Nothing but Cookies

Nothing but Cookies
 
Growing up, I loved being invited to my Great Grandma Neidinger’s house for Christmas dinner.   It was fun and exciting.  To me it was simply the best meal ever.  I am sure just by reading the title of this article that you can guess what my great grandma served at these Christmas dinners.

For this one special meal each year we ate nothing but cookies!  Grandma Neidinger took great pride in preparing a feast of every colorful and delicious type of Christmas cookie imaginable.  Our parents would admire all of her hard work and effort.  They would compliment her amazing artistic abilities.  She received encouragement and we received all the sugar we could possibly handle.  It left my little girl’s mind wondering why we couldn’t have more meals made up of nothing but cookies.

As an adult I understand that our bodies require so much more than what sugar provides.  The sweetness of my grandma’s beautiful cookies offered a temporary sense of satisfaction, but they did little to improve our wellness or promote our growth.

As God’s children, we sometimes want our lives to be filled with nothing but cookies.  We ask God for “the good things” in life.  We ask Him to give us the sweet things and to take away the pain, the sadness, the heartache, and the loneliness.  But if we really stop to think about it – it is in the lowest times and in the most painful circumstances that we realize our greatest growth.

Our loving God is so faithful.  He carries us when the road becomes too difficult.  He walks with us through the pain.  He develops strength inside of us that we never thought imaginable.  God does not promise to keep the storms away.  He promises to walk with us through the storms.  Even more than that, our Almighty God uses the storms in this life to produce inside of us beauty, character, and peace that passes understanding.

May God grant you the ability to be content in all circumstances.

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me”.  Philippians 4:11-13 (ESV)

God’s Blessings,
Tammy