The Seeds You Sow and the Life that Grows

My Uncle George and Aunt Dot at a Relay for Life event

I'm not exactly fantastic at keeping up with my blogging...and my deepest apologies. I have really no excuses this time, only determination to consistently become better at it :) The more 
I become interested in food and baking, the more I follow and learn from other bloggers. One of my favorites has got to be Deb from smitten kitchen. So basically, I hope to be posting more frequently in the future. I also hope to be sharing some recipes, or at least links to recipes along with adaptations and tips that I used when baking them. For instance, for my sister in law's 30th birthday I made her a pink lady cake, which I made from a recipe on smitten kitchen. Unfortunately, my cake baking began at 11:30 p.m. and didn't end until about 3:00 a.m. and somewhere in the middle I ran out of baking powder...what's a girl to do? So I obviously decided to Google subsitutes for said baking powder and came up with this. I woke up the next morning before church to frost it only to find out that my sister in law and brother couldn't make it to our house for dinner. My aunt had passed away the afternoon before so we brought the cake along with us when we went to visit my uncle and family. The afternoon passed by filled with laughter and tears, full of memories of Aunt Dot, 

My Grandma Swogger

Grandma and Grandpa Swogger, and my cousins childhood memories. It's been a long time since I have had a Sunday that I've enjoyed so much, and to top it off the cake was a hit. I try to look for lessons in my baking or cooking, as well as in stories, because I believe that things just don't happen. God gave me the Holy Spirit to lead me and teach me, and like Jesus illustrated spiritual principles through natural examples, so does the Holy Spirit. The body of Christ is supposed to be like that tight knit community of baking bloggers. It seems like a silly example, but as brothers and sisters in Christ we are commanded to love one another, just as Christ loved us.

Aunt Dot at her 80th birthday party

We are supposed to be there when one of our brothers or sisters needs a helping hand, prayer, wise council, or even just a shoulder to cry one. And I have to admit, at first I was disappointed that we couldn't have the fun festive celebration for my sister in law, but my seed was still sown, and the somber cloud that could have hung over our family in this hour of mourning melded into joyful remembrances as we reminisced about times past over warm home cooked food, fruit, and dessert that family had brought. We celebrated the life of a woman who was a fighter, beating cancer numerous times, a mother who raised a family in love and devotion, a wife who had an inseparable bond with her husband. Galatians 6:9 comes to a new light as it states, " And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint." Don't lose, heart...never give up or quit on your seed; act nobly; do right. In the APPOINTED season we WILL reap...IF we do not loosen and relax our courage. I know my Aunt Dot didn't, and now she reaps the ultimate reward of spending eternity with her Lord and Savior Christ. Everyday we have the option of seeing what is good and wholesome and sowing good seed, or focusing on the negative and downcast and sowing and reaping curses. Your choice...like Galatians 6:9 says, will you fight or faint?

Touching Hearts

So in my introduction post I mentioned my heart and my passion for Cambodia and Tibet. Even now as I sit and think about it, about the possibility and dreams that God has dropped into my heart it overwhelms me to the point where I want to cry. I find life so beautiful, so fresh and full of meaning lately and I truly believe its because everything within me is striving to accomplish God's purpose for my life: this specific purpose to help children half-way across the globe! South East Asia Prayer Center (SEAPC), the missions my family is connected with and helps, has a project currently in Tibet and the surrounding area. Because of the high altitudes in Tibet, it is my understanding, that more children are susceptible to congenital heart disease. The procedure which corrects CHD is very simple and not too expensive in the U.S., but in the Tibetan countryside where there are not doctors or medical facilities readily available, and families simply cannot afford it, children die from such a simple, fixable disease. However, SEAPC and the head of the ministry, Mark Geppart have surveyed and treated thousands of children and families across the countrysides of Tibet, while ministering the love of Christ. This amazes me so much! It was this specific project which really inspired the whole cupcake idea. I wanted to specifically raise awareness by making heart shaped cupcakes with red frosting, whose proceeds would go specifically funding even more screenings and heart procedures for the children of Tibet, to mend the holes in their heart while the Word of God heals the holes in all areas of their lives. The more I thought about it the bigger the dream grew...needless to say my dream is now a runaway dream and I don't want to try to suppress, catch, or stop them. I want to chase them. I want to connect people across the globe, use everyday measures, something as simple as a cupcake to change the life of a child. Everyone deserves life and a heart full of dreams. Everyone.

Patient and her mother

Find out more about Touching Hearts.

Chapter 1 of my story

Ok...so I'm new to the whole "blogging" thing, but I must say that I recently have spent hours searching every nook and cranny, investigating and researching various cupcake and baking blogs and websites....in search for the perfect cupcake recipes and mouth watering pictures. I found a few favorite websites that were very relatable and had creative recipes.

My search for cupcake recipes was not only inspired by my love of baking and the need to find trustworthy recipes for my mammouth task of baking hundreds of cupcakes for my graduation, but because I believe people are passionate about things for a reason and purpose. I am passionate about baking...but I believe it has more purpose than racking up the calories for me, my family, and friends.

I am a Christian and my family is involved with a missionary who does extensive work in Cambodia, Tibet, Laos, and Central America. The more I learn about the work that they do, from microeconomic development, to heart screenings, to building schools across Cambodia, the more my heart burned with a need to help. An entire nation is being changed and lives being rebuilt without firing a bullet. Needless to say, I am more than elated that I will soon be traveling to Singapore, Laos, and Cambodia for a total of 10 days.

cupcake I baked right before this blog!

It wasn't long before my passions became intertwined; I believe God placed a huge dream in my heart which is this: to use my passion for baking for a bigger cause, one that can help children in Cambodia, effect the lives of families in Tibet, and raise awareness and action from those who would buy the cupcakes. My dream is to one day (very soon) open a bakery where a portion of the profits of every cupcake go straight towards aiding and education children in Cambodia. Until then, I am perfecting my skills and finding more people to become as passionate about this as I am.

Well, that's my story. Enjoy the pictures, stories, and create memories of your own!



p.s. if you want to learn more about getting involved in what's happening in Cambodia, check out South East Asia Prayer Center.

These are cupcakes from the 4th of July 2011