Sunday, August 10, 2014

The "Take Care of Yourself" Delusion

We've all heard these words. Most of us have probably even said them. I picture a group visiting Grandma in a weatherbeaten farmhouse; and when they leave, she kisses each one on the cheek and says, "You'uns take good care of yourselves, y'hear?" She means well, and I have no fault to find with her. What I will say is this: This is one piece of advice you should never, ever follow. It's self-defeating. Why?

The song goes like this:
 "Love is like a lucky penny.
Hold it tight, you won't have any;
Give it away, and you'll have plenty -
You'll end up having MOOORE.

Love is something if you give it away,
Give it away, give it away.
Love is something if you give it away; 
You'll end up having more."

God is the best Father and takes perfect care of His children, so we don't have to worry about that part. Now, I didn't say that we will understand or like everything He does. We often won't understand, and will even frequently dislike it. But that's just cause we're the finite humans that don't know much. "We'll understand it better by and by."

Jesus said the two most important rules are to love God, and to love each other.
So leave yourself in Father's capable hands. Then get out there and forget yourself in loving people!

Friday, August 1, 2014

A Kitchen Fiasco :)

This afternoon I was stirring up a batch of peanut butter cookies and thinking that it looked awfully small. I thought I might as well make two batches, and so I went to the pantry to find another peanut butter cookie mix. Sure enough, there was one right there! I was just about to use it when something - I'm pretty sure it was God - said, "Save that one for later." 

I hesitated. "Why?" I thought. It didn't make much sense to me, and I almost went ahead and used the second mix anyway. But I didn't. Instead, I finished mixing that one little batch and put the cookies in the oven. The package said 8-10 minutes, so I set the timer for 8 minutes. When it went off, I opened the oven door and found - the most burnt food I've ever seen! What on earth? 

After some thought, I realized that because it takes me longer than normal to do most everything, I probably shouldn't preheat stuff anymore. And yeah, that mix God had me save for later? It made some beautiful cookies tonight, one of which is in my tummy! :)