overflowing // pie {213-219}

i'm at a loss for words this afternoon.

{via pinterest}

the Christmas rush is finally starting to trickle down, barely twelve hours from the twenty-four that spelled out this sacred day, we are back to life again. back to normal, i suppose.

but can you ever really be normal after knowing?

is that even something i want? 

because this Christmas was more than just presents and sparkling lights, and perhaps even more than singing certain songs with hands raised in the candlelight. it was about being emptied, and then being made full again. because isn't that what we celebrate?

this thing of being empty. because how can something that is already full be filled anymore?

it's an overflow when the shell begins to brim over and then the Light tumbles over the edge and spills over in a waterfall over the edges and down the sides and falling down on everything and everyone beneath.

• 213. joy

• 214. Him coming, Him saving. 

• 215. sparkling eyes in Christmas lights

• 216. those grateful words on innocent lips when toys and games spark wonder

• 217. my precious family. words cannot express.

• 218. a God who loved enough to give. 

• 219. a Son who loved enough to die. 

{via pinterest}

:: it's a pie shell ::

you see, i made pie this Christmas, blueberry. and as i poured the dark purple berries in their thick syrup into a patiently waiting pastry shell, i watched them flood and fill until the edges were brimming with sweetness. 

but even as i covered the pie with carefully cut lattice strips and slid it into the waiting heat, i felt the touch on my soul and the whisper

do you see this thing of being filled?

it's okay to be out of room, dearheart.

because when you spill over, you bless.

it's about having more than you can handle, more than your words can fully form and it spills over. maybe that's why i'm counting my blessings differently this Monday, this day that normally flows with rising numbers as i tick them off one by one. 

because i'm overflowing.

{linking my continuous blessings with Ann}

Squeezed

Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.  ~Harriet Van Horne


My entire kitchen smells like summer. 

That may have something to do with the fact that I spent almost two hours slicing, squeezing, and juicing 88 fresh key limes halves...

...resulting in one cup of fragrant, pale yellow-green juice. 

The final result should be two tart key lime pies, drizzled with a homemade sweet raspberry syrup, and topped with a fluffy mound of hand-beaten vanilla whipped cream...

...and maybe even some raspberry meringues with the left-over egg whites if I get extra ambitious.  

At least, that is the goal. 

We will have to see how things actually turn out when tomorrow comes...rest assured that a far-more detailed post will be written when the pies are completed 

This entire citrus-y adventure was inspired by Olivia at Of Horsefeathers and her key lime pie recipe. (You can read her post here and even watch her play-by-play video here.) 

Also, it doesn't hurt that key lime pie is one of my favorite summertime treats of all time. 

But as I stood at my kitchen counter, fingers busily draining every last drop of juice from the sparkling emerald fruits, I could not help but think about myself as a lime.

My key lime juicing set up.
Photo by DramaticElegance

I can be just a bit sour. Sharp. Almost intolerable at times.

It takes the hand of God on my heart, squeezing and pressing out all the goodness, tossing all the bitterness into the garbage, even turning me inside out and cleaning out every last bit of vileness from the inside...

...combining me with His pure love, the sweetness of His mercy, and a gentle spirit straight from His kingdom. 

It takes pain sometimes. Hardship. Even the heat of fire. 

But in the end, I will come forth...

...squeezed.

...beautiful.

...sweet. 

"And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” ~ Zechariah 13:9


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