the most perfect timing and anything that I ever worry about is always taken care of. It's pretty ridiculous how much I doubt God and how blinded I am by His working and presence in my life. But before I get to all of that, I tried out a new banana bread recipe..I call it Crunchy Almond Granola Banana Muffins. 
** Sorry for the terrible photos...lighting in my apt is not so great :(((**

Mix up all the dry ingredients: Sugar, flour, baking soda, salt!

Get an arm workout from mashing bananas..

Try and find plain or vanilla greek yogurt! I used peach because they didn't have vanilla or plain :(

mixing in progress

scoop em up!

Start sprinkling granola on top!

these are way addicting...

*Makes 48 mini muffins* 

Adapted from Shopgirl Blog

YOU WILL NEED:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used peach because they didn't have plain)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 large bananas)

about 2 cups of Trader Joe's Vanilla Almond Granola

DIRECTIONS:

1. Begin by preheating your oven to 350 deg F, and spray your mini muffin pan with PAM. In your electric mixer bowl, combine the eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla until you get a smooth mixture. 

2. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients into the wet, and mix until they are well combined. Add in the mashed bananas and Greek yogurt and mix. DON'T MIX TOO MUCH!!! IT'LL MAKE THE BATTER TOUGH! JUST MIX UNTIL WELL COMBINED. Sprinkle the granola on top of each muffin. Pour the batter into your prepared tin, and bake for about 10 min, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for a couple of minutes before eating.

Orientation week has been crazy and long. The beginning started out to be fun and exciting, but pretty soon I started getting all of these doubts in my head from Satan that I was too young to be here, that maybe I should have taken a year off, or gone to a different school. After praying for awhile about it, God clearly answered me by providing me with friends that I think will be with in all of this with me for the next four years. Also, in my morning devotions, he reminded me that He doesn't tell us to go through radical situations on our own. In Genesis, Abram was told to pack his bags and leave to some foreign land. 

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s householdto the land I will show you.2 “I will make you into a great nation,    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,    and you will be a blessing.[a]3 I will bless those who bless you,    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth    will be blessed through you.”

I don't know about you, but if I were Abram, I would be a stress-ball. Kind of like I was about starting dental school. God promised Abram, and the same promise is for us too. He called Abram into relationship with Him and calls us as well. His promise assures us that when He gives us a radical command, we are journeying forth NOT alone but WITH God, who is leading us. The blessing includes what we still seek: a place to live and thrive, the security of community, prosperity & prominence. These things aren't acquired on our own but are gifts from God: a divine grace, a divine blessing. Reading this passage just reminded me that I'm here at 'SC with a lot of challenges to come my way. It's crazy that I'm here right now, but God has me here for a purpose, and He is journeying with me. I have nothing to worry about!  I have no doubt that I am at the right place at the right time, and when God calls me elsewhere I am ready.
When people ask me why I want to be a dentist, I have an answer for them. Finally.... I used to hate it because I knew people would just assume that I wanted to be a dentist because both my parents are dentists. And I can't lie and say that they didn't influence me in some way. In fact, they probably are the ones that swayed me into this field. But now that I'm here, I've gained a much greater appreciation for this field, and I've been able to take it as my own. The only reason why I want to go into the health field is to travel overseas and use these skills that God has given me to bless His people. I can't express how awesome it is to see the work that God is doing in other countries. But that doesn't mean I have to be a dentist to do it. The health field is all I know, I've been around it my whole life. I don't need the Dr. title or anything else, but I think God has me in dentistry for a reason, and not medical or nursing or pharmacy. Hopefully, I will discover the reason why later. As for now, I wouldn't care if I was in any of these fields because I KNOW that God could use me...in fact, he could use me in any field, as long as I surrendered to Him. I hope that I can instill this mindset into my classmates as I go through these next 4 years. To minister to my classmates, to pray for my patients, to learn people's stories and tell my testimony to them, to be humble and glorify only GOD with my achievements. THings are going to get rough pretty soon..but I know God is always faithful, even when I am not. 

Growing up & learning how to be humble and content in any situation

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about just growing up...and how fast time has gone by. God has been becoming so real to me the past two years, it's incredible. I haven't noticed until now how much He's challenged me to grow both in the real-life sense and spiritual sense. For example, starting small groups with the roomies at UOP was such a step of faith, but we did it, and we took risks, and God was faithful. Like always. Now, I'm looking at everyone starting new chapters around me, including myself, and it's hard to comprehend it all. For one thing, why was God so gracious to me in this entire situation? There are so many people that I care about out there that have struggles that keep them up at night, or worry them throughout the day, just like me. Except for their situations are way different. They have to worry about things that I will never have to. And sometimes, I'm not sure how to feel or what to say, because in the end, those people might feel hurt or feel like I'm complaining about my situation too much. Kind of like "You don't even realize what you have, why are you so depressed or worried?" I've been asking God why it has to be like this? I mean obviously everyone goes through different situations in life. We all have triumphs and failures at different degrees, which makes it hard to sympathize with others when you can't quite understand their situation. It's really a matter of putting yourself in their shoes. Trying to understand what you would be like if you were them.

It's really awesome when God answers your prayers, and rewards you for your faithfulness and perseverance. However, I do confess that I am prideful and arrogant, about myself, my situation, my past/future. How stupid is that? I mean, I don't deserve anything I have right now. Also, I am no better than my neighbor because sin is sin, as the Bible says, and I have no right to ever brag about my love for God, or the things I have achieved because none of it is from me or my capabilities. It's a constant struggle, for every human being, to be able to recognize their inabilities, and their weakness and frailty. The book Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney is really a great read because it goes through the basics of humility. Things we already know but get blinded by all the time are brought up in this book. I hope to keep rereading that book to remind myself of how much God hates the proud. As I enter dental school, I want God to continually remind me of my weakness. For some reason, that usually means breaking me down, putting me through tough situations, giving me bad grades here and there, to make sure that I'm constantly turning to Him for help. I'm not trying to do this on my own! The only way I can get through the next 4 years is through the help and grace and mercy of my Lord Jesus Christ. Even my parents, as much as they say or do, cannot bring me through.

Nevertheless, God tells us to always rejoice and to be content.

11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.   {Philippians 4:11-13}

This means, even if someone is doing better than us, has more than us, seems perfect or always "lucky" doesn't mean that we have the right to complain or be bitter. God gives us exactly what we need and exactly what He thinks we deserve.

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. {1 Thess. 5:16-18}

This is the least that the Almighty God deserves. The Bible doesn't say rejoice only when you get an A on your test. It doesn't say to pray only when we need Jesus to heal us. And it says that no matter what we are going through, that we must first give thanks. Quite frankly, it could always be a lot worse. We were never put through the immense suffering that Jesus Christ did when he was nailed to the cross. Our purpose is to glorify God, and our mission is to spread the gospel. That is my goal for the next 4 years of my life. May all that I say and do be pleasing to our Father, because in the end, He is all that matters.

8 Principles of Dating (Repost from Resurgence)

Everyone is looking for love, whether it be from family, mom or dad, friends, or a significant other. As a single young woman, I've seen how God has been using singleness to grow me, to help me fall in love with HIM first, to take away all the distractions, and to bring me to the foot of His cross.

I've found the one whom my soul loves...  {Song of Solomon 3:4}

 For example, in college, my friends and I were a little disappointed by the fact that there was "no one" at school. We came in thinking that college would be "our time" as silly as that sounds. I'm sooo incredibly grateful for the lack in that department because it helped us grow closer to the Lord and keep each other accountable to God without anything getting in the way...for the most part. Singleness is a calling, hopefully for only a short period of our lives. Of course, there are those that are called to singleness for their entire lives..and frankly, I can't get into that because I just don't know much on the Biblical side of that. Recently, I was on Pinterest, and I found this article called "For the Gals: 8 Principles of Dating". It's nothing complicated and it's things we may or may not have heard before. But, it's all really applicable to our lives as single or dating women. So here goes! This is as much for me as for anyone out there reading this (if any at all....). It's actually more for me, just to remind myself constantly of how to keep my relationship aligned with Christ.

"A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her." 

1. REPEAT AFTER ME: “YOU ARE LOVED.” 

I am not kidding. Repeat. After. Me. Out loud, often, with conviction. These are such simple words to say, but they have the most deep and resounding impact on our souls if we would just believe.

God says to his daughters in Jeremiah: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you." Until you have tasted God’s eternal, steadfast, redeeming love, hold off on looking for a man. You may just end up settling for a quick love that cannot fill your core heart’s longing. Even if you are not currently being pursued by a man, you are constantly being pursued by Jesus.

2. YOU ARE LESS BEAUTIFUL THAN YOU THINK AND MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN YOU BELIEVE.

Our sin makes us ugly. No amount of makeup, clothing, or confident, flirtatious façade can change that fact. It takes a humble, redeemed woman changed by God to admit the ugliness of her sin and rest in her beauty in Christ. We must repent of our pride, our shame, our obsession with our looks. We must believe and embrace who God made us to be: beautiful in his image.

True beauty emanates from a woman who boldly and unabashedly knows who she is in Christ.

3. CONSIDER WHAT CONTROLS YOU.

Is it fear, loneliness, demand for a man, seeking approval, career, money?

Let the love of Christ control you. Pay attention to what is controlling your heart as you wait for a date, are in a dating relationship, or even into marriage. We settle for lesser gods than the one who died for us and love us unconditionally.

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who might live no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” 2 Corinthians 5:14–15

4. ADDRESS YOUR DADDY ISSUES.

Most of us have them—wounds on our hearts from our earthly fathers and their shortcomings. Whether yours was absent and uninvolved or abusive and abandoning, don’t let him define who you believe your heavenly Father to be. Even if you have a godly and protective father, he is not God.

You are not looking for a dad-duplicate or a dad-replacement in a man. You have a perfect heavenly Father.

Let Scripture reveal to you who God is as Dad and what kind of care he gives his daughters.

"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:13

5. CHARM AND BEAUTY ARE NOT A GOOD DATING PLAN.

"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30

Often, our grand scheme for how to snag a date goes only skin-deep. We put massive pressure on ourselves to pour on the charm and look cute wherever we go, not realizing that a godly man will also be concerned about inner beauty. God certainly is.

"But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." 1 Peter 3:4

A woman who fears the Lord is one who, despite her desire for a date, fears being far away from God more than she does missing out on a man who is easily fooled by her exterior.

6. REALIZE YOU ARE ALREADY SUBMITTING—OR ARE YOU?

Submission is not only for wives. God asks for a submitted heart now, one that trusts in his provision and plan for your life, including dating. Ultimately, dating, and all of life, is about submission—waiting and trusting God and saying as Jesus does, “Not my will but yours be done.”

This does not, however, leave you helpless, hopeless, and hamstrung in the relationship department. A godly woman can express friendly interest in a brother in Christ. 

• It is OK to mingle—but don’t manipulate.
• Peruse—but don’t pursue. Let him initiate.
• Take notice of the godly men serving Jesus around you—but never stalk. It’s creepy.
• Cross paths with a man who interests you—but don’t tackle him.

7. DRESS TO KILL . . .

. . . your evil desires and his. We all know what it’s like to be noticed for what we wear. Your desire to draw attention to yourself is vanity. Do not falsely advertise what is not available to anyone but your future husband. Don’t open the door for men to make assumptions about you by what you wear. Help your brothers in Christ by dressing modestly and appropriately (and by all means, neatly, cleanly, and fashionably!) Check your heart for your motives when you dress.

8. GUARD YOUR HEART.

Guarding one’s heart is still an issue even if no one is overtly vying for it.  Watch out for the “might be” snare, as in, "He 'might be' flirting with me and so I’m going to get carried away thinking about every possible place [read: marriage] that could lead."

It is entirely possible to honor God, yourself, and a brother in Christ on a date. Don’t elevate him or the relationship to the place that God alone should hold in your heart. Enjoy, don’t idolize . . . and for goodness sake, relax! A cup of coffee does not necessarily mean a diamond ring is soon to follow.

As a single woman, give your heart fully, wholly, unabashedly, and devotedly to Christ alone.

Be active, vigilant, and careful about how much of your heart you give to a man. Be able to walk away from a dating relationship with your whole heart intact so that your future husband is not robbed of part of it down the road. Prayerfully consider what, when, how much to give away.

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

Funfetti Twix Brownies & Bible Study Kickoff

No matter how much I love making things from scratch, there's nothing like the good 'ol box mixes. Something about that artificial, overly sweet, disaster-free cakey ness just really does it. 

I used the Pillsbury Funfetti Brownie mix and added in 1 packet of chopped Twix bars...it was divine! 

Today marked the start of a new chapter of learning about God's Word. With the Reality downtown women, we are launching a new inductive Bible study and I'm super excited. I know God has awesome plans for all of us, and I'm so excited to grow. Just today, I learned things I never before knew, and realized how much I really DON'T know about the Bible yet.

Key things from today:

Bible Basics

• the Bible is the full counsel of God
• it is the cannon of Scripture: God-inspired and accepted as being divinely inspired
• it is made of 66 books and was written in 3 languages (Hebrews, Greek, Aramaic) in a span of 1500 years by 40+ authors.
• It is inerrant- without error

Tips on studying the Bible

• read the Children's Bibles for better general understanding of the Old Testament
• be a "rabbit trailer" meaning: use the concordance to cross-reference when you are studying a passage. 

"The best way to find out about God's Word is to read His Word"

• www.blueletterbible.org  is a great resource for cross-references. 
• Daily Audio Bible is also a good resource for short daily Bible verses. 
• Commentaries (by Bible scholars, etc) are great as long as you keep in mind that these are humans. Ultimately, they are their opinions and you can't take it as God's Holy words.
• In terms of daily reading, you should always journal. 
• Answer these 3 things: 
• 1) What do I learn about God? 
• 2) What do I learn about myself? 
• 3) How can I apply this to my life TODAY

"For every life decision, make sure you get a scripture that confirms it." 

I never thought to do this, but it makes total sense, because God is ultimately in control. He gave us his annointed Word, a love letter directly from Him, and we can look there for guidance and advice when we have tough decisions ahead.

"We can't trust our desires, we are too fleshy. Once we develop a close relationship with God, what He desires becomes what we desire."

 Jews vs. Gentiles

• Jews are a small population, known as "God's chosen people" 
• Israel was strategically planned to be their home because it is the center of everything.
• Gentiles: see Genesis 12:1-3
• It started with Abraham, and all the promises that were made to Jews are made to all of us too. 

The three covenants (YEA I had no idea what this was before today):

1. Abrahamic covenant: between Abraham and God. These promises are for all nations. 

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. {Genesis 15:6}

2. Old Covenant: between God and Moses/Israel. It is based on the Law. God gave Moses the 10 commandments, but they aren't just for Israel, it is for all of us.
3. New Covenant: for all believers, it is between God and man because of Jesus. Puts the law on our hearts.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. {Ezekiel 36:26}

 In a nutshell:
Under the old convenant, our inheritance is based on the Law
Under the new covenant, our inheritance is based on Jesus Christ.

Bible verse of the day:

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

My stop-worrying checklist (do these things when I get stressed!)

1) Rejoice always- we are way better off than we realize or think
2) Remember that the Lord is in control
3) Pray & give thanks- plead to God, showing him that you completely surrender
4) Find and rest in His peace

 Days that you discover God, calls for an appreciation for his beautiful, breathtaking creation. Here goes...Remember to breathe....the pictures don't do it justice

Moist PB Banana Muffins & Surrendering to Jesus

I've decided to turn this blog into my own personal spiritual thoughts/diary/reflection + food diary! We'll see how this goes :)

Today I am thankful for the beach and for sisters in Christ that provide advice and support for me during hard times. There's just something about sitting at the beach, putting on some headphones, and reorienting your life with Jesus again. You don't have to worry about what others think. It's just you and God's creation. The reason why the beach is such a peaceful place for me is because it's still hard to imagine how God created such a vast thing that spans the entire world! But he did, and he controls every inch of it.
Recently, I have been so caught up with life and all of the worries that come along with it. But today I heard a sermon by John Piper where he just broke me down so that I could surrender all of the things that were stressing me out to Jesus. The key was prayer. We forget that prayer is the easiest to physically do, yet seemingly hardest discipline of the Christian walk. Prayer gives me peace and purpose, it gives me a hope and a yearning to hear from God. And the most awesome thing is that God doesn't care how ornate our prayers are..and he listens to every single word that we speak to Him.

If you look closely, you'll see dolphins!

"The confidence that a sovereign God governs for your good all the pain and all the pleasure that you will ever experience is an incomparable refuge and security and hope and power in your life." {thank you Ari!..we aren't in this alone!}

Bible verse of the day:

2 Corinthians 4:17-19

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Baking therapy for small groups tomorrow:

Polka dot muffin liners from Michael's

My model..i am so mean ;p

SUPER MOIST Mini PB Chip Banana Muffins w/ Greek Yogurt

Makes 48 mini, bite-sized, pop-em-in-your-mouth muffins

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (generously rounded!) mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup good-quality Greek yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup Peanut Butter chips

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a mini muffin tin with liners and PAM. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, and beat to incorporate.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture, and mix until just combined. Add bananas, yoghurt, and vanilla; mix to combine. Stir in PB chips, and pour into prepared pan.

Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool.