Missing something...

I definitely made a mistake.  With fall upon us, I recently decided to make a carrot cake for my family.  This would not include cake mix and tub of frosting.  This would be the real deal.  I would grate carrots, make the entire cake "from scratch," (as we say in the south) and make my own cream cheese frosting.  I love to cook and probably have made hundreds and hundreds of cakes over my lifetime.  Most of my efforts turn out decently.  No one has become ill yet, thankfully.  But since my debut in the kitchen as a young child, there have been some occasional "memorable experiences."  This was one of them.

It was a simple recipe.  Yet the batter didn't look right when I poured it into the pan.  As it baked, my concern grew.  Removing it from the oven, I realized what I had done, or in this case, not done.  Something was missing.  During a busy day, with much on my mind,  while rushing and multi-tasking, I forgot to add a very important ingredient.  There was no flour in this cake.  A cake without flour...is like a shower without water.  It doesn't work. 

I had a choice.  I could be defeated...or determined.  I could get discouraged or I could try again.  Within a couple hours, a warm carrot cake sat in my kitchen...with all the ingredients included.  As the cake cooled, I made the cream cheese frosting and began thinking.

Isn't life like this?  We have goals, plans, dreams and hopes...yet we find that something is lacking.  Life isn't turning out like we anticipated.  Maybe we feel empty.  Alone.  Insignificant.  Not good enough.  Rejected.  Complicated.  Hurt.  Unwanted. Discarded.  Perhaps we have worked all our life to make a difference.  But it doesn't even matter.  Maybe what we thought was real...wasn't.  Maybe who we thought mattered...doesn't think we matter.  Maybe...our beliefs crumbled.  Maybe we simply don't know what...or who...or how...to believe...anymore. 

In a world of disappointment, discouragement, disease and death, we may feel something is missing. We become weary and worn.  We wonder what is true and trustworthy.  We search for meaning on a beautiful yet often burdened journey. 

I am so thankful that when nothing else makes sense, He still loves me.  I rejoice that when I am empty and spent, He loves me.  I am grateful that when my efforts are insufficient, He loves me.  I thank God that when something is missing...His love remains. His love holds me, sustains me and strengthens me.  Because of Him, I am not defeated...but determined.  I will hold onto Him each moment as His love carries me closer Home each day.♥~thl

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8: 37>39