Freshly Baked Jam Drops

The other day I stumbled upon a recipe for jam drops that someone I follow on Instagram had posted. It included very few ingredients and looked simple to make. Jam drops are some of my favourite treats to eat, and they go perfectly with a cup of tea! So this morning I decided to make them and share it here so that you can make them too.  

You'll need...

• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup of soft butter
• 2 cups of flour
• jam - I used both strawberry and raspberry jam

Then all you have to do is mix the ingredients together (minus the jam of course), roll the mixture into little balls, and push down on them with your thumb to create a little dip which you then fill with jam. Bake them for 10 minutes on 180 degrees celsius (my oven was preheated a bit). Ta-da, you now have delicious jam drops to enjoy for morning tea. 

Such a simple treat to make, right? Happy baking loves!

You can see the Instagram account where I got the recipe from here.

Pondering on Love... | Part Two

Last June I wrote a post titled Pondering on Love... (which you can read here) and I thought I would write a part two of that post today. Pretty much everything that I wrote in that post is still relevant today and my views on love are still the same. Although it's eight months later and it seems like I'm still no closer to falling in love, I can't help but be excited. Don't get me wrong, I still feel down about it sometimes, but right now I'm excited and expectant. 

Sometimes I freak out a little because I feel like I wouldn't be a very good girlfriend. When I try to picture it, I just don't know if I would live up to certain expectations. But how can I know for sure until I'm actually in a relationship? I can't! However, that doesn't mean that I can't start learning now before the time comes. I read an article this morning that went through the 7 Ps of Christian Marriage. It was an eye-opening and encouraging article and exactly what I needed to read and be reminded of. I won't go through everything it said, but I will point out some bits that really stuck out to me. There was a bit that talked about praising God for the husband that He will one day bring you. The one line in particular that struck a chord with me was, "the same God that blesses them, blesses you." Simple, yet so profound to me. It was a basic truth, but one that I tend to forget so easily. The God that is bringing couples together all around me desires for me to find my forever love as well. Another line that I found equally encouraging said, "God's desire to reveal will always be greater than your desire to know." In other words, God wants to reveal and bring my future husband to me more than I want to know who my future husband is. How crazy but encouraging is that thought! 

My urgency to find out has slowly begun to diminish as I begin to realise that God actually cares, and He's not keeping me waiting for no reason. It just simply isn't right yet. He hasn't forgotten about me, He's just still working things out. Ann Voskamp once said, "Waiting is just a gift of time in disguise - a time to pray wrapped up in a ribbon of patience - because is the Lord ever late?" No, God's not late, I'm just impatient. And I need not be. Some days are hard, some days are easy, and I know that it's not always easy being single. But I also know that it's probably not always easy being in a relationship. Both rely on trusting in God completely. 

So while I'm in this season, I intend to squeeze all that God wants me to know out of it. To not let myself go to waste because I'm single - because how silly does that sound? I'm not going to sit around twiddling my thumbs until prince charming strolls on by, but I'm going to grab life with both hands and run. As I mentioned in my previous post, life hasn't been super peachy lately, but I'm on a new road now. A road to recovery. A road to somewhere better. There are going to be lessons and tests along the way, and God is with me through every single inch of it. He knows my steps. And somewhere along the way I'll fall in love and step into a new season altogether. Every day that passes is another day closer to that happening. And I intend to live fully, starting now, instead of waiting until I've got a boyfriend, or waiting until I know what my purpose is, or waiting until I feel like I'm fixed. Why wait? 

I'm going to leave you with these beautiful and uplifting words from Lysa TerKeurst...

"That hard thing you are facing right now? Remember, you are strong. You are persevering, tough, able to bend without breaking, willing to be humbled to the point of humiliation, not blinded, a hunter for wisdom, a praying-through-it woman, a courageous gal, one who wants to learn the deep dependance of following hard after God himself. 

Let me reach through these fragile, typed-out letters and take your hand. And stand with you. From that cracked-open-heart place, a God-Breathed strength will rise. Rise. Rise."

Love, S.

Images: Tumblr

New Roads, New Rivers // We're Gonna Make It

It's been a while since I last spilled my raw thoughts into a blog post so I thought it was about time I did again. In all honesty, I haven't been doing that great lately (which is why I haven't written a post like this in a while), but then I thought about it some more and decided that the not-so-perfect parts of life will come and they will go, and they are just as important as the rest. It's in these down days that we are tested, and from that comes strength, growth, and the ability to rise again. Recently I came to a crossroads in my life. A moment where I could choose to stay stagnant (and ultimately go downhill) or I could choose to do something that scares me greatly, but will actually do me a world of good. I chose the latter. Seeing a psychologist is a topic that is not spoken about all too often. People tend to brush over it, or simply won't even mention it at all. I suppose even I am a little hesitant to bring up the subject sometimes. I think it's because it can be a scary thing, and not something that we feel great sharing. It's admitting that you need help, and that makes you vulnerable. I haven't been to a session yet, but I've got one booked in, and I feel like good things will come of it. 

Earlier on this year someone told me that this will really be my year of stepping into all things great. Little did I know they also said that I would have to work for it, it wouldn't just fall into my lap (and I wasn't told that at the time). Once I booked in my session my mum told me the rest of what was said. She mentioned that perhaps me starting this journey was me working for it. If so, bring on all things great! Another area of work and growth relates to my purpose in life. Right now I honestly have no idea what it is. However, I have started to read a book written by a pastor named Rick Warren called The Purpose-Driven Life. While I'm only on day five, I already know that things are changing. It's a 40 day study and I cannot wait to see where I am in 40 days time. 

Writing all this down feels a little uncomfortable, but I'm doing so in the hope that it might help someone out there reading it. I have felt so lost and confused and sad lately, but I'm not sitting in that pit of despair any longer. I'm being proactive in making a change. I don't know what your change looks like, but I urge you to pluck up the courage and make it. Surely it'll be better than staying where you are. "A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there". With that in mind, I'm waving goodbye to certain 'comforts' and moving towards a better me instead. I'm calling this year the one where I work on myself. I've neglected certain things for so long, and it's unhealthy, and about time I just dealt with it. I'm cancelling my pity party and getting ready to celebrate for real instead. I don't know what this year will bring, but I'm believing it can only go upwards from here. At my church we're calling this the year of new roads, new rivers. I can't wait to explore them. 

I was on Instagram the other day and I came across this encouraging message that someone I follow had posted. Straight away I had to write it down in my diary because it spoke straight to my heart. I'm going to end this post with this. I hope that you find joy and encouragement in these words and in my own. I hope that you're reminded how beautiful and worthy you are - and if you're not, go somewhere where you are reminded. This world is beautiful and filled with amazing moments that we are yet to be a part of. God only ever wants the best for us, okay. 

"His heart is never to silence the desire of our hearts or to shame us for those desires. His heart is to pull us up on His lap while we ugly cry out the disappointments and curveballs we've faced. His heart is to listen to us laugh at how silly we've been and to marvel at how beautiful the future is. At the end of that, we just have to be willing to hop down and only take the steps He leads us to. It's the year of reaping what we have sown in sadness and hurt, it's the year of deferred dreams coming to fruition, and it's the year of big honking leaps of faith into His plan. We're gonna make it."

Love, S.

Image: Tumblr