Doll Can Create

100 Mile Life/Grandma Core

Whole in Christ: Reconciling the Many Parts of Me — October 29, 2025

Whole in Christ: Reconciling the Many Parts of Me

Introduction:
We live in a world that asks us to compartmentalize. We are one person at work, another at home, and someone entirely different online. It’s easy to lose sight of who we are at the core. I am a blogger, pastor, wife, and Grannie. I’ve wrestled with the question of how to live as one whole person in Christ. This reflection is my journey toward discovering that wholeness. It’s a gentle reminder that we are not meant to divide ourselves. Every part of our lives should flow from the same sacred center.


There are days I feel pulled in many directions. I hear the preacher’s call. I feel Grannie’s tenderness and the wife’s love. I have the creator’s longing to share. Sometimes I pause and ask myself, How do these pieces fit together? How do I reconcile all that I am into one clear identity in Christ?

For years I tried to find balance — keeping ministry separate from home life, content creation apart from personal devotion. But what I’ve come to realize is that the wholeness I seek isn’t found in separating things neatly. It’s found in centering them on Christ.

The titles do not define me — blogger, pastor, wife, Grannie. The One who holds them together defines me. Christ is the center of my being, and everything else simply radiates from that holy heart. When I keep Him at the center, everything else finds its place.

When I write, I preach.
When I knit, I pray.
When I tend my home, I make space for grace.
When I love my family, I mirror the love of God.

These are not separate callings, but one life — woven together by mercy and meaning. There is no division between sacred and ordinary. God moves through every aspect, including the blog post and the sermon. God is here in the laughter at the table and even in the quiet hum of yarn between my fingers. Christ meets me there, whispering, “You are mine. You are whole.”

Now, my task is not to choose which role to play today. Instead, it is to live as one who abides in God’s presence. I let that truth shape my words, my work, and my ways.

A Prayer for Wholeness

Lord, center me in Your love.
Let the scattered pieces of who I am rest in You.
Make my life one seamless story of grace —
written in my home, my pulpit, my marriage, and my art.
Let all I am and all I do be one song —
a song that sings only of You.
Amen.

If you ever feel fragmented, or you are unsure of who you are in this season of life, remember this. Christ makes us whole. Every piece of your story has a place in His plan — even the quiet, ordinary ones.

Stay centered, stay kind, and stay close to the One who calls you whole.

With grace and yarn,
Grannie Doll aka Pastor Barb



Low-Fat Potato Leek Soup: Comfort in a Bowl — October 20, 2025

Low-Fat Potato Leek Soup: Comfort in a Bowl

From Grannie Doll – 100 Mile Kitchen

There’s something so deeply comforting about a bowl of homemade soup simmering on the stove. The scent of leeks softening fills the kitchen. Potatoes gently bubbling create a soothing sound. A touch of salt in the air brings me back to simpler days. Supper was warm, nourishing, and made with love.

This low-fat potato leek soup keeps all that old-fashioned coziness but lightens the load a bit. It’s smooth, creamy, and delicious — yet easy on the waistline and kind to the heart. Perfect for anyone wanting comfort food that still fits into a mindful eating plan.

As part of my 100 Mile Life, I’ve been leaning into local ingredients more than ever. Leeks from the farmers’ market combine with potatoes from a nearby farm stand. Even local milk or oat milk from our region adds to create something wholesome and rooted in place.


🌿 Why I Love This Soup

Soup season, for me, isn’t just about food — it’s about slowing down.
There’s something spiritual in stirring a pot, tasting, adjusting, and waiting. Cooking becomes a quiet rhythm of prayer. It is full of gratitude for the earth that grew the food. It includes appreciation for the hands that harvested it, and for the home that receives it.

And truly, when you can make a soup that’s rich and velvety, it feels like a small miracle. You don’t even need cream or butter.


🥣 The Recipe: Low-Fat Potato Leek Soup

Serves: 4–6
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 large leeks (white and light green parts only), cleaned and sliced
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
  • 1 cup skim milk or unsweetened oat milk
  • 1 tbsp olive oil or cooking spray
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional garnish: chopped fresh chives or parsley

Directions

  1. In a large pot, heat olive oil and sauté leeks and onion for 5–7 minutes, until soft.
  2. Add potatoes, bay leaf, and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20–25 minutes.
  3. Remove bay leaf. Blend until smooth (immersion or blender).
  4. Stir in milk and heat gently — don’t boil. Season to taste.
  5. Garnish with herbs and enjoy warm.

💡 Add a handful of cooked cauliflower before blending for extra creaminess without fat.
🍞 Pair with a slice of homemade tea biscuit or local bread for a full 100-Mile meal.


💭 A Final Reflection

It’s easy to think of soup as “just food.” However, it’s also a form of grace. It’s a way of tending to body and soul.
Each spoonful reminds me that comfort doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes, the best things are local, humble, and made with heart.


If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear from you!
Leave a comment below or tag your post #100MileLife or #GrannieCoreKitchen so we can share our stories of slow, local, loving food together.

Until next time,
💗 Grannie Doll
Living Local. Creating with Love. Finding Grace in the Everyday.

Live Thankfully, Love Locally — October 11, 2025

Live Thankfully, Love Locally


Discover how gratitude and faith can reshape your daily choices. This Thanksgiving, learn to live thankfully and love locally — nurturing community, faith, and simplicity within your 100-mile circle.


By Grannie Doll | DollCanCreate

The air turns crisp. The scent of cinnamon drifts from the kitchen. I’m reminded that gratitude is more than a feeling. It’s a way of life.
This Thanksgiving, I’m learning that to live thankfully means noticing the simple gifts around me. To love locally is to cherish the hands and hearts that make them possible.

🍎 Thankfulness in the Everyday

Gratitude doesn’t always arrive wrapped in grand moments.
The morning light on a freshly baked loaf of bread can bring gratitude. The soft hum of a spinning wheel or the laughter shared over a home-cooked meal can also evoke this feeling.
When we live thankfully, we slow down long enough to see how much we’ve already been given. The small becomes sacred.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.”
— Psalm 107:1

🧵 Loving Locally

Loving locally means embracing what’s near. It includes buying from the farm stand down the road. You might choose wool from a shepherd you know by name. It could also mean supporting the little shop that remembers your favorite tea.
It’s about more than economics—it’s about belonging. Every local choice becomes a prayer of connection, a way of saying, “I see you. I value you. We’re in this together.”

When we love locally, we weave ourselves into the fabric of community. We become part of God’s quiet work of restoration—one handmade loaf, one kind word, one shared harvest at a time.

🕯 A Faithful Thanksgiving

This season, let’s make gratitude our posture and generosity our practice.
Let’s cook with local ingredients and bless the farmers who grew them. Let’s give thanks for wool, for warmth, for the steady rhythm of creation that provides what we need.
Let’s live thankfully—and love locally—because both are acts of faith.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
— Colossians 3:17

🌻 A GrannieCore Reflection

To live thankfully is to dwell in grace.
To love locally is to live it out.
Together they form a rhythm—slow, simple, sacred—that brings us back home to God’s abundance.


Reflection
What’s one way you can love locally this week—through your shopping, your crafting, or your kindness?


With wool, warmth, and gratitude,
💛 Grannie Doll