GREAT Recipes...too bad they're not mine!

I love to cook and bake.  I don't really have much time to do it, or many people to do it for...but I love to get out a recipe, new or old, and make something.  I love how eventually it becomes second nature and I don't have to use a recipe too!  I have several "favorites" if you will, but I've realized, none of them are "my" recipe...for example, my favorite cake recipe (Paula Dean's recipe), bean dip recipe (added to it, but not mine), apple dip recipe (mom's), chicken 'n rice (mom's),  spinach and artichoke dip (Katie's), Parmesan Chicken (Christen's), roasted rosemary potatoes (dad's), banana pudding (mom's), chocolate "good stuff" (sister's),  and on and on and on...none of them are mine.  They are recipes that have been tested to see exactly how much sugar is enough, how much parmesan can you add before it becomes overwhelming, how small do you chop the artichoke hearts, when do you add the chocolate to the dish so it doesn't mix into the cream cheese...(glad all that isn't in the same dish!)  So I don't really have that much to add to or adjust and call the dish my own, I don't want to claim something gross... :-/

But I do have another recipe in the works. Surprise, surprise, not really mine either.  Sure, I have an effect on this one.  I can even alter is a bit with certain choices, but really its not mine at all, and I'm good with that.  In fact it would be quite disastrous if I had to completely come up with the recipe, I don't think I'd be sitting here writing this blog.  What's the recipe?  Well (corny as this is going to be, just keep reading...k?) its my life. Life really is like a recipe.  You have to have just the right amount of adventure, love, sleep, school, money, family, friends, experience, time, etc. to make it work for you.  

For a lot of people, this is the one recipe that they will truly write on their own, completely.  But for me...I really don't want to be the author of this one.  Some of you may think I'm weird, that's okay.  I'm not saying I want some Big Brother telling me how and when to do everything, but there is someone I want to lay out the plan for me.  Why? Who? Well, I think I've tried to measure out what to add too many times, only to have things turn out bad, I can only see so far, and predict so much, why  not let someone a little bigger handle things.  I've decided I want God in control of this one. He's been faithful thus far!  And He knows.  He knows exactly what I can handle, what experiences I'll have and how to prepare me for them.  He know my likes, dislikes, desires, dreams (He did give them to me :-)) He has a recipe already, and I trust that when its finished it will be a great one.  Its a life long recipe, but I must say that as I've "dipped my finger in the batter" its tasting pretty good so far.  Sure there are elements that have been difficult, hard, heartbreaking, disappointing, but think about it, I wouldn't be who I am today without those experiences.  And He hasn't given me more than I can handle either.  It's like making a chocolate cake.  Ever tasted cocoa powder by itself? YUCK!  Smells so chocolaty and delicious, ha!  Not when it hits your tongue...you'll be scraping it off as fast as you put it in your mouth.  Its so bitter, harsh, but without it in the cake...you don't have a chocolate cake.  Same with baking soda or powder, or salt in a sweet dessert?  Without them though...no cake. 

If I were going to edit my life recipe right now there would probably be some things I would take out, or edit...but then my cake would be flat, crumbly, soupy, and not chocolate, so I think I'll just leave it alone!

You could ask me what my recipe is going to turn out to be, how long it needs to sit, or how long to cook it...but I don't know.  Sure I make the decisions day by day, but God has already laid them out for me and prepared me (you too if you'll let Him) to make the decisions.  He has a plan, and He'll carry it out to completion.  I'm going to let Him keep writing this recipe, and I'll just keep sticking my finger in the batter for a taste, and when I get the bitter cocoa, well I'll trust that there is a reason for the uncomfortable taste for the perfection of the recipe.

Life is good, God is awesome...go bake a cake!