December 18: Angels

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God…  - Luke 2: 13

Just imagine what it would be really like to be a shepherd in a field taking care of your sheep when all of a sudden an angel appears to you telling you to go find a baby lying in a manger and then all of a sudden the sky in front of you fills with angels loudly singing. Your adrenaline would start pumping and your heart rate would absolutely increase. Whether you believed in the Old Testament prophecies or not, you couldn’t ignore what just happened and go find this baby.

If you look at it this way, it brings more excitement to what happened. Even better, the shepherds were the first people to get the birth announcement. Most moms send out birth announcements a couple days or weeks after the baby has been born. Mary made out better than that; God sent angels to shepherds on her behalf to announce the birth of the Savior. Perks of being the mother of Jesus.

I encourage you to thank God in your quiet time today to be truly joyful that the Savior of the world came to earth. And then actually tell someone how excited you that Jesus came for you. Angels filled the sky to announce the arrival to shepherds, we can certainly tell our friends that our Emmanuel has come.

A couple of my favorite songs about this verse:
1. Emmanuel by Love and the Outcome
2. Glory in the Highest by Meredith Andrews

Enjoy these spicy ginger cookies:
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups almond flour
2 Tablespoons coconut oil softened
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 Tablespoon blackstrap molasses
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl, and mix until a thick batter is formed. Chill the batter for 30 minutes in the fridge, to make sure it’s nice and firm before scooping.

Preheat the oven to 350 F and drop the batter by rounded tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined with a Silpat, or parchment paper. Use a wet fork to flatten each dough mound, into your desired cookie thickness. If you’d like a sugar topping, try sprinkling a bit of low-glycemic coconut crystals over the tops before baking.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until firm around the edges, but still soft in the center. Allow cooling on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. (Adapted from Detoxinista)

Written by: Abigail Elliott

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