...What if I'm missing out...what if there's a greater purpose that I could be living right now...

May the lyrics to this song motivate us toward selfless living:

My Own Little World by Matthew West

"In my own little world it hardly ever rains
I’ve never gone hungry, always felt safe
I got some money in my pocket, shoes on my feet
In my own little world
Population me

I try to stay awake during Sunday morning church
I throw a twenty in the plate, but I never give ’til it hurts
I turn off the news when I don’t like what I see
Yeah, it’s easy to do when it’s
Population: me

What if there’s a bigger picture?
What if I’m missing out?
What if there’s a greater purpose
I could be living right now
Outside my own little world

Stopped at a red light, looked out my window
I saw a cardboard sign, said “Help this homeless widow”
Above that sign was the face of a human
I thought to myself, “God, what have I been doing?”
So I rolled down the window and I looked her in the eye
Oh how many times have I just passed her by?
So I gave her some money then I drove on through
And my own little world reached
Population two

What if there’s a bigger picture?
What if I’m missing out?
What if there’s a greater purpose
I could be living right now
Outside my own little world
My own little world

Father break my heart for what breaks Yours
Give me open hands and open doors
Put Your Light in my eyes and let me see
That my own little world is not about me

What if there’s a bigger picture?
What if I’m missing out?
What if there’s a greater purpose
That I could be living right now
I dont want to miss what matters
I wanna be reaching out
Show me the greater purpose
So i can start livin right now
Outside my own little world
Outside My own little world

Outside My own little world"

Enjoying my day off

Last night I was so happy when I realized today is my day off for running!  I didn't need to set my alarm, set my running clothes out, or worry about sleeping in and trying to fit my run in throughout the day.  All day I have been relaxing with my daughter and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Ever since junior high, I have appreciated the day off and have treated it like a biblical day of rest from exercise.  The day off is a great reward after a hard week of exercise and I believe the recovery day is just as important as our hardest workout days.  Our bodies need to rest each week and our minds need a day free of physical stress.

No matter how long it takes to get back into shape after pregnancy, I will let my body recover each week.  If I don't, I am bound to get injured or burnt out.

My goal this time around is, #1 to glorify God with my running and #2 to enjoy my day off...to not become obsessed with running!

Brunch with good friends

We invited some friends over for brunch the other day.  I enjoyed it so much that I want to do this every month.  I discovered that breakfast is my favorite meal to prepare.  I started with looking for egg dishes because we had a bunch of eggs a friend gave us from her farm.  I also knew I wanted to make steel cut oatmeal in the crock pot since it turned out so well the last time I made it.  I did some research on a few dishes to make sure they were easy to prepare and delicious, of course and here are two dishes I made...

Steel cut oatmeal in the crock pot
I had done the double boiler method in the crock pot and that worked out great but I wanted to make a double batch, which wouldn't fit in my dish if I did the double boiler method. So, despite others saying it would burn in the crock pot, I decided to try it this way.  It didn't burn and the consistency turned out great.  Of course it helped that I was making it in the early morning rather than overnight, that way I could stir it every 30 minutes. 
Spray crock pot with cooking spray
Mix together the following in the crock pot
2 c steel cut oatmeal
5 c water
3 c milk
1 c half and half
2 tbsp butter
1 apple cut in small chunks & peeled
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (could have used more)
1 tsp of cinnamon (could have used more)
Cook on low 5 hours or high for 2 1/2-3 hours (I started on low for 4 hours but switched to high the last hour thinking it wouldn't be done in time)

Mini crustless ham and egg tarts

Preheat oven to 350
Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray
Place 1 piece of ham in each cup, the ends will stick up above the cup
Crack 1 egg inside each piece of ham
Top with 1 cherry tomato, I cut them in half
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese
Sprinkle chives, parsley or basil
Cook for 18-20 minutes (done when insert a knife and it comes out clean)