A pinch of this and a dash of that. Or was it a dash of this and a pinch of that?

The past three days, though varying vastly in their make-up, have all had one thing, one activity in common. Baking.

I don't know how it happens, but somehow, I find myself in the kitchen comparing the ingredients in my cupboard with the ingredients listed on the pages of my recipe books until I find a match. I hardly ever plan to bake, unless it is for a birthday or special event, but spontaneous baking ventures are a commonality in my home.

On Tuesday, I had an hour or so before small group began, so I tried my hand at oatmeal banana bread. This supposedly healthy recipe (I am still skeptical that anything that good could be healthy) replaced white sugar with oats. Somehow, the bread still turned out and the recipe is definitely going on a card in my kitchen. Wednesday's snack was not quite as adventurous. I grabbed the first thing I saw in my cupboard, boxed brownies, knowing I would only have to add a few ingredients I knew I had in my cupboard. Luckily I came home from my church's youth group with none left.

Thursday, however, was unusually chilly for April. I am convinced Oklahoma is trying to fit in every type of weather and natural disaster into one month. Luckily, I don't think any tsunami's or hurricanes will reach our dear state. Anyways, after a long, busy day at work, I was ready to unwind and de-stress. I made hot tea and curled up on the couch with a blanket. After a little bit, I realized I could not ignore the facts. It was baking weather. There's just something about baking on a blustery day. Ree Drummond, a go to in my home, had the perfect match up for my kitchen yesterday afternoon. Coffee cake.

You are probably wondering why I am sitting here listing all of the calorie intensive foods I have been filling my kitchen with this week (I promise I don't eat it all). I'm getting to the point. I promise.

As I mixed up the ingredients for my coffee cake, a thought crossed my mind that often does when baking. I am a very logical person and often want to know why things are the way they are, leaving me with questions I don't always have the answers to. As I put in teaspoonfuls of baking powder on top of 4 cups of flour, I started to wonder how all of the ingredients are evenly distrubuted so each part of the batter turns out right. What if part of the batter didn't get the right proportion of baking soda? Or salt for that matter? The same thought crosses my mind every time I bake cookies or any other baked good, leaving me stirring together my ingredients for an unecessary length of time.

Regardless of my ponderings about mixing dough and batter, the facts can't be ignored. If I follow the recipe (assuming its a good one) and mix the right ingredients together, the product will be good. The ingredients go to all the right places, and each piece turns out as intended.

I ask the same kind of questions I do about baking in my own spiritual walk. When I spend time reading books, listening to a speaker or mentor, or reading the Word, I often find myself making lists of things I need to work on or change and, in turn, become stressed about making sure I apply all the right points in all of the right places.

While I absolutely think it is important to make applications from the things we learn, I sometimes forget the output that comes alone from filling my life with the right things. I am not alone in making sure the things that go into my mind and heart fit together perfectly. The Holy Spirit is there to guide me and work on me continue to transform my heart in mind into the woman God wants me to be. God is the master baker, and he is there to make sure it all gets mixed together correctly.

We have so many ingredients to choose from. We can choose to fill our lives with possessions, selfish desires, and unhealthy relationships, or we can choose to fill our lives with the "ingredients" the Lord has laid out for us. Our lives will yield what we choose to fill them up with. The resources, people, and experiences placed in our paths by the Lord serve as the recipe to a healthy spiritual walk. We may not even notice at the time some of the small things the the Lord places a pinch of in our lives that make a dramatic difference in the outcome of who we will become.

I am thankful for recipe books and I am thankful for Ree Drummond's coffee cake. But, most of all, I am thankful that God has a recipe for my life and knows how to mix and knead every little piece of it together perfectly.