Loving acts of kindness...

We were stationed at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas when my father passed away some years ago.  My parents lived in Ohio and after the funeral it was very difficult for me to leave, knowing we lived so far away.  I remember pulling up in front of our house in Kansas and thinking how everything had changed in my life and how sad I felt.  I was still setting in the car when Jim reached the door.  He yelled to come see what our friends had done.  There were notes all over the place, beginning with the front door.  I saw little notes on the bathroom sink that said, "cleaned with love" and notes on towels that said, "folded with love".  I could hardly see through the tears but kept walking through the house and kept finding notes everywhere. Our friends had cleaned our home while we were gone.  When I made my way to the kitchen I saw food  for us with a note "prepared with love".
On the counter were chocolate bars with a note that said, "baked with love".  We were laughing and crying by the time we walked through the house and saw all the love that had been bestowed upon us by our friends.  God was indeed loving us through these wonderful friends.  I will never forget their kindness and so wish today I could see them and thank them one more time. 
The other night I needed to bake something for our church staff Life Group meeting.  I looked in my recipe box for something to bake. I found the recipe for the bars that our friend Kandy had left on our kitchen counter those many years ago.  A flood of memories came to my mind as I held the recipe in my hand.  I also thought about my sweet friend, Kandy, who is now with the Lord, and was very glad she had given me her recipe. I prepared it and took it to Life Group.  Everyone loved the bars.  It was fun sharing with the ladies the story of where the recipe came from and the precious acts of kindness we received.  Below is the recipe.  I hope you will enjoy it and maybe pass it along to someone in need of a hug!

Peanut Butter Swirl Bars
1/2 C. crunch style peanut butter
1/3 C. butter, softened
3/4 C. firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 C. sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
1 C. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 12 oz. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In large bowl combine peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and sugar.  Beat until creamy. Gradually beat in eggs and vanilla.  Blend in flour, baking powder and salt.  Spread in a greased 13" x 9" x 2" baking pan.  Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.  Place in oven for 3 minutes. Remove from oven;run knife through to marbleize. Return to oven for about 30 minutes (I suggest checking on them at 25 minutes).  Cool and cut into bars.