That face you make when Jesus reminds you you've got it wrong.

Recently, He's opened my eyes to something resolving "ministry." And the revelation of it, though now seemingly a "duh" thing, has made such an impact on my thoughts. 

For years, ministry was a  THING (or things) we were supposed to DO. 

I won't lie, it was introduced in an unhealthy way, so I didn't fully understand how to view it or incorporate it into my life. 

Because I was so focused on just DOING A THING, (or all the things), it felt more like a chore... even a burden at times. 

I mean, life is busy. If I keep adding things to my plate, something important will be left undone, right?

So then, I thought I had it figured out. What ministry (THING) is out there that fulfills me? What would bring me joy? Which THING wouldn't add stress for me?

Trying to come to this conclusion took months out of my life. 

Then, one day, I felt a little heart nudge.

Ministry is a lifestyle. An act of worship. There are many ways to minister, but it's still so much more than a thing to do.

It's a way to be. 

And ministry isn't there to make me feel all fluffy inside. Its whole purpose is to serve... others.

While I do understand boundaries are so important... and you should serve where you're most passionate... there will be (many) times you're needed in areas that aren't so fulfilling.

They're hard and tiring. They take time and energy. 

And if ministry is a just a thing to do, it'll get old really quick. 

But, if ministry is a way to be, it'll come much easier and mean a lot more. 

"Not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interest of others..."

Philippians 2:4

"I've spent my whole life searching desperately... to find out grace requires nothing of me."

“I smile. Even though I hurt, see I smile. I know God is working so I smile. Even though I’ve been here for a while, I smile.” 

Here I am in every ounce of my early morning glory to tell you that the rest of this year will be amazing.

As much as I would love to have a grand display every night at dinner, that's just not in the cards for me at this point in my life. Thus, my beautiful plated meal. While weeknights may not allow for a lot of extra minutes, I do know that by adding to my prep/cook time, this delicious meal could also be pretty to look at! (I mean, check out the colors!)

I can guarantee you, that this will be a meal that I whip up again... and most likely on many occasions. Somebody say, lunch! Appetizers! Finger foods! LOW CARB! Errbody's happy with this one. 

We try to stick with the healthiest possible options, so we choose super lean beef for this meal. (However, you can obviously use whatever your pretty little heart desires!) There's only two of us to feed tonight, so I only used a pound. I cooked that up and then poured it all into a casserole dish. I mixed in some sugar free marinara sauce, sprinkled with garlic powder, onion powder, and crushed black pepper, and then topped that with (you guessed it) TURKEY pepperoni, and shredded cheese. (We like colby jack, but mozzarella and parmesan would have been divine, too!) 

My husband isn't much on veggies. (He gets all of his in via shake each day.) I refuse to go that route, so peppers are my bff. I had planned to dice them up, cook them separately, and toss them into the dish once plated, but I just didn't want to spend that extra time, so I had an idea. Slice them in half and just plop them onto the meats and cheese! 

Once I did that, I covered with aluminum foil and baked for 17 minutes at 350F. Pulled it out and let it set for only a minute or two. I pulled off the peppers and put them on a plate for me.

Then, I scooped out a little more than half of this for my husband and saved the rest for yours truly. I took spoonsful of the goodness and laid them right on top of each pepper half. 

Voila! Dinner was delicious and done in under 30 minutes!

Next time I make this, I'm going to use mushroom caps and use this same concept for my sweets! He's pretty fond of them. I, however, am totally sticking with the peppers.

Try them out and let me know what you think!