This past Sunday, I brought a new friend home to "teach" her how to make cookies. I first met Vanessa at a Christmas party that we had at Jonathan's before the end of the year. (She's Junior's cousin and was spending the day with Junior, his sister Elizabeth, and Dave.) Vanessa, although coming from a tough background, is sweet and friendly. We got to talking at the party and I asked how she celebrated Christmas and if there were any special traditions that they had. No, there weren't. In fact, she shared that the family rarely does special things together at all. She commented on liking some cookies that I had made that evening, and I asked her if she'd ever made cookies. No, not really. She said she didn't really know how to cook anything. So I asked her if she'd like me to teach her how to make cookies sometime. Her whole face lit up! "Really, would you do that?" I promised her and Elizabeth that I'd get back with them after the New Year, as I was leaving town in just a few days, and so wouldn't be around for awhile.

So...finally this last weekend, I fulfilled that promise! Elizabeth couldn't come, but I saw Junior (who was visiting his cousins) and Vanessa and I, and her baby son Ruben, had a wonderful time! And the cookies that Vanessa made turned out delicious as well...

Vanessa and I talked about more than just baking cookies too. She's quite a gal whose been through quite a lot.

Reflecting back on the experience, I started thinking about how our spiritual life is a lot like cooking...

If we put the proper ingredients together, follow the directions, and have baking experiences for just the right amount of time (as instructed in God's word)...we will reap the rewards of a satisfying and fulfilled life. But, if we don't make any plans or use the right ingredients, just haphazardly throw things together....don't follow the instructions...well, just like any not-followed recipe, our lives will also turn out to be one big sticky mess! How important it is to follow the recipes of God's word...and not get impatient and try to speed up the cooking process, or drag it out! God knows best...and after all, He is the master Chef!!

Thankfully, He's also the master Healer....unlike all of us cooks, when the recipe of our lives gets all messed up, if we give the ingredients back to Him, He can still make it into something beautiful and tasty.

Now that's one miracle I haven't learnd how to perform yet in my kitchen!!

"If any man be in Christ He is a new creature...old things are passed away. Behold all things are become new." II Cor 5:17