the gift of mondays

I started making protein balls years ago when my oldest son started running Cross Country & Track in Middle School. I was looking for healthy ways to get meals, snacks and drinks (can you say spinach smoothies?!) into his daily routine. And because running takes a lot of effort and energy, I also wanted something that had long-lasting carbs (oats) and quick sugar (dried fruit) to help keep his stamina up. I researched tons of recipes and added to them to make up one of my own. I kept adding ingredients, trying to make them as healthy and effective as possible, but as I got up to about 15 ingredients it became too time-consuming and overwhelming. And with so many people asking for the recipe, I knew I needed to make it simple. So the basic recipe is down to 5 ingredients with the option to add in or change ingredients anytime you want.  I hope you enjoy them! Colleen’s Ultimate Protein Balls     Ingredients : 2 cups old fashioned oats 1 cup dark choc

we all want to run from being broken. we want the good heart. the one with no tears. the one that hasn't been hurt. we want the shiny one. the one that sparkles. the one that still looks new. we don't want the one that looks bent.  the one that looks bruised. we definitely don't want the one that looks broken. because we don't see beauty in broken. we don't see anything worthy or anything good in something that doesn't look whole. but the truth is God can fix broken. God can take the very worst part of our lives and turn it into something wonderful. God can take the dark and give it new light. He can take our scars and turn them into something sacred. the world wants us to believe that brokenness is final. that our story ends there. but what the world won't tell us is that brokenness is often a great beginning. it is often the start of who we are meant to be.  we're all broken. every single one of us