The Ingredients

My son, Jonah, has been helping my mom bake cookies since he was able to stand up. He absolutely LOVES it! He can tell you each and every ingredient that goes into her famous chocolate chip cookies.He knows that the ingredients are important--without them there is no cookie.

I recently read an illustration that compares our lives to cookies; the circumstances and events of our lives to the ingredients. Here's the idea: You could ask just about anyone if they want a cookie and they're gonna say yes. But what if you offered them 2 cups of flour? Or a tsp. of baking soda... big spoonful of Crisco anyone? Umm, no thanks. All of those ingredients on their own taste gross. However, they do work beautifully together to create a wonderfully delicious cookie.

We are in the middle of a pretty yucky ingredient right now. Glory, my 4-month-old, has RSV(really bad bronchitis in infants). It is no fun. We are basically monitoring her breathing 24/7 and making sure that the area surrounding her mouth does not turn blue. It could last anywhere from 1 to 4 weeks. She is miserable and I am scared.

I don't know why my cookie calls for this ingredient. Only God knows the recipe. I am thankful that He allowed me to read that forwarded email last week as I was cleaning out my inbox from maternity leave--the only "forward" I happened to stop and read out of over 1000 emails--so that I would be reminded He is wearing the apron and without this ingredient, the cookie that is my life just wouldn't taste right. I want the best cookie God has to offer, so I cling to this:

Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1 :2-4.