Healthy-er Chocolate, Orange Lava Cupcakes

Lessons of the day:

1. When baking with a three year old, expect it to take twice as long. 

2. When that same three year old wants to help clean up, expect it to take three times as long. 

3. Don't let the three year old use the zester. 

4. Wait till bunt cakes are cool before removing from silicone molds, other wise you end up with cake pop makings. 

5. Chocolate really is more fun when it's in your hair, covering your skin, and on the ceiling ;)

Today was finally cool enough to turn on the oven and bake, and I got to spend the entire day with with one of my favorite three year olds, so we spent the morning baking. I'm weird, so I don't bake with milk, butter, eggs, sugar, or a recipe, but these chocolate, orange lava cakes turned out  a tiny bit dense, but very chocolately and delicious. Today was my first time baking cupcakes from scratch and my first time baking with  a three year old, so it was a bit of an adventure and a learning experience.   But here is the recipe for these healthy-er chocolate, orange lava cupcakes. 

Healthy-er Chocolate, Orange Lava Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 cup multigrain pancake/baking mix

1/2 tbs baking soda

1 tbs baking powder 

1/2 cup unsweetened baking powder

1/3 cup applesauce

1 cup rice milk

1 orange zested and squeezed

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Frosting Glaze:

2tbs powdered sugar

1tbs unsweetened cocco powder

1 tbs orange juice

Makes about 12 cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350

1. In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients.

2. Add applesauce and rice milk

3. Wash orange, then zest the entire orange, set aside zest. 

4. Juice the orange and pour into mixing bowl. 

5. With a spoon mix all ingredients except for chocolate chips

6. Use mixer for one minute to blend and to give cake mix bubbles. 

7. Stir in chocolate chips

8.scoop mix into cupcake tins. 

9. Sprinkle cupcakes with orange zest

10. Bake for 20 minutes. 

11. Let cool, then drizzle on frosting.

12. Enjoy!

For frosting:

Mix 2tbs powdered sugar, 1tbs unsweetened cocco powder, and 1 tbs orange juice in a small bowl. 

Finding Nineveh

Whenever I would think of Nineveh, as a child, I would think of death and destruction, and of a Godless place. But Nineveh is a place where God is found. A place where God reveals his love, his compassion, and his graciousness. 
In the past couple of months, I have found my Nineveh. I have come to a place where God has revealed himself to me even amongst my sin and in a time where my witness for him was doing more harm than good. He has shown himself to me in powerful ways, I get to see a side of God that I have not known. He is faithful and he has not given up on me, his child. 
I also found my semi-literal Nineveh. An actual city from which I was running far away. A place to which, by me telling God "no", I have had to take a more painful path, a rougher journey. I have learned that the belly of the whale, although the harder path, is a place where God can reveal his love and mercy and a place where I can learn true thanksgiving. 

About six months ago I began talking to this guy, not in a romantic way, but in a flirtatious, fun way. In my spirit, I knew there was something off about this relationship. It was the same pattern of communication that I had had so many times before. I would use him, and he would use me. Throughout those couple of months God showed me through His word and through mentors and small groups and sermons that I needed to stop talking to him the way I did. I was not helping him run towards Jesus and he was not helping me run towards Jesus, it was hindering the race marked before me. My eyes were not fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith. But still I continued on this unhealthy path. I began to become vulnerable with this person who God was telling me to let go of. I began to try to convince myself that God was in it. I began to lie to people and tell them that it was right in my spirit, that God was with me in this. 
God was with me, he never left me, but his answer was always no. And my response was to ignore him and continue doing what I wanted. The worst in me came out, I became a person who I never want to be again. I wasn't bearing the fruits of the spirit, but began to bear fruits of jealousy and anger and bitterness. The words I spoke were unkind, harmful, and untruthful. 
There was a point where I saw who I was becoming and cried out to the LORD. I asked him one last time if this was what he had for me, and his answer was clear and audible, it was NO. 
And I fought that "no". I asked God to change his mind, I asked if it was a "no, not yet", and I pretended it was a yes. I couldn't let go of this hindrance on my own, I prayed that God would take it away. I prayed specific prayers because I knew I couldn't do it alone. And God was faithful and answered those prayers specifically.
 When I finally surrendered my life and this issue to God, I was still in the belly of the whale. I was hurt because of the destruction I had allowed my self to be vulnerable to. Daily I had and have to say yes to God. And daily, he is faithful. I had to say yes to applying for jobs in my Ninevah. My stubborn nature, although I knew God had rescued me from the storm, wanted to sit in the "comfort" of the belly of the whale. I don't know if anything will come from those jobs, but I've realized that if I had not said no to God so many times, saying yes would have been less painful.

What is keeping you from saying yes to God? What is the hindrance that is keeping you from running towards Jesus? Is it a job, a relationship, social media, a secret, what is holding you back? Listen to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit in your heart. You will know what you need to do. God is faithful. And I pray that he does not give up on you, his child. Let him pursue you, give him the things you are keeping from him. Say yes to God.

eight things about college

Some of the best advice people gave me when I was in college and some advice I wish someone had given me

1. Don't spend all your money in your first semester of college- I know you're thinking, "no, duh!", but it's easy to just start spending. When you have the money and a little rectangular card in your wallet, it is so convenient to spend. Confession: I spent 2000 dollars my first semester on NOTHING. I bought a Disneyland pass, which was worth the investment, but I have no clue where the rest of the money went. Slowly the tri-weekly trips to target, the daily outings to Starbucks, the late night fro-yo runs, and the forever 21 excursions  started adding up. 

My advice: Pay attention in your orientation class when they talk about budgeting, figure out what works best for you, and say no every once in a while. 

2. Find an internship- Explore different career opportunities and gain experience. One of the best things you can have when you graduate is experience, and there is no better time to give away your  time and skills than when you are getting college credit for it. And it looks good on a resume! 

3. Take advantage of the services your school provides- Find out what services your school provides, a lot of schools have counseling centers, career centers, tutoring centers, learning centers, and  much more. And the best part, they are all free. Counseling has a bad connotation, but it is great for your emotional health. Once you are in the real world, it costs a lot, so go, be healthy.  Meet with someone in the career center at least once a year, they will have job and internship opportunities, help you create your resume, and assist with career development. Don't be afraid to get tutoring, students who have gone through your hard classes can be a big help both mentally and emotionally. The biggest thing with this point, is ask for help. Find out who can assist you, who can make you a better person, and who can make your experience easier. You don't have to do it alone. 

4. Sleep!- Get a good nights sleep at least 3 times a week. Particularly on Sunday nights, start your week off with a good 7-8 hours ;) other wise, nap in between classes, enjoy late night food runs, have study sessions that begin at 10pm. Socialize after dark and don't be afraid to say yes to random nighttime adventures. 

5. Be authentic- You don't have to spill your life story and your heart and soul to everyone you meet, but be real. There is no one more you-er than you, so there is no one better to be than YOU. 

6. Say yes- There will be a lot of opportunities. Say yes to something, say yes to a lot. Find your nitch. Become involved in dorm life or inter mural sports or academics or clubs or student leadership. Be a part of something. 

7. Say no- something's can wait. Sometimes you need a break. Sometimes school is more important than your social life [only sometime ;)] Some times you need sleep. Every thing will be okay if you say no. 

8. Take alone time- The end. Take time to yourself. If you're living in a dorm, there will be people around all the time. Find a place and a time to be alone. You will thank me later, I promise, it will be a great thing. 

Make mistakes. Learn who you are. Change majors. Call your parents. Enjoy college. Do what you want. This is what you make it. Welcome to the roller coaster of becoming an adult, an individual