Magnificent Messes

I have so many stories of ruined recipes that it is too many to count.  As much as I love to cook, I can easily have a dish be a complete failure.  Example...Christmas is when you want your dishes to be the most delicious morsels every!  Especially when you are cooking for a new group of people.  This was the case at my husband's Christmas party this year.  This was a new group of people at a new place of employment.  I was nervous.  What if nobody liked my food?  What if they didn't like me?  Well of course there were some freak out moments in the kitchen, but all in all it went well and I think the food was pretty good.  There was one dish though, one I had been sooooo excited about, and it tasted pretty bad!  It was not inedible, but it wasn't the great tasty treat I had envisioned.  I followed the recipe to a T, something I rarely do, and I just didn't like the end results.  

I should have followed my instincts.  One step didn't make sense to me.  It sounded odd and out of place, but I ignored the warning and followed the process.  After my disappointment, I told my mom about the instructions and she agreed that it didn't make sense to do what it said to do.  I wouldn't have had such a mess if I had only listened to that little voice.

Just like other messes I have found myself in.  

I am teaching my girls about listening to that little voice.  That nudge that says "You really shouldn't do that."  That quiet feeling that whispers "You know better."  The moment when you can choose the right or wrong and your heart is beating fast begging you to choose right.  It is so important to listen to that voice, follow your heart, and know that the Holy Spirit is guiding you in the right direction.  Our children are born sinners just like we are.  And they are going to make mistakes just like we do.  But if we teach them to listen to the Voice, tell them the importance of choosing right, and most importantly pray for their little hearts to be drawn to God,  we can help them avoid some messes.

Today's Verse

John 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."

So today I was working on a new recipe for tomorrow's post...and well, it didn't turn out.  I didn't want to just throw it all away, so I came up with something else.  It is pretty tasty, but I really can't tell you how I did it :-(.  I was trying to make cereal covered french toast sticks, but I ended up making a french toast bake.  Maybe one day I can recreate the recipe and share.  

In the moment of taking my mess and making something edible, I was reminded of when God does this with my life messes as well.  

There have been trials in my life that have turned out as a blessing  (Example - my missing transcript that lead me to the love of my life!), and messes that I made by choosing wrong and God has made the mess into something magnificent.  And it is important to teach our children that can happen too.  It is not a free ticket to mess up, but it is a knowledge that we are covered by His mercy.  God can use any mess and any person for His glory.  His grace abounds and His love is infinite!  He can turn any mess into something delicious!