Don't Give Up

Last night I experimented with making banana bread. I decided to use chopped peanuts and add semi-sweet chocolate chips as a slight twist on a tried-and-true recipe. Sort of like a Banana Split Bread.

When I took the loaf from the oven, it looked perfect. Smelled heavenly. However, it was late and I needed to go to bed, so I covered the pan with aluminum foil and left for Sleepytown. I was looking forward to enjoying a slice with my morning coffee. Imagine my surprise when in the morning, I removed the foil to find my beautiful loaf had been transformed into a crater, as though an elf planted his little foot right in the middle! I tried to bake it more but that didn't work (of course). I sliced off the two decent-sized ends for my husband to take to work.

I ate a little but felt the recipe still needed work. I realized that this experiment is much like our journey toward sainthood. We try to make the right choices, do the right things; but sometimes, it doesn't work out according to our plans. But we usually learn something important in the process.

And, the truly important thing is: we keep on trying.

I don't know why I felt as though I was to share this with you, but perhaps you may feel a little like giving up. Maybe you're mumbling, "What's the use. Things will never change." Which isn't true. What is important is that we change. Life will continue to give us fallen breakfast breads, skinned knees, hurt feelings, unsatisfactory jobs, rickety cars, etc., etc. - but each one of those situations is an opportunity to thank God for His grace in our lives and pray for His Holy Spirit to infuse us with a fresh perspective, a determination to not only finish the race, but finish it well. We always have a choice in how we respond to life's struggles, small or large. Many times, it's a "back to the drawing board" and trying again.

So whatever is happening to you for the hundredth time, know you have a crowd of witnesses in heaven who is cheering you on. And me. :-)