Last week my niece made a gift for her single friend. Because the single friend has been wanting a good man, my niece got busy and made her a perfect guy – from cookie dough. At least that’s what he was before he got baked.
Every Christmas we are told that we can crank out our wishes and dreams and that during this “magical” season – with just enough hope and wishful thinking – we can make it all come true. We tell our kids to make their lists. We check them twice only to find ourselves crawling out from under a crumpled heap of shiny, non-recyclable disappointments.
How different the first Christmas was. Any wish for comfort, such as a warm bed in a heated place, was nixed by the Maker of the Universe. Instead, the Savior of the World came to take His first breath in a dusty stable among animals and ordinary people only to live a short life and die a cruel death.
Imperfect circumstances became a perfect opportunity. The ordinary became the holy. A mundane day became the beginning of a new era and the marker in history nobody can ignore.
If you are disappointed with what this world has served you, please know that there is ONE who came into every disappointment. He is not a magical solution to our problems; He Himself is Everything we could ever want. He came to show us that imperfect people were worthy of the Perfect Man – God with us, Emmanuel.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)
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(Picture bottom and devotional, Heidi Viars 2019, picture top, Moni and Hannah)
I love the “non-recyclable disappointments.” Sums it up perfectly! Thank you, Heidi!
Thanks for stopping in, Chris! Your mentoring advice and encouraging words are a gift … and recyclable!! 😊
Thank you, dear Heidi, for the reminder Jesus doesn’t disappoint. Thank you also for the chuckle I enjoyed when I saw the before and after cookies. 🙂
Merry Christmas – Wendy Mac 🎄🎁💝
When expectations meet reality we do well to find the funny in it 🙂 Thanks, dear Wendy, for your encouragement throughout the year. Wishing you and yours a merry Christmas! 💝
That perfect-man cookie is hilarious–and illustrates hard truth! How many brides start out with a slender man (complete with six-pack) who slowly morphs into the softer, broader version while baked in the oven of life? But only you, Heidi, could use the humorous circumstance of that misshapen cookie to teach us about imperfect circumstances turning into perfect opportunities, and imperfect people being worthy of the Perfect Man. Masterfully done, Heidi (because the Master works through you!)
Thanks, dear Nancy for your kind words. The funny thing is that I just came home from a wedding and was tempted to show the bride the picture (above) … I think she’ll figure it out sooner or later … why ruin a good day? 🙂
The thing about the baked version is that his edges aren’t as tough and all together he has become well rounded.
Wishing you and yours a wonderful (imperfect) Christmas!
A perfect post for the perfect time, a time made perfect amid the mundane. This “Imperfect circumstances became a perfect opportunity.” reminds me that blessings are still blessings even if they don’t look like we thought they would. (Do they ever?) You remind me that there is always holy with and within us, even in the mundane. Thank you!
Wishing you a wonderful Christmas, dearest Brenda … a mundane one turned holy 🙂
Great post!
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to you, too
Hi,
So neat that I know Moni and Hannah. You successfully used their ideas to bring glory to the Lord. Very GOOD and PTL. Rosemary
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Thank you, Ro! Have a beautiful Christmas. Praying!!!!!
Love this! Will share with my family and others. We are about 35 min from GL after driving cross country the past 3 days! Didn’t get cards out this year… wishing you a blessed Christmas time with your family! Are you up for a morning walk in the next week sometime?
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Merry Christmas to you and your clan, friend! You bet! Can’t wait to walk