On Tuesday, December 20,  I had the honor of speaking to the ladies of the Bethesda Alliance at one of my very favorite restaurants, The Potpourri House in Tyler.

What a wonderful group of women they are, and they have a great purpose: to support  the ministry of Bethesda Health Clinic, a clinic that exists “… to provide health services to the working uninsured of Smith County, whose only access to health care had historically been through the emergency rooms of local hospitals.”

I enjoyed sharing with them how God’s grace has worked in my life, and how it has brought me through many struggles and trials in my four decades of life. Without it, who knows where I’d be!  (I suppose we can all say that, can’t we?)

Grace is defined as undeserved favor or blessing.  It means you’re receiving something good that you haven’t done anything to earn.  Have you experienced that in your own life?

Ten years ago I would never have imagined that I’d be speaking before a group like Bethesda Alliance, working for a KLTV 7, or baking on television!  If you’d have told me that would be a part of my life, I’d have laughed.  Those were not things I’d have ever thought myself brave enough to be a part of nor thought myself worthy of being asked to do.

But that’s what I’m doing!  And the whole time I’m doing any of it, I’m amazed and thankful that I’m allowed to do so.

We also talked about the busyness of life, and how we don’t always have time to bake decorated cookies and fancy cakes during the holidays because of the schedule we keep.  As a now-working woman, my life makes it impossible to spend that kind of time on one baking project.  I have to make the most of what little time I have, and the ladies at the luncheon today agreed. Many of them are still very busy, whether working or retired but active in volunteering and other projects.  Fancy baking projects may not be do-able for us in these circumstances.

That’s ok; we have to give ourselves a little grace too.

In light of this, I shared three  favorite recipes that can easily be made in a short amount of time, and still produce something lovely and delicious to share with family and friends.  The amount of love is the same, it’s just the preparation time that is cut down.  🙂

Clicking on the links below will take you to the original posts containing the recipes that I shared with the ladies of Bethesda Alliance.  These are posts I shared in the past; I hope you enjoy the walk down memory lane with me.

No-Bake Chocolate-Peanut butter bars

Pumpkin Blondies with Cranberries and White Chocolate Chips

Chewy Blondie Bars with Dried Cherries and Walnuts

In some of those posts, I likely mention that the additions of dried cherries, cranberries, nuts, butterscotch or white chocolate chips.  These are optional and interchangeable.  You can truly do whatever you and your family would enjoy most.

I hope you’ll do just that.

Happy New Year to you all, and may the grace of God be abundant in your lives all year long.