Salvation
Learning to Savor God's Grace
The other day I attempted to make red velvet cupcakes. From scratch. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm not much of a baker or cook and hubby has a few stories he could share with you about epic flops I've had in the kitchen. But somehow I got it in my mind to make red velvet cupcakes from scratch. Sure, they tasted wonderful. But in the process of making them, I got red stains on my fingers, my elbow, my cheek, my shirt, and a few rosy splotches on my counter as well. (In case you're concerned, the stains are slowly fading each day as I scrub on them with various cleansing concoctions I learned thanks to Google.) But anyway, there I was on red velvet cupcake baking day, red-fingered, staring at red spots on my counter, feeling a little bit (ok a lot) like a failure. But I was determined to see this through, so I opened up the jar of white cream cheese frosting, grabbed a knife, and swirled it over each and every cupcake.
FaithWhat Does It Mean To Be Saved?
What does it mean to be saved? What is salvation, and how do we get it? My journey to understand these concepts began from childhood. I grew up in a Catholic background, believing in and loving God and Jesus with all my young heart. I loved learning more about God and Jesus and my faith, and I was one of those kids who knew all the answers in Sunday school. Salvation is the deliverance from sin (wrongdoing and the guilt that comes from it) and its consequences . In the Catholic faith, the seven sacraments are very foundational to the faith and lead us toward salvation. Sacraments include being baptized as an infant, receiving holy communion, confession of our sins to the priest, etc. In 8th grade we went through rigorous study to prepare ourselves for the sacrament of confirmation. Confirmation is when we decide for ourselves that we accept the Catholic faith and share our dedication to it in front of friends and family and the church members.
Faith