Cookies and Christ
Stories of Faith And Recipes
A Pennsylvania Crossroad
When I was a Sophomore in high school our family moved from the only place I had ever known as home to a small crossroads in Pennsylvania. It wasn’t even large enough to be considered a town. I had been blessed to have a best friend live right next door to me for almost ten years in the small farming community that we left behind. The move was rough on me at an especially tough time in my teenage years. I longed for a friend.
One night in my Junior year, after coming home late from an out-of-town basketball game, I woke my mom to tell her I was home. Customarily it was a quick “Okay sweetie” with closed eyes in full parental exhaustion. This particular night, I needed help.
Mom sat up in bed and I took a seat too. I told her I was having a hard time and had been for awhile. I told her how much I missed my childhood friend. Mom gave me sound inspired advice that night. She told me to pray and ask Heavenly Father for a true friend. I quickly left her bedside and retreated to my own, where without delay I took her advice.
A few weeks later, the seasons changed and I joined the track team. I was blessed with endurance, not speed, so I took a position with the long-distance group. There was a runner a year younger than me. We could carry the same pace throughout our workouts and ran together nearly every day. Meanwhile, I was still asking God every night as I prayed that He would bless me with a friend. As days turned into weeks I realized how much I looked forward to track practice every day. Not for the running; but rather because my prayer had been answered. I had been blessed with a friend.
My faith was growing. I would often learn things that Christ taught about and put them to the test in my own life. Often it seemed strange to me that a girl in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania seemed to be important to Heavenly Beings. However, I found enduring peace and happiness on this journey.
-JC
As I reflect on this experience today, I ask myself:
Do I search the scriptures for evidence of Christ and His teachings?
Do I extend faith in praying to a Heavenly father as Christ taught?
Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
1 cup soft butter
2 cups granulated sugar
3 XL eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups sour cream
5 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high for 1 minute or until fluffy.
Hand stir in eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Don’t overmix.
Add dry ingredients all at once and mix until fully incorporated. Add 5+ Tablespoons more flour for high elevation.
Refrigerate dough for 3 hours. I place in a gallon size Ziploc.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out 3/16 inches thick and cut into desired shapes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10+ minutes depending on size.
Let cool.
Frost.
Let set. Share!
Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces softened cream cheese
½ cup soft butter
1 Tablespoon vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth.
Add vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix until fluffy.
I like to spoon into Ziploc until ready to use.
Chasing Erratic Serves
I was 4’11” and maybe 70 pounds as a freshman in high school. I decided to try out for the volleyball team with my neighbor whom I was still blessed to be best friends with. The first day of practice we had to record in the coach’s notebook how many overhand serves we got across the net in our first 25 attempts. Tears filled my eyes making focusing to record my zero nearly impossible.
The next summer after school got out, I began my quest for grand improvement. Dad and Grandpa put up a net in the side yard at our house. My goal was to make 50 over-hand serves over the net every day. I would serve my ball over (or accidentally under) the net and run to the other side, retrieve it, and serve it from that side. It was a very slow process to reach my goal of 50 successful serves. Some days, it would take me hours. I had grown up watching my dad work hard and never complaining, or seeking approval from others for his efforts. I expected the same from myself. Some summer evenings as I was trying to reach my service goal, Dad would quietly approach our “court “and stand on the side I was serving to. He would then chase the erratic serves all over his side and toss them back to me. His presence not only gave relief to my fatigued body, but my spirit was renewed and uplifted.
At the age of 14, I was understanding the hardships that life has to offer. It was never life-shattering, awful, or crazy difficult experiences, just normal teenager-like tough times. I understood sadness and frustration and recognized that the journey through life would be filled with moments of difficulty. I was trying to decide how much effort I wanted to put forth to understand spiritual beings and messages.
One night, as I neared my goal of 50 overhand serves, I felt like God intervened. He reminded me of Christ’s goodness and the light that shone so brightly in my Father who lived his life as a valiant follower of Christ. Christ-like examples were around me and in my very own family. I knew then that I was blessed to have that in my life. Perhaps that simple blessing was enough for me to stretch my faith and work a little harder to figure out how to reach up and take my Savior’s hand to help me.
-JC
As I reflect on this experience today, I ask myself:
Do I recognize Christ through those who testify of Him?
Do I make goals to progress spiritually?
Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies with Andes Mint Variation
½ cup soft butter
1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup Nutella
2 XL eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ cup cocoa (I use Hershey’s dark)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter, Crisco, peanut butter and sugars with an electric mixer on medium-high for 1 minute or until fluffy.
Hand stir in eggs and vanilla; don’t overmix.
Add dry ingredients all at once and mix until fully incorporated. Add an additional 2 Tablespoons flour for high elevation.
Scoop out approximately 24 2” balls of dough. For a richer flavor and smoother texture, form cookie dough balls, flatten slightly, and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake. Place on greased or parchment paper on an aluminum cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 min. Share!
Andes Topped Option: Cool cookies for ten minutes. Melt chocolate candy bar in quart size freezer strength Ziploc. in microwave for 15+ seconds. (Watch closely if more time is needed as to not burn chocolate or melt ziploc bag.) Drizzle chocolate over cookies.
Immediately sprinkle with Andes Mint pieces. Drizzle with additional chocolate.
Let cool and set. Share!
The Starting Line
I was raised in a family where I was taught to pray. However, at the age of 14, I certainly did not have what I would consider to be a relationship with my Heavenly Father. It was an element of my life that I was still trying to understand what I believed in.
High school brought the opportunity to play on sports teams. I loved playing volleyball and basketball with my friend and followed her onto the high school track team in the spring!
Our first four competitive meets were rained out. In week five, we were finally blessed with a sunny day with no threat of thunderstorms. Area coaches agreed to hold multiple large invitationals for the rest of the season to try and play catch-up and give the athletes an opportunity to compete against each other before regional and state meets. Thus, my first track meet was attended by eight area high schools. As we arrived at the stadium I was completely awestruck. There were SO many people. We were immediately given two instructions by Coach Hummel: “Stay off of the football field, (A string about a foot high was placed around the entire perimeter to remind people to stay off of the field, protecting it for the football season in the fall.) and pay attention to ensure you don’t miss your events”. Our team found a nice grassy spot on the embankment surrounding the track and took off for our warm-up laps around the track.
I was the only runner from my school in the mile event, but I knew that I was supposed to listen to the first call and turn in my entry card at the scorer’s table. I listened closely, heard my event called and turned in my card. Then I just simply watched other teams of runners and followed their lead. When they stretched I stretched. When they jogged I jogged. So when I came back near the scorer’s table and saw the hurdles being moved onto the track, I asked the nice lady at the scorer’s table if they have moved the mile run to after the hurdles. She jumped up and called the people putting the hurdles on the track to get them off and told me the mile was getting started on the far side of the field.
In near disbelief combined with panic-stricken horror I broke the big rule of running on the football field in an attempt to make it to the starting line of my race. I jumped over the string barrier, sprinted as fast as a distance runner can sprint and when I neared the starter whose gun was already raised to start the race I screamed: “Wait!” At that moment I failed to unsuccessfully navigate the string barrier on that side of the field and tripped over it landing face down right at the starting line. In that moment of crisis, I put my faith to the test. I uttered the most sincere fervent prayer of my life thus far. I begged my Father in Heaven whom I was desperately trying to believe in, with all the faith I could possibly muster… to make me invisible… It was the only solution I could think of…
When I heard giggles, I knew my prayer had gone on answered.
I was trying to understand spiritual things at this time in my life. I was trying to see if prayer was real and if I had enough faith to ask for things that I felt I needed. I’m sure I wasn’t completely surprised that Heavenly Father did not make me invisible. I was desperate and in a desperate moment, I asked for a desperate solution.
I held back tears as I took my place in the back of the pack of over twenty runners at the starting line wishing I was anywhere but there. Three laps into the race I found myself in sixth place. My mind had been wandering through embarrassment with God about my ridiculous plea for help. Perhaps in a last ditch effort to try my faith that day I prayed for help in running the last lap of my race and finishing strong. With 100 yards to go, I passed the two front-runners.
I felt God had sent me a message. I felt he wanted me to keep trying, to keep believing and keep searching.
-JC
As I reflect on this experience today, I ask myself:
Do I stretch spiritually, physically, and emotionally beyond what I think Ican do with faith that Christ will make more out of my life than I can on my own?
Do I quiet my world enough for the Spirit to testify truths of Christ?
Do I share the truths I learn with others?
Coconut Cream Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
½ cup soft butter
½ cup butter flavor Crisco
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 XL eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa (I use Hershey’s dark)
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter, Crisco and sugars with an electric mixer on medium-high for 1 minute or until fluffy.
Hand stir in eggs and vanilla; don’t overmix.
Add dry ingredients all at once and mix until fully incorporated. Add an additional 2 Tablespoons of flour for high elevation.
Scoop out approximately 30 1.5” balls of dough. Gently roll into a ball. For a richer flavor and smoother texture, form cookie dough balls, flatten slightly, and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake. Place on greased or parchment paper on an aluminum cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 9 min. Let cool.
To make a sandwich cookie, dip half of all cookies into melted chocolate almond bark, or 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips melted with 2 Tablespoons Crisco or coconut oil.
Immediately sprinkle with toasted coconut. Do one at a time to make sure coconut sticks before chocolate sets.
Make Coconut Cream Frosting while chocolate sets.
Coconut Cream Frosting
8 oz. softened cream cheese
¼ cup soft butter
¼ cup cream of coconut (Coco Lopez brand works great)
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon coconut extract
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
Mix cream cheese, butter and cream of coconut until smooth. Add vanilla, coconut extract, and powdered sugar. Mix until fluffy.
Spoon into quart size freezer-strength Ziploc until ready to use.
To make a sandwich cookie,
Cut a ¼ inch hole into bottom corner of Ziploc bag of frosting. Pipe frosting onto bottom of ½ of all cookies.
Place another cookie on top.
Let set. Share!
Girls Camp Boot
Our church group had an organized Girls Camp every summer. The emphasis was to have some new experiences, expand friendships, feel the blessings of service, enjoy nature and grow in appreciation for God‘s incredibly beautiful world.
However… I hated it. I knew I was supposed to love it. My sister’s loved it. It seemed like everyone else loved it… Except for me. We had many rules. One specific requirement was that we had to wear jeans for protection against mosquitoes. My super thick oversized hand-me-down jeans and the hot and humid typical midwest summers were not a pleasant combination. I never felt creative nor the need to sit around the picnic table and make a craft. I would’ve preferred to run around, play a game or go canoeing. But those activities weren’t always options. Camp songs… Tents… Portable potties… A strong “No thank you” to them all!
Nevertheless, when I was 13 our church group traveled over 250 miles to Girls Camp with me in tow. I was assigned to a small four-man tent with three other girls I didn’t know. I’m not sure whether they knew each other beforehand or made quick friends with one another but they were everything I wasn’t: crafty, content to wear jeans, friendly, outgoing, and above all – happy at camp. The first day we were given a long list of rules for our safety. We were also given a stern warning that noncompliance to these rules would result in us being sent home immediately. I saw the light. I hated camp. I wanted to go home. And apparently all I had to do was break the rules and I would be set free. And so I did…
Unfortunately, since we had traveled over 250 miles for the camp that year, my leader refused to make the long drive home. So I was assigned to spend my long hot days in a tent by myself. I guess I was in what can be called “Girls Camp Time Out”. It was a miserable punishment.
At the end of the week, my leader drove me home in silence. Upon dropping me off at the meeting place with my parents she turned to me and asked me to never return. I felt completely relieved. I had been officially and forever kicked out of Girls Camp. I put my gear in my family’s station wagon and sat watching Mom and my leader have a conversation. I knew I would be in trouble. I didn’t care. I figured whatever my punishment would be, it couldn’t be worse than Girls Camp.
Mom got in the car and began the drive home. She didn’t say anything, making me incredibly nervous. Finally, I couldn’t handle the silence any longer and I asked her what my camp leader had said to her. Mom didn’t say, but she simply asked me about my experience at camp. I told her how much I hated everything! She was quiet for a minute and then helped me understand the sacrifice that my camp leader had made to take me there. She told me about how much work was involved to prepare to leave her family and all of the preparations that she had to do ahead of time to make camp enjoyable and safe for all of the girls. I began to feel terrible. I had not thought of the impact my behavior would have on somebody else. I was only concerned with myself. The sick feeling in my stomach was made worse as my mother went on to explain more about this lady and her life.
I realized that I had made a very selfish series of mistakes. I wanted the terrible feeling to go away, but I didn’t know how to do it. Mom then reminded me about repentance and seeking forgiveness through Christ. I was ready to try. When we got home Mom dialed the number on the telephone to call my camp leader. I was nervous. As soon as she said “Hello…”
I said a quick “I’m sorry”.
It was a short conversation but I did feel a little better. Mom then helped me understand that I needed to repent to my Heavenly Father. She reminded me that Christ had already paid the price of sin and we can be clean again after we repent. I remember the long walk upstairs to my room knowing that when I got into my room I was going to need to apologize to my Heavenly Father for what I had done wrong. I expected it to be awful and hard. However, the moment my knees hit the floor by my bed, I felt intense peace and a type of love only possible from a perfect Heavenly Father whom I had been taught so much about.
I had spent much time in the previous years rationalizing my lack of spiritual progression. I knew I was different from my family members. Instead of seeking to know whether God would take me as I am, I used my differences as an excuse to take a different path.
In a desperate attempt to rid myself of inner chaos, I turned to Him. As I did, I knew my loving Heavenly Father was aware of my inner struggle.
It was a monumental experience towards my progression of acting on faith. Perhaps God’s love and the blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ were available to all who sought them.
-JC
As I reflect on this experience today, I ask myself:
Do I recognize there is no sin that Christ’s Atonement does not cover?
Am I grateful that Christ delivers me from spiritual death?
Cowboy Cookies
½ cup soft butter
½ cup butter flavored Crisco
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 XL eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups quick oats
¾ cup lightly toasted shredded coconut
¾ cup chopped lightly toasted walnuts
1 ½ cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter, Crisco and sugars with an electric mixer on medium high for 1 minute or until fluffy.
Hand stir in eggs and vanilla; don’t overmix.
Add dry ingredients all at once and mix until fully incorporated. Add an additional 2-3 Tablespoons flour for high elevation.
Stir in coconut, walnuts and chocolate chips.
Scoop out approximately 24 2” balls of dough. Gently roll. For a richer flavor and smoother texture, form cookie dough balls, flatten slightly and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake. Place on greased or parchment paper on an aluminum cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 min. Share!
The Girl Who Didn’t Fit In
My parents seemed to love going to church. I myself enjoyed the children’s and youth classes, but when the last bell sounded I was ready to go home. My parents, however… not so much. Between their responsibilities to teach and minister and their love to talk with fellow members of the congregation, we were often the last family to leave. One particular Sunday we had been told it was nearly time to go. We gathered together in the hallway near where our parents were visiting. All five of my siblings and I were standing in the hallway next to one another in a long line to allow others to pass by when an overzealous older lady friend of my parents turned the corner into the hallway.
“Roger! Linda!” She gasped in excitement. “Are these your daughters?!”
She began at the opposite end of the ‘line’ from me and one by one playfully pinched the cheeks of all of my sisters.
As she walked from one to another she was giddy with compliment saying, “Everyone as beautiful as the next and as beautiful as their mother.”
Then she got to me. I was the last sister in line. From my blondish hair to my over-sized feet and everything in between, I looked different from my sisters. She stood squarely in front of me, studied me for a moment, looked down the line at my sisters and then turned to my parents and asked “Now… Is this one yours?”
The words stung. She asked a simple question; my insecure heart heard her say that I wasn’t as beautiful as my sisters- that I was the other one. Perhaps I was too tall, too plain, too blonde, or just altogether too different…The adversary had victory over me that day as I allowed myself to feel dejected and ugly and that I didn’t belong in my own family. This stranger’s words seemed to pierce my inner being. Truly my own quiet thoughts had led me to doubt that I was pretty, my ornery personality often made me feel like I didn’t fit in with my sisters but never before had it been said by someone else…
It wasn’t my own sin that made me feel the depths of despair. But I felt a burden of great intensity. I felt insufficient. I was beginning to wonder if there was potentially a divide between those who had the capacity to learn of Christ and act of Christ, even believe in Christ and those who didn’t. Was I too different from my sisters to progress spiritually like them? I had always felt different; even a bit of a misfit in my own family. That particular day…I felt too different. It seemed that I had more doubts and fears than faith…
-JC
As I reflect on this experience today, I ask myself:
Am I often distracted from thoughts of Christ?
Do my distractions cause stumbling blocks towards my spiritual progression?
S’mores Cookies
½ cup soft butter
½ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup packed brown sugar
1 XL egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter and sugars with an electric mixer on medium-high for 1 minute or until fluffy.
Hand stir in egg and vanilla; don’t overmix.
Add dry ingredients all at once and mix until fully incorporated. Add 1 Tablespoon more flour for high elevation.
Scoop out approximately 16 1.5” balls of dough. Gently roll. For a richer flavor and smoother texture, form cookie dough balls, flatten slightly, and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake. Place on greased or parchment paper on an aluminum cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 min.
Slice 8 Campfire Giant Roaster size marshmallows in half. (If you can’t find Campfire’s Giant Roaster marshmallows, cut a large marshmallow in half, using both halves.)
Place the cut half down on the center of each baked cookie.
Return to the oven on the Broil setting for just 30 seconds or until tops are toasty. Place 1/4 of a 1.55 oz. Hershey Bar in the center of each toasted marshmallow, slightly pressing down.
Let set. Share!
Amongst the Weeds in the Pumpkin Plants
Generally speaking, I grew up with a concept that I was a part of a great family. I didn’t always love all of the garden work but it must have spoken to my soul because I usually didn’t hate it. I liked the satisfaction of the empty 5-gallon buckets at the beginning of my rows of peas being filled while I worked quickly to try to be done before my sisters. I remember tasking with Dad to fill up countless buckets of potatoes at harvest time. The strawberries made delicious jam, and buttered sweet corn was also one of my favorites. We had a huge backyard garden of our own and we also tended the elderly neighbor’s backyard garden. I believe my dad made a deal with them that we would work the garden and they could have all of the harvests they could eat.
We grew a lot of green vegetables! Unfortunately, they found their way to our dinner plates each night. My method of attacking these undesirables was to conquer them first, getting them out of the way so that the main dish could replace the awful taste left behind. In our family, you were certainly NOT excused from the dinner table unless you had eaten your entire serving! One night, all had been excused and Dad was the first one outside after dinner. Moments later we were all called back inside and sitting around the kitchen table. Dad then brought in a handful of that evening’s dinner vegetables covered with a light dusting of dirt. He reported that he had retrieved them from outside the kitchen window. I was humbled by the brilliant idea one of my sisters had to rid her plate of vegetables. The idea was brave and bold, but also terribly flawed as we had no family dog for clean up duty, and the windows outside the kitchen table were adjacent to the walkway to the backyard. I have no recollection of the specific resolutions to the standoff that night. However, it was clear that we didn’t always love all of the garden work, nor the bounty that two backyard gardens produced.
My sisters and I took piano lessons with an older lady who lived across town. I enjoyed piano lessons like I enjoyed green vegetables… Perhaps because I had other talents… The older widow lady who taught us lived on a large lot. My dad must’ve been a bit of a charmer because before we could vote in opposition we were now tending to nearly an acre-sized garden comprising her entire backyard. I no longer thought our own backyard garden was big. This new garden spot triumphed in size overall I could imagine. It was a lot of work! I remember spending countless hours planting, weeding and harvesting this ginormous garden. As we tasked in this garden I would often see my piano teacher watching us from her back porch. As I worked to rid every single pumpkin plant of its choking weeds in anticipation of a marketable harvest, I would wonder if she had a family?… Did she miss them?… Did they visit often?… Did she use to garden with her own children?
There was an element of being caretakers of so many gardens that provided life lessons of humility and hard work- especially in times of extreme southwest Iowa humidity! But more importantly, I recall how I began to feel about this older widowed lady. As time passed, I felt a connection to her. She was always gracious for the homegrown goods we would take to her front door. I truly began to feel a love for this lady whom I barely knew. Was it the Christ-like love as spoken of in the scriptures? I knew it was a good feeling. I was far from Christlike perfection, but I felt like a good person for feeling this way. Perhaps it was a good start…
-JC
As I reflect on this experience today, I ask myself:
Do I have a desire to be like Christ? Do I act on this desire?
Do I recognize Christ-like love in others? Do I emulate it myself?
Coconut Macadamia Nut Blended Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup soft butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 XL eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ cups oats (blended to powder form)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 ounces grated milk chocolate
2 cups white baking chips
1 cup lightly toasted shredded coconut
1 cup lightly chopped macadamia nuts
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter and sugars with an electric mixer on medium-high for 1 minute or until fluffy.
Hand stir in eggs and vanilla; don’t overmix.
Add dry ingredients including grated chocolate all at once and mix until fully incorporated. Add 2-3 Tablespoons more flour for high elevation.
Stir in baking chips, coconut, and nuts.
Scoop out approximately 24-28 2” balls of dough. Gently roll. For a richer flavor and smoother texture, form cookie dough balls, flatten slightly, and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake. Place on greased or parchment paper on an aluminum cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 min. Share!
Chocolate Chip Blended Oat Cookies variation:
Omit coconut and macadamia nuts, increase flour to 2 cups. Stir in 2 cups milk chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips.
Red Tennis Shoes
When I was in sixth grade I was much smaller than my classmates. However, my feet began to grow at an alarming rate. Our family didn’t have a lot of extra money. My grandma from California would go to K-mart at the end of each summer season, buy all of the clearance tennis shoes and sandals in every size and ship them to us in a large box. As our shoes wore out or we progressed in size, we would go to the box in the attic and retrieve what we needed. In the spring of sixth grade, a few weeks before the much-anticipated track and field day for elementary school, I asked Dad if he could help me get the box out of the attic so I could get a larger pair of tennis shoes. He moved the heavy box into the nearby bedroom and called Mom in to help me as I filtered through unable to find a larger size. Mom confirmed I had already taken the largest size the last time my feet had a growth spurt and there was none larger. She apologized and said she would look for some the next time she went to town. Later that day I overheard Mom and Dad talking about the shifts in the household budget necessary to buy me new shoes. I was immediately appreciative for my new shoes knowing the sacrifice the family would need to make.
The next week I came home from school one day and Mom said she had found some shoes in my size. She explained that she didn’t have much time or money but she was able to find a pair at the grocery store that should work. She went into her room and brought out a pair of bright red huge tennis shoes. I told her they were WAY too big! At her urging, I tried them on. My eyes looked downward at my scrawny bruised and scraped up knees and attached to my tiny insufficient ankles were these large bright red tennis shoes. Mom extended her thumb between the end of my shoe and my toes and determined them as a perfect fit. I whispered a near-silent “Thank you…” and turned away to go to the hall mirror. I looked again and wondered “Why did my body have to grow this way? Why was I so scrawny and small except for these hideously large feet of mine? Why couldn’t I be small and cute like my younger sisters or pretty like my older sister?”
With no alternative, I wore my shoes to school the next day. I was teased and mocked. I felt dejected but never told a soul. Instead, I became relentlessly determined to prove to everyone that these red shoes were really fast at our annual track and field day. I cannot recall my times or the places in which I finished, only my resolve to not be defeated by the harsh words of others.
Is this not what I was learning about Christ? He was mocked too. If He while on the cross, having suffered unimaginable pain and torment was able to plea in prayer, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” I was certainly going to be better off for doing the same. So perhaps I was beginning to learn a few things about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Certainly, repentance, forgiveness, and change were all becoming very real concepts to me.
-JC
As I reflect on this experience today, I ask myself:
Do I forgive as Christ forgave?
Do I stand as a defender of Christ?
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookies
½ cup soft butter
½ cup butter flavored Crisco
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 XL eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
24 Reese’s peanut Butter Cups
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter, Crisco, peanut butter and sugars with an electric mixer on medium-high for 1 minute or until fluffy.
Hand stir in eggs and vanilla; don’t overmix.
Add dry ingredients all at once and mix until fully incorporated. Add an additional 2 Tablespoons flour for high elevation.
Scoop out approximately 24 2” balls of dough. Gently roll. For a richer flavor and smoother texture, form cookie dough balls, flatten slightly, and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake. Place on greased or parchment paper on an aluminum cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 minutes.
Immediately after you pull them from the oven, leave them on the pan and press a chilled Reese’s peanut butter cup in the center of each one.
Gently heat 1/3 cup peanut butter in a quart size freezer-strength Ziploc bag. Snip a hole in the corner, and drizzle each cookie with peanut butter.
Next drizzle each cookie with melted Hershey bars (2 of the 1.55 size) in a quart size freezer-strength Ziploc.
Let them set a bit and then remove them from the pans. You can quicken the step of them setting up by placing them in refrigerator or freezer for a bit. Let set. Share!
Elusive Harmony, Key and Pitch
When I was a young girl my mother arranged all of the music for our church congregation’s Sunday worship service. Many times, my sisters were featured in the church choir. My sisters loved to sing and even took voice lessons to improve their notable musical talent.
I had a different talent. My talent even came with a special name; I was the “Family finder”. I possessed a seemingly remarkable skill to find all missing objects. Mom would turn to me for lost dolls, car keys, shoes and anything else that had been misplaced. I was proud of this talent, but…
One particular Sunday’s musical number featured my two youngest sisters. Many people in the congregation came to them afterward and told them how beautiful their song was. I was simply jealous. So I asked Mom if I could have a turn to sing in church. She was surprised by my question and my desire. She asked me what song I wanted to sing. “Teach Me to Walk in the Light” was my favorite song I learned at church and I told Mom it’s the one I wanted to sing.
My mother was a gifted vocalist and apparently had passed that talent down through DNA to everyone but me… The concepts and importance of harmony, pitch, and key all eluded me. However, the congregation was small; everyone who wanted to sing was given an opportunity to do so and I certainly felt that it was finally my turn!
Perhaps Mom was a bit relieved that the song I chose is a duet between parent and child. However, the first verse is a solo by the child. As we gathered at the piano to practice our special musical number, I sang my heart out to the familiar words. Mom stopped playing and with great excitement told me about an idea to make our number extra special. She explained to me that it’s often beautiful when the piano plays the music and the soloist speaks the words of the song in poetic form. (Perhaps she was trying to save the congregation from hearing me sing therefore preserving the quality of music.) Nevertheless, I insisted on singing my favorite song with all the energy and zest that I felt the words in my heart to mean. My angel mother encouraged me to do just that… Mom joined in on the second and third verses with the same love in which she taught the very message of the lyrics.
We sang the song as written and arranged by Clara W. McMaster.
Teach Me to Walk in the Light
Teach me to walk in the light of his love;
Teach me to pray to my father above;
Teach me to know of the things that are right;
Teach me, teach me to walk in the light.
Come, little child, and together will learn
Of his commandments, that we may return
Home to his presence, to live in his sight-
Always, always to walk in the light.
Father in heaven, we thank thee this day
For loving guidance to show us the way.
Grateful, we praise thee with songs of delight!
Gladly, gladly we’ll walk in the light.
These words summarized all I that hoped was true about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I wanted to believe in a Heavenly Father who knew me and heard me when I prayed. I wanted to believe that the goodness and light I saw in others was the light of Christ, and simply part of who I was. As I sang out, I literally felt a warm feeling helping me understand that the words I was singing were true.
-JC
As I reflect on this experience today, I ask myself:
Do I choose to stand up and speak out as a disciple of Christ?
Do I recognize the light of Christ in others?
Do I try and emulate Christ’s light?
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 XL eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 grated 1.55oz. Hershey Bars
2 cups milk chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 385 degrees.
Cream butter, peanut butter and sugars with an electric mixer on medium-high for 1 minute or until fluffy.
Hand stir in eggs and vanilla; don’t overmix.
Add dry ingredients and grated chocolate all at once and mix until fully incorporated. Add an additional 2-3 Tablespoons flour for high elevation. Stir in chocolate chips.
Scoop out approximately 24 2” balls of dough. For a richer flavor and smoother texture, form cookie dough balls, flatten slightly, and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake. Gently roll. Place on greased or parchment paper on an aluminum cookie sheet.
Bake at 385 degrees for 12-14 min. Share!
Hide-and-Go-Seek
My childhood was simple. As children, we played…unstructured as siblings and a few neighbor friends. We didn’t have many toys or fancy electronics. We didn’t watch TV except for a few shows on Saturday morning. Summer days began with garden chores and quickly transitioned into lots of time to play. We entertained ourselves with taking turns on the tree swing, making up songs and skits, swimming at the community pool, baking up the most scrumptious mud pies and lots and lots of ‘hide-and-go-seek’. Summers were hot in Southwest Iowa and our home was not air-conditioned so primarily we played outside. Prior to an intense game of ‘hide-and-go-seek’, the boundaries were set. We decided how many of our neighbor’s yards we would use as there were but a few fences in our neighborhood. On rare occasions when it was just us siblings, we stayed on our own property and allowed hiding to take place inside the house too.
On one particular sweltering summer day, such parameters had been set: just our house – inside and out. A quick ‘Eeny-meeny-miney-moe’ with our toes and the first person was named ”it”. The rest of us scattered and hid. I had an idea to hide in the attic. I figured no one would look there as it was crazy hot. To my dismay, I soon heard my sister’s voice. She opened the attic door. I knew she must’ve cheated and watched me go there. I held my breath and stayed silent behind some boxes of off-season clothes. Moments later I heard her say “Well since no one is in here and this door is supposed to stay locked, I’m locking it and going to find everyone.”
“Wait! What?“ were my silent thoughts…”She wouldn’t…“
I ran for the door. It was locked. I knew she had done it on purpose. I pounded on the door and screamed for help but alas, no one came. I had the reputation of being the most ornery sister, perhaps even a bit overly competitive. So I sat in the attic with a bright red face dripping in sweat for what seemed like hours. There was a bit of self-reflection that day. However, only a bit mixed with initial anger quickly turning to sadness. Eventually, I heard giggles and the lock turn… I had been set free…
I had learned about repentance and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. But I wasn’t really sure how it worked. I knew I felt sorry for sometimes being mean in my family but I wasn’t really sure that those were the types of wrongs that I actually needed to repent for. It seemed as though repentance was more for things like stealing candy from the store or telling a bad lie. Perhaps I was a little confused about what it all really meant. But I do remember that I had a bad feeling about the sister I was becoming, and I wanted to change. I knew I would need help to change but I wasn’t sure how Christ could really help me with this. Perhaps I needed to more fully pay attention to what I was learning about Christ.
-JC
As I reflect on this experience today, I ask myself:
Does my testimony of Christ motivate me to change?
Have I truly been converted to Christ? If so, do I continue to repent? Try to be obedient? Try to be diligent?
Carmelitas
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix Together:
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (Add 2 Tablespoons for high elevation)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups quick oats
Add: 1 1/4 cups melted butter.
Stir until pea-sized crumbs form.
Press 2/3 of the mixture in the bottom of a 9×13 pan greased with baking spray. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and spoon on 1 1/4 cups of thick caramel sauce. (Make your own, or use Marzetti’s Old Fashioned Caramel Dip from the produce section of the grocery store.)
Sprinkle on 2-2 1/2 cups chocolate chips ( semi-sweet or milk chocolate).
Sprinkle remaining oat mixture over the top and return to the oven for 18 more minutes.
Let set. Share!
Tall Silos With a Light Dusting of Snow
Growing up in a large family of mostly girls did not preclude us from work. Seemingly the work always revolved around Dad‘s stacks of 5-gallon buckets. The tougher the job, the more buckets he would retrieve from the screened-in back porch. We were delighted when the jobs were slight enough to only require one short stack of buckets. However, on one bitterly cold November day, Dad loaded the family station wagon with a large stack of buckets. We were all told to bundle up with coats, hats and mittens and get in the car. As we drove the short ten miles from our home, my sisters and I asked Dad repeatedly “Where are we going? and What are we doing?”
“You’ll see when we get there!” was Dad’s simple response.
We soon arrived at a cornfield outside of the neighboring town of Hamburg, Iowa. There were tall silos and a light dusting of snow on the frozen ground. Dad unloaded the large stack of buckets, took two for himself, and instructed each of us girls to grab a bucket as we walked toward the field. Still the question of “What are we doing” had yet to be answered. As we neared the first rows of the field, Dad picked up an ear of what looked like dried up sweet corn. We told Dad it was no good- that it was old and frozen! Dad gently removed a portion of the husk, put it in his bucket, and progressing down the row quietly said: “It’s absolutely perfect…”
We all looked at each other in confusion “Perfect for what?”
To our amazement, Dad explained we were in a popcorn field. Dad told us that he had gained permission to glean the fields. He gave us quick instructions on how to gather the cobs and not bother filling our bucket with the dried husks but to do our best to remove them. As a group of five girls ages four through ten, our “best” was certainly a matter of perspective. We worked to fill all of the buckets and as past family work had indicated, we were never done until the buckets were overfilled. Upon completion, Dad loaded the car and us girls squished together in the middle seat as the back was full Of 5-gallon buckets of popcorn. This was certainly different than any kind of work we had done before and we were all grateful to be done with the task and inside the warm car headed home. However, the work did not end as we drove away. Once we were home Dad taught us how to remove the popcorn from the cobs. We delighted as we ran our thumbs down the cob and watched the kernels fall into a large bowl. Hours later, with blistered thumbs, our labors paid off. Mom helped us pop the kernels and add a few sweet ingredients making a treat of caramel popcorn.
Many times that winter the whole family would gather together in the kitchen as we watched our popcorn kernels – gathered from a frozen field, removed from the cob with tiny blistered thumbs – be transformed into a delightful treat enjoyed by the whole family.
The process to gain the sweet treat was certainly an arduous series of tasks, but the entire family agreed, worth the efforts in the end. Perhaps therein lies a connection with gospel learning.
If I wanted to come to know who Christ was, what He did, and what He taught, great effort would be required. I would have to listen, read and learn of Christ. Take time to ponder on and pray about the things I had heard. Then in quiet moments of true desire, I could know by the gift of the Spirit that these sweet principles were true.
-JC
As I reflect upon this experience today, I wonder:
Do I engage in learning of Christ?
Do I understand that the more I learn of Christ, the more I can draw upon His powers?
Do I recognize the effort required to gain a testimony of Jesus Christ is my own responsibility?
Spiced Molasses Cut-Out Cookies
¾ cup soft butter
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 XL egg
¾ cup molasses
1 teaspoon white vinegar
3 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
Cream butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high for 1 minute or until fluffy.
Hand stir in egg, molasses, and vinegar. Don’t overmix.
Add dry ingredients all at once and mix until fully incorporated. Add an additional 3 Tablespoons flour for high elevation.
Refrigerate dough for 90 minutes or more. (I spoon dough into gallon size Ziploc.)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take dough out of the refrigerator and knead on floured surface for a few turns. Roll out ¼ inch thick.
Cut cookies and place on prepared (greased or parchment paper) aluminum baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 min. Makes 18-20 5” cookies. Let Cool. Decorate with your favorite icing, or melted almond bark.
Let set. Share!
Cookies and Christ 