What a day to rejoice at the opportunities we're given celebrate God and the depth of His love!  Today, I am thankful for many loved ones:

--my Savior who loved me enough to die for me, an undeserving and rebelious sinner, to impute me with His righteousness and Holy Spirit who gives me true life and an inheritance of glory,

--my fiance and the utter gift from God that he has been, is, and will be in my life;

--my brother, Charlie, my sister, Alli, and my parents, for all of their continual and deep, deep love I have always been incredibly blessed to be entrenched in;

--my ever-expanding family, I rejoice in how I've been richly blessed this past year to be getting to know Michael's family and how loving and gracious they have been to me (I am only looking forward to growing in our relationships together and continuing to unite my wonderful family with his);

--my roommates, both current and old, who have loved and shaped me in more ways than I can even begin to count;

--Ministers and preachers of the Gospel, may God encourage you and bless you in all the work you are doing and know that His Gospel is strongly going forth as a result of His divine and miraculous work in and through your calling;

--the body of Christ (including those I've already listed separately) who have invested in me, instructed me in the love of God, confronted me about my pride and need to confess, repent, and grow in appreciation of Christ's gifts as a result, loved and served me, shared their lives and families with me, brought joy and comfort to my life I would have never known without them...

Today I give thanks to God for all of you and celebrate love with you!

Cocoa for Two

Make the perfect hot chocolate for your special valentines.

By Amy Palanjian

The Invitation Start by downloading our invitation images here. Print onto regular computer paper and use pinking shears to cut around the edges of the image. Using paper glue, secure the image to the center of the front of a “matchbook”(available at crafts stores or Paper Source, 888-727-3711). Pink the top of the matchbook. Spoon 3 heaping tablespoons of the flavored cocoa mix into a glassine envelope(also available at crafts stores or Paper Source), folding over the top and securing with tape. Repeat to make a second packet. Place both packets of cocoa, overlapping, under the flap of the matchbook so that you can punch two holes through all of the layers at once. Starting from the back of the matchbook, thread 1/4-inch ribbon through the holes and tie in a pretty bow. To close, simply tuck the front under the flap, the way you would with a real matchbook. The Cocoa Mix Start with this basic mix: Combine 3/4 of a cup of bittersweet cocoa powder, 1/2 cup of nonfat dry milk powder and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar. For each serving, use 3 tbsp of the mix (you will have enough for 6 cups of cocoa) and 8 ounces of hot water. And try adding in one of the flavor variations below for a twist on the classic cocoa.    1. Sophisticated Citrus Reconnect with a valued friend over a cup of orange-infused chocolate.   6 tablespoons basic cocoa mix   2 teaspoons dried orange zest      Pinch of ground cinnamon 2. Treat Time Kids will love this—it tastes like mint chocolate-chip ice cream, only better.   6 tablespoons basic cocoa mix   2 peppermint tea bags (put one in each serving, steep for a few      minutes in the mix after adding water, then remove)      Crushed peppermint candy 3. Hot & Spicy Sugar, spice and everything nice make this a dream cocoa to have with your valentine.   6 tablespoons basic cocoa mix   2 teaspoons ground cinnamon   1 vanilla bean, scraped, with pod discarded      Small pinch of cayenne pepper

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Just listened to an incredible sermon on my ipod this morning.  It's from Dr. John Henna from Dallas Theological Seminary who is a much cherished teacher and mentor of my much cherished pastors at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Texas.  So many incredible insights into life, but especially his concluding summary:

"So, how do you walk with God?

There are no rules.  But there are principles, and we each apply those principles out of the fund of our distinct, separate human experience and circumstance.

[. . .] Four presuppositional ideas: 
Being a Christian doesn't mean simply believing in a historic Gospel about Jesus who came and died and rose from the dead.  It is falling in love with Him.  More in love with Him than your deepest loves on this earth.  And it is only in loving Him that you even have deep loves on this earth. 
It is coming to grips with the fact that He is Sovereign and that He has no rivals, none at all.  And true freedom is losing our freedom only to discover it anew. 
It is the reality that sin is going to plague you till the day you die and there are no perfect Christians.  There are forgiven ones. 
And the joy that we have is in focusing not on ourselves, not on our progress, but only on the beauty of Calvary because there God touched humankind.