It’s been crazy what’s been going on with my blog this month! I want to keep you up to date  and also, welcome my new subscribers!

I’m thrilled you’re following my blog and I promise, I won’t clutter your inbox! I usually post 2, sometimes 3 times a week, either healthy and easy recipes or my thoughts and ponderings about God and what He’s teaching me. Plus, I’m blessed to be able to write for 3 other sites each month and I like to give you a chance to see those posts as well. Thus my ‘monthly roundup’!

This last week, I’ve seen an explosion on my blog because of a post I wrote 2 years ago.

It’s been mind blowing and given me new respect for the power of the internet!

Here’s what’s going on. Two years ago, a family we know received a life-altering diagnosis for one of their children which led to a devastating treatment. In trying to make sense of it all, the Lord started speaking to me about His mercy. The main thing He showed me is this: Mercy doesn’t always look the way we think it should. So I wrote and published the post.

About 2 weeks ago, the Lord took this child home. Because of the outpouring of grief on Facebook among those who know this family, I shared  the original post again to try to shed light on what seems like senseless, pointless tragedy.

There’s so much confusion about why God allows bad things to happen to good people. It shakes our faith to it’s foundations and I hoped to remind folks there are some things we can’t figure out this side of heaven but it doesn’t diminish His goodness in the least. Here’s an excerpt:

“Eventually, I released my bitterness against Him as I realized the hard way that His ways are not my ways and His ways are much higher than mine. His mercy seemed mighty severe at the time and not much like mercy at all but when the dust settles and the fog lifts and the years pass, it’s easy to see it is indeed mercy. Just not in it’s nice Sunday wrapping. He transformed our understanding of mercy and we learned,

His greatest mercy is sometimes wrapped in His deepest test.”

Anyway, the post is being shared like crazy on Facebook with over 2,000 shares as of today and well over 8,000 views on my blog and for me that’s a lot! Trust me, I’m not sharing those numbers to brag at all! I’m just astounded it’s struck such a nerve but I think I know why. I think it’s simple. We don’t understand God and His ways. We think we know, we think we can fit Him in a box, that is, until devastation hits our lives and our concept of God is forever altered. I’ve heard from so many folks going through desperate and difficult circumstances. They found some comfort in my words and passed them along to others who might need to read them too. Some of you may even have subscribed because of this post. If you haven’t seen it I want you to have the chance. You can read it here: When God Allows What He Could Prevent. If it blesses you, feel free to share it or leave me a comment.

February Devotional Posts

• When Everything Falls Apart (excerpt)

“Our ‘blessing machine’ God allows life to come at us with all it’s ugly heartache and ferocious fury. Smacked in the face, our foolish ideas of who God is dissolve in a puddle of tears, crushing doubt and a thousand questions. Every concept of God we think we know gets chewed up and spit out, leaving us broken and questioning everything. While well meaning Christians speak the lie, “God never gives you more than you can handle.”

Yes He does. He does give us more than we can handle for one simple reason: we’re not supposed to handle it alone! If we could handle it what do we need God for? These crushing blows to our lives show us beyond a shadow of a doubt how truly helpless we are.”

• Comparing and Competing or How to Derail Your God Dare

“The devil wants me to listen to the voices of insecurity and doubt already lurking in my subconscious. He wants me to pull those voices out, polish them up and put them on display. “Who do you think you are Kate? You’re not gifted enough, smart enough, young enough, connected enough or educated enough to pull this off. You’re not fooling anybody. You might as well just give up before you’re totally embarrassed!”

Please don’t listen! If God has called you then he knows exactly what He’s doing and he will equip you for the task. Maybe part of your miracle and testimony is the fact that you are small and unknown. If you’re gifted enough, smart enough, connected enough, young enough (or old enough), and educated enough, what on earth do you need God for? The whole point of The God Dare is believing in the impossible.”

• Excerpt from The Better Mom post: 12 Truths for Todays Teens.

“I think back on my teenage years and wonder how different my life might have been had someone taken the time to speak truth to me. To tell me I mattered, that I was ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’. Showed me a roadmap with some of the potholes mapped out!”

• Excerpt from Mothers of Daughters post  Choosing to be Chosen

“Because the thing is this mama, your flaws are what make you real. Your struggles make you part of the human family. Our world is fallen, our natures are sinful and we wage war each day with inclinations and temptations, battling fiercely to conquer and quench, but through it all, we remember what He gave for us.”

Recipes

• Easy Balsamic Chicken in the Crockpot –This is getting pinned a ton! It’s really easy to make and full of fall off the bone flavor!
• Perfect Peanut Butter Cups –amazing, somewhat healthy and so easy to make at home.
• Moist and Meaty Meatloaf – Because meatloaf should never be boring!

If you’ve read this far, you deserve a recipe! This is one of those standbys you can pull out on those days you completely forget to plan dinner, like I did this week. Have you ever made a Frittata? It’s kind of like a baked omelette or a crustless quiche. It’s incredibly versatile, easy to throw together and the perfect meal to make when you have veggies you don’t know what to do with or are simply out of dinner ideas! And, it’s gluten free and paleo 🙂

Here’s how you do it:

Weeknight Frittata

Serves 4

• 8 eggs, organic if possible
• 1 cup veggies or meat or combo of your choice
• 1 cup grated cheese
• 1/4 cup organic milk or half and half
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons butter

1. Preheat oven to broil. Set oven rack in highest position.
2. Melt butter in an iron or other ovenproof skillet. Heat until foaming subsides.
3. Add veggies and saute about 5 minutes or until softening.
4. Beat eggs together with the milk and cheese. Pour over veggies in the pan.
5. Using a rubber spatula, gently move the egg mixture around the pan till the eggs begin to set on the top. Don’t scramble them, just gently pull them away from the sides letting the uncooked part slide underneath to cook.
6. Set the pan in the oven under the broiler. Leave the oven door cracked so you can keep an eye on your frittata. It should lightly brown and puff up on top.
7. Remove pan from oven, run a knife around the frittata and slide onto a plate. Or, serve in wedges directly from pan.

Kate’s Tips

• Any combo of veggies works. I used chopped garlic, mushrooms and asparagus. Whatever you have in your fridge will pretty much work! Also, bacon or ham or steak or shrimp, you get the idea. Be creative!
• Add whatever herbs you like, thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil, you’re the boss!
• I used cheddar in the photo but parmesan, swiss, jarlsberg, feta, anything is permissible.
• Frittata also makes a great brunch dish and is equally good cold.

Thanks so much for reading my words and sharing my recipes. You really do mean a lot to me and I respond to every comment and email. See you in March!

Kate