Another word for sweet is delightful. We think of sweet as being a word related to food, but it can also be in reference to a person, a pet, a moment or a time of happiness. Some things that are sweet to myself are : our boys, a cup of coffee, chocolate, friends, the sun rising, snow falling, a puppy’s curiosity, an unexpected note of kindness and music. The sweet things make our lives richer.

This year, a goal was to make decorated sugar cookies. I have admired the art of cookie decorating for some time. Rolling the dough, chilling the dough and icing cookies have been a challenge in previous baking attempts. Sugar cookies have to be soft and have just the right amount of sugar for our liking. We sometimes make cookies by cutting the pre-rolled dough slices from the grocery store.

One day, the boys and I decided to try to make “real” sugar cookies. At first, I thought, “This will be tedious and a process.” I found a dough recipe on Pinterest and it was the best recipe for cookies I found. For icing, I incorporated my friend’s icing tips along with a Pinterest recipe. Through reading and trying the steps, we made simple yet delicious cookies. The boys enjoyed mixing the colors, putting the ingredients in the bowl and cutting out the designs for the cookies. The kitchen was messy with bowls, spatulas and ingredients everywhere. We were amazed when we put the icing on the cookies and it just gelled. The cookies were not perfect, but we learned that we knew how to make a creation that was sweet to us.

This week, we bring home our new puppy and she is sweet. When we went to choose our puppy a few weeks ago, she nuzzled up and just was delightful. There were little puppies roaming around us and our son Drew said, “Mom, this is the most adorable thing I have ever seen.” The puppies then started to pile up in to a huddle and were content. The quietness of little puppies being in that resting phase was sweet.

We all have experienced sweet moments or have things in our lives that bring sweetness. May we appreciate the delightful things that bring enjoyment.

May we seek peace like the puppies that usher in a sweet calm. May we be grateful for the sweet things in our lives that bring joy.