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Thoughts for a Woman's Heart |
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encouragement in things that matter |
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Yucky French Toast
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My little grandniece, Arianna, had just awakened from her late afternoon nap. Sleepily, she let her "blankie" slide along the kitchen floor, as she climbed on a stool to watch me fix supper. "Whatcha makin’, Grandma?" I was mixing eggs and milk for french toast. (Breakfast is a once-a-week tradition for supper at our house.) "Kin I help?" I adjusted her position at the counter, and she carefully stirred the egg and milk mixture. The griddle was sizzling, and I began dipping slices of bread in the mixture. As I laid each slice on the griddle, Arianna’s eyes began to widen. The large griddle was soon covered with eight slices of french-toast-in-the-making. The yellow, soggy slices were suddenly too much for her. "Grandma, that’s yucky!" I laughed, and tried to assure her that the finished product would not only satisfy her hunger, but it would also actually taste good. She still wanted to watch, although I must admit, she was a rather skeptical observer. Her first hope that maybe Grandma was right, was when I flipped the browning slices over to cook on the other side. "Grandma, that looks good!"
Transformation. That’s what happened to the soggy bread. Transformation though is also what happens when we allow God to touch our lives. Salvation is that instantaneous moment when we accept the life-giving sacrifice of His Son, realizing that it is the one and only necessity to remove the guilt of my sin-scarred life, and bring me into a forever relationship with the God of the universe. At salvation, God transcends the gulf that sin created, and takes up residence in my heart and life, and becomes my Daddy-God. Thus begins a continuing transformation of my life that the theologians call sanctification. It’s that day by day process through which we become more and more like the One who gave His life for us. You could call it growth, maturity, healing, or recovery, but it continues the transformation begun at salvation, and changes the "yucky" into something "good." There are many of us, myself included, who can look back at a life that was once very "yucky," but it has been transformed by the love and grace of God – and it’s usually, one day at a time. Some of us recognize the "yuckiness" that still persists, but as we live out that forever relationship with our Daddy-God, the potential to become just like our Daddy’s oldest Son, is more fully realized. Those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun. Transformation.
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— Bev |
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