Sunday Morning thoughts . . .

I love to wake up in the wee hours of the morning and experience the first rays of light conquering the darkness of the night. It fills my heart with an unexplicable feeling. I watch the ebony melt away from the sky and being replaced with the golden glow of the day ahead, and my senses awaken . . . Those first few moments of the day . . . the sun seems to ignite my day with a beautiful horizon of hope, a new dawn . . . a new beginning.

Truth is . . . yesterday cannot be changed or altered in any way, not the good of it, nor the bad of it, nor anything in betwixt the two. Tomorrow remains a mystery, which I can no more predict than I can the winning lottery numbers of the next lotto draw. Today can't be controlled any more than I can adjust the sun's path . . .

This might make some feel helpless . . . not me. I find, instead, a deep comfort in the knowledge that the one who placed the sun on it's course across the skies . . . has also lit a distinct path for us to follow. A path filled with purpose and the potential for great prosperity.



While travelling through this veil of tears on earth . . . we will encounter both the darkness and the light. The rains and storms will fall upon each of us at one time or another. We can take heart in knowing it will not always be so . . .

A day will come when Christ, in all of His glory and light, will fill every shaded nook and every shadowed cranny . . . and darkness will be no more. Nothing on earth will remain as it is now. The earth and God's people will be able to experience the fullness of His redemption and love in an unimaginable way. This is not something to be afraid of. This is something which can bring each of us a wonderful hope in a beautiful future, and solace for anything which we may have to go through today. The fulness of that promise is ours to grab hold of, if we will only endure to the end . . . and keep hold of our faith.

Just my thoughts on this beautiful Sabbath morning.



I am giving a talk in church this morning on The Restoration. It's a wonderful topic and I quite enjoyed all the research I did when I was putting my words together. I am a bit nervous, as . . . aside from the Primary Presentation and Nativity last year . . . it will be my first time standing in front of this Ward and giving a talk. I hope that I do ok and that they are able to feel the spirit in my words. I know, I surely did when I was writing it.

We didn't go to Llangollen yesterday after all. It was too overcast and windy and it looked all day as if the heavens would open at any minute and pour down upon us. Instead we took ourselves off into town and I picked up something to wear on my adventure to Ipswich and Jimmy's Farm next week! Not long to wait now. My new dishwasher will arrive this week as well, so I have a lot coming up in the next few days!

Here's a delicious way to prepare chicken breasts on these warmer summer evenings. Do plan ahead as you have to marinate the chicken overnight. If you don't want to do the citrus marinade (I hope that you do though as it is delicious) you can just marinate your chicken in Italian Salad Dressing, which is also fabulously wonderful!



*Citrus Grilled Chicken Breasts*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Boneless chicken breasts marinated overnight in a tangy citrus marinade and then grilled to perfection and served over salad greens, topped with a delicious Balsamic Drizzle!

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 lemons, halved
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed

For the Balsamic dressing:
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely minced
3 TBS finely chopped fresh oregano
1/2 cup plus 1 TBS canola oil
1/4 cup plus 2 TBS olive oil
3 TBS Dijon mustard
1/2 cup plus 1 TBS Balsamic vinegar (Use a good quality vineger not a cheap one)

Salad greens to serve

Place the chicken breasts in a large shallow pan. Squeeze the juice from the lemon halves into a separate bowl, then whisk in the oil, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper. Pour this marinade over the chicken. Place the lemon halves in between the chicken breasts, cover the pan tightly. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight.

When ready to cook, remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Heat your grill to medium high. Grill the chicken, occasionally turning and brushing with any remaining marinade, until the juice runs clear or the inner temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Remove from the grill and place on a plate of greens and garnish with lemon slices and sprigs of oregano.

Whisk the ingredients for the balsamic dressing together in a bowl. Drizzle over the chicken and salad greens and serve immediately.



Over in The English Kitchen today I'm serving up delicious Oatmeal and Cranberry Breakfast Custards!