“The Lord is a powerful warrior; He will energize your life.”
~ Zephaniah 3:17
Joey was having a bad day. When he got out of bed, he stepped on his
favorite toy truck and broke the wheel off. At breakfast, he dropped his plate on the
floor. The scrambled eggs splattered all
over the cabinet and one of his pancakes stuck to the refrigerator, its sticky
syrup dripping onto the floor. Joey
broke his choice crayon right in the middle of art class. During recess, he tripped and skinned his knee. Meagan McKeon laughed at his torn trousers
which hurt his feelings.
It’s so hard to be a kid, he thought! Preschool has so many rules – so many things he
can’t have and can’t do; so many things that don't turn out the way he imagined. Some days he drifts from winning to whining,
from tears to time-outs.
Even Comet couldn’t make things better today. They’d gone for a walk after school and his
trusty pup had done his business on old man Clark’s lawn. Joey had forgotten a ‘Poopbag.’ When he saw a brown squirrel, Comet nearly
choked himself to death on his leash.
Joey couldn’t stop crying long enough to respond.
"I know what’ll make you happy. Come with me," she said. He sat up and followed her to the
kitchen.
“How about a snack?” she asked, pulling various cooking
supplies from the cabinets.
Cool! Cold milk and
some homemade cookies couldn’t hurt he thought to himself, especially if he
could eat the chocolate chip cookie dough!
"Here, have some cooking oil,” she offered. "How about a couple of raw eggs?"
"Gross, Mom!"
"Well then, how ‘bout some flour? Or maybe baking
soda?"
"Mom,” Joey complained.
Those things are yucky!"
To which his Mom replied: "Yes, all those things seem
bad by themselves. But when their put together
in the right way, they make wonderfully delicious cookies! God works the same way! We wonder sometimes, why He lets us go
through such bad days. But God knows
that when He puts these things all in His order, they always make us better. We just have to trust Him!”
She continued. “God’s
crazy about YOU! He sends you flowers
every Spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, yet He
chose your heart, Joey.”
And with those loving words, she pulled a fresh batch of
homemade cookies from the oven – treats that smelled like happiness and love
and tenderness . . . and chocolate chips.
Jesus, we know that happiness doesn’t simply
come from getting what we want, but from hard work, learning from our mistakes
and living your will. So, thank you for
all the bad days that tried to defeat me.
They make the good days with You even more special. Amen
