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Six-year-old Brandon decided on
Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes. He found a big bowl and
spool, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out
the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor.
 He
scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of
a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor
which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten.
Brandon
was covered with flour and getting frustrated. He wanted this to be
something very good for Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad.
He didn't
know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the
stove and he didn't
know how the stove worked! Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the
bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the
floor. Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but
slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky.
And
just then he saw Dad standing at the door. Big crocodile tears welled
up in Brandon's
eyes. All he'd
wanted to do something good, but he'd
made a terrible mess. He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a
spanking. But his father just watched him.
Then,
walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son, hugged him and
loved him, getting his own pajamas white and sticky in the process.
That's
how God deals with us. We try to do something good in life, but it
turns into a mess. Our marriage gets all sticky or we insult a friend,
or we can't
stand our job, or our health goes sour.
Sometimes we just stand there in tears because we can't
think of anything else to do. That's
when God picks us up and loves us and forgives us, even though some of
our mess gets all over Him.
But
just because we might mess up, we can't
stop trying to
'make
pancakes'
for God or for others. Sooner or later we'll
get it right, and then they'll
be glad we tried ...
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