It’s January 23rd we are just about all the way through the first month of the new year. At this point you’re probably still riding high from your holiday and keeping your New Years intentions. How can you keep the blessings and the intentions going, too? The answer is, you choose.

On this blog post, I’m going to share with you two choices that I make that are sure to keep the blessings going.

Number 1: I CHOOSE JOY.

We know that anything we want to accomplish within our lives takes an amount of effort ~ sometimes more, sometimes less.
Either way, it is in our choosing how we will approach our efforts and what kind of attitude we will have while doing so to reach our goals.

Think about it for a minute: Isn’t the reason we want to obtain goals is because we want to feel a certain way? We know that once we’ve reached a goal, we feel better…perhaps accomplished, relieved, proud, happy, etc.

It’s about choosing to keep the JOY within ourselves as we make our goals happen. But why limit our feeling good only when we have accomplished a goal?

Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase, ‘Life is a journey, not a destination’. If you find this true, then you agree that JOY
is not the destination, JOY is the ride!

All too often in life we hurry from the starting point to the ending point. From A to Z ~ not stopping long at B thru Y!
What does B thru Y hold in store for you? Choosing to stop and smell the roses, perhaps ~ or maybe breathing in and smelling your morning coffee? Perhaps making sure a smile to someone gets a pleasant response.

Any way you look at it, it’s a BLAST to start at A, then visit B for awhile, then move on to see what C, D, E, F, etc. are doing…until you get to Z!!! All the while, choosing JOY and looking for it in
every aspect of your life! It’s already there! All you have to do is…choose it!

IT’S ABOUT CHOOSING JOY AND LOOKING FOR IT IN YOUR LIFE. IT’S ALREADY THERE. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CHOOSE IT…

2: I CHOOSE SIMPLICITY.

I am a firm believer in simplicity and deciding to achieve my goals and desires with simplicity, joy and heart-felt love – for myself and for all who choose to participate with me. Be it creating a big musical project where many people are involved in singing, acting, dancing, crafting a project with someone, or simply creating a dinner…a Dinner for God.

Speaking of which, why not start planning another Dinner for God? But this time, make it a simpler one.

Make it an impromptu Dinner for God! Invite a few friends last minute and tell them to: “Come on over tomorrow night for dinner! I’m making a pot of soup, and, oh…God’s going to be there, too!”

See what happens in the miracle department when you do this! See how will your guests respond to a ‘quickie’ Dinner for God? How will you respond?

The biggest blessing of doing this, is knowing deeply that no matter what the circumstances are, ‘God’ is always present and accounted for! Just as much as the people you invite who are present and accounted for!

This is the gift of simplicity!

A simpler Dinner for God! Look for many more ideas in my blogs that I will be sharing for many kinds of different ways to have a ‘Meal with God’.

Please share your comments on how you have made something simpler and more joyful for your life so that you can inspire others here as well.
To get you started on your simpler version of Dinner for God, I am including one of my most favorite and easiest soup recipes, Red Lentil Soup! Unlike regular lentil soup (which is not one of my favorites), the red lentils cook down to a creamy consistency. Extremely tasty!!! You will find it below.

Keep the Blessings GOING!!!!

Be Good to Yourself/Be God to Yourself,

RAYME

Red Lentil Soup

(serves 6-8)

1 medium-sized onion diced
1 pound Red lentils (TIP: look for red lentils in the canned bean section of store)
1 ½ qts. of chicken broth (or enough that covers the lentils in pot over 3 inches)
16 oz baby Bella mushrooms sliced
3 large bunches (16 oz) fresh basil
Olive Oil
Grated Ragianno or Parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS:

•In a cooking pot, saute diced onion in olive oil until onions are translucent
•Add lentils & chicken broth (TIP: add enough broth to cover beans 3 inches or more)
•Boil soup mixture, then simmer 20-30 minutes until texture is smooth
•Add mushrooms
•Roll basil leaves and slice into medium-sized pieces, saving 6-8 small leaves for top dressing
•Add sliced basil to pot
•Laddle soup mixture into serving bowls
•Drizzle top of each serving with thin strip of olive oil.
•Sprinkle top with grated Ragianno or Parmesan cheese
•Place small basil leaf on top and serve

SERVING ALTERNATIVE: In a separate pot, boil large-sized rigatoni (count out only 2-3 per serving bowl). When serving, place rigatoni in serving bowl prior to adding soup mixture. Do NOT cook the ragatoni with the soup…it gets too thick.

TIP: Do NOT salt or pepper during the cooking process, as it will toughen the lentil beans. Salt and pepper to taste only after serving.

Get a good crusty bread and a triangle of brie cheese to accompany the this amazing soup!