♥Hi Friends!
SPRING! What a HEALING time of year! It sounds so cliché, I know, but I love the feeling of rebirth from the change of seasons, more daylight, hearing the birds singing in the morning, the tulips and daffodils, and you should see my neighbors tree bursting with pink blossoms. It’s astounding! (And a picture of it is now the wallpaper on my phone.) I love the warmer temperatures so I can get back out every day and lay on my grass for a good dose of sun and earth (we’ll talk about those HEALERS in later posts but I HIGHLY recommend 15-20 minutes barefoot on your grass, in the sun, every day you can!) It all seems to culminate with Easter and the reminder of the gift our Heavenly Father has given us through His son.
Many years ago my Honey taught me a great lesson (another ‘Honey Lesson’). It’s this: REPENT AND FORGIVE EVERY DAY. During our personal prayers, we have the opportunity and blessing to repent of our sins and weaknesses and ask Heavenly Father for forgiveness. Not just for the big things but the little things too like bad thoughts, those ‘farm words’ that sneak out of our mouths sometimes, yelling at our kids, unkind feelings for our spouse, judging others or ourselves, cutting someone off while driving, not using our time wisely, or whatever we can think of. Then, we can show the same mercy He shows to us and ask Him, through His son Jesus Christ, to help us forgive those who have hurt or offended us. For the big offenses and the little ones too. This is also a good time to ask for strength to forgive ourselves, because sometimes that’s harder than forgiving others.
Repenting and forgiving. How beautiful is that process? And although sometimes it can take a while to let go of some things, how HEALING! One of those childhood experiences/lessons that has stayed with me was in Miss Paxton’s third grade class at Orem Elementary in the late 70’s. It was right after Halloween and my little friend Chris and I were seated in the back eating our candy (I hated it when the seating chart put me back there), which was a big no-no. Miss Paxton had made it clear that she didn’t want us to bring any of our Halloween candy to school. Seriously?! That was almost too much to ask from this 8 year old! In the middle of instruction she stopped, looked at the two of us and asked point blank if we were eating candy. I put my head up and I don’t even know if I looked at her but I sheepishly answered “no”. Uh, wrong answer. All day long I felt sick inside. And that little nagging voice inside of me kept telling me all day to go ‘fess up. (Just for the record, I am so grateful for that little voice now!) But because I was afraid and really good at procrastinating (two of Satan’s ‘toxins”), I waited until the last possible moment to confess, when it was time to go home and no one was left in the classroom. Of course she knew all along (it’s funny how as children we think we’re sneaky when most teachers and moms and dads see right through us). Her words to me were stern but kind and I felt SO much better. It was literally like I felt this weight I had been carrying around all day had been lifted from me.
Why? Because sin or offense (or fear, stress, sadness, or anything we carry) is ‘toxic energy’ and it keeps us from moving forward. It impedes our HEALING. But when we ask our Father to take it from us, and we give it to Him (because of the Atonement and because our older brother Jesus Christ lives), He does. And those ‘toxins’ actually leave our body, SPIRITUALLY, PHYSICALLY and EMOTIONALLY. AMAZING!
So what is the Easter message to me? BECAUSE HE LIVES we can repent and forgive. And when we do, we can HEAL!
♥Love you!
PS: If you didn’t click on the BECAUSE HE LIVES above, click here now for a quick little Easter message!
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LOVE these! I thought it would be a fitting time of year to share my recipe for ‘SPRING’ rolls. SOOOO yummy and fresh and the quinoa makes them a hearty lunch or dinner.
RED QUINOA SPRING ROLLS WITH DIPPING SAUCE
- brown rice paper wraps*
- 1 cup red quinoa
- 2 cups of water and 2 tsp of “Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base” or 2 cups of vegetable broth
- shrimp (optional)
- carrots, shredded
- bean sprouts (optional)
- cucumbers, cut in half and sliced
- jicama, peeled, sliced and cut in to thin sticks
- mangoes or oranges, cubed
- fresh mint
- fresh cilantro
- green leaf lettuce or wild greens or spinach
- chopped peanuts (optional)
- dipping sauce
Cook quinoa in water and vegetable base. Prepare the sauce and set aside so the flavors have time to mix while you prepare the veggies.
Put warm tap water in a glass pie pan and place wrap in it to soften (or just run it under warm tap water). Start by placing quinoa (and shrimp, if desired, that has been thawed and the tails removed) in the middle of the wrap and add the rest of the veggies. I like to pour the sauce on top of everything before folding up the ends and then the sides of the wrap. Some of us around my house have a tendency to stuff them full enough that we end up folding just the sides over and eating the wrap with a fork and knife, like a burrito.
If you’re serving it to a crowd, place all the fixin’s and a large round bowl filled with warm water in the middle of the table. Prepare little individual bowls of sauce for each person to dip their wraps in. Everyone can assemble their own. FUN!
*I buy the “Vietnamese Brown Rice Spring Roll Wrappers” from Star Anise Foods on Amazon. They came in a box with several packages (food storage!) I LOVE the brown rice. It holds up and doesn’t fall apart like the white rice paper wraps.
Dipping Sauce
- 1/4 cup tamari (or soy sauce)
- 1/3 cup brown rice vinegar
- 1/4-1/3 cup raw honey
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 pinches red pepper flakes
Whisk ingredients together. Store leftovers in fridge.