Corona Devo 1519

There is a series of stages involved in making a "whoopie pie".  (Whoopie pie: A baked good consisting of two round, mound-shaped pieces of cake (typically chocolate cake) with a sweet, creamy filling or frosting sandwiched in between.  ~yourdictionary.com).

The first step is making the batter and then dolloping it into mounds (size of your choice) on a cookie sheet.  "Dollop" sounds dainty and neat, but this (uncooked) form of the whoopie pie batter is anything but.

The batter is thick and extremely sticky.  It's hard to work with and even more difficult to place/clump/scrape/mold into round mounds (of similar size) on the cookie sheet.  

This is a difficult stage.  There's nothing easy, quick, or clean about it--it's messy.  

But you have to go through that part of the recipe and baking in order to get to the next stage.

When the whoopie cake-cookies are baked, they will rise and cook into  rounds that will become the outside "sandwich" parts of the whoopie pie.  

(Let cool.)

Next comes the inside filling, which is a mixture of homemade vanilla frosting (Thank you to my sister, professional pastry chef, for that time-tested and delicious recipe!) and Cool Whip.  

The filling is not hard to make, and is also not hard to plop onto one half of an upside-down whoopie "cookie", and then you place another whoopie "cookie" on top, smooshing slightly, to fill the frosting out to the sides.  It's a simple stage.

The final stage is the best stage: enjoying the whoopie pie!  

Yes--the batter was thick and difficult to handle.  Sure, there were steps to making the frosting and filling the "pies", and we had to take time for the cakes to cool.

But because of these stages, we can come to the final one, and it's worth it.  The finished whoopie pie might even be more delicious because of the effort and stages that we went through to get there.

Enjoy the deliciousness!

~~~~

What stage of the whoopie pie recipe-of-life do we find ourselves in today?

In a world full of "dainty" and "neat" personas, images, and facades...do we find that the state of our life/heart/faith are anything but neat and dainty?

Is life "thick", extremely sticky, and messy for us today?  Hard to work with and even harder to make any sense of?

• We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; (9) persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.   ~2 Corinthians 4:8-9  

• And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.  ~I Peter 5:10  

• Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, (3) because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  (4) Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  ~James 1:2-4

This is a difficult stage.  There's nothing easy, quick, or clean about it--it's messy.  

~~

Maybe we are in the "cooling" stage of the whoopie pie recipe of life.  Maybe we need to take a step back and let the heat dissipate.  (Let cool.)

• “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.  ~Leviticus 19:18  

• My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.  ~James 1:19  

• "In your anger do not sin.” Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold  ~Ephesians 4:26-27 

• Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools  ~Ecclesiastes 7:9

~~~

Perhaps we are in the whippy-frosting stage today.  (For a moment), life isn't so hard.  We are not stuck, and we're not in the middle of a mess.  It's a simple stage, and we should thank God for the breather.

• Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, (3) who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, (4) who redeems your life from the pit, (5) who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.  ~Psalm 103:2-5  

• Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  ~John 14:27    

• Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.  (2) Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, (3) those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.  ~Psalm 107:1-3

~~~

The (ultimate) final stage of life is Heaven--eternity with our King.  But I absolutely believe that God has enjoyment and much blessing for us here on earth as well.  

There are times of peace and blessing, and a large part of those times is an awareness and gratitude for them! 

Perhaps today we are (or should be) in the stage of enjoying the deliciousness of the life that God has given us! 

• So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.  ~Ecclesiastes 8:15 

• Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  ~Psalm 37:4 

• I keep my eyes always on the Lord.  With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure.  You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.  Psalm 16:8-9, 11  

• Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.  Nehemiah 8:10 NIV

There is a series of stages involved in making a "whoopie pie", and our faith is in a continual series of stages too.

Is life sticky and messy today?

Do we need to "cool down" in any sense of the definition?

Are things going smoothly, like a dollop of frosting on a cookie?

Are we tasting the sweetness of God's grace on our lives? 

Whichever stage we're in today, it leads to another...and it's worth it.  The life-lived for Christ becomes even more delicious because of the effort and stages that we go through with Him.  

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com