Choices and Changes

In a Goldilocks life, things aren’t perfect, but in the end, they turn out just right. I planned to make Delicious Cheesecake for our Easter dessert, the recipe I shared a few weeks ago. Except for one problem – I forgot to buy graham crackers to make the crust. No matter, I thought. I’ll create a crust from a sugar cookie recipe.

The recipe makes four dozen cookies. That’s a lot of dough for an 8” pie plate. I adjusted the measurements of flour, sugar, and margarine accordingly, so I thought. The oven was preheated, and the crust looked nicely crumbled after cutting in the margarine. I folded in the eggs and pressed it into the 8” pie plate. Lots of leftover dough wouldn’t fit. Not being a person who likes to waste, I got out my 9” pie pan. The dough fit just right.

As the crust baked, it dawned on me I didn’t have enough cream cheese to fill that size pan. Back to the drawing board. I had bought two containers of fat-free plain yogurt, so I added all of it and an extra egg to the 8-ounce Neufachatel cheese and sugar and blended on low.  When the crust was finished with its first baking and cooling, I filled it with the cheese/yogurt mixture and baked for what I thought would be the right time. The whole center still jiggled. I added five minutes. And five more. Maybe five more. Finally, the cheesecake only jiggled a little in the very center when I shook it. Done.

On Easter Day, everyone gobbled up the Delicious Cheesecake. No one but the Lord and me knew the maneuverings I went through to make it turn out just right.

Life is like that.  Sometimes we make plans that fall short of expectations. Other times, events happen we think we don’t have what it takes to get through. We stress, worry, or feel frustration. Praying about daily and even moment-by-moment choices and changes makes all the difference, if not in the outcome, certainly in our outlook. Things end up just right, though not always perfect.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6.

My cookbook, Get Cooking! By Lynn Lilja is available NOW to order! Click on the Books page at https://agoldilockslife.com for ordering information.

Easter Memories

My daughter and me – Easter 1985

Remember wearing Easter bonnets when you were a kid, with fluffy dresses and shiny shoes? Mom’s photo albums contain pics of us standing in a row in the front yard in our dress-up clothes. I don’t remember going to church, but we must have. We colored eggs, and Dad hid them inside on cold years and outside on warmer ones. Once, a few months after Easter, I found an egg in my underwear drawer. No odor prompted the discovery, just a rolling object going clunk-clunk.

Easter preparations are different for me now. While I search for favorite recipes for our special dinner, I’m also recalling the spiritual meaning of the day. Together with a small group of friends from church, we’ve been reading Sinclair Ferguson’s Lessons from the Upper Room. Its focus is on Jesus’ last night with His closest friends before His arrest and execution. Ferguson asks, “Has your life been fragrant with His humility and grace?” Because Jesus Christ lives in me, I want to know.

This year, I anticipate making memories with family and friends, enjoying traditional food, and maybe having an egg hunt.  But Easter touches me every day because Jesus walks with me through each one.

The Sign of Jonah

A fascinating Bible story is found in the book of Jonah. The proud prophet Jonah ran in the opposite direction than God sent him. His humbling redirection came from inside a huge fish. (See Jonah chapters 1 and 2.)

Jesus’ words in the New Testament help us see that the miracle of Jonah’s being saved from the fish connects to the Easter story. “For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.” Luke chapter 11, verse 30

The sign Jesus speaks of is Jonah spending three days and three nights inside the stomach of a giant fish before God rescues Him. Finally, Jonah brought the Ninevites God’s message. One might dismiss Jonah’s story as fiction, except that Jesus spoke of Jonah as a historical person as does the author of the Old Testament book of 2 Kings. The sign that links Jesus and Jonah is three days and nights in a fish’s belly for the prophet and three days and nights in the grave for the Son of Man and Savior of the world.

There are many prophecies about Jesus’ death, burial, and coming back to life. The Jonah/Jesus link stands out because of the wondrous work of God in both instances. God saved Jonah’s life by sending the fish to swallow him, then made the fish spit him out on dry land. God saves our lives by Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Lord spent three days and nights buried in a tomb. He rose again to reconcile us to God.

At Easter, we celebrate what Jesus did for everyone because of His love for us. This was God’s plan for the saving of anyone who will believe in Jesus. He gave His life to set us free once for all from our sin. We sing, “Joy to the world, He is risen. Hallelujah!”

Click below to hear the Easter Song!