Mother Love

I’ve begun to notice a common theme that, I believe, is present in all of us. It’s something we want and work for, or at least dream of, sometimes without even realizing it. We all want to leave impact. I believe that we all want to impact someone or something with our lives. We want to make someone or something better because of our existence and our input.

What or who we want to impact is different for each of us.

Some people have dreams of impacting entire nations and people groups by serving them and living among them. Some people dream of impacting a company or co-workers by being a good leader or a good worker. Some people dream of impacting young lives by teaching and being an example every day. Some people dream of impacting people they will never meet by writing books, blogs, or songs. Some people dream of impacting children who have no one to love them by bringing them into their home and treating them as their own. Some people dream of impacting government by casting a vote or being involved in politics. Some people dream of impacting the health and wellness of people by serving as nurses or doctors. Some people dream of impacting spiritual and emotional health by serving as pastors and counselors. Some people dream of impacting young girls and ladies who are lost and have no where to turn by working in pregnancy care centers or rehabilitation ministries. Some people dream of impacting their own spouse and family just by loving, caring, cooking, cleaning, and listening to them.

We all want to leave impact.

And that is a good thing. It’s a brilliant thing! It’s really what we are supposed to do. And we all will do it, one way or another. You will leave impact on those around you, but whether that will be a positive or negative kind is entirely up to you. Impacting people isn’t necessarily something we have to try to do. We leave impact by just being.

We can also always be intentional about making extra impact by doing out-of-the-ordinary things for others. For example, pay for the order of the car behind you in the drive-thru, or bake a treat for a neighbor that you don’t know well, or write a note to someone in your life that has impacted you and let them know what you appreciate about them. You can impact a mission or ministry by donating money, time, or supplies. You can impact a child by taking them on a special outing or even by just taking an interest in their lives (I still remember the times that an older person did something special with me when I was younger, just because they wanted to). There are endless ways to leave your mark on a person’s life.

What about you: what or who do you dream of impacting? How will you do that?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

I’ve been like a crazy woman in the kitchen today, preparing a bunch of food for a bunch of men that I am feeding for the next few days. I love having a reason to spend time in the kitchen so this is super fun for me to be chopping, mixing, sauteing, and baking. I was able to plan the menu myself, and I am doing both the tried and true recipes while also throwing a few new things in there to keep it interesting.

I only have one more batch of muffins to make, so I decided to take a little break and do a little blogging while munching on some pomegranate seeds (super yum, if you’ve never tried).

During all my cooking today, I got to thinking about the endless amount of kitchen gadgets and utensils and appliances that are available. Gadgets are nice, but I’m more on the minimalistic side of things and don’t really appreciate collecting things that aren’t really super useful.

So here are my top five kitchen essentials:

Cast iron skillet. Hands down my favorite item in my kitchen! Ben gifted this to me after our wedding because he knew how much I wanted one…and I use it almost every day. At first, I was a little intimidated by using it and especially cleaning and caring for it. But it’s really simple once you get the hang of it. I love the versatility of being able to use it both on the stove top and in the oven.

Garlic press. I use garlic a lot in my cooking, and the garlic press is a simple tool that I could never do without! It’s worth investing in a good quality press because the cheap ones tend to just not work well or break easily.

Knives. Good quality and sharp knives are essential! I get so frustrated trying to use a dull knife or one that’s just not suited for the job. A serrated knife is really useful, though probably not essential.

Blender/hand blender. I could probably do without a blender, but since I do have one, I find that I use it a lot. It’s helpful for pureeing soups, blending sauces, and of course, making smoothies or tasty treats.

Cheese grater. You can purchase grated cheese, and sometimes it’s just easier to do that, but I’m convinced cheese has more flavor when it’s freshly grated. I buy it in blocks and grate up only what I need, although when the cheese is about to go bad, I will grate it all and put it in the freezer.

What about you: what are your kitchen essentials?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!