A few weeks ago a friend of mine asked me if I ever felt afraid. She was referring the the Mrs. International pageant I’ll be competing in this July, but so many other endeavors I have been called to came to mind.
For example, every time I am asked to speak I am afraid. Every time I tell someone my story, whether it be on stage or over a cup of coffee, I am afraid. Every time I make a phone call to tell someone that I am Mrs. California, and I want to help, be apart of, or donate my time to them, I am afraid. Every morning when I wake up, I am afraid of not being able to do the things I have been set out to do. Thankfully every night before I fall sleep I thank God for giving me the courage and strength to accomplish whatever it was that I was afraid of.
My answer to my sweet friend was simply “Yes”. But don’t let me fool you into thinking that I am some super strong gal that just loves to eat fear for breakfast, because I’m not! I know what it feels like to become a victim of fear and all of it’s lies. In the past my fears have kept me from living a life I knew I wanted, but was too scared to live. Fear told me I wasn’t good enough, smart enough, or cut out for the job. Luckily, God was relentless and continued to put people in my life that told me that I was more than enough. That in fact I was perfect just the way I am, and to believe in myself regardless of what my fear was telling me. Now, every day instead of letting fears hold me back, I enjoy grace which has given me freedom. Freedom to go for it whole heartily, to make mistakes, to live.
I also enjoy baking! Fear used to tell me that I was bad at baking, that I should leave it to someone with a better oven, and a lot more experience. After making two batches of these awesome (and easy) muffins, and watching my boys gobble them up as quickly as they did, I laughed because I feared that they wouldn’t come out that great. Take that fear, these pumpkin muffins are definitely a winner!
Let’s start by mixing one can of pumpkin puree…
With 1/3 cup of melted butter!
Now add 1 egg, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla…
To your pumpkin mixture, stir in a 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice…
1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1 1/2 cups of flour, a pinch of salt…
And 1 cup of mini chocolate chips!
Did you notice that we only used 1 bowl and 1 wooden spoon? Pretty great, huh?!
Line a muffin tin, and fill your cups with your mixture. Pop this into a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.
Done!
I always have wooden toothpicks on hand so I can easily test when any baked good is done. Insert the toothpick into the center of your muffin, if it comes out clean it’s done! If not, give it a few more minutes.
These muffins disappear quickly in my house, so if you want one you better hurry up and grab it!
Enjoy!
