New Year’s thoughts popped into my head, but you’ll never guess where they came from! Here’s what happened…
The Empty Cup and Coffee Part
I stare down at the coffee cup. As I lean over it, I can smell the aroma of coffee…it’s coming from the coffee pot just inches away. I can even taste it before it touches my tongue. My palate knows that familiar hazelnut flavor.
I pour some half and half in the empty cup and fill it with coffee to the brim. I add a little sugar to sweeten it. My thoughts spill over into the cup as well…
Lord, may I be an empty cup this year. Emptied of selfishness, bitterness, unforgiveness, pride, whatever sin crowds my heart, leaving no room for You. May I be ready to receive the infilling of Your presence, Your love, joy, peace, and all the rest, for without it, I cannot overflow.
The Thumbprint Cookie Part
As I stand and stare at the filled cup, I hear a faint sound. Something is calling my name.
L-y-n-n!
It’s coming from the end of the kitchen counter. I move down.
L-y-n-n!
There it is again! It’s coming from…sure enough…the cookie tin!
I open the tin and, lo and behold, a thumbprint cookie is calling me. Well, you just can’t let a thumbprint cookie call your name and not respond. So I did…respond. He and one of his friends no longer live in the cookie tin. They went so well with the coffee!
As I was making the cookies this year, the dough didn’t turn out right. It was all crumbly. It wouldn’t even squeeze together to roll into balls. So, I stuck it in the refrigerator while I made macaroons with almonds and dried cranberries. Yum!
Afterward, I got the dough out of the refrigerator and tried again. Worse. So, I decided to add a little bit of half and half. Ahhh! Now, I could make them into what they were meant to be.
I finished rolling them into balls, dipping them in the egg white and pecans, and pressed in the obligatory indentation, the necessary well for filling with red currant jelly.
My thoughts overflowed again…
The Lord calls us, but if we do not respond, He sometimes sticks us in a situation for a while to transform us. And if that doesn’t work, He adds a little more cream of life, a little more love, to make us malleable and respond to His touch.
Lord, add to my life all that is necessary to make me malleable, that I may be transformed into what You desire me to be and filled with Your presence.
And the Movie Part
I so love Christmas movies, don’t you? I know one of most everyone’s favorites is It’s a Wonderful Life. I always love the part where the Martinis move into their new home and all their friends and family gather outside the front door.
George and Mary Bailey stand on the front porch to welcome the Martinis. Mary holds out a loaf of bread to Mrs. Martini and says, “Bread: that this house may never know hunger.” Next, she holds out a box of salt and says, “Salt: that life may always have flavor.”
George then hands a bottle of wine to Mr. Martini and says, “And wine: that joy and prosperity may reign forever.”
My thoughts go at it again…
Lord, as the salt of life, I will weaken and not be the flavoring I am supposed to be if I do not partake of You as the Bread of Life and the Wine of the Spirit. Be my joy and prosperity forever.
So there you have it. My thoughts and prayers for the New Year…from the strangest places!
My prayer for each of you: I pray each one of you will be an emptied cup, ready to be filled to overflowing with the love and peace of the Lord’s presence. And if you find yourself stuck in some situation, may your heart be malleable and respond to His call, and may your life be made into all it was meant to be.
I pray your home be blessed with the Bread, that you may be fed and Life may go on; with salt, that you may be the flavoring in the lives of others; and with the Wine of the Spirit, that your life may be filled with joy and prosperity throughout the New Year.
Lynn writes devotionals and inspirational stories. She has one book waiting to be published in 2015 and is working on a second one. Her greatest passion is to fulfill God’s call on her life to encourage others and glorify the Lord with her writing. She currently writes for several sites and writes bi-weekly on her site, Heading Home. http://lynnmosher.com
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