Love From the Heart

I read the most amazing story yesterday. It was a story of teenage love, which, in and of itself, is not all that unusual. Afterall, most teens spend a great deal of their time falling in and out of love. Most relationships that are started break up after a short time for one reason or another, and whilst broken hearts occur on a regular basis, most teens are able to get over the hurt that they feel, and are not long in finding someone else to moon over.

This very typical pattern of teenage love began as a young man named Felipe began to date a young lady named Donna. They dated for a time and then Donna cooled the romance and began to date other boys, much to Felipe's disappointment.

One day, Donna became very sick. After many tests and observations, it was discovered that Donna was dying of degenerative heart disease. She needed a heart transplant desperately, and was put on the waiting list.



News gets around and it wasn't long before Felipe heard about Donna's serious health problems. It wasn't too long afterwards that he made the following statement to his mother. "I'm going to die and I'm going to give my heart to Donna." His mother didn't think too much about his words at the time, for afterall, young boys can say quite irrational things from time to time and Felipe looked to be in perfect health.

Three weeks later, Felipe woke up one morning complaining of pain on the left side of his head. He began losing his breath and was unable to walk. He was rushed to the hospital where it was discovered that he had experienced an anurism in his brain during the night. It had burst, leaving him brain dead. Felipe's death mystified his doctors who were keeping him on a respirator until his family decided what to do. Within hours, his family decided to remove his heart and give it to Donna and his kidneys and eyes for other people in need of organ transplants.



Later that day, Donna did receive Felipe's heart. After the transplant Donna's father told her that Felipe been quite ill for about three months before he died. He also told her that Felipe had donated his kidneys and eyes for transplant. Donna took a few minutes to digest this and then looked up at her dad and said, "And I have his heart." Her father replied, "Yes, that is what Felipe and his family wanted." Her expression changed a little as she asked her father who knew about it . . . his reply . . . "Everybody."

Felipe's funeral was several days later. The funeral procession seemed to roll on forever through the beautiful countryside in Northern California. You would have thought it to be the funeral of a most prestigious person, royalty even . . . but it was no prince . . . only Felipe. His only claim to fame being his great love for Donna and the gift of his heart.

It would be unforgettable if you had received a new and healthy heart from someone who loved you more than you could appreciate. Every moment you lived after that would be a tribute to the one who loved you so much that he gave his life for you . . . It's unforgettable when a person gives up their life so that someone they love can live . . . I can think of one other person who walked this earth and did the same . . .

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." ~John 3:16

We have never had a greater gift given to us . . .



I had a bunch of limes that needed to be used up yesterday. I love lemon bars and so I thought to myself, why not lime bars? These turned out to be delicious!!



*Zesty Lime Squares*
Makes 12
Printable Recipe

These are very similar to good old fashioned lemon squares, but have been updated to use lime juice and zest to create a refreshing and delicious bar. I just love the flavour of limes. Can you believe that before I moved over to the UK I had never tasted a real lime. My only brush with it had been through eating green jello!! My goodness what I have missed! I am so glad that I discovered the true taste of lime!

BASE:
7 ounces unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
FILLING:
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (The juice of about 4 limes)
the finely grated zest of 4 limes

Icing sugar for dusting on finished bars

Grease and line the base of a 9 inch square baking tin with some baking paper. Place the butter, icing sugar, flour in the base of a food processor. Blitz together until crumbly. Add the beaten egg and blitz until a soft dough forms. Press this dough into the base of the prepared tin. Place in the refrigerator to chill for half an hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Bake the base in the pre-heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Whisk the eggs together in a bowl. Whisk in the sugar, flour, lime juice and zest. Whisk together until well combined. Pour this mixture over the cooked base. Bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until the filling is set and the mixture is light golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack.

When cooled, remove from the tin, cut into bars and dust with icing sugar before serving.