Cokes with light ice and kids chocolate milks...

I am learning to pay attention to the deep sighs and heavy hearts.

I see them now as warnings.

Idealistically, I'd love to be able to just pause and ask my sad insides "what's wrong today?" and hear some voice tell me precisely the problem.

But I am realizing this can take days to figure out, if not weeks. To add to this, God does not seem to reveal these when I am doing much of nothing, but rather at the oddest moments, when Im in the middle of doing much of everything.

But I will confess,

last night, I literally sat in my bed, crossed my arms, glared up at God and said, "I am not sleeping until you free me from this horrible mood!"

I do not believe I really experienced FREEDOM that night, but I did experience sleep...

(Im not sure if that reveals a lack of stubbornness on my side, or I just missed the mark on my goal completely...)

However, it came to me, today as I was simultaneously filling up glasses of waters with lemon and cokes with light ice and kids chocolate milks, that I needed to forgive the people and the situations in my life.

NEED.

not SHOULD

or COULD

but need.

But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:15)

And so I did. Balancing rolls and drinks and shoving straws into my apron that needs to be cleaned, I chose to forgive.

Despite my attempts of boycotting my way into God's freedom...

This heavy sighing girl finally handed over her burden.

Cream Cheese-filled Cookies:

These cookies are quite tasty. After I posted, I decided to make these.

I also felt extra nice, and allowed my kitty to hang out with me as I baked these. This seemed like a marvelous idea... until I opened the oven...

In the corner of my eye, I noticed Honey running towards the oven in genuine curiosity. My first reaction was to yell at her to stay back...which I did... but then I realized... she can't hear me. Thus I panicked. How to warn a cat who can't hear the warning!?!?!

Thus, I clearly did the most logical thing I could think of:

Instantaneously throw the hot cookie sheet that I held in my hand up into the air

watch it bounce off of my arm

splattering half baked sugar cookies everywhere

and save the kitty from the oven.

So here I sit, feeding myself left over chocolate drizzle and watching this burn on my arm turn different shades of red.

I would call myself a hero, but in hindsight, I believe cats are smart enough to not jump into a hot oven.

Opposed to their owners, who are apparently not smart enough to avoid burning themselves with the oven...

So now I just feel silly.

Another yet example, on how much I love my cat.