A Small Snippet

hey friends!

its been a long while (too long) since i’ve posted a recipe, so i thought i’d pop in to give you a quick one today!

this is just a basic one to keep in your rotation.  i’m not a great basic “cook.”  i never really learned how to really cook…have just picked up some things along the way.  so recipes like this that break down the basics for me are really helpful!

i made these Roasted Winter Veggies last night, and they are SOOOOOOO good.  (and also super easy.)

btw:  i’m not quite sure what classifies a vegetable as a “winter vegetable” so some of these may not technically be “winter” but it sounded good

once you gather up all the veggies (and you can really use any that you like, but i’ve posted the recipe card below with the ones we use), you just throw together some ingredients that you most likely already have on hand:  (the Himalayan Pink Salt is optional)

wash and prepare all your veggies.  combine ingredients above into a bowl (i don’t really measure when throwing together a recipe like this, but i’ve provided some estimates in the recipe card for you), and then pour over veggies.  toss until all veggies are well coated.

bake at 425 degrees for 30 ish minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

sprinkle with extra Kosher Salt or Himalayan Pink Salt (if you have on hand) before serving:

that’s it!  so easy, and loaded with all kinds of good stuff for you!

here’s the recipe card.

(recipe adapted from this one)

and speaking of yummy things…my brother and sister in law sent me a package of some of my favorite things from my beloved Trader Joe’s for my birthday…so brilliant!  (i’m one of those deprived people who does not live close to a Trader Joe’s…so sad!  i’ve written to them multiple times, essentially begging them to open one up in my town.  i’m hopeful its maybe one of the next towns on the list!)

anyway…this tea is only sold at Christmastime, but its my all time favorite.  i have 5 boxes right now…hoping that will last me throughout the next year!  (but pretty sure it won’t!)

and oh.goodness.me…if you’ve never had these, go get them.  they are quite the treat!

 Eli has been up to all kinds of things lately, so check back in later for more of his shenanigins!

Follow

Share

thanks for all your sweet encouragements from my last post.  i didn’t mean to alarm anyone, or sound dramatic.  but if this is a place where i’m going to be real and honest, then i couldn’t move forward without being genuine about how i was feeling about this whole blogging thing.  i wish i could say i’m all good.  truth is, its still hard.  but i think that’s the very place Jesus wants me right now, so that i can continue to run to Him in my neediness   reminds me of that quote from C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, “He’s not safe, but He’s good!”  it may be risky and it might not be comfortable, but i can rest assured that He sure is good!

anyway…i’m excited to come back today to show you what our beloved Eli the Elf has been up to lately.  he’s definitely keeping us on our toes!

i told you a few posts back all about his arrival this year. he busted right out of his box, and brought us his calendar to show us that he had been counting down the days:

we caught him the first morning dominating the Three Wise Men in a pick-up game of hoops:

 the next night, he apparently needed his own a Christmas Tree, as we caught him attempting to saw down one of our’s:

he seemed to be changing his tune a little bit when we woke up the next morning to a quad of snowmen that he created to represent our family, with a sweet note:  ( i have to say…i especially love my maxi dress and bangles…Eli sure knows my style well )

and i guess when an Elf gets a hankering for a s’more, but he doesn’t have access to a real fireplace, then he has to improvise.  whoever said that the OnDemand Yule Log was worthless sure wasn’t an Elf with a craving:

(funny thing…i woke up the next morning to find only 1 marshmallow still on the stick.  i was later told that it was “shared” between the crazies.  i guess if they are sharing it, then they can justify sneaking it, huh?)

somehow that Eli snuck into the kiddos room and captured their beloved dogs right out of bed, humiliated them by tying them up, and forced them to wear Elf hats…

in an attempt to prove a point:

and then one morning, we found him attempting to “fit in:”

i think he had been feeling a little left out of all the family photos:

and last but not least…my favorite one so far…
you can’t come to the beach in Florida and not do a little sunbathing…complete with an “Elves Illustrated:”

hope y’all are enjoying your Elf as much as we are!

if you are interested in seeing our Christmas with Eli from last year, you can check here and here and here

Follow

Share

this is gonna be a raw post.  (don’t you just love when i start that way ? )

i just need to share my heart a little bit.

when i started this little ol’ blog, it was with the thought that it would just be for my family and close friends to read.  i honestly don’t know how it became anything other than that, but it did.  however, to whom much is given, much is expected…what He has given is meant to be used for the good of others and for the advancement of the Kingdom.  my hope and deepest desire is that God is making me a faithful steward of what He’s provided.  my desire is to leverage all He’s done with A Small Snippet to advance His Kingdom, and to let others partake in the ways that God has blessed this little blog.

but i am human, and i doubt myself all the live long day.  and i don’t believe in myself.  and i don’t believe God, and the path He’s set before me.  and my face is turned downward.  and i am filled with guilt…am i being faithful?  am i loving others?  am i being real?  does God care about this blog?  am i building my own little kingdom, or am i utilizing what God’s provided to proclaim His glory?

and yet…God turns my face upwards again.  He lifts my face in His hands, and he tells me this, and its what i hold firmly to:  “LeAna…I am in it all.  I love to see My children come alive when they are doing something they love.  I have made you as a creator, in My own image, and this blog…its a creation.  I can use everyday, ordinary things…and make them extra-ordinary.  I can use anything of this world to proclaim My Glory. even the rocks will cry out.  all things are of Me, and I am in all things.”

really God, even a little blog…that is seemingly so insignificant…written by a “Doubting Mom” who lacks the skills and emotional stability to do it on her own?

“yes…my child, even a little blog…”

you see…this blogging thing…its a huge risk.  and if you know me personally, then you know very well that i am not a risk taker.  i like things to be orderly, and in control, and i like to follow the rules to make life simple.  i don’t like to open myself up to being hurt.  i’d rather live shelled off and shut away and quiet, then risk having people doubt me, accuse me, hurt me.  well…the Gospel…its risky.  using the means that God has provided, even if it doesn’t make sense to the rest of the world…its risky.

not remaining quiet…its risky.  and this blog…its really risky.

the reality is…its in that very risk that i am awakened once again to the fact that i need a Great Big Rescuer.

this whole blogging thing…it has seriously opened me up to wounds.  and i’m feeling them.  i wish i could tell you that i’m one of those people where things just roll of my back.  but i’m not.  the things people say hurt.  and they hurt deeply.  and i remember them, and i think about them, and sometimes they follow me around like a low hanging dark cloud, keeping me in a fog.

i know that when you choose to share your life on the worldwideweb, that criticism comes with the territory.  but what i didn’t know was how much it seems that people just like to take jabs without caring about the consequences or the people they are jabbing.  they like to throw darts just to hit a target, without really caring about what that target is.  i didn’t realize how much it hurts when others de-value what i’m doing and question my motivation for doing it.  i didn’t realize how much i crave the approval of man…and i didn’t realize how very hard it would be to live out of God’s voice over me instead of the voices of others…

this is a blog.  it is a place that i dreamt up, that God blew His breath into, and that He is in the process of taking somewhere.  i just get to come along for the ride.  its His gift to me.  it is not meant to meet everyone who reads deepest desires, needs, or expectations.  a blog is just a blog…and nothing more.  it is apart of my life, and a place that God has provided for me to share my story and His Bigger Story with the world.  if you are disappointed by me, the things i post, the lack of things i post, what i do and do not write about, who i am and who i am not….i am sorry.  i mean that.  i really am sorry.  and my flesh wants to change the way God’s made me to make you happy.  BUT…my Spirit is unwilling to let me do so.

i have to hold tight to the One who is directing this ship.  i have to move where and when He tells me to move.

i have to trust that, even in the midst of my wounds, He is the One holding me tight, smiling down on me, and showering me with His love.  He delights in me.  And He delights in A Small Snippet.  it still blows me away, that Rescuer of mine.  that He enters my world, lives in the midst of it with me, and delights with me in the very things He’s created to bring me joy.  and that He showers me in His blessings, even though i am one who is undeserving.

friends…i have a heart.  a wounded heart, that bleeds when i am accused of hurtful things…especially things that i don’t really believe deep down are true of me.  and things that are opposed to the very words i feel that God has spoken directly to me.  it hurts even more when those things are said by the very “brothers and sisters” who claim to need my same Rescuer.  maybe it shouldn’t hurt more, but for some reason it does.

i’m not asking you to stop.  i’m not saying its not fair.  i’m not expecting that i won’t ever be criticised.  and i’m not even saying that i don’t deserve criticism.  i guess what i want to share today is that i am a human.  i am not just words on a computer screen…there is an actual human being behind this blog you read.  and that human being is a child of God, with a heart that can be hurt, and a sinner, who is in DESPERATE need of the Gospel of Grace, that covers over, in His Great Love, my MANY weaknesses and failures.

and no matter who you are, we all need to remember that of each other.  we need to remember that of the raggedy man asking for change outside the liquor store.  we need  to remember that of the prostitute on the boulevard.  we need to remember that of the young teenager who is pregnant with her 3rd child.  we need to remember that of the blogger who is sharing her life with the world.  we need to remember that of those whom we may disagree with and those whom disappoint us.

love is a funny thing.  it has to be experienced before it can be shared.  and i think that when it is not shared, it is because it is not being experienced.  i sure hope you experience love here.  not from me…but from The Only One from whom all loves flows…and it flowed red, over 2,000 years ago, on a cross, for both you and me.

please remember that of me.  and i am asking the Holy Spirit to enter into my wounded heart, and to help me to remember that of you too.

and yet, even in the midst of the wounds, God comes in and reminds me of the path set before me…and i have joy…joy over the opportunity to share with you, joy that He has and is providing the means to do so, joy that God is waking up my soul (that has remained hidden for too long) to the very things that He has created me to do,  and joy for those of you who have chosen to come along with me on this journey.  i am grateful,

Follow

Share