Last night, as I was getting ready for bed, I realized something very important. I didn’t have a clue as to what to write about for this week’s entry. Usually, something will come to me and I just get this feeling like, ‘Okay that’s what I need to write about.’ Well, as I said, nothing was coming to me. So I said a little prayer and went to bed deciding it wasn’t a big deal, I’d come up with something. God always provides.
You know how
some people say, watch what you pray for. Yea, that’s pretty much true. In this
case, I, indeed should have watched what I prayed for.
This morning, a dear friend asked if I would like to help prepare some freezer meals for both of our families. At the time, it sounded like such a good idea. But when I agreed, I failed to mention one small, kind of important thing; I’m not a very good cook. At all.
This morning, a dear friend asked if I would like to help prepare some freezer meals for both of our families. At the time, it sounded like such a good idea. But when I agreed, I failed to mention one small, kind of important thing; I’m not a very good cook. At all.
Regardless,
my hope was that this would go smoothly. I mean I know how to cook for my
family. Granted, cooking for me means baking a frozen pizza or whipping up a
bowl of macaroni and cheese. Real cooking can’t be much harder than that, can
it? So, I took a
deep breath and got to it.
My first recipe was for homemade chicken cordon
bleu. Holy moly. Hoping against hope that this would go better than expected, I
stared down at the chicken willing it to behave. It just stared back at me, so
I figured we had a deal. But I was wrong. I pounded that chicken and topped it
with all kinds of good stuff, but when it came time to roll the chicken up, yea
not so much. Oh well. I figured I could move on to something easier, something
I know how to make.
Mashed potatoes. ‘This should be easy,’ I thought to myself. ‘I’ve made these before.’ Unfortunately, for me, I wasn’t paying attention—at least not enough. Long story short, I tripled the salt that was needed for one batch. I thought I had enough potatoes for three batches. The result was too much salt; not enough potato.
At that point, I decided it would be better to leave rather than mess up another recipe. Thankfully, I have an understanding friend.
It reminded me of another debacle that happened to me a few weeks back. It involved an exercise class and a step. Need I say more? At first, things were going great, I was catching on to the moves, getting my groove on. All was well until, and I stress the word, until, the instructor began incorporating the step into our workout.
You know sometimes before something bad happens, you almost get a premonition that it’s going to happen? I kid you not, seconds before it transpired, I pictured myself falling off of that step. Unfortunately, my premonition was spot on; I lost my balance and in a not so graceful way fell to the floor. Thankfully, nothing but my pride was broken.
Perhaps, I should get to the point of all of this; I don’t like not knowing what I’m doing. It’s such a scary and vulnerable place to be. It reminds me of how I used to feel about praying. So inadequate, not knowing what to pray or how to pray. Then, one summer, someone told me a story that changed everything.
There was a man who liked to play darts. In fact, he was amazingly good at it. Like hit-the bulls-eye-every-time kind of good. In fact, he was so good, that his neighbor came to visit him hoping to pick up a few pointers.
When he asked his friend for some tips, his neighbor obligingly agreed to show him how it was done. Grasping the dart in his hand, he flung it against the side of the barn. Then, as his neighbor watched, mystified, he walked up to the barn and with a piece of chalk drew a perfect bulls-eye around the dart.
Seems like a silly story but for me it struck a chord in my heart. Praying is like that. We toss our "darts" up into the air, hoping against hope that we’ll hit the perfect prayer; the one God will accept and answer. Only, the thing is, it’s not our job to hit the bulls-eye. You know why? Because the Spirit intercedes for us, that’s why. He makes our prayers what they need to be.
So even if it feels like you’re desperately tossing prayers at the side of a barn, take heart. The Spirit comes right along and draws a bulls-eye to make it the perfect prayer. Every time.
Romans 8:26
Mashed potatoes. ‘This should be easy,’ I thought to myself. ‘I’ve made these before.’ Unfortunately, for me, I wasn’t paying attention—at least not enough. Long story short, I tripled the salt that was needed for one batch. I thought I had enough potatoes for three batches. The result was too much salt; not enough potato.
At that point, I decided it would be better to leave rather than mess up another recipe. Thankfully, I have an understanding friend.
It reminded me of another debacle that happened to me a few weeks back. It involved an exercise class and a step. Need I say more? At first, things were going great, I was catching on to the moves, getting my groove on. All was well until, and I stress the word, until, the instructor began incorporating the step into our workout.
You know sometimes before something bad happens, you almost get a premonition that it’s going to happen? I kid you not, seconds before it transpired, I pictured myself falling off of that step. Unfortunately, my premonition was spot on; I lost my balance and in a not so graceful way fell to the floor. Thankfully, nothing but my pride was broken.
Perhaps, I should get to the point of all of this; I don’t like not knowing what I’m doing. It’s such a scary and vulnerable place to be. It reminds me of how I used to feel about praying. So inadequate, not knowing what to pray or how to pray. Then, one summer, someone told me a story that changed everything.
There was a man who liked to play darts. In fact, he was amazingly good at it. Like hit-the bulls-eye-every-time kind of good. In fact, he was so good, that his neighbor came to visit him hoping to pick up a few pointers.
When he asked his friend for some tips, his neighbor obligingly agreed to show him how it was done. Grasping the dart in his hand, he flung it against the side of the barn. Then, as his neighbor watched, mystified, he walked up to the barn and with a piece of chalk drew a perfect bulls-eye around the dart.
Seems like a silly story but for me it struck a chord in my heart. Praying is like that. We toss our "darts" up into the air, hoping against hope that we’ll hit the perfect prayer; the one God will accept and answer. Only, the thing is, it’s not our job to hit the bulls-eye. You know why? Because the Spirit intercedes for us, that’s why. He makes our prayers what they need to be.
So even if it feels like you’re desperately tossing prayers at the side of a barn, take heart. The Spirit comes right along and draws a bulls-eye to make it the perfect prayer. Every time.
Romans 8:26
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our
weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself
intercedes for us through wordless groans.
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