Too Much of Anything......Monday

Some are tall and slim, others are wide and solid, many more are thin and flat, but no matter the size and shape, my cookbooks are full of wonderful possibilities. I enjoy how orderly and set they appear sitting on the shelf above my desk. I look through them for ideas of things I want to try one day.

Piled at least 14 inches high at the other end of the shelf is a different collection. Torn from magazines, cut from newspapers, copied from cookbooks, and printed from websites this stack of recipes is dog-eared and watermarked. These are recipes we have tasted. They are only slightly organized, and finding a favorite requires diligent flipping through the assortment.

When I am looking forward at my plans for my life, I see orderliness like the cookbooks standing in a row. When I look back I see a stack of crumpled and stained pages. Some of those pages were successful and I would like a repeat, others were too salty, or too soupy, so I wish I had a do over so I might do it better next time. 

There's a whole lot of plain recipes that appease our tummies most nights. But there are plenty of exceptions. Take basic mashed potatoes and gravy, add turkey and stuffing and it's the best meal of the year. However, if I a gave in to my kid's pleas for more turkey, and made it every week, our holiday meals would lose their specialness. 

Even though I think I would like my life to be like a beautiful holiday cookbook, smooth and orderly, I am beginning to appreciate all of the messy pages that reflect what my life actually is like. I am grateful that God gave me a life with a little bit of everything, instead of the organized and predictable program of my imagination.

There's a chocolate cream pie recipe in that pile of mine that came out so sweet and rich hardly anyone could eat more than a few bites. A reminder that there really is such a thing as too much of a good thing. 

Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things.

Be relaxed with what you have.

Since God assured us,

“I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,”

we can boldly quote,

God is there, ready to help;

I’m fearless no matter what.

Who or what can get to me?

Hebrews 13:5-6 MSG

Dear Lord, thank You for the gift of a messy life. Please help me to remember that one page doesn't define the entire story of my life or anyone else's. Please help me to be kind and compassionate towards everyone you bring across my path. In Jesus name, amen.

Written by Mary M. Wilkins

One Thing Remains performed by Jesus Culture