“Behold, I am making all things new.” Revelations 21:5
March 19th was the official beginning of spring this year, due to changes in the calendar and leap day. As it turned out, it was also the day my new granddaughter entered the world, no matter what day anyone was expecting her! I was eager for spring this year, eager for new life. I had seedlings sprouting in their little biodome in my library, my wisteria and forsythia were budding and hoping to avoid a late frost, and of course my daughter was ready to be done with pregnancy.
The term pregnancy carries with it such emotion and expectation. Women around the world both long for pregnancy and fear pregnancy. Many are the tears cried over an unexpected pregnancy or a pregnancy that never seems to occur. Pregnancy or pregnant is defined as having a child developing in the body; fertile, rich, abounding; highly significant. A final definition states that to be pregnant is “of great importance or potential, momentous”.
The birth of my granddaughter was all of that and more; it was a victory after months of waiting and a few years of tragedy. The birth of this tiny girl elicited joy and celebration and excitement for our family, we were abounding in praise over this momentous occasion. Victoria Hope brought new life after our winter of sickness and mourning.
On a grander scale, the church has just come through the time of Lent, a time of waiting and praying in expectation of celebrating the new life promised and accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, provides joy and celebration and excitement for the whole world; for all who believe. The waiting, the pregnancy is over, the new life is begun.
The Bible speaks about pregnancy and childbirth many times and almost always includes the word “groaning”. Childbirth can be thought of in many terms but fun is not one of them! Romans 8:22 says.” For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” I love this word picture, audio included. I love the reminder that new life, momentous and amazing and hopeful as it is, does not come without pain and cost. Jesus suffered that we might have life. He did it willingly, akin to a woman willing to go through childbirth to love and hold the baby she has longed for.
As I look out my window spring is apparent; the dogwoods are blooming, every tree has budded and even my recalcitrant climbing rose has two blooms on it. Hope is all around me and I am thankful. By the time you are reading this post, however, I will be waking up to cold and snow in another part of the world, and it reminds me that our hope cannot be based on flowers, temperatures and life circumstances. Hope is in the pregnancy, in the waiting.
New life in Christ is established as soon as we believe, but like little Victoria there is a lot of growth and learning ahead. As believers we grow and mature, develop and change, in order to become more like Jesus. That, too, can take a lot of groaning, a lot of waiting, a lot of winter months. Romans 8: 24-25 assures us that it will be worth it, “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
My daughter awaited Victoria with hope until her arrival. Now she just hopes for more than a couple hours of sleep at a time. As you emerge from your winter, wherever you are, may you find hope in the new life Jesus offers, and the expectation of what is to come.
I have been spending much time at Victoria’s house over the last two weeks, helping out and helping her older sister adjust to this new life. In an attempt to keep Easter traditions alive, three-year old Adelaide and I tried to make spritz cookies. We make these cookies at Christmas and Easter, using a cookie press, generally selecting the press discs that match the season, usually Christmas trees, donkeys and poinsettias for Christmas and crosses, hearts and sunflowers for Easter.
My daughter has a new cookie press, with different discs, and a very persistent three-year old. Below is the recipe we use for Spritz. You must have a cookie press to make them. You can decide for yourself if turkeys are appropriate for Easter. My lack of practice with the new press resulted in turkeys that look an awful lot like flowers so it worked for us!
Spritz Cookies
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 1/4 cups Gold Medal Flour
- food coloring of your choice
- colorful sugar sprinkles
Cream butter and sugar, either by hand or in a stand mixer. Add the egg yolks and flavorings. Add flour and baking powder and mix until a firm consistency. If dough is too sticky it will not work well in the press, add a little extra flour. The humidity in your kitchen will make a difference. If you choose to add food coloring, add a little extra flour to offset the additional moisture.
To add the food coloring, take a portion of the dough in your hand, put a few drops of food coloring into the dough and hand knead it to the color you desire. I have always done this by hand, to make swirls of color in the dough instead of a solid, uniform color. You could blend it in the mixer if you choose. I usually make several different colors of dough, so I separate the dough into portions.
Once the dough is the consistency and color you need, fill the cookie press. I struggled mightily with the new press! Read the directions on your press and give yourself time and grace to work with it. Perhaps it would have been smart to learn the press before trying it with the three-year old in a short window of time!
My old, or should I say antique, cookie press requires you to turn the top and make a decision on when sufficient dough has come out of the press. The new ones are a click function, supposedly one click delivers the right amount of dough. I did not find that to be the case with this press, and had to use two clicks for some of the discs. I believe this transformed the turkeys my granddaughter insisted on using, into flowers!
You can see on the cookies above how one click made a sunshine shape and how two clicks made a flower. The sunshines had a tendency to burn, so we were happy with flowers.
Press the cookies on to an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375* for 4-5 minutes. The cookies should be set but not burned.
This is truly a fun activity to do with children, so investing in a good press is an investment in motherhood and grandparenthood. They are also truly delicious!