Fearfully and wonderfully made . . .

When I went to put Jess out this morning I noticed that it is snowing again. There's a light dusting accumulated on the car and over the ground, which will make things very slippery again for getting about it I am sure.

Snowflakes are very beautiful things. We tend to look at them collectively as a group most of the time. As a child I loved nothing better than to take a piece of white paper and some scissors and create my very own snowflakes, each one an individual and quite different from the next. Did you know that in real life every snowflake is different? No two are the same, each one being an intricate and individual design . . .



In life, we tend to generalize with people so very easily, clumping them all together in a group. We talk about groups of people doing this or doing that, forgetting that all of us are individuals, with unique thoughts, dreams . . . desires . . .

We forget that each one of us is as unique as a snowflake, and as intricately and individually designed. Some of us are shorter than others, and some of us are wider than others. We each have different coloured hair and eyes . . . oh sure, there may be millions of us with brown hair and brown eyes, but no two of us has them put together in exactly the same way. Even identical twins have slight differences in the way they've been put together if you choose to look close enough.



Do we look at a snowflake and start to pull it apart because it is different than another? Do we say oh, that one's no good because the particles are too thick, or too clumped together? Of course not!!! We look at each one individually, and marvel at the intricacy and beauty of it's singular design.

It's about time we did that with people. Instead of trying to lump us all together as a whole, and instead of trying as individuals to fit into a mold that the media and public tell us we should fit into, let us begin to celebrate our uniqueness and to uphold it, and to see the beauty in God's singular creation . . . you! Let's stop noticing the wide hips, or the freckled face as being something bad, and start to see them as beautiful.

Let's face it, we are all children of God, having been created in His image, and as such . . . pretty special.



"I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works, and my soul knows very well."
~Psalm 139:14

According to this scripture you are a masterpiece, and God loves you with an acute intensity that can never be measured. Doesn't that make you feel special indeed? You have been fearfully, wonderfully and uniquely created! Just something to think about that the next time you are tempted to pull yourself or someone else down. ☺



I had some cranberries leftover from Christmas that I wanted to use yesterday. I just love cranberries. They have such a beautiful flavour and you know, they're not just for eating with turkey. They make beautiful desserts too. My daughter in law Anne, makes a lovely Cranberry pie. Mmm, my mouth begins to water just thinking about it. I wanted to make somethign delicious with the cranberries I had left, but I knew there weren't enough of them to make a whole pie, so I decided to make this tasty dessert, mixing the berries with some apples that I also had in the fruit bowl. Not quite a cobbler, not quite a pie, but a delicious dessert that you can cut like a square. I had only a tiny piece, but every bite was bliss. You'll want to make this soon! Tis moreish, very moreish!



*Cranberry Apple Casserole*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe

More of a cobbler than a casserole, this tasty dessert is delicious served warm with ice cream or creme fraiche!

2 cups fresh cranberries
3 cups peeled and diced granny smith apples
1 1/2 cups white sugar
For the topping:
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts



Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Lightly butter a 9 by 9 by 2 inch baking dish.

Mix the cranberries and apples together with the sugar. Press into the prepared baking dish.

Blend together the softened butter, brown sugar, oats, flour and nuts. Sprinkle over top of the fruit and press down.

Bake for 1 hour until golden brown. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before cutting into squares to serve. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or pass the creme fraiche.



There's a tasty Soda Farl over on The English Kitchen today. Yummo!