It was sometime in the afternoon on a weekday. The baby was at home with my husband and I was on my way home from work. Tears were streaming down my face from lack of sleep, a stressful day at work, and the stress of knowing my child wouldn’t leave my side once I got home. As the tears began to turn into one big ugly cry I pulled into a deserted parking lot and it all came pouring out.

“I am just so tired, Lord. Why won’t this baby sleep? Where did the loving and peaceful relationship with my husband go? Why did you put so many dreams and ambitions in my heart only to let them sink to the bottom of this tear filled lake????”

There it was. The sentence that put everything else into perspective. Why did God place these dreams in my heart for me only to fail at trying to achieve them? That is when I realized that God did not push aside the dreams in my heart, but rather molded them into something so beautifully different. God did fulfill his promises to me, but I had to be open minded to see them.

On December 22, 2015 I gave birth to a beautiful healthy 7 lb 14 oz baby boy. That day, without my knowledge, God began to mold me into a mother and adjust my priorities to reflect this innocent baby’s needs. As I thought back on the birth of my son I realized my expectations didn’t reflect reality and was forced to change my priorities. In this season of the church we are celebrating Pentecost. The birth of the church. I am sure that the apostles did not expect to be filled with the Holy Spirit as it is depicted in Acts, but God gave them grace in that season to redirect their priorities and dreams. That is my challenge for you this season. Ask God where you need to redirect your priorities and dreams. My hope is that as a church we make our community and health a priority this season. Obtaining a healthy life style is about setting priorities. Whether letting the laundry sit a little longer while you cook a new recipe or choosing to play at the park with your kids rather than mowing the lawn. While both laundry and mowing your lawn may feel crucial in the moment ultimately by adjusting priorities such as these we can find that we are a bit happier and healthier.

I hope that the recipe included will help make at least one meal this week a little easier and encourage a healthy life style.

Chicken Thighs with Carrot Fries

Serves 6

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 6 bone in/skin on- chicken thighs
• 12 Carrots (medium-large)
• 2 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp garlic
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• olive oil
• Mixed greens/salad

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Chicken: Rinse and pat dry your chicken thighs. Place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp garlic, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger and 1-2 TBS olive oil

Carrots: peel carrots. Chop off the top and about 1/2 inch off of the bottom. Cut in half and begin to cut carrots into strips. Try to keep them as uniform as possible. Thin edges will burn quickly. Place all carrots into a large bowl and drizzle with 2-4 TBS olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp garlic, 1/4 tsp cayenne. Lay carrots out onto a baking sheet.

Place both carrots and chicken into the oven and cook for 20 minutes.  After the 20 minutes have been completed, make sure the chicken is on the top rack. Turn the oven to broil at 500 degrees. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the skin is crispy and browned. Remove chicken from oven and continue cooking the carrots until they begin to crisp/brown-about 3 minutes.

Enjoy your chicken and carrots with some fresh mixed greens.