More Than Enough

My study this morning led me to compare the similarities and differences between the accounts of Mark 6:30-52 and Matthew 14:15-33. Wow, God’s word is always more than enough. I am blown away by the things He reminded me of and showed me anew in these short passages.

To set the scene, Jesus and His disciples were going away to rest and pray.

• Lord, please help me know when to take time away to rest, be alone to pray, be refreshed and gain new perspective.

As they went away, crowds of needy people interrupted them. Jesus set aside His plan for retreat and first taught the people many things and healed their sick. This took all day because evening came and no one had eaten.

• Lord, please make me perceptive to the needs of those around me, let me not miss opportunities to meet those needs when it is within my ability to do so.

The Disciples wanted to send the crowds away to get their own food, but Jesus told them to gather what was there and bring it to Him (5 loaves of bread and 2 fish). Jesus took what they brought to Him, gave thanks, gave it back to the disciples and told them to feed the crowd. It was more than enough.

To me, Jesus is saying, "bring me what you have...I will bless it...give it back to you...and then you serve Me by giving to others and serving others with it".

• Lord I bring you all that I have (time, money, possessions, knowledge) and place it in Your hands, please bless it. Thank You for giving back to me, I thank you for allowing me the blessing of being Your hands and feet to “feed” the “hungry”, the blessing of being a blessing to others. I commit to seek You first and trust that You give back more than enough.

Jesus had the crowds sit in smaller groups.

• Thank You for never overwhelming me with tasks too big. Thank You for taking something that seems huge and breaking it down into more manageable tasks that little by little, as I walk with You, I can one day look back and see that You provide multitudes.

Jesus didn’t stick around to hear what the crowd had to say, He provided their needs and then immediately sent the disciples into the boat and went away to pray.

• Lord, please let me not seek the praise of man and let me not be given to the fear of man, but lead me so that I do not miss the opportunities You give.

A storm arose while the disciples were in the boat. It was about 9 hours, the 4th watch of the night, between the hours of 3 and 6 a.m. when Jesus walked on water to meet them in the storm.

• Lord, I know that You will always come to my rescue in the storms of life. There are times when I am completely in Your will, yet storms arise. I thank You for these times that they refine and renew my faith in You. I thank You for letting me sit in the storms so that I will realize my need for You and recognize Your presence. I thank You for “walking on water” to get my attention, for meeting my needs and for calming my soul when I cry out to You in fear. Even when storms rage on longer than I expect, I trust in You to calm my soul.

And He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were amazed and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” – Matthew 14:33

Halibut...Two Ways

My dad’s favorite fish is halibut. I know this because he tells me every time we have it for dinner. My mom and I favor salmon, but we order some of each so we can switch up our fish meals during the week. I find halibut to be very mild and in need of a little spicing up. The first attempt to give it a little something extra was with a mango salsa. We had unfortunately run out of red onion on this night, so the salsa consisted of mango, red bell pepper and lime juice. The fish was baked with a little extra virgin coconut oil, Celtic sea salt and cumin sprinkled over the top. It looked really pretty once it was on the plate and topped with the fresh mango salsa.



For our second attempt at a mango salsa, we had unfortunately run out of red bell pepper, but were able to include red onion. It tasted delish, but the red onions smelled so strong and they just linger. As Scott Conant has said on Chopped…raw red onion is just really offensive! That combined with cumin which also has a strong somewhat offensive odor left me wanting a shower and good teeth brushing! This was clearly not my most favorite way to have halibut, so it was back to the drawing board.

The second attempt at a halibut preparation was to bake the fish with just a little extra virgin coconut oil and a sprinkle of Celtic sea salt. As the halibut baked, I mixed up a fresh basil pesto in the Vitamix:

¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Cup Walnuts (pine nuts could also be used)
1 Clove Fresh Garlic
1 Lemon, Juiced
2 Cups Fresh Basil


The pesto turned out amazing and it really gave a nice flavor to the halibut. Plus, the health benefits include omega-3 fats from the walnuts, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties from lemons and garlic as well as digestive support from the basil. We have on occassion added a little spinach to give the pesto a more green color and pack in a few more nutrients.


The great thing about the pesto is that it can also be used with egg dishes too!