Well, I have never in my life had more appreciation for those who bake. It truly is a physical and emotional labor of love. For those who bake for a living, I commend you. It's a science and a feel, a tender touch, a rolling love. It takes patience but also a lot of love. 

I was making cookies with my husband's sister, and I have to say, we had the time of our lives. Sometimes, you need to just let loose. And with baking, you have to devote all of your love. The oven needs some tender loving care, the dough needs care and it requires full devotion. And there is nothing more whimsical than baking and dancing around the kitchen as you bake.

Watching cookies rise is a lot like watching your soul rise when you spend hours working and mixing a bowl full of dreams. When you watch those dreams rise you just feel something. A sense of accomlishment, a sense of wonder, a sense of anticipation and a little bit of anxiety. 

If anything in the age of multi-tasking and juggling, baking forces you to focus on a single moment. If you think of the soul we have been given, and the magic we strive to fill it with, you come to realize that our soul-the magic inside of us-requires much more attention than one would think. Too long in the oven, basking in the glory and the edges become singed. Too much flour and the soul hardens and too little, your soul is without form-slipping in and out of existence. Somtimes, the more we multi-task, the more we are under the assumption we are accomplishing more in life-our soul somehow magically protected though not given full attention. 

Like the dough rising, our soul rises too and falls. And the ingredients we place inside of it every day and night either create or diminish the magic inside of us. The purpose of the dough is not perfection and the purpose of the soul is also not perfection. For none of us are perfect and perfection cannot be created. This is not meant to diminish our existence because a perfect cookie is not as satisfying as a cookie that was experimented with and came out unscathed. But when we are watching our soul rise and fall with intentionality and close consideration-we are filling every crevice with a careful careful love. Undeniably so.