I believe thankfulness starts with our Creator. God created every facet of our being & He has plans for every part of us (Jeremiah 29:11) even the less desirable, more fractured parts of us (Exodus 4:11). No part of our story, or our struggles were ever hidden from Him or came as a surprise. He knew before we were born what triumphs & setbacks we would have. Finding ourselves with a chronic illness may have felt like an unexpected snare in the race of life. I promise you God not only saw it coming, but has a plan & sees this snare as an opportunity for us to grow stronger in Him & with Him! I must tell you from personal experience that every time I find myself with an obstacle & gave it to God something beautiful came from my ashes.

As you know from my blog & social media, I am always trying new recipes & on this particular day I was having some epic fails in the kitchen. I was making salted caramel brownies from scratch & moved a little too far from the original recipe. Sadly, the first batch all ended up a burnt mess in the trash & the second one was only partially edible. And the caramel & ganache? Yes, you guessed it, I had to make both of them twice as well. All I kept thinking that day was how I was just wasting resources while wondering if it was worth all this effort. I felt broken & messy like my baking. Just before I started to cry, I stopped & prayed for guidance. I slowed down while reminding myself of Who’s I was & who He created me to be & thanked Him for always being ready to help, to lend me His strength.

Before I could throw out that first failed batch of caramel & ganache, I heard that still quiet voice murmured to keep it. Sure, enough from the mess I made some of the best “hot-mock-late” I’ve been able to make since switching from chocolate to carob. It was creamy, chocolatey, & decadent & everything I crave in these fast-approaching cold winter months. While I still need to nail the recipe down, I am so glad I gave my mess to God instead of letting it devour me. Instead, I was able to salvage some molten brownies & a little hot chocolate (mock-late).