I missed a birthday party this evening. I had baked the birthday person’s favorite, a cheesecake with blueberries. A doctor’s appointment determined I should stay home but there will be a redo. I’m at that stage that I look up a recipe for reference but don’t really need to follow it in detail. When I resource something new on the internet I barely follow it to the “T”. Somehow I can always find a reason to add more butter or chocolate chips. There is something about most of us that we like to put our own spin on things. I remember two page numbers from my 1982 Betty Crocker Cookbook. I know that the recipes I like are stroganoff and cheesecake. It could be worse. I bake many quiches but there are variables and I can easily reinvent one. Most of the cheesecake is on my porch awaiting birthday person pick-up later in the evening.
God made us in His image and created such variety. He puts His “spin” on all of us while we are knitted in our mother’s womb. Yes, my nose is special but then things happen like car accidents. My nose is different than it was. I am now single but was married. God can work with that too. I want to do more missions work and I like Western Europe. Can God work with that? If He wants something different then I will be molded and can work with that new spin. After all, all of the earth is His and He makes the globe spin on an axis.
Today I was catching up on an advent devotional and this family activity was recommended. Ask your kids who they are excited to give gifts to. If they don’t have anyone in mind, help them to think about who they can give to this Christmas season. Added to that was the question, “If you were to have offered a gift to the baby Jesus from what you currently have in your home, what would you give Him and why?”. My eyes went to the refrigerator. Could I prepare a meal fine enough for my special guest? No. As the Lord keeps spinning like a hurricane around my, sometimes, messy life, caring for me, loving me, I need a better gift. I looked on my Christmas tree. So many of these small momentos remind me of my life. There are small photos of my children, tiny mangers, even a seahorse (don’t ask) but many are a walk down memory lane. These little reminders also call to mind that God has been very good to me. What I finally thought I could give the Lord from my home is the people I love and pray for the most. They preoccupy my mind and are very precious. I could also return myself to God. I looked around my house and all of these treasured possessions looked like nothing. It was a moment. In my mind I was not picturing a baby in a manger but a risen Lord all around me all of the time. He is my gift.
